"2a806f33-e666-46a2-aef5-25c181c4565e"@en . "CONTENTdm"@en . "History of the American fur trade of the far west"@en . "http://resolve.library.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/catsearch?bid=1916154"@en . "British Columbia Historical Books Collection"@en . "History of the American fur trade of the far west"@en . "Chittenden, Hiram Martin, 1858-1917"@en . "2016-02-19"@en . "1902"@en . "\"Paged continuously.\"Though later discoveries have greatly augmented the documentation of the era, they have not served to impair the basic excellence of this epochal work\": - W.J. Ghent in the D.A.B. Vol.1, chapters 8-14 treat the Astoria venture; vol.3, Appendix 3, PP.903-911 has \"Notes on the Astorian enterprise\". -- Strathern, G. M., & Edwards, M. H. (1970). Navigations, traffiques & discoveries, 1774-1848: A guide to publications relating to the area now British Columbia. Victoria, BC: University of Victoria, p. 54."@en . ""@en . "https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcbooks/items/1.0226338/source.json"@en . "[v]-viii, [483]-892 pages : frontispiece (photograph), illustrations ; 25 cm"@en . "application/pdf"@en . " HISTORY\nOF\nTHE AMERICAN FUR TRADE\nOF THE\nFAR WEST THE\nAmerican Fur Trade\nOF THE\nFar West\nA History of the Pioneer Trading Posts and Early\nFur Companies of the Missouri Valley and\nthe Rocky Mountains and of\nthe Overland Commerce\nwith Santa Fe.\nMAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS\nBY\nHIRAM MARTIN CHITTENDEN\nCaptain Corps of Engineers, U. S. A., Author of\n\"The Yellowstone.\"\nTHREE VOLUMES\nVOLUME II.\nNEW YORK\nFRANCIS P. HARPER\n1902\n CONTENTS OF VOLUME IL\n\"I CHAPTER XXVII.\nPAGB\nThe Santa Fe Trade\u00E2\u0080\u0094Santa Fe 483-488\nCHAPTER XXVIII. j\nThe Santa Fe Trade.\u00E2\u0080\u0094 Historical Sketch . . . 489-514\nCHAPTER XXIX.\nThe Santa Fe Trade.\u00E2\u0080\u0094 Character of the Business . . 515-529\nCHAPTER XXX.\nThe Santa Fe Trade.\u00E2\u0080\u0094The Trail 530-544\nCHAPTER XXXI.\nThe Santa Fe Trade.\u00E2\u0080\u0094Incidents of the Trail . . 545-553\nPART III. | ^ \u00C2\u00A7\nCONTEMPORARY EVENTS CONNECTED WITH THE FUR\nTRADE. j;\nCHAPTER I.\nThe War of 1812 555-5$i\nCHAPTER II.\nThe Yellowstone Expedition of 1819-1820 .... 562-587\nCHAPTER III. j|\nThe Aricara Campaign of 1823 . 588-607\nmm\n VI CONTENTS.\n|: CHAPTER IV.\nPAGK\nThe Yellowstone Expedition of 1825 ..... 608-618\nCHAPTER V.\nThe Smallpox Scourge of 1837 610-627\nCHAPTER VI.\nMilitary Occupation ........ 628-633\nCHAPTER VII.\nGeographical and Scientific Explorations .... 634-639\nCHAPTER VIII.\nMissionary Work . . . ... . . . 640-649\nPART IV.\nNOTABLE INCIDENTS AND CHARACTERS IN THE HISTORY\nOF THE FUR TRADE.\nCHAPTER I.\n\"The Lost Trappers\" 651-656\nCHAPTER II.\nThe Battle of Pierre's Hole 657-664\nCHAPTER III.\nThe Death of Henry Vanderburgh 665-672\nCHAPTER IV.\nThe Battle of Fort McKenzie . . . . . 673-677\nCHAPTER V.\nSmuggling Liquor up the Missouri 678-683\nCHAPTER VI.\nRose and Beckwourth, the Crow Chiefs . . . . 684-691\n\\n 'w\u00C2\u00BB *\u00C2\u00BB i imj\nCONTENTS. VU\nCHAPTER VII.\nPAGE\nAlexander Harvey, Desperado ...... 602-697\nCHAPTER VIII.\nMiraculous Escape of Hugh Glass . . . . . 608-706\nCHAPTER IX.\nThe Treachery of Mike Fink . . . . . 707-712\nCHAPTER X.\nThe Adventures of John Colter ...... 713-723\nPART V.\nTHE COUNTRY AND ITS INHABITANTS.\nCHAPTER I.\nThe Rocky Mountains 725-742\nCHAPTER II.\nValleys and Plains . . 743-758\nCHAPTER III.\nRivers and Lakes.\u00E2\u0080\u0094The Missouri System and the Plains\nRivers . 75^777\nCHAPTER IV.\nRivers and Lakes.\u00E2\u0080\u0094The Colorado and Columbia Systems,\nand the Great Basin ....... 778-798\nCHAPTER V.\nFlora 700-808\nCHAPTER VI.\nFauna.\u00E2\u0080\u0094The Buffalo, Beaver, and Bear . . .. . 809-825\nCHAPTER VII.\nFauna.\u00E2\u0080\u0094Other Species of Interest in the Fur Trade . 826-840\nI\nmmmmmm\n*S^ti\u00C2\u00A3^3t.\n vm\nCONTENTS.\nCHAPTER VIII.\nNative Tribes.\u00E2\u0080\u0094General Observations\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 \u00C2\u00BB\nPAGE\n84I-849\nCHAPTER IX.\nNative Tribes of the Missouri Basin .\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 \u00C2\u00AB\n. 850-875\nCHAPTER X.\nNative Tribes of the Southwest and the Tra-Montane\nCountry . . \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 . . \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 \u00E2\u0080\u00A2\n876-892\nAPPENDIX.\nCopy of Letter from Pierre Menard to Pierre Chouteau . 893-898\nB.\nLetter from Manuel Lisa to General Clark\nC.\nNotes on the Astorian Enterprise\n899-002-\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 \u00E2\u0080\u00A2\n. 903-911\nD.\nThe \"Flathead Deputation\" of 1832\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 \u00E2\u0080\u00A2\n912-925\nMiscellaneous Data Relating to the Fur Trade\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 \u00E2\u0080\u00A2\n926-946\nm\nList of Trading Posts\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 \u00E2\u0080\u00A2\nG.\nThe Fort Tecumseh and Pierre Journal .\n947-974\n975-983\nH.\nJournal of a Steamboat Voyage from St. Louis to Fort\nUnion 084-1003\n **\u00C2\u00AB\u00E2\u0096\u00A0>\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.\nVOL. n.\nFort Pierre in 1833\nFrontispiece\nFort Clark. Winter View from Across the Mis-\nsour:, 1833 ....... Facing page 610\nSurviving Bastion of Old Fort Benton\nu a\n764\nAgreement of Dissolution of the Rocky Mountain\nFur Company \" \" 864\n \u00E2\u0096\u00A0L-JLJ.JI,,,\n^ffiT^pr -\n-*\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\n\u00E2\u0096\u00A0J? J. ,-\n^Tr^9^\nCHAPTER XXVII.\nTHE SANTA FE TRADE.\nSANTA FE.\nAntiquity of Santa Fe \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Early history \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Description \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Character of\npopulation \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Government of New Mexico \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Religion \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Jealous feeling\ntoward the United States \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Backward state of commerce \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Domestic\nlife \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Allegiance of the people to their government.\n^T* HE scene of our narrative now shifts from regions that\n^\"* had but recently come to the knowledge of the civilized world to one of the oldest settlements of European colonists upon the continent of America. Three hundred years before the close of the period covered by this\nwork the Spanish had entered New Mexico, Arizona, and\nCalifornia. Long before any one but De Soto had entered\nthe almost illimitable valley of the Mississippi Coronado had\ncrossed many tributaries of that stream and had even penetrated to the plains of central Kansas. At the time when\nLouisiana came into the possession of the United States,\nthere were communities upon its very borders already venerable with two centuries of history under European government, and entitled to be called \" old \" in a degree which\nmany of the United States, even a century later, can not\napproach. In dealing with those scattered communities of\ntraders whose adventures are the subject of our present ins\nquiries, we find them now wandering over unknown and unexplored wilds, treading upon ground untrodden by white\nmen before, and anon trafficking in the streets of a town\nwhere Europeans had held sway for six generations. It\nwas a singular circumstance, this contiguity of the new and\nthe old, and how such a condition could have lasted so long\nPMfWWW\nom*>\n 484\nSANTA FE.\nwould be quite inexplicable without a clear understanding\nof the claims of the rival colonizing powers of Europe.\nSanta Fe was founded in the first or second decade of the\nseventeenth century. The precise date and circumstances of\nthis event are not known, and may never be, but the date\nitself lies between 1609 and 1617. Thus, while not the oldest town in the United States, it is one of the oldest and is\nsurpassed in this distinction by only two or three others.\nThe little village had an arduous road to travel in\nits first two hundred years of existence. It was conquered by the natives and reconquered from them, but\nfinally arrived at the portal of the nineteenth century with its\nauthority fairly established, although not upon that firm\nfoundation which alone can ensure the stability of government. The native races, with whom its people had mingled\nto such an extent as to produce a mixed class in which the\nSpanish and native blood about equally prevailed, had never\nbecome, in spite of this consanguinity, loyal supporters of\ntheir Spanish and Mexican rulers.\nSanta Fe, during the period of its most prosperous trade\nwith the United States, was a city of perhaps three thousand\ninhabitants. It had grown up among the ancient Pueblo\ntowns of the upper Rio Grande, and it is even claimed by\nsome, although on doubtful authority, to have occupied the\nsite of one. The city lies on a small tributary of the Rio\nGrande, some twelve miles east of the river. The valley\nwhere the town is built is one of the most beautiful in the\nWest. The surrounding peaks, some of them resting at altitudes where the snow rarely disappears, engirdle it like a\nmighty wall which is at once an ornament and a protection.\nThe climate is mild and salubrious and the situation as a\nwhole is ideal.\nThe old city presented in appearance nothing in common\nwith a modern American city. The streets seem to have\nradiated from a central point like the roots of a tree, along\nlines of least resistance, and are mostly without any pretense\nof regularity, either in direction, width, or grade. The only\n POPULATION OF SANTA FE.\n485\nmarked exception was the Plaza., or public square, the central common of the town. On one side of this square\nstood, and still stands, a long, low, one-story building, dignified with the name of palace, and probably the most interesting historic edifice in New Mexico or in the entire southwest. Other buildings of notable antiquity are the cathedral\nand church of San Miguel, the latter being one of the very\noldest structures in the United States. The buildings were\nmostly constructed of adobe and at a distance presented the\nappearance of a group of brick-kilns. It is recorded of a\nvery intelligent and discriminating observer that upon his\nfirst visit to Santa Fe he hailed the sight of these rude heaps\nas evidences that he was near his destination, for he thought\nthem simply the brick yards where the city manufactured\nits building material. He was greatly astonished to learn\nthat they were the city itself. Few of the buildings had any\nglass, yet the interiors were often furnished with a considerable degree of luxury.\nIn the little town thus meagerly described and in others\nof lesser note for several hundreds of miles along the Rio\nGrande north and south, dwelt a population little enough\nlike that of the United States. It was not very far removed\nfrom the ancient pueblos in whose midst it existed and with\nwhom it was so largely amalgamated. Art and learning\nwere practically unknown except among the military and\nreligious orders and even there they scarcely deserved the\nname. An impenetrable ignorance of the outside world\npervaded nearly all classes, an ignorance in part the result of\nthe extreme isolation of the colony and in part fostered by\nthe authorities, both civil and religious, as a safeguard to\nthe never-sure allegiance of the subjects either to church or\nstate. No such thing as a public press was known. Of N\nmedical and other sciences there was the densest ignorance,\nand even the common arts, upon which so much of everyday life depends, were in a hopelessly backward state. Agriculture rivaled its sister arts in the state of neglect which\nOppressed it. The industry of mining, the most important\n1\n 48\no\nDISCOVERY OF GOLD IN COLORADO.\nin the province, was so trammeled with government restrictions and ignorance of the art of mining that the wealth\nwhich lay within the bosom of those mountains remained\nalmost untouched until that country came into the possession\nof the United States.1 \u00C2\u00A7\nThe government of New Mexico was no better than its\nvarious manifestations that we have just described. It was,\nwhat Gregg aptly calls it, a military hierarchy. The army\nand the priests were the ruling power. Although a feeble\nattempt was at one time made at representative government,\nit was promptly abandoned and the conduct of affairs was\ngenerally prescribed according to the unrestricted will of\ncolonial governors. Justice was administered on the basis\nof open and unblushing corruption and a long purse was the\nonly passport to judicial favors.\nThe religion of the people was exclusively Catholic. No\nother form of public worship was allowed and foreigners\nwere compelled to confine their devotions to their own\nhomes. The Church was the one flourishing institution in\nthe colony and the repository of what little learning was to\nbe found there.2\nHere, as in all her colonies, Spain exhibited that petty\njealousy of rival powers which is born of conscious inferiority and a prescience of impending decay. This feeling was\nx James Purcell was the discoverer of gold in the mountains of\nColorado. About the year 1804, while wandering alone among the\nmountains near the head of the Arkansas, he found a small amount\nof gold, which he later threw away despairing of ever reaching civilization. Gregg, in Commerce of the Prairies, vol. IL, p. 185, states that\n\"some trappers have reported an extensive gold region about the\nsources of the Platte river; yet although recent search has been made\nit has not been discovered.\" Some reader of the copy of Gregg's work\nwhich belongs to the Mercantile Library of St. Louis placed the following note opposite the above extract in the year 1858: \" The truth of\nthis report has been confirmed this year.\"\n\"Governor Marmaduke, who visited Santa Fe in 1824, expressed his\nastonishment at the blind religious zeal of the people. Only the Catholic religion was tolerated, but it seemed to him unquestionably the one\nbest suited to the people.\n COMMERCIAL CONDITIONS.\n487\nparticularly bitter toward the United States, which to Spanish eyes was a black cloud rising on the horizon and certain\n. soon to burst like a tempest over the land. Throughout the\ntwo score years of commercial intercourse prior to the conquest of Mexico, American citizens underwent every form\nof indignity at the hands of the government, from connivance at petty thefts of the trader's goods to the basest and\nmost unprovoked murders. The moralist may not wholly\napprove of the motive behind the American cause in the War\nwith Mexico, but if all other motives were lacking, that\nalone of expiation for the accumulated wrongs of many\nyears would justify the conquest of this vast territory from\na government that did not know how to rule it.\nIt follows as a matter of course that with a government\nand a people such as have been described, commerce could\nnot but languish. The trade of the colony was hampered\nalike by distance and government restrictions. Before the\nAmerican imports began to arrive, foreign goods came\nmostly by way of Vera Cruz over a road between fifteen\nhundred and two thousand miles long. By the time they\nreached Sante Fe they brought a price (when people could\nafford to buy) which seems almost incredible when compared with those of today. Under these conditions trade\nwas necessarily small and the people were forced to do without many things which others of no better means, but living\nnearer the coast, could procure. It was a blessing to the\nisolated New Mexican when the hated and dreaded American arrived.\nFrom this sinister aspect of New Mexican institutions it\nmight be concluded that a people so circumstanced must be\nunhappy and miserable as under an unjust oppression. But\nthis would be a great mistake. Buried in ignorance, thoy\ndid not know their true estate and, like the negro in\nslavery, were contented with a condition which would be\nabhorrent to a people of higher civilization. Devoid of the\ncares that spring from an ambitious nature, content with\ntheir daily lot, looking forward to no higher condition, they\nexhibited to the foreign visitor a more serene contentment\nmam\nmmmmtmrnm\n~yr~\n \n488\nCONTENTMENT OF THE PEOPLE.\nthan he was familiar with under the boasted institutions of\nhis own country. Their simple habits of life, their various\namusements, their fandangoes, music, and balls, their sports\n\u00E2\u0080\u0094 and above all their gambling, gave to their listless minds\nall the exercise they needed. The Church held absolute\nmonopoly of their spiritual guidance and led them in blind\nobedience along the devious ways of a morality based upon\nignorance and superstition. She ministered largely to their\ntemporal pleasures by her numerous fetes and holidays, and\nat the same time held out to their minds the promise of\neternal happiness when this round of pleasure should come\nto an end.\nThe allegiance of such a people to such a government\ncould not be strong. Even the dark ignorance in which\nthey lived did not entirely blind them to the fact that their\nrulers cared more for themselves than for their people.\nGleams from the restless fires of liberty that were burning\nin the outside world now and then shot into the little valley\nfrom beyond the mountains, and there was a latent feeling\nthat a better state of affairs ought to exist than their government was able to give. This feeling the later intercourse\nwith the American traders did much to foster, and the\nAmerican government when it arrived found a people to\nwhom their old allegiance had become a byword, and who\nwere ready to welcome the liberator with open arms.3\n8\" These people are wonderfully improved, I am told, within the last\nthree years, as well in their manners, dress, etc., as in their political\nadvancement Liberal principles are fast gaining ground and taking\ndeep root and in proportion as these increase, the bigotry and tyranny\nof the church are weakened.\" Letter from an American trader dated\nSanta Fe, Feb. 7, 1826, published in the Missouri Republican, April 20,\n1826.\n CHAPTER XXVIII.\nTHE SANTA FE TRADE.\nHISTORICAL SKETCH.\nThe Mallet brothers \u00E2\u0080\u0094 First commercial expedition \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Morrison and\nLa Lande \u00E2\u0080\u0094 James Purcell \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Manuel Lisa\u00E2\u0080\u0094Pike's expedition \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Mal-\ngares' expedition \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The Spaniard and the American \u00E2\u0080\u0094 McKnight,\nBaird and Chambers \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Chouteau and DeMunn \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Adventures of D.\nMeriwether \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Termination of Spanish sovereignty in Mexico \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Baird,\nMcKnight and Chambers again \u00E2\u0080\u0094 William Becknell \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Glenn and Fowler\u00E2\u0080\u0094 Becknell's second journey \u00E2\u0080\u0094 First wagons on the Santa Fe Trail\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nExpedition of Baird and Chambers, 1822 \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Expeditions of 1824 \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Becknell on Green river \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Expedition of James O. Pattie \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Summary of\nearly expeditions \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Government survey of road to Santa Fe \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Military\nescorts to the caravans \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Major Riley's escort \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Obstacles to the trade\n\u00E2\u0080\u0094 Influence of the trade upon the War with Mexico.\nPROBABLY the first expedition that ever crossed the\ncountry all the way between Santa Fe and the Missouri river was the Spanish military force which was destroyed by the Missouri Indians in 1720. The next was\nthat of the Mallet brothers who in 1739 set out with six\ncompanions to go from the French settlements on the Mississippi to the Spanish settlements of New Mexico. They\nhad understood that their route lay by the headwaters of\nthe Missouri and they consequently ascended that stream as\nfar as the Aricara villages, where they learned their mistake. Retracing their steps for a distance they struck\nacross the country to the southwest, passing the Pawnee\nvillages on their way, and arrived at Santa Fe July 22, 1739.\nOn the 1st of May, 1740, they started on their way back.\nThree of the party returned by way of the Pawnee villages\nand the rest went down the Arkansas and the Mississippi\nto New Orleans.\n\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\u00C2\u00BB\nSHB\n 490\nFIRST POST ON THE UPPER ARKANSAS.\nThe first known expedition from the upper Mississippi\ncountry to the neighborhood of the Spanish settlements near\nSanta Fe, undertaken strictly for purposes of trade, is\ndescribed by Captain Amos Stoddard in his Sketches of\nLouisiana. No date is given, but it was before 1763,\nthough probably not long before, for one of the members\nof the party was still living in 1812. Captain Stoddard's\naccount of the expedition runs thus: \" While Louisiana was\nin the hands of France, some of the French traders from the\nupper Mississippi transported a quantity of merchandise by\nway of the Arkansas to the Mexican mountains where they\nerected a temporary store, and opened a trade with the Indians and likewise with the Spaniards of north Mexico.\nThe Spanish traders at or near Santa Fe, deeming this an\ninfringement of their privileged rights, procured the imprisonment of the Mississippi adventurers, and the seizure\nof their effects; and demanded punishment and confiscation.\nThe cause was ultimately decided at Havana. The\nprisoners were liberated and their property restored on the\nground that the store in question (situated on the east side\nof the summit of the mountains, and below the source of the\nArkansas) was within the boundaries of Louisiana.\" From\nthis description it is evident that the \" temporary store\" was\nin the neighborhood of the modern city of Pueblo, Colorado,\nand was therefore the first structure known to have been\nerected by white men within the limits of the state of\nColorado.\nDuring the Spanish regime in upper Louisiana there\nwould seem to have been no reason of a political character\nwhy a trade between St. Louis and Santa Fe should not have\nsprung up. But it did not to any great extent, for there is\nno record of any expedition either way during this period.\nThere must, however, have been some intercourse, for Lewis\nand Clark incidentally refer to communication with that\ncountry in a way to lead one to suppose that it was not an\nuncommon thing.\nThe second commercial expedition of which we have a\n ^\nLA LANDE S ADVENTURES.\n491\npositive record, occurred almost simultaneously with the\ntransfer of Louisiana to the United States. It was made\nby William Morrison of Kaskaskia, Illinois, a leading\nmerchant of the Mississippi valley and later a member of the\nfirm of Lisa, Morrison and Menard in 1807, and of the\nMissouri Fur Company in 1809. In the spring of 1804\nMorrison sent one Baptiste La Lande, a French Creole, to\nfind his way to Santa Fe and carry thither a small assortment of goods with a view of ascertaining what kind of a\nmarket was to be found there. La Lande traveled by way\nof the Pawnee villages, ascended the Platte river to the\nmountains, and then sent some Indians to Santa Fe to see\nif he would be permitted to visit the town. Some Spaniards\ncame out to meet him and escorted him and his merchandise\nto the village. He probably reached Santa Fe in the summer or fall of 1804. He told Pike in March, 1807, that he\nhad been there nearly three years. The goods found ready\nmarket and La Lande quickly accomplished the purpose of\nhis mission. But he was a long way from home, between\nwhich and him intervened many hundreds of miles of desert\ncountry and many hundreds of dangerous savages. The\ndread of these perils was magnified by the Mexicans, who\nwanted La Lande to stay there. The government also lent\nits assistance by offering him land, doubtless preferring that\nhe should stay rather than return with reports which would\ninevitably lead to a renewal of the enterprise. Last, and\nperhaps most effectual, the influence of female admirers\nturned the scale of the doubtful adventurer. He shuffled off\nwithout apparent compunction his obligation to his employer, appropriated the money to his own use, and decided\nto make Santa Fe his home.\nWhen Lieutenant Pike left St. Louis on his official expedi*\ntion to the source of the Red river in 1806 Morrison seized\nthe opportunity to get word, if possible, to Santa Fe, and\nfind out what had become of La Lande, and he placed his\nclaims against La Lande in Pike's hands. Later Pike made\nthis commission an occasion for sending an emissary to\n.\n\u00C2\u00BBwz2:\nmmm\nisnm\n 492\nJAMES PURCELL.\nSanta Fe; but, as the student of Western history knows, he\nwas himself escorted thither, vi et armis, and had an opportunity to press the claim in person. In fact, La Lande was\nsent to him in the character of a spy to draw from him the\nmotives of his visit to the Spanish frontier. But Pike\nquickly fathomed his design and treated the renegade so\n.unceremoniously that he was fain to beat a precipitate retreat\nfrom the presence of the irate officer.\nThis is about all we know of La Lande. Pike endeavored\nto secure satisfaction of Morrison's claim, but without success, and the faithless fellow was left in congenial company\namong his adopted compatriots.\nLess than a year after the arrival of La Lande in Santa\nFe, or in June, 1805, James Purcell, a native of Bardstown,\nKentucky, arrived. In 1802 with two companions he left\nSt. Louis to hunt among the Osage Indians, and when about\nto depart by way of the Arkansas river for New Orleans,\nwas robbed of his furs by a band of Kansas Indians.\nPurcell and his companions recovered their property by dint\nof daring performances which excited the admiration of the\nIndians and even of some of the traders who happened to be\nin the vicinity. The little party now undertook to reach\nSt. Louis, but ill luck seemed to pursue them, for they lost\nall their furs in the Missouri river near the mouth of the\nKansas. Here they met a trader on his way up the river\nto the Mandan Indians and Purcell joined his expedition.\nUpon arriving at their destination Purcell was dispatched\nto the southwest to trade with the plains Indians in the valley\nof the Platte. In the spring of 1805 the bands of Indians\nwith whom he was wandering were driven into the Bayou\nSalade where the South Platte finds its source. The\nIndians, who knew that they were not far from the Spanish\nsettlements, sent Purcell to get permission to come in and\ntrade. He arrived in June, 1805, and liked the situation\nso well that he did not even return with the Indian deputies\nto notify the parties who had sent him of the success of the\nerrand.\n SCHEMES OF MANUEL LISA.\n493\nPurcell remained in Santa Fe for many years thereafter.\nUp to the time of Pike's arrival he had been pursuing his\ntrade of carpenter to great profit except, as he assured Pike,\nwhen working for officers. He was held under pretty strict\nsurveillance, was forbidden to write, and narrowly escaped\ncapital punishment for having unwittingly violated the local\nlaw by making some gunpowder. But on the whole he\nfound the new situation agreeable and decided to make\nSanta Fe his future home.1\nIn 1806 there was being organized at St. Louis by a\nprominent trader a project for trade with Santa Fe. The\nscheme was to form a large depot among the Osages, and\nthen at the proper time to push on with an escort of friendly\nIndians to within 1 three or four days' travel of the Spanish\nsettlements.\" Leaving the main party with the goods under\nguard of the friendly Indians, the leader was to go to Santa\nFe with a few well-selected articles and try to get permission to bring in his entire outfit. If not successful he was\nto induce as many Spaniards as possible to go back with him\nand trade at his camp.\nNothing more was ever heard of the venture, and it is\nknown to us only through a letter of instruction from General Wilkinson to Lieutenant Pike, dated August 6, 1806.\nIn this letter Wilkinson takes strong ground against the\nenterprise and urges Pike to do all in his power to frustrate\nit. The name of this enterprising trader is not mentioned,\nbut it is thought to be Manuel Lisa.2 The surmise is very\nprobably correct, for nothing could have been more natural\nthan that Lisa should have undertaken such a venture. He\nm\n1 Pike is almost our only authority upon La Lande and Purcell, but I\nhave seen a confirmatory reference to the latter in the Missouri Intellfc\ngencer of April 10, 1824, which contains an article upon the Navajo In*\ndians by one James Purcell, lately returned from Santa Fe and \"for\nnineteen years a citizen of New Mexico.\" This confirms the date of\nhis arrival as given by Pike, 1805. The spelling Purcell is undoubtedly\ncorrect although Pike gives it as Pursley.\n8 So considered by Dr. Elliott Coues in his carefully annotated edition\nof Pike's Journals, Francis P. Harper, New York, 1895.\n 494\nPIKE S EXPEDITION.\nwas already in relations with William Morrison, who had\nsent La Lande to Santa Fe, and who was anxious to learn\nthe fate of that expedition. But if it was Lisa that gentleman's attention was soon turned to other fields of activity\nand his plans never materialized.\nThe first journey ever made by an officer of the United\nStates government to Santa Fe occurred in 1806-7. Lieutenant Zebulon Montgomery Pike was ordered to visit certain tribes of Indians in the newly-acquired regions to the\nwest and southwest of St. Louis, among them the\nComanches, near the sources of the Arkansas.and Red rivers,\nand also to determine the \" direction, extent and navigation ' of those two streams. It was inevitable that these\ninstructions should take him into Spanish territory and there\nis strong reason to suspect that he had other instructions,\nnot in writing, that required him to push his explorations\nmuch nearer the Spanish capital of Santa Fe than his published orders or his skilful disclaimer in his journal would\nindicate. No one may ever know whether the trap into\nwhich Pike ran, when he built his redoubt on the west\nbank of the Rio Grande and hoisted the American flasr in\nthe very faces of the Spaniards, was a trap set by himself\nor not; but every circumstance of the expedition indicates\nthat it was all a scheme to get into Santa Fe and learn what\nhe could of the country without having his purpose\nsuspected. Such at any rate was the outcome of the affair.\nPike and the remnants of his party, after the terrible experience of the previous winter in the mountains, were marched\nas prisoners to Santa Fe. Thence, after a brief sojourn,\nthey were taken to Chihuahua, where they were brought\nbefore the governor. They were then permitted to return\nhome, which they did via Natchitoches on the Red river,\nwhere they arrived July 1, 1807.\nIt is not the purpose here to give any detailed account oi\nthis celebrated expedition. | It has been dealt with in the\nmost exhaustive manner by the latest editor of Pike's Journals, Dr. Elliott Coues. and does not coim wkhin the\n MALGARES EXPEDITION.\n495\nprogram of the present work further than to show its relations to the development of the Santa Fe trade. Pike\nbrought back the first definite information which had yet\nbeen received in the United States concerning the commercial and political condition of this Spanish province, and\nhis expedition had unquestionably a large influence in\ninducing traders to look in that direction for profitable\nadventure.\nIt is an interesting coincidence that almost simultaneously\nwith the United States exploring expedition into Spanish\nterritory there took place a much more formidable one from\nSanta Fe far into United States territory. The Spanish\nexpedition consisted of one hundred dragoons of the regular\narmy and five hundred mounted militia, with two extra\nhorses and a mule to each man and ammunition for six\nmonths. It was commanded by a distinguished Spanish\nofficer, Don Facundo Malgares. It left Santa Fe probably\nabout the middle of June, for that was the date of a commission carried by Malgares to the chief of the Pawnees. The\nroute of the party at first lay down the Canadian, thence\nnortheast to the Arkansas, and from that point to the Pawnee\nvillages where a grand council was held. The expedition\nthen returned to Santa Fe where it arrived in October. The\nSpaniards could scarcely have been a month ahead of the\nAmericans at the Pawnee villages. Their expedition,\naccording to Pike, was intended to forestall his own, and it\nis a remarkable instance of the energetic fashion in which\na Spaniard could execute an enterprise when he once really\nset about it.\nThere is a profound significance in the almost simultaneous presence of these two expeditions upon the boundless\nprairies that separated the frontier settlements of their\nrespective countries. One was looking into the future andN\npaving a way for the irresistible expansion of his people.\nThe other was clinging to the past and watching with distrustful eye the too rapid progress of a rival power. Both\nwere visiting the wild inhabitants of the plains and seeking\n 496\nM'KNIGHT, BAIRD, AND CHAMBERS.\nwith presents and speeches and grandiloquent pictures of the\ngreatness of their respective nations, to secure their attachment. In this preliminary skirmish between two powers,\nwhich were even then, did they but know it, preparing the\nwav for inevitable conflict, the advantage was on the side\nof the Spaniard. Between the powerful and well-appointed\nexpedition of Malgares and the small and poorly-equipped\nhandful of men with Pike the contrast was great, and to the\nuntutored mind of the prairie inhabitant there could be no\ndoubt of the outcome of a trial of strength between their\ngovernments. He could not see the forces behind these\noutward manifestations \u00E2\u0080\u0094 the expanding vigor of a young\nnation and the decadent energies of the old; but in due time\nhe came to know.\nIt was not until several years after Pike's return that\nattempts were renewed to open a trade with Santa Fe \u00E2\u0080\u0094 at\nleast no records of such attempts have come down to us.\nPublic attention had been strongly attracted to the upper\nMissouri by the return of Lewis and Clark. All the leading St. Louis traders had united in a company to prosecute\nthe trade in that region, and for the time being the southwest dropped out of consideration.3\nThe next expedition to Santa Fe of which there is any\nrecord took place in 1812. It was composed of twelve men,\nthe leaders of the enterprise being Robert McKnight, James\nBaird and Samuel Chambers. They were induced to undertake the journey in the belief that Spanish authority in New\nMexico was overthrown by the revolutionary chief Hidalgo,\nand that they should find the baneful customs and regulations which were practically prohibitive of foreign trade,\nremoved. Their hopes were doomed not only to disappointment, but to a reality exactly the reverse of what they\nexpected. The Hidalgo movement had failed, the chief had\n4 In November, 1809, three men by the names of Smith, McClanahan\nand Patterson, under the guidance of a Spaniard, Manuel Blanco, left\nSt. Louis for Santa Fe. Nothing further is known of them.\u00E2\u0080\u0094Missouri\nGazette, October, 1810.\n ipr\u00C2\u00BB\nCHOUTEAU AND DE MUNN.\n497\nbeen executed, and the Spanish authorities, intensely suspicious of foreigners and especially of Americans, seized\nthe traders immediately upon their arrival, sent them to Chihuahua and put them in prison. Here they remained\nupwards of nine years, or until the revolutionary movement\nfinally succeeded under Iturbide, when they were set at\nliberty. Mr. John McKnight, brother of the trader, went\nto New Mexico to find his brother in 1821 and both returned\nwith several other traders in September, 1822.4 Baird also\nreturned in 1822 while Chambers made his way down the\nCanadian in the fall of 1821.\nThe next expedition to Santa Fe, so far as is known,\noccurred in 1815-17. In the summer of 1815, Mr. A. P.\nChouteau and Julius De Munn of St. Louis formed a partnership for the purpose of trading on the upper Arkansas.\nThey left St. Louis on the 10th of September, \" in company\nwith Mr. Phillebert, a trader, who had gone to the mountains the year before, and who had come back to get a\nsupply of goods to enable him to buy horses to bring in his\nfurs.\"5 On their way to the mountains Chouteau and\nDe Munn purchased Phillebert's entire outfit and the time\nof his men. Phillebert had appointed Huerfano creek, a\nbranch of the Arkansas, as a rendezvous for his men, but\nwhen his party arrived there, December 8, 1815, they learned\nfrom some Indians that the men, despairing of Phillebert's\nreturn, and being destitute of necessaries, had taken everything with them and had gone over to the Spaniards. It\nwas accordingly decided that De Munn should go after\nthem. He found the men at Taos, where they had been well\ntreated, and upon going to Santa Fe to see the governor he\nwas himself very well received at the capital. This favorable reception induced De Munn to seek permission to trap\non the headwaters of the Rio Grande, which he had observed\nto abound in beaver. The governor had not authority to\n* This disgraceful affair will always remain a blot upon the history of\nAmerican diplomacy.\n8 See Part IV., Chapter I.\n\u00E2\u0096\u00A0ewai\n 498\nEQUIVOCATING SPANIARDS.\ngrant permission but promised to recommend it to his government. Not being able to wait for a reply, De Munn\nwent back, taking his engages from Taos, and returned to\nChouteau's camp on the Huerfano. It was there decided\nthat De Munn should return to St. Louis for an additional\nequipment. He accordingly set out on the 27th of February, 1816, with Phillebert and one man and reached St.\nLouis in forty-six days.\nDe Munn, with a new outfit and party, left St. Louis July\n15, and returned to the mouth of the Kansas river, where he\nmet Chouteau, who had agreed to come there with the\nwinter's hunt. Chouteau, on his way down, had had a\nsevere fight with the Pawnees in which he had lost one man\nand had killed several of the Indians. After dispatching\nthe furs to St. Louis Chouteau and De Munn returned to the\nmountains with a party of forty-five men. The hunters\nwent on to the Sangre de Cristo mountains while De Munn\nstarted for Santa Fe to see if the governor had yet received\nauthority for the Americans to hunt upon Spanish territory.\nHe was disappointed to learn, before he reached Santa Fe,\nthat there had been a change of governors and that the new\nincumbent was ill-disposed to his interests. He was not\neven permitted to visit the capital, but was ordered with all\nhis people to withdraw from the Spanish dominions. De\nMunn returned with his party and all turned north to the\nheadwaters of the Arkansas, where they remained during\nthe fall and winter.\nIt was then planned to start early in the spring and make a\nhunt on the headwaters of the Columbia; but still hoping for\nsome favorable concession from the Spaniards which would\nenable them to pursue their adventures in their present\nneighborhood, De Munn made another trip to Taos. He\nfound things most unfavorable. The authorities pretended\nto have information that there were a fort and twenty thousand men on the Arkansas, and De Munn, instead of returning with the desired concession, was escorted back by two\nhundred armed men who were ordered to cause all caches\n1\n ssc\nTAKEN TO SANTA FE.\n499\nto be raised, to investigate the question of the fort and armed\nforce, and if nothing of that sort should be found, to conduct\nthe traders a distance down the Arkansas, and then let them\ngo back to St. Louis. After a long train of negotiations\nand an examination of the territory in question, it was\nfinally agreed that the party might be allowed to remain on\nthe north side of the river.\nAn attempt was made in the spring of 1817 to reach the\nColumbia by crossing the mountains of Colorado, but the\nsnow would not permit, and the season being now far\nadvanced, it was decided that Chouteau should remain on\nthe headwaters of the Arkansas and Platte for another year\nand that De Munn should return to St. Louis with the furs.\nDescending from the mountains to a place where a quantity of furs had been cached, both Chouteau and De Munn\nmade preparations for the latter's departure for St. Louis.\nMay 23rd, 1817, was fixed as the date of departure.\nUnluckily it rained hard that day and prevented the start and\non the 24th a force of Spanish troops appeared with orders\nto escort the whole party to Santa Fe. This was accordingly done, and all the furs and property of the traders were\nconfiscated. The party were thrown into prison and for a\ntime even confined in irons. After forty-eight days' imprisonment they were tried by court-martial and sentenced to\nleave the dominions of Spain, forfeiting all their property\nexcept one horse each. The party returned to St. Louis,\nwhere they arrived early in September.6\nThus, after three years of the arduous toil of a trapper's\nlife, these courageous adventurers had the satisfaction of\nseeing the whole fruit of their labors swept away in an\ninstant. After their return to the United States a formal\napplication for relief in the sum of about thirty thousand**\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 Missouri Gazette, Sept. 13, 1817. \"Mr. Auguste Chouteau, Mr. De\nMunn and companions, after 48 days' confinement in the prison of Santa\nFe, returned last Sunday to their rejoicing families and friends.\"\nFor the circumstances of the Santa Fe court-martial see infra Chapter XXXI., Incidents of the Trail.\n 5\u00C2\u00B0\u00C2\u00B0\nEND OF SPANISH DOMINION.\ndollars was made to the United States government. The\nclaim was favorably reported upon, but whether ever paid\nor not does not appear.\nThe outrageous treatment of .Chouteau and De Munn,\nand the knowledge that a party of Americans were even then\nlanguishing in the dungeons of Chihuahua, seems to have\ndeterred further adventure in that direction until the overthrow of Spanish power in Mexico in 1821. There is some\nevidence, however, that parties must have gone to Santa Fe\nduring these years, for otherwise it is difficult to see upon\nwhat the St. Louis Inquirer of September, 1822, could have\nbased the remark that \" it is becoming a familiar operation\nfor our citizens to visit this capital.\" The only actual\nrecord of such a journey during these years that has come\nto our notice is that of a Mr. D. Meriwether, an Indian\ntrader, who in 1819 accompanied a war party of Pawnees\nas far as to the Spanish frontier. Here they encountered a\nSpanish force by which the Pawnees were utterly defeated\nand Meriwether was taken prisoner, carried to Santa Fe.\nand placed in confinement. Over thirty years afterward he\nreturned to the place of his imprisonment as governor of\nNew Mexico.\nThe period of Spanish dominion in New Mexico, which\nterminated in 1821, was thus marked by total failure on the\npart of American traders to gain any foothold in the Santa\nFe trade, and the commerce of the prairies, which was soon\nto attain such large proportions, can not be said to have yet\nbegun.\nThe first effect of the change of form of government in\nNew Mexico was favorable to the American traders, who\nwere thereafter permitted to visit Santa Fe. As soon as\nthe news of successful revolution reached the United States,\nJohn McKnight, brother of the unfortunate trader who,\nwith James Baird, Samuel Chambers and others, had now\nbeen prisoners in Mexico for nine years, started for Chihuahua to see if he could not secure his brother's release.\nWhether as a result of this effort or not, the whole party\n mm\nWILLIAM BECKNELL.\n50I\nwere set at liberty and returned to the United States.\nChambers went home by way of the Canadian river in the\nfall of 1821. Baird and the McKnight brothers returned\nby way of Santa Fe. Upon their arrival at Taos they fell\nin with a party under two traders by the names of Hugh\nGlenn and Jacob Fowler, who had come out from the\nStates the previous autumn and were now about to return.7\nJoining this party June 1, 1822, they reached home in July\nfollowing.\nTo William Becknell, of Missouri, belongs the honor of\nbeing the founder of the Santa Fe trade and the father of\nthe Santa Fe Trail. It was he who took the first successful trading expedition to Santa Fe. He first passed along\nthe general route later followed and he was the first to take\nwagons over the route. In the Missouri Intelligencer of\nFranklin, Missouri, June 10, 1822, Becknell had an advertisement calling for a company of seventy men \" to go westward for the purpose of trading for horses and mules and\ncatching wild animals of every description.\" Although\nSanta Fe is not mentioned, it is difficult to conceive of\nany other place \" westward' where mules could be traded\nfor. Thither in fact the party was bound. They rendezvoused at the home of Ezekiel Williams (of \" Lost Trappers9' fame) on the 4th of August and crossed the Missouri at Arrow Rock, September ist. They reached the\nArkansas September 24th and Santa Fe November 16th.\nBecknell's route was up the Arkansas to the mountains\nwhere, according to Gregg, it was his intention to remain\nand trade with the Indians, but having fallen in with a\nparty of Mexicans he was induced to take his outfit to Santa\n7 See infra p. 502.\nJohn McKnight subsequently built a post on the upper Arkansas near n\nwhich he was killed by the Comanches in 1823. His fort was then\nabandoned.\u00E2\u0080\u0094Missouri Intelligencer, August 12, 1823. Robert McKnight evidently returned in later years to the scene of his ldng\nincarceration, for Kit Carson says he hired out to him as teamster\nin Chihuahua in 1828. Peter's Province Life and Frontier Adventures,\nP- 33-\n ^02\nEXPEDITION OF GLENN AND FOWLER.\nFe. Here he sold out at a handsome profit, and on December 13th left San Miguel with a single companion by the\nname of McLaughlin and reached home January 29th, 1822.\nDuring the same year Jacob Fowler, of Covington, Kentucky, who rejoiced in the title of Major, and Hugh Glenn,\nof Cincinnati, Ohio, who was known among his acquaintances by the Blue Grass addition of Colonel, made a joint\nexpedition to Santa Fe. Glenn had already established a\ntrading post on the Arkansas river near the mouth of the\nVerdigris, and hither Major Fowler made his way via Fort\nSmith early in September, 1821. Colonel Glenn joined the\nparty, which numbered twenty persons, and, possibly by\nvirtue of nominal rank, assumed the command. The start\nfrom Glenn's post was on the 21st of September, 1821.\nTheir course for some time was in the country to\nthe north of the Arkansas, but it came back to that river\nnear the mouth of the Little Arkansas. It then continued\nup the river to the base of the mountains, where, on the 2nd\nof January or thereabouts, Colonel Glenn left Fowler with\nmost of the party while he set out with four men for Santa\nFe. Nothing was heard from him until the 28th of January\nwhen some Spaniards arrived with news of the success of\nthe Mexican Revolution. Glenn sent word that he had met\nwith a very friendly reception at Santa Fe and requested\nFowler to proceed there at once with his party, for he had\nobtained permission to hunt and trap in the Mexican provinces. On the 8th of February, 1822, Fowler arrived in\nTaos, where he met Colonel Glenn. The Colonel then\nreturned to Santa Fe while Fowler made a spring hunt in\nthe mountains. At some time during the spring they were\njoined by McKnight's party just from the prisons of Chk\nhuahua, and on the ist of June they all set out for the United\nStates. On the 12th they met a party under Braxton\nCooper on the Arkansas a little east of the present boundary\nline between Colorado and Kansas. On the 29th of June,\nnear Ottawa, Kansas, they came upon a wagon trail made\nby William Becknell's party only a short time before. The\n BECKNELL S SECOND EXPEDITION.\n503\nparty reached Fort Osage July 5 th, whence they proceeded\nto St. Louis and Fowler reached his home in Covington,\nKentucky, on the 22nd of July.8\nThe favorable report brought back by Becknell in the winter of 1821-22 led to repetitions of the enterprise in the\nfollowing spring. Both Braxton Cooper and Becknell himself took out expeditions. Cooper set out in the latter part\nof April, made the journey in safety, and the greater part\nof the company returned in the following autumn. Becknell\nleft Arrow Rock near Franklin May 22 with twenty-one\nmen and three wagons. Between the Missouri and the Arkansas he was stopped by the Osage Indians, who threatened to confiscate his property, but through the good offices\nof one of the Chouteaus who was trading with these Indians\nat the time, he was allowed to proceed.\nUpon his arrival at the Arkansas he was joined by the\nparty of a Mr. Heath who is not elsewhere mentioned in the\nnarratives of the times. The journey from the Arkansas\nto San Miguel, the first Spanish settlement, situated about\nfifty miles from Santa Fe, consumed twenty-two days.\nHow long Becknell remained in Santa Fe at this time is not\nknown, but the return journey, which took forty-eight days,\nprobably occurred in October and November.\nThis journey is of historic importance in that it was the\nfirst which led directly to San Miguel by way of the Cimarron river instead of following the Arkansas to the moun-\n8 The chief value of the Glenn-Fowler expedition is in the fact that\nMajor Fowler kept a journal, and that this journal has been published\nunder such able editorship as that of Dr. Elliott Coues. With a degree\nof courage such as few editors would have shown, Dr. Coues has\nreproduced the preposterous orthography of the original journal with absolute fidelity, and it is probably the best example of poor spelling**\nand punctuation in existence. Apart from its singular appearance\nthe journal has a real value as a contribution of the history of an\nobscure period. Perhaps the most valuable feature of all is the exhaustive editorial commentary upon topics connected with the expedition. The Journal of Jacob Fowler. Elliott Coues. New York,\nFrancis P. Harper, 1898.\n 5\u00C2\u00B04\nFIRST WAGONS TO SANTA FE.\ntains; and it was also the first that made use of wagons in\nthe Santa Fe trade. To William Becknell therefore belongs\nthe credit of having made the first regular trading expedition\nfrom the Missouri to Santa Fe; of being the first to follow\nthe route direct to San Miguel instead of by way of Taos;\nand the first to introduce the use of wagons in the trade.\nThis last achievement was four years before Ashley took his\nwheeled cannon to the Salt Lake valley, eight years before\nSmith, Jackson and Sublette took wagons to Wind river,\nand ten years before Bonneville took them to Green river.9\nIn the fall of 1822 James Baird and Samuel Chambers, of\nthe unfortunate party so long imprisoned in Chihuahua,\ntook an expedition consisting of about fifty men from\nFranklin to Santa Fe. Upon their arrival at the Arkansas\nthey were overtaken by a snow storm of such severity as to\ncompel them to go into/winter quarters. They encamped on\nan island and remained there through a very severe winter,\nin which all their animals perished. When spring arrived,\nbeing unable to transport their goods, they cached them\nsome distance above the island on the north shore. Thence\nthey went to Taos, procured some mules and came back and\nrecovered their property. The spot was thereafter known\nas the Caches.10\n9 The evidence on this point is conclusive. See Journal of Jacob Fowler, p. 167. \" We have to leave the wagon [road] we fell into two days\nback, which road was made by Becknell and his party on their way to\nthe Spanish settlements.\" This was July 1, 1822. Becknell himself in a\nletter written in 1825 referred to this year as the time \" when I opened\nthe road to Santa Fe.\" The Missouri Intelligencer, Feb. 18, 1823, says:\n\"But one wagon has ever gone from this state to Santa Fe and that\nwas taken by Captain Wm. Becknell ... in the early part of last\nspring, and sold there for $700, which cost here $150.\" This might\nmean that Becknell lost two wagons on the way, but Becknell's journal\nindicates that he took all the wagons through. Niles Register\nmistakenly refers to Cooper as having taken the three wagons to Santa\nFe, \"to the great astonishment of the people.\" It was, of course,\nBecknelLj Gregg, usually so accurate, evidently errs in saying that\nBecknell was defeated in his effort to cross the Cimarron desert and\nhad to return to the Arkansas and go by way of Taos. Becknell's\nJournal makes it plain that he crossed the desert.\n10 See Gregg, Commerce of the Prairies, vol. I., p. 67, and Missouri\nIntelligencer, Sept. 3, 1822.\n!S 1\n \\nEXPEDITIONS OF 1824.\n505\nWe have the record of but one expedition to Santa Fe in\nthe year 1823, although there were undoubtedly others.\nThis was composed of thirty persons under the command\nof Colonel Cooper and it left the vicinity of Franklin about\nMay 6th. Each member of the party took two pack horses\nand two hundred dollars' worth of goods. The party\nreturned in safety in the following October, bringing in four\nhundred \" jacks, jennies and mules,\" some other live stock\nand a quantity of furs.11\nThe year 1824 was an eventful one in the history of the\nSanta Fe trade, for it was marked by an immense increase in\nthe number and activity of those who had entered the rising\nbusiness. About the ist of April of that year, in a tavern in\nthe little town of Franklin a company of men assembled to\ndiscuss the organization of a Santa Fe expedition. It was\nto be upon a more extensive scale than any yet undertaken,\nand it was proposed to make a large use of wagons. The\ndetails were arranged and a rendezvous was appointed at Mt.\nVernon, Missouri, on May 5th, each man to come equipped\nwith one good rifle, one pistol, four pounds of powder, eight\npounds of lead, and twenty days' provisions.\nThe expedition set out on its long journey May 15, 1824;\ncrossed the Missouri six miles above Franklin on the following day; and on May 23rd arrived at the place of organization 1 three miles from the settlements.\" Here the party\nwas organized for crossing the plains. A. Le Grand, well\nknown in frontier history, was elected Captain, and others\nto the various subordinate offices. Among the party were\nMr. Marmaduke, who afterward became governor of Missouri, and Augustus Storrs who next year went out as\nUnited States consul to Santa Fe. The expedition consisted\nof eighty-one men, one hundred and fifty-six horses and\nmules, twenty-five wagons and about thirty thousand dollars' worth of merchandise. This was the first expedition\nupon which wagons were extensively used.\nThe party resumed their journey May 25th, reached the\na Missouri Intelligencer, May 13 and Oct. 28, 1823.\n 506\nBECKNELL ON GREEN RIVER.\nArkansas June ioth, passed San Miguel July 25th and\narrived in Santa Fe July 28th. After a successful trade\nmost of the party returned home. They reached Franklin\nSeptember 24th after an absence of four months and ten\ndays. They brought back as a result of their trade one\nhundred and eighty thousand dollars in gold and silver and\nten thousand dollars' worth of furs. It was one of the most\nprofitable ventures in the history of the Santa Fe trade.\nMr. Marmaduke, who kept a diary of the expedition,\nremained in Santa Fe during the winter and left for home\nMay 31, 1825.12\nIn the fall of 1824 Braxton Cooper took\" a party to Santa\nFe, leaving home in November. He lost two men on the\nway \u00E2\u0080\u0094 one by the name of Wixon, who was murdered by\nthe Osage Indians, and another by the name of Glen Owen,\nwho was killed by the Comanches.\nThe whereabouts of William Becknell during these two\nyears are not very clear, but it is certain that he was actively\nengaged in the trade, for we find him in the fall of 1824\nmaking a journey far to the west of Santa Fe. He left\nSanta Cruz November 5th with nine men and went to Green\nriver (so mentioned specifically) where he remained during\nthe winter. The little party suffered great hardship from\nhunger and cold. In an account furnished the Missouri\nIntelligencer, June 25, 1825, a week after Becknell's return\nto the United States, he says: \" We subsisted for two days\non soup made from the raw hide which we had reserved for\nsoling our moccasins, and the following morning the\nremains were dished up into hash. The young men\nemployed by me had seen better days and had never before\ngone supperless to bed nor missed a wholesome and substantial meal at the regular hour except one who was with me\nwhen I opened the road to Santa Fe.\"\nIn this connection the following account from the Intelligencer of April 19, 1825, will be of interest. On the 24th\nThe data for the foregoing narrative were gleaned from the Missouri Intelligencer.\n FIRST USE OF NAME \"GREEN RIVER.\"\n5\u00C2\u00B07\nof August, 1824, William Huddart and fourteen men left\nTaos and traveled west to \" Green River (probably the Colorado of the West)\" where the party separated, nine of them\nascending the river. The others fell in with a trader by the\nname of Robidoux who had with him five Americans. Two\ndays later they were attacked by the Arapahoes, who killed\none man and robbed the rest. Huddart and his five companions then left Robidoux and returned to Taos.\nThese two items are of especial interest as giving the first\nknown use of the name Green river as applied to the Colorado of the West; for there seems to be no doubt that this\nwas the stream referred to in both instances. It also gives\nus a clue to the wanderings of that active trader Robidoux\nwho, at a very early day, built a post on the Gunnison river\nand another in the valley of the Uintah on the farther slope\nof the Colorado of the West.\nAn interesting event of the year 1824 was an expedition\nof twenty-six Spaniards from Santa Fe to Council Bluffs,\nwhere, with the aid of Major O'Fallon, Indian Agent, they\nconcluded a treaty with the Pawnees who at that time were\nthe scourge of the traders in the territory of both governments. The Spaniards were greatly pleased with the attentions shown them by Major O'Fallon, They left for Santa\nFe on the nth of August.13\nThe year 1824 witnessed also another expedition, that of\nJames O. Pattie and his father, who left their home on the\nGasconade river, Missouri, June 24th with the intention of\ngoing up the Missouri river. They were stopped at Council Bluffs on account of having no license and they then\ndecided to join a party under Sylvester Pratte for Santa\nFe. They left Council Bluffs July 30th, went first to the\nPawnee villages on the Loup, thence south to the Arkansas,\nand thence via Taos to Santa Fe, where they arrived on the n\n5th of November. The career of the Patties for the six\nyears thereafter was mainly in the far southwest, in New\nMexico, Arizona and California, and does not fall within\n18 Missouri Intelligencer\, Sept. 25, 1824.