A hunt after hunters—Hungry times—A voracious repast—Wintry weather—Godin's River—Splendid winter scene on the great—Lava Plain of Snake River—Severe travelling and tramping in the snow—Manoeuvres of a solitary Indian horseman—Encampment on Snake River—Banneck Indians—The horse chief—His charmed life.
THE continued absence of Matthieu and his party had, by this time,
caused great uneasiness in the mind of Captain Bonneville; and, finding
there was no dependence to be placed upon the perseverance and courage
of scouting parties in so perilous a quest, he determined to set
out himself on the search, and to keep on until he should ascertain
something of the object of his solicitude.
Accordingly on the 20th December he left the camp, accompanied by
thirteen stark trappers and hunters, all well mounted and armed for
dangerous enterprise. On the following morning they passed out at the
head of the mountain gorge and sallied forth into the open plain. As
they confidently expected a brush with the Blackfeet, or some other
predatory horde, they moved with great circumspection, and kept vigilant
watch in their encampments.
In the course of another day they left the main branch of Salmon River,
and proceeded south toward a pass called John Day's defile. It was
severe and arduous travelling. The plains were swept by keen and bitter
blasts of wintry wind; the ground was generally covered with snow, game
was scarce, so that hunger generally prevailed in the camp, while the
want of pasturage soon began to manifest itself in the declining vigor
of the horses.
The party had scarcely encamped on the afternoon of the 28th, when two
of the hunters who had sallied forth in quest of game came galloping
back in great alarm. While hunting they had perceived a party of
savages, evidently manoeuvring to cut them off from the camp; and
nothing had saved them from being entrapped but the speed of their
horses.
These tidings struck dismay into the camp. Captain Bonneville endeavored
to reassure his men by representing the position of their encampment,
and its capability of defence. He then ordered the horses to be driven
in and picketed, and threw up a rough breastwork of fallen trunks of
trees and the vegetable rubbish of the wilderness. Within this barrier
was maintained a vigilant watch throughout the night, which passed away
without alarm. At early dawn they scrutinized the surrounding plain, to
discover whether any enemies had been lurking about during the night;
not a foot-print, however, was to be discovered in the coarse gravel
with which the plain was covered.
Hunger now began to cause more uneasiness than the apprehensions of
surrounding enemies. After marching a few miles they encamped at the
foot of a mountain, in hopes of finding buffalo. It was not until the
next day that they discovered a pair of fine bulls on the edge of the
plain, among rocks and ravines. Having now been two days and a half
without a mouthful of food, they took especial care that these animals
should not escape them. While some of the surest marksmen advanced
cautiously with their rifles into the rough ground, four of the best
mounted horsemen took their stations in the plain, to run the bulls down
should they only be maimed.
The buffalo were wounded and set off in headlong flight. The
half-famished horses were too weak to overtake them on the frozen
ground, but succeeded in driving them on the ice, where they slipped
and fell, and were easily dispatched. The hunters loaded themselves with
beef for present and future supply, and then returned and encamped
at the last nights's fire. Here they passed the remainder of the day,
cooking and eating with a voracity proportioned to previous starvation,
forgetting in the hearty revel of the moment the certain dangers with
which they were environed.
The cravings of hunger being satisfied, they now began to debate about
their further progress. The men were much disheartened by the hardships
they had already endured. Indeed, two who had been in the rear guard,
taking advantage of their position, had deserted and returned to the
lodges of the Nez Perces. The prospect ahead was enough to stagger the
stoutest heart. They were in the dead of winter. As far as the eye
could reach the wild landscape was wrapped in snow, which was evidently
deepening as they advanced. Over this they would have to toil, with the
icy wind blowing in their faces: their horses might give out through
want of pasturage, and they themselves must expect intervals of horrible
famine like that they had already experienced.
With Captain Bonneville, however, perseverance was a matter of pride;
and, having undertaken this enterprise, nothing could turn him back
until it was accomplished: though he declares that, had he anticipated
the difficulties and sufferings which attended it, he should have
flinched from the undertaking.
Onward, therefore, the little band urged their way, keeping along the
course of a stream called John Day's Creek. The cold was so intense that
they had frequently to dismount and travel on foot, lest they should
freeze in their saddles. The days which at this season are short enough
even in the open prairies, were narrowed to a few hours by the high
mountains, which allowed the travellers but a brief enjoyment of the
cheering rays of the sun. The snow was generally at least twenty inches
in depth, and in many places much more: those who dismounted had to beat
their way with toilsome steps. Eight miles were considered a good day's
journey. The horses were almost famished; for the herbage was covered by
the deep snow, so that they had nothing to subsist upon but scanty wisps
of the dry bunch grass which peered above the surface, and the small
branches and twigs of frozen willows and wormwood.
In this way they urged their slow and painful course to the south down
John Day's Creek, until it lost itself in a swamp. Here they encamped
upon the ice among stiffened willows, where they were obliged to beat
down and clear away the snow to procure pasturage for their horses.
Hence they toiled on to Godin River; so called after an Iroquois hunter
in the service of Sublette, who was murdered there by the Blackfeet.
Many of the features of this remote wilderness are thus named after
scenes of violence and bloodshed that occurred to the early pioneers. It
was an act of filial vengeance on the part of Godin's son Antoine that,
as the reader may recollect, brought on the recent battle at Pierre's
Hole.
From Godin's River, Captain Bonneville and his followers came out upon
the plain of the Three Butes, so called from three singular and isolated
hills that rise from the midst. It is a part of the great desert of
Snake River, one of the most remarkable tracts beyond the mountains.
Could they have experienced a respite from their sufferings and
anxieties, the immense landscape spread out before them was calculated
to inspire admiration. Winter has its beauties and glories as well as
summer; and Captain Bonneville had the soul to appreciate them.
Far away, says he, over the vast plains, and up the steep sides of the
lofty mountains, the snow lay spread in dazzling whiteness: and whenever
the sun emerged in the morning above the giant peaks, or burst forth
from among clouds in his midday course, mountain and dell, glazed rock
and frosted tree, glowed and sparkled with surpassing lustre. The tall
pines seemed sprinkled with a silver dust, and the willows, studded with
minute icicles reflecting the prismatic rays, brought to mind the fairy
trees conjured up by the caliph's story-teller to adorn his vale of
diamonds.
The poor wanderers, however, nearly starved with hunger and cold, were
in no mood to enjoy the glories of these brilliant scenes; though they
stamped pictures on their memory which have been recalled with delight
in more genial situations.
Encamping at the west Bute, they found a place swept by the winds, so
that it was bare of snow, and there was abundance of bunch grass. Here
the horses were turned loose to graze throughout the night. Though for
once they had ample pasturage, yet the keen winds were so intense that,
in the morning, a mule was found frozen to death. The trappers gathered
round and mourned over him as over a cherished friend. They feared their
half-famished horses would soon share his fate, for there seemed scarce
blood enough left in their veins to withstand the freezing cold. To beat
the way further through the snow with these enfeebled animals seemed
next to impossible; and despondency began to creep over their hearts,
when, fortunately, they discovered a trail made by some hunting party.
Into this they immediately entered, and proceeded with less difficulty.
Shortly afterward, a fine buffalo bull came bounding across the snow and
was instantly brought down by the hunters. A fire was soon blazing and
crackling, and an ample repast soon cooked, and sooner dispatched