\n \u00E2\u0096\u00A0=\u00C2\u00BB\n508\nJAMES O. PATTIE.\nthe scope of this work. The younger Pattie afterward published an interesting account of his adventures under the\ntitle of The Personal Narrative of James O. Pattie. It is\na faithful work, in very simple style, almost pathetic in its\ndetails of misfortune, and forms one of the many indictments of Spanish inhumanity toward Americans during\nthose early years.\nThe year 1825 was also one of great activity in the Santa\nFe trade. It is not, however, necessary to follow in minute\ndetail, as in the preceding years, the comings and goings of\nthe now frequent expeditions. The interest which always\nattaches to the beginnings of any enterprise justifies a\ndescent to the minutest circumstances which may elucidate\nits history; but this is no longer the case where such beginnings have grown into a regular routine. Henceforth it will\nbe necessary to present only those features which stand forth\nwith unusual prominence, relegating to the condensed summary of a footnote the details of the several expeditions.14\n141825 \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Becknell returned from Santa Fe June 1.\u00E2\u0080\u0094 Marmaduke left\nSanta Fe May 31; date of arrival in Franklin not known. \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Another\nparty left Santa Fe in June arriving in Franklin August 1 with 500\nmules and horses; pursued usual route; went from San Miguel to\nCanadian; down this stream 300 miles; thence N. E. to Arkansas at\nmouth of Little Arkansas; thence through Osage country home; were\nroughly handled by Osages.\u00E2\u0080\u0094 May 16, large party, 105 men, 34 wagons,\n240 mules and horses, Augustus Storrs, newly appointed consul to Santa Fe, Captain, left Fort Osage for Santa Fe; party returned by detachments at various times and by different routes during fall; a\nnumber, among them Storrs, remained. \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Another caravan left in May\nwith 81 men, 200 horses and $30,000 worth of goods; no further record.\n\u00E2\u0080\u0094 A party of Tennesseeans left Jackson, Tenn., for Santa Fe.. in April;\nreturned as far as Arkansas river with some of the above parties\nand then continued down that stream.\n1826 \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Early in April a party arrived in Franklin from Santa Fe.\nAbout same time party of 100 left for Santa Fe. \u00E2\u0080\u0094 About June 1, another party of between 80 and 100 persons, \" with wagons and carriages of\nevery description \" left Franklin for Santa Fe. \u00E2\u0080\u0094 June 9, \" six or seven\nnew and substantial wagons\" laden with goods arrived in Franklin\nen route for Santa Fe; owned by Mexican, Mr. Escudero, who was in\ncharge of them. This was about the beginning of Mexican proprietor-\n.:.H\"S\t\n SUMMARY OF EXPEDITIONS.\n5\u00C2\u00B09\nIt was in the year 1824 that the question of marking the\nroad to Santa Fe and of providing a military escort for the\ncaravans began to be agitated. Senator Thomas H. Benton\nof Missouri succeeded in getting an appropriation of ten\nthousand dollars for marking the road and twenty thousand\ndollars for securing the right of transit from tne Indians\nship in trade which monopolized more than half the business in 1843.\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nIt appears that in September of this year a party under Ceran St.\nVrain (if we may trust Inman) set out for Santa Fe, arriving there in\nNovember; in this party was a runaway boy, Kit Carson, then 17 years\nold.\n1827\u00E2\u0080\u0094Spring caravan from Franklin had 52 wagons and 105 men;\nEzekiel Williams, captain; Augustus Storrs and David Workman\nalong; the largest party yet; the only outgoing expedition mentioned,\nbut of course there were others; about 60 of the party returned about\nSept. 30, with 800 head of stock, valued at $28,000; absent four months;\ncleared 40 per cent. \u00E2\u0080\u0094 May 31, a party returned from Santa Fe successful.\u00E2\u0080\u0094July 19, a party of twenty arrived two days before from Santa Fe\nwith several hundred mules and $30,000 specie.\n1828. \u00E2\u0080\u0094 About ist of May caravan left Franklin for Santa Fe with\n$150,000 worth of merchandise and 150 persons. \u00E2\u0080\u0094 May 18, a party\nwas at Blue Springs en route to Santa Fe, with $7 wagons, and\n$41,000 worth of goods; September 12, 70 to 80 persons arrived in\nFranklin from Santa Fe; venture profitable, but lost two men, Munroe\nand McNees. \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Oct. 28, party of 25 arrived in Franklin from Santa\nFe; had been attacked by Indians who stole all their animals; killed\nJohn Means of Franklin, and compelled them to cache their specie.\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nBent's Fort erected this year; according to some authorities, the following year.\n1829. \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Spring caravan consisted of about 70 persons and 35 wagons; Charles Bent captain; military escort under Major Riley; Samuel C. Lamme killed en route; return cargo valued at $34,000; reached\nFranklin early in November.\u00E2\u0080\u0094 There seems to have been no other caravan this year.\n1830. \u00E2\u0080\u0094 About May 22, party of 120 with 60 wagons left Franklin for\nSanta Fe, returning in October with fair profits.\n1831. \u00E2\u0080\u0094 May 15, large party, of which Josiah Gregg was a member,\nnumbering nearly 200 and including some ladies, 100 wagons, two\nsmall cannon, and $200,000 worth of goods, left Independence, Moi,\nand having organized at Council Grove, left that place May 27; crossed\nthe Arkansas June 13, and arrived at San Miguel in due course. \u00E2\u0080\u0094 May\n21 st there was preparing at Franklin a large party for Santa Fe with\nabout $200,000 worth of goods. \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Some of the members had put their\n 5io\nSANTA FE ROAD COMMISSION.\nacross their territories. A commission was appointed consisting of Benjamin Reeves, George C. Sibley and Thomas\nMather. Their work began in 1825 and continued for three\nyears. The necessary concessions were secured from the\nIndians and the road was surveyed from Fort Osage to\nTaos.\nentire property in the venture. \u00E2\u0080\u0094 One of above parties returned, in October, after a successful trip.\u00E2\u0080\u0094October 20 a party of twenty-five or\nthirty persons passed Columbia, Mo., for Santa Fe, mostly from Eastern\nstates. It was this year that Smith, Jackson and Sublette made their\nunfortunate journey across the plains in which Smith lost his life.\n1832. \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Principal caravan under Charles Bent; date of departure\nnot given; returned about November ist, with $100,000 specie and\n$90,000 other property.\u00E2\u0080\u0094A party returning in the fall and winter of\nthis year attacked by Indians on Canadian January 1 and lost all their\nproperty and one man.\n1833. \u00E2\u0080\u0094 June 20, spring caravan at Diamond Grove, 184 men, 93\nwagons, under Charles Bent; November 9, 100 of above party returned with $100,000 specie and large amount of other property.\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nGregg returned this fall.\n1834.\u00E2\u0080\u0094May 24, caravan of about 125 wagons; Gregg probably with\nit; part of caravan under Captain Kerr left Santa Fe September 10,\narrived home in October, 140 men and 40 wagons with returns amounting to over $200,000.\nThe record of the caravans during the following years is very obscure, although it is certain that they continued as heretofore. \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Various causes contributed to the deficiency of record. Of all the authorities relied on in this note the Missouri Intelligencer is the most important, and next are the St. Louis papers and the Niles Register.\nThe Missouri Intelligencer and Boone's Lick Advertiser began its\ncareer in Franklin, where the Santa Fe trade had its origin and for a full\ndecade its headquarters. As the trade was at that time peculiarly an\nindustry of the country around Franklin the local paper kept a close\naccount of its doings. June 29, 1826, the paper was transferred to Fayette in the same county but back from the river, and four years later,\nMay 4, 1830, it was removed to Columbia, Missouri. As its\nhabitat was moved away from the river it became less in touch with the\nSanta Fe trade. The trade itself gradually transferred its headquarters\nto Independence, Missouri, which by 1830 had become the main starting\npoint. This town had no paper, and reports of events at so great a\ndistance often failed to be made. While, therefore, we should expect\nthat the later records would be the more complete, they are in reality\nless so.\n MILITARY ESCORTS.\n511\nTroubles with the Indians, resulting in frequent robberies\nand occasional loss of life, early led to appeals for government protection. A military post on the boundary line was\nat first proposed, but this idea was abandoned on account of\nthe difficulty of supply and the fact that the garrison would\nbe of little use except in its immediate vicinity. In 1829 the\nexperiment of an escort was tried. Major Bennett Riley 15\nwith four companies of the 6th Infantry was detailed from\nFort Leavenworth to accompany the spring caravan to the\nfrontier. He set out June 5th and joined the caravan a few\ndays later at Round Grove. The expedition proceeded\nwithout incident to the Arkansas and up this stream to the\nvicinity of Chouteau Island. As the road here turned off\nto the Cimarron and lay on Mexican soil, the United States\ntroops could go no farther. This was about the middle of\nJuly. MM j f\nScarcely had the caravan disappeared on the other side of\nthe river when some horsemen came riding back furiously\nand announced that it had been attacked and one of its number killed. Major Riley at once crossed the river and hastened to their relief. He then escorted them for a day\nlonger, but knowing the serious nature of an armed march\ninto foreign territory without permission, he determined to\ngo no farther. The caravan had become so panic-stricken\nby the recent event that about half of them resolved to\nabandon the trip and remain with the troops, but they were\nshamed out of their purpose.\nMajor Riley then returned to the neighborhood of Chouteau Island and went into summer camp, having agreed to\nawait the caravan's return until October 10th. He had a\nhard summer of it, being frequently annoyed by the Indians,\nand several incidents of thrilling interest enlivened the long\nstay in the barren and uninteresting region. Finally the\n10th of October arrived and brought no caravan. Major\nRiley decided to wait one day longer. No one appearing by\n\" A distinguished officer whose name is perpetuated in \" Fort Riley,\"\nan important military post in central Kansas.\n 512 AMERICANS AND MEXICANS ON THE ARKANSAS.\nthe morning of the nth, a parting salute was fired and the\ntroops set out for home. But scarcely had they gotten under\nway when some horsemen overtook them and announced\nthat the caravan was at hand. A halt was made immediately. The caravan was found to be accompanied by an\nescort of Mexican troops under Colonel Viscara, Inspector\nGeneral of the Mexican army. It had had a sharp brush\nwith the Indians a few days before 16 in which Viscara came\nnear losing his life. The escort was hospitably received by\nthe American troops; the officers were feasted as well as the\nlimited resources would permit, and a review was had in\ntheir honor.\nIt was a remarkable scene \u00E2\u0080\u0094 this gathering of the military\nforces of two nations in protection of an international commerce. It was moreover one of the most heterogeneous\ngatherings conceivable, for the Santa Fe caravans embraced\nevery class and condition of men to be found in the frontier\nsettlements of either country. Never, since the days when\nCoronado penetrated to the Kansas plains, had the barren\nand treeless prairies witnessed a more interesting spectacle.\nThree days were spent in this agreeable intercourse, and on\nthe 14th of October the caravan, after bidding farewell to its\nMexican escort, placed itself under the protection of the\nnational troops and took up its march for home.\nThe policy of furnishing escorts for the caravans did not\ncommend itself to the authorities. The large caravans were\namply able to protect themselves if they exercised reasonable caution, while it was of course impossible to furnish an\nescort for every little band that might choose to make the\ntrip. Moreover the escort could only go to the frontier and\nhad to stop at the very point where the danger was greatest.\nUnless a Mexican escort were there to meet the caravan it\nwas of very little use to provide protection over the least dangerous half of the way. The experiment of 1829 was therefore not often repeated. In 1834 an escort of sixty dragoons under Captain Wharton accompanied the caravan;\n16\nSee p.\ni>5J\nr\n MEXICAN OUTRAGES.\n5J3\nbut this, according to Gregg, was the last one until 1843.\nThe trade pursued the even tenor of its course during these\nyears with little of incident or note except the never-ending\ntroubles at the custom house. But the situation of affairs,\nas regarded the provincial government, became less and less\nsatisfactory. Mexico was falling into the same habit of suspicion and jealousy that had been so fatal to commercial\nintercourse during the Spanish regime. From their point of\nview there may have been some cause for this feeling. The\nonward march of American settlement they conceived to be\nfraught with great danger to their own authority in the\nnorthern provinces. Already Texas was as good as lost and\nthe same might soon prove true of New Mexico. There was\nconsequently a growing opposition among the Santa Fe\nauthorities to a continuance of the trade, although it was\nalways popular with the people.\nThe ephemeral insurrection of 1837 which for a short\ntime subverted Mexican authority bore hard on the American traders, for they were suspected, though apparently\nwithout foundation, of complicity in this movement. The\nvarious Texan-Santa Fe expeditions, so injudiciously managed, were another great annoyance to the trade; for here\nagain the authorities believed that the traders were privy to\nthe plans of the Texans. Consideration of these interesting events is foreign to the purpose of this work; and\nbelongs rather to the history of those great political changes\nwhich were about to come over this region. The lamentable\ntragedies to which they gave rise burned deeply into the public mind in the United States and went far to justify the\nsweeping conquest which followed so shortly after.\nThis brief sketch of the Santa Fe trade prior to 1843\nwould be incomplete if we omitted to refer to its supreme >\nimportance in the war which was even then (1843) gathering like a storm on the prairies. The long intercourse of\ntwenty years had made our people thoroughly familiar with\nthe routes, distances, character of country, and the people to\nbe encountered in military operations in that quarter. The\n BENEFICENT INFLUENCE.\ninterchange of commerce had made the New Mexicans better acquainted with our people, had created a friendly feeling towards them, and had effectually paved the way for the\nchange of allegiance that was soon to follow.\n CHAPTER XXIX.\nTHE SANTA FE TRADE.\nCHARACTER OF THE BUSINESS.\nCommercial isolation of Santa Fe \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Origin of the trade \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Franklin\nthe \"cradle\" of the Santa Fe trade \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Independence and Westport \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nKinds of merchandise used \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Character of return cargo \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Magnitude\nof the trade\u00E2\u0080\u0094Profits \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Small proprietors \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Further statements as to\nmagnitude of the trade \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The Santa Fe caravans \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Organization at\nCouncil Grove\u00E2\u0080\u0094Progress of the caravan \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Arrival at Santa Fe \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nPlacing the goods on sale\u00E2\u0080\u0094Customs regulations \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Armigo's duty on\nwagons.\n*lf N 1830 the following item appeared in a paper published\nin western Missouri: * \" The inland trade between\nthe United States and Mexico is increasing rapidly. This\nis perhaps one of the most curious species of foreign intercourse which the ingenuity and enterprise of American\ntraders ever originated. The extent of country which the\ncaravans traverse, the long journeys they have to make, the\nrivers and morasses to cross, the prairies, the forests and\nall but African deserts to penetrate \u00E2\u0080\u0094 require the most\nsteel-formed constitutions and the most energetic minds.\nThe accounts of these inland expeditions remind one of the\ncaravans of the East. . . . The dangers which both\nencounter\u00E2\u0080\u0094the caravan of the East and that of the West\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nare equally numerous and equally alarming. Men of high*\nchivalric and somewhat romantic natures are requisite for\nboth.\" I I\nThis singular business, the \" Commerce of the Prairies,\"\nwas unique in American history and owed its origin to the\ncondition of commercial isolation which existed in New\n* Missouri Intelligencer, Feb. 12, 1830.\n 5*6\nCOMMERCIAL ISOLATION.\nif\nMexico prior to the coming of the Americans. In spite of\nthe extreme paucity of geographical knowledge of the country between New Mexico and the Missouri in the earlier\nyears of the century, in spite also of the jealous surveillance\nof the Spanish government over the domestic affairs of her\ncolonies, and the careful exclusion of all knowledge concerning them from the outside world, certain facts had become\nknown to the American merchants of St. Louis and the settlements along the lower Missouri. It was clear that the\nMissouri river near the mouth of the Kansas was much\nnearer to Santa Fe than was Vera Cruz, whence all imported\nfabrics reached that inland town. Inasmuch as there was\ncontinuous navigation from American and foreign ports to\nSt. Louis and even to the mouth of the Kansas, nearly three\nhundred miles farther west, it was an obvious proposition\nthat traders from the Missouri could import goods to Santa\nFe more cheaply than the Mexicans themselves by way of\nVera Cruz. The only uncertainty in the matter related to\nthe duties which the Spaniards might levy upon imports.\nIf these were reasonable, then it was evident that the advantage of trade would lie with the Americans. These considerations led to attempts, as early as 1804, to open trade relations between St. Louis and Santa Fe. They were renewed\nat intervals, but always unsuccessfully, until the overthrow\nof Spanish power in Mexico. The trade then began to\ndevelop rapidly into a flourishing commerce which continued\nwith little interruption until Santa Fe became an American\ncity. It will be considered here in reference to the character of the traffic, the method of conducting the caravans\nand the conditions encountered in Santa Fe.\nI The town of Franklin on the Missouri river . . .\nseems truly to have been the cradle of our trade,\" says Josiah\nGregg, the historian of the Santa Fe Trail. Franklin was\nthe first town of importance in the celebrated tract of western\nMissouri known as Boone's Lick. It has now been entirely\nwashed into the river, while on the opposite shore has arisen\nthe thriving town of Boonville. At the time when the Santa\n T^ac^g-ui .M^**\nV\nCRADLE OF SANTA FE TRADE.\n517\nFe trade commenced, Franklin was the most important town\nof Missouri west of St. Louis, and the first to establish a\nnewspaper. It was two hundred and five miles by river\nabove the mouth of the Missouri and one hundred and\neighty-seven below the mouth of the Kansas. The earlier\nexpeditions to Santa Fe, after 1820, nearly all started from\nthis locality, and were made by residents of the Boone's Lick\ncountry. But as the trade grew in importance, as steamboats began to ascend the Missouri, and particularly as\ntraders from other points began to engage in the trade, the\nstarting place was gradually transferred to that point on the\nMissouri which was nearest to Santa Fe. Independence,\nMissouri, near the mouth of the Kansas, began to be an outfitting point as early as 1827. In the course of the next six\nyears the Missouri river destroyed the steamboat landing\nand the boats had to go farther up where there was a convenient and permanent bank. Here arose Westport landing, and a few miles back, Westport itself, which from that\ntime began to draw a share of the outfitting trade from Independence. By 1831 Franklin had almost entirely lost its\nhold as the starting place for the caravans, which thenceforth was permanently fixed in the neighborhood of the\nmouth of the Kansas. The trail to the mountains also\nstarted from this point and the growing volume of the mountain trade still further augmented the importance of this\nearly rendezvous.\nThe goods taken to Santa Fe in trade comprised almost\nevery variety that are made use of in every day life. There\nwere dry goods, silks, hardwares, calicoes, velvets, drillings,\nshirtings, etc.; but domestic cottons constituted fully half the\ncargo. The trade extended beyond Santa Fe, and in later\nyears a large portion of it was carried to Chihuahua, and\nsome even to California. From this last region were N\nbrought horses and mules which thus found their way from\nthe distant Pacific to the Mississippi valley and possibly even\nfarther east. The furs from the Colorado mountains were\nfrequently brought in by way of the Trail either by traders\n*\n MAGNITUDE OF THE TRADE.\nwho had purchased them, or by the trappers who joined the\ncaravans for protection. The most important item in the\nreturn cargo was specie, both gold and silver, which was\ntransported in large quantities to the States.\nThe magnitude of the Santa Fe trade at one time rose to\nabout four hundred and fifty thousand dollars per annum.\nFor the twenty-two years from 1822 to 1843 inclusive, it\naveraged over one hundred and thirty thousand dollars, or\nnearly three millions for the period. The following table,\nwhich is the only complete summary of the trade ever prepared, was compiled by Josiah Gregg, the most competent\nauthority who has treated of the subject. It gives the estimated value of the merchandise invested in the trade, the\nproportion taken to other points than Santa Fe, and the\nnumber of men, wagons, and proprietors for each year. The\nvalue of the goods is that of the Eastern markets where they\nwere purchased.\n STATISTICS OF THE TRADE.\n5*9\nm\nOD\nAmount\nof Mdse.\nOQ\na\n0\nbe\nod\ni\n1\nm\nN\nQ\nCD\nfcH\nM\nft\nO\nft.\nTaken\nto other\npoints\nthan\nSanta Fe.\nRemarks.\n1822\n$ 15,000\n70\n60\nf Pack animals only used [ex-\n\ cept Becknell's wagons].\n1823\n12,000\n50\n30\nPack animals only used.\n1824\n35,000\n26\n100\n80\n$ 3,000\ndo. and wagons.\n1825\n65,000\n37\n130\n90\n5,000\ndo. do.\n1826\n90,000\n60\n100\n70\n7,000\nWagons only henceforth.\n1827\n85,000\n55\n90\n50\n8,000\n1828\n150,000\n100\n200\n80\n20,000\n3 men killed, being the first.\n1829\n60,000\n30\n50\n20\n5,000\nU. S. escort. 1 trader killed.\n1830\n120,000\n70\n140\n60\n20,000\nFirst oxen used by traders.\n1831\n1832\n1833\n250,000\n140,000\n180,000\n130\n70\n105\n320\n150\n185\n80\n40\n60\n80,000\n50,000\n80,000\nTwo men killed.\n( Party defeated on Cana-\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2< dian. Two men killed, 3\n( perished.\n1834\n150,000\n80\n160\n50\n70,000\n2nd U. S. escort.\n1835\n140,000\n75\n140\n40\n70,000\n1836\n130,000\n75\ni35\n35\n60,000\n1837\n150,000\n80\n160\n35\n80,000\n1838\n90,000\n50\n100\n20\n40,000\n1839\n250,000\n130\n250\n40\n100,000\nArkansas expedition.\n1840\n50,000\n30\n60\n5\n10,000\nChihuahua expedition.\n1841\n150,000\n60\n100\n12\n80,000\nTexan-Santa Fe expedition^\n1842\n160,000\n70\n120\n15\n90,000\n1843\n450,000\n230\n350\n30\n300,000\nf 3rd U. S. escort. Ports\n| closed.\nid\n 520\nSMALL PROPRIETORSHIP.\nIn a business of so hazardous and uncertain a character\nthe profits must necessarily have been large to justify a pursuit of it. The goods were mostly bought in Eastern markets, and were sold at a great advance, often more than one\nhundred per cent upon the first cost. But by the time that\nthe sales were accomplished and the various expenses and\nlosses in transporting them so far were deducted, the net\nprofits rarely exceeded forty per cent, and were frequently\nas low as ten per cent. There were of course occasional\ninstances of actual loss.\nA striking characteristic of the Santa Fe trade was its division among a great number of proprietors. The above table\nshows to what a degree this was true and only in the later\nyears did the investments average as much as one thousand\ndollars per proprietor. It was a business of small dealers,\nand no \" American Fur Company i followed the Santa Fe\nTrail. Not infrequently individuals took with them all they\npossessed, and as the enterprises were generally profitable the\ntrade was undoubtedly a great benefit. Often individuals\nwould secure credits by mortgages upon their property until\ntheir return in the fall. If, as occasionally happened, the\nSanta Fe market proved dull, and it required considerable\ntime to get rid of one's cargo by retail, these home obligations enforced a resort to the less profitable method by wholesale in order that the business might terminate in time for the\ntrader to get back home and satisfy his creditors.2\naThe following letter is from a distinguished Santa Fe trader and\nplainsman, a partner of the no less distinguished Bent brothers. It is\nan example of the practice already alluded to:\nSan Fernando del Taos, Sept. 14, 1830.\nMessrs. B. Pratte & Co.\nGentlemen:\u00E2\u0080\u0094It is witlf pleasure that I inform you of my last arrival\nat Santafe which was the 4th of August, we were met at Red river\nby General Biscusa the customhouse officer and a few soldiers, the\nobject in coming out so far to meet us was to prevent smuggling and\nit had the desired effeck, there was a guard placed around our wagons\nuntil w^e entered Santafe, we had all to pay full dutys which amounts\nto about 60 percent on cost. I was the first that put goods in the\nCustomhouse and I opened immediately, but goods sold very slow, so\nIS 1^.\naswwesssy--\n wyeth's estimate of the trade. 521\nWhile there is no reason to doubt the substantial accuracy\nof the figures heretofore given concerning the Santa Fe\ntrade, there were those at the time who ridiculed its importance, as there are those who ridicule every movement which\nthe enterprise of man sets on foot. To give a fair hearing to\nboth sides, however, the following comments will be of value*\nThey are the substance of a spirited protest which appeared\nin the Missouri Republican of St. Louis, February 16, 1830,\nagainst a statement which had been made upon the floor of\nCongress that the trade of 1829 had amounted to two hundred thousand dollars and was deserving of government protection. The writer had procured an estimate from those\nwho alone knew anything about it, with the result that one\nslow that it was discouraging. I found that it was impossible to meet\nmy payments if I continued retaling. I there fore thought it was best\nto hole Saile & I have done so. I send you by Mr. Andru Carson and\nLavoise Ruel one wagon eleven mules, one horse and 653 skins of\nBeaver, 961 lbs. nine hundred and sixty one pounds, which you will\nhave sold for my account. I do not wish the mules sold unless they sell\nfor a good price.\nI am with much respect\nYour obdt. servt.\nCeran St. Vrain.\"\nThe following observations by Nathaniel J. Wyeth (Sources of the\nHistory of Oregon, p. 119) are to the same purpose: \"The following\nstatement is my view of the Santa Fee business, derived however from\nsuperficial observation, viz.:\nFirst cost of goods carried to St. Fee and duties paid the Mexican government $100,000\nOutfits and expenses on same 50,000\nProfits and interests in the States between the importer and the\nSt. Fee trader 25,000\n$175,000\nReturns made from St. Fee in Specie and Beaver $200,000,\nProfits remaining to the St. Fee traders $ 25,000 >\n\" This is, I presume, about the result of the trade. The goods are\ncarried to St. Fee by about 30 distinct traders in about 75 wagons.\nThe largest trader has rarely more than 12 wagons. More than one-\nhalf of these people are farmers and buy their goods on 12 months and\noften mortgage their farms and consequently are obliged to make\nreturns the same year.\"\n 522\nADVERSE OPINION OF THE TRADE.\nhundred and thirty-three thousand dollars and nine hundred of the twelve hundred mules which were brought back\nbelonged to Spanish refugees who were with the caravan and\nwere daily expecting a decree for their return. The specie\namounted to between twenty and thirty thousand dollars,\nabout twice the cost of the military escort, which did not prevent the loss of an estimable trader who was killed by the\nIndians. The furs belonged mostly to traders who came in\nwith the caravan for protection and whose property represented the fruit of two or three years' toil. \u00C2\u00A7 A majority\nof the traders invest in the trade from $io_o to $600; these\ncapitalists live cheaply upon buffalo meat, and improve their\nhabits and morals among the, in every way, vicious and lascivious inhabitants of Santa Fe. . . . It will not be\ndenied that most of the traders are professedly smugglers.\nOthers deceive the ignorance, or overcome by bribes the conscientious scruples, of the custom house officer, the agents of\nthe republic of Mexico. Ought this trade to be protected\nby the government\" ?\nNevertheless the trade was one of considerable magnitude\nand genuine importance. It was as honestly conducted as\nany business could be which had to do with Spanish officials.\nIt was an unquestioned blessing to the isolated community\npenned up in the mountains and it was a source of revenue to\na great many worthy American citizens. So important had\nit become to the New Mexicans that when a decree prohibiting it was promulgated in 1843, Gregg predicted that, unless\nthe decree were speedily withdrawn, revolution would\nfollow.\nThe most interesting feature of the Santa Fe trade was\nthat which related to the long journey over the plains. The\ndistance from Independence to Santa Fe was over seven hundred miles, and except for the last fifty miles, no permanent\nabode of civilized man greeted the eye of the traveler.\nMuch of the intervening territory was prairie country, some\nof it a barren, sandy, trackless desert, where lack of water\nwas an ever-present peril. All of it, except a narrow strip\n THE CARAVAN.\n523\nat either end, was infested with some of the most treacherous and restless Indians to be found west of the Mississippi.\nSo real were the perils of these long journeys that it was\nextremely hazardous for small parties to undertake them\nalone. The traders early formed the practice of banding\ntogether for mutual protection, over at least the most dangerous part of the journey. Hence arose the custom of forming caravans which every year crossed the plains in each\ndirection.\nThe traders, being of a very independent class, were\naverse to sinking their individuality in a general organization except when danger positively compelled it; and they\ntherefore deferred the caravan formation to the latest possible moment. From Independence they set off by themselves\nand went on in this way one hundred and fifty miles to\nCouncil Grove. Here, for many years, the caravans were\norganized, for beyond this point attacks might be looked for\nfrom the savages.\nThe first step in the organization was to select officers.\nIn the larger caravans the list was quite extensive, including\ncaptain, ist and 2nd lieutenants, marshal, clerk, pilot,\ncourt (three members), commander of guards, and a chaplain. For captain it was customary to select an experienced\nplainsman, bold and fearless, yet of cool judgment. These\nqualities, however, were rarely so conspicuous as to indicate\nany one man for exclusive choice, and as a result there was\na goodly amount of electioneering. The American of the\nplains could not shake off the training of his native country,\nand these elections usually proceeded by the most approved\nAmerican methods. | One would have supposed,\" says\nGregg, I that electioneering and party spirit would hardly\nhave penetrated so far into the wilderness; but so it was.\nEven in our little community we had our office-seekers and\ntheir political adherents, as earnest and devoted as any of\nthe modern school of politicians in the midst of civilization.\"\nNot only in the work of effecting an organization, but in\nthe organization itself, the patriotic trader patterned after\n\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\n 5^4\nPATRIOTISM ON THE PRAIRIES.\nthe institutions of his beloved country. Augustus Storrs,\nreferring to the expedition of 1827, says: \"Our government is almost as complete and perfect as though we composed a republican government; we can never forget the\nblessings of our own institutions; and I have no doubt that\nthe longer we are absent the more forcibly this idea will\noccur to us.\" In truth, the fires of patriotism burned ever\nbrightly on the prairies and in the mountains, and no wandering band was so benighted as to forget to render honor to\nthe institutions of their country wherever the anniversary of\nits natal day overtook them. Upon such occasions the entire\nresources of the party were called into requisition \u00E2\u0080\u0094 artillery (when there was any), oratory, and games of skill \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nwhile the celebration was rounded off in true prairie style\nwith the most ample feast and frolic which buffalo meat\nand alcohol could produce.\nThe authority of the captain was very limited, and his\norders were obeyed only according to the whim of the individual, who generally considered himself as good a captain\nas any one. There was a notable absence of anything like\ndiscipline except in the matter of guards, and the captain's\nfunctions were practically limited to fixing hours of starting and stopping and the location of camp. The result\nwas that these organizations were always subject to greater\ndanger from the Indians than would be a similar body of\ntroops. Although the members were generally armed,\nthere was no system of inspection to compel them to keep\ntheir arms in order, and they were likely to be found hors\nde combat when suddenly required for use.\nThe caravans, if large, were organized into divisions, each\nunder charge of a sub-officer whose duty it was to superintend the details of the march, select the best creek crossings,\nand look after the arrangements for the evening camp.\nGuard duty was relentlessly enforced, and no members of\nthe party, except officers and invalids, were exempt.\nThe composition of the caravans was the most heterogeneous imaginable. The vehicles consisted of heavy\n tarn\n\u00C2\u00ABW9=\nCOMPOSITION OF THE CARAVANS.\n525\nwagons, carts, and light carriages. There were occasionally elegant outfits on the road. \" It has the air of romance,\" says an early writer, \" to see splendid pleasure carriages with elegant horses journeying to the Republic of\nMexico! Yet it is sober fact.\" The draught animals\nwere horses, mules, and oxen. There were always a large\nnumber of saddle-horses. In personnel the caravans were\ncomposed of all sorts. There was first the plain man of\nbusiness, intent only on the prosecution of his enterprise.\nThere were the rough denizens of the plains who, in long\nyears of living in these unsettled wilds, had become half Indian in dress, habits, and general appearance. There were\npleasure-seekers, health-seekers, scientific travelers, and now\nand then ladies. Then there was always the picturesque\nMexican with a dress peculiarly his own, even when, as was\ngenerally to some extent the case, there was a marked absence of any dress. The equipment of the party was likewise of no common pattern, and there were as many varieties of dress, saddles and fire-arms as there were of men,\nwagons, and animals. \" The wild and motley aspect of\nthe caravan,\" as Gregg well observes, \" would have formed\nan excellent subject for an artist's pencil.\"\nThe progress of these huge caravans was always slow, and\nrarely averaged more than fifteen miles a day. The location\nof springs and creeks determined the length of march, for\nwater could not be found wherever wanted. At night the\ncaravans were generally parked in some form suited to\nthe ground and the necessities of defense. The danger\nfrom Indians was always a serious one to small parties, but\nnever to large ones, except when small groups were carelessly permitted to get away from the support of the main\nbody. Gregg says that | in the course of twenty years%\nsince the commencement of this trade I do not believe there\nhave been a dozen deaths upon the Santa Fe route, even\nincluding those who have been killed off by disease as well\nas by the Indians.\" While this may have been strictly true\nof the Santa Fe traders, it is certain that the casualties upon\nI'M\n1\n 526\nORGANIZATION AT COUNCIL GROVE.\nthe plains among the smaller parties greatly exceeded this\nnumber.\nThe scene of bustle and confusion during the hasty preparation of each morning for the day's march, when animals\nwere being saddled or harnessed, fastened to the wagons,\nand everything gotten ready for the start, was something to\nbe long remembered by those who had once seen it. As a\ngeneral thing the best of spirits prevailed among the party\nand there was a friendly rivalry not to be the last in the performance of duty. All writers agree that the sight of these\nhuge caravans in motion was a most interesting one \u00E2\u0080\u0094 truly\nAmerican in its individuality, variety and independence.\nThe line, when in single file, often stretched out for more\nthan a mile in length. At other tinies, upon the broad, even\nprairies, where the whole country was one vast road, the\ncaravan would form in three or four parallel columns, thus\ngiving the appearance of greater compactness and strength.\nThe motion of this large body, with the scattering groups of\nhorsemen on its flanks or in advance, the shouting of the\ndrivers, the incessant cracking of the whips, and the jolting\nand creaking of the wagons all combined to form a medley\nof sights and sounds that never failed to excite the enthusiasm of the beholder.\nThe election of officers having taken place at Council\nGrove, every one exerted himself to get into the best possible state of preparation for the long journey that lay before\nhim. The goods, perhaps, required repacking, and the\ngreatest ingenuity was shown in placing the packages in\nthe wagons so that they would not jolt with the constant\nshaking of the several hundred miles of travel.3 Wood\nwas gathered from the ample supply in Council Grove and\n8 The transportation on pack animals of such a substance as specie\nwould naturally seem to be very difficult; but the ingenuity of the\ntrader hit upon a most effectual method. The specie was placed in\nlarge bags made of fresh bull hide. It was then shaken down as compactly as possible and the bag was sewed tightly together. The shrinkage of the hide as it dried out compacted the contents so as to make\nalmost a rigid mass.\n ARRIVAL IN SANTA FE.\n527\nstrapped underneath the wagons for use in case of breakages.\nOver the tops and sides of the cargoes were spread sheets\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2of thick canvas to resist rain in the driving storms of the\nprairies.\nThe caravan, upon arrival in the buffalo country, subsisted largely upon game, and the universal testimony is that\nthese long journeys were health restorers which might have\nrivaled the fabulous fountains of youth which so appealed\nto the credulity of the early Spanish adventurers. The\nonly really serious problem of subsistence en route related to\nprovision for water in crossing the Cimarron desert. There\nwere stretches of the journey where from one to four days\nhad to be passed without water, depending upon the speed\nof the traveler and his knowledge of the location of springs.\nAll the later caravans carried enough water with them from\nthe Arkansas to get them safely through this region.\nThe first evidence of approach to the Spanish settlements\nwould usually be the meeting of some lonely Cibolero or\nMexican buffalo hunter. The picturesque costumes of these\ndenizens of the prairies was in itself an attraction that made\nthe meeting of more than passing interest, but the fact\nthat they brought news from Santa Fe made their welcome\none of genuine enthusiasm. The great subject of inquiry\nfrom these prairie news agents was the state of the custom\nhouse administration, for upon this depended in no slight\ndegree the success or failure of the enterprise. A few of\nthe most experienced traders generally posted ahead as soon\nas it was safe to leave the caravan, in order to arrange all\nthis troublesome business in advance of the main arrival.\nThe entry of the caravan into Santa Fe was of course an\nevent of very lively interest. The long sojourn in the uninhabited prairies was in itself enough to make an approach to\ncivilized abodes a matter of no ordinary importance. lb\nwas the end of a long and tedious journey, and the beginning of a long and luxurious rest; for the life of the caravan employes while in Santa Fe was a continuous round c |\nconviviality. Before entering the city every one, even to\nli\n.it\nI\n 528\nCUSTOMS REGULATIONS.\nthe lowest employe, did his best to improve his personal appearance. He subjected his hair and beard to such barber-\ning as the rude conveniences of the plains afforded and made \u00E2\u0080\u00A2\nhimself as irresistible as possible in the eyes of the dusky\nmaidens of Santa Fe. Even the animals, as Gregg observes,\ncaught the spirit of the occasion and however much they\nmight have lagged of late, now pricked up their ears and\nbent forward under their heavy loads with quick and elastic\nstep.\nThe joy of these sun-browned travelers was reciprocated\nby the inhabitants of Santa Fe, to whom the caravan was\nlike the arrival of a ship at some solitary island of the sea.\nPouring out into the streets they would announce the event\nwith shouts of \" The wagons! The Americans! The arrival of the caravan \"! And at once, in a spirit of fraternity\nwhich knows no frontier lines or national jealousies, they\nwould join with their American visitors in joyous celebration of the event.\nThe traders attended at once to the serious business of\ntheir visit. The goods were entered at the custom house\nwith the least possible delay and were then exhibited for\nsale. They were generally closed out at retail, but it often\nbecame necessary in a dull market to sell in bulk in order to\nget ready for the return caravan. Many of the traders were\ncompelled to stay more than a season and often went to\nother points, so that the return caravans were rarely more\nthan half as large as the outgoing.\nThe Santa Fe end of the business was thoroughly characteristic of the government and people of that country.\nBoth the Spanish and Mexican authorities always exhibited\na jealousy of their northern neighbors that would gladly\nhave interdicted the trade altogether, but that the extreme\nisolation of the remote northern province made commerce\nwith the United States almost indispensable to the domestic\nwelfare of the people, while it was a source of considerable\nrevenue to the government. The customs restrictions upon\nthe trade were always heavy, often capricious, and were a\n \u00E2\u0096\u00A0 '\n^\nGOVERNOR ARMIGO S INVENTION.\n529\nnever-ending source of annoyance to the traders. They\nwere the subject of most anxious inquiry as the caravans approached Santa Fe, for changes might have transpired since the latest information which would make or\nruin an enterprise. The extreme venality of the custom\nhouse officers led to all kinds of peculation and bribery, and\nit has been estimated that not more than one-half of the\nrevenue receipts found their way to the public treasury.\nIt was a common saying that the duties on American goods\nwent one third to the traders, one third to the officials and\none third to the government. Between smuggling and bribery the trader must have felt that he had left behind him\nin his native land all semblance of virtue in the transaction\nof business.\nIn 1839 Governor Armigo conceived the brilliant idea\nthat, by placing an arbitrary impost on each wagon that entered the territory, regardless of its cargo, he would avoid\nthe official corruption and smuggling which diverted from\nits proper destination so much of the revenue. This impost he fixed at five hundred dollars. But however carefully\nhe may have figured out the proper amount to charge, he\ntotally failed to foresee the consequences of his act. Traders at once increased enormously the size of the wagon loads\nby using stronger wagons and more teams to each, rejecting\nlargely the bulky coarse stuffs of small value and loading\nwith fine fabrics of higher value. The impost was thus\nmade to operate as a great reduction of the former tariff\nand was quickly abrogated by the governor.\nThe customs regulations which had shifted about so often\nin the course of twenty years, and which had already excluded many articles of great importance to the trade, finally\nin 1843 prohibited the trade altogether. It was a blind and\nfatal error, an expiring effort to stay the tide of destiny.N\nIt only served to make the people of New Mexico more dissatisfied with so capricious and oppressive a government\nand caused them to accept with greater readiness the always\ndifficult change from one sovereignty to another.\nii\n CHAPTER XXX.\nTHE SANTA FE TRADE.\nTHE TRAIL.\nGeneral Description \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The Cimarron Desert \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Mountain branch of\nthe Trail \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Government survey of the road \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Work of Surveyor\nBrown \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Location of the Trail \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Other routes to Santa Fe \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Itinerary of the Trail \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Council Grove \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The Arkansas river \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Pawnee\nRock \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Kit Carson \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The Caches \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Chouteau Island \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The Cimarron\nDesert \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Bent's Fort \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Bent and St. Vrain \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Josiah Gregg.\nTT^HE historic highway known as the Santa Fe Trail,\n^\" along which the \" commerce of the prairies \" was\ncarried from 1820 to the advent of the railroad, extended\nfrom Independence on the Missouri, near the mouth of the\nKansas, to Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico. Both in\nits origin and destination, however, the trade extended beyond these points. Most of the American traders started\nfrom St. Louis or Franklin, while they frequently went\nbeyond Santa Fe to Chihuahua or other towns. But the\nterm Santa Fe Trail did not apply to these extensions. It\nreferred only to the route across the broad, uninhabited region between the frontier settlements of the two countries.\nIt lay half in American and half in Spanish territory, for\nthe ford of the Arkansas, where the boundary was crossed,\nwas almost exactly midway between the two termini.\nIt will repay one for the trouble of examining the map\nto note how little this route varied from a straight line. It\nis remarkable that the traders should so soon have found so\ndirect a route, and it is a striking example of how accurately\nthe instinct of direction will lead one through an unknown\ncountry. Far more direct is it than the \" Santa Fe route \"\n DIVISIONS OF ROUTE.\n531\nof today which whirls the comfortable traveler over this\ndistance in one-twentieth of the time on the old Trail. They\nwere good road surveyors \u00E2\u0080\u0094 these old explorers of the\nplains and mountains.\nThere were four distinct stages of the journey between\nIndependence and Santa Fe. The first extended to Council\nGrove where the caravans were organized. It was all in\na well-watered prairie country, comparatively safe from\nIndian depredations, and was the pleasantest part of the\nroute. The next division extended to the ford of the Arkansas. It was near the beginning of this stage that the country\nbegan to change geologically, botanically, and climatically.\nIt was the transition from the humid prairies of eastern Kansas to the arid plains of the West\u00E2\u0080\u0094 from the regions safe\nfrom Indian depredations to those where the Pawnee\nand Comanche made the traveler's life a burden. It was\nthus the line between ease, pleasure and safety, and toil, difficulty and danger.\nThe third division of the route was the most dangerous\nand dreaded of all. It was the Cimarron desert, and extended from the Arkansas river to the source of the Cimarron.\nWislizenus thus describes it: \" The high plain between the\nArkansas and the Cimarron, whose elevation above the sea\nis about three thousand feet, is the most desolate part of the\nwhole Santa Fe road, and the first adventurers in the Santa\nFe trade stood many severe trials here. Within the distance of sixty-six miles from the Arkansas to the lower\nsprings of the Cimarron there is not one water course or\nwater pool to be depended upon during the dry season. The\nsoil is generally dry and hard; the vegetation is poor and\nscarcely anything grows there except some short and\nparched buffalo grass and some cacti.\" It was here that the\ntantalizing mirage was seen in greater perfection than anywhere else in the plains. To add to the natural difficulty of\nthe situation the Indians were here most dangerous and there\nwas greater loss of life than upon any other portion of the\nTrail.\n 532\nTHE CIMARRON DESERT.\nm\nSo inconspicuous and uncertain were the landmarks of\nthis region that in the earliest years there was great danger\nof getting lost in crossing it; while the terrible effects of\nthirst tended to unsettle the equanimity of the traveler and\nhasten dangers which were near enough at best. The sad\ndeath of Jedediah S. Smith in the spring of 1831 resulted\nfrom this cause. As these perils came to be more fully understood, provision was made beforehand to avert them.\nA full supply of water for both man and beast was laid in\nfor about two days' steady travel, and no reliance was placed\nupon the country until this inhospitable region was crossed.\nThe fourth division of the journey lay between the Cimarron desert and Santa Fe. Although the road still ran\nthrough a barren and worthless country, it was now in the\nfoothills of the mountains, where there were landmarks for\nguidance and streams enough for camps. Traveling was\ntherefore safe if proper precaution were taken against the\nIndians.\nWhen expeditions first began to be made from Missouri\nto Santa Fe they ascended the Arkansas to the vicinity of\nwhere La Junta, Colorado, now stands, and then turning\nsouth, went first to Taos and then to Santa Fe. Even after\nthe shorter trail was established across the desert, the route\nby the upper Arkansas continued to be used; for there was\nalways a large amount of trade from that section. Bent's\nFort was the great stopping place on this branch of the\nTrail.\nAs the Santa Fe trade began to assume large proportions,\ngovernment aid was sought in protecting the caravans and in\nlocating a road. On the 14th of December, 1824, Senator\nThomas H. Benton, who took a great interest in the Far\nWest, presented a petition to Congress reciting the nature,\nmagnitude, and importance of the Santa Fe trade, and praying that the government would endeavor to secure from the\nIndians the right of undisturbed passage through their lands,\nand that it would establish a military post on the Arkansas\nat the point where the Trail crossed it. The subject was\n SANTA FE ROAD COMMISSION.\n533\nenergetically pressed during that session of Congress and\nresulted in an appropriation of ten thousand dollars for\nmarking the line of a road from the Missouri frontier to\nNew Mexico, and one of twenty thousand dollars for securing concessions from the Indians.\nIn accordance with the law a commission consisting of\nBenjamin Reeves, George C. Sibley, and Thomas Mather,\nwith a surveyor by the name of J. C. Brown, set out in\nJune, 1825, to execute the work. The survey was made by\nchain and compass with sextant observations for latitude and longitude. The line as surveyed followed the Trail\npretty closely until after it left the Cimarron river where it\nbore off to the westward and terminated at Taos. The\nmemoir accompanying the maps of the survey states that\nthe road was j surveyed and marked \" from Fort Osage to\nTaos, but this would seem to be wrong. As far as the Arkansas river it was plainly marked with raised mounds, but\nbeyond this point, if marked at all, it must have been in so\ntemporary a way that the evidence of it quickly disappeared.\nThe great mistake made in this survey was in attempting\nto force travelers to take any but the shortest practicable\nroute. It is always a dangerous experiment to ignore that\ntendency of human nature, and of the American type in particular, to take the short cut. Knowing the perils of the\nCimarron desert Brown thought it better to ascend the Arkansas to Chouteau Island and then go straight south to\nthe lower spring of the Cimarron, which could be reached\nin one day. But it was traveling two sides of a triangle\nwhere it was possible to follow the third, and the traders\npreferred to take their chances by the shorter route. In like\nmanner Brown thought it better for travelers to go first to\nTaos because that was the \" nearest of the Mexican settlements, the most northern and the most abundant in provision\nfor man and beast.\" He accordingly turned off to the right\nat a point some distance beyond the head of the Cimarron\nand made straight for Taos. But here again the traders\nrefused to follow him.\nIl\nfl\n 534\nLOCATION OF THE TRAIL.\nFrom a practical point of view the survey was thus of little use; but it was a substantial contribution, or would have\nbeen if published, to the geographical knowledge of the\nWest. The survey was carefully executed, was extremely\naccurate, and was mapped in conjunction with descriptive\nnotes in a most convenient method. Had the government\npublished these notes exactly in the form in which they were\nwritten, which could have been done at very slight expense,\nthey would have made a succinct guide book of the Trail\nsufficient for all requirements down to the day of railroads.\nIt is an instance almost without parallel where the government, after doing a really useful piece of work, has pigeonholed it in perpetuity, and deprived the public of any benefit\nfrom it.\nAs in the case of the Oregon Trail it is not easy to locate\nwith precision upon modern maps the line of the Santa Fe\nTrail through the cultivated sections to the eastward of the\nArkansas river. The land surveys have thrown the roads\ninto the four cardinal directions. The railroads follow the\nold line more closely, although by no means exactly. The\nnames no longer mark the precise localities then designated\nby them, but more than likely have been transferred to\nneighboring railway stations or the sites of towns near by.\nThus it results that if the old Trail could be spread down like\na ribbon over the farms and fences of fertile Kansas it would\nlie mostly where no road now goes. It is possible nevertheless to locate it within narrow limits and point out the modern places near which it lay \u00E2\u0080\u0094 so near in fact that from any\nneighboring church steeple one could overlook the route\nalong which the motley caravans wended their way some\nseventy years ago.\nWhile the line of travel specifically known as the Santa F3\nTrail was that here described, it must not be supposed that\nit was the only route, or that it was followed rigidly throughout all its course. It was not an uncommon thing for parties both on the main trail and the mountain branch to pass\nby way of Taos. Numerous parties followed the Arkansas\nll\u00C2\u00BB:\n VARIATIONS OF ROUTE.\n535\nto and from Little Rock or Fort Smith and did not go by\nway of Independence at all. In 1839 Gregg left Van Buren,\nArkansas, and followed the general course of the Canadian\nuntil he reached the main trail. On the return route he\nkept still more to the south. In 1840 the experiment was\ntried of going direct to Chihuahua from Red river across\nthe present state of Texas. None of these experimental\nroutes gained any permanency.\nAttempts to simplify the problem of transportation led to\nnumerous absurd schemes. One man secured a concession\ngiving him the exclusive right to navigate the Rio Grande,\nand doubtless imagined that a vast fortune would fall to\nhim when his boats should carry merchandise to Santa Fe\nalong that dusty stream, and put to rout the antiquated caravans of the plains. Another party made an importunate\nappeal to Congress to remove the \" raft\" in the Red river,\nfor if this obstruction could be removed, of the practicability\nof which he said there could be no doubt, the | Red river will\nthen become navigable for steamboats of moderate size\nto within sixty miles of Santa Fe, whence it will be easy\nto go in barges twenty-four leagues farther,\" or twelve miles\nbeyond Santa Fe! There is no evidence that the caravan\nroute ever took any measures to forestall this threatened\ncompetition.\nIn 1830 a man by the name of Wolf skill opened a route\nfrom Taos to southern California, passing north of the\nGrand Canon of the Colorado of the West. A considerable trade developed along this line, and even in these early\ndays goods were carried from the United States to the\nshores of the Pacific, while the mules of that region found\ntheir way in considerable numbers to the valley of the\nMississippi.\nWith this general description of the Santa Fe Trail we\npass to a detailed itinerary of the route.\nLeaving Independence, the next place of importance on\nthe Trail was\nBlue Camp, 20 miles, | a charming spot on the western\nI\nmi\nI\n 536\nCOUNCIL GROVE.\nboundary of Missouri. Situated thus at the very junction\nof civilization and the wilderness we could overlook them\nboth with a single glance.\" (Wislizenus.)\nRound Grove, or Lone Elm Tree, 35 miles. A regular\nstopping place and also something of a rendezvous.\nOregon Trail Junction, 43 miles. Here in the naked\nprairie stood a sign post with the inscription \"Road to\nOregon.\"\nBlack Jack Point, 47 miles. So called from the dwarfish oak trees found here.\nThe Narrows, 65 miles, \" a narrow ridge which separates\nthe Osage and Kansas waters.\" (Gregg).\n110-Mile Creek, 100 miles. \"The name of this creek\nrefers to its distance from the old Fort Osage.\" (Wislizenus.)\nBridge Creek, 108 miles.\nSwitzler's Creek, 116 miles. \" Fine running water.\"\nThen followed numerous creek crossings, headwaters of\nthe Osage, but of no special distinction until the crossing\nof the Neosho is reached at\nCouncil Grove, 150 miles. One of the most important\nstations on the Trail. There was at this point a thickly-\nwooded bottom, half a mile to a mile in width, and of indefinite length, lying along the river and affording a great\nvariety of excellent timber. The name was given by the\nSanta Fe Road Commission of 1825. It was here that the\ncommissioners met the Osage Indians in council and\nsecured their agreement to the unmolested passage of the\nAmerican and Mexican traders through their country. The\nname was in honor of this event. It fitted in admirably with\nthe part this timbered locality afterward played in the history of the Trail. The caravans usually came thus far in\ndetached parties and here met in council and organized for\nthe perilous journey across the plains. It was generally\nsupposed thai the name arose from this circumstance.\nThe line of the Trail thus far may be approximately laid\ndown in terms of modern geography. Leaving Independ-\n~i*ta\n THE ARKANSAS RIVER.\n537\nence, Missouri, it bore distinctly southwest and crossed the\nstate boundary just east of the village of Glenn, Kansas.\nThence it continued southwest, passing a little to the north\nof the towns of Olathe and Gardner in Johnson county. It\nthen ran nearly west close to the divide between the waters\nof the Kansas and Osage rivers and near the towns of Baldwin, Worden and Baden in Douglas county; Overbrook,\nScranton, and Burlingame in Osage county; Wilmington\nin Wabaunsee, Waushara and Agnes in Lyon, and thence\nto Council Grove in Morris county.\nAfter leaving Council Grove, the next landmark of note\nwas\nDiamond Spring, 165 miles, \" a crystal fountain discharging itself into a small brook, to which, in recent years,\ncaravans have sometimes advanced before organizing.\"\n(Gregg). The \" Diamond of the Plains, a remarkably\nfine large fountain near which is good camping ground.\"\n(Brown).\nThe road now passes in succession the following points:\nLost Spring, 180 miles.\nCottonwood Creek, 192 miles.\nTurkey Creek, 217 miles.\nLittle Arkansas, 234 miles.\nCow Creek, 254 miles, and finally arrives at\nThe Arkansas river, 270 miles. This stream, which for\nall its length west of the 100th meridian was the frontier\nbetween the United States and Spanish territories, was one\nof great importance to the traders in this region. It was\nnot a navigable stream in this part of its course, unless the\npossibility of descending it in light craft in flood time entitles it to that distinction. Its importance arose in part from\nthe fact of its being the national frontier, and in part because^\nthe country about its headwaters was a rich trapping territory.\nBetween Council Grove and the Arkansas the Trail, if laid\ndown upon a modern map, would pass the town of Helmicl:\nin Morris county; thence a little north of the modern Dia-\n?!\n 538\nPAWNEE ROCK.\nmond Springs and Burdick in the same county, and a little\nsouth of Lost Spring in Marion. It would cross the Cottonwood river near Durham and pass close by Canton, Galba,\nMcPherson and Conway in McPherson county. It would\ncross the Little Arkansas below Little river in Rick county,\nand continuing past Lyons and Chase in the same county,\nwould reach the Arkansas near Ellinwood, Barton county.\nThe road now turns up the left bank of the Arkansas and\npasses\nWalnut Creek, 278 miles, and\nPawnee Rock, 293 miles. This rock was to the Santa Fe\nTrail what Independence Rock was to the Oregon Trail. It\nwas composed of ferruginous sandstone and rose about\ntwenty feet high upon the right hand side of the Trail, some\ntwo miles back from the river. It was a great place for\ninscriptions both by the whites and Indians. \" Here was\na confused medley of cognomens,\" says Sage, \" English,\nFrench, Spanish, German, Irish, Scotch \u00E2\u0080\u0094 all entered upon\nthe register of fancied immortality.\" Not a few names\nwere recorded there that have found a permanent place in\nWestern history. The name of the rock, according to\nCooke, \" came from a siege there, once upon a time, of a\nsmall party of Pawnees by the Comanche hordes; the rocky\nmound was impregnable; but alas for valor! they were\nparched with thirst, and the shining river glided in their\nsight through green meadows! They drank their horses'\nblood, and vowed to Wah-Condah that their fates should be\none. Death before slavery! Finally in a desperate effort\nto cut their way to liberty, they all met heroic death; ushering their spirits with defiant shouts to the very threshold of\nthe happy hunting grounds! The Comanches, after their\nmelancholy success, were full of admiration and erected on\nthe summit a small pyramid which we see to this day.\" %\n1 Inman in his Stories of the Santa Fe Trail, published in 1881, and\nagain in his San4a Fe Trail, 1897, endeavors to glorify his friend, Kit\nCarson, by connecting an adventure in the life of that noted frontiersman with the christening of this rock. But while the story is a good\n V\n\"the caches.\"\n539\nProceeding up the valley of the Arkansas the next point\nnoted in the itinerary of the Trail is\nAsh Creek, 297 miles.\nPawnee Fork, 303 miles.\nCoon Creek, 336 miles.\n1 The Caches,\" 372 miles, so named from an incident elsewhere related which occurred in 1822 when Baird and\nChambers were compelled to cache their goods there.\nGregg informs us that in his time \" few travelers passed this\nway without visiting these mossy pits, many of which\nremain to the present day.\" The Caches were a little west\nof the point where the 100th meridian crossed the river,\nand consequently the first point of note after reaching the\nMexican frontier. Their location was five miles west of\nwhere Dodge City, Kansas, now stands. The ground\nwhere they were excavated has mostly caved into the river.\nThe Ford of the Arkansas, 392 miles. This was the\nregular crossing after 1829 and was known as the Cimarron crossing. Its location is twenty miles above Dodge\nCity. It was a little more than half way between Independence and Santa Fe.\none and may have happened somewhere, it did not happen where or\nwhen Inman says. It is singular that so noted a character as Kit\nCarson should be so entirely unknown in the annals of the fur trade\nas he actually was. His name occurs only once in the correspondence\nor newspaper literature prior to 1843 so far as it has fallen under\nour observation. This reference is an interesting one and positively\nfixes the year in which he commenced his wild west career. It was in\n1826 when he joined a Santa Fe caravan under Charles Bent. The\nMissouri Intelligencer of October 12, 1826, had the following notice\nrelating to the event: \"Notice: To whom it may concern: That\nChristopher Carson, a boy about sixteen years old, small of his age, but\nthick set, light hair, ran away from the subscriber, living in Franklin*\nHoward Co., Mo., to whom he had been bound to learn the saddler'd\ntrade, on or about the first day of September last. He is supposed to\nhave made his way toward the upper part of the state. All persons\nare notified not to harbor, support or subsist said boy under penalty\nof the law. One cent reward will be given to any person who will\nbring back the said boy. (signed) David Workman, Franklin, Oct. 6,\n1826.\"\nm\n 540\nFORDS OF THE ARKANSAS.\nThere was another, or Lower Crossing, seventeen miles\nbelow Dodge City. It was near the mouth of Mulberry\ncreek at the extreme point of the large southern bend of the\nriver.\nThe Upper Ford Of the Arkansas, which was in use as late\nas 1829, was located at Chouteau Island, just above where\nthe town of Hartland, Kansas, now stands. This was the\ncrossing recommended by surveyor Brown in 1825-7 and\nwas the nearest point on the Arkansas to the lower spring\nof the Cimarron which lay directly south.\nChouteau Island was a well-known point- on the upper\nArkansas. The name dates from the Chouteau-De Munn'\nexpedition of 1815-17. While on his way to the Missouri\nin the spring of 1816 with the furs collected during the previous winter, Chouteau was attacked by a war party of two\nhundred Pawnees and lost one man killed and three\nwounded. He retreated to an island in the Arkansas where\nhe could more effectually defend himself and the name arose\nfrom this incident. Chouteau did not have any trading\npost here, as asserted by some authorities.\nThe principal danger in crossing the Arkansas was that of\nquicksands. Unless the party happened along during the\nJune rise, the water offered no obstacles whatever. But the\nriver bottom was treacherous. It was customary to double\nthe teams, and it was imperative not to stop while crossing,\nlest the heavy loads sink immediately so deep that the teams\ncould not start them.\nAfter crossing the Arkansas, the route lay on Mexican\nsoil. Resuming the itinerary at the Cimarron Crossing the\nfirst point of interest south of the Arkansas was the\nBattle ground, 407 miles. The name arose at the very\nend of the period of which we are treating, when a small\nband of Texans defeated the van guard of Armigo's army,\nonly to be disarmed in turn a little later by United States\ntroops.\nCimarron River, Lower Spring, 450 miles. This stream,\nfar from being a river, was ordinarily no stream at all.\nti\n BO=\u00C2\u00BB-\nwsm\nSPRINGS OF THE CIMARRON.\n541\nThere was no water in its bed in the dry season except at\nthe springs.\nThis part of the route was most dreaded of all. The distance, fifty-eight miles, required at least two, and more often\nthree, days to traverse, and there was no water on the way.\nIn the earlier years the route was very uncertain for the\nwagons made no impression on the hard dry soil and no\ntrail was developed. This fact, and a total absence of landmarks, made the danger of getting lost a very serious one,\nfor in that waterless country a day or two of lost time might\nprove disastrous. This difficulty was removed in 1834 by\na fortunate circumstance. It happened that year, quite\nunusually, that there were continuous and heavy rains while\nthe caravan was passing this part of the route. The wagons\ncut a distinct furrow on the softened turf which was followed by subsequent caravans until it developed into a permanent road. It is visible in many places to the present\nday.\nThis part of the Trail passed near the localities now\nknown by the names of Example, Ivanhoe, Conductor, and\nZyonville in southwestern Kansas. The route then\nascended the valley of the Cimarron for a distance of eighty-\nfive miles. The points of interest were\nMiddle Spring of the Cimarron, 486 miles.\nWillow Bar, 512 miles.\nBetween Willow Bar and Upper Spring was another\n\" battle ground \" so named from a skirmish between General Viscara and the Indians in 1829 when he was escorting the caravan from Santa Fe to the Arkansas.\nUpper Spring, 530 miles.\nCold Spring, 535 miles. At this point the road left the\nvalley of the Cimarron. N\nMcNees' Creek, 560 miles, the site of a melancholy tragedy of the Trail. It was here that Munroe and McNees\nwere attacked and McNees was slain in 1828.2\nUpon leaving the Cimarron it was customary for a cara-\nz See the following chapter.\nIll\n TERMINUS OF THE TRAIL.\nvan to send couriers in advance to spy out the country and\nascertain the condition of the custom house business at\nSanta Fe. From here on there was a plain trail.\nRabbit Ear Creek, 580 miles. This name arose from the\nfancied resemblance of some hills in the southwest to rabbit's\nears. They were a guide to the traveler on this part of the\njourney. It was near the head of Rabbit Ear Creek that\nMajor Long passed in 1820 in his futile search for the Red\nriver.\nRound Mound, 588 miles. A notable landmark and\nimportant as a guide before the route became established.\nThe earlier track lay a little south of the mound, but in\nGregg's time it was established on the north side. The\nheight of the mound above the plain was six,hundred and\nten feet and the elevation above sea level 6,655 ^ee^\u00C2\u00BB\nRock Creek, 596 miles.\nPoint of Rocks, 615 miles.\nRio Colorado, 635 miles, elevation about 6,486 feet.\nThis stream was supposed to be the upper course of Red\nriver until 1820 when Major Long discovered that it was\nthe upper course of the Canadian.\nOcate Creek, 641 miles.\nSanta Clara Spring, near Wagon Mound, 662 miles. It\nwas here that the mountain branch from Bent's Fort/\nrejoined the main trail.\nRio Mora, 684 miles. Last of the Canadian waters.\nRio Gallinas, 704 miles. The first abode of white men\nin Gregg's time \u00E2\u0080\u0094 a Mexican ranchero \u00E2\u0080\u0094 was encountered\nhere. The road was now in a mountainous country.\nOjo de Bernal Spring, 721 miles.\nSan Miguel, J27 miles, the first settlement of consequence\nbefore reaching Santa Fe.\nPecos Village, 750 miles.\nSANTA FE, 775 miles.\nFrom the Cimarron river to Santa Clara Spring the\ngeographical nomenclature has not changed much since the\nTrail was used, for civilization has never taken kindly to\n BENT AND ST. VRAIN.\n543\nthese inhospitable wastes. Over much of the distance the\nold road can still be followed. From near the point where\nthe mountain branch joined the main trail the Atchison,\nTopeka and Santa Fe railroad now follows very closely the\nold route to Santa Fe.\nThe principal point on the mountain branch of the Santa\nFe Trail was\nBent's Fort,s 530 miles. This was in every respect one\nof the most important situations in the West, and the post\nranked with Union, Pierre and Laramie in thoroughness of\nconstruction. It was the great cross roads station of the\nsouthwest. The north and south route between the Platte\nriver country and Santa Fe, and the east and west route up\nthe Arkansas and into the mountains found this their most\nnatural trading point.\nThis branch of the Trail crossed the river very nearly\nwhere La Junta now stands, and thence ran south, crossing\nRaton Pass, and joined the main trail at Santa Clara Spring\nnear Mora river. The mountain branch of the Santa Fe\nTrail has been closely followed by the \"Santa Fe route\" of\nthe present day.\n8 See list of posts, Appendix F.\nBent and St. Vrain was the name of one of the most important of the\nfur trading firms. It ranked next to the American Fur Company in\nthe amount of business that it transacted in the period about 1840. It\nmaintained two posts, Bent's Fort, on the Arkansas, sometimes called\nFort William, for William Bent, and a post on the South Platte\nopposite the mouth of St. Vrain Fork.\nThe Bent family was well known both in St. Louis and throughout\nthe southwest. Silas Bent was born in Massachusetts in 1744; came\nto St. Louis in 1804; held important offices in St. Louis, and died in\n1827. He had seven sons, of whom the most distinguished were\nWilliam and Charles who built the post on the Arkansas. After the\nWar with Mexico Charles Bent was made governor of New MexidBL\nbut was murdered in Taos soon after. In 1852 William Bent destroyed!\nBent's Fort and built another farther down stream called Bent's New\nFort.\nCeran St. Vrain was also of a family well known in the history of\nSt. Louis. His father came to America in 1770 and in later years\nmoved to St. Louis, where he married and passed the rest of his life.\n 544\nJOSIAH GREGG.\nHe died in 1818, leaving five sons, of whom the most distinguished\nwas the one who became the Santa Fe trader. No biographies of\neither the St. Vrain or the Bent brothers have been written.\nA distinguished trader on the Santa Fe Trail was Josiah Gregg, who,\nlike many another, went to the plains for his health, and becoming\nenamored of the life went into business there. His distinction, however, is rather that of historian than of a trader. It would be a grave\nomission not to refer more particularly to his splendid work, the\nCommerce of the Prairies. Written by one who was both a student\nand a practical man of affairs, fond of philosophic speculations yet\naccustomed to the shrewd ways of business, it is discriminating, comprehensive and free from exaggeration. It is the classic of the Santa\nFe Trail, well arranged and admirably written. Although limited in\nscope, it fills its particular niche so completely that it is entitled to rank\nas one of the great works of American history.\n*\n CHAPTER XXXI.\nTHE SANTA FE TRADE.\nINCIDENTS OF THE TRAIL.\nChouteau and De Munn \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Surgery on the Plains \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Murder of\nMcNees and Munroe \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Death of Captain John Means \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Attacks on the\nCaravan of 1829 \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Death of Jedediah S. Smith.\n^*HE Santa Fe trade was not distinguished for thrilling\n^\u00E2\u0096\u00A0^ annals, and the greater part of it was as uneventful as\nthe most prosaic modern business. Still it was inevitable\nthat, in the course of twenty years in a country like that over\nwhich the caravans passed, incidents of historic note should\noccur. A few such are presented in this chapter, all of\nthem authentic. They are given in the chronological order\nof their occurrence.\nIMPRISONMENT AND TRIAL OF CHOUTEAU AND DE MUNN.\nIn May, 1817, Auguste P. Chouteau and Julius De Munn\nwith their party of hunters and trappers were forcibly taken\nfrom their encampment on the Arkansas river, escorted to\nSanta Fe, confined there forty-eight days, part of the time\nin irons, and then tried and set at liberty, with the forfeiture\nof all their property. The details of this trial are curious\nenough to justify repetition. The simple and direct narrative written by De Munn himself can not well be improved\nupon. I\n\" After forty-eight days' imprisonment,\" he relates, 1 we\nwere presented before a courtmartial composed of six members and a president who was the governor himself.\n[Pedro Maria de Allande.] Only one of the six members\n 546 COURTMARTIAL OF CHOUTEAU AND DE MUNN.\nappeared to have any information, the others not even knowing how to sign their names. Many questions were asked,\nbut particularly why we had stayed so long in Spanish\ndominions. I answered that, being on the Arkansas river\nwe did not consider ourselves in the domains of Spain, as we\nhad a license to go as far as the headwaters of said river.\nThe president denied that our government had a right to\ngive such a license, and entered into such a rage that it prevented his speaking, contenting himself with striking his fist\nseveral times on the table, saying, 'Gentlemen, we must have\nthis man shot/\n\" At such conduct of the president I did not think much\nof my life, for all the members were terrified in his presence,\nand unwilling to resist him; on the contrary [were ready]\nto do anything to please him.\n\"He talked much of a big river that was the boundary line\nbetween the two countries, but did not know its name.\nWhen mention was made of the Mississippi he jumped up\nsaying that that was the big river he meant; that Spain had\nnever ceded the west side of it. It may be ea^sy to judge of\nour feelings to see our lives in the hands of such a man.\n\" That day the court did not come to any determination,\nbecause the president (as I heard him say to Lieutenant\nde Arce) had forgotten everything he had to say. Next\nday we were again presented to the court, but as I knew the\nkind of man we had to deal with, I never attempted to justify myself of any of his false assertions. We were dismissed and Mr. Chouteau and myself put in the same room.\n\" Half an hour afterward the lieutenant came in with a\nwritten sentence; we were forced to kneel down to hear the\nciture of it, and forced, likewise, to kiss the unjust and\niniquitous sentence that deprived harmless men of all they\npossessed \u00E2\u0080\u0094 of the fruits of two years' labors and perils.\n\" What appears the more extraordinary is that the governor acknowledged to me afterward in the presence of Don\nPiedro Piero, the deputy of New Mexico to the Cortes, and\nseveral others, that we were very innocent men; yet notwith-\n SURGERY ON THE PLAINS.\n547\nstanding this all our property was kept and we were permitted to come home, each with one of the worst horses we\nhad.\"1 .\u00C2\u00BB! | teg\nWilliam Waldo is authority for the following anecdote\nrelating to this event: \". Chouteau, having been brought up\nin the city of St. Louis, which in its early history had perhaps more Spanish inhabitants than those of any other\nnationality, spoke the Spanish language, which enabled him\nto communicate freely with the authorities and priests [of\nSanta Fe]. His superior powers of conversation and his\ncourtly address so captivated the Spanish governor that he\nwould frequently have the Colonel carried from the prison\nto his house to amuse him and entertain him. On one of\nthese occasions, when the governor had favored his visitor\nwith a long catalogue of his numerous benefactions in his\nbehalf, he paused and with great earnestness demanded what\nmore he would have. The Colonel quietly replied 'Mi Lib-\nertad, Sefior Gobernador!' This so incensed the boastful\nmagistrate that the prisoner was quickly ordered back to his\nvile cell.\"2\nSURGERY ON THE PLAINS.\nWhen the caravan of 1826 was wending its way up the\nvalley of the Arkansas, one' of its members, a Mr. Broadus,\nwhile in the act of drawing his rifle from the wagon, accidentally discharged it into his arm. The wound was a dangerous one and the man was advised to have his arm\namputated at once before mortification should set in. He\npersistently refused until the wound had become so bad that\nall hope of doing anything for it was abandoned. In this\npredicament the man concluded to have the operation performed, and finally got some of the party to undertake it.N\n1 Letter from Julius De Munn to Governor William Clark, dated St.\nLouis, November 25, 1817. This was before the treaty defining the\nboundary between Spain and the United States, which was completed\nin 1819.\n2 MSS. 135, Missouri Historical Society.\nt*m\n 548\nM NEES AND MUNROE.\nIt is said that Kit Carson, then on his first trip across the\nplains, was one of the \"surgeons.\" Their only instruments\nwere a handsaw, a butcher knife and an iron bolt. The saw\nteeth being too coarse, a finer set were filed on the back.\n\"The knife having been whetted keen, and the iron bolt laid\nupon the fire, they commenced the operation; and in less time\nthan it takes to tell it, the arm was opened round to the bone,\nwhich was almost in an instant sawed off; and with the whizzing hot iron the whole stump was so effectually seared as to\nclose the arteries completely. Bandages were now applied\nand the company proceeded on their journey as though nothing had occurred. The arm commenced healing rapidly and\nin a few weeks the patient was sound and well.\" (Gregg.)\nMURDER OF MCNEES AND MUNROE.\nIn the summer of 1828 two men, citizens of Franklin, Missouri, and traders to Santa Fe, were killed on the Trail by\nthe Pawnees while on their return home. Their names were\nDaniel Munroe and one McNees, a son of Samuel C. McNees, of Franklin. The exact circumstances of their death\nare not known, but it is supposed that they had lain down to\nsleep near the caravan and that the Indians stole upon them\nand shot them with their own guns. McNees was found\nlifeless and was buried on the banks of a stream which still\nbears his name. Munroe was still alive and was carried\nwith the caravan upwards of forty miles before he died.\nHe was buried in the valley of the Cimarron.\nThe men were deeply incensed at this outrage and took\nvengeance on what seems to have been an entirely innocent\nparty. Just as Munroe's funeral ceremonies were concluded\na band of six or seven Indians appeared on the other side of\nthe Cimarron. They asked for a parley, but quickly perceived the hostile attitude of the traders and turned about to\nflee. The traders fired and killed all but one. Thus an act of\nbase murder by the Indians and one of indiscriminate\nrevenge by the whites added another to the catalogue of bar-\n X\nDEATH OF CAPTAIN MEANS.\n549\nbarities which has ever characterized the relations of the\nwhite man and the Indian.\nDEATH OF CAPTAIN JOHN MEANS.\nAnother fatality occurred in the year 1828 and this time\nalso with a returning party. The date is confirmed by the\nMissouri Intelligencer of October 24, 1828, which states that\nthe company comprised about twenty-five persons. The\ndetails of the affair are condensed from Inman, who claims\nto have them from those who took part in it. The party was\na small one consisting of only twenty-one men, one hundred\nand fifty mules, five wagons and a small amount of specie.\nAt the upper Cimarron springs they were surrounded by a\nlarge band of Comanches who ordered the whites to camp\nwith them for the night. They decided that this would be\nsuicidal and resolved to make their way ahead in spite of the\nIndians. Captain Means, a man named Ellison and another\nman named Bryant brought up the rear of the wagons.\nWhen the Indians saw that the whites were resolved to proceed, they attacked them at once. Ellison and Bryant\nescaped, but Means was instantly shot down and scalped\nbefore life had left his body. The party then continued\ntheir route by short stages, constantly beset by the Indians,\nbut escaping with no more disastrous loss than the serious\nwounding of one of their number. At length they got to\nsuch a desperate strait that it was resolved to abandon the\nwagons and a portion of the specie. Taking whatever property they could with them and about ten thousand dollars\nspecie, they set out quietly at night, and by traveling all the\nnext day and into the following night they reached the\nArkansas. Here they cached the rest of their specie to\nlighten their load. By the time they arrived at Walnut-\ncreek they were so exhausted that they despaired of reaching the settlements, and dispatched five of the most able-\nbodied of their number to Independence for help. A rescue\nparty was immediately formed and sent off after the sufferers, who were picked up, scattered along the Trail, some-\n \u00C2\u00AB\n55\u00C2\u00B0\nADVENTURES OF AN UNKNOWN PARTY.\ntimes one in a place, sometimes two, but all on the verge of\nstarvation.\nOne writer states that the specie was cached on Chouteau Island and that in the following year the party went\nback with the spring caravan under escort of the United\nStates troops and that Major Riley, from his camp a little\nbelow the Island, sent a detachment to help recover the specie; but Cooke, who has left an account of the expedition,\nmakes no mention of it.3\nATTACKS ON THE CARAVAN OF 1829.\nThis was the caravan that was under the escort of United\nStates troops between Council Grove and the ford of the\n81 suspect that Inman, who was much better at telling stories than he\nwas at telling facts, has mixed the incident in which Means lost his\nlife with another which is reported in the Missouri Republican of\nMarch 5, 1833. According to this last authority a number of men\narrived in St. Louis from Santa Fe on the 2nd of March of that year.\nWhile on their way home with a party of twelve traders they were\nattacked on the Canadian some two hundred miles from Santa Fe by\nabout two hundred Comanches. The attack occurred about January\n1, 1833, and lasted thirty-two hours. A tinner by the name of Pratte\nwas killed while trying to catch a mule at a little distance from camp.\nThe party tied their mules to a tree and intrenched themselves as\nquickly as possible. During this time a Mr. Mitchell of Boone county\nwas killed. About midnight the party tried to get away, but were\ndriven back. The fight continued all of the next day, by which time\nthe whites had expended all of their ammunition and most of them\nwere wounded. They had almost given up when they were most unexpectedly hailed by the Indians, who told them in Spanish that they\nmight go. It is probable that the Indians had also given up hope of\nsuccess.\nThe horses and mules of the whites had all been killed and they\nwere compelled to abandon their property, including about $12,000 of\nspecie. The next day after leaving the battle ground they separated,\none part taking the nearest cut to the settlements and the other going\ndown the river. They suffered incredible hardships. It was winter\ntime and most of them were wounded. They were likewise nearly\ndestitute of clothing, and being without ammunition, could not procure\nfood.\nThe fate of the other division of the party is not known, but evidently\nnone of them were lost.\n ATTACK UPON SPANISH ESCORT.\n551\nArkansas, and under Mexican escort from Santa Fe to the\nArkansas on the return trip. The American escort under\nMajor Riley stopped at the ford of the Arkansas and the\ntraders were cautioned to keep close together, as there was\nno danger so long as they did not permit stragglers to get\naway from the main party. In culpable disregard of this\nwholesome precaution several traders rode on in advance,\nand when in a narrow defile were beset by about fifty Indians. The traders fled precipitately, but one, a Mr.\nLamme, who was mounted on a mule, was overtaken and\nslain. His companions showed very little courage in thus\nabandoning him when a slight show of resistance would\nprobably have enabled him to escape. The unfortunate\ntrader was a resident of Franklin county, Missouri, and the\nprincipal proprietor of the caravan.\nThe return caravan was escorted to the Arkansas by Mexican troops commanded by Colonel Viscara. While in the\nvalley of the Cimarron they were attacked by the Indians;\nCooke says by Arapahoes and Comanches; Gregg says Gros\nVentres. A party of about one hundred and twenty Indians\napproached on foot. The traders were opposed to admitting\nany friendly intercourse, but Viscara received them amicably\nand permitted them to camp near by. He promised the\ntraders that the Indians should be disarmed, but they were\ntoo sharp for him and most of them retained their weapons.\nWhen an opportune moment arrived they sprang up with a\nfrightful yell and commenced the attack. They seemed\nespecially bent on killing the Mexican commander, and one\nof the chiefs, when only a few feet away, leveled his gun to\nfire. A Taos Indian, one of the Colonel's bodyguard, seeing his master's danger, sprang in between him and the chief\nand received the contents of the gun in his own heart. A n\nbrother of this Indian sprang like a tiger at the chief and\nslew him upon the spot. An officer and two of the soldiers\nwere killed but none of the traders were injured. The latter\njoined with the troops in repulsing the attack, which was\neasily accomplished, after which the Indians were relent-\n 552\nLOST ON THE CIMARRON DESERT.\nlessly pursued and killed wherever overtaken. It is said\nthat the pursuers displayed true savage barbarity in the vindictive way in which they wreaked vengeance upon these\nIndians and that they went back to the States with human\nscalps dangling to their horses' bridles.\nTHE MELANCHOLY FATE OF JEDEDIAH S. SMITH.\nOf all the tragedies of the Santa Fe Trail the most deplorable is that in which this Christian hero of the wilderness\nmet an untimely death on the banks of the thirsty Cimarron.\nIn the spring of 1831 Smith, Jackson and Sublette, having\nsold their business in the mountains to the Rocky Mountain\nFur Company, entered the Santa Fe trade. With a large\nand costly expedition of some twenty wagons and eighty\nmen, said to have been the finest outfit ever yet sent to Santa\nFe, these veteran traders set out, never doubting that their\nlong experience would enable them to cope with the dangers\nof the route. Everything went well to the ford of the Arkansas, for there was a plain track all the way. But it was\nvery different on the desert waste between the Arkansas and\nthe Cimarron. There was not a person with them who had\nbeen over the route before, and they now found themselves\nin a featureless country with no track of any kind except buffalo trails which crossed each other in the most confusing directions. The alluring mirage deceived and exasperated the\nmen, and after two days of fruitless wanderings, with animals dying and men frantic for water, the condition of things\nseemed well-nigh desperate. In this emergency Smith\ndeclared that he would find water or perish in the attempt.\nHe was a bold and fearless man and unhesitatingly sallied\nforth alone for the salvation of the caravan. Following a\nbuffalo trail for several miles he came upon the valley of the\nCimarron, but only to find it destitute of water. He knew\nenough of the character of these streams, however, to believe\nthat there was water near the surface, and he accordingly\nscooped out a little hollow into which, indeed, the water\nbegan to collect. Meanwhile some stealthy Comanches,\n\u00E2\u0080\u0094\"iV\n SLAIN BY THE COMANCHES.\n553\nwhom Smith had not observed, were stealing upon him, and\nwhile he was in the act of stooping down to drink, mortally\nwounded him with several arrows. He rose and displayed\nhis undaunted spirit in resisting his savage foes to the last,\nand killed two of them before he expired. The spot where\nhe fell was never precisely known and no grave protects the\nearthly remains of this Christian and knightly adventurer.\nA sadder fate or a more heroic victim the parched wastes of\nthe desert never knew.4\n* Authorities Gregg, Cooke and Waldo.\n\u00E2\u0096\u00A0Jii\u00C2\u00ABWW.JHi\n ^xu..mij-jiiji i, 11 .\u00C2\u00BBi\nTWiii-\nP^RT 777. J\nCONTEMPORARY EVENTS CONNECTED WITH\nTHE FUR TRADE.\nCHAPTER I.\nTHE WAR OF l8l2.\nEffect of the war on the Missouri Fur Trade \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Influence upon the\nIndians \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Speech of Big Elk \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The work of Manuel Lisa \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Commission to treat with the Indians \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The \" One-eyed | Sioux \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Lieutenant\nKennedy's journey.\n'^'HE War of 1812, so humiliating in many of its phases\n^\" to American pride, affected the trans-Mississippi fur\ntrade only on the Columbia and the upper Missouri rivers.\nThe irretrievablenruirTwhieh it wrought to American interests on the Pacific hasbeen considered m another part of\nthis work. Its effect on the Missouri trade was to curtail its\nvolumeTm a large degree, both on account of the diminished\nterritory in which it was carried on, and because of the fall\nof prices due to the uncertainty of the traffic. \"Since the\nDeclaration of War,\" wrote Charles Gratiot to Astor in\n1813, \"the traders will not receive any [skins] from the\nIndians, that article having fallen in price.\" And ten\nmonths later he wrote: \"In former years, before the war, I\nwe could calculate on at least one thousand packs [of buffalo\nrobes] at this time, besides beaver and other different sorts\nof furs. But from the unsettled situation of the Indians\nduring the war, particularly the last winter, the scarcity of\nmerchandise among them, the dislike the fur traders have to\n 556\nBRITISH INFLUENCE ON THE MISSOURI.\nmeddle with that article, the kind of monopoly injurious to\nthe Indian trade carried on by the factories of the United\nStates \u00E2\u0080\u0094 all these reasons induce me to suppose that it will\nnot be in my power to buy the quantity you want, nor perhaps one-half.\"\nThe second and most serious effect of the war was the\ngeneral unrest of the tribes within reach of border influence,\nj and the imminent danger that the frontier settlements of\nMissouri would suffer the horrors of an Indian war. There\nwas great reason to fear a general uprising of the upper\nMissouri tribes, similar to that which embarrassed our government on the headwaters of the Mississippi. British\ninfluence was strong among these tribes, and it was certain\nthat no efforts would be spared to make the most of it, now\nthat the two countries were at war. Long before the outbreak of hostilities British emissaries were evidently making\nready for it. \" Your Excellency will remember,\" wrote\nManuel Lisa to Governor Clark in 1817, \" that more than a\nyear before the war broke out I gave you intelligence that\nthe wampum was carrying [being carried] by British influence along the banks of the Missouri, and that all the\nnations of this great river were incited to join the universal\nconfederacy then setting on foot.\"\nThe conditions were particularly favorable for such a conspiracy. By an almost uninterrupted series of misfortunes\nthe Missouri Fur Company, the only important American\norganization which had yet attempted to carry its business\ninto the region of the upper Missouri, had been practically\ndriven from that field. It was impossible that this ill success,\nas compared with the progress of the British companies,\nshould not draw upon the American traders the contempt of\nthe Indians; and when the Americans finally withdrew altogether from the Missouri above Council Bluffs the British\nfelt that their opportunity had arrived. How great was this\ndanger may be inferred from an incident which occurred\nafter the close of the war, at a general council of the chiefs\nof the Mississippi and Missouri tribes held at Portage des\n\u00E2\u0096\u00A0^22\n\u00E2\u0096\u00A0eSSkl\n SPEECH OF BIG ELK.\n557\nSioux in the summer of 1815. Big Elk, the Omaha chief,\nmade a speech on that occasion which left little doubt as to\nthe character of the influence that had penetrated even as\nfar as to that peaceful tribe. He said, in part, addressing\nGeneral Clark, \"Last winter when you sent your word and\npresents by Captain Manuel Lisa, which he gave us from\nour Great Father, in the night one of the whites (he was\nonce your son) wanted my young men to rise. He told\nthem that their blankets were dung and the strouds rotten,\nand if they wanted good presents, to cross to the British for\ngood clothing. This man was Baptiste Dorion. . . .\nWhen I was at the Pawnees, I wanted to bring some of them\ndown, but the whites who live among them told them not to\ngo; that no good would come from the Americans; good\nonly came from across the neck of land\u00E2\u0080\u0094from the British.\n. . . I was willing to go to war against the Sacs on the\nMississippi, but I had no guns and only blunt arrows. The\nBritish put guns into the hands of all the Sacs. . . .1\nhave little more to tell you. I have already told Captain\nManuel to request you to keep those men [British emissaries] away from us. . . . Take care of the Sioux.\nThey listen to too many. They are like a bird that lights\nupon the branch of a tree and knows not which way to turn.\nTake care, or they will fly from under your wing.\"\nThe Sioux indeed, and all the tribes above, were at the\noutbreak of the war practically in the power of the British.\nTrade was almost suspended and such reports as came down\nindicated the hostility of those tribes. Thus we read in the\nMissouri Gazette of June 5, 1813: \"Arrived here a few\ndays ago from the Mandan villages (Upper Missouri), Mr.\nM. Lisa, acting partner of the Missouri Fur Company.\nFrom Mr. Lisa we learn that the Arapahoes, Cheyennes,\nAricaras, Gros Ventres, and Crows are, or may be, considered at war with the Americans. The British Northwest\nCompany having a number of trading houses within a short\ndistance of the Missouri, are enabled to embroil our people\n 558\nINFLUENCE OF MANUEL LISA.\nwith the savages, who are constantly urged to cut them\noff.\"\nThis reference to the Northwest Company is suggestive.\nAt this very moment they were straining every nerve to\nextirpate American influence on the Pacific and it was a\npart of their general purpose to make the most of the opportunities offered by the war to drive Americans from the\nentire field along their own territories.\nThat there were no serious outbreaks among the Missouri\nIndians must be attributed mainly to the influence of Manuel Lisa. Although a Spaniard by birth, he fully appreciated\nthe advantages of a free government and had accepted it\nloyally and earnestly. \" I have suffered enough in person\nand property under a different government,\" he said, in a\nletter already quoted, \" to know how to appreciate the one\nunder which I now live.\" He took an active part in keeping the Missouri tribes at peace. Recognizing the value of\nhis services Governor Clark appointed him sub-agent of the\nupper Missouri tribes in the summer of 1814, and this office\nhe held until he voluntarily relinquished it in 1817. We\ngive his own statement of what he accomplished. \" The\nIndians of the Missouri,\" he said to General Clark, on\nresigning his commission, \" are to those of the upper Missouri as four to one. Their weight would be great if\nthrown into the scale against us. They did not arm against\nthe Republic; on the contrary they armed against Great\nBritain and struck the Iowas, the allies of that power.\nWhen peace was proclaimed, more than forty chiefs had\nintelligence with me, and together we were to carry an expedition of several thousand warriors against the tribes of the\nupper Mississippi, and silence them at once. These things\nare known to Your Excellency. To the end of the war,\ntherefore, the Indians of the Missouri continued friends\nof the United States.\"\nImmediately after the news of peace arrived, Lisa\ntook to St. Louis a deputation of forty-three chiefs and head\nmen of the several bands of the Sioux, also the chiefs of the\n COUNCIL AT PORTAGE DES SIOUX.\n559\nOmaha and other tribes residing between the Missouri and\nMississippi rivers. These chiefs represented nations who\nhad offered their services to the government, and were\nabout to start on a campaign against the Indians of the Mississippi when the war came to an end\u00E2\u0080\u0094another example of\nbelated preparations which, had the war continued longer,\nwould have turned the tide of military success heavily in\nfavor of the Americans.\nSome of the Missouri tribes had actually gone to war\nagainst the tribes hostile to the United States, and were so\nengaged at the time of the treaty of peace, and it was one\nof the first cares of the government, after the ratification of\nthe treaty, to put a stop to their operations. In the spring\nof 1815 a commission was appointed by President Monroe,\nconsisting of Governor William Clark, Ninian Edwards,\nand Colonel Auguste Chouteau, for the purpose of informing the Indians who had lately been hostile to the United\nStates of the terms of the treaty with Great Britain, and of\nentering into peaceful relations with them. The commission met large deputations of Indians from the Mississippi\nand Missouri rivers at a little place called the Portage des\nSioux on the narrow neck of land between the two streams.\nAmong these Indians were those brought down by Manuel\nLisa, and with them satisfactory treaties were made without\ndifficulty. But with the Mississippi Indians the case was\ndifferent. The Sacs of Rock river, Illinois, in particular,\nwere bitterly hostile to the Americans, opposed to the peace,\nand could not be induced to treat. The labors of the commission were protracted all summer owing to these difficulties, and their report discloses in the clearest light the powerful influence which British traders and emissaries still exercised on our own soil.\nSo far as events of the war were concerned, very few\nof a hostile character occurred on the Missouri. There\nwere some destructive raids on the settlements in the vicinity\nof Boone's Lick, and also a few near St. Louis in the spring\nof 1815, but with these we have nothing to.do. The two\n\u00C2\u00BB'\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\n ^^^,\n560\nTHE ONE-EYED SIOUX.\n1!\nill!\nprincipal events which transpired wholly or in part in the\nvalley of the upper Missouri were the sending of messengers\nto the Indians of the upper Mississippi. So hostile were the\nSacs and Foxes that it was found well-nigh impossible to get\nmessengers through their country. It accordingly became\nnecessary to send by way of the Missouri, and thence, from\nsome point above the Omahas, to St. Peter's river in Minnesota. The first of these messengers was sent by Governor\nClark in the fall of 1814, with conciliatory messages to the\nSioux tribes of the upper Mississippi. He was the noted\nSioux, L'Orignal Leve, Standing Moose, commonly called\nOne-Eye, or the One-Eyed Sioux, owing to the absence of\none of his eyes, lost by accident in boyhood. He was one of\nthe very few upper Mississippi Sioux who sided with the\nAmericans. He had formed a great friendship for General\nPike when that officer passed through his country in 1805,\nand remained true to that attachment by adhering to the\ncause of Pike's country. When a party was organized\nunder the leadership of Joseph Renville and Little Crow to\nmake war on the Americans, One-Eye went to St. Louis,\noffered his services to General Clark, who gave him a commission and engaged him to go on the dangerous errand of\ncarrying messages to the upper tribes. The Missouri\nGazette of June 13, 1815, referring to this event, says:\n\" Four Sioux Indians arrived here on Thursday last from\nPrairie du Chien, among whom is the One-Eyed Sioux who\ncame down in the gun-boat last year, and who distinguished\nhimself so gallantly when the boat was attacked by British\nartillery and a host of Indians. This Sioux and another of\nhis tribe left this place last autumn with Manuel Lisa, Esq.,\nand ascended the Missouri to the River Jacques [James\nriver, South Dakota] from whence he traveled across the\ncountry to Prairie du Chien.\" It appears that on his arrival\nthere, Dickson maltreated him, threatened him with death,\nimprisoned him, and tried in every way to extract information, but the Indian remained firm and would disclose nothing. He was then liberated and made his way to the Sioux\n\u00E2\u0096\u00A0 TM\n LIEUTENANT KENNEDY S JOURNEY.\n561\ntribes, whence he returned to Prairie du Chien and remained\nuntil the British evacuated that place. He came back to St.\nLouis in June, 1815. He had promised General Clark to\nvisit the various tribes and he kept his word. He always\nretained his commission as a precious' memento, and several\npersons have left a record of having seen it.1\nWhen the commissioners for forming treaties of peace\nmet at Portage des Sioux in the spring of 1815 they were\nstill confronted with the impossibility of communicating\nwith the upper Mississippi tribes. Some attempts were\nmade, although it was a matter of the greatest difficulty to\nsecure volunteers for so perilous an undertaking. Among\nthose who did attempt it was Joseph La Barge, father of the\nlate Captain Joseph La Barge, the noted Missouri river pilot.\nBut it was impossible to get through the Sac and Fox country, and finally the commission had to send by way of the\nMissouri, as Governor Clark had done the year before. On\nthis important and perilous mission Lieutenant Kennedy,\n1 one of the disbanded officers [of the late war] equally distinguished by his bravery and enterprise,\" volunteered to go.\nHe succeeded in making the journey, although, owing to\nthe theft of his horses, he did not accomplish as much as\nhe had hoped. He made his way up the Missouri and\nacross to Prairie du Chien, whence he returned late in September or early in October to St. Louis. While among the\nMissouri Indians he received intelligence that the British\nhad opened an establishment among the Mandan nation.\nThere is no doubt that the Northwest Company hoped to\ngain a foothold in this quarter, but the treaty of peace\ndefeated their expectations.\nWith the close of the labors of the peace commission and\nthe rendition of their report, October 18, 1815, the incidents\nof the War of 1812, so far as they pertain to the upper*\nMissouri country, may be considered at an end.\n*For further details in the life of this distinguished Indian see\nCoues' Expedition of Zebulon Montgomery Pike, 1895, P- 87.\n CHAPTER II.\nTHE YELLOWSTONE EXPEDITION OF 1819-182O.\nOrigin of the expedition \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Great expectations \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Expedition both\nmilitary and scientific \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The military force \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The scientific party \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nAbsurd scheme for moving the troops \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The steamboat fiasco \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Bad\nmanagement of the expedition \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Sickness at Camp Missouri \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The\nWestern- Engineer \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Progress of Major Long up -the Missouri \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nArrival at the Council Bluffs \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Winter Cantonment \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Major Long\ngoes to Washington \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Failure of the expedition \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Organization of\nLong's expedition of 1820 \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Expedition arrives at the Pawnees \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nReaches the base of the mountains \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Pike's Peak \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The Arkansas \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nDivision of the party \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Captain Bell's journey down the Arkansas \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nMajor Long's journey down the Canadian \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Arrival at Fort Smith\u00E2\u0080\u0094*\nArrival of party at Cape Girardeau\u00E2\u0080\u0094 Itinerary of Long's expedition\u00E2\u0080\u0094\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\nEstimate of results \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Canadian and Red rivers \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Pike's Peak \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Publication of report \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Major Long's description of the country.\n'TT'HE expedition whose history forms the subject of this\n^\u00E2\u0096\u00A0^ chapter was everywhere popularly known in its day\nas the Yellowstone Expedition, but is now always spoken\nof as Long's Expedition. The enterprise was regarded as\none of great possibilities for the public good, particularly in\nthe West. The failure of Mr. Astor's project upon the\nColumbia; the disastrous fortunes of the Missouri Fur\nCompany; the evidences of British influence with Indians\nresiding in United States territory; and the necessity of protection to American trade in the more remote regions; these\nconsiderations had prevailed upon Congress to make a formidable showing of national authority along the upper\ncourse of the Missouri. Not a few hoped that the arms of\nthe government would be carried to the Columbia, and that\nAmerican rights upon that river would be restored, as the\nTreaty of Ghent required, to the status existing before the\nWar of 1812.\n GREAT EXPECTATIONS.\n563\nThe enterprise was a popular one in all parts of the country, and was a favorite measure of President Monroe, and\nof his Secretary of War, John C. Calhoun. In a letter\nto the Secretary during the progress of the enterprise, the\nPresident said: \" The people of the whole Western country\ntake a deep interest in the success of the contemplated establishment at the mouth of the Yellowstone river. They look\nupon it as a measure better calculated to preserve the peace\nof the frontier, to secure to us the fur trade and to break up\nthe intercourse between the British traders and the Indians,\nthan any other which has been taken by the government. I\ntake myself very great interest in the success of the expedition, and am willing to take great responsibility to ensure\nit.\" \u00C2\u00A7 \u00C2\u00A7\nThe object of the expedition is officially stated by Secretary Calhoun as follows: 1 The expedition ordered to the\nmouth of the Yellowstone, or rather to the Mandan village,\nis a part of a system of measures which has for its objects\nthe protection of our northwestern frontier and the greater\nextension of our fur trade.\"\nTo the people of the West, and in fact of the whole country, the expedition promised results of which the official purpose above quoted was a very inadequate expression.\nQuotations might be given at great length from the\npress of the country and even of Europe, evincing the warmest interest in the enterprise; but it will suffice to notice a\nfew from the Western press to show how great were the\nexpectations of those most directly interested. In an editorial of April 21, 1819, the Missouri Gazette of St. Louis\nsaid: \" The importance of this expedition has attracted the\nattention of the whole nation, and there is no measure which\nhas been adopted by the present administration that has\nreceived such universal commendation. If the agents of\nthe government who have charge of it fulfil the high expectations which have been raised, it will conspicuously add to\nthe admiration with which the administration of James\nMonroe will hereafter be viewed. ... In every point\n 164\nAN ERA-MAKING EXPEDITION.\nof view the Yellowstone Expedition will stand prominent.\nIt will add to the security of the Western country, particularly the frontier settlements; it will keep in check the\nIndians and prevent their depredations; it will tend to\ndestroy in some measure the influence that our British neighbors possess over the minds of the natives; it will throw\nadditional light upon the geography of that noble river, the\nMissouri, and also the country on its banks now inhabited\nby the Indians; it will encourage Western emigration; it\nwill protect and encourage the fur trade which is now productive of such important benefits to the country, and which\ncan be made much more productive; it will conduce to open\nthe communication which nature has ordained ought to\nexist between the Mississippi and the Pacific ocean. . . .\nIf the expedition should succeed, as we fondly hope and\nexpect, and the views of government should be carried into\neffect, the time will not be far distant when another nation\nwill inhabit west of the Mississippi, equal at least, if not\nsuperior, to those which the ancient remains still found in\nthis country lead us to believe once flourished here: a nation\nindeed rendered more durable by the enjoyment of that great\ninvention of American freemen\u00E2\u0080\u0094a Federal Republic.\" The\narticle then went on to state some of the dangers of failure\nwhich might arise if unpractical men were put in charge. It\ngave wise advice in regard to the treatment of the Indians,\nand throughout displayed a knowledge of the conditions of\nsuccess which might well have indicated the writer as a fitting individual to form part of the personnel of the\nexpedition.\nNiles' Register of October 17, 1818, quoting the St. Louis\nEnquirer, said: \" The establishment of this post [at the\nmouth of the Yellowstone] will be an era in the history of\nthe West. It will go to the source and root of the fatal\nBritish influence which has for so many years armed the\nIndian nations against our Western frontier. It carries the\narms and power of the United States to the ground which\nhas hitherto been exclusively occupied by the British Northwest and Hudson Bay Companies, and which has been the\n ENTHUSIASTIC EXAGGERATIONS.\n56;\ntrue seat of British power over the Indian mind. Now the\nAmerican arms and American policy will be displayed upon\nthe same theater. The Northwest and Hudson Bay Companies will be shut out from the commerce of the Missouri\nand Mississippi Indians; the American traders will penetrate\nin safety the recesses of the Rocky mountains in search of\nits rich furs; a commerce yielding a million per annum will\ndescend the Missouri, and the Indians, finding their wants\nsupplied by the American traders, their domestic wars\nrestrained by American policy, will learn to respect the\nAmerican name.\n\"The name of the Yellowstone river will hereafter be\nfamiliar to the American ear.\" J\nThe high expectations which were built on the possibilities\nof this expedition are in no way better illustrated than in the\nexaggerations to which they gave rise. One enthusiast seriously avowed his opinion that the expedition would open a\n1 safe and easy communication to China, which would give\nsuch a spur to commercial enterprise that ten years shall not\npass away before we shall have the rich productions of that\ncountry transported from Canton to the Columbia, up that\nriver to the mountains, over the mountains and down the\nMissouri and Mississippi, all the way (mountains and all)\nby the potent power of steam. These are not idle dreams,\nrely upon it; to me it seems much less difficult than it was\nuniversally considered when I first came here to navigate\nthe Missouri with sailboats.\" 2 The writer of this letter\nwas indeed a trifle \" previous \" in his forecast, but one can\ndiscern in his heated imagination a dim conception of the\nrailroad yet to be. It was not to be for many years, but the\ntime has come when the \" potent power of steam \" transports\nthe goods of China over \" mountains and all\" to every mart\nwhere the needs of the people require them.\n1 Little did the writer imagine the causes which would yet make the\nname Yellowstone familiar throughout the world.\n'Letter from Fort Osage to Editor Niles Register, May 17, 1819.\nPublished in issue of July 3, 1819.\n 566\nTHRILL OF THE NEW ERA.\nWe can hardly realize now what visions of future greatness then filled the minds of our people. Steam had fairly\nentered upon its conquest of the navigable waters of the\nglobe, and scarcely a day passed but that some new feat\nastonished the world and brushed aside another of the\n\" impossibilities \" of conservatism. All ranks of society felt\nthe thrill of the new era, and even men of sober experience\nwere swept along in the current. The following views,\nexpressed by a man of long and distinguished public service,\nreflect the general enthusiasm of the time. Speaking of the\nYellowstone Expedition he said: \" See those\" vessels, with\nthe agency of steam, advancing against the powerful currents of the Mississippi and the Missouri! Their course is\nmarked by volumes of smoke and fire, which the civilized\nman observes with admiration, and the savage with astonishment. Botanists, mineralogists, chemists, artisans, cultivators, scholars, soldiers; the love of peace, the capacity for\nwar; philosophical apparatus and military supplies; telescopes and cannon; garden seeds and gunpowder; the arts\nof civil life and the force to defend them\u00E2\u0080\u0094all are seen\naboard. The banner of freedom which waves over the\nwhole proclaims the character and protective power of the\nUnited States.\"\nWe have given somewhat at length, and in their own language, the views of the people at the time upon this important expedition, because a full understanding of their high\nexpectations is necessary in order to appreciate their deep\ndisappointment at their non-fulfillment. Unfortunately the\nvery magnitude of the enterprise and its unbounded possibilities led to an elaboration of the means for carrying it\ninto effect which, by its cumbersomeness, proved fatal to the\nundertaking.\nThe expedition was to be both military and scientific in\ncharacter. The movement of troops was planned on a scale\nwholly beyond the requirements of the occasion, and it was\nat one time contemplated to send upward of a thousand men.\nCongress had been led to believe that the movement wrould\n ORGANIZATION OF THE EXPEDITION.\n0\n67\nactually result in a saving to the military establishment of\nupwards of forty thousand dollars a year, owing mainly to\nthe diminished cost of subsistence in a country where game\nwas so abundant and grazing free. Troops were moved\nfrom Plattsburg, Philadelphia, Detroit, and Bellefontaine\nnear St. Louis. The military expedition was under command of Colonel Henry Atkinson, and so far as he was\nunhampered in his operations he seems to have conducted it\nwith the practical good sense for which that officer was\ndistinguished. He adopted a device of his own for propelling keelboats, consisting of paddle wheels similar to those\nof a steamboat, but operated by the soldiers who were on\nboard. This arrangement worked well enough to justify\nits adoption in an expedition conducted by General Atkinson\nto the mouth of the Yellowstone in 1825. The movement\nof the troops began in the fall of 1818 and a considerable\ndetachment under Captain Martin passed the winter near\nthe mouth of the Kansas river at a cantonment christened\nCamp Martin. The general advance took place in the following spring.\nThe scientific part of the expedition was under the direction of Major Stephen H. Long, of the Corps of Engineers,\nU. S. A., an officer of high professional reputation. He was\nassisted by Major Biddle, who kept the journal; Dr. Baldwin, botanist; Dr. Say, zoologist; Dr. Jessup^ geologist; Mr.\nPeale, assistant naturalist; Mr. Seymour, painter and\nsketcher, and Lieutenant Graham and Cadet Swift, topographical assistants. The instructions of the Secretary of\nWar to Major Long stated that \" the object of the expedition is to acquire as thorough and accurate knowledge, as\nmay be practicable, of a portion of the country which is N\ndaily becoming more interesting, but which is yet imperfectly\nknown. You will ascertain the latitude and longitude of\nremarkable points, with all possible precision. You will, if\npossible, ascertain some point in the 49th parallel of latitude\nwhich separates our possessions from those of Great Britain.\n1.\n 11\n568\nABSURD ARRANGEMENTS.\nA knowledge of the extent of our limits will tend to prevent\ncollision between our traders and theirs.\nI You will enter in your journal everything interesting in\nrelation to soil, face of country, water courses, and productions, whether animal, vegetable, or mineral.\n\" You will conciliate the Indians by kindness and presents,\nand will ascertain as far as practicable the number and character of the various tribes, with the extent of country claimed\nby each.\"\nThe instructions of President Jefferson to Captains Lewis\nand Clark were also cited for guidance.\nSuch were the fond expectations in regard to this great\nundertaking and such the elaborate preparations for carrying it into effect. But the magnitude of the conception was\nin no wise sustained by the skill of its execution. The\narrangement for the transportation of the troops disclosed\na degree of folly, if nothing worse, which is a disgrace to\nthe military history of the government. The conditions of\ntravel up the Missouri were thoroughly understood at the\ntime, and it was known that by the aid of keelboats the\nmarch to the mouth of the Yellowstone could be easily\naccomplished in a single season. Such was evidently Colonel Atkinson's idea. But the officials in St. Louis having\nthe matter of transportation in charge thought otherwise.\nSo great an enterprise as the Yellowstone Expedition must\nbe conducted with becoming state. No keelboat transportation would answer. The steamboat, that new power on\nthe Western rivers, was alone appropriate to the occasion.\nAlthough no steamboat had yet entered the Missouri river,\nand although a little practical reflection must have shown\nthat some experience would be required to develop and overcome the difficulties of navigating that unruly stream, and\nthat the first efforts must be largely failures, still the government decided to rely mainly upon steamboats. In putting\ninto effect this plan it committed the always disastrous mistake of trusting itself, bound hand and foot, to the tender\nmercies of a contractor. Of those connected with this expe-\n CONTRACTOR JAMES JOHNSON.\n569\ndition, one Colonel James Johnson, contractor, emerges\nfrom its confused history with the glory of having accomplished all and more than he expected. Without competition he secured a contract, December 2, 1818, in which not\nonly were the prices exorbitant, but some of them were left\nto future contingencies to be fixed by arbitration if agreement should fail between the principals. He was also to\nbe allowed advances before services were performed, and\nthat without adequate security to the government. Thus\npractically guaranteed against loss, the shrewd Colonel\nJohnson took little care to see that his equipment was of a\ncharacter which should ensure a prompt fulfillment of the\ncontract. He provided five steamboats, the Jefferson, Expedition, Johnson, Calhoun, and Exchange. There is no record that the last two were able to enter the Missouri at all.\nThe Jefferson gave out and abandoned the trip thirty miles\nbelow Franklin. The Expedition and Johnson wintered\nat Cow Island, a little above the mouth of the Kansas, and\nreturned to St. Louis in the following spring. In his entire\narrangements Colonel Johnson failed to come up to the\ncontract, and the expedition was thereby hopelessly delayed\nand its main purpose thwarted. In the disagreements that\nsubsequently arose arbitrators had to be called in, and these\nsided with the contractor, allowing him over forty thousand\ndollars for loss occasioned by the very delays for which he\nalone was responsible. The matter was so scandalous that\nit led to an investigation by a committee of Congress, who\nreported against the justice and legality of the award, and\nrecommended the institution of legal proceedings to recover\nthe amount wrongfully paid.3\nThe expedition had not proceeded far before it became\nevident that its management was hopelessly weak and that\n3 a\nThe estimated cost for transportation in this favorite project, as\nreported to Congress at the last session, was $162,994. The sum\nclaimed by Colonel Johnson, and, he [the speaker] was told, actual\"/\npaid, is $256,818.15.\" Speech of Mr. Cocke of Tennessee in H. R., Dec,\nI, 1820.\n -c^5\u00C2\u00BBn-\n^70\nFORECAST OF FAILURE.\nit must fall far short of its original purpose.4 The whole\nsummer .was spent on the lower river and it was September\n26th before the troops reached Council Bluffs. All thought\nof going farther was abandoned for the time. A camp was\nestablished called Camp Missouri, and here the troops remained for the winter. It proved to be one of the most\ndisastrous winter encampments in the history of the army.\nThe troops suffered terribly from the scurvy. Over three\nhundred were attacked and of these about one hundred died.\nThe disease prevailed to some extent all winter, and by\nspring the situation had become \" truly deplorable.\" As\nsoon as it was possible to navigate the river, many of the\nsick were sent to Fort Osage.\nThe steamboat craze on this expedition was not confined\nto the military portion, but extended to the scientific adjunct\nas well. For the use of Major Long's party a special boat\nwas constructed which appears in every way to have been a\ndecided novelty. It was called the Western Engineer, and\nwas probably the first stern-wheel steamboat ever built. It\nwas launched in Pittsburg in the winter of 1818-19. The\nonly description of this craft which has come to our notice is\nthe following from the Missouri Gazette of May 26, 1819,\nand a letter written about a month later: \" The Western\nEngineer is well armed and carries an elegant flag representing a white man and an Indian shaking hands, the calumet\nof peace and the sword. The boat is 75 feet long, 13 feet\nbeam and draws 19 inches of water. The steam passes off\n*\" Our great Yellowstone Expedition, about which you have seen\nso much in the papers, has not yet got above this place, except a detachment of 260 men which passed here last fall, and are now about 80\nmiles above waiting for the rest. Five or six hundred are expected\nhere every day. When they arrive this fort will be broke up and I\nshall be left here pretty much alone. The expedition is very badly\nmanaged, and will, I fear, fall very far short of the public expectations.\nThe steamboats expected to accompany it are not found to answer very\nwell, and will very probably be abandoned. There is no doubt that\nthe Missouri can be easily navigated by steamboats, but they must be\nof peculiar construction, and have greater power than those used elsewhere.\" Letter from G. C. Sibley, July 10, 1819. Fort Osage.\n r^\n\t\na=j-E\nTHE WESTERN ENGINEER.\n571\nthrough the mouth of a large figure-head (a serpent). . .\nThe wheels are placed in the stern.\" Omitting the absurd\nattempts at ornamentation, the boat was as much of a success as could have been expected at that early stage of\nsteamboat experience. It was far better adapted to the navigation of the Missouri than were any of Colonel Johnson's\nboats, and although it did not leave St. Louis until some time\nafter the rest of the expedition had gone, it passed them all\nbefore they reached the mouth of the Kansas, and was the\nonly boat that went through to Council Bluffs.\nHow this unusual craft impressed the popular eye may\nbe inferred from the following extract from a letter dated\nSt. Louis June 19, 1819, ten days after its arrival at that\ncity\na\nThe bow of this vessel exhibits the form of a\nhuge serpent, black and scaly, rising out of the water from\nunder the boat, his head as high as the deck, darted forward,\nhis mouth open, vomiting smoke, and apparently carrying\nthe boat on his back. From under the boat at its stern issues a stream of foaming water, dashing violently along.\nAll the machinery is hid. Three small brass field pieces\nmounted on wheel carriages stand on the deck. The boat is\nascending the rapid stream at the rate of three miles an\nhour. Neither wind nor human hands are seen to help her,\nand, to the eye of ignorance, the illusion is complete, that\na monster of the deep carries her on his back, smoking with\nfatigue, and lashing the waves with violent exertion. Her\nequipments are at once calculated to attract and to awe the\nsavages. Objects pleasing and terrifying are at once placed\nbefore him \u00E2\u0080\u0094 artillery, the flag of the Republic, portraits of\nthe white man and the Indian shaking hands, the calumet of\npeace, a sword, then the apparent monster with a painted\nvessel on his back, the sides gaping with portholes and n\nbristling with guns. Taken altogether, and without intelligence of her composition and design, it would require a daring savage to approach and accost her with Hamlet's speech:\n' Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damned, etc.* \"\nThe Western Engineer left St. Louis on the 9th of June,\n 5/2\nTHE SCIENTIFIC EXPEDITION.\n1819, and proceeded by very leisurely stages up the Missouri.5 The little boat seems to have done very well and to\nhave experienced but few breakages of machinery. There\nwere no incidents of special importance en route. At St.\nCharles four of the party left the boat for the purpose of\nexploring the country along shore, but the experience was\ntoo rough for them and they were fain to seek the comforts\nof the boat before a week had passed. At Franklin a stop\nof a week was made. The people of this frontier town\nfairly outdid themselves in their extravagant celebrations, on\nthe occasion of the visits of Colonel Atkinson and Major\nLong. Banquets were had and toasts proposed on a scale\nthat would have done honor to the Capital or metropolis\nof the country. The record of these elaborate ceremonials\nmay still be read in the files of the newspaper published in\nFranklin at the time.\nMajor Long was unfortunate in losing one of his party at\nFranklin. Dr. Baldwin who was in very ill health was\nleft here and died on the 31st of August following. On\nthe 19th of July four of the party left Franklin to go by\nland to Fort Osage and the boat left the next day. Fort\nOsage was reached on the ist of August. On the 6th most\nof the party set out from this place by land with the\nintention of visiting the Kansas and Pawnee Indians and\nrejoining the expedition near Council Bluffs. The boat left\nFort Osage on the 10th, and on the 18th arrived at Isle a\nla Vache, a few miles above the present site of Leavenworth,\nwhere Captain Martin had wintered with three companies\nof troops, expecting to proceed up the river early in the\nspring.\nA delay of a week was made at Camp Martin for the purpose of treating with the Kansas Indians. The Western\nEngineer resumed her trip on the 25th of August, being accompanied by fifteen soldiers under a Lieutenant Field in the\n8 The following is an extract from the log of the Western Engineer:\n\"Average running time five hours per day. Average leisure time for\nexamining the country ten hours per day.\"\n ARRIVAL AT COUNCIL BLUFFS.\n573\nkeelboat General Smith. Four days after their departure\nthe land party, who were to have gone on to Council Bluffs,\narrived at Isle a la Vache for the purpose of again availing\nthemselves of the comforts of the boat. They had been\npretty roughly handled by a small party of Pawnees and\nwere satisfied with their taste of frontier experience. Two\nof them, Messrs. Say and Jessup, were quite ill. Finding\nthe boat gone, the party, except the two sick men, set out\nby forced marches, and overhauled her on the ist of September. No other incident of moment occurred until the 17th\nof September when the boat arrived at Fort Lisa, where it\nwas received by the inmates of the fort with, a salute of\nordnance and a hospitable welcome. Although yet scarcely\nhalfway to the mouth of the Yellowstone, the great objective point of the expedition, it was decided to go into winter quarters here. Major Long remained only two weeks\nwhen he set out for Washington.\nThe site of the camp for the scientific party was located\nI half a mile above Fort Lisa, five miles below Council\nBluffs, and three miles above the mouth of the Boyer river.\"\nThe place was christened the Engineer Cantonment.\nThe winter passed away pleasantly enough with the scientific party. They improved their time in securing information concerning the neighboring tribes and particularly the\nOmahas. They made a few short excursions into the surrounding country, obtained the latitude and longitude of\ntheir cantonment, and made some investigation into the\ngeology and natural history of the Missouri valley.\nThe records of the expedition show that there were continuous and friendly relations subsisting between the military and the members of the Missouri Fur Company. Hos-^\npitalities were given and received. Manuel Lisa invited N\nthe officers to dinner at his house and the officers reciprocated in kind, and thus began that hospitable intercourse between the citizens of this locality and the officers of the\narmy which has continued until the present day. There\nwere two ladies present, one of them the wife of Lisa and\n1\n 574\nFAILURE OF EXPEDITION.\ndaughter of Stephen Hempstead of St. Louis. The name\nof the other is not known, but these two women are presumed to be the first who had ascended the Missouri as far\nas to the present site of Omaha.\nIt must be apparent from the account just given of the\noperations of 1819 that the Yellowstone Expedition thus\nfar had been an unqualified failure if not a huge fiasco. The\nwhole enterprise had been smothered in elaboration of method. Although the troops could with ease have marched\nthree times as far as the boats carried them, it was considered necessary to transport them in a manner becoming\nthe dignity of so vast an enterprise. As a result it took an\nentire season to reach a point which ought to have been\nreached in two months at most, and the troops passed a\nfrightful winter in a deadly situation when they might have\nbeen encamped in the salubrious country at the mouth of\nthe Yellowstone.\nThe same spirit of absurd extravagance pervaded the\nscientific branch of the enterprise. If Major Long had been\ncontent with a sensible field equipment transported on pack\nmules, or on a keelboat while along the Missouri, he could\nhave kept his party in the field for five years, and have explored the entire region east of the mountains, for less money\nthan his actual operations cost in the year 1819 alone.\nThe insignificant results of the first season's work and the\nscandal growing out of the transportation contract, disgusted Congress with the whole enterprise and that body\ndeclined to appropriate any further funds for it. The preface of Dr. James' report of the expedition says that the\n\" state of the national finances during the year 1820 having\ncalled for retrenchments in all expenditures of a public nature\u00E2\u0080\u0094 the means necessary for the further prosecution of\nthe objects of the expedition were accordingly withheld.\"\nIt is very well to have a plausible explanation for a great\nand mortifying failure, but the historian will not let the\nmanagers of this enterprise off so easily.\nThe Yellowstone Expedition was thus cut off before it\n-uT\u00E2\u0080\u0094m\n LONG S EXPEDITION.\n575\nwas half completed, and as a half-hearted apology to the\npublic for its failure, a small side show was organized\nfor the season of 1820 in the form of an expedition to the\nRocky mountains. It was placed under charge of Major\nLong, who returned to the Engineer Cantonment on the 28th\nof May of that year. The extent to which the great\nenterprise of the previous year had forfeited public confidence may be inferred from the niggardly assistance which\nthe government lent to the present expedition. The party\nof Major Long consisted, beside himself, of Captain John\nR. Bell, Lieutenant W. H. Swift, Thomas Say, Edwin\nJames, T. R. Peale, Samuel Seymour, H. Dougherty, D.\nAdams, three engages, one corporal and six. private soldiers. Of the horses and mules required for the party\nthe government furnished only six, while the members of the\nparty furnished the remaining sixteen. The stock of merchandise wherewith to treat with the Indians was ridiculously small, and the whole equipment was justly styled by Dr.\nJames a \" very inadequate outfit.\"\nThe immediate object in view on this expedition was to\ngo \" to the source of the River Platte and thence by way of\nthe Arkansas and Red rivers to the Mississippi.\" The expedition left winter quarters on the Missouri June 6, and\narrived, with no occurrence worth mentioning, at the Pawnee villages on the Loup fork of the Platte, June 11. To\nwhat degree the size and equipment of this expedition were\ncalculated to command the respect of the Indians may be\nseen in the fact that the chiefs of the Grand Pawnees not\nonly did not welcome the visitors to their camp, but, when\ninvited to appear before the party, declined on the ground\nthat they were otherwise engaged. Nothing was accomplished here beyond an abortive attempt to introduce the\nprocess of vaccination among the tribe.\nThe party left the Loup villages June 13th and the following day reached the Platte about at the present site of\nGrand Island, Nebraska. Their progress up this river was\ndevoid of incident. They ascended the north bank to the\ni\nJ\n 576\nAT THE BASE OF THE MOUNTAINS.\nMl\nforks of the Platte, both of which they crossed just above\nthe junction, and then ascended the south bank of the South\nFork. On the 30th of June they saw the mountains, and\nthe peak which first attracted their attention now bears the\nname of Major Long. When they first saw it they thought\nit to be Pike's Peak. On the 5th of July they were encamped within or near the present limits of the city of Denver, and the next day they halted about noon at the point\nwhere the South Platte emerges from the mountains. Here\nthe party encamped for the purpose of following the stream\ninto the mountains. The 7th of July was spent in this\nwork, but the small detachment who undertook it got into\nthe foothills only five or six miles, far enough, however,\nso that some of them saw the junction of the two forks of the\nSouth Platte. Finding mountain climbing a pretty exhausting business they returned to camp. Thus terminated\nthat part of the official instructions directing an exploration\nof the Platte to its source, and the famous Bayou Salade, or\nSouth Park, from which the river flows, remained unknown,\nexcept to the hunter, for more than twenty years thereafter.\nOn the 9th of July the party resumed its journey and\non the 12th encamped on Fountain creek about twenty-five\nmiles from the summit of Pike's Peak. Here some definite\nresults were accomplished in the ascent of Pike's Peak and\nthe measurement of its altitude. Dr. James with two men\nmade the ascent, arriving at the summit at 4 P. M. on the\n14th, and were presumably the first white men to perform\nthat now popular feat. They remained only an hour, made\npart of the descent that night, and reached camp after dark\non the 15th. Lieutenant Swift, in the meanwhile, had measured the height of the peak by a system of horizontal and\nvertical triangles, and had found its altitude above the plain\nwhere the measurement was made to be 8,507 feet. Major\nLong erroneously estimated the elevation of the plain at^\nonly 3,000 feet above sea level. His estimate was arrived\nat from assumed slopes of the Mississippi, Missouri and\nPlatte rivers, and was naturally liable to great error. The\n DIVISION OF PARTY.\n577\nactual elevation of the plain, where the measurement of the\naltitude of the peak was made, is probably about 5,700 feet,\nwhich would give 14,200 feet as the altitude of the peak,\nas against Long's recorded estimate of 11,507 feet. The\ntrigonometric work seems therefore to have been very accurate.\nThe party resumed its march on the 16th and arrived\nthat day at the Arkansas near the mouth of Turkey creek.\nHere another excursion was made to the mountains, very\nmuch like that on the Platte. Captain Bell and Dr. James\nascended the river one day's march to the canon of the\nArkansas and returned next day to camp. Although it\nwas yet only the middle of July, no further attempt was\nmade to explore the source of either of these rivers, and on\nthe morning of the 12th the party took up its march for\nthe settlements. It arrived in the vicinity of the present\ntown of La Junta, Colorado, on the 21st and spent the next\ntwo days in arranging a division of the party and plans\nfor the homeward journey. It was decided that Captain\nBell, Lieutenant Swift, three Frenchmen and five soldiers,\nwith most of the horses and baggage, should descend the\nArkansas, while Major Long, Dr. James, Mr. Peale, and\nseven men should proceed to the sources of the Red river\nand follow that stream to the settlements. A rendezvous\nwas appointed at Fort Smith on the Arkansas. Both parties\ntook up their respective journeys on the 24th of July, 1820.\nThere is almost nothing in these two journeys that need\ndetain us. Captain Bell's party encountered several small\nbands of Indians, but had no trouble of moment with any\nof them. On the 7th of August, two days before arriving at\nthe Great Bend of the Arkansas, two French interpreters\nwho had been hired at the Pawnee villages, terminated their N\nengagements and set out alone to return. These men had\ngiven very satisfactory service. On the night of August\n30th Captain Bell's party suffered a genuine catastrophe in\nthe loss of much of their camp property, including nearly\nall the notes and records of the expedition. They were sto-\nI\n\u00C2\u00AB\n 578\nROUTE OF MAJOR LONG.\nft V\nRlEU\nlen by three men who deserted that night. Captain Bell arrived at Fort Smith on the 9th of September after a march\nin which the greatest cause of suffering was the excessive\nheat.\nMajor Long's party took a course slightly east of south\nuntil they reached the valley of Purgatory creek, probably a\nlittle below Bent's Canon. They ascended a fork of this\nstream which joined the main stream from the east a little\nabove the canon and made their way to the high land\nat the head of the stream. Continuing south across several\nof the sources of the Cimarron, they at length came to\na valley which, from its general direction and appearance,\nthey believed to be tributary to Red river, and they resolved\nto follow it. This was July 30th. Their course for the\nnext four days was southeast down the valley of this stream,\nuntil they came to its junction with the main Canadian,\nwhich they supposed to be the Red river.\nThe route from the time the party left the South Platte\nuntil they arrived at the Canadian is extremely difficult to\nfollow except along the Arkansas. It would be scarcely\npossible to find in any narrative of Western history so careless an itinerary, and in a scientific report like that of Dr.\nJames it is quite inexcusable. Those who care to follow the\nroute may do so, by aid of the foot note below, where it\nhas been worked out as fully as the deficient record will permit.\nFrom the camp of August 4th on the Canadian the\nparty descended that stream without any remarkable experience except considerable suffering from heat and lack\nof food. On the 10th of September they arrived at the\nArkansas and found for the first time that they had been\nfollowing the Canadian Fork of that stream and had not\nbeen on the Red river at all. On the 13th of September the\nparty arrived at Fort Smith.\nSeptember 21st the re-united party left Fort Smith for\nCape Gifardeau. A portion of their number visited the\nnoted hot springs of the Washita on the way, and all finally\n ITINERARY OF LONG S ROUTE.\n579\nassembled at Cape Girardeau on the 12th of October. Major Long set out at once for St. Louis on the Westejn Engineer, which had arrived a few days before.6\n'ITINERARY OF MAJOR LONG'S ROUTE BETWEEN JULY 9TH ON THE SOUTH\nPLATTE AND AUGUST 4TH ON THE CANADIAN.\nJuly 7th and 8th the party were encamped in the valley of the South\nPlatte near where Wheatland, Colorado, now stands.\nJuly 9.\u00E2\u0080\u0094The party set out on their journey, first ascending to its\nsource a small tributary of the Platte, and then crossing the dividing\nridge into the valley of Defile [Plum?] creek. This stream they\n\"ascended to the place where its principal branch descends from the\nmountains,\" and there encamped. \" In the evening a favorable opportunity, the first for several days, presented, and observations for latitude were taken.\" The table of latitudes and longitudes in the\nAppendix to Dr. James' book gives the 8th as the day when the\nobservations were taken and the place as the \" Camp at the base of the\nRocky Mountains.\" The latitude was computed as 39 degrees 23\nminutes 40 seconds, which corresponds more nearly with the probable\nlocation of the first camp after leaving the Platte. These considerations\nindicate that the record may have slipped a day at this point.\nJuly 10.\u00E2\u0080\u0094This day's journey is wholly indefinite. The most that can\nbe made of the description is that the main party ascended Plum or\nDefile creek for a distance, and then crossed a sandstone ridge about\n1,000 feet high to another stream, the valley of which was about a mile\nwide. From the top of the ridge the bearing of Pike's Peak was S.\n50 degrees W.\nJuly 11.\u00E2\u0080\u0094The record of this day is equally unsatisfactory, but the\ncourse was probably southeast in the direction of the valley of Squirrel\ncreek. The party, with amazing innocence of their whereabouts, kept\non, and \"towards evening our guide discovered that we had already\npassed considerably beyond the base of the Peak, near which it had\nbeen our intention to halt.\" Having performed the remarkable feat\nof passing the base of Pike's Peak without knowing it, the party\n\"thought it advisable to encamp for the night.\" Where their camp\nwas is largely a matter of conjecture, but from the course on the following day, and the place where the party then went into camp, we\nthink that it was probably about 20 miles east-southeast of the present N\nsite of Colorado Springs.\nJuly 12.\u00E2\u0080\u0094The party retraced their route of the nth for a distance\nand then crossed a ridge and descended into the valley of the Fontaine\nqui Bouit [now Fountain] creek, at a point about 25 miles from the\nPeak. They arrived here not later than noon. This camp seems to\nhave been at least 15 miles, and perhaps more, from Manitou Springs,\nil\nlii\n 58o\nITINERARY CONTINUED.\nIn reviewing this expedition and comparing its actual results with what it proposed and what the public expected,\nthe impression left is one of disappointment. In scarcely\nany respect did it accomplish its purpose. In the movement\nup the Missouri the point reached was but little more than\none-third of the distance to the mouth of the Yellowstone,\nthe intended destination. The whole purpose of carrying\nthe power of the United States to these remote regions and\nof rendering American trade secure there, fell to the ground.\nand was therefore probably a few miles above the present site of\nFountain, Colorado.\nJuly 13.\u00E2\u0080\u0094In the morning Dr. James, Lieut. Swift, and five men set\nout before sunrise up the valley of Fountain creek. Lieutenant Swift\nwas to find a suitable base from which to measure the altitude of the\nPeak, and Dr. James with two men was to ascend the Peak.\nJuly 14-15.\u00E2\u0080\u0094These days were consumed in ascent of Pike's Peak and\nin measuring its altitude. Dr. James reached the summit of the\nPeak about 4 P. M. of the 14th; remained there one hour; pursued\nhis way back until dark; reached Manitou Springs about noon of the\n15th; and the main camp a little after dark on the same day. Lieutenant Swift finished his measurements on the 14th. The altitude of the\nPeak was found to be 8,507 feet above the plain where the measurements were made.\nJuly 16.\u00E2\u0080\u0094The party set out for the Arkansas. They move \"in a\nsouthwestern direction\" for 28 miles, which they accomplish in ten\nhours without dismounting. The soil along the line of march was of\n\" incurable barrenness,\" and the scenery \" dreary and disgusting.\"\nThe first camp on the Arkansas is not described at all, but from the\ncourse and distance of the day's march and those of the following\ndays we think the position was about 12 to 15 miles above the present\nsite of Pueblo. The party searched for Pike's old redoubt, but of\ncourse did not find it where they were. When they descended the\nArkansas it was along the north shore and they did not pass by the\nposition at all.\nJuly 17-18.\u00E2\u0080\u0094Captain Bell and Dr. James made an ascent of the\nArkansas to the canon just above the present site of Canon City.\nThey called the distance 30 miles. They returned on the following\nday. Latitude of camp 38 degrees 18 minutes 19 seconds. Longitude\n105 degrees 39 minutes 45 seconds.\nJuly 19.\u00E2\u0080\u0094The party started down the Arkansas along the left bank.\nThey must have crossed Fountain creek about noon, but they made\nno mention of it. They passed the mouth of the St. Charles from\n-\u00C2\u00BB--\n ITINERARY CONTINUED.\n581\nThe cherished idea that the expedition might open the way\nto a resumption of the lost business on the Columbia received\nnot the slightest encouragement.\nThe net result of the military expedition was to establish\na post near the present site of Omaha. The position was occupied but a few years when the garrison was withdrawn\nto the new Fort Leavenworth near the mouth of the Kansas river. Except as to those Indians who visited Fort Lisa\nor who lived in that vicinity, no intercourse of importance\nthe south in the afternoon. Traveled 25 miles, latitude of camp 38\ndegrees 14 minutes 18 seconds.\nJuly 20.\u00E2\u0080\u0094The party set out at 5 A. M. and \" soon afterwards\"\npassed the mouth of the Huerfano from the south. Made 26 miles.\nJuly 21.\u00E2\u0080\u0094Set out at 5 A. M. Having traveled about 6 miles they\nmet an Indian and his squaw who conducted them down to the ford\nof the Arkansas, where they arrived about 10 A. M.\nJuly 22-23.\u00E2\u0080\u0094These days were spent in preparation for the homeward march. The party was divided. Captain Bell, Lieutenant Swift,\nthree Frenchmen and five soldiers, with most of the horses and baggage, were to descend the Arkansas. Major Long, Dr. James, Mr.\nPeale and seven men were to descend the Red river.\nJuly 24.\u00E2\u0080\u0094Major Long's party crossed the Arkansas and set off \"a\nlittle to the east of south nearly at right angles to the Arkansas.\"\nDistance 27 miles. The valley of \"a considerable stream\" [Las\nAnimas or Purgatory] is visible \"eight or ten miles\" to the southeast.\nJuly 25.\u00E2\u0080\u0094Major Long's party strike the Purgatory a little below\nBent's Canon, although they thought they were only on a tributary.\nA little after noon they began ascending a small tributary from the\neast. This is presumably Chaquaqua creek. The party progressed\nwith great difficulty, making only 15 miles.\nJuly 26.\u00E2\u0080\u0094Major Long's party continue up stream, the real distance\nbeing estimated at 15 miles, eliminating windings. Halted at 4 P. M.\nat head of stream.\nJuly 27.\u00E2\u0080\u0094Major Long's party proceed under great difficulties and at\nlength emerge from the valley of the stream which they had beenN\nascending. After reaching the open plain they make some observations.\n\"James' [Pike's] Peak bore N. 71 degrees W.; and the West Spanish\nPeak S. 87 degrees W.; magnetic variation 135^ degrees east.\" Halted\nat 5 P. M., \" having traveled about 10 miles nearly due south from the\npoint where we -had left the valley of the creek.\" Total distance for the\nday could not have been over 15 miles.\nJuly 28.\u00E2\u0080\u0094Major Long's route was \"south\" and \"a little east of\nnil\nI\n 582\nITINERARY CONCLUDED.\nI\nwas had with any of the tribes and the influence of the\nexpedition upon the Indian question was very small. It\nshould be said, however, that the position near Council\nBluffs became the base of operations against the Aricaras in\n1823 and of the expedition to the Yellowstone under Atkinson and O'Fallon in 1825.\nThe expedition of 1820, which was the insignificant finale\nof the great enterprise, was scarcely more satisfactory than\nthe other operations had been. The party was wretchedly\nequipped, and as a consequence kept almost continuously\nsouth.\" The party cross several extensive valleys, the upper courses\nof the Cimarron, and finally descend into a valley, where they find running water, and encamp there. No distance is given. Probably about\n20 miles.\nJuly 29.\u00E2\u0080\u0094Major Long's party leave the valley of the creek where\nthey were, and keep on to the south and possibly a little east of south.\nThey encounter a severe storm from the northeast, and the horses\nrefuse to move except with the wind, \"so that rather than suffer\nourselves to be carried from our course,\" they await the subsidence of\nthe storm. No distance stated\u00E2\u0080\u0094say 20 miles.\nJuly 30.\u00E2\u0080\u0094Major Long's party cross a wide plain and descend into\nthe valley of a creek about noon. This they resolve to follow as one\nof the probable sources of Red river, and therefore decide to abandon\ntheir further \"journey to the southwest.\" No distance given\u00E2\u0080\u0094say\n20 miles. This stream has received the name of Major Long's creek.\nJuly 31.\u00E2\u0080\u0094Major Long's party continue down the valley in which\nthey encamped the night before. No distance given\u00E2\u0080\u0094say 20 miles.\nCamp at the mouth of a tributary from the east, probably Leon creek.\nAugust 1.\u00E2\u0080\u0094Major Long's party remain in camp all day.\nAugust 2.\u00E2\u0080\u0094Major Long's party continue down the valley, S. 80\ndegrees E. Distance about 25 miles.\nAugust 3.\u00E2\u0080\u0094Major Long's party continue down the valley. No distance stated\u00E2\u0080\u0094say 20 miles.\nAugust 4.\u00E2\u0080\u0094Major Long's party continue down the valley, making\n16 miles before noon. \" General direction . . . still toward the\nsoutheast.\" The stream was believed to be \"one of the most considerable of the upper tributaries of the Red river.\" Confirming this\nopinion was the presence of a large Indian trail, of some twenty paths,\nwhich here entered the valley from the west and passed down the left\nbank. The distance traveled this day may have been 28 miles. The\npoint where the great trail came in was undoubtedly at the junction of\nLong creek with the main Canadian and the trail led directly from\nthe Mexican settlements.\nI M\n ESTIMATE OF RESULTS.\n58\non the move in order to avoid starvation until they could\nget back to the settlements, and they spent at the most but\nfive or six days in exploration of the mountains. The only\npermanent addition which they made to geographical knowledge was in discovering the great western extent of the\nCanadian river. This stream, which takes its rise near\nthe mountains east of Santa Fe and flows east, had heretofore been supposed to be the head of Red river. Major\nLong's expedition showed this not to be the case. He did\nnot, however, descend the main stream in the vicinity of the\nmountains, but a branch farther east, that formed a junction\nwith the main stream more than a hundred miles from its\nsource; but he saw enough to show that all of the watershed\nin that section was tributary to the Canadian.\nThe ascent of Pike's Peak by Dr. James and his companion is supposed to have been the first performance of\nthat feat; and Lieutenant Swift's very excellent measurement of its altitude above the plain where his observations\nwere made is likewise the first attempt in that line. His\ndetermination has been but slightly modified by later more\naccurate measurements. Major Long named the peak\nJames Peak, but posterity has decreed that the name of its\ndiscoverer shall stand.\nCaptain Bell's expedition down the Arkansas, so far as\nit has been given us, is almost of no geographical consequence. So important a tributary as the Cimarron he\nmissed entirely, and identified the small stream Squaw\ncreek, as that river. He made other similar errors, although\ntraveling in a country which even then was no longer unknown.\nMajor Long's description of the country, which appears\nas an appendix to Dr. Janies' work, is on the whole an\naccurate one. His astronomical determinations of latitude\nwere correct within an error of five or six miles; his longitudes were too great by from thirty to fifty miles.\nBy some consideration which had weight in the earlier\nhistory of our government the results of this expedition\n 584\nREPORT OF EXPEDITION.\ni\nwere not published as an official report under the authorship\nof its leader. Major Long did not write the narrative of\nhis own travels. The work was published under a private\ncopyright by Dr. Edwin James, with an elaborate dedicatory to the Secretary of War which reminds one of the\nobsequious grovelings to royalty so characteristic of early\nEnglish writers. The report is interesting and valuable.\nIts accounts of the Indian tribes and of the native fauna\nare among the best which we possess. Many incidents of\nhistoric importance have also been preserved.\nTo the public, however, the work was a disappointment.\nThey had looked to it for information relating to the great\nquestions of Western progress then agitating men's minds.\nIt was not a geological survey report that they wanted, but\na comprehensive view of the country from a practical standpoint. Long disquisitions upon the evidence found in the\nmounds about St. Louis, tending to show that our Indian\nraces were of Asiatic origin, might be very interesting to\nthe cause of science, but they did not satisfy the public who\nwere seeking the wealth of the Rocky mountains and a route\nto the distant Pacific. The report, in short, was not fitted to\nits purpose; it belonged to the scientific explorations of later\ntimes.\nNothing is clearer than that the managers of this enterprise utterly failed to grasp the spirit of its conception; and,\nas if this were not bad enough, Major Long added in his\nreport the strongest possible negation to the hope that\ngood could ever flow from such a country. Read the summary of his views upon that region which has honored\nhis name by fixing it upon those magnificent mountains,\nand has given the world an accession of wealth such as the\nfollowers of Cortez never dreamed of: \"In regard to this\nextensive section of country, we do not hesitate in giving\nthe opinion, that it is almost wholly unfit for cultivation,\nand of course uninhabitable by a people depending upon agriculture for their subsistence. Although tracts of fertile\nland, considerably extensive, are occasionally to be met with,\nJ\u00C2\u00AE\n AN ESSAY IN PROPHECY.\n585\nyet the scarcity of wood and water, almost uniformly prevalent, will prove an insuperable obstacle in the way of settling the country. This objection rests not only against\nthe immediate section under consideration, but applies with\nequal propriety to a much larger portion of the country.\nAgreeably to the best intelligence that can be had, concerning the country northward and southward of the section,\nand especially to the references deducible from the account\ngiven by Lewis and Clark, of the country situated between\nthe Missouri and the Rocky mountains, above the river\nPlatte, the vast region commencing near the sources of the\nSabine, Trinity, Brazos, and Colorado, and extending northwardly to the forty-ninth degree of north latitude, by which\nthe United States territory is limited in that direction, is\nthroughout, of a similar character. The whole of this region seems peculiarly adapted as a range for buffaloes, wild\ngoats, and other wild game, incalculable multitudes of which\nfind ample pasturage and subsistence upon it.\n\"This region, however, viewed as a frontier, may prove of\ninfinite importance to the United States, inasmuch as it is\ncalculated to serve as a barrier to prevent too great an\nextension of our population westward, and secure us against\nthe machinations or incursions of an enemy that might otherwise be disposed to annoy us in that quarter.\"\nHere is an essay in prophecy that would have done credit\nto that great man, Daniel Webster, who could with difficulty\nsee anything of national greatness beyond the Mississippi.\nDid Major Long perceive no inconsistency in declaring with\none breath that the country he had traversed was \" uninhabitable by a people depending upon agriculture for their subsistence I and in the next that \" incalculable multitudes \" of\ngrazing animals could \" find ample pasturage and subsistence upon it\" ? And he did not confine his views to the\nregion that fell under his immediate observation, but applied them to the entire sweep of country from the Spanish\nto the British possessions and westward from the meridian\nof Council Bluffs to and beyond the mountains \u00E2\u0080\u0094 a country\n. '\n w\nV r\n586\nUNDUE EXPANSION OF OUR POPULATION.\nwhere now are several large cities, towns and villages without number, and a population of more than six million people. In that section which he traversed at the base of the\nRocky mountains where he said \" the scarcity of wood and\nwater \" would \" prove an insuperable obstacle in the way\nof settling the country' is now to be found some of the\nbest agricultural land in the United States from which\nproducts are annually exported to distant parts of the country.\nIt is hard for us to comprehend today how an officer of\nsuch signal ability and long experience should have seen\nin this country nothing better than a fortunate frontier \" calculated to serve as a barrier to prevent too great an extension\nof our population westward, and to secure us against the\nmachinations or incursions of an enemy that might otherwise be disposed to annoy us in that quarter.\" It is true\nthat at that time there had been cause enough to apprehend\nannoyance from our traditional enemy in the southwest,\nand Major Long is certainly not to be criticised for not foreseeing the expulsion of that enemy from the greater part\nof the territory west of our own; but his fear of undue\nexpansion of our population was no more justifiable than\nhave been, and are still, the phantom fears of certain\nminds at every effort of their country to put off the vestments of infancy for the more appropriate clothing of ma-\nturer years.\nAnd so it resulted that Major Long's report proved a\nveritable stumbling-block in the way of a just appreciation\nof the importance of our Western interests. Whenever any\nmeasure was urged in Congress looking to the more immediate occupation of that country, this report was a sufficient\nanswer. Why waste the public treasure in establishing possession of a region which could never become the abode of\ncivilized man? Here was an official government report,\nprepared by an able officer sent for the express purpose of\nspying out the land. Surely the statements of irresponsible\nadventurers and uninformed enthusiasts were not to stand\n-,.--\u00C2\u00AB>.-\u00E2\u0096\u00A0.\n THE PEOPLE DO NOT LOSE FAITH.\n587\nagainst it? It thus became one of the most powerful weapons which men of the Webster type made use of whenever\nthey felt called upon to resist \" too great an extension of\nour population westward.\"\nThus the people of the West, who had hoped from this\nexpedition to enlist government aid in the reclamation of a\nremote region, found themselves in a worse plight than\nbefore. Instead of the government becoming enthused with\ntheir own faith, its doubts were strengthened. But the people themselves did not lose faith. They continued to penetrate farther and ever farther \u00E2\u0080\u0094 even to the shores of the\nPacific \u00E2\u0080\u0094 through the unknown places of that illimitable\ncountry. Government was finally compelled to follow where\nit had refused to lead, and within another generation it was\nglad enough to be the fortunate possessor of those very regions which were at this time not considered worth having.\n1\n ?*1\nCHAPTER III.\nTHE ARICARA CAMPAIGN OF 1823.\nCol. Leavenworth organizes an expedition against the Aricaras \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nJoshua Pilcher made sub-Indian agent \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Loss of a keelboat \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Organization of troops and allies at Fort Recovery \u00E2\u0080\u0094 March resumed \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nStrength of opposing forces \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Beginning of the attack \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Result of first\nday's fight \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Second day's operations \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Disaffection among the Sioux-\nCharge abandoned \u00E2\u0080\u0094Results of second day's fight \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Attempts to treat\nwith the Indians \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Pilcher's disapproval \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Third day's operations \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nTreaty of Peace \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Pilcher and Vanderburgh refuse to participate \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nFailure of Aricaras to comply with treaty \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Charge contemplated but\nabandoned \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Aricaras abandon their village \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Attempts to get them\nback \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Expedition starts down the river \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Losses of the campaign \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nSuccessful operation until villages are reached \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Vacillating conduct\nbefore the villages \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Effect upon the Aricaras \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Colonel Leavenworth's\nmotives \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Quarrel between Leavenworth and Pilcher.\n\"TTHIS important campaign was the first ever conducted\n^^ by the Army against the Indians west of the Mississippi and it was the precursor of that long series of operations in which so many American soldiers lost their lives and\nwhich culminated only a decade since in the conquest of the\nWest. The campaign, therefore, deserves something more\nthan a passing notice.\nIt will be remembered that General Ashley, after his disaster before the Aricara villages, June 2, 1823, dropped\ndown the river to a safe distance, threw up a defensive work\non an island, dispatched J. S. Smith to notify Henry on the\nYellowstone, and sent a message to Benjamin O'Fallon,\nIndian agent near the old Council Bluffs, detailing his misfortune. Colonel Henry Leavenworth, in command of the\ntroops at that point, acted with commendable promptness.\nThe message was shown to him on the 18th of June and\n \t\nMP\nPREPARATIONS FOR THE CAMPAIGN.\n589\n\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\nhe at once decided to march against the Aricaras without\nwaiting to communicate with the Department at St. Louis.\nThe necessary preparations were made as rapidly as possible,\nand on the 22nd the troops set out, partly by boat and\npartly on foot, Colonel Leavenworth commanding in person.\nThe force amounted to two hundred and twenty men and\ncomprised six companies of the 6th U. S. Infantry. They\ncarried two six-pounder cannons and several small swivels.\nThe supplies were transported in three keelboats.\nJoshua Pilcher, president of the Missouri Fur Company,\nwho had just suffered an even greater disaster than that of\nAshley in the destruction of his party under Immel and\nJones on the Yellowstone, was eager to lend such assistance\nas he could in the campaign. He was at old Fort Lisa at the\ntime, and was made special sub-agent for the Sioux tribes\nby O'Fallon during the operations against the Indians. He\nequipped two boats, took on a 5 J^ inch howitzer from Fort\nAtkinson, and overtook Colonel Leavenworth on the 27th.\nPilcher was of much assistance to Leavenworth, who repeatedly acknowledges his indebtedness to him.\nThe expedition proceeded continuously although slowly\non account of the difficulties of river navigation. On the\n3rd of July a distressing accident occurred in the wrecking\nof Lieutenant Wickliffe's boat and the loss of Sergeant\nStackpole, a brave and experienced veteran of the War of\n1812, with six privates, seventy muskets, and a large quantity of supplies. This misfortune caused greater loss than\nall the rest of the campaign.\nAshley was on his way down the river from the point\nwhere he had left his men when he heard of the approach\nof the United States troops. He immediately turned aboufe\nand made haste to his camp, one hundred and twenty miles\nabove, where he made preparations to join Leavenworth with\nhis entire party. Henry, who had arrived from the Yellowstone some time before, augmented Ashley's force to about\neighty men. The entire party seem to have then gone down\nto meet Leavenworth. Pilcher also had hastened on in ad-\n 59\u00C2\u00B0\nORGANIZATION OF THE FORCES.\nW II\ni.4\nvance of the troops and had gotten his own party in readiness, numbering about forty men under the immediate command of Henry Vanderburgh. He also succeeded in collecting Indian auxiliaries numbering some four or five hundred Yanktons and Sioux. The point where Pilcher and\nAshley were in waiting is called Fort Recovery j in Colonel\nLeavenworth's reports. Fort Brasseaux, mentioned by\nAshley, seems to have been in this vicinity.\nColonel Leavenworth arrived at Fort Recovery on the\n19th of July at 10 A. M. Several days were now spent in\norganizing the troops and allies. Two additional officers\nhere joined the command. They were Major Wooley and\nBrevet-Major Ketchum, who had not reached Fort Atkinson\nbefore Leavenworth's departure, but had at once set out to\novertake the troops.2 In the re-organization the companies\nof regulars were reduced to five in number, and arms distributed accordingly, ten rifles being borrowed from Pilcher\nand thirty from Ashley to help make up for those lost in the\nkeelboat wreck. Ashley's and Pilcher's auxiliaries were\naccepted.\n\" General Ashley,\" says Leavenworth, in his report,\n\" nominated his officers and their appointments were confirmed in orders. They were as follows: Jedediah Smith\nfor Captain; Hiram Scott, do; Hiram Allen, Lieutenant;\nGeorge C. [David?] Jackson, do; Charles Cunningham,\nEnsign; Edward Rose, do; Fleming, Surgeon;\nT. Fitzpatrick, quartermaster; William Sublette, Sergeant-\nMajor. ~\n\" Mr. Pilcher, as acting member of the Missouri Fur\nCompany, for himself and party offered me the services of\n*\" Arrived at a trading establishment called by the Indian traders\nFort Recovery and sometimes Cedar Fort.\" Fort Kiowa was \"eight\nor ten miles above where we lay.\" Leavenworth.\n1 The rojil of officers who accompanied the expedition included the\nfollowing: Colonel Leavenworth, Major Wooley, Brevet-Major\nKetchum, Captains Riley and Armstrong, Lieutenants Bradley, Cruger,\nWickliffe, Moore, Noel, and Doctor Gale.\n \u00E2\u0080\u0094w\nBEFORE THE ARICARA VILLAGES.\n591\nforty men. These were formed into one company. Mr.\nPilcher was assigned to the command of the Indians, with\nthe nominal rank of Major. He nominated his officers\n'and their appointment was confirmed in orders. They\nwere as follows: Henry Vanderburgh, Captain; Angus\nMcDonald as Captain of the Indian Command; [Moses B.]\nCarson, ist Lieutenant; [William] Gordon, 2nd do; . .\nThese appointments were merely nominal, and intended\nonly to confer the same privileges and respect on them\nas were paid to our own officers of the same grade. No\nnominal rank was conferred on General Ashley as he was\nthen a Brigadier General in the militia of the State of\nMissouri, and Lieutenant Governor of the same.\n\" The forces thus organized, including regular troops,\nmountaineers, voyageurs and Indians, were styled the I Missouri Legion,' and numbered altogether about eight hundred fighting men.\"\nAs soon as the re-organization was complete the march\nwas resumed and the command arrived before the Aricara\nvillages on the 9th of August, having made the distance\nfrom Council Bluffs, 640 miles, in forty-eight days, including the time spent in re-organization at Fort Recovery.\nOn the previous day, August 8th, the command left the\nboats at a point about twenty-five miles below the villages.\nThe flotilla was placed in charge of Major Wooley and ten\nmen to each boat, with instructions to move it up the river\nafter the troops. The land advance from this point was\nmade in the following order: A scouting party of Sioux\nunder Pilcher's direction went ahead, the better to conceal\nthe character of the attacking force. These were followed by\nCaptain Riley with a company of riflemen, after whom came\nGeneral Ashley with his two companies of mountaineers followed by the rest of the command, except Pilcher's men, who\nkept on with their boats. Before the attack began about\nthree hundred and fifty additional Indian recruits joined the\ncommand, making a total force before the Aricara villages\nof about eleven hundred men. Opposed to this force there\nI\nsss\n II\n^Q2\nOPENING OF THE ATTACK.\nU A\nwere between six and eight hundred warriors in the two\nAricara villages, and between three and four thousand individuals all told, men, women and children. The attacking\nforce was amply sufficient for the work in hand, notwithstanding that the Aricaras were to some extent sheltered\nin their dirt villages and had erected some rude palisades.\nThe Aricaras do not seem to have had any expectation of\nthis formidable attack and had made no especial preparations to resist it. Thus far, therefore, the campaign had\nprogressed most favorably and there was no reason to\ndoubt its early and successful termination.\nThe command had passed the night of the 8th some eight\nor nine miles below the villages, and early the next morning moved out to the attack. Pilcher was ordered to\nadvance with his Indian auxiliaries and surround the villages so as to prevent escape, and give battle if the Aricaras\ncame out. The Sioux moved to the front with great impetuosity and were met by the Aricaras at the termination of\nthe plain on which the villages stood, and about half a\nmile below them. Here ensued a sharp struggle in which\nthe valor of the Sioux was met with equal valor on the part\nof the Aricaras. Thirteen of the latter were left dead on\nthe ground. Whether any of the dead were removed, or\nwhat was the number of the wounded, is not known. The\nSioux lost two killed and seven wounded, but failed to drive\nback the enemy.\nAlarmed at the prospect of a repulse, and finding that\nthe troops were not yet in supporting distance, Pilcher hastened to the rear for reinforcements. The whole line was\nthen advanced rapidly in the following order: Ashley's\ntwo companies were on the right, resting on the river;\nnext were the five companies of the 6th Regiment, and on\nthe left were Major Riley's riflemen, who seem to have\nbeen a picked company formed when the number of regular companies was reduced to five. The Sioux being still\nengaged in front, it was not possible to open fire on the\nAricaras until they were passed. When the Aricaras saw\n SECOND DAY S OPERATIONS.\n593\nthe whites approaching they broke and fled to their villages\nand the troops followed to within three or four hundred\nyards, where they halted to await the arrival of the boats\nwith the artillery. It would hardly seem that the hour\ncould have been later than noon, although Pilcher says\nthat \" the day was already far spent.\" The artillery did\nnot arrive until sundown, and further attack was delayed\nuntil the next day. After the Aricaras left the field the\nSioux withdrew to the cornfields of their enemies and bore\nno further part in the operations.\nThe attack for the following day, August ioth, was\nplanned to take place simultaneously against both villages.\nTwo companies under Major Riley were sent to the upper\nvillage where they secured a good position within one hundred yards of the palisades. Major Vanderburgh, with\nthe Missouri Fur Company contingent, was also stationed\nat this point, and hither was sent one of the six-pounders\nunder Sergeant Perkins. General Ashley, as on the day\nbefore, held the extreme right of the line below the lower\nvillage, and on his left was Lieutenant Morris, with the\nother six-pounder and the howitzer. The rest of the troops\nwere disposed along the front of the lower village, except\none company under Major Ketchum, which was ordered at\n8 A. M. to reinforce the line at the upper village. The\nattack was opened by Lieutenant Morris with the artillery.\nHis first shot killed the chief, Grey Eyes, and his second\ncut down the medicine flag staff. Vanderburgh's artillery\nwas posted at too high an elevation and the shot passed\nover the village into the river. He was ordered down into\nthe plain and his firing then had more effect. Meanwhile\nthe infantry advanced to within three hundred yards and*,\nfired one volley to discharge their guns, which had been\nloaded for a long time.3\nIt soon became evident that the artillery was not going\nto accomplish its purpose of driving the Indians from their\n\"Leavenworth's report.\n 594\nCHARGE ABANDONED.\nI\n111\nlodges, and that it would be necessary to storm the works\nif they were to be taken. Colonel Leavenworth now began\nto investigate the strength of the position. He was told\nby those who had been in the villages that the palisades\nwere strong, with a trench on the inside. One man who\nhad wintered at the Aricara villages advised the Colonel\nthat they could be taken only by \" sapping and mining \";\nthat the Indians had full confidence in their ability to hold\nthe town, and that every squaw would \" count her coup'\nrather than yield. This was not the kind of resistance that\nColonel Leavenworth had expected, but in order to test its\nreal strength, he ordered preparations for an assault upon\nthe \" acute angle\" at the upper village. Ashley in the\nmeanwhile was ordered to make a diversion at the lower\nvillage. He took possesion of a ravine within \" 20 paces '\nof the village, from which he opened a brisk fire. Pilcher\nwas instructed to notify the Sioux of the approaching attack\nand to bring them in to co-operate. He cautioned the Colonel not to rely upon them for this work, for they would\nprobably wait until the Aricaras were driven out, when\nthey could be attacked in the open. Nevertheless an\nattempt was made to secure their aid, but not very successfully, and owing to their lack of co-operation the charge was\nabandoned. The cannonade was continued until midday.\nAfter the charge was declared off, Colonel Leavenworth,\nwith a subordinate officer, went around to view the river\nside of the towns, where he heard that the Indians were\nescaping. Learning the falsity of this report he returned,\nand on his way back saw some Aricaras who had gotten\ninto a ravine and were pouring a \" galling fire\" upon\nthe troops. Major Ketchum was sent to dislodge them.\nLeavenworth then went to the upper village. Pilcher,\nwhom he found here, told him that he could no longer\nvouch for the assistance of the Sioux unless some decisive\naction were taken. The impetuous and fickle nature of the\nIndians was not suited to the tedium of a siege, and they\ncould be held to work only by the excitement of actual\nam^mmfcr~mm\n FAILURE OF SECOND DAYS OPERATIONS.\n595\ncombat. Leavenworth replied that he was meditating a\ngeneral assault, but thought that he would first try a stratagem, and asked Pilcher's opinion. Pilcher thought that\nstratagem was justifiable toward such a people. Leavenworth then said that \" he had thought of sending Simen-\neau, the Aricara interpreter, to hail the Indians and tell\nthem that they were fools that they did not come out and\nspeak with the whites.\" If they would do this, it would\ngive an \" opportunity to examine the works.\" Pilcher\nthought that this strategem \" could do no harm, at any\nrate.\" The effort failed in due course and Leavenworth\nthen repaired to the lower village, where Lieutenant Morris was still working away witri his six-pounder. Finding\nthat there were but thirteen shot left the Colonel ordered\nthe artillery to cease firing. He then sent word to the\nSioux that he had decided to withdraw the forces from\nthe upper village and advised them to leave the cornfields\nin order to \" save their stragglers from the tomahawks of\nthe Aricaras.\"\nThe forces were then withdrawn from the upper village\nand the whole command was moved back about half a\nmile to a camp opposite the boats. By this time it was\nafter 3 P. M. \" Orders were given to senior officers of\ncorps to have their men obtain some refreshment as soon\nas possible, and then to form their corps and march to the\nenemy's cornfield to obtain some corn for the subsistence of\nour men, several of whom, and particularly General Ashley's men, had not had any provisions for two days.\" Colonel Leavenworth then withdrew to his cabin on the boat.\nSuch were the inglorious proceedings of the 10th of\nAugust, for nothing else was attempted during that day.\nTheir effect upon the Sioux had been to discourage them\nand arouse their contempt for the whites. They had joined\nthe expedition with the expectation of plundering the Aricara villages. They had made the only real fight, so far,\nand had since been the spectators of the futile efforts of\nthe whites. They now lost all heart in the campaign, and\nI\nTtiHf**t\u00C2\u00BBv\mnnmrrtff \u00E2\u0096\u00A0-\n&\n CONFERENCE WITH THE INDIANS.\nhaving laden themselves with Aricara corn, withdrew from\nfurther co-operation.\nPresently Colonel Leavenworth came out of his boat and\nhad interviews with General Ashley and with Pilcher. His\nplan now was to secure a supply of provisions and renew\nthe attack next day. At this time a Sioux Indian and an\nAricara were observed holding a parley and it was learned\nthat the Aricaras were suing for pity on their women and\nchildren. They said that the man who had caused all the\ntrouble was dead and the rest of the people wanted peace.\nLeavenworth sent the Indian back to tell the Aricaras to\nsend out their chiefs at once if they wanted peace. He\nthen returned to his boat and soon ten or twelve Indians\nwere seen approaching. The senior officers advanced to\nmeet them. The Indians appeared much frightened and\nbegged the whites not to fire any more at them for they\nwere \" all in tears.\" Leavenworth told them that they must\nrestore Ashley's property as a condition of peace, promise\nto behave well in the future and surrender five men as hostages. They promised to restore all the property that they\nhad, but said that the horses had mostly all been killed or\nstolen. Leavenworth then told them of the great power of\nthe Americans, which they had yet scarcely felt, and assured\nthem that while his people desired to live on terms of friendship with them, they must conduct themselves differently or\nthey would be punished more severely than they had yet\nbeen. They all made fair promises. Colonel Leavenworth\nadds: \" Considering my small force, the strange and unaccountable conduct of the Sioux, and even the great probability of their joining the Aricaras against us\u00E2\u0080\u0094and also\nconsidering the importance of saving to our country the\nexpense and trouble of a long Indian war, and the importance of securing the Indian trade, I thought it proper to\naccept the terms.\"\nThe pipe of peace was brought forth and passed the\nrounds until it reached Pilcher, who refused to smoke or\neven to shake hands, and got up and walked back and forth\n THIRD DAYS PROCEEDINGS.\n597\nin great agitation, telling the Indians that they could look\nout for him on the morrow. He finally consented to smoke,\nas it was Colonel Leavenworth's wish, but he refused his\nassent to the rest of the proceedings. His manner produced a bad effect upon the Indians, who had been told by\nColin Campbell that Pilcher was the most important man\namong the whites. After smoking Leavenworth picked\nout five principal Indians as hostages, and with a present\nof twelve robes from the Indians, made ready to depart.\nBut at the instigation of Colin Campbell, as Colonel Leavenworth thought, and also at the sight of the dead body of\none of their nation who had been killed by the Sioux on the\nday before, the Indians became frightened and refused to\ngo. Some shots were exchanged, but no harm was done;\nand thus ended the first attempt at negotiations for peace.\nColonel Leavenworth now learned that the disgusted\nSioux had turned enemy to a certain extent and had stolen\nsix government mules and seven of Ashley's horses. Fearing that they had conspired with the Aricaras to destroy\nthe whites, he ordered his command to entrench for the\nnight. There was indeed some ground for this fear. The\noperations for the day had given the Sioux a lively contempt\nfor the Americans. One of the chiefs, Fire Heart, had\nbeen acting a mysterious and equivocal part for a day or\ntwo back, and he had now retired to the hills with a large\nparty, where he was most likely waiting to see which side\nwould come out victorious.\nThe night, however, passed without incident, and on the\nmorning of the I ith the Aricara chief, Little Soldier, came\nout. He said that his people had been much alarmed at the\nincident of the night before. Leavenworth tried to explain\nit away, whereupon Little Soldier said that he would\nget some of the chiefs to come out, and he wished that\nsome of the white chiefs would visit the village. In particular he wanted to know if Pilcher would make peace,\nand Leavenworth replied that he would have to. Edward\nRose, one of the interpreters, was now sent in and soon\nIffy\nI:'. I\n I\n598\nTREATY OF PEACE.\nMi\nreturned with the information that the Indians were completely humbled. Doctor Gale and Lieutenant Morris also\nwent in and returned with similar information. They\nfound that the fortifications were muGh weaker than they\nhad supposed; \" that the pickets were very frail, and that\nthey had but slight ditches on the inside.\" Major Ketchum\nthen went in and confirmed the report of the humbled feelings of the Indians. Their attitude was further evidenced\nby their offer to give the whites a load of provisions if they\nwould send a boat up.\nThey were now ordered to send out their chiefs, but\nthey evasively sent out irresponsible men. Finally some of\nthe principal men came out. Leavenworth then called upon\nSub-Agent Pilcher to draft a treaty, but Pilcher declined.\nA similar request to Major Vanderburgh, also a sub-agent,\nwas similarly declined. Leavenworth then drew up the\ntreaty himself. It was signed by eleven Indians (although,\naccording to Pilcher, by no chief of authority) and by six\narmy officers. General Ashley, at whose request the expedition had been undertaken, was the only other person who\nsigned it.\nThe treaty contained four articles. In the first the Aricaras agreed to restore the property taken from Ashley.\nBy the second they stipulated not to molest the traders in\nthe future. Articles 3rd and 4th were mutual promises that\nthe United States and the Aricaras should henceforth live\nat peace.\nImmediately upon the conclusion of the treaty unrestrained intercourse opened up between the whites and the\nIndians. In carrying out the first article of the treaty, the\nAricaras surrendered three rifles, one horse and sixteen\nrobes. They were told that this would not do. Late in\nthe afternoon Chief Little Soldier, who seems to have been\na coward and a traitor to his own people, and evidently\nvery little esteemed by them, although the first one to sign\nthe treaty, came to Leavenworth's boat and said that it was\nimpossible for the Indians to do more than they had done.\n THE CHARGE AGAIN POSTPONED.\n599\nThe upper village, which had no part in the attack on Ashley, refused to contribute anything. He said that Grey\nEyes, the principal agitator, was dead, and that for himself he had always been friendly to the whites, and had\nsent warning to Ashley at the time of the Aricara attack,\nthe previous June. He begged that he might come over to\nthe side of the whites in case of a renewal of the attack.\nHe gave the interesting advice that the artillery should fire\nlow, and he pointed out the best place for attack. Such\nwas the craven individual for whose welfare Colonel Leavenworth showed so much solicitude.\nIt now became a question of accepting the failure of the\nIndians to restore Ashley's property or of renewing the\nattack. The latter alternative was the choice of the army\nofficers and the auxiliaries. Lieutenant Morris had found\nmore shot for the cannon and every one was confident of\nsuccess if the charge were made. But for some unaccountable reason Colonel Leavenworth could not bring himself\nto take the decisive step. He has described the conflict of\nhis own thoughts, which clearly shows that, while he was\nactuated by the purest motives, he lacked the firmness which\nthe occasion demanded. \" I felt that my situation was a\ndisagreeable and unpleasant one. It appeared to me that\nmy reputation and the honor and success of the expedition\nrequired that I should gratify my troops and make the\ncharge. But I also thought that sound policy and the interest of my country required that I should not.\n\" For my own part I felt confident that the Indians had\nbeen sufficiently humbled, fully to convince them of our\nability to punish them for any injury which they might\ndo us, and that they would behave well in the future.\"\nThe responsibility of the situation Colonel Leavenworth\nevaded for the present by postponing the attack until the\nnext day, August 12th. He did this at the request of Little\nSoldier, in order to permit that shifty savage to escape with\nhis family; and also because it was so nearly night that to\nattack them would leave the wounded to be cared for after\n THE ARICARAS ESCAPE.\ndark. Rose, the interpreter, then went into the villages\nand got the Indians to send out a few more robes, which\nthey said was the utmost they could do. He assured Colonel\nLeavenworth that the Indians were preparing to leave and\nthat they would certainly escape that night; but in spite\nof all these proofs of their insincerity the Colonel sent word\nto them that he would waive further compliance with Article I, and urged them not to leave. No precautions were\ntaken to prevent escape, and when the command awoke on\nthe morning of the 12th the villages were deserted except\nby one woman, the aged and decrepit mother of the fallen\nchief, Grey Eyes. The next two days were spent in a futile\neffort to find the Aricaras and induce them to return to\ntheir villages; and at 10 A. M. on the morning of August\n15th, the command embarked for the return journey, leaving the aged mother of Grey Eyes with plenty of provisions\nin peaceable possession of the villages. Scarcely were the\nboats under way when the villages were discovered to be\non fire and are presumed to have been destroyed.\nIn the operations before the Aricara villages the whites\nlost none in killed and but two slightly wounded. The\nSioux lost two killed and seven wounded in the attack of\nthe 9th. The loss of the keelboat with its property and\ncrew on the way up the river was the one serious disaster\nof the expedition \u00E2\u0080\u0094 a very serious one indeed\u00E2\u0080\u0094but, so far\nas is known, wholly accidental. Colonel Leavenworth\nthought that the Aricara loss amounted to fifty, but Pilcher\nwas positive that it could not exceed thirty, including women and children, and of these thirteen had been killed by the\nSioux. The bombardment caused very few casualties, for\nit is evident from the hint dropped by Little Soldier that\nthe Indians lay on the ground and that most of the shot\npassed over them. The effect of the shot on the mud huts\nwas inappreciable. These were all the material results of\nthe campaign under Leavenworth's immediate command, to\nwhich may be added the looting of the Aricara cornfields\nby the Sioux and the burning of the villages by unknown\nmmmmm\n CRITICISM UPON THE CAMPAIGN.\n601\nhands. The cost of the expedition was only about two\nthousand dollars, and the time consumed about seventy-\nfive days. The experience of the troops on the long march,\nand the knowledge it gave them of the country were among\nits most valuable results.\nColonel Leavenworth's prompt and energetic action,\nwhen he received the news of Ashley's disaster, was most\ncreditable. It was a serious responsibility to take \u00E2\u0080\u0094 that\nof ordering an expedition over six hundred miles away\nwithout previous authority from his superior. But Colonel\nLeavenworth rightly judged that it was not a time to wait\nseveral weeks for communication with St. Louis, and he\ndecided to go at once.\nThe co-operation of General Ashley and Major Pilcher\nwas hearty and energetic. The latter succeeded in getting\na large auxiliary force from the Sioux on the strength\nof a prospect of plundering the Aricara villages. With\nboth gentlemen Colonel Leavenworth was highly pleased at\nfirst, although he had a serious falling out with Pilcher\nbefore he got through.\nExcepting the loss of the keelboat everything went well\nuntil the arrival before the villages. The opening attack\nby the Sioux was vigorous and determined. But from\nthis point on the conduct of Colonel Leavenworth was so\nvacillating and ineffectual, and apparently governed by\nsuch an undue estimate of the obstacles in his way, and\nsuch a dread of incurring any loss, that he disgusted the\nIndian allies, forfeited their friendship and co-operation,\nand excited the contempt and amazement of the trappers\nand mountaineers. There is no reason to suppose that an\nassault on the towns would not have been successful, and\nfrom every point of view it was imperative upon Colonel\nLeavenworth to attempt it. Why had he come this great\ndistance if it was not to inflict summary punishment upon\nthese people? Instead of doing so he fairly begged them\nfor peace, and after having completed a treaty, which he\nwas compelled to write himself because the duly constituted\ntil\n:\n 602\nEFFECT UPON THE ARICARAS.\nifj\nofficers of the government flatly refused to participate in it,\nhe next waived fulfillment of its one essential article.\nThe whole conduct of the fight, if such it can be called,\nhad only served to detract from the credit of the national\narms. How little effort was actually made to reduce the\nvillages is apparent from the lack of casualties. It is, of\ncourse, no proof of bad management that an officer brings\nhis men out of action without loss of life \u00E2\u0080\u0094 rather quite\nthe reverse, if he has accomplished his purpose. But when\na whole day's attack upon a fortified town held by six hundred able-bodied warriors results in only slightly wounding\ntwo of the assailants, it is evident that the attack could not\nhave been very efficient. Such a result is scarcely compatible with Colonel Leavenworth's account of the \" galling\nfire \" to which his command was, on at least one occasion,\nsubjected.\nIn regard to the Aricaras, Colonel Leavenworth's impression that they were \" completely humbled \" was wholly\nerroneous. Even while the treaty was going on, and immediately afterward, proof of their bad faith was patent to\nevery one. They failed to carry out the principal article of\nthe treaty and virtually repudiated the whole compact by\ndeserting their villages in the very presence of the troops.\nIn \" Orders\" issued to the regiment August 29th upon\nthe return of the expedition to Fort Atkinson, Colonel\nLeavenworth said: \" The blood of our countrymen has\nbeen honorably avenged, the Aricaras humbled, and in such\nmanner as will teach them and other Indian tribes to respect\nthe American name and character.\" Such was not the\nopinion of those conversant with the facts. The affair\nwas then considered a complete fiasco and its fame as such\npersisted in tradition until the details were wholly forgotten.\nTen years afterward Maximilian thus referred to it: \" The\ninhabitants of the banks of the Missouri affirm that this\nenterprise was conducted with very little energy; they\nretired from the enemy's villages without destroying them\nor doing much injury to the inhabitants, at which the allied\n MOTIVES OF COLONEL LEAVENWORTH.\n603\nIndians especially were much dissatisfied. The Aricaras,\non the other hand, became extremely arrogant, and henceforth attacked and murdered all white men who were so\nunfortunate as to fall in their way.\"\nScarcely had Colonel Leavenworth read his orders to the\ntroops at Fort Atkinson when several trappers were massacred by these Indians near the Mandan villages. In the\nfollowing winter several were killed by them in the valley\nof the Platte, and similar outrages were of frequent occurrence for many years thereafter. It is true that General\nAtkinson in 1825 found them humble and peaceably\ninclined, but his visit was in company with a formidable\nmilitary force. The history of the twenty years following\nthis affair, far from justifying the hopeful predictions of\nColonel Leavenworth, were rather a literal fulfillment of\nthe despondent prophecy of Major Pilcher in a letter to\nBenjamin O'Fallon within a week after the troops left the\nAricara villages. \" It is my sincere and candid opinion,\"\nhe wrote, \" that the expedition against the Aricaras, from\nwhich so much service might have been rendered to this\ndwindling and bleeding commerce, will rather tend to\nincrease, than diminish, the evil; that the situation of affairs\nin this country is worsted materially; that instead of raising\nthe American character in the estimation of its inhabitants\nand impressing them with the power and spirit of our government, the contrary effect has been produced; and that\nthe outrages of the Indians will increase in consequence.\nThat a most unfavorable impression has been left upon the\nminds of our Indian allies is a fact that I am sorry to communicate.\"\nIt is difficult to fathom the motives which actuated Colonel Leavenworth in this campaign. It was not lack of\ncourage, for his excellent record was evidence against any\nsuch theory. It is probable that he felt alarmed at the\nresponsibility that he had voluntarily assumed. He might\nreasonably doubt that his superiors would approve of his\naction in taking so large a command to so great a distance\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2\"-\"~jrn\n fl\n604.\nLEAVENWORTH AND PILCHER.\nsimply to punish an outrage against a party of traders and\ntrappers. The lamentable accident in the wreck of the\nkeelboat doubtless increased his anxiety and made him\ndoubly anxious to achieve the object of the expedition without further loss. Finally he may have distrusted his Indian\nallies and even the trappers and mountaineers, and have\nfeared that a successful assault of the villages might have\nended in a massacre of its inhabitants. He was well aware\nthat such a result would have raised a storm back in the\nStates where the circumstances would be imperfectly understood. It is only from considerations of this character that\nit is possible to explain his conduct at the Aricara towns,\nand his deliberate choice of a course which could not fail\nto tarnish his reputation and bring down the contempt of\nthe Indians upon the American arms.\nOne of the most regrettable features of the whole affair\nwas the feeling of bitter animosity that was engendered\nbetween Colonel Leavenworth and Joshua Pilcher. Both\nwere men of high character and unblemished reputation.\nColonel Leavenworth had already won enviable distinction\nin his country's service, particularly in the battles of Chippewa and Niagara Falls in the War of 1812. He was a\ntrue soldier and a good officer and whatever may have been\nhis error of judgment in the present case, there was no\nsuspicion that he acted from any but the most disinterested\nmotives.\nMr. Pilcher was one of the ablest of the traders, and\nhad succeeded Manuel Lisa in the presidency of the Missouri Fur Company. His character was above reproach;\nhe was well informed, and his opinions on matters relating\nto the Indian trade were more than once sought for by the\ngovernment. He had apparently joined the expedition\npurely from a desire to help punish the Aricaras, for as he\nhad now withdrawn all of his establishments above the\nSioux, he was not protecting his own interests to the same\nextent that Ashley was. Leavenworth was highly pleased\nwith him up to the time when he began his negotiations for\n mm\nPILCHER S HASTY ACTION.\n605\npeace. He says in one of his reports: \" Allow me to say\nthat up to this time I had been very well pleased with Mr.\nPilcher in every respect, particularly as sub-agent. He\nhad neglected no opportunity to be serviceable to the expedition and had done everything in his power to ensure its\nsuccess.\nt>\nColonel Leavenworth's decision to negotiate peace without a victory excited the indignation of Pilcher, who had\njust seen his Sioux auxiliaries draw off in disgust at the\nfailure to accomplish anything. He refused to be a party\nto the treaty and probably did all that he could to cause this\npart of the proceedings to fail. His conduct naturally\naroused the ire of Colonel Leavenworth, who considered\nhim bound to obey orders as long as he was attached to the\ncommand. The burning of the villages after the troops\nhad left was at once attributed by Colonel Leavenworth to\nPilcher, but it was probably one of Pilcher's men, William\nGordon. Pilcher positively denied being party to the act,\nand disclaimed any knowledge of who the guilty party was,\nat the same time intimating that in his opinion the act was\naltogether justifiable.\nColonel Leavenworth added fuel to the flame of discord\nby issuing an order on the day of departure from the Aricara towns, in which he directly charged the Missouri Fur\nCompany with the destruction of the villages, and declared\nthat \" with such men he would have no further intercourse.\"\nFrom this ban of displeasure he excepted Major Henry\nVanderburgh and Moses B. Carson. But these gentlemen\nwould not accept the Colonel's indulgence, and wrote to\nPilcher on the day following that they felt \" extremely mortified at having been selected as the object of his [Leavenworth's] approbation and praise.\" Pilcher himself was\nenraged at Leavenworth's order, and permitted his indignation to get the better of his judgment entirely. On the\n23rd of August, at Fort Recovery, he addressed a letter\nto Colonel Leavenworth, which, whatever truth it might\ncontain, was couched in such violent and abusive language\nHSp\n 6o6\nPILCHER S CRITICISM OF LEAVENWORTH.\nas to produce the opposite effect upon the public from what\nwas intended. His provocation was indeed great, and he\nwas not a man given to the mincing of words, but he ought\nat least to have refrained from personal abuse. He closed\nhis letter with the following passage, in which, it must be\nacknowledged, there was more truth than the partisans of\nColonel Leavenworth would have been willing to admit:\n\" I am well aware,\" he wrote, \" that humanity and philanthropy are mighty shields for you against those who are\nentirely ignorant of the disposition and character of Indians,\nbut with those who have experienced the fatal and ruinous\nconsequences of their treachery and barbarity these considerations will avail nothing. You came to restore peace and\ntranquillity to the country^ and to leave an impression which\nwould insure its continuance. Your operations have been\nsuch as to produce the contrary effect, and to impress the\ndifferent Indian tribes with the greatest possible contempt\nfor the American character. You came (to use your own\nlanguage) to I open and make good this great road'; instead\nof which you have, by the imbecility of your conduct and\noperations, created and left impassable barriers.\" 4\nMILITARY RECORD OF COLONEL LEAVENWORTH.\nPowell's List of Officers of the U. S. Army.\nI LEAVENWORTH, HENRY. (Born in Conn. Appointed from New York.) Capt. 25th U. S. Inf., 25 April,\n1812. Maj. 9th Inf., 15 Aug., 1813. Trans, to 2nd Inf.,\nMay 17, 1815. Lieut. Col. 5th Inf., 10 Feb., 1818. Trans,\nto 6th Inf., ist Oct., 1821. Col. 3rd Inf., 16 Dec, 1825.\nDied 21 July, 1834. Bvt. Lieut. Col., 15 July, 1814, for\ndistinguished and meritorious service at the Battle of Chip-\n4 My authorities for the foregoing account of the campaign against\nthe Aricaras are the orders, reports, and correspondence of Colonel\nLeavenworth; correspondence of Ashley and Pilcher; and various\nitems of information gleaned from the newspapers of the time printed\nin St. Louis and Franklin, Missouri.\njjggi\n BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. 607\npewa. Bvt. Col., 25 July, 1814, for distinguished service at\nNiagara Falls. Bvt. Brig. Gen., 25 July, 1824, for ten\nyears' faithful service in one grade.\"\ny\n\u00E2\u0096\u00A0^>4-&tf-\n I\n/;' >;\nlvi'\nCHAPTER IV.\nTHE YELLOWSTONE EXPEDITION OF 1825.\nPurpose of the expedition \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Keelboat transportation \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Progress of\nthe expedition \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Treaty with the Poncas \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Arrival at Fort Kiowa \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nTreaties with the Sioux \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Buffalo hunt \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Treaties with Cheyennes and\nOgallalahs \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Indian feast \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Footprints in the rocks \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Treaty with the\nAricaras \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Arrival at the Mandans \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Trouble with the Crows \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Mosquitoes \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Arrival at the Yellowstone \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Meeting with General Ashley \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nExcursion to find the Assiniboines \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Return to the mouth of the Yellowstone\u00E2\u0080\u0094 Return journey \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Arrival at Council Bluffs \u00E2\u0080\u0094 More treaties\nwith the Indians \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Arrival at St. Louis \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Report of the expedition.\n\"/THIS expedition, like that of Lewis and Clark a score of\n^\u00E2\u0096\u00A0^ years before, is one which can be reviewed with\ngreat satisfaction, because it was conducted in an eminently\nsensible and practical way, and because it fully accomplished\nits purpose. The restlessness of the Missouri tribes ever\nsince the War of 1812, and their frequent acts of hostility\nto the whites, culminating in the Blackfoot and Aricara\noutrages of 1823, caused the government to adopt more\neffective measures for their reduction and pacification. In\n1824 Congress passed an act authorizing treaties to be\nformed with the Missouri tribes, and the President\nappointed Gen. Henry Atkinson of the Army, and Major\nBenjamin O'Fallon, Indian agent, commissioners to visit\nand conclude the treaties.\nThe appointments were made too late in the year 1824 to\npermit the accomplishment of the work during that season,\nbut measures were taken to carry it promptly into effect with\nthe opening of spring. The commissioners left St. Louis\nabout the 20th of March, 1825, and arrived at Council\nBluffs on the 19th of April. The last invoice of their\n~jr\n NOVEL MARINE NOMENCLATURE.\n609\ngoods arrived on the 13th of May, and preparations were\ncompleted for the departure of the expedition on the following day. The transports consisted of eight keelboats,\nwhich had, in addition to the usual appliances of sails, cor-\ndelles, poles, etc., a set of paddle wheels operated by hand\npower. The boats were named after the fur-bearing animals most commonly met in the Missouri river trade \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nBeaver, Buffalo, Elk, Mink, Muskrat, Otter, Raccoon, and\nWhite Bear. As animals of these varieties were constantly\nencountered along the route, an amusing confusion of\nnames occurs now and then in the journal; as for instance:\n\" Two elk were killed by Lieutenant Swearinger and a man\nof the Muskrat crew \"; \" an antelope was killed this morning by a hunter from the transport Elk \"; \" the Mink and\nBeaver halted and sent out to bring in a buffalo \"; \" the\nwhole flotilla, Bear, Buffalo, Elk, Mink, etc., stopped at\nElk Island to secure three buffalo found there\"; \" the\nMuskrat halted and took in two elk, three white bears and\none deer that our hunters had killed \"; General Ashley's\nbeaver were \" shipped on board the Mink, Muskrat, and\nRaccoon.\"\nThe commission set out from Council Bluffs with an\nescort of 476 men, of whom forty were mounted and went\nby land, keeping always within reach of the boats. Among\nthe officers of the expedition besides General Atkinson\nwere Colonel Leavenworth, Majors Kearney, Langham and\nKetchum; Captains Armstrong, Riley, Mason, Gaunt, Pent-\nland, Kennedy, and Culbertson; Lieutenants Harris, Swearinger, Wragg, Greyson, Waters, Holmes, and Doctor Gale.\nThe expedition proceeded without serious accident,\nalthough with much disarrangement of the machinery, and\narrived at the Ponca village on the 8th of June. Captain\nArmstrong with the mounted troops and with Edward\nRose, the interpreter, arrived thirteen days before. The\nforce landed and went into camp just below the mouth of\nPaint creek, and arrangements were made to hold a council and form a treaty with the Indians on the following\nli\nIt\nw\nMBSHSISIPPS\n\u00E2\u0080\u0094^P^T\u00E2\u0080\u0094*\n 6io\nGOOD IMPRESSION ON THE INDIANS.\nday. Here a military display was given, which, with the\nconsiderable force of troops present, made an excellent impression upon the Indians. The ceremony is thus recorded\nin the journal: \" The troops were paraded in brigade in\nuniform at nine this morning, and were reviewed by General Atkinson in the rear of the Ponca village. They\nappeared extremely well and excited great curiosity in the\nIndians, the whole tribe, men, women and children, leaving\nthe village to witness the scene.\" Following immediately\nupon the review a council was held with the Indians at\nwhich nearly the whole tribe were present. The desired\ntreaty was unanimously approved and the business was\nconcluded with present-making, all in the most satisfactory\nmanner.\nThe necessary repairs to the boats delayed departure until\nI P. M. of the ioth, when the expedition resumed its course\nand camped that night a little above the Niobrara (L'Eau\nqui Court). Hither the Indians followed and entertained\nthe expedition with native dances. The party then made\nits way without notable incident to Fort Kiowa, at this time\nin charge of a Mr. Wilson, trader of the American Fur\nCompany.\nSome runners were dispatched to bring in the Tetons,\nYanktons, and Yanktonais, while Rose, the interpreter, was\nsent to tell the Cheyennes to meet the commission at the\nAricara villages. After some delay the Indians arrived,\nand on the 20th military ceremonies were again gone\nthrough with. The brigade was reviewed by General\nAtkinson and staff on horseback. \" The display was very\nfine, the troops being in fine order,\" and the impression on\nthe Indians was excellent. The council was then organized and the credentials of the chiefs examined. At this\ntime there was delivered to the Yanktons a girl of their\ntribe who had been a prisoner among the Otoes, and whom\nthe expedition had taken up the river. That night the\nIndians were treated to a display of rockets, which greatly\nimpressed them.\n ^\n\u00C2\u00ABo\n/\u00E2\u0080\u0094\\n.o>\nM-\n\u00C2\u00A7\nt\ns\n%\u00C2\u00BB\nw\n\u00C2\u00ABo\nX\n\u00C2\u00BB5\n<\n^.\n.52\nu\n*3\ns\nH\n\u00C2\u00A7\n1\n(4\n0\nday of the arrival a party under Lieutenant Waters secured\nsix buffalo. The journal says that \" Rose, an interpreter,\none of the party, we understand, covered himself with\nbushes and crawled into the gang of eleven bulls, and shot\ndown the six on the same ground before the others ran off.\"\nThe six buffalo weighed, dressed, 3,300 pounds.\nWhile waiting for the arrival of all the Indians the commissioners were treated to a feast by the Ogallalahs, of\nwhich the following account is given in the journal: * It\nconsisted of the flesh of thirteen dogs boiled in plain water\nin seven kettles, much done. Our drink was water from\nthe Missouri brought up in the paunches of buffalo, which\ngave it a disagreeable taste. . . . We were occupied\nabout an hour and a half at the feast, when ourselves and\nthe officers returned to camp and sat down and partook of\nwine and fruit at a table provided by the camp.\" The\njournal is here provokingly silent in not informing us how,\nafter such a feast, the surfeited guests could have found an\nimmediate appetite for such ordinary viands as wine and\nfruit. This banquet was part of the celebration of July\n4th, 1825.\nThe Indians having been finally gathered together, the\nusual review took place on the 5th, with the added feature\nof a mounted artillery drill, by which \" the Indians were\nstruck with great awe.\" On the 6th the council and treaties\ntook place, and presents were given and received. \" This\nevening,\" the journal says, \" Lieutenant Holmes threw six\nshells from the howitzer in the presence of the Indians.\nThey exploded handsomely and made a deep impression\nupon the savages.\"\nThe expedition set out at about 9 A. M. on the 7th. \"The\nexhibition was beautiful. The wind being fair, the boats\nput off in regular succession, under sail and under the\nwheels, and ran up a stretch of 19^ miles in view of more\nthan three thousand Indians who lined the shore.\" This\nday the cavalry horses were mostly sent back to Council\nBluffs, only enough horses being retained to pack in the\n FOOTPRINTS IN A ROCK.\n613\ngame, and to flank the river. The party arrived at Hidden\ncreek on the nth of July, and here, on the following day,\nafter the usual military ceremonies, a treaty was made with\na band of the Sioux called the Fire Hearts, numbering about\n150 souls. From one of the young men Major O'Fallon\ntook a British medal.\nThe journal notes the following occurrence at this place \\nI* Major O'Fallon and General Atkinson obtained two\nIndian horses and rode three-quarters of a mile back to the\nhills in rear of our position to look at the impression of\nfootsteps on a rock. We found the impression of three\ntracks of the foot of a common-sized man. The first, near\nthe upper edge of the rock, is made by the right foot, and\nis about an inch deep, making a full impression of the whole\ntrack, with the full impression of the five toes % iuch deep.\nThe next track is of the left foot, and about 3^2 feet from\nthe first\u00E2\u0080\u0094impression full and deep as the first. The next\nfootprint of the right foot is not visible, but at about six\nfeet from the second track an impression is again made by\nthe left foot as large and plain as the others. This is near\nthe lower edge of the rock which of itself is about n feet\nlong by 9, lying at an angle of about 30 degrees of elevation.\"\nThe expedition arrived at the Aricara village on the 15 th\nof July, where treaties were made with these Indians and\nwith the Hunkpapas, after the usual ceremonies. The\njourney was resumed on the 18th. No incidents of special\nimportance occurred from this point to the Mandan villages,\nwhere the expedition arrived on the 26th of July. Here it\nwas expected to make treaties with the Mandans, Minnetarees and Crows. The latter tribe was some distance off,\nand seemed reluctant to come in, for although repeatedly\nsent for they did not arrive until the 3rd of August. In\nthe meanwhile treaties were made with the other tribes and\na large amount of buffalo hunting was indulged in. After\nthe arrival of the Crows the usual military ceremonies were\ngone through with and a treaty was made with that nation.\n<*^\n 9SS9BSSS\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2^mtm^~ \u00E2\u0096\u00A0\n614\nTROUBLE WITH THE CROWS.\nAt this time there ensued an occurrence that has passed\ninto nearly all the narrative literature of that period. It is\nthus related in the journal: \" Two Iroquois prisoners\nwere demanded of the Crows. From this or some other\ncause unknown to me, the Crows became very hostile in\ntheir conduct, and from their attempting to take the presents before they were told to do so, Major O'Fallon struck\nthree or four of the chiefs over the head with his pistol.\nAbout this time General Atkinson, who had been absent\nfrom the council to get his dinner, on returning to the\ncouncil saw the commotion and ordered the troops under\narms. This probably saved bloodshed.\"\nThe occurrence as it has found its place in literature i9\nbest stated by Irving in Captain Bonneville, from which it\nappears that Rose had a hand in the affair. Irving's narrative runs thus: \" The last anecdote we have of Rose is\nfrom an Indian trader. When General Atkinson made his\nmilitary expedition up the Missouri, in 1825, to protect the\nfur trade, he held a conference with the Crow nation at\nwhich Rose figured as Indian dignitary and Crow interpreter. The military were stationed at some little distance\nfrom the scene of the I big talk.' While the General and\nthe chiefs were smoking pipes and making speeches, the\nofficers, supposing that all was friendly, left the troops and\ndrew near the scene of ceremonial. Some of the more\nknowing Crows, perceiving this, stole quietly to the camp,\nand, unobserved, contrived to stop the touch-holes of the\nfield pieces with dirt. Shortly after a misunderstanding\noccurred in the conference; some of the Indians, knowing\nthe cannon to be useless, became insolent. A tumult arose.\nIn the confusion Colonel O'Fallon snapped a pistol in the\nface of a brave and knocked him down with the butt end.\nThe Crows were all in a fury. A chance medley fight was\non the point of taking place, when Rose, his natural sympathies as a white man suddenly recurring, broke the stock\nof his fusee over the head of a Crow warrior, and laid so\nvigorously about him with the barrel that he soon put the\n MEETING WITH GENERAL ASHLEY.\n615\nwhole throng to flight. Luckily, as no lives had been lost,\nthis sturdy rib-roasting calmed the fury of the Crows and\nthe tumult ended without serious consequences.\"\nThe expedition left the Mandan villages on the 6th of\nAugust and reached the mouth of the Yellowstone on the\n17th without special incident. Game everywhere abounded\nand there was plenty of hunting. We find in the journal\nof the 10th a reference to that pest which has disturbed\nthe peace of every traveler on the Missouri. \" The hunters\nare too much annoyed by mosquitoes,\" it says, \" to remain\nin the bottoms for any length of time. These insects are\nmore numerous on this river from the Poncas up, indeed on\nthe plains and on the highest hills, than I have witnessed\nthem anywhere else in my travels. They make no singing\nnoise, but strike you as soon as they come up, and penetrate\nthe skin at once.\"\nAfter passing the mouth of the Yellowstone, the expedition I came to at Ashley's old fort, a mile above the\nmouth of that river, on the bank of the Missouri. This\nposition is the most beautiful spot we have seen on the\nriver, being a tongue of land between the two rivers, a\nperfectly level plain, elevated above high water, and extending back two miles to a gentle ascent that rises, at the distance of two miles, 100 feet. Three sides of the fort, or\npicket work, remain intact. The west side has been burned\ndown. One house is standing, and three appear to have\nbeen burnt, as also the gate of the work.\"\nWhile still at this place the party were agreeably surprised by the arrival of a band of hunters descending the\nYellowstone in boats with a cargo of furs. It was no other\nthan General Ashley, who had just arrived from the Salt\nLake valley with a party of twenty-four men and with one\nhundred packs of beaver. General Atkinson offered him\ntransportation for his party and property if he would await\nthe return of the troops from an excursion farther up the\nriver. This he readily assented to, as it gave him protec-.\ntion the rest of the way to the settlements.\nr\n 6i6\nTHE RETURN JOURNEY\nIE\nFrom such information as General Ashley could give it\nwas thought that the Blackfeet must be above the Falls of\nthe Missouri, and that therefore there was no prospect of\nseeing them. But it was thought that they might run\nacross the Assiniboines. Accordingly a part of the force\nset out on the 20th accompanied by General Ashley, and\nascended the river about one hundred and twenty miles.\nFinding no indication of the presence of Indians they turned\nabout on the 24th and arrived at the mouth of the Yellowstone on the 26th. The next day the whole party commenced the descent of the Missouri, \" at forty minutes past\nfive A. M.,\" having \" embarked the horses on board of the\nBuffalo, Elk, Otter, and Beaver,\" with Ashley's beaver \" on\nboard the Mink, Muskrat, and Raccoon.\"\nNo incident worthy of mention occurred on the way\ndown, except the wrecking of the Muskrat on a snag three\nmiles above the mouth of James river. The boat was\nrepaired and General Ashley's fur was saved. The expedition arrived at Council Bluffs on the 19th of September.\nHere councils were held and treaties signed with the Otoes\nSeptember 26th, with the Pawnees September 30th, and\nwith the Omahas October 6th. General Ashley left for St.\nLouis on the 22nd of September. On the 7th of October\nat 4 P. M., General Atkinson, Major O'Fallon, and three\nofficers, with eight effective men and the invalids, set out\nin the transport Antelope for St. Louis, where they arrived\nat 5 P. M. on the 20th of October, just seven months after\ntheir departure.\nOn the 7th of November the commissioners forwarded\nthe treaties which they had concluded to Washington with\na comprehensive report upon the expedition. They were\nable to give the gratifying statement that they had found\nall the tribes they had hoped to except two; that they had\neverywhere formed satisfactory treaties; that they had left\na strong impression among the Indians of the friendship,\nand at the same time of the power, of the United States;\nand that on the whole expedition \" not a boat or man was\n^\n REPORT OF THE COMMISSION.\n617\nlost, nor did any accident occur of any sort of consequence.\"\nThe report gives a succinct account of the conditions of\nthe tribes at that time and makes recommendations in regard\nto them. The commissioners found no evidence that the\nBritish interfered in the least with any of the tribes whom\nthey saw.\nOn the 23rd of November General Atkinson transmitted\nfrom the headquarters of the Western Department at Louisville, Kentucky, to General Brown, commanding the army of\nthe United States, a copy of the above report, with some\nadditional comments of importance. He discussed the propriety of establishing a military post higher up the river\nthan Council Bluffs, and thought that it was not a necessary measure. If one were to be established, however, he\nthought that it ought to be at the mouth of the Yellowstone, with a dependent post near the Great Falls. But he\nbelieved that better results would follow from an occasional\ndisplay of military force such as had just taken place, than\nfrom the permanent presence of troops among the Indians.\nHis advice was followed.\nGeneral Atkinson referred to the valuable geographical\nand other information which he had derived from General\nAshley and J. S. Smith pertaining to routes, the location of\nSouth Pass, the extent of British trade on the Columbia,\nand other matters. He stated that General Ashley had in\npreparation a topographical sketch of the country that he\nhad visited and that this would be forwarded as soon as\nreceived. It is to be hoped that this sketch was made and\nthat it will yet come to light.\nOn the whole the expedition was a distinct success. It\nhad undertaken to accomplish a definite thing and had\naccomplished it promptly and thoroughly. It was a conspicuous exception among the various enterprises with\nwhich we are here called upon to deal.\nI\n\u00C2\u00A7\n 6i8\nBIOGRAPHICAL NOTE.\nMILITARY RECORD OF GENERAL ATKINSON.\nPowell's List of Officers of the U. S. Army.\n\" ATKINSON, HENRY. (Born in N. C. Appointed\nfrom N. C.) Capt., 3rd Inf., 1 July, 1808. Col. I. G. 25\nApril, 1813. Col. 4th Inf., 15 April, 1814. Trans, to 37th\nInf., 22 April, 1814. Trans, to 6th Inf., 17 May, 1815.\nBrig. Gen. 13 May, 1820. Col. A. G., 1 June, 1821,\nwhich he declined, and on 16 Aug., 1821, was assigned\nas Col. 6th Inf. Retained as Col., 21 Aug.; with Bvt. rank\nof Brig, Gen., 13 May, 1820. Died 14 June, 1842.\"\n'*\n CHAPTER V.\nTHE SMALLPOX SCOURGE OF 1837.\nEffects of vice and disease upon the Indian\u00E2\u0080\u0094 The smallpox \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Origin of the plague of 1837 \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Action of the American Fur Company \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nThe disease among the Mandans \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Terrible scenes \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The Aricaras attacked\u00E2\u0080\u0094 Smallpox at Fort Union \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Horrible expedient \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Disastrous\nresults \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Disease spreads among the Assiniboines \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Brazeau and Larpenteur\u00E2\u0080\u0094 The Blackfeet and Crows attacked \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Effect upon the various\ntribes \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Effect upon the trade \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Mortality among the various tribes.\n'TTHE vices and diseases that came to the Indian with the\n^* white man well-nigh resulted in the extermination of\nthe race. The wars among the tribes, the wars between the\ntribes and the whites, were the merest bagatelle in comparison with these desolating influences which sapped the vitality of the people.\nThe proportionate destructiveness of these various agencies of ruin is not easy to determine. The effects of alcohol and immoral diseases were vast and universal, but not\nof a character to be reached by statistics. But that they\ncorrupted the life of the people, enervated their physical\nforce, poisoned their ambitions, rendered them an easy prey\nto the hard environment of their lives, and in the aggregate\nreduced the native population at an alarming rate, the testimony of contemporary observers conclusively proves. It\nis only the arrest of these influences in recent times by the\nbetter control now exercised on the reservations, that has\nturned the tide and has again placed the native population\nupon a basis of increase.\nWhile there are no precise data as to the destructiveness\nof the influences just noted, there was one plague that was\nso rapid and complete that its effects are known with con.*\n[I\nin\njt\n 620\n-les*.\nBEGINNING OF THE PLAGUE.\nsiderable accuracy. This was the smallpox scourge of\n1837. This terrible pestilence had visited the western\ntribes before, spreading destruction and terror in its path.\nThe first great epidemic occurred about the year 1800, when\nit swept over the country to the Pacific and destroyed the\npower of several tribes. Less terrible visitations occurred\nfrom time to time, but the most destructive of all was in\n1837. So deadly was the pestilence at this time that many\nthought it must be something more terrible than smallpox,\nfor it seemed to outdo any previous record of that disease.\nThe ravages of the scourge were principally confined to\nthe upper Missouri river. The information relating to it, in\nthe form of letters from eye-witnesses, is so graphic and\ncomplete that the story will be told mainly in their language.1 I\nThe plague was introduced through the annual steamboat,\nSt. Peters, of the American Fur Company, which, according to Larpenteur, arrived at Fort Union on the 24th of\nJune, 1837. Some accounts say that there was but a single\ncase on board, but it appears certain that there were several.\nThe course of the American Fur Company on this occasion\nwas in many respects culpable, for, knowing the terrible\neffects of the disease, it should not have permitted the\ninfected boat to visit the tribes. The situation, however,\nwas a very difficult one to deal with. The Indians expected\nthe boat and knew that it had many goods for them, and if\n*My authorities are principally letters from the American Fur\nCompany's posts at Union, Pierre, and Clark. In the preface of Maximilian's work, English edition, 1843, there is a powerful pen picture in\nthe form of a letter written the following year, June 6, 1838, from New\nOrleans. In Audubon's Missouri Journals there is an account of the\nscourge among the Mandans, received from Francis A. Chardon, in\ncharge of Fort Clark at the time. Like most history which is furnished by individual traders the attempt to magnify the narrator's part\nin the events related robs the narrative of much of its reliability.\nCharles Larpenteur, who was at Union at the time, gives some valuable\ndata concerning the commencement of the plague. See Forty Years a\nFur Trader, Coues, 1898.\n !5BP!\nATTEMPTS TO AVERT THE CALAMITY.\n621\nit had failed to arrive they could never have been made to understand that it was not because of an attempt to rob them.\nMoreover, to have returned and sent up another steamboat\nwould have been impossible, for the river would have been\ntoo low by that time. As the company would be the greatest sufferer from an epidemic among the Indians, they can\nnot be accused of any selfish motives in the course they pursued. Nevertheless that course was very ill-advised. It\nwould have been better to have put the goods on shore,\nand have fumigated them, and then to have taken them\nup in keelboats. Such, however, was not the decision.\nAlthough the disease had broken out before the boat\nreached Pierre, and had several victims before it reached the\nMandans, it pursued its way clear through to Union, carrying with it one of the most awful scourges that ever befell\nany people.\nThe company's officers tried to avert the calamity by the\nimpossible expedient of keeping the Indians away from the\nboat. But the Indians could not be restrained. They\nknew that the boat had goods for them, and suspected that\nit was all a ruse to cheat them. It was in vain to expostulate, implore and explain. They were deaf to all entreaty.\nWhen the boat arrived at Fort Clark a Mandan chief stole\nthe blanket of a watchman upon the boat who was dying of\nthe disease. Mr. Chardon made every effort for the immediate return of the blanket, promised pardon for the theft,\nand new blankets in its place, but all to no purpose. He\nsent messengers warning the people to keep away, and used\nevery argument in his power, but the whole village came\ndown to the river.\nThe disease broke out among the Mandans about June\n15, and continued as long as there was any one left to attack.\nIt raged with a virulence never before known. Deaths were\nalmost instantaneous. The victim was seized with pains\nin the head and back, and in a few hours was dead. The\nbody immediately turned black and swelled to thrice its\nnatural size. Nearly everyone who was attacked died.\nt\n&&-=\u00C2\u00A3\n 622\nTERRIBLE SCENES.\nim.\n..\nk\nWhen the Indians found that the warnings of the whites\nwere true, and realized the character of the calamity that\nwas upon them, it produced the most profound effect upon\ntheir feelings. Some were for taking summary vengeance\nupon the whites, but before they could carry out their purpose the hand of death was upon them. Others who saw\nit felt that the Great Spirit had stricken them for attempting\nto injure their friends. They would then supplicate the\nwhites to defend them, imploring their forgiveness for not\nhaving listened to them. But the whites \"were now powerless. The disease spread rapidly. Hundreds died daily.\nIt was impossible to bury them, and the bodies were thrown\nin heaps over a cliff and the terrible stench infected the air\nfor miles around.\nIn the presence of this disaster, without power to stay or\navert it, the Indians became desperate. Many committed\nsuicide by shooting, stabbing, or drowning. One chief,\nbefore he was stricken, but feeling that he soon would be,\ncommanded his wife to dig his grave. Sorrowfully she\nobeyed his command, and when the work was done her warrior threw himself into it, and seizing his knife, stabbed himself to death. His broken-hearted squaw went back to her\ntent and child, where both were to meet a more terrible fate\nere another sun should pass over their heads. Two young\nmen just stricken with the disease conferred with each other\nas to the best way to end their existence, and having agreed\non the method, fearlessly carried it into execution. Every\nday was crowded with these pathetic and soul-stirring incidents as the pestilence carried away victim after victim.\nTenderness and compassion at last became blurred in the\npresence of the terrible calamity. The Indians sought to\navoid each other by wandering singly upon the prairie, and\nfinding subsistence wherever they could.\nThus the great tribe of the Mandans was literally led to\nthe slaughter. Only about thirty persons remained, and\nthese were mostly boys and old men. \" No language can\npicture,\" says one writer, \"the scene of desolation which\n THE PLAGUE INTRODUCED AT FORT UNION.\n623\nthe country presents. In whatever direction we go we see\nnothing but melancholy wrecks of human life. The tents\nare still standing on every hill, but no rising smoke announces the presence of human beings, and no sounds, but\nthe croaking of the raven and the howling of the wolf, interrupt the fearful silence.\"\nOf all the tribes the Mandans suffered the most severely,\nand came very near actual extermination. A band of the\nAricaras were encamped near by, and for some unaccountable reason escaped the disease until after it had wrought\nterrific ravages among the Mandans. The latter were suspicious of this, and thought that the whites were in league\nwith the Aricaras. But they were soon undeceived, for the\npestilence broke out among them later, and nearly annihilated that tribe as well. It also made great inroads\namong the Minnetarees.\nThe introduction of smallpox at Fort Union would\nseem to have been as certain as any sublunary sequence of\ncause and effect, but no adequate measures were taken to\nprevent it. Besides the infected cargo which had to be\nunloaded, one of the passengers, Jacob Halsey, well known\non the river as clerk and partner of the Upper Missouri\nOutfit, was already sick when he arrived, but nevertheless\ntook up his residence at the fort. Halsey had been vaccinated and the disease was not malignant in his case,\nalthough it was a severe shock to a constitution naturally\nnot strong and further weakened by habitual dissipation.\nAs Halsey's was the only case, it was thought that the\nspread of the disease could be circumvented. But Mr. E.\nT. Denig, another well-known clerk of the company, had itM\nthough not fatally, and then a squaw was carried off with *\nit. The only Indians at the post at the time were some\nthirty squaws, and now as the spread of the infection was\nhopelessly certain, \" prompt measures were adopted,\" in\nthe language of Larpenteur, \"to prevent an epidemic.\"\nThese measures were no other than the vaccination of all\nthe squaws with the smallpox virus itself, there being no\n m\n624\nHEROIC REMEDY.\nregular vaccine matter at the fort. The poor squaws knew\nno better and meekly submitted to the operation. \" Their\nsystems \" were 1 prepared according to Dr. Thomas' Medical Book,\" and they were vaccinated from Halsey himself. This course was adopted, Larpenteur assures us, with\ncynical coolness, \" with a view to have it all over and everything all cleaned up before any Indians should come in, on\ntheir fall trade, which commenced early in September.\"\nSuch is the astonishing confession of one of the American\nFur Company's servants, and such was the desperate length\nto which the traders would go when the interests of their\nbusiness could be promoted. Thirty squaws, imprisoned\nwithin the palisades, were deliberately sacrificed to one of\nthe most loathsome pests in nature, in order \" to have it all\nover and everything cleaned up' before the company's\ntrade should be injured.\nBut this heroic purpose utterly miscarried. Larpenteur\nsays that the mistake made was in not vaccinating from a\nperson of sound physical constitution, which Halsey did\nnot have, as if a disease which was at that moment raging\nfarther down the river with unprecedented power could be\nmuch intensified by being communicated from an unsound\nconstitution! The result of this culpable oversight was, in\nthe terse and unsentimental language of Larpenteur, that\n\" the operation proved fatal to most of our patients.\" 2 It\nseems never to have occurred to him that he and his abettors\nwere red-handed violators of the Sixth Commandment. He\ngoes on to say: \" About 15 days afterward there was such\na stench in the fort that it could be smelt at a distance of\n300 yards. It was awful \u00E2\u0080\u0094 the scene in the fort, where\nsome went crazy, and others were half eaten up by maggots\nbefore they died.\" This was during the hottest part of\nsummer.\n2Halsey's own evidence, as written some five months later, is different. He says: \"A few days afterward there were 27 persons ill with\nit, out of which number 4 proved fatal.\" But Halsey had good reason\nto conceal the true results of the desperate act for which he, as in\ncharge of the fort, was responsible.\n^\n i b JMIMP mmiuju iww wMCfc.n m mi\<*7^mmmm**mmmmW5\nLARPENTEUR AND BRAZEAU.\n625\nAs if fate were bent on making the worst of a bad situation, the Indians began coming in to trade while the epidemic was at its height. Halsey says that the fort was\nabsolutely closed to them and they were entreated to keep\naway, but that probably the \" air was infected \" with the\ndisease \" for half a mile without the pickets.\" Larpenteur\nsays that they did open the door to a celebrated chief, \" but\non showing him a little boy who had not recovered, and\nwhose face was still one solid scab, by holding him over the\npickets, the Indians finally concluded to leave.\" Whatever\nthe facts, the fearful truth is that the pestilence got abroad.\nIt first spread among the Assiniboines, who were the Indians\nthat had come to the fort, and it raged among them until\nwinter. Halsey, who left Union in October, says that at\nthat time it was \" raging with the greatest destructiveness\nimaginable \u00E2\u0080\u0094 at least ten out of twelve die with it.\"\nAt Fort Union in these trying times one John Brazeau, a\nfamiliar name in those days on the upper rivers, was undertaker, and seemed to take a fiendish satisfaction in his new\noccupation. \" How many? \" Larpenteur would ask him of\na morning now and then. \" Only three, sir, but according\nto appearances at the hospital, I think I shall have a full\nload tomorrow or next day.\" These two worthies missed\ntheir opportunity in life by coming upon the stage at the\nwrong time and place. They would have found a more\ncongenial atmosphere among the gruesome scenes around\nthe French guillotines of Ninety-Three.\nIn spite of the destructive ravages of the disease among\nthe Assiniboines they still came in to trade, and the business did not fall off as much as had been expected. Larpenteur says that when the Indians were asked how it was,\nunder the circumstances, that \" there were so many robes\nbrought in, they would say laughingly that they expected to\ndie soon and wanted to have a frolic till the end came.\"\nThe pestilence reached the Blackfeet through another\nmost culpable act of negligence on the part of the company's\nofficers. An Indian of that nation was permitted to get on\n \u00E2\u0096\u00A0 \u00E2\u0096\u00A0 ' T^\n626\nEFFECT UPON THE TRIBES.\nt Mi\nthe St. Peters at the mouth of the Little Missouri and then\nto go to his people before it was known whether he had\ntaken the disease or not. The Crow post, Van Buren, was\nalso infected, most likely through other acts of negligence.\nThe disease ran its usual course there, but the Crows at the\ntime were on Wind river, and escaped until later in the fall.\nBut before the end of the year all the tribes of the Missouri\nvalley above the Sioux had been stricken and the extent of\nthe calamity was well-nigh appalling.\nThe effect upon the tribes was various. The Assiniboines\nwere for open hostility to the whites, to whom they rightly\nattributed the direful visitation. They did not, however,\ncome to any overt act. The Blackfeet, on the other hand,\nwere completely humbled. One band had been on the point\nof making war upon the whites, and the smallpox appealed\nto them as the judgment of Heaven for thus attempting to\ninjure their friends. For the most part all the tribes\nbehaved remarkably well, and the trade did not suffer so\nmuch as had been expected. In the following winter it\nbegan to fall off, and although buffalo were more plenty than\nhad been known for years, there were few Indians to hunt\nthem.\nIt was a severe blow to the traders. In a letter of February 25, 1838, from Pratte, Chouteau and Company to Mr.\nPierre Chouteau, Jr., one of the firm, then on his way to\nNew York, we read: \" Late last evening Provost arrived,\nand this morning (Sunday) we have all been occupied in\nperusing the melancholy details of plague, pestilence and\ndevastation, ruined hopes and blasted expectations.\" It\nthen recounts the loss of the various tribes, and the prospects for the ensuing year. And in an earlier communication to Halsey on the upper Missouri, the company said\nthat the calamity was \" calculated to fill us with dismay as\nregards the trade of the Missouri for some years to come.\nWe can only view it as a visitation of Providence with\nwhich, though it be vain for us to contend, it behooves us\nto make the best of existing circumstances; to put forth\n7\n MORTALITY AMONG THE INDIANS.\n62y\nall our energies; and by pursuing a course of strict economy in our expenditures, with kind and conciliatory conduct to the Indians who have escaped this dreadful pestilence, endeavor, by prudence, fortitude, and perseverance,\nto support ourselves under the melancholy scourge.\"\nThe real mortality during this memorable plague has been\nvariously estimated. Audubon, upon the authority of\nMitchell, places it, among all tribes, at 150,000, an impossible figure, for it would have meant the total annihilation of\nall the tribes where it prevailed. Another estimate was\n60,000. This also seems impossible. Judging from\ndetailed estimates, gleaned from various sources, it seems\nhardly probable that the total mortality of the Missouri\nriver tribes amounted to more than 15,000. But considering the population of these several tribes\u00E2\u0080\u0094Blackfeet, Crows,\nAssiniboines, Mandans, Minnetarees, and Aricaras \u00E2\u0080\u0094 even\nthis diminished estimate makes a mortality almost without\nparallel in the history of plagues. It fully justifies the powerful word picture which is given in the letter already\nquoted from the works of Maximilian: \" The destroying\nangel has visited the unfortunate sons of the wilderness\nwith terrors never before known, and has converted the\nextensive hunting grounds, as well as the peaceful settlements of these tribes, into desolate and boundless cemeteries.\n. . . The warlike spirit which but lately animated the\nseveral Indian tribes, and but a few months ago gave reason\nto apprehend the breaking out of a sanguinary war, is\nbroken. The mighty warriors are now the prey of the\ngreedy wolves, and the few survivors, in utter despair,\nthrow themselves on the pity of the whites, who, however,\ncan do little for them. The vast preparations for the protection of the western frontier are superfluous; another arm\nhas undertaken the defense of the white inhabitants of the\nfrontier; and the funeral torch, that lights the red man to\nhis dreary grave, has become the auspicious star of the\nadvancing settler and the roving trader of the white race.\"\nil\n CHAPTER VI.\nMILITARY OCCUPATION.\nEarly military expeditions \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Question of advanced military occupation \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Post at Council Bluffs \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Founding of Fort Leavenworth \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Col.\nDodge's expedition from Fort Gibson \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Deadly malaria \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Col. Dodge's\nexpedition of 1835 \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Summary of military occupation.\n9+1 S early as the year 1807 the armed forces of the United\n**\" States had ascended the whole course of the Missouri\nriver, had crossed to the Pacific, had ascended the Arkansas\nriver nearly to its source and had penetrated to the gates of\nSanta Fe. But these expeditions were chiefly in the nature\nof explorations, and were not intended to be followed up by\nimmediate military occupation.\nIn 1807 a small detachment of troops was sent up the\nMissouri to conduct back to his home the Mandan chief\nwhom Lewis and Clark had brought down the previous\nyear. This expedition met with disaster at the Aricara\nvillages and was forced to return. No permanent occupation of any advanced point was intended in this case.\nThere was at this time no post west of the immediate vicinity of the Mississippi in the valley of the Missouri.\nIn 1808 Fort Osage, or Fort Clark, as it was also called,\nwas founded and garrisoned with a small force. Here\nalso was established the only government factory for the\nIndian trade west of the Mississippi river. The post was\nnot occupied continuously and was abandoned altogether\nupon the founding of Fort Leavenworth.1\n1 The following references indicate the unsettled state of this post:\nLetter from George C. Sibley, government factor at Fort Osage,\nSeptember 25, 1813: \" I will therefore briefly tell you now that early\nJP\n THE YELLOWSTONE EXPEDITIONS.\n629\nIn 1819 took place the important military expedition\nunder General Atkinson known as the Yellowstone Expedition. It resulted in the establishment of a post of eight\nyears' duration near the present site of Omaha, Nebraska.\nThe post was known successively under the names of Camp\nMissouri, Fort Atkinson, and Fort Calhoun, the last name\nhaving descended to the present day.\nThe next important military move was the campaign\nagainst the Aricaras under Colonel Leavenworth in 1823.\nIt resulted in no permanent advance.\nIn 1825 General Atkinson and Major O'Fallon, commissioned to conclude treaties with the Missouri Indians, proceeded with a formidable military escort from Fort Atkinson to a point one hundred and twenty miles above the\nmouth of the Yellowstone. The expedition resulted in permanent occupation of none of the country passed through.\nThe Yellowstone expeditions had their origin in a desire\non the part of the government, created largely by the agitation of the frontier settlements, to overawe the tribes\nof the Missouri by acquainting them with the military\npower of the United States, to counteract British influence\nalong the frontier, and to establish a line of posts leading\nto the headwaters of the Missouri and possibly beyond.\nEstimates had been prepared by the War Department showing the cost of carrying such a movement across the continent. But the plan never succeeded. General Atkinson\nupon his return in 1825 set at rest the rumors of British\nintrigue along the borders, for he had not succeeded in find-\nin last June Fort Osage was evacuated and the factory broken up.\"\nLetter from Sibley, July 10, 1819: \" When they [the Yellowstone\nExpedition] arrive, this fort will be broken up, and I shall be left here\npretty much alone.\"\nThe fort was as good as abandoned in 1822, for Jacob Fowler, who\npassed there in July of that year, informs us that \" the garrison at this\ntime Was commanded by one officer of the united States armey\u00E2\u0080\u0094Having two men under Command Both of them Having disarted a few\ndays ago and Carreyed off all His amenition.\"\u00E2\u0080\u0094Journal of Jacob\nFowler, p. 173.\nrA\n iraw\nHOTW\ntil\nI;\n630\nFOUNDING OF FORT LEAVENWORTH.\ning any evidence of it. He advised against the necessity\nof military posts in that quarter, but recommended the\nmouth of the Yellowstone, if one were decided on. For\nprotection of the traders he rightly considered the Three\nForks of the Missouri as the most important location; but\neven here he considered that the benefits would fall short\nof the sacrifice. Acting upon General Atkinson's advice,\nthe government did not advance beyond Council Bluffs.\nFort Atkinson was occupied until 1827, mostly by the\n6th Infantry; but the unhealthiness of the place, and other\nconsiderations, led to its abandonment, which took place on\nJune 27th of that year, the regiment returning to Jefferson\nBarracks.\nFort Leavenworth was established in pursuance of orders\nfrom the headquarters of the Army, dated March 7, 1827,\ndirecting Colonel Leavenworth to select a site within twenty miles above or below the mouth of the Little Platte river.\nOn the 17th of April four companies of the Third Regiment, U. S. Infantry, left Jefferson Barracks under the\nimmediate command of Captain W. G. Belknap for the purpose of establishing and garrisoning the post. Colonel\nLeavenworth was unable to find a suitable location on the\neast bank, and finally chose the site where Fort Leavenworth\nnow stands. The choice was a fortunate one and does credit to the officer whose name was given to the fort. The\nselection was reported on May 8th to the War Department\nand was duly approved there. . Major Ketchum, in the\nmeanwhile, arrived from Council Bluffs, May 4th, with the\npublic property from that place and the transfer from old\nFort Atkinson to new Fort Leavenworth was thus accomplished.\nThe establishment of this post was mainly due to the\ngrowing importance of the locality near the mouth of the\nKansas river as a starting point for parties bound for the\nmountains and for Santa Fe. Experience had shown the\nneed of a post here rather than at Council Bluffs. The\ndistance of twenty miles above or below the mouth of\ni\n imf\nhorsemen approaching. They were in doubt for a time\nwhether it was white or Indian, but they soon found that it\nwas a band of Grosventres. They were approaching in two\nparties, and numbered apparently about a hundred and fifty\nmen. According to Leonard they carried a British flag\nwhich they had captured from a party of Hudson Bay\ntrappers, whom they had lately defeated. Irving says that\nthe Indians discovered the whites first, and came down into\nthe valley with the most vociferous demonstrations. John\nB. Wyeth says that the trappers could not at first tell\nwhether they were buffalo, white men or Indians. Finally,\nby the aid of Wyeth's glass, they discovered them to be\nBlackfeet, and Milton Sublette at once sent two men to the\nrendezvous for assistance.1\nIn the meantime a tragedy of revenge had been enacting\non the plain. The Blackfeet, discovering that the force\nbefore them was larger than they had supposed, made signs\nof peace, displaying, it is said, a white flag. But such was\ntheir general reputation for perfidy that no confidence was\nplaced in their friendly advances. There were, moreover,\nin the white camp two men who cherished inextinguishable\nhatred toward the Blackfeet. One of these was Antoine\nGodin, whose father had been murdered by these Indians on\nGodin creek. The other was a Flathead chief whose nation\nhad suffered untold wrongs from the tribe. These two men\nit was who advanced to meet the overtures of peace from the\nother side. A Blackfoot chief came forward to meet them.\nBy a preconcerted arrangement between Antoine and the\nFlathead, the latter shot the Blackfoot dead at the instant\nwhen Antoine grasped his hand in friendship. Seizing the\nchief's scarlet robe, Antoine and his companion beat a hasty,\nthough safe, retreat. \" This was Joab with a vengeance!\nremarks young Wyeth. \" Art thou in health, my brother ?\nThe Indians now withdrew into some timber near by, sur-\n*For an explanation of the confusion of names, Blackfeet and Gros-\nventre, see Part V., Chapter IX.\njj\n>j\n .il\n660\nTHE BATTLE OPENS.\nm\nrounded by a copse of willows, and immediately intrenched\nthemselves by digging holes in the ground, and building a\nbreastwork of timber in front of their rifle pits. This\nwork was mostly done by the women, the Indians maintaining a skirmish line in front of the fort. While the\nexpress was gone to the rendezvous for reinforcements, Milton Sublette's trappers held the Indians within the wood,\nand Wyeth fortified his own camp, where he ordered his\nmen to remain.\nWilliam L. Sublette and Robert Campbell, upon receipt\nof the news of attack, immediately left the rendezvous and\nin short order arrived on the field with a large force of\nwhites and Indians. Sublette assumed direction of the battle. He forbade both Wyeth's men and his own raw\nrecruits to engage in the fight, and used only the seasoned\ntrappers and the Indians. Wyeth himself, however, was\npresent in the engagement part of the time. The Blackfeet,\nwhen they saw the overwhelming force with which they had\nto reckon, withdrew within their entrenchments, evidently\ndetermined to sell their lives dearly.\nThe whites and allied Indians promptly commenced the\nattack by random firing into the thicket. This accomplished nothing, but gave the Blackfeet a chance to do some\neffective work in return. It was apparent that other measures would have to be adopted to dislodge them, and Sublette proposed to storm the breastworks. His men thought\nit too dangerous, but Sublette insisted. About thirty of\nthe whites and as many Indians joined him, and together\nthey entered the willow thickets. Pushing their way cautiously through the tangled copses, Sublette, Campbell, and\nSinclair of Arkansas led the besiegers toward the Indian\nfort. Sublette and Campbell and doubtless others had\nmade their wills to each other in anticipation of the consequences that might ensue. After working their way on\nhands and knees through the dense line of willows they\ncame to more open ground, and then saw the rude fortification of the besieged. As they emerged into this open space\n' SSSSSSSS SE.---:\u00E2\u0080\u0094- - - ---\nUSB\n MISTAKE OF THE INTERPRETER.\n66l\nthey were more exposed to the fire of the Blackfeet. Sinclair was killed on the spot and Sublette was severely\nwounded. In the meanwhile Wyeth with some Indians had\ngained nearly the opposite side of the fort, and one Indian\nnear him was killed by a chance shot from Sublette's party.\nThe besieged evidently suffered but little at this time, for\nthey were well protected, although completely overmatched\nin numbers.\nThe attack continued for the greater part of the day\nwithout any substantial progress, owing to the secure position of the enemy and the evident reluctance of the attackers\nto storm it. Finally Sublette decided to burn them out,\nalthough much against the wish of the friendly Indians,\nwho wanted to plunder the fort. A train of wood was laid\nand was about to be ignited, when an incident occurred\nwhich brought immediate relief to the beleaguered garrison. One of the friendly Indians who understood the\nBlackfoot language held some conversation with the\nbesieged during the fight. They now told him that they\nknew that the whites could kill them, but that they had six\nor eight hundred warriors who would soon arrive and who\nwould give them all the fighting they wanted. In the\nprocess of interpretation the Blackfoot was made to say\nthat this force was then actually attacking the main rendezvous. Such an attack would have been disastrous in the\nabsence of the fighting force, and the whites, without waiting to verify the news, hastened off pellmell. Before the\nmistake was discovered it was too late to resume the attack.\nOn the following morning the Blackfoot fort was found\nabandoned.\nThe casualties in this fight were, on the side of the\nwhites, five killed, among whom was the partisan Sinclair,\nand six wounded, of whom William L. Sublette was one.\nThe allied Indians lost seven killed and six wounded. The\nloss of the Blackfeet was never fully known. They left\nnine dead warriors in the fort together with twenty-five\nhorses and nearly all their baggage. Irving says that the\nlii\n \",\nw\n%\nIff\n662\nTRAGEDY IN JACKSON HOLE.\nBlackfeet admitted to have lost twenty-six warriors. Evidently the blunder of the interpreter saved the band from\nannihilation. The survivors escaped during the night and\neffected a junction with the larger band.\nThe battle of Pierre's Hole was not without its important\nsequels. On the 25th of July, seven men of Wyeth's party,\ntogether with Alfred K. Stephens and four men, the joint\nparty including a Mr. More of Boston, a Mr. Foy of Mississippi, and two grandsons of Daniel Boone, set out from\nthe rendezvous to return East. They had intended to\naccompany William L. Sublette, but the latter* s departure\nhad been postponed about ten days on account of his wound.\nImpatient of delay, these men set out to the eastward, and\non the following day they were attacked in Jackson Hole by\na band of some twenty Blackfeet. More and Foy were\nkilled and Stephens was wounded. He, with the rest of\nthe party, returned to the rendezvous, where he lingered\nuntil the 30th of July, when he died, just after starting for\nSt. Louis in company with W. L. Sublette. His horses and\ntraps were sold the same day, and his beaver fur was taken\nto St. Louis.2\nSublette with his party of about sixty men and the returns\nof the past year left rendezvous on the 30th of July. The\nday after crossing Snake river, August 4th, they passed the\nlarge band of Blackfeet of whom they had been told by the\nIndian at the battle of Pierre's Hole. These Indians had\nbeen hovering in the vicinity of the camps of Fontenelle and\nBonneville, but had not ventured to attack. In like manner\ntheir recent experience in Pierre's Hole made them hesitate\nabout attacking Sublette's party, and he was suffered to pass\nunmolested. This band of Indians finally left the country\nby the way of the Wind River valley, where they were\nattacked and routed by some Crow Indians with a loss of\n2 There is now in possession of M. L. Gray, of St. Louis, a receipt\nby Sam Merry, administrator of the Stephen estate, for the proceeds\nof this sale and for the beaver fur.\nafiSfsa\n ANTOINE GODIN MURDERED.\n663\nforty killed. The remainder were scattered like fugitives\nthroughout the Crow country.\nIt will be remembered that it was Antoine Godin who\nkilled the Blackfoot chief at Pierre's Hole in revenge for the\ndeath of his father. But the account was not yet considered\nclosed \u00E2\u0080\u0094 at least on the part of the Blackfeet. At some\ntime between September 1834 and September 1835, the\nexact date unknown, a party of Blackfeet appeared on the\nopposite bank of the Snake from Fort Hall. They were\nled by a desperado named Bird,3 a former employe of the\nHudson Bay Company, who, having been made a prisoner\nby the Blackfeet, in a skirmish with some of that tribe, had\nremained with them and had become an influential chieftain.\nFrom the opposite side of the river Bird requested Godin\nto come across and buy their furs. Godin complied, not\nsuspecting treachery. He sat down to smoke with the company, when Bird signaled to some Indians, who shot him in\nthe back. While he was yet alive, Bird tore his scalp off\nand cut the letters \" N. J. W.,\" Wyeth's initials, on his forehead. Thus ended the tragedy of Pierre's Hole.\nIrving relates an incident which, whether true or not, has\npassed into the tradition of the battle. In their advance\nupon the Blackfoot redoubt some of the trappers saw an\nIndian woman leaning against a tree. Surprised that she\nshould thus indifferently expose herself to certain death,\nthey looked for the cause and found that she was standing\nbeside the corpse of her dead warrior. The trappers would\nhave saved her, but no sooner did the Indian allies see her\nthan they fell upon and slew her.4\n8 \u00C2\u00AB\nA half Indian and treacherous, very dangerous man, who had\ngreat influence among the Blackfeet. He had formerly been in the\nservice of the American Fur Company, had then gone over to the\nHudson Bay Company, and had cheated both. He was a tall, strong\nman, with a brownish complexion, thick, black hair, spoke the language\nof the Blackfeet perfectly, and lived constantly among them. At present he was not in the service of either company, but lived by catching\nbeaver and hunting on his own account.\" Maximilian, Prince of\nWied; Travels in North America, p. 267.\n*Our authorities for the battle of Pierre's Hole are numerous and\n 664\nAUTHORITIES CITED.\nreliable. Irving is the best, for he evidently digested his account from\ninformation derived from all available sources. The first published\naccount is by an eye-witness and the principal actor in the battle,\nWilliam L. Sublette. It is a letter to Ashley, written at Lexington,\nMo., Sept. 21, 1832, while the writer was en route home. It may be\nseen in the old Missouri Republican of October 16, 1832, which republished it from the \"last Beacon.\" There are also three other accounts\nby eye-witnesses extant\u00E2\u0080\u0094that of the elder Wyeth in his journal, and\none by John B. Wyeth in his account of the expedition, and a third by\nA. W. Ferris.\nFerris' account, which is much less satisfactory than that of Sublette,\nnevertheless contributes a few items of interest. His record of the\nnumber killed was 3 whites, 5 friendly Indians, and 9 Blackfeet. There\nwere many wounded on both sides, and 24 dead horses were found\nwithin the fort. Irving's story of the Indian woman is confirmed in\nthe following paragraph: \"Our Indians followed the route of the\nfugitives for several miles, and found their baggage which they had\nconcealed in divers places, as well as the bodies of 5 more Indians, and\ntwo young women who were yet unhurt, though their heartless captors\nsent them to the shades in pursuit of their relations without the least\nremorse.\"\n'li\nLwugn^***-^!\n CHAPTER III.\nTHE DEATH OF HENRY VANDERBURGH.\nHenry Vanderburgh \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Competition in the mountain trade \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Vanderburgh and Drips pursue Fitzpatrick and Bridger \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Neck to neck\ngame \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Drips finally gives up \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Starts up the Jefferson \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Fitzpatrick\nand Bridger run onto Vanderburgh \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Parties separate \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Vanderburgh\npasses Alder Gulch \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Alarm of Indians on the Stinkingwater \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Re-\nconnoitering party ambushed \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Vanderburgh slain \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Party moves to\nBeaverhead \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Vanderburgh and Pillon buried \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Meeting with Drips \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nDrips crosses the Divide to Snake river \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Adventure of Bridger \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nBridger wounded \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The Loretto episode \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Arrowhead extracted from\nBridger's shoulder.\n*^*HE fate of this unfortunate leader was a direct result of\n^\" the extreme rivalry which prevailed among the fur\ncompanies of the mountains in 1832. Henry Vanderburgh,\n\" one of the principal clerks attached to the American Fur\nCompany,\" was an able, enterprising and indefatigable\nleader. He was the man upon whom the conduct of the\nmountain expeditions had hitherto mainly devolved, when\nKenneth McKenzie found that the affairs at Fort Union\nwould not give him the time to conduct them in person.\nWith Vanderburgh were associated for a while Andrew\nDrips and Lucien Fontenelle, who, after Vanderburgh's\ndeath, carried on their operations from their post at Bellevue\non the Missouri instead of from Fort Union. Vanderburgh had seen considerable service. Ten years before this,\nhe was in the Missouri Fur Company. He was given the\nnominal rank of Captain in the affair of the Aricara villages in 1823, and seems always to have borne himself with\nthe air and quality of a leader.\nIn 1832 the competition in trade in the mountains was\n 666\nEXASPERATING POLICY.\nQ\nat its height. The agents of the American Fur Company\nwere still comparative strangers in the Rocky mountains,\nand were not yet a match for the experienced leaders of\nthe Rocky Mountain Fur Company. Fitzpatrick and\nBridger had fixed upon the headwaters of the Missouri as\nthe field for their fall hunt. Vanderburgh and Drips had\nfor some time been pursuing what must be pronounced a\nmost exasperating, if not unprincipled, course. Being less\nfamiliar than their rivals with the good trapping country,\ntheir policy was to keep close upon the trail of the latter\nand thus make these redoubtable partisans their unwilling\nguides to the rich beaver country. The Rocky Mountain\nFur Company had repeatedly tried to shake them off, and\nat the rendezvous in Pierre's Hole had proposed to divide\nthe territory with them. The proposition was not accepted,\nbut as the American Fur Company supplies had not arrived\nin time for the rendezvous, and as there was no immediate\nprospect of their arrival, Fitzpatrick and Bridger thought\nto get away before their persistent rivals should receive\ntheir equipment.\nIn the meantime Vanderburgh and Drips started in all\nhaste for Green river to find out what had become of Fontenelle, who was to bring their supplies. They left Pierre's\nHole August 2nd, and reached Green river August 8th,\nwhere they found Fontenelle in camp about four miles above\nCaptain Bonneville. Four days were spent here transacting\nthe necessary business of the annual rendezvous, when Fontenelle started with the returns of the year for Fort Union,\nand Vanderburgh and Drips set out to overtake Fitzpatrick\nand Bridger, whom they believed to be somewhere on the\nheadwaters of the Missouri.\nWhen the party reached Pierre's Hole on their return,\nW. A. Ferris was detached to make a circuit to the head\nof Salmon river to find the Flathead Indians, whence he\nwas to rejoin his comrades in the valley of the Big Hole\nriver, the principal tributary of Jefferson fork of the Missouri. In the meanwhile the two leaders would beat up the\n NECK TO NECK GAME.\n667\ncountry on the sources of the Jefferson. They proceeded\ndown that stream, and at Horse Prairie, the valley of a\nsmall tributary of the Jefferson, they cached such of their\nequipment as would encumber them in their pursuit of Fitzpatrick and Bridger. They had found the fresh trail of\ntheir rivals and knew that they could not be far away.\nFerris rejoined them from the Flatheads on the ist of September, and ten days later they succeeded in overtaking the\nparty of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. The records\nof the journey state that upon this day a man named Miller\ndied in camp from a wound received in the battle of Pierre's\nHole the previous July.\nFitzpatrick and Bridger were completely exasperated at\nfinding themselves persistently followed by the partisans\nof the American Fur Company, and they resolved to lead\nthem a chase which they would remember. In this they succeeded only too well. On the 17th of September they set\nout to the north down the valley of the Jefferson apparently\nfor the Three Forks of the Missouri. Drips with a portion\nof his party followed hard after them, while Vanderburgh\ncrossed over to the Madison to trap along the course of that\nstream. How far the rival parties pursued their course\nnorth is uncertain, but far enough for Drips to see that he\nwas being made a dupe at his own game; for he had been\nled quite beyond the good trapping country. He accordingly resolved to give up the chase and turn back to the\nsouth. The parties separated about the ist of October at\nthe Three Forks, Drips starting up the Jefferson and Fitzpatrick and Bridger up the Gallatin. The latter party, after\nascending the Gallatin for some distance, crossed over to the\nMadison, October 6th, where they quite unexpectedly came\nupon Vanderburgh and his party. It seemed impossible to\nkeep out of the way of their resourceful opponents.\nBut this was the last encounter of the opposing parties\nduring the fall hunt of 1832. On the nth of October the\nRocky Mountain Fur Company started off up the Madison\nto trap the sources of that stream, Vanderburgh did not\nil\n\u00E2\u0096\u00A0.' \u00C2\u00BB'\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\nf^-^w,,- ._ : ^r^_\n 668\nAN INDIAN ALARM.\nmove until October 12, when he went down the Madison\nabout fifteen miles. The next day he crossed over in a\nnorthwest direction eighteen miles and encamped on a little\nstream, one of the sources of the Jefferson. This was probably Alder creek, a stream destined to world-wide fame in\nlater years as the location of the famous placer of Alder\nGulch; and the party most likely tramped over ground\nwhich was glistening with gold beneath their feet.\nOn the morning of the 14th the party \"moved down the\nstream to its junction with the Stinkingwater river, a tributary of the Jefferson to which Lewis and Clark gave the\nname Philanthropy. Here they became aware of the presence of Indians in the neighborhood. Ferris and a few\nothers went out to reconnoiter and their worst fears were\nsoon confirmed by finding the remains of a buffalo just\nbutchered, from which the Indians had evidently fled on the\napproach of the whites. This discovery was at once\nreported to Vanderburgh. As the trappers could not be\npersuaded to work when danger was imminent, Vanderburgh and six others left the main party in camp and set out\nup the river where theTndians were supposed to be, determined to ascertain what the situation actually was. After\ntraveling about three miles they found a fire still burning, a\nbuffalo just killed, and the fresh tracks of the Indians. The\nsmall number of these tracks, and the fact that buffalo were\ngrazing all about quite unalarmed, made them think that\nthere could not be more than seven or eight Indians at\nmost.\nThe little party therefore pushed on another three miles\ntoward the only dense bunch of timber that there was in the\nvicinity. Here it was felt certain that the Indians must be,\nfor anywhere else they would be in sight unless they had fled\nto the mountains. With a sense of possible danger they\napproached the grove, watching with the utmost care for\nany evidence of life. At this point they came to an old\nchannel of the river through which the water flowed in\nflood time, but which now interposed no greater obstacle\nf92Sa\n VANDERBURGH SLAIN.\n669\nthan a small but deep ditch which a horse could leap over.\nThey crossed the gully, but scarcely had they reached the\nother side when a volley from twenty or more firearms disclosed the presence of a body of Indians concealed along the\nbanks, apparently to the number of about a hundred. Three\nof the party of hunters turned instantly and fled. Vanderburgh's horse was shot under him, but he calmly disengaged\nhimself, aimed his gun at his assailants and called out to his\nmen, \" Boys, don't run.\" But there was no possibility of\nmaking a stand. Ferris and a Mr. R. C. Nelson turned\ntheir horses and vaulted the ditch, Ferris receiving at the\nsame instant a severe wound in the left shoulder. Another\nman, Alexis Pillon, a French voyageur, was thrown from\nhis horse, which broke away riderless toward camp. Pillon, thus left to the mercy of the savages, was almost\ninstantly slain. Vanderburgh was thus left alone without\nhope of succor. One of his men, Nelson, who had jumped\nthe ditch with Ferris, was in despair at his leader's peril,\nand was about to turn back, when his horse received two\nshots in the neck and he was compelled to flee to save his\nown life. As the Indians approached Vanderburgh he\nkilled the nearest one with a shot from his rifle, and was\nraising his pistol to fire again when he received a volley in\nthe back, and fell a victim to his savage foes.\nWhen the survivors returned to camp there was the greatest consternation and most of the party were for resorting\nto instant flight. But wiser counsels prevailed, and they\nwithdrew to a point of timber on the river side, where they\nfortified themselves and passed a sleepless night. The next\nmorning it was proposed to go back and bury their dead\ncompanions, but none of the party would undertake it.\nThey accordingly packed up and started for the caches at\nHorse Prairie. Upon rounding the point of a mountain\nthey came in sight of the Beaver Head, a famous land-mark\non the Jefferson river, now known as the Point of Rocks,\nsome fifteen miles below Dillon, Mont. A large smoke\nwas rising there, and fearing the presence of another party\n 670\nBURIAL OF THE VICTIMS.\nof Indians, they turned directly toward the Jefferson and\nmade for a grove of cottonwoods, which they reached after\na march of fifteen miles.' Here another restless night was\nspent in a fortified camp.\nNext day a reconnoitering party found to their great relief\nthat the Indians at Beaver Head were Flatheads and Pend\nd' Oreilles, always firm friends of the whites, and the whole\nparty at once moved to join them. On the 17th of October\na burial party was sent back to the scene of the late attack.\nThey found and buried Pillon, but could not find Vanderburgh. Ferris then sent some Flathead Indians to the place\nunder a promise of a reward if they could discover the remains of the lamented leader. They succeeded in finding\nhis bones, which the Indians had stripped of the flesh and\nthrown into the river. They buried these on the margin of\nthe stream. The Indians had, however, carried away the\narms of the \" White Chief,\" as they called him, and these\nwere later exhibited as trophies of victory at Fort McKenzie on the Missouri.\nThe whole affair was one of the most lamentable tragedies\nthat ever occurred in the mountains, for the principal victim\nwas a man of chivalrous character, high standing, and universally beloved by those who knew him. Its most regrettable feature is the fact that it grew out of a bitter and unreasonable commercial strife in which Vanderburgh was a victim of his own zeal.\nAfter a short stay at Beaver Head the party pushed on to\nthe caches at Horse Prairie, where they found Drips, October 21, and acquainted him with the sad fate which had\nbefallen his able associate.1 The united parties left Horse\nPrairie on the 24th for Snake river.\n*The date of Vanderburgh's death, October 14, 1832, is confirmed\nby the records of the American Fur Company:\n\"Dans ma derniere j'ai omis de vous informer qu'un expres venant\nde la Roche Jaune nous a apporte la facheuse nouvelle que M. Vanderburgh a ete tue par les Pieds-Noirs le 14 Octobre dernier sur une\ndes trois fourches du Missouri appellee le Jefferson.\" Cet accident\nnous causera un grand deficit dans cet equipement. La chasse fut\n\l li\n\u00E2\u0080\u0094r 1 ' \u00E2\u0080\u0094 ' Milr \u00E2\u0080\u00A2\u00E2\u0080\u0094-n 1 -\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\u00E2\u0080\u0094\n BRIDGER WOUNDED.\n67I\nIf Fitzpatrick and Bridger had led Vanderburgh to his\ndeath, they did not wholly escape themselves, although their\ngreat experience of Indian wiles saved them from ambuscade or surprise. One day they saw a body of Blackfeet in\nthe open plain, though near some rocks which could be\nresorted to in case of need. They made pacific overtures,\nwhich were reciprocated by the whites. A few men\nadvanced from each party. A circle was formed and the\npipe of peace was smoked. It is related by Irving that\nwhile this ceremony was going on, a young Mexican named\nLoretto, a free trapper accompanying Bridger's band, who\nhad previously ransomed from the Crows a beautiful Blackfoot girl, and had made her his wife, was then present looking on. The girl recognized her brother among the\nIndians. Instantly leaving her infant with Loretto she\nrushed into her brother's arms and was received with the\ngreatest warmth and affection.\nBridger now rode forward to where the peace ceremonies were enacting. His rifle lay across his saddle. The\nBlackfoot chief came forward to meet him. Through some\napparent distrust Bridger cocked his piece as if about to\nfire. The chief seized the barrel and pushed it downward\nso that its contents were discharged into the ground. This\nprecipitated a melee. Bridger received two arrow shots in\nhis back, and the chief felled him to the earth with a blow\nfrom the gun which he had wrenched from Bridger's hand.\nThe chief then leaped into Bridger's saddle, and the whole\nparty made for the cover of the rocks, where a desultory\nfire was kept up for some time.\nThe Indian girl had been carried along with her people,\nand in spite of her pitiful entreaties, was not allowed to\nreturn. Loretto, witnessing her grief, seized the child and\naussitot interrompu et le parti retraversa la montagne pour rejoindre\nM. Dripps et hiberner sur la riviere au Serpent. II est a regretter que\nM. Fontenelle fut absent a. cet epoque.\" Chouteau to Astor, March\n30, 1833. So also Missouri Republican, March 26th, 1833, and Fort\nPierre Journal, Jan. 9th, 1833. For sketch of Vanderburgh's life see\nP- 392.\n 6y2\nARROW TAKEN FROM BRIDGER S BACK.\nran to her, greatly to the amazement of the Indians. He\nwas cautioned to depart if he wanted to save his life, and\nat his wife's urgent insistence he did so. Some time afterward he closed his account with the Rocky Mountain Fur\nCompany and rejoined his wife among her own people. It\nis said that he was later employed as an interpreter at the\nfort below the falls of the Missouri.\nOne of the arrowheads which Bridger received in his\nback on this occasion remained there for nearly three years,\nor until the middle of August, 1835. At that time Dr.\nMarcus Whitman was at the rendezvous on Green river,\nen route to Oregon. Bridger was also there and Dr. Whitman extracted the arrow from his back. The operation was\na difficult one \" because the arrow was hooked at the point\nby striking a large bone, and a cartilaginous substance had\ngrown around it. The doctor pursued the operation with\ngreat self-possession and perseverance; and his patient manifested equal firmness. The Indians looked on meanwhile\nwith countenances indicating wonder, and in their own\npeculiar manner expressed great astonishment when it was\nextracted.\" The arrow was of iron and about three inches\nlong.\n1\nsi^smem\ntmm\n CHAPTER IV.\nTHE BATTLE OF FORT McKENZIE.\nThe building of a fort in the Blackfoot country \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Treaty of peace\nbetween the Blackfeet and the Assiniboines \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Unexpected attack by\nthe Assiniboines \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Battle continues all day \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Assiniboines driven off \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nPiegan valor.\n*fKl \u00C2\u00AE bolder or more courageous measure was ever accom-\n\" * plished in the history of the fur trade than the establishment of a trading post by the American Fur Company\nin the country of the Blackfeet. The implacable hostility\nof these Indians to the whites had been in evidence since the\nfirst appearance of white men among them. The expulsion\nof the traders from the headwaters of the Missouri in 1810\nand the massacre of Jones and Immel and several of their\nfollowers in 1823 were still fresh in the minds of many then\nliving. It was well known that the attitude of these people\nhad not changed and that the trader who should venture into\ntheir territory did so at the imminent peril of his life.\nThe Blackfeet and Assiniboines were hostile to each other,\nand a preliminary step in the establishment of a post in the\nBlackfoot country was an attempt on the part of McKenzie\nat Fort Union to establish peace between these two tribes.\nThis was accomplished in 1831. James Kipp built Fort\nPiegan at the mouth of the Marias in the fall of that year,\nand D. D. Mitchell built Fort McKenzie a few miles above,\nwhen Fort Piegan was abandoned the following year.\nEverything went well until the summer of 1833, when the\nAssiniboines, becoming tired of the peace, and perhaps\nurged on by the British traders, concluded to attack the\nfort\ni^MBfc*-' -1 ii the Aricara\nvillages, which he found deserted except by some dogs, and that he\nspent two days taming these before they would come near enough for\nhim to get hold of them. This is, however, not probable, for Glass\nwould not have gone deliberately back into the hands of those Indians\nwhile there was any other chance of life. Cooke also says that Glass\nthen went to a trading post at the mouth of the Teton river.\n1\n yi :\n702\nANOTHER NARROW ESCAPE.\nthought to save a little time by going overland across a bend\nin the river to Tilton's fort, a trading establishment in that\nvicinity. It proved to be a lucky move, for on the following\nday all of his companions were massacred by the Aricara\nIndians.6 Those always treacherous savages had but lately\ntaken up their abode near the Mandan villages, and the\ntravelers were wholly ignorant of the snare into which they\nwere running. As Glass was approaching the fort he saw\ntwo squaws whom he at once recognized as Aricaras.7\nAlarmed at his danger he sought to conceal himself, but\ntoo late, for the squaws at once notified the warriors, who\nimmediately began pursuit. Glass, still feeble from his\nwounds, made an ineffectual effort at flight. His enemies\nwere almost within gun shot when two mounted Mandans\nrushed forward and seized him. Great was his surprise\nand joy at this unexpected deliverance, and it gave him increased faith that^ie should yet live to accomplish his mission of revenge.\nThe Indians carried Glass to Tilton's fort, and the same\nnight he left the fort alone and set out up the river. After\ntraveling alone for thirty-eight days, all the way through\nhostile country, he at length arrived at Henry's fort near\nthe mouth of the Bighorn river. Here he was received as\none risen from the dead, for no one had doubted the story of\nhis companions. Glass was chagrined to find that his companions had gone to Fort Atkinson.8 Still intent on his\npurpose of revenge, he promptly accepted an offer of\n\"This event is confirmed by an entry in the Missouri Intelligencer\nof February 25, 1824.\n7 Cooke's account of this affair is very much colored, too much so to\nbe true, and was probably the result of the natural growth which such\nstories undergo through many repetitions.\n8 Cooke says that the younger of the two men was found at Henry\nfort; that he was petrified with fear when he saw Glass; but that Glass\nhad compassion on him, and let him go on account of his youth, his\npenitence, and, more likely, because he considered Fitzgerald, who\nwas the older, the real culprit.\nCooke has no account of Glass' adventures beyond his arrival at\nHenry's fort.\n A THIRD ESCAPE.\n703\nservice as a messenger to carry a despatch to Fort Atkinson. Four men accompanied him and they left Henry's\nfort on the 28th of February, 1824.\nThe route of the party lay eastward into the valley of\nPowder river, thence southward to the sources of that\nstream, and across into the valley of the Platte. Here they\nmade some skin boats and floated down the river until they\nwere out of the foothills, when, to their infinite dismay,\nthey came upon a band of Aricaras, a part of Grey Eye's\nband, the chief who had been killed the previous summer by\na shot from Leavenworth's artillery. The new chiefs name\nwas Elk Tongue. The warriors came down to the river\nand by many protestations of friendship induced the travelers to believe that they were sincere. Glass had at one\ntime spent a whole winter with the chief, had joined him in\nthe chase, had smoked his pipe, and had quaffed many a\ncup with him in the wigwam. When he alighted from his\ncanoe the old chief embraced him as a brother. The whites\nwere thrown off their guard and accepted an invitation to\nvisit the chief's lodge. While partaking of the hospitable\npipe a child was heard to utter a scream, and on looking\naround, Glass perceived some squaws carrying away their\neffects. The little party well understood what this meant,\nand springing at once to their feet fled with the utmost precipitation. Two of them Were overtaken and put to death,\none within a few yards of Glass, who had found concealment behind a point of rocks. Glass was thoroughly versed\nin the arts of Indian life and he succeeded in baffling their\nsearch until finally they abandoned it altogether. He had\nlost all of his property except a knife and flint, and thus\nequipped he set out in a northeast direction to find Fort\nKiowa.9\nLs\n*\" Although I had lost my rifle and all my plunder, I felt quite rich\nwhen I found my knife and steel in my shot pouch. These little\nfixens make a man feel right peart when he is three or four hundred\nmiles away from anybody or anywhere \u00E2\u0080\u0094 all alone among the painters\n[panthers] and the wild varmints.\" From article in Missouri Intelligencer.\nJL-JWg\n\u00E2\u0096\u00A0Htfj\n*ammmr-r=^--\n .'\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\n704\nSCHEME OF REVENGE ABANDONED.\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2\nThe buffalo calves at this season were very young, and\nas the country abounded in bttffalo, Glass had no difficulty\nin getting what meat he desired, while his flint enabled him\nto build a fire. He was fifteen days in reaching Fort Kiowa,\nand at the first opportunity went down the river to Fort\nAtkinson, where he arrived in June, 1824. Here he found\nhis faithless companion ( for he now cherished revenge only\nagainst one of the party), who had enlisted in the army.\nThus, under protection of the law, Glass did not feel disposed to resort to extreme measures. The commanding\nofficer ordered his property to be given up and provided him\nwith a new equipment. Thus appeased, he relinquished his\nscheme of revenge and contented himself with entertaining\nthe people of the garrison with stories of his marvelous\nexperiences.\nIn weighing the two principal authorities for this story\nwe are inclined to think that Glass' sudden relinquishment\nof his purpose of revenge may have been due to new light\nobtained from the two men who deserted him. It was asking a great deal for those two men to expose themselves to\ndestruction for one whose life they doubtless believed was\nalready as good as lost, and whatever may have been the\nconsiderations of humanity, it was only heroic indifference\nto personal safety that could have induced them to stay.\nThey should have stayed, of course, but their failure to do\nso is not without its justification.\nIn Colonel Cooke's account, the name of one of the men\nleft with Glass was Fitzgerald; the name of the other is not\ngiven, but he is said to have been a mere youth of seventeen and doubtless on his first trip to the mountains. Glass\ndoes not seem to have cherished revenge against him, but\nto have blamed Fitzgerald alone. Who the young man\nwas is not known, but the late Captain La Barge, who remembers the tradition well, says that it was James Bridger.\nBridger is supposed to have been born in 1804 and this\nwould indicate 1821 or 1822 as the year of the occurrence.\nThe discrepancy is not great enough to preclude the possi-\nH\n GLASS KILLED BY THE ARICARAS.\n70S\nI\nbility of its being Bridger, but there is no other proof of it\nthan this intangible tradition.\nGlass turns up occasionally in the correspondence of\nthose early days and we know that he was at Fort Union\nabout 1830. He was at one time employed as hunter for\nthe fort and used to hunt for bighorns on the bluffs opposite the post. These bluffs are still known as Glass' Bluffs.\nGlass finally succumbed to his old enemies, the Aricaras,\nin the winter of 1832-3. The circumstances of his death\nwere related 10 to Maximilian, Prince of Wied, who has thus\nrecorded them: \" Old Glass, with two companions, had\ngone from Fort Cass [winter of 1832-3] to hunt bears on\nthe Yellowstone, and as they were crossing the river on the\nice farther down, they were all three shot, scalped, and\nplundered by a war party of thirty Aricaras who were concealed on the opposite bank. These Indians, who are the\nmost dangerous to the whites, went then to the sources of\nthe Powder river, and it happened that Gardner with about\ntwenty men and thirty horses was in the neighborhood. As\nit was dark, when they were seated about several fires, the Indians suddenly appeared, addressed them in the Minnetaree\nlanguage, surrounded the fire and dried their shoes. Gardner, being well acquainted with the character of the Indians,\nimmediately took some precautions, which were the more\nnecessary, as a Minnetaree woman who was with the party\ntold him that the strangers were Aricaras. He gradually\ncollected his people around one of the fires, with their arms\nin readiness to act. He was also afraid for his horses,\nwhich were scattered on the prairie, and some of which\nwere actually missing, and he had already sent some of his\nmen to erect in the neighborhood what is called a fort, of\ntrunks of trees, for the night. The Indians are accustomed, when they intend to steal horses, suddenly to give\na signal, on which they all jump up, scatter the horses, and\ndrive away with them. Gardner, aware of this, watched the\nenemy closely, and when, on the signal being given, they\n30 By Johnson Gardner, the well-known free trapper.\n8\nn\nH;\n u.. \u00E2\u0096\u00A0 \u00E2\u0096\u00A0 .\n706\nGLASS DEATH REVENGED.\n>\nIt\nall withdrew, three of them were seized and bound. When\nthe Aricaras perceived this, several of them came back, pretended to be innocent of the stealing of the horses, and\nbegged for their captive comrades, but Gardner declared to\nthem that if they did not immediately deliver up all the\nhorses, the prisoners must die; one of them, however, had\ncut the bonds with which he was bound, and escaped. The\nIndians entreated for a long time, but were refused. The\nothers, seeing that they must die, commenced their death\nsong, related their exploits, and affirmed that they were\ndistinguished warriors. One of them had old Glass' knife,\nand his rifle had also been seen in the possession of these\nIndians. The horses, however, were not brought, and the\nprisoners, alleging a pressing necessity, were taken aside;\nbut in the thick copse they attempted to escape, on which\none of them was stabbed and several shots were fired at the\nother, who was then killed with a knife. They were both\nscalped and I received one of the scalps as a present, which\nwas unfortunately lost in the fire on board the steamer.\nGardner, by way of precaution, had all the fires put out and\npassed the night in the fort, which was now completed.\nThey were not disturbed during the night, and found, in\nthe morning, that the Indians had retired with their booty,\nleaving the prisoners to their fates. The Aricaras had\nbegged for one of them in particular, who was a celebrated\nwarrior, and had even brought back three horses which\nthey tied up near at hand, to exchange them for the prisoners ; but Gardner did not attend to their request.\"\n.-..\u00E2\u0080\u00A2BtJH1\n CHAPTER IX.\nTHE TREACHERY OF MIKE FINK.1\nEarly life \u00E2\u0080\u0094 A great shot \u00E2\u0080\u0094 His friends Talbot and Carpenter \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nGoes to St. Louis \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Shoots off a negro's heel \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Enters Ashley's service\u00E2\u0080\u0094 Quarrels with Carpenter \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Slays Carpenter \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Killed by Talbot\u00E2\u0080\u0094 Talbot drowned.\n/|J\ IKE FINK, a character in early Western history,\nwhose well-authenticated performances were so remarkable as to appear rather the creations of fancy than\nactual occurrences, was a native of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.\nHe had little education and made ridicule of what he had.\nHe used to spell his name Micke Phinck and he loved to\naffect the extremes of barbarous jargon that characterized\nthe language of the unlettered boatmen on the Western\nrivers. Mike early became fascinated with the boatman's\nlife, and the sound of the boat horn was his most entrancing\nmusic. He learned to imitate its notes, so that when he first\ntook service in a keelboat he could fill the office of trumpeter\nwithout any instrument. The river life suited his tastes and\nhe longed to visit its remotest ports \u00E2\u0080\u0094 even New Orleans,\nwhere he had heard that the people spoke French and wore\ntheir Sunday clothes all the week.\nWhen the water was too low for navigation Mike spent\nmost of his time in Pittsburg and vicinity, killing squirrels\nand shooting at a target for beef at the frequent Saturday\nshooting matches and company musters of the militia. He\n1 This story is given nearly verbatim from the Missouri Intelligencer\nof Sept. 4, 1829, quoted from Flint's Western Review, which in turn\ntook it from an ephemeral publication called the Western Souvenir.\nThe article was entitled \"The Last of the Boatmen.\" Author not\ngiven.\n 7o8\n/\nJOKES MADE TO LAUGH AT.\nsoon became renowned as the best shot in the country, acquiring the soubriquet of \"Bangall,\" and on account of his\nextraordinary skill he was excluded from participation in the\nmatches. As a price for this exclusion he was allowed the\n\" fifth quarter \" of the beef, as it was called \u00E2\u0080\u0094 the hide and\ntallow. His usual practice was to exchange his \"quarter'\nat a dram shop for whiskey, with which he treated everybody and particularly himself. He became fond of\nstrong drink, but never was intoxicated. He could drink\na gallon in twenty-four hours and not show any effects of it.\nHis language was a perfect sample of the half-horse, half-\nalliga|pr dialect of the early race of boatmen. He was a\ngood deal of a wit, a quality which won him the admiration,\nbut at the same time excited the fears, of the whole boating fraternity; for he usually enforced his jokes with a\nsound drubbing if any one had the temerity to refuse to\nlaugh at them. He used to say that he told his jokes to be\nlaughed at, and that no one should make light of them. The\nconsequence was that Mike always had about him a band\nof laughing sycophants who were as afraid of his frown as\na vassal might be of the displeasure of his lord.\nMike used to proclaim himself \u00E2\u0080\u0094 \"I am a Salt river\nroarer, and I love the wimming, and as how I am chock full\nof fight.\" And indeed he had a chere amie in every port\nwho would \" fight their deaths \" in his defense.\nAmong his confederates were two men conspicuous for\ntheir prowess and were Mike's fast and confidential friends.\nTheir names were Carpenter and Talbot. Each of the\nthree was a match for the other in fighting and in markman-\nship and were adepts in the virtues and mysteries of Mike's\ncalling.\nMike's weight was about 180 pounds. He was five feet\nnine inches high; with broad, round face and pleasant features ; brown skin, tanned by the sun and the rain; blue but\nvery expressive eyes, inclining to gray; broad white teeth;\nand square, brawny form, well proportioned, with every\nmuscle fully developed, indicating the greatest strength and\n SKILL IN MARKSMANSHIP.\n709\nactivity. Except as to stature he was a perfect model for a\nHercules.\nAs already stated, he was an expert marksman, and many\nof his shooting feats have been related by those who profess to have witnessed them. On one occasion while ascending the Mississippi river above the mouth of the Ohio,\nhe saw a sow with eight or nine pigs on the river bank. He\ndeclared in boatman phrase that he \" wanted pig,\" and\ntook up his rifle to shoot one. He was requested not to\ndo so, but he nevertheless laid his rifle to his face, and as\nthe boat glided up the river under easy sail, some forty or\nfifty yards from shore, he shot at one pig after another,\ncutting their tails off close to their bodies, but not doing\nthem any other harm!\nIn 1821, while standing on the levee in St. Louis, he saw\na negro on the river bank listlessly gazing at what was going\non around him. He had a remarkably shaped foot peculiar\nto some African tribes. His heel protruded to the rear so\nfar that his foot seemed to be as much in the rear as in front\nof the leg. This unshapely form offended Mike's eye and\noutraged his sense of symmetry. He determined to correct\nit. Lifting his rifle at thirty paces he actually shot the heel\naway, inflicting an ugly wound. The boy dropped to the\nground, screaming \" murder!\" Mike was indicted in the\nCircuit court of the county, tried and found guilty.2 His\nplea in justification of the offense was that he wanted to fix\nthe boy's foot so that he could wear a genteel boot. Mike's\npunishment, which is not stated, could not have been very\nsevere, for he was at liberty in the spring of 1822.\nMike's particular friend, Carpenter, was also a great shot,\nand it was a common thing for him and Mike to fill a tin\ncup with whiskey and shoot it from each other's heads at a\ndistance of seventy yards. The feat was always performed\nsuccessfully, the cup being bored through without injury to\nthe person supporting it. It was a favorite performance\n8 The writer of this article states that he himself had seen the record\nof the trial.\nill\n 710\nA DEADLY QUARREL.\nwith these two men, who regarded it as a fresh avowal of\nconfidence in each other.\nMike had first visited St. Louis in i8i4or 1815 and was\nthere frequently afterward. In 1822 he and his two friends,\nTalbot and Carpenter, enlisted in the company which General Ashley and Major Henry were organizing for their attempt to open up a trade with the mountain tribes. They\nenlisted in the threefold character of boatmen, trappers, and\nhunters. The company ascended as far as to \"the mouth of\nthe Yellowstone, where a fort was constructed, from which\nthe party was sent out in detachments to trap on the tributaries of the Missouri and the Yellowstone. Mike and his\nfriends, with nine others, went to the Muscleshell river,\nwhere they found a warm and commodious habitation for\nthe winter.\nDuring their sojourn here Mike and Carpenter fell into\na deadly quarrel, which, however, was smoothed over for\nthe time by the interposition of friends. The cause is not\ncertainly known, but there seems to have been a woman in\nthe case, a squaw for whose good graces they had become\nrival aspirants. On the arrival of spring the little party\nvisited the fort, and here, over a draught of whiskey, they\nrenewed their smothered quarrel. Again they made a\ntreaty of peace, and in evidence of their sincerity Mike proposed that they repeat their familiar feat of shooting the\nwhiskey cup from each other's head. This, would not only\nbe a test of reconciliation, but of mutual trust and confidence\nas well.\nA preliminary question to be decided was which should\nhave the first shot. To determine this Mike proposed to\n\" sky a copper,\" or in modern phrase, to flip a copper. This\nwas done and Mike won the first shot. Carpenter, who\nknew from long experience the uncompromising character of\nMike's hatred, declared his belief in his companion's treacherous intent, and that he should surely be killed. But he\nscorned life too much to repudiate his compact, and accordingly he prepared to die. He bequeathed his rifle, bullet\n FINK AND CARPENTER KILLED.\n711\npouch, powder horn, belt, pistol and wages to Talbot, and\nthen went out to the place where the trial was to occur. He\nfilled his cup with whiskey and placed it on his head, while\nMike was loading his rifle and picking his flint. Carpenter stood up at the proper place, erect and serene, without a\nchange of countenance to indicate what was passing in his\nmind. Mike leveled his rifle at the distance of sixty yards.\nAfter drawing a bead he took down his rifle and smilingly\nsaid: \" Hold your noddle steady, Carpenter, and don't\nspill the whiskey, as I shall want some presently.\" He\nagain raised his rifle and in an instant Carpenter fell, expiring without a groan. The ball had penetrated his forehead\nin the center an inch and a half above the eyes. Mike coolly\nset the breech of his gun on the ground, and applying his\nmouth to the muzzle, blew the smoke out of the barrel, all\nthe while keeping his eye upon the prostrate form of his old-\ntime friend. Finally he said: \" Carpenter, you have\nspilled the whiskey!\" He was told that he had killed Carpenter. \" It is all a mistake,\" he said, | for I took as fine\na bead on the black spot on the cup as I ever took on a squirrel's eye. How did it happen \" ? He then cursed his rifle,\nthe bullet, and finally himself.\nIn this remote region where the power of the law was not\nyet known, and among a party who had an exaggerated\ndread of Mike's prowess, the crime was permitted to pass off\nas an accident, and Mike was allowed to go at large. But\nTalbot, who was Carpenter's fast friend, was convinced of\nMike's treacherous intent, and resolved upon revenge whenever opportunity should offer. Some months afterward,\nMike, in a fit of gasconading, declared that he had killed\nCarpenter on purpose and was glad of it. Talbot instantly\ndrew his pistol, the same which Carpenter had bequeathed\nhim, and shot Mike through the heart. Mike fell and expired without a word.\nTalbot likewise was not called to account, for nobody had\nany authority to do so and few doubtless felt any inclination,\nas it was probably considered a just penalty for the killing\n i ill'\n712\nTALBOT DROWNED.\nof Carpenter. Moreover, Talbot was a terrible enemy, ferocious and dangerous as a grizzly of the prairies. About\nthree months later he was present in the Aricara battle under\nColonel Leavenworth, where he displayed a coolness which\nwould have done honor to a better man. He came out of\nthe battle unharmed, but about ten days later while attempting to swim the Teton river he was drowned. Thus perished the \" last of the boatmen.\"3\n8 Remarkable as this story is it has authentic confirmation. In General Clark's letter book on Indian Affairs, now in possession of the\nKansas Historical Society at Topeka, there is a list of deaths among\nAshley's and Smith, Jackson and Sublette's parties before 1830. The\nstatement says that in 1822 Mike Fink shot Carpenter; that Fink was\nsoon after shot by Talbot, who was later drowned in the Teton river\nThe year should be 1823.\nThe following notice appeared in the St. Louis Republican of July\n16, 1823: 1 By a letter received in town from one of General Ashley's\nexpeditions we are informed that a man by the name of Mike Fink, well\nknown in this quarter as a great marksman with the rifle, and is the\nsame who some time since in this place shot off a negro's heel to enable\nhim, as he said, to wear a genteel boot! was engaged in his favorite\namusement of shooting a tin cup from the head of another man, when,\nby aiming too low, or from some other cause, shot his companion in the\nforehead and killed him. Another man of the expedition (whose name\nwe have not yet heard) remonstrated against Fink's conduct, to\nwhich he (Fink) replied that he would kill him likewise, upon which\nthe other drew a pistol and shot Fink dead on the spot.\"\n CHAPTER X.\nTHE ADVENTURES OF JOHN COLTER.\nColter in Lewis and Clark expedition \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Remains in the upper country \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Enters Lisa's employ \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Sets out to find the Crows \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Crosses to\nPierre's Hole \u00E2\u0080\u0094- Fight with the Blackfeet \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Colter starts for Fort Manuel alone \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Crosses Yellowstone Park \u00E2\u0080\u0094 \" Colter's Hell\"\u00E2\u0080\u0094Colter goes\nto Three Forks \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Terrible adventure on Jefferson Fork \u00E2\u0080\u0094 His miraculous escape \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Result of Colter's adventures \u00E2\u0080\u0094 His subsequent career.\n^XOHN COLTER was one of the private soldiers attached\n*J to the expedition of Lewis and Clark in the years\n1804-6. When the returning explorers had arrived at their\nformer winter quarters near the Mandan villages, some fifty-\nfive miles above where Bismarck, North Dakota, now stands,\nColter asked for his discharge in order that he might remain\nin the upper country and trap. He had met two hunters\nonly the day before who were bound for the upper rivers\nand they offered him substantial inducements if he would\naccompany them. As his record on the expedition had been\nexcellent, his commanding officers assented to the request,\ngave him his discharge, outfitted him in good shape, and he\nforthwith set out on his proposed expedition. This was\nAugust 15 or 16, 1806.\nColter remained in the upper country all the following\nwinter, but in what precise locality is not known. It is\nprobable, from subsequent events, that it was in the valley\nof the Yellowstone. In the following spring he set out, apparently alone, to return to St. Louis, but on his way met\nthe expedition of Manuel Lisa near the mouth of the Platte\nriver. To this band of adventurers into an unknown country the service of a man like Colter, who had spent a winter\nthere and had twice passed entirely through it, could not but\n ^--\nm\n714 RELATIONS WITH THE BLACKFEET.\nbe very important. He was persuaded (if persuasion was\nnecessary) to join the expedition and accordingly turned\nback a second time from his journey towards home.\nNothing occurred on the voyage with which his name is\nconnected until the arrival of the expedition at the mouth\nof the Bighorn. Lisa had expected to find the Blackfeet nation very hostile on account of the loss of one of their number at the hands of Captain Lewis the previous summer on\nhis way back from the Pacific.1 It may have been a fear of\nthis hostility that caused his unlucky decision to establish\nhimself in the country of their enemies, the Crows. But it\nseemed that a detachment of Lisa's party met a band of\nblackfeet, either before or soon after the arrival at the\nmouth of the Bighorn, from whom interesting and important information was obtained. Far from being hostile,\nthese Indians evinced a pacific disposition and said that the\nprovocation under which Captain Lewis acted was so obvious and flagrant that they had not cherished this act as a\njustification of hostility, and were ready to open relations of\ntrade with the whites.\nLisa was greatly pleased at this prospect. He had\nalready arranged to send Colter to notify the surrounding\nbands of Indians of his arrival, and he probably directed him\nto proceed also to the Three Forks of the Missouri and confer with the Blackfoot nation. It was a perilous adventure\nand one requiring great courage and hardihood. \" This\nman,\" says Brackenridge, \" with a pack of thirty pounds\nweight, his gun and some ammunition, went upwards of\nfive hundred miles to the Crow nation; gave them information, and proceeded from thence to several other tribes.\"\nIt seems that when Lisa arrived in the country the Crows\nwere in the upper end of the valley, probably on Wind river,\nand Colter had to travel a long distance to reach them. He\nthen most likely secured the services of a party of the Crows\n1 These Indians were Grosventres of the Prairie, but were always\nclassed with the Blackfeet by the traders and trappers. See Part V.,\nChapter IX.\nI\nII\n COLTER WOUNDED IN BATTLE.\n715\nto guide him by the best trail across the mountains, for he\ncould hardly have followed so well by himself what is now,\nand doubtless was then, the best route through this exceptionally rugged country. All available evidence indicates\nthat Colter traveled directly from Wind river to Pierre's\nHole, crossing the Wind River mountains by Union or\nTwo-gwo-tee passes and the Teton range by the pass of the\nsame name. The sublime and wonderful scenery and the\nremarkable topographical situation by which divergent\nstreams flow from a common neighborhood to widely-separated river systems, and the ease with which the mountains\ncould be crossed,2 impressed Colter deeply. When he returned to St. Louis he drew the attention of Clark, Brackenridge and others to these remarkable features.\nIt is probable that it was in the valley of Pierre's Hole\nthat \" the party in whose company he happened to be,\" was\nattacked, as related by Brackenridge. This party, according to Biddle, was of the Crow nation and the attacking\nparty were Blackfeet.3 A fight ensued and Colter, by the\nnecessity of the situation, was compelled to take part with\nthe Crows. He distinguished himself greatly and received\na severe wound in the leg. The Blackfeet were defeated,\nbut not until they had seen the pale-face ally of their enemies, to whom, no doubt, they attributed their discomfiture.\nThe Crows, having conducted their guest across the\nmountains, and probably not deeming it wise to linger until\nthe vengeance of the Blackfeet should bring reinforcements\nupon them, left Colter at this point and returned to their\n*\" At the head of the Gallatin Fork and of the Grosse Corne of the\nYellowstone [the Bighorn river] from discoveries since the voyage of\nLewis and Clark, it is found less difficult to cross than the Allegheny\nmountains. Colter, a celebrated hunter and woodsman, informed me\nthat a loaded w?gon would find no obstruction in passing.\" Brackenridge. The Gallatin river was mistaken for one of the upper branches\nof the Yellowstone, probably; but it is clear that Colter here refers to\nUnion or Two-gwo-tee pass at the head of Wind river.\n8 In all probability these Indians were Grosventres.\n 716\nFIRST TOUR OF YELLOWSTONE PARK.\n.\ncountry. This conclusion seems certain from Colter's own\nnarrative to Brackenridge, who says that notwithstanding\nthe wound in his leg, \" he returned to the establishment\nentirely alone and without assistance, several hundred\nmiles.\" Colter, upon his return to St. Louis, gave to General Clark a description of his route, which the latter placed\nupon the map accompanying the report of the Lewis and\nClark expedition and legended it \" Colter's Route in 1807.\"\nThis map makes it clear that from Pierre's Hole Colter undertook to reach Lisa's fort by the most direct route possible. Such was probably his plan. He knew that it would\nb\u00C2\u00A3 folly for him now to proceed to the Three Forks, where he\nwould become an instant victim of Blackfoot vengeance.\nThe best thing to do was to make his way back to the fort\nand report to Lisa. To go by the way he had come would\nbe to make a long detour and nearly double the distance over\na direct line. Colter had a sufficient eye for topography to\nknow that Lisa's fort lay about northeast of his position.\nHe accordingly launched into the dense pine forests that\ncover the country on the northern flank of the Teton range\nand the southern portion of the Yellowstone National Park.\nIt may with difficulty be imagined what must have been his\nastonishment when, emerging from the forests upon the\nshore of that surpassingly beautiful mountain lake near the\nsource of the Yellowstone river, he found its shore steaming\nwith innumerable boiling springs and geysers. As a matter of fact Colter's route was carrying him directly across\nthe present Yellowstone Park, from southwest to northeast.\nHe saw the strange phenomena on the shore of Yellowstone\nLake, and along the course of its outlet for a distance of\nsome forty miles. There is no record that he ever mentioned having seen the Falls of the Yellowstone, but he could\nhardly have escaped them, considering the course of his\njourney as outlined upon the map. He continued down the\nYellowstone so long as it bore to the northeast on his general course, but left it by way of the valley of the East Fork\nwhere the main stream turns abruptly to the northwest.\n COLTER GOES TO THREE FORKS.\n717\nThence he continued his course almost on the line of the\npresent route to the northeast corner of the Park and eventually found his way back to Lisa's fort.\nThis very remarkable achievement \u00E2\u0080\u0094 remarkable in the\ncourage and hardihood of this lone adventurer and remarkable in its unexpected results in geographical discovery \u00E2\u0080\u0094\ndeserves to be classed among the most celebrated performances in the history of American exploration. Colter was\nthe first explorer of the valley of the Bighorn river; the\nfirst to cross the passes at the head of Wind river and see\nthe headwaters of the Colorado of the West; the first to\nsee the Teton mountains, Jackson Hole, Pierre's Hole, and\nthe sources of the Snake river; and most important of all,\nthe first to pass through that singular region which has\nsince become known throughout the world as the Yellowstone Wonderland. He also saw the immense tar spring\nat the forks of the Stinkingwater river, a spot which came\nto bear the name of \" Colter's Hell.\"\nColter had now accomplished enough to entitle him to\nlasting distinction in the cause of geographical exploration;\nbut honors of a more perilous character still awaited him.\nAs soon as spring opened \u00E2\u0080\u0094 for Colter could not have returned to Lisa's fort before the arrival of winter \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Lisa\ndispatched him again to visit the Blackfeet. Colter set out\ndirectly for the Three Forks of the Missouri where he seems\nto have employed his time trapping until the Indians put in\nan appearance. He was accompanied on this expedition by\na companion named Potts, very likely the same one who had\nbeen a fellow soldier in the Lewis and Clark expedition.\nBiddle relates that when these two men met the Blackfeet\nthese Indians did not even yet evince hostile intentions, but\nthat an altercation soon ensued, ending in a combat in which\nPotts was killed and Colter made his escape. This affair\nwas profiably the same as that related by John Bradbury in\nhis Travels in North America, and better known through\nIrving's Astoria. Colter gave the account of his miraculous\nescape to the English naturalist immediately after his return\n Ifl\n718\nMEETING WITH THE BLACKFEET.\nto St. Louis in the spring of 1810. All other accounts are\nbased upon Bradbury's. The simple and direct language in\nwhich the author has clothed his recital tells the story so\nwell that even the skilful pen of Irving adopted it almost\nwithout change. The adventure is one of those remarkable\nexperiences which have now and then occurred in our frontier history, almost beyond credibility, but nevertheless in\ntheir details clearly possible. The story is here repeated in\nthe exact words of Bradbury:4\n\" This man came to St. Louis in May, 1810, in a small\ncanoe, from the headwaters of the Missouri, a distance of\nthree thousand miles, which he traversed in thirty days. I\nsaw him on his arrival, and received from him an account of\nhis adventures after he had separated from Lewis and\nClark's party; one of these, from its singularity, I shall relate. On the arrival of the party at the headwaters of the\nMissouri, Colter, observing an appearance of abundance of\nbeaver there, got permission to remain and hunt for some\ntime, which he did in company with a man by the name of\nDixon, who had traversed the immense tract of country\nfrom St. Louis to the headwaters of the Missouri alone.\n\" Soon after he separated from Dixon, and trapped in\ncompany with a hunter named Potts; and aware of the hostility of the Blackfeet Indians, one of whom had been killed\nby Lewis, they set their traps at night, and took them up\nearly in the morning, remaining concealed during the day.\nThey were examining their traps early one morning, in a\ncreek about six miles from that branch of the Missouri\ncalled Jefferson's Fork, and were ascending in a canoe, when\nthey suddenly heard a great noise, resembling the trampling\nof animals; but they could not ascertain the fact, as the\nhigh, perpendicular banks on each side of the river impeded\ntheir view. Colter immediately pronounced it to be occasioned by Indians, and advised an instant retreat; but was\naccused of cowardice by Potts, who insisted that the noise\n*See Bradbury's Travels in North America, Irving's Astoria, and\nthe Yellowstone National Park, by the present author.\n COLTER CAPTURED.\n719\nwas caused by buffaloes, and they proceeded on. In a few\nminutes afterwards their doubts were removed by a party of\nIndians making their appearance on both sides of the creek,\nto the amount of five or six hundred, who beckoned them to\ncome ashore. As retreat was now impossible, Colter turned\nthe head of the canoe to the shore; and at the moment of\nits touching, an Indian seized the rifle belonging to Potts;\nbut Colter, who is a remarkably strong man, immediately\nretook it, and handed it to Potts, who remained in the canoe,\nand on receiving it pushed off into the river. He had scarcely quitted the shore when an arrow was shot at him, and he\ncried out, | Colter, I am wounded/ Colter remonstrated\nwith him on the folly of attempting to escape, and urged\nhim to come ashore. Instead of complying, he instantly leveled his rifle at an Indian, and shot him dead on the spot.\nThis conduct, situated as he was, may appear to have been an\nact of madness; but it was doubtless the effect of sudden and\nsound reasoning; for if taken alive, he must have expected\nto be tortured to death, according to their custom. He was\ninstantly pierced with arrows so numerous that, to use the\nlanguage of Colter, ' he was made a riddle of.'\n\" They now seized Colter, stripped him entirely naked,\nand began to consult on the manner in which he should be\nput to death. They were first inclined to set him up as a\nmark to shoot at; but the chief interfered, and seizing him\nby the shoulder, asked him if he could run fast. Colter,\nwho had been some time amongst the Kee-kat-sa, or Crow\nIndians, had in a considerable degree acquired the Blackfoot\nlanguage, and was also well acquainted with Indian customs.\nHe knew that he had now to run for his life, with the dreadful odds of five or six hundred against him, and those armed\nIndians- therefore he cunningly replied that he was a very\nbad runner, although he was considered by the hunters as remarkably swift. The chief now commanded the party to\nremain stationary, and led Colter out on the prairie three or\nfour hundred yards, and released him, bidding him to save\nhimself if he could. At that instant the horrid war whoop\n 720\nTHE RACE FOR LIFE.\nit\nsounded in the ears of poor Colter, who, urged with the\nhope of preserving life, ran with a speed at which he was\nhimself surprised. He proceeded towards the Jefferson\nFork, having to traverse a plain six miles in breadth,\nabounding with prickly pear, on which he was every instant\ntreading with his naked feet. He ran nearly half way\nacross the plain before he ventured to look over his shoulder,\nwhen he perceived that the Indians were very much scattered, and that he had gained ground to a considerable distance from the main body; but one Indian, who carried a\nspear, was much before all the rest, and not more than a\nhundred yards from him. A faint gleam of hope now\ncheered the heart of Colter; he derived confidence from the\nbelief that escape was within the bounds of possibility; but\nthat confidence was nearly fatal to him, for he exerted\nhimself to such a degree that the blood gushed from his nostrils, and soon almost covered the fore part of his body.\n\" He had now arrived within a mile of the river, when he\ndistinctly heard the appalling sound of footsteps behind\nhim, and every instant expected to feel the spear of his pursuer. Again he turned his head, and saw the savage not\ntwenty yards from him. Determined if possible to avoid the\nexpected blow, he suddenly stopped, turned round, and\nspread out his arms. The Indian, surprised by the suddenness of the action, and perhaps of the bloody appearance of\nColter, also attempted to stop; but exhausted with running,\nhe fell whilst endeavoring to throw his spear, which stuck\nin the ground and broke in his hand. Colter instantly\nsnatched up the pointed part, with which he pinned him to\nthe earth, and then continued his flight. The foremost of\nthe Indians, on arriving at the place, stopped till others came\nup to join them, when they set up a hideous yell. Every\nmoment of this time was improved by Colter, who, although fainting and exhausted, succeeded in gaining the\nskirting of the cottonwood trees, on the borders of the fork,\nthrough which he ran and plunged into the river. Fortunately for him, a little below this place there was an island,\n COLTER WINS.\n721\nagainst the upper point of which a raft of drift timber had\nlodged. He dived under the raft, and after several efforts,\ngot his head above water amongst the trunks of trees, covered over with smaller wood to the depth of several feet.\nScarcely had he secured himself when the Indians arrived on\nthe river, screeching and yelling, as Colter expressed it,\n* like so many devils.' They were frequently on the raft\nduring the day, and were seen through the chinks by Colter,\nwho was congratulating himself on his escape, until the\nidea arose that they might set the raft on fire.5\n\" In horrible suspense he remained until night, when\nhearing no more of the Indians, he dived from under the\nraft, and swam silently down the river to a considerable distance, when he landed, and travelled all night. Although\nhappy in having escaped from the Indians, his situation was\nstill dreadful; he was completely naked, under a burning\nsun; the soles of his feet were entirely filled with the thorns\nof the prickly pear; he was hungry, and had no means of\nkilling game, although he saw abundance around him, and\nwas at least seven days' journey from Lisa's fort, on the\nBighorn branch of the Roche Jaune river. These were\ncircumstances under which almost any man but an American hunter would have despaired. He arrived at the fort\nin seven days, having subsisted on a root much esteemed by\nthe Indians of the Missouri, now known by naturalists as\npsoralea esculenta.\"\nFrom this time on deadly enmity toward the white race\nbecame the settled policy of the Blackfeet Indians. There\nis probably little doubt that it was the apparent favoritism of\nthe white traders toward their enemies the Crows that\nturned the scale.6 For this appearance the action of Lisa\nc\n6 For a parallel case to that of Colter see narrative of the escape of\nOskononton by hiding under a raft in a river. Ross' Fur Hunters\nof the Far West, p. 189.\nI This adverse feeling arose from a jealousy prevalent among all\nsavage (and some civilized) nations, of those who trade with their\nenemies. The Crows and Blackfeet are almost continually at war; the\ncompany detached a party to trade with the former; this gave offense\n m\n722\nCOLTER IN ST. LOUIS.\nin building his first post in Crow territory, and Colter's accidental presence in the ranks of the Crows when these Indians were attacked by the Blackfeet, are mainly responsible.\nColter thus became in part the involuntary cause of that\ndeadly feud which lasted beyond the life time of any of his\ncontemporaries.\nColter remained on the upper rivers until after Lisa's return in the summer of 1809 with an extensive outfit of the\nnewly formed St. Louis Missouri Fur Company. But he\nvery wisely abandoned the country before the disastrous\nevents of 1810 at the Three Forks of the Missouri. He set\nout for St. Louis about April ist of that year and made the\ndescent of the rivers in thirty days, a distance, according to\nhis own estimate, of some three thousand miles. Colter\nremained in St. Louis for a considerable time, and evidently\ntalked a great deal about his adventures. _ He gave Clark\nimportant data for his forthcoming map of the Lewis and\nClark expedition. He succeeded in making himself accounted a confirmed prevaricator, and a cloud of doubt and\nridicule hung over his memory until far later years proved\nthe truth of his statements.\nAmong those who esteemed Colter's accounts of sufficient\nimportance to merit attention may be mentioned General\nWilliam Clark, Henry M. Brackenridge, the author, and\nJohn Bradbury, the English naturalist. He was seen by\nBradbury in the spring of 1810, immediately after his return to St. Louis. Bradbury also spent the forenoon of\nMarch 18, 1811, with Colter while en route up the Missouri\nwith the Astoria expedition of that year. Colter had lately\nmarried and was living near the river above the point where\nthe little creek La Charette empties into the main stream.\nHe was full of admonitions in regard to the Blackfeet and\nurged the most careful measures to prevent trouble with\nto the Blackfeet, who had not the same opportunity of procuring arms,\netc., the Hudson Bay factory being several days' journey from their\nhunting grounds, and with which they could not trade with equal\nadvantage.\" Louisiana Gazette, July 26, 1810.\nI\n COLTER S DEATH.\n723\nthem. He was himself very much disposed to accompany\nthe expedition, but he was too recently married to be able\nto come to a decision not to remain.\nThis is the last positive record that we have of the discoverer of the Yellowstone Wonderland. In the Louisiana\nGazette, St. Louis, December 11, 1813, there appeared a\nnotice by the administrator of the estate of \" John Coulter,\ndeceased,\" calling for a settlement of all claims for or against\nthe estate. The final settlement left a balance in favor of\nthe estate of $229.41^. The deceased may or may not\nhave been the subject of this sketch; but if so, his terrible\nexperiences among the Blackfeet might very easily account\nfor his early demise.\n111.1 .*\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\"\u00C2\u00BB\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\nojajfiMjiiigri. -i\n If,\nc\n PART V. 1\nTHE COUNTRY AND ITS INHABITANTS.\nCHAPTER I.\nTHE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.\nView of the western country \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The Continental Divide \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The name\n\" Rocky Mountains \" \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Physical aspect of the Rocky mountains \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Attractions of mountain life \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The Teton range\u00E2\u0080\u0094The Grand Teton \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nThe Absaroka range \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The Wind river mountains \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The Bighorn\nmountains \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The Black Hills \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Other Wyoming ranges \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Front and\nRampart ranges \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Pike's Peak \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Mount of the Holy Cross \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The\nSpanish peaks \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The Uintah mountains \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The Wasatch range \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nMontana and Idaho ranges \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The Blue mountains \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The Sierra Ne-\nvadas \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The Cascade range.\nTjTnj ERE it possible for an observer to be poised far\n^^* above the surface of the earth, near that locality\nwhere the Teton mountains lift their majestic summits\nabove the clouds, and were he endowed with a power of\nvision that could pierce to the uttermost verge of the horizon, he would see beneath and around him a panorama which\nit is here desired to fix clearly in the mind of the reader. It\nis a panorama of mountains and plains, of lakes and rivers,\nof forest-crowned hills and treeless deserts, that stretches\naway to the distant alluvial plains of the Mississippi on the\neast and to the broad expanse of the Pacific on the west.\nThe first and most obvious feature of the landscape, thus\nspread out like a map before the eye, is its vast aggregation of mountains. Except far to the eastward, peaks innumerable arise on every hand. Some extend in well-\n 7\n26\nTHE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE.\ndefined ranges like broken ridges on the surface of the earth;\nother stand detached and alone like solitary protuberances\nfrom its crust. The variety of form and aspect is infinite.\nHere a pointed spire of primeval rock stands motionless\namong the shifting clouds; there a flat mesa or table,\ncrowned with grassy sward, terminates in bold escarpments\noverlooking the valleys and plains below. Lofty fields of\nperennial snow, grey patches of rock where vegetation never\nthrives, broad areas of dark evergreen forest, wide-spreading slopes of native pasture \u00E2\u0080\u0094 all combine to produce an\neffect which is different in every detail, yet displays as a\nwhole a distinct uniformity of character.\nAmid the seemingly purposeless and accidental distribution of these mountains, the eye may trace an irregular line\nacross the country from north to south, along which the\nground is higher than in the immediate vicinity on either\nside. It is the line which separates the waters that flow into\nthe Atlantic from those which flow into the Pacific \u00E2\u0080\u0094 the\nheight of land between the two oceans, or, as it is commonly\ncalled, the Continental Divide. It is everywhere a line of\ndeep sentimental interest, for it is not easy to realize that,\nfrom points so close together, streams should flow to destinations so widely separated. Little as the country may\nvary in its aspect on one side from that on the other, the\nimagination sees a difference, and the early traveler always\nconsidered himself \" across the Rocky mountains \" when\nhe had passed this dividing line. \" Here, hail Oregon 1'\nreads an old itinerary of the Oregon Trail when South Pass\nis reached. It mattered little that the greater part of his\njourney still lay before him, with mountains to cross more\ndifficult than any yet encountered; to him it seemed that his\nlabors were nearly over when he saw the first tiny rivulet\nflowing to the very country whither he was bound.\nThe Divide is an extremely sinuous line, whose position\nmay best be understood by consulting the map. Its general direction in passing from the Canadian to the Mexican\nborder is a little east of south, crossing the northern boun-\n MOUNTAIN PASSES.\n727\ndary in the northwestern corner of Montana and the southern in the southwestern corner of New Mexico. Its total\nlength is about 2,000 miles in passing through a little less\nthan sixteen degrees of latitude. On the eastern slope the\nMississippi system drains about 1,450 miles of this distance,\nand the Rio Grande the remainder, while on the western\nslope the Columbia drains about 730 miles and the Colorado\nsystem 1,270 miles.\nIt might quite naturally be supposed that the geological\nevolution of a continent would have left this height of land\nupon the summits of the more prominent ranges; and this\nis the case along a portion of the Bitter Root range between\nMontana and Idaho, the Wind River mountains in Wyoming and several of the lofty ranges in the state of Colorado.\nGenerally, however, it lies on lower ground. In the vicinity of Yellowstone Lake, for example, it is but a little higher\nthan the lake surface, and in central Wyoming it extends for\nmany miles over a desert plateau of comparatively low altitude where the streams sink into the ground and never reach\nthe true drainage of either ocean.\nAs the Divide is not generally on the crests of high mountains, passes over it are rarely difficult. The only characteristic passes are Union and Two-gwo-tee at the head of\nWind river, a few over the range between Montana and\nIdaho, and several within the limits of the state of Colorado.\nIn other places they are generally low and practicable, while\nin some sections, as in central Wyoming and northern New\nMexico, the Divide can be crossed almost anywhere without discovering its actual location. The most celebrated\ncrossing, the well-known South Pass, which holds so prominent a place in the early history of the West, scarcely deserves the name of a mountain pass. It is barely 7,500 feet\nhigh, and is situated in an open valley of gentle slopes in\neither direction, with little to mark it as a crossing of the\nmain chain of the Rocky mountains. But as a gateway between the Atlantic slope and the Pacific, it became the most\nnoted pass in the mountains.\ns^\n_A_\n 7\n28\nTHE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.\n17\nIt is a noteworthy fact that a natural geographical line\nof so great interest as the Continental Divide should have\nbeen so little utilized in establishing the boundaries of modern political divisions. It forms a state boundary in only\none place and that is for about one hundred miles between\nMontana and Idaho. During the period of the fur trade,\nhowever, it was the eastern boundary of the disputed territory -of Oregon all the way from the Spanish to the Russian possessions.\nIt was the Continental Divide and the ranges in the immediate vicinity which were known to the traders and trappers\nag-the Rocky mountains. That name has now, however,\nno particular habitat and can scarcely be found upon any\nmodern large scale map, where every separate range has its\nown local name. The term has come to mean, in the popular\nmind, the mountains between the Mississippi and the Pacific,\njust as \" the Alleghenies' applies in a general way to the\nmountains between that stream and the Atlantic. The name\nitself is not a happy choice, for it might apply with equal\npropriety to any range of mountains in the world. It came\ninto general use only in the present century. Early writers\nrefer to these mountains as the Missouri, Mexican, Shining,\nSnowy, and Stony mountains, until finally from the French\nMontagnes Rocheuses came the modern name. The general\nsystem was also at one time referred to by geographers as\nthe great Chippewyan system, and it would have been well\nif this name had survived, as the name Appalachian has in\nthe East.\nThe physical aspect of the Rocky mountains is altogether\ncharacteristic. The traveler who passes hurriedly through\nthem on the modern railroad is liable to contrast unfavorably\ntheir grey color, severe outlines and barren slopes with the\nverdure-clad hillsides of the Eastern states. Not so he,\nwho, like the ancient trapper, frequents their unaccustomed\nhaunts, comes in close contact with their wild and picturesque details, and observes their varying moods with the\nchanges of each day and of the seasons of the year. This\n111\n PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS.\n729\nmore intimate acquaintance discloses a wealth of beauty\nwhich the uniform green of the Eastern mountains does not\npossess, and it is said by reputable painters of natural scenery, that no mountains in the world, not even the Alps,\nafford scenes so satisfactory to the art as those of the Rocky\nmountains.\nThe general appearance of the mountains is of a greyish\ncolor where vegetation is scarce. This results not only from\nthe exposed areas of rock in situ, but from the disintegrated\nrock which covers the mountains in many places with a sterile soil. The reddish color of iron oxide is widely present,\nparticularly in the smaller hills of the Bad Lands, while\nyellow and other colors are of frequent occurrence.\nThe greater number of the northern mountains have extensive grassy slopes; whose broad areas, inclined upward\nas on a mighty easel, and spread out in rolling stretches with\ngentle depressions between them, look like beautiful carpets\nof green or brown, according to the season, softened by the\nmellow haze of distance and burnished by the crimson rays\nof the morning and evening sun. At the higher elevations,\nfrom five to ten thousand feet, forests of pine, fir and similar\ntrees abound extensively and cover the mountains with a\nmantle of dark green or black. At frequent intervals\nthroughout these forests are open spaces, filled with luxuriant grass, forming parks of faultless beauty amid the somber solitudes of the surrounding woods. Everywhere in\nthese wild and sublime situations occur the always pleasing groves of the quaking aspen, a grateful relief either\nfrom the gloomy view of extensive forests or the uniform\nprospect of grass-covered slopes. Taken together, these\nvaried arrangements of nature present an artistic appearance that reminds one of the cultivated sections in the mountain regions of Europe where man has contributed so much\nto enhance the beauty of nature.\nThe scenery of these mountains, moreover, is subject to\ncontinual and interesting change. Scarcely have the bleak\nstorms of winter subsided, and while yet deep fields of\ng-isJlL^J\nmmwrn^\n 73\u00C2\u00B0\nAUTUMNAL COLORING.\nsnow lie upon the upper slopes, the soft blossoms of spring\nshoot eagerly from the scanty soil and oppose the gentle\nwarmth of their blooms to the chill snow which is slowly\nreceding before them. So profuse and beautiful are the\nflowers in these lofty regions that one would doubt if any\nother season could rival the springtime in beauty. But in\ntruth the somber season of autumn is the most attractive of\nall. The early frosts cover the mountain sides with the\nmost varied and gorgeous colors. The .quaking aspen,\nwhich before was simply a mass of green upon the mountain side, now stands forth with tenfold greater distinctness\nin its rich autumnal foliage. The low growth of underbrush, Which scarcely attracts the eye at other seasons, takes\non a livelier hue, transforming whole mountain sides into\nfields of pleasing colors. Even upon those inaccessible and\napparently barren slopes, where the eye had not before detected any sign of vegetable life, may now be seen spots of\ncrimson and gold, as if nature had scattered here and there\nrich bouquets of flowers and bunches of fruit.\nIt is not upon the surface of the earth alone that are to\nbe seen the grandeur and beauty of these regions. Even\nthe wild mountain storms which are frequent at certain\nseasons have an attraction peculiarly their own, and all the\nmore remarkable by the very contrasts which they produce.\nIf, in passing, they display on a terrible scale the power of\nthe elements, on the other hand, they leave behind them, in\nthe sun-gilded clouds among the mountain tops, the most\npeaceful and pleasing pictures which nature anywhere\naffords.\nAgain, in the long rainless season, the atmosphere, like\nthe painter's brush, tints the hills, in ever-varying intensity,\nwith the purple and blue of distance. For this is pre-eminently a land of cloudless skies. The risings and settings\nof the sun are on a scale of sublime magnificence, while the\nmoon rides among the mountain peaks with a serene splendor unknown in less favored climes.\nIt was among scenes like these that the mountaineer of\n LOVE OF MOUNTAIN LIFE.\n731\nearly days imbibed that strong love of wilderness life which\nmade him restive ever after under the restraints of civilization. That he looked at nature with an artist's eye, that he\nwas often conscious of the beauty of his surroundings, that\nhe ever paid much attention to these things, is scarcely probable. In his practical, hard-working life he doubtless often\nwished that there were no mountains, for they caused him\nmany a wide detour and many a weary climb. So little use\ndid he find for them that he gave very few of them names,\nand the mountain nomenclature of the West is mostly the\noutgrowth of a later period. Nevertheless he loved this\nrugged country and unconsciously yielded to those subtle\ninfluences which he made no attempt to analyze, but which\nbound him to wild nature with a force that he was unable to\nresist. The hardship of his life, the ever-present perils\nwhich environed him, the ties of kindred and home, none\nof these could extinguish the passion for mountain life\nwhen once he had tasted its pleasures.\nHaving taken this general view of the Rocky mountains\nas a whole, it will be of interest to notice more in detail some\nof the important local ranges. Directly beneath our assumed point of observation lies the most noted historic summit of the West, the culminating peak of the Teton range.\nIn early times this range was more commonly known as the\nThree Tetons (Les Trois Tetons), because from certain\npoints, particularly from the west, three peaks stood out\nprominently above all the others. The range covers a comparatively small area, perhaps sixty miles long by ten to\ntwenty broad, the notable part of it scarcely exceeding\ntwenty miles in length. The Tetons are a prominent exception among the mountains of the surrounding country in\nthat they rise in bold relief directly from the valleys around\nthem. In general the mountains are so hemmed in by successive terraces of foothills that their true altitude can not\nbe grasped by the eye; but the Grand Teton rises in sheer\nrelief above the surface of Jackson Lake almost a mile and a\nhalf. The altitude of this peak is nearly thirteen thousand\nOBHM)\n\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\u00C2\u00BB\u00C2\u00BB\"\"r\"\n 732\nTHE GRAND TETON.\neight hundred feet, being the highest mountain of the central region north of Colorado, unless it be Fremont Peak\nin the Wind River mountains, which is of almost exactly\nthe same altitude.1\nIt is not alone its great altitude that has made the Grand\nTeton so famous in frontier history. The topography of\nthe surrounding country is such that its summit is visible at\na great distance in almost every direction, while its appearance from wherever seen is striking and unmistakable.\nFrom Union Pass, for example, sixty miles east, it looks like\na slender spire of pure outline piercing the sky, in appearance so remarkable that the beholder is forced to question\nwhether it can really pertain to any mountain. It was the\ngreat prominence of this peak and its ease of identification\nfrom other mountains that made it so useful to the early\ntravelers. Far and wide it was the beacon of the trapper.\nFamiliar with its different aspects as seen from different directions, he could tell his position at once when his eye fell\nupon it.\nCould this ancient monument disclose the record of what\nhas transpired within its horizon, it would make known\nsome of the most interesting events in the annals of the fur\ntrade. For this was the paradise of the trapper. In every\ndirection meandered the streams along which he was wont to\npursue his trade, and near by were the valleys where the\nrival companies gathered in annual conclave to fight the\nbloodless battles of their business. There is scarcely an\nacre of open country in sight of it that has not been the\nscene of forgotten struggles with the implacable Blackfeet,\nwhile far and near, in unknown graves, lie many obscure\nwanderers of whose lonely fate no record survives.\nThe pass by which the Teton range is crossed connects\naThe Grand Teton is one of the most difficult mountains to climb of\nwhich there is any knowledge. To the present time (1901) it has been\nascended by white men only twice; by Messrs. N. P. Langford and\nJames Stevenson in 1872, and by Messrs. William Owen, Frank S.\nSpalding, John Shive, and Frank Peterson in 1898.\n ABSAROKA AND WIND RIVER RANGES.\n733\nthe valley of Jackson Hole on the east with Pierre's Hole\non the west. It is not a very high pass, but a singular one\nin its extremely narrow and ridge-like character. The approach from either direction is excessively steep and the\ntraveler scarcely reaches the top from one side before he begins the descent on the other. The pass was extensively\nused in early fur trade days, and it is still the only practicable\nconnection between the two valleys.\nAs our observer, from his aerial vantage ground, looks\nto the eastward beyond the Continental Divide, range upon\nrange of lofty mountains greets his eye almost to the limit\nof the horizon. In the near foreground is a rugged chain of\nmountains, known in modern geography by the name Ab-\nsaroka,2 which fills almost the entire space between the Yellowstone and its principal tributary, the Bighorn river. It\nis one of the most compact mountain masses upon the continent, with fully a hundred peaks towering above the timber line, and it comes as near to being an impassable barrier\nas can be found in the Rocky mountains.\nTo the southwest the Absarokas merge into the Wind\nRiver mountains,3 one of the most famous ranges of the\nwest. Viewed from whatever point, these mountains present a sublime and imposing spectacle. From the valley of\nGreen river, that favorite summer meeting-ground of the\ntrappers and traders, they appear like a solid rampart to the\neastward, with Fremont Peak (13,790 feet) the commanding summit; while from across the valley of Wind river, on\nthe other side of the range, they bound the southwestern\nhorizon with a wavy line so lofty as scarcely to seem to rest\n* This name as here applied is of recent date and is intended to commemorate the tribe of Indians (Absaroka, or Crows) who dwelt in the\nvalley of the Bighorn river to the eastward of these mountains.\n1 This name more probably arose from the prevalence of southwest\nwinds on the summits of these mountains than from any characteristic\nof the valley itself, as the name might imply. Union Pass, near the\nhead of Wind river, is one of the windiest places in the world, and\nthe trees and other vegetation are so bent over by the constant blast that\nin many instances they stand more nearly horizontal than vertical.\n 734\nTHE BIGHORN MOUNTAINS.\nupon the earth. Immense snowfields lie upon these dizzy\nheights throughout the summer, and feed the innumerable\nlakes and streams which unite to form the rivers on either\nside.\nThis mighty barrier lay directly in the route of travel between the valleys of the Yellowstone and Bighorn rivers on\nthe northeast and those of Green river, Salt Lake and Snake\nriver on the southwest and west. As a consequence, travelers had to fiend out of their course and cross the mountains\nby the head of Wind river to the north, or in the other\ndirection by South Pass at the head of the Sweetwater.\nThe Wind River mountains are celebrated in fur trade\nhistory and in native lore. The Indians clothed them with\nsuperstitious legends, as they always do any locality whose\nsecret places they are unable to explore, while the scarcely\nless ignorant trapper felt a wholesome awe of their weird\nand gloomy retreats.\nBeyond the valley of the Bighorn river, which lies at the\neastern base of the Absarokas, rises the extensive range of\nthe Bighorn mountains.4 It is a typical example of detached\nmountain masses in the Far West. Extending north and\nsouth for one hundred and fifty miles between the Bighorn\nand Powder rivers, it forms a compact barrier through\nwhich there are but few practicable passes. The range\nabounds in fine scenery and is the home of a great number\nof lakes of Alpine beauty. Several of the peaks attain great\naltitude, the highest, Cloud Peak, being 13,300 feet high.\nThis was likewise a range with which the trapper always had\nto reckon, for it lay directly in his route from the trapping\ngrounds of the Bighorn to those of Powder river.\nFar to the eastward of the Bighorn mountains, across a\ndreary waste of reddish hills and broken, uninviting country,\nthe observer may descry the dark and shaggy eminences of\nthe Black Hills, the extreme eastern outlier of the Rocky\n* This name is of course derived from the animal of the same name,\nOvis Montana, which formerly abounded in this region, and is still\noccasionally seen there.\n|S #[\n THE BLACK HILLS.\n735\nmountains. The dense forests of pine and stunted, wind-\ntorn cedars gave to these hills, when seen from a distance,\nthe dark appearance from which is derived their name.\nLike most of the other early names of the Northwest, this\none was first used by the French. Long before any American had visited these parts, Les Cotes Noires were well\nknown to the Creole trader and voyageur. The name is now\nrestricted to the mass of mountains enclosed by the two\nforks of the Cheyenne river, in the modern states of Wyoming and South Dakota, but it had a far broader application\nin the early times.\nThe Black Hills, though not to be compared as mountains\nwith those farther west, were nevertheless a notable and\nimportant range. Harney Peak, the commanding summit,\nis 7>368 feet high. The scenery of the hills is, in many\nplaces, grand and sublime, and certain localities, like that of\nSylvan lake and the Spearfish canon, bear high comparison\nwith the finest scenery on the continent. The abundance\nand variety of floral growth add an element of beauty which\nis one of the chief attractions.\nThese mountains were famous in Indian lore, and many\nwere the legends concerning their mysterious labyrinths, and\nthe dangers and terrors concealed within them. No other\nmountains in the entire West surpassed them in this regard.\nAt the same time they were a great resource to the surrounding tribes, who made annual excursions thither in quest of\nwood for the various uses of their manner of life.\nTo the trapper, the Black Hills were the best known, as\nthey were the nearest, mountains that he was wont to frequent. They were rich in the commercial products which\nwere the objects of his pursuit, and his operations embraced\nthe entire region.\nExtending southwesterly from the Black Hills of Dakota,\nsoutherly from the Bighorn range, and southeasterly from\nthe Wind River mountains, are many detached spurs and\nisolated peaks which merge together in the region along\nthe upper North Platte and the Laramie rivers, and extend\nm\n 736\nTHE MOUNTAINS OF COLORADO.\nthence southerly to the high mountains of Colorado. These\nranges are now known under a variety of local names, but in\nthe fur trade period they were collectively a part of the\nBlack Hills. Probably the most noted summit in those scattered groups is Laramie Peak, nearly fifty miles west of old\nFort Laramie, and one of the best known landmarks of\nthis region.\nThe territory embraced within the modern political divisions of Colorado and northern New Mexico is a typical\nmountain region. It is here that the Rocky mountains\nappear in all their grandeur \u00E2\u0080\u0094 massive, lofty and sublime.\nThe principal peaks are nearly all over 14,000 feet high. In\nmarked contrast with other portions of the West, where\nthe approach to the main ranges is through a long\nsuccession of foothills, extending perhaps hundreds of\nmiles, the mountains of central Colorado rise at once in full\nmagnitude directly from the prairies. This is notably true\nof the Front and Rampart ranges, which face the plains to\nthe north and south of Denver. As seen from far out on\nthe prairies they appear like a mighty wall of corrugated\noutline, projected against the western sky, while from the\nmountains themselves the far-stretching savannas resemble\nthe unbroken vista of the ocean.\nTwo prominent peaks stand out from these ranges distinctly visible for a hundred miles to the eastward. They\nare Long's Peak in the Front range, and Pike's Peak at the\nsouthern extremity of the Rampart range. The former\npeak was named in 1820 for Major Stephen H. Long, whose\nexploring party discovered it. It is 14,271 feet high.\nPike's Peak is now the best known summit of the Rocky\nmountains, and holds a prominence with the traveling public\nwhich the Grand Teton formerly held with the trappers and\ntraders. Pike's Peak, though previously known to the\nSpaniards, was first seen by Americans, sd far as we positively know, in 1806, when it was visited, though not\nascended, by Lieutenant Z. M. Pike, of the United States\nArmy, whose name, after many vicissitudes and changes, it\n PIKE S PEAK.\n737\nnow bears. The Grand Teton was not discovered until a\nyear later, when it was probably seen by John Colter.\nPike's Peak is 14,147 feet high, or 347 feet higher than the\nTeton summit. Like the latter, it rises in sheer relief a mile\nand a half above the valley below. The summits of these\ntwo mountains are strikingly different, one being of rounded\noutline, and comparatively easy of access; the other a rocky\npinnacle, which it is almost impossible to climb.\nIn southern Colorado the Sangre de Cristo and Culebra\nranges are similarly situated to the Front and Rampart\nranges farther north, although they do not rise so directly\nfrom the eastern plains. At the southern extremity of the\nSangre de Cristo range is Blanca Peak (14,464 feet), dominating the valley of the upper Rio Grande, and the highest\nmountain in Colorado. A little to the eastward of the\nCulebra range rise the Spanish Peaks (12,720 feet), two\nprominent outlying summits which were noted landmarks\nduring the period of the Santa Fe trade and subsequent\nexploration.\nBack of the easternmost line of the Colorado mountains\na continuous succession of ranges extends to the western\nboundary of the state, so diversified in detail that it would be\nimpossible in the space here available to describe them. In\nthe central portion of the state they are of lofty and massive\nproportions, extending in every possible direction, and controlling the topography of the country. Farther west their\nappearance changes materially, assuming more the character of bad lands, though on a stupendous scale, and they are\nknown, from their peculiar forms, as mesas, book cliffs,\nbuttes, and the like.5\n6 Among the loftier peaks of central Colorado may be mentioned the\nMount of the Holy Cross, a name which dates from the fur trade\nperiod. Its modern application, however, is not the same as it was\nthen. It now belongs to a mountain some fifteen miles northwest of\nLeadville, Colorado\u00E2\u0080\u0094a noble peak 14,176 feet high\u00E2\u0080\u0094on the face of\nwhich there is a cross formed by the perpetual snows which gather\nin longitudinal and transverse chasms on the mountain side.\nAs noted by Farnham, 1839, the name applied to a conical hill about\n MOUNTAINS OF UTAH.\nThe mountain passes of Colorado are the most noted in\nthe Rocky mountains, now that South Pass has lost its\nformer prominence. The great development of this region,\nowing to the discovery of valuable mineral deposits, has\ngiven to the question of getting over the high ranges, an\nimportance which it did not possess during the fur trade\nera. Many new passes, never crossed by the trapper, have\nbeen found by the engineer, and these, as well as the old\nones, are>among the chief modern attractions in this home\nof mountain scenery.\nThe mountainous sections of Colorado were not frequented by the trapper to the same extent as were the regions\nfarther north. Possibly the very difficulty of traversing the\ncountry made it less desirable to operate in. It was, of\ncourse, well known, and its streams were worked for beaver,\nbut it did not compare in this respect with the region about\nthe sources of the Missouri, Columbia, and Green rivers.\nPassing from the broken and rugged terrain of Colorado\ninto the northeastern corner of Utah, a remarkably compact\nand imposing chain of mountains is encountered, to which\nthe name Uintah has been given. It extends almost due\neast and west for about a hundred miles, and forms such a\nsolid mass that very few practical crossings have been discovered in modern times. The culminating summit of the\nrange is Gilbert Peak, 13,687 feet high. These mountains\nlie directly athwart the course of Green river, which is forced\nto make a detour of about sixty miles to the eastward in\norder to get by them. The country round about was\neight hundred feet above the general level. The cross was formed by\ntwo transverse seams of what appeared to be crystallized quartz.\"\nThe upper end of the cross was \" about 100 feet below the summit.\"\n\" The upright was about 60 feet in length; the cross seam about 20\nfeet, thrown across the upright near its top.\" \" The trappers have\nreverently named this peak the Mountain of the Holy Cross.\"\nSingularly enough this mountain is not far distant from the modern\nHoly Cross Mountain. As near as can be determined from the imperfect description it was just north of the pass over the Continental\nDivide near Breckenridge, Colorado.\n MOUNTAINS OF MONTANA.\n739\nfamous trapping territory, as may be inferred from the fact\nthat nearly all of its many streams bear names that were\ngiven by the trapper.\nExtending north and south through the state of Utah, and\nfor a long distance forming the divide between the valleys\nof Green river and Great Salt Lake, is a prominent chain of\nmountains known by the name of Wasatch. Nearly east\nof the southern extremity of Great Salt Lake it forms a\njunction with the Uintah mountains. A little farther north\nit is broken by a deep rift, through which a railroad now\nfinds its way. Still farther north it rises again in a bold\nmass of mountains which occupies the interior of the horse\nshoe formed by the course of Bear river.\nThe entire region to the northward between the valleys\nof Green river on the east and Bear and Snake rivers on the\nwest is filled with mountain ranges, known under different\nnames, but forming part of a general system which extends\nfrom the Wasatch and Uintah mountains on the south to\nthe Teton and Wind River ranges on the north. These\nmountains abound in fine streams, which made them a\nfavorite resort of the trapper. The great highway across\nthem in the early days was that now followed by the Oregon Short Line railroad.\nExtending from the region of the Yellowstone National\nPark along; what is now the boundary line between Montana\nand Idaho is a long and almost continuous range of mountains which makes a broad sweep from the west to the north,\nand finally leaves the territory of the United States in northwestern Washington. The southern portion of this range\nto about latitude forty-six degrees is still known on some\nmaps by the name Rocky mountains. North of this point\nit bears the name Bitter Root as far as it forms the state\nboundary. It then takes the name of Cceur d'Alene, and\nextends in a northwest direction across the narrow strip of\nnorthern Idaho and the northeast corner of Washington into\nthe British possessions. The southern portion of this\nrange, as above described, lies on the Continental Divide,\n 74Q\nTHE BLUE MOUNTAINS.\nbut this line leaves it just north of latitude forty-six, swings\neastward to the near vicinity of Helena, Montana, and then\nextends north to the boundary.\nThe whole of western Montana is very mountainous, and\nthe name of the state was well chosen. The mountains\nextend far eastward to the center of the state in smaller\ndetached ranges, such as the Judith, Belt, Little Rocky, and\nBear Paw mountains. In that section immediately north of\nthe National Park, they assume a massive and lofty character, which denotes their close connection with the Absaroka\nrange already described.\nThe entire country among these mountains was a fruitful\none to the trapper, and was frequented as much as any in\nthe West. The ranges had numerous and easy passes, and\nwere not, except in the few places already noted, formidable\nobstacles to travel. Several of the most important Indian\ntribes made their home in the country round about. The\nregion was therefore one of great activity in the days of the\nfur trade, although it was mainly exploited by British companies in that portion which lay on the Pacific slope.\nWest of the Bitter Root mountains in central Idaho the\ncountry is excessively broken by ranges of mountains that\nseparate the eastern tributaries of Snake river. The Salmon\nriver and Clearwater mountains are the most important.\nThey extend across the state westwardly to and beyond\nSnake river, which has cut its way through them in one of\nthe most imposing canons in the world. To the west of\nSnake river these mountains continue into Oregon, where\nthe range extends first southwest and then west well toward\nthe center of the state. They are here known as the Blue\nmountains> and are particularly noted in fur trade history as\nthe difficult barrier that lay between the Columbia river and\nthe upper course of the Snake. The topography of the\ncountry was such that all travel between these rivers, the\nSnake and the Columbia, was compelled to traverse this\nrange. The same necessity exists today and the railroad\nnow follows essentially what was once the Oregon Trail.\n THE SIERRA NEVADAS.\n741\nSouthwardly from the Salmon river and Blue mountains,\nthrough southern Idaho and Oregon, western Utah and\neastern Nevada, even to the borders of California and Arizona, was a region which, though not mountainous in the\nsense of those just described, contained many broken and\ndetached ranges, isolated peaks and buttes, and singular\nirregularities of ground which fall under none of the usual\ndesignations. These eminences are not generally of great\naltitude, but owing to the surrounding topography are often\nvisible at immense distances and therefore serve as important\nlandmarks. The Three Buttes of the Snake river plain are\nconspicuous examples.\nThere remains to be considered that extensive mountain\nsystem which lies parallel to the Pacific coast and forms the\nfinal barrier between the Mississippi valley and those of California and Oregon. In its southern portion it is known as\nthe Sierra Nevada, and farther north as the Cascade range.\nThe Sierra Nevada is probably the most extensive and\nmassive array of mountains in the United States, if not in\nNorth America. Its lofty peaks, its successive ranges,\nwhich give great depth to the system, its never-melting\nsnow fields and its deep and gloomy canons have made it\na most formidable barrier to travel, which even at this day\nis crossed in but few places. The principal mass of these\nmountains extends upwards of two hundred miles parallel\nto the San Joaquin valley of California. In this portion of\nits course are found its loftiest peaks, reaching to an altitude\nof nearly 15,000 feet. In the western foothills is the marvelous canon of Yosemite, and near by a grove of those\ngigantic redwood trees which are one of the wonders of\nnature.\nThe Sierra Nevadas break down somewhat in northern\nCalifornia, and merge for a short distance with the Coast\nrange, which lies close to the ocean. Klamath and Pitt\nrivers here find their way through the range from the eastern\nside to the Pacific. North of the Klamath the name Cascade begins, and continues to the British boundary. The\ni'\nM\n 742\nLOFTY MOUNTAIN PEAKS.\nin\n[ i\nprincipal gap through the Cascades is where the Columbia\nriver makes its way to the ocean, although there are other\npracticable openings both north and south.\nThe Sierra Nevada and the Cascade ranges abound in\nnoble peaks, including some of the loftiest in the country.\nOwing to their proximity to the coast, and the low altitude\nof the valleys to the westward, their elevation is more apparent than in other sections of the mountains. The three most\nnotable peaks are situated respectively at the southern, central, and northern portions of the range. ; Mt. Whitney, in\nsouthern California, is the highest peak in the United States,\nwith an elevation of 14,898 feet. In the space between the\nSierra Nevada and Cascade ranges is Mt. Shasta, 14,350\nfeet, one of the best known mountains of the West. Mt.\nRainier, north of the Columbia river in Washington, has\nan altitude of 14,444 feet, and is plainly visible from sea\nlevel on Puget Sound. It is one of the few mountains in\nthe world which stands out in full relief, and it affords perhaps the most perfect example of a single mountain peak to\nbe met with in nature.\nThe mountain ranges last considered were not of great\nimportance in the American fur trade, because in only three\nor four instances did the operations of the American companies reach so far. The streams of the Cascade range,\nhowever, were thoroughly exploited by the Hudson Bay\nCompany, and were as rich a field as the West afforded.\nThe expeditions of the Astorians and of Nathaniel J. Wyeth\nto the Columbia, and of J. S. Smith and I. R. Walker to\nCalifornia, were the only instances in which Americans ever\nseriously attempted to develop the fur trade of these mountains.\nN^l_\n CHAPTER II.\nVALLEYS AND PLAINS.\nThe typical mountain valley \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Valleys along the Three Forks \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The\nGallatin valley \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Valley of the Three Forks \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Great Bend of the Yellowstone\u00E2\u0080\u0094 Gardner's Hole \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Jackson Hole \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Jackson's Little Hole \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nPierre's Hole \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Upper Green river valley \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Brown's Hole \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Ogden's\nHole \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Cache valley \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The Grande Ronde \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Old and New Parks and\nBayou Salade \u00E2\u0080\u0094 San Luis valley \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The Plains \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Change in the country\nwestward from the Missouri \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The Bad Lands \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The \" Great American Desert\" \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Prairie roads \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Storms of the prairies \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Prairie fires \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nThe mirage \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The plains not a trapping country.\n^T'HE \" holes' of the mountains, as they were called by\n^\u00E2\u0096\u00A0^ the trappers, were of paramount importance in the\nbusiness of the fur trade, as indeed they have been in all\nenterprises which man has carried on among the mountainous regions of the earth. Nothing in nature is more beautiful than a typical valley in the Rocky mountains. Around\nit tower the eternal hills, like faithful sentinels, to guard and\nprotect it. Perennial streams of crystal water, fresh from\nthe pure snows on the mountain sides, flow down from every\ndirection into the plains below. Converging lines of foliage\nmark the courses of these streams as they mingle one with\nanother, until all are united in a broad ribbon of verdure,\nwhich meanders across the valley and finally leaves it\nthrough some opening in the surrounding hills. Scattered\nhere and there are groves of the quaking aspen, but generally\nthe lowlands are covered with nutritious grasses, which enjoy here a more healthy and luxuriant growth than in the\narid tracts below the mountains. The flowers of spring\nlikewise bloom in greater profusion and with more exquisite\ncolors than where nature has deprived them of the moisture\nwhich they require.\nil\nt-,i\n^.v^s>^*?i.\n THE GALLATIN VALLEY.\nThese mountain valleys must be distinguished on the one\nhand from extensive basins, like that of the Bighorn river,\nwhich comprise a great variety of topography, and on the\nother, from those contracted openings through the mountains which fall more properly under the designation of\ncanons. The open valleys here considered were in the nature\nof parks, grateful oases in the waste of rugged country,\nwhere the wild game loved to gather and the mountaineer\nfound rest from his prodigious labors. In these charming\nretreats he was wont to pitch his camp, where there were\nwater and grass for his stock, wood for his fire, shelter from\nthe tempest, and convenience to the objects of his pursuit.\nWhat he did not find here, unfortunately, was protection\nfrom savage foes, who, like their pale face brethren, loved\nthe valleys and made them their home.\nThere were hundreds of these valleys in the Rocky mountains, but it will here be possible to refer only to a few of\nthe more important. Each of the three forks of the Missouri had its parks or basins. The beautiful valley of upper\nRed Rock creek, the source of Jefferson Fork, known in\nrecent years as Centennial valley, was a much frequented\nspot in early times. Near the sources of the Madison there\nwere also numerous parks, which are still without distinctive names; but which were familiar resorts to the hunters\nand trappers. All of these valleys were connected by easy\npasses over the Continental Divide with the equally important basin of Henry Lake, one of the ultimate sources of the\nColumbia.\nAlong the lower course of the Gallatin and its principal\ntributary, the East Fork, is one of the most extensive and\nbeautiful mountain valleys in the West. It is the vacant bed\nof an ancient lake, surrounded by a cordon of mountains\nwhich are flecked here and there with patches of snow and\nare clothed in the varying hues of the atmosphere, dependent upon their distance from the beholder. The valley is\nupwards of thirty miles long, with a remarkably even to-\n THE VALLEY OF THE THREE FORKS.\n745\npography and a bountiful supply of water from the Gallatin\nand its various tributaries. It was the scene of great activity during the entire period of the fur trade and yielded\nuntold wealth to the coffers of the traders.\nThe immediate valley where the Three Forks unite to\nform the Missouri is of very limited area, but was of great\nimportance in the early days. A glance at the map will\nshow its strategic and commercial relation to the surrounding country. A short distance to the eastward lay the valley\nof the Yellowstone, while to the south, by easy passes over\nthe Divide, access was had to the Snake - river valley\nand the region beyond. North and west lay an\nextensive country prolific in the fruits of the chase.\nThe Three Forks themselves and their numerous tributaries\nwere the best trapping ground on the continent. All of\nthese considerations appealed strongly to the early traders,\nand very soon after the return of Lewis and Clark, in 1806,\nattempts were made to found a trading post there. These\nefforts, though more than once repeated, always failed on\naccount of the hostility of the Blackfeet Indians; and a sort\nof fatality has hung over the spot even to the present day.\nIn recent years, the government went to the upper end of\nthe East Gallatin valley to found a military post, where has\nalso arisen the principal town in this part of the country.\nThe ground around the Three Forks has been staked out\ninto streets and blocks of a city yet to be, but not a house\nstands upon the spot. It is a singular fact, and is accounted for by some, on the ground that the valley was the immemorial fighting ground of hostile tribes, while the soil\nwas sterile on account of the alkali washed down from the\nhigher sections. Be this as it may, it seems as if nature had\nordained that this meeting place of the sources of the\nworld's longest river should remain unchanged by the hand\nof man.\nThe Great Bend of the Yellowstone, where Livingston,\nMontana, now stands, was a picturesque spot hemmed in\nby lofty hills, and a convenient point to the trappers, who\n1\nI\n JACKSON HOLE.\noften passed their winters there. In ascending the Yellowstone from the Great Bend to its source, a series of canons\nis passed between which the valley spreads out into open\nparks, where the bottom lands and hillsides are carpeted, like\nthe green hills of France, with meadows so uniform and\nlawn-like as scarcely to seem the product of unaided nature.\nIn an open valley of most attractive surroundings on one\nof the upper tributaries of the Yellowstone, a free trapper,\nJohnson Gardner, plied his trade as far back as 1830, and\ngave the river and valley his name. \" Gardner's Hole \" was\nthe uncouth name of this beautiful spot which every tourist\nnow sees as he enters the Yellowstone National Park.\nSouth of this government reservation lies one of the\nmost celebrated of all the mountain valleys, still known by\nthe name first given it, Jackson Hole.1 The name embraces the whole valley along the eastern base of the Tetons\nfrom the north shore of Jackson Lake to the mouth of the\nLittle Grosventre river, a distance of upward of forty\nmiles.\nA most striking feature of this wonderful valley is its\nextremely flat topography, surrounded as it is by some of\nthe most rugged mountains on the continent. Its beauty\nis greatly enhanced by the presence of several lakes which\nlie immediately at the base of the Teton range, and in whose\nplacid surfaces these mountains stand reflected as from the\nmost perfect mirror. The landscape thus formed has been\nthe despair of painters of natural scenery since the valley\nbecame frequented by students of nature. Neither pen nor\npencil, nor the modern perfection of the photographic art.\ncan reproduce its marvelous beauty.\nWhatever the trapper may have thought of the scenic attraction of this valley, he certainly loved the spot, and it was\nalways one of his favorite haunts. It was a most convenient base of operations. From north to south through it\nflowed the Snake river, with its sources mainly in the Yel-\n1 Named for David Jackson, of the firm of Smith, Jackson and Sublette, who did business in this region from 1826 to 1830. (Ferris.)\n PIERRE S HOLE.\n747\nlow stone Park farther to the north. Three large tributaries\njoined the main stream in this vicinity and all were full of\nbeaver when the trapper first visited them. Jackson Hole\nwas thus a point from which small trapping parties could\nexplore the many branches of these larger streams and to\nwhich they could return with the fruits of their labors. It\nwas probably also safer from Indian incursions than were\nother valleys less difficult of access. There was no easy way\nto get into it, and from most directions it was then, and is\nstill, exceedingly difficult to enter it at all.\nAnother valley which bore the name of Jackson was\nJackson's Little Hole. It was situated at the source of\nHoback river just across the Divide from Green river, and\nwas the first camping place after leaving Green river for\nJackson or Pierre's Hole.\nFrom Jackson Hole a trail led across Teton Pass to the\nscarcely less celebrated locality of Pierre's Hole.2 The Teton or Pierre river drains the western slope of the Teton\nmountains. It rises in Teton Pass, and flows slightly west\nof north for about thirty miles, when it turns due west and\nflows into Henry Fork of Snake river. It was that portion\nof the valley that lay along the northerly course of the\nstream to which the name Pierre's Hole applied. The open\nvalley is about twenty-five miles long, and five to fifteen\nbroad. On the right hand, looking down stream, rises the\nmighty wall of the Teton range, while on the left is the\nmuch less lofty range of the Snake River mountains.\nThrough the center of the valley wound the inevitable line\nof trees which showed where the waters from the mountains\nwere flowing, and many a tributary could be discovered\ncoming in from the highlands on either side. The valley\nis a most attractive one, and is now being rapidly filled up\nwith industrious settlers.\nPierre's Hole was a particularly favorite resort of the\ntrader. Several of the annual rendezvous were held here.\n2 il\nIt receives its name from an Iroquois chieftain, who first discovered\nit, and was killed in 1827 on the source of the Jefferson river.\" (Ferris.)\n BROWN S HOLE.\nand there are still in existence business papers of the Rocky\nMountain Fur Company which bear the date, | Pierre's\nHole, Under the Three Teton Mountains.\" The events of\nthe year 1832, which are narrated in detail elsewhere, would\nalone make the valley famous.\nAbout seventy miles southeast of Jackson's Hole was an\namphitheatre-shaped basin situated where Green river\nemerges from the Wind River mountains in a westerly direction and/^urns due south on its long journey to the Gulf of\nCalifornia. The valley was not so closely hemmed in by\nmountains as were those just described, but it was even more\nimportant to the fur trade. It was a favorite rendezvous\nfor many years, and witnessed some of the most notable\ngatherings of the Indians and traders that ever took place\nin the mountains.\nTwo hundred miles by the river channel below the locality just described, Green river flows for sixty miles in a\ndirection nearly due east along the northern base of the\nUintah range. Some twenty-five miles of this distance is\nthrough an open valley from five to six miles wide, hemmed\nin by the mountains in the most effectual manner. The river\nenters and leaves it through dismal, deep, and impassable\ncanons, and take it all in all, it is little else than a solitary\nmountain prison, surrounded with the grandest scenes of\nnature, but cut off entirely from the outside world. This\nwas the famous Brown's Hole 3 of the trappers, known in\nmodern geography by the more pleasing name of Brown\nPark. In the later years of the fur trade the valley was\nmuch frequented by the trappers, who even maintained at\none time an inferior trading post there.\nNear the northeastern shore of the Great Salt Lake there\nwas a deep recess in the range of lofty mountains to the east,\nknown in early times as Ogden's Hole, where now the city\nof Ogden, Utah, stands. It was a sheltered cove of striking form and beauty, and no doubt was frequented by the\nThis name is understood to have been given for the trader who\nfirst did business in the valley.\n CACHE VALLEY.\n749\nretainers of that noted trader whose name it now bears.4\nThe most important valley near Great Salt Lake, however,\nwas that traversed by Bear river in northern Utah and southern Idaho. It was an extensive valley, bounded on the east\nby a noble range of mountains, and on the west by smaller\nhills, where all the conditions were to be found that made a\ndesirable stamping ground for the trapper. Today it is the\nhome of a busy population, with ten or more thriving villages all in sight at once. It is still known by its original\nname of Cache Valley, which arose from sortie unrecorded\ncircumstance, possibly from the cache of beaver furs belonging to Peter Skeen Ogden which shadowy tradition says was\n1 lifted \" by General Ashley, to the latter's great financial\nadvancement.5\nA little valley which deserves a passing notice lies in the\neastern flank of the Blue mountains in Oregon, directly on\nthe line of the old Oregon Trail. It was named by the\nFrench, from its form, Grande Ronde, and was a well-\nknown camping and resting place on the Trail.\nThe principal open valleys in the Colorado mountains\nare those now known as the North, Middle and South Parks,\nbut which the trappers knew as the New and Old Parks and\nthe Bayou Salade.6 In them the North Platte, Grand and\n* Peter Skeen Ogden, a leading spirit of the Hudson Bay Company in the decade between 1820 and 1830.\n5 See Part IL, Chapter XVI.\nA. W. Ferris, in Life in the Rocky Mountains, says that the valley\nwas named from the circumstance that there an employe of Smith,\nJackson and Sublette, while engaged with others in building a cache in\nthe side of a bank, was killed by the bank caving in. \" His companions,\" says Ferris, \" believed him to have been instantly killed, knew\nhim to be well buried, and therefore left him.\" It is quite possible that\nthe writer was somewhat mixed as to the locality of this accident. An\nexactly similar mishap occurred in the Wind river valley in 1830.\ns Where the names New and Old, as applied to the North and Middle\nParks, came from, I do not know. Sage says that the modern North\nPark was not at first as much frequented by hunters as was the Middle\nPark, and as a result game increased in it at the expense of its southern\nneighbor. When the hunters began to be drawn to it extensively they\n MOUNTAIN PARKS OF COLORADO.\nSouth Platte rivers respectively find their sources. They\nare typical mountain valleys, although considerably larger\nthan those just described. They were great resorts for the\ntrappers, and the Bayou Salade in particular was a favorite\nretreat for both the white man and the Indian.\nOn the upper course of the Rio Grande there were two\nnotable valleys, known by the names of Taos and San Luis.\nTaos was the northernmost of the Spanish settlements in\nNew Mexico and was a famous place in the annals of the\nfur trade. The San Luis valley, as an opening among\nrugged mountains, is one of the most striking in the entire\nWest. Surrounded by lofty peaks, among which is the dominating summit of'Sierra Blanca in the Sangre de Cristo\nrange, it is itself as smooth and even as the flattest prairie \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nso uniform in surface that the railroads which radiate from\nAlamosa in the center of the valley extend in almost\nstraight lines for a distance of from twenty-five to fifty miles.\nThe trappers who plied their calling in these valleys and the\ncountry to the westward were mostly connected with the\nSanta Fe trade and brought their furs either to Santa Fe or\nTaos for sale or shipment to the United States.\nSuch are a few typical mountain valleys among the hundreds that were known to the trapper. His claim upon them\nhas long since been transferred to a more civilized posterity,\nwho have utilized the streams where he once trapped for\nbeaver to extract from the soil a less precarious livelihood\nthan they ever yielded to him. Their beauty and grandeur\nremain and their utility has been increased, but the romance\ncalled it the New Park in distinction from that with which they had\nbeen longer acquainted. New or North Park was also called the Bull\nPen by the trappers.\nThe word bayou in the early French usage in this country meant a\nslack water slough connected with some larger stream. \" In township\n12 South Range 76 West, on the south Fork of S. Platte river in South\nPark, Colo., are two saline lakes and a salt creek. It was anciently a\ngreat resort for buffalo and was given the name Bayou Salade by the\ntrappers.\" (Berthoud.)\n fi\nTHE PLAINS.\n751\nR\nof their early occupation by white men has permanently\npassed away.\nWhat was included in the term \" plains,\" as used in frontier history, it would be difficult to say. \" Across the\nplains' generally meant from the Missouri river to one's\ndestination, whether across the prairies of Kansas, the staked\nplains of Texas, the sand hills of Nebraska, the Bad Lands of\nDakota, the sage brush tracts scattered everywhere throughout the West, the lava wastes of Idaho, or the alkali deserts of Utah, Nevada, and California. The term \" prairies,\"\nin popular use, referred more specifically to the region between the Missouri river and the foothills of the mountains,\nthose broad and treeless areas, often rolling and diversified,\nyet as often flat as the level sea, lying in part within the\nregion of rains and luxuriant vegetation, and in part in the\narid zone beyond.\nTo convey an idea of the external aspect of the country\nwhich the trader and trapper passed over and lived in while\nabsent from the frontiers, it will be expedient to follow them\nin a journey from the Missouri to the heart of the mountains and note those features which especially appealed to\nthem in the line of their particular business.\nFor one hundred and fifty miles out from Independence,\nor say to the 98th meridian, the traveler was in a country\nagriculturally rich. Here nature reveled in exuberant\ngrowth, for there were a bountiful soil, abundant rain, and\ndew in the morning, as in the most favored localities in the\nEast. All descriptions of the prairies in the early days\nabound in enthusiastic praise of this delightful region, and\nnearly all foresaw in it the home of populous communities\nyet to be. With little qualification this was true of the\ncountry north and south, within these limits of longitude, to\nthe boundaries of the United States. Although it lay mostly\nout of the timber belt, the soil was exceedingly fertile, and\nwhatever man might intelligently cultivate was bound to\nflourish there.\nBut as the traveler held on his way another one hundred\nII\nrl\n 752\nTHE PRAIRIES.\nand fifty miles, or say to the ioist meridian, a notable change\ncame over the face of the country. The rolling hills sank\ninto the even plains, as uniform and monotonous as the\nnaked ocean. Look in whatever direction he might, no\nundulation of the ground restricted the limit of vision, and it\nneeded only a passing sail to make the illusion complete.\nHe observed that the soil was less deep and rich, the (Tains\nevidently much less frequent, the water very scarce except in\nthe larger streams, the trees along the river less abundant*\nand vegetation generally less luxuriant, if not actually\ndwarfed and scanty. Before the western limit of this belt\nwas reached there began to appear infallible signs which\ndenoted proximity to the desert. Among them were the\nsage brush, the cactus, and the prairie dog, those singular\nproducts of the vegetable and animal worlds which seem to\nflourish only where nature is parched and dry. The soil\nalso began to show a white efflorescence denoting the presence of the dreaded alkali, which from here on would render\nmany of the streams and pools unfit for drink and would\nfill the air along the road with a suffocating dust.\nThe third belt of three degrees of longitude, extending\nto the 104th meridian, carried the traveler into the worst\nfeatures of the plains country. He found himself in the\nhilly region which betokened proximity to the mountains,\nwhose glistening crests he could already discern in the distance. Rock began to appear in the bluffs along the streams.\nIn some localities, as in the valley of the North Platte, the\nelements have carved these rocks into remarkable shapes to\nwhich the early traveler gave such names as Court House,\nChimney, and the like. Generally, however, the exposed\nrock has been mellowed down by the action of time into\ngentler slopes where vegetation finds a precarious foothold. I |\u00C2\u00A7lg \u00C2\u00A7|\u00C2\u00A7|t\nA curious and remarkable region in this zone is that comprising the sand hills of Nebraska. These rounded hills,\ncomposed of sand with a thin covering of turf, are often of\nconsiderable height, and are so like one another that it is\n THE BAD LANDS.\n753\nimpossible to distinguish between them. Landmarks are\nwanting, and once off the trail one is almost certain to get\nconfused as to his bearings. Not even the dense and trackless forest is so easy a place to get lost in. These hills,\nthough useless for agriculture, afforded fair grazing for the\nbuffalo.\nFarther north in Dakota between the Black Hills and the\nMissouri is a tract of country where nature seems to have\noutdone herself to render her aspect hideous and forbidding. The whole country is cut up by gullies, or coulees,\nwhile the ancient surface of the ground is indicated here and\nthere by harder material, which has resisted the action of\ntime and stands aloft above the general level. The elements\nhave carved these hills into the most varied and fantastic\nshapes, sometimes like the domes and towers of a city, and\nagain unlike anything which art or nature has elsewhere\nproduced. In some of the hills or bluffs there is a distinct\nstratification, the appearance of which was confused by the\npaths of the mountain sheep in former times, as it is by\ndomestic sheep now. The soil has an oily, slippery consistency when wet which makes it impossible at such times to\nclamber up the steep slopes. On these barren, ashy hills no\nvegetation thrives, or in such lonesome, sickly forms as are\nfound only where life pines and languishes from the poverty of nature. Little animal life is seen except the snake\nand the lizard, unless indeed from some lofty pinnacle the\nstately bighorn surveys in solitary independence the scene\nof desolation around him.\nThese are the Bad Lands, the Mauvaises Terres of the\nFrench, and present the hopeless side of the Western country, a true picture of the Great American Desert. In one\nform or another the Bad Lands are found over a vast extent\nof country. The whole region between the Black Hills and\nthe Bighorn mountains, extending north to the Missouri,\ncontains tracts of this character. The valley of the Bighorn\nis full of bad lands. South of the Sweetwater river in Wyoming are extensive areas which differ essentially from the\nv\n 754\nTHE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT.\nm\nDakota bad lands, but surpass them, if possible, in general\nworthlessness. Here may be seen those soda lakes where\nthe alkali of the plains exhibits itself in a concentrated form,\nwhich has annihilated every form of life within it. In this\nstrange and uninviting region are extensive fossil remains,\nwhich indicate that in past geological time, conditions more\nfavorable to life prevailed here. The Pacific side of the\nmountains even outdoes the Atlantic slope in its desert\nappearance. The valley of Green river from its source to its\nmouth abounds in bad lands of one form or another In\nColorado and Utah the broken character of the country is on\na stupendous scale, cut up with impassable canons and\nwalled in in every direction by lofty and almost vertical\ncliffs. The vast lava plains of Snake river with their suffocating dust, the barren deserts of Utah and Nevada with\ntheir salt fields and waterless stream beds, and the lifeless\nwastes of southern California are a part of this scene of\nwidespread desolation. To the south the picture is equally\nuninviting. It would be difficult to say what proportion of\nthe immense region of New Mexico and Arizona is of this\nworthless character, but it is large enough. To the east of\nthe mountains the Cimarron desert, so often fatal to human\nlife from its lack of water, is a fair example of the evil conditions which geologic evolution has imposed upon this\ncountry.\nAs already observed, these desolate tracts present the\nhopeless side of the Western country and constitute in the\naggregate the Great American Desert. The early geographers were not wrong in placing such a desert on their maps,\nmuch as they have been ridiculed for doing so. Their error\nlay rather in its location and in their failure to note the\nmany important exceptions. While it was then true,\nand will so remain until geologic and climatic changes shall\nhave worked a revolution in this country, that west of the\n103rd meridian and east of the Sierra Nevadas there is not\na point from which one can not find within a radius of a\nhundred miles true desert conditions; still the country was\n ROADS ACROSS THE PLAINS.\n755\nnot all of this character. There were the thousand valleys\nthrough which coursed perennial streams destined to make\nthem rich with cultivated fields, and there were the mountains with their hidden treasures of wealth; while even the\ndesert tracts yielded a scanty pasturage which in the aggregate sustained countless multitudes of grazing animals.\nThese were very important exceptions to the rule of the\ndesert, and their existence has confounded nearly all the\nearly predictions.concerning the future of this country.\nHaving considered the general character of the country\nwhich the traveler had to pass through in crossing the\nI plains,\" it remains to notice some of their more striking\npeculiarities which had a practical bearing upon these overland journeys and upon the business for which they were\nundertaken. Except in the spring of the year the roads\nover the prairies were excellent, the fords practicable, and\ntraveling a comparatively easy matter. Not so in the season\nof rains, when the roads were converted into quagmires, the\nstreams were unfordable, and camping wretchedly uncomfortable. In general the outgoing expeditions of spring encountered great difficulties from high water both on the prairies and in the mountains; but on their return in the autumn\nthese obstacles had mostly disappeared. The drawbacks of\nspring travel were in some degree compensated by the balmy\nand invigorating air of that season, while the better conditions that prevailed later in the season lost some of their\nadvantage from the parched and dusty state of the country,\nwhich was hard both upon man and beast.\nThe storms of the prairies, whether in summer or winter,\nwere always characterized by great severity. The cyclonic\ncharacter of the summer storms has become well known since\nthe country has settled up. They were the same in the early\ndays, and many are the records of demolished camps, stampeded herds, drenched and damaged cargoes, when these terrific tempests have descended upon the solitary caravans of\nthe plains. In winter the prairie blizzard was then and is\nnow death to the wayfarer who is caught in it away from\nIWm\n 756\nPRAIRIE FIRES.\nshelter. Consequently travelers rarely ventured across the\nplains in winter, and death has overtaken more than one\nrash adventurer who has wandered too far from a safe\nretreat.\nA common peril on the prairies after the spring rains had\nceased and the grass had become dry was the prairie fire.\nHow these could have been so frequent7 as they seem to\nhave been is a mystery. When the conditions were ripe for\n'one of those fires \u00E2\u0080\u0094 that is, when the growth of grass had\nbeen abundant, but had become dry, and when a brisk, dry\nwind was blowing, the phenomenon was one of marvelous\nbeauty, if viewed from a point of safety, but of peril and\nterror when the beholder stood in its way. The speed of\nthe fire over the prairies depended of course largely upon\nthe wind and was therefore a very variable quantity; but\nthat at times it exceeded that of the fleetest horse there is\nabundant evidence. Likewise the intensity of the fire varied\ngreatly. When driven by a strong wind over areas of\ntall dry grass it was a veritable traveling furnace, and no\nmatter how great its speed nor how quickly past, it was\ndeath to whatever it touched. In other instances, with a\nmild wind and short grass, the line of flame could anywhere\nbe crossed with impunity. The spectacle of a strong prairie fire at night was one of the most magnificent that nature\naffords. The long sweeping line of fire stretching from\none part of the horizon to the other, the lambent flames soaring high into the air, the flitting forms of animals driven\nsuddenly from cover, and the reflection of the brilliant light\nin the clouds, composed a scene of truly terrible sublimity.\nThe usual method of avoiding the danger of these fires\nwas to start one in the immediate vicinity of the person or\ncompany in peril. This fire, at first small and harmless,\nwould soon burn over an area largfe5 enough to form a safe\nasylum, and when the sweeping cohorts of flame came bearing down upon the apparently doomed company, the mighty\n7 \u00C2\u00AB\nThe prairies are on fire in every direction \" is a frequent entry in\nthe old Fort Pierre journals.\n THE MIRAGE.\n757\n\u00C2\u00A7\nline would part as if by pre-arrangement and pass harmless\nby on either side.\nAmong the most singular, and at times the most distressing, phenomena of the plains were the mirages. Although\nthese were seen in nearly all parts of the West, it was in the\nsouthern plains that they were most prominent. To see them\nto the best advantage requires favorable conditions both\nphysical and mental. Not alone must the plain, the atmosphere, and the sun be right, but the effect will be greatly\nheightened if the mental state of the beholder has been suitably prepared for the phenomenon. To this end, suppose him\nto be journeying over one of those barren, even tracts which\nso extensively abound to the south of the Arkansas, and\nparticularly in the Cimarron desert. The sun is almost unendurable in its intensity; the ground is parched and dry;\nthe grass withered and sparse; no tree or shrub relieves the\nlandscape; no sign of water is visible anywhere; while the\noppressive heat and the cravings of thirst tax his endurance\nto the utmost. In the midst of his sufferings comes a promise of relief. Several miles ahead of him in a gentle depression he distinctly sees a body of water; it may be a river, but\nmore probably a lake. Its surface gleams in the sun and\nhere and there it is roughened by passing breezes. The\nshore line is distinct and is bordered with objects that look\nlike trees. The sight inspires new life; the spirits rise; and\nthe pace of the traveler is quickened with fresh energy. It is\nwasted effort on the part of more experienced companions\nto urge caution in trusting so implicitly to appearances.\nConfidently he pushes forward with his eyes fixed on the refreshing sight before him. But as he nears it a change comes\nover the scene. The surface of the lake begins to show gaps\nand breaks that he has never noticed on any other lake.\nThese gaps increase as he approaches; the water surface\ndiminishes; it begins to have a trembling, shimmering\nappearance; it finally vanishes from sight; and when the\ntraveler reaches the spot he is still surrounded by the same\ncheerless landscape over which he has already traveled so\n\u00E2\u0096\u00A0 I\n\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\n 758\nTHE PLAINS NOT TRAPPING TERRITORY.\nI\nfar. With what tenfold power does his thirst now come\nback, enhanced by the bitter disappointment! The lesson of\nthe mirages or \" false ponds' was hard to learn and it\nrequired many a chastening such as has been described to\nplace one fully on his guard against it.\nThe cause of the phenomenon of the mirage is not perfectly understood, and has received a variety of explanations,\nsome maintaining that it is due to refraction alone, others to\nreflection. Strange as it may seem, these false appearances,\nif we may trust the many accounts of observers, are sometimes erect, at other times inverted. The necessary conditions of an effective mirage are a broad plain with an extensive horizon free from conspicuous undulations; a dry, hard\nground which will reflect readily the rays of the sun; warm,\ndry and clear weather, so that the eye can easily scan the\nground for several miles. Wislizenus holds that the true\nmirage always shows objects double, the lower erect by refraction through the stratum of air next to the ground, and\nthe u\u00C2\u00A3per inverted by reflection against the surface of a\ndifferent stratum some distance above. Whatever may be\nthe true explanation the delusion is a perfect one, and its\ntantalizing effect upon the thirsty wayfarer was often more\ndistressing than the thirst itself.\nThe plains were not, strictly speaking, trapping territory,\nfor the beaver and other fur-bearing animals dwelt mainly\nwithin the mountain regions. But they were the home of\nthe buffalo and the buffalo was the life of the fur trade. The\ncountless herds of these useful animals which overran the\nterritory of the Far West, supplying the necessities of life to\nits nomadic population, were a product of the plains country,\nand but for this limitless expanse of grazing territory, their\nexistence in such enormous multitudes would have been\nimpossible.\n CHAPTER III.\n%\nRIVERS AND LAKES.\nTHE MISSOURI SYSTEM AND THE PLAINS RIVERS.\nImportance of streams to the trapper \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The three great river systems \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Their historical associations \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Their relation to the fur trade \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nThe Missouri river \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Its length \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Its name \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Mouth of the Marias \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nMouth of the Yellowstone \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The Yellowstone and its tributaries \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Locality of the Mandans \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Locality of Fort Pierre \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The Platte river \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nMouth of the Kansas \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Mouth of the Missouri \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Physical characteristics of the Missouri \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The Plains rivers \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The Arkansas \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The Cimarron river \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The Canadian river \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The Red river \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The Rio Grande.\n93 LTHOUGH the mountain systems of any country are\n~* the primary factors in determining its topography,\nthey are, from a practical point of view, of less importance\nin human affairs than are the streams of which they are generally the source. Particularly true was this of the business\nof the fur trade. Except in the case of certain desert tracts,\nthe mountains were the principal barriers to travel which\nthe trapper had to cross in his ubiquitous wanderings. The\nvalleys of the streams, on the other hand, were the universal\nroutes of travel and the places of abode during his sojourn\nin the wilderness. Every thing that he required was to be\nfound there. Along their banks were groves of cottonwood\nwhich furnished wood for fuel, temporary huts, trading\nposts and boats, and ample shelter both from the heat of\nsummer and the cold of winter. He also found there the\nvarious animals of which he had need, and particularly the\nbeaver, whose capture was the main object of his labors. In\nthe larger valleys dwelt the Indian tribes with whom he\ntraded so extensively. The great rivers furthermore afford-\n13 U\n 76o\nTHE GREAT RIVER SYSTEMS.\ned him his cheapest means of transporting his furs to market.\nEverything contributed to give the water courses of the\ncountry an importance which no other physical feature possessed. This may account for the prominence given to the\ndelineation of the streams upon the early maps, as may be\nseen by comparing them with modern railroad maps; and\nalso for the fact that nearly all the streams, quite unlike the\nmountains, bore well-known names given by the trappers,\nmost of which they retain to the present day.\nThe water courses of the West which were of importance\nto the trapper belonged nearly all to three great systems \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nthe Missouri, on the Atlantic slope, and the Colorado and\nColumbia on the Pacific. There were besides a few streams\nin the southeast, such as the Arkansas and the Rio Grande,\nand also many on the Pacific coast; and there were the lakes\nand rivers of the Great Basin which do not flow into the\nocean. It is a noteworthy fact that within a distance of fifty\nmiles from the Grand Teton, where our imaginary observer\nis stationed, lie the sources of the three river systems just\nreferred to. To the northeast the Continental Divide sweeps\nin a full quarter circle from a little west of north to a little\nsouth of east, and just beyond it are the sources of the\nThree Forks of the Missouri, the Yellowstone, and the Wind\nand Bighorn rivers. About a hundred miles southeast, one\nof the tributaries of the Platte, a water of the Missouri,\nfinds its source. Within the arc of the circle just described\nlie the sources of Snake river, the southern branch of the\nColumbia, while southeast in the direction of Fremont\nPeak, are the headwaters of Green river, the principal source\nof the Colorado.\nThe areas drained by these three systems within the\nUnited States, nearly all of which were operated in by the\nfur companies, are approximately as follows:\nThe Missouri system above Independence 490,000 square miles\nThe Colorado system 248,000\n HISTORICAL COINCIDENCE. 761\nThe Columbia system within the\nUnited States 220.000 square miles\nThe Arkansas and Canadian above\ntheir junction 146,000\nThe Rio Grande above El Paso 42,000\nThe Great Basin 215,000 \"\nThe Missouri river, being much longer than the Colorado\nand the Columbia, has a gentler slope and a slower current;\nAs is well known, it is navigable nearly to its source. The\nrivers across the Divide, on the other hand, have a rapid\nfall, broken by frequent cascades, and flow for long distances\nthrough canons of immense depth. They are not navigable\nwith safety except in their lower courses.\nAn interesting historical coincidence connected with these\nriver systems relates to the territorial expansion of the\nUnited States. Upper Louisiana comprised the valley of\nthe Missouri and its tributaries. A large part of the cession from Mexico lay in the valley of the Colorado. Oregon comprised the watershed of the Columbia with limited\nterritory besides. It is a pleasing reflection that these extensive regions, embracing conditions so various, and even civilization so unlike, have fallen, in the process of time, under\none government; and that, as these rivers find their sources\namong the same perennial snows, so the communities that\ndwell in their valleys look to a common fountain head for\nthe blessings of national life.\nIn the business of the fur trade the fields of operation of\nthe several companies conformed in a broad sense to the\nnatural divisions of the country based upon these drainage\nsystems. The Missouri Fur Company and its successor, the\nAmerican Fur Company, confined their business mainly to\nthe watershed of the Missouri. The Rocky Mountain Fur\nCompany had its center of operations in the valley of Green\nriver, but its parties frequented also the headwaters of the\nMissouri and Columbia and the valley of Great Salt Lake.\nThe British fur companies west of the mountains occupied\n1\n NM*\n/\n62\nTHE MISSOURI SYSTEM.\nthe watershed of the Columbia. The Santa Fe traders\noperated in the Arkansas and Rio Grande valleys.\nTo the individual trapper the innumerable ramifications\nof these streams were a familiar field of labor. It was his\nduty to seek them out and explore them for beaver. In carrying out this duty during two score years it may be doubted\nif there was a rivulet in all the 'mountains, capable of sustaining a beaver family, that he did not visit. He was\nacquainted with all the sources of all the rivers in the trans-\nMississippi region, and many a stream which is unknown\nand unvisited today was a familiar haunt to him.\nTHE MISSOURI SYSTEM.\nBoth in its physical characteristics and in its eventful history, the Missouri river must be ranked as one of the most\nremarkable streams upon the globe. Its source is farther\nfrom the sea than that of any other, the distance from the\nhead of Red Rock creek, the upper course of Jefferson Fork,\nto the Gulf of Mexico being 4,221 miles. Of this distance\n398 miles is above the mouth of the Jefferson, 2,547 miles is\nin the Missouri proper from Three Forks to the mouth, and\n1,276 miles is in the Mississippi. The total length of the\nMississippi river is 2,553 miles, half of which is on each\nside of the mouth of the Missouri. It thus appears that the\nMissouri river is longer than the entire Mississippi and\nmore than twice as long as that part of the latter stream\nabove the junction of the two. This fact has led to the frequent observation that the name which applies to the lower\ncourse of the Mississippi ought to have followed the Missouri.1\n1From this very general view there is excellent reason to dissent.\nIt is not clearly a logical rule that the name of a stream should follow\nthe longest tributary. The size and importance of a river may be\nmore rationally gauged by the volume of flow than by the length of\nchannel. From this point of view the Ohio has the strongest claim\nto the name and the Missouri the weakest, for the latter stream discharges less water than either of the others. But there are other reasons why neither the length of the stream nor the volume of flow should\nmmm\n THE NAME \" MISSOURI.\"\n763\nFrom the Three Forks the Missouri flows almost due\nnorth to the junction of a large stream from the west, the\nMarias river. In this distance it passes through the celebrated \" Gates of the Mountains,\" a stupendous canon of\nvertical walls about eighty miles below the Forks. One\nhundred and fifty miles farther down it flows over a succession of cataracts known as the Great Falls of the Mis-\nin this case control, and why the name as it actually applies is exactly\nright. The Mississippi river flows nearly south through its entire\ncourse; it is obviously the trunk stream and all others merely laterals.\nIt divides the country into two great sections, the east and the west.\nOn one side the streams come mainly from the Alleghenies, on the\nother side from the Rockies. The Mississippi is the great central water\ncourse which gathers up the drainage from both sides and conveys\nit to the sea. Political divisions are based upon it. For almost its\nentire length it is a boundary between states. The phrases \" trans-\nMississippi\" and \"beyond the Mississippi,\" so well established in our\nnational literature, would have no meaning if either of the great tributaries carried the name. In fact the naming of this stream is one of\nthose striking instances where the common sense of the multitude is\nbetter than the wisdom of the wise, for no doubt if the matter had\nbeen left to some learned geographer or society of savants the name\nwould have been placed on the Missouri river to the perpetual inconvenience of future generations.\nThe first known reference to this stream was by Marquette, who\nsaw it in 1673. Upon a crude sketch which he made of the country\nthrough which he passed, the Missouri river appears under the name\nof Pekittanoui. In the region whence it was supposed to flow, were\nnoted the names of several tribes of Indians and among them the\nOumessourit tribe which lived nearest the mouth, though some distance from it. From this tribe, at an early date, the river came to be\nknown. The name passed through nearly every combination of its letters which the eccentricity of orthographers could devise, but had settled down to its present form before the close of the eighteenth century.\nThe word seems indubitably to have meant, as applied to the Indian\ntribe, Living at the Mouth of the Waters. Their own name for their\ntribe was Ne-o-ta-cha (Say) and had the same signification. The\nmost probable theory is that the word Missouri or Oumessourit was\nthe equivalent or translation of this name by some other tribe or nation, probably the Illinois, from whom it passed to the French. There\nseems to be no- foundation for the popular notion that the name is\nsimply characteristic, and means Muddy Water.\n\\\\n1 I\n 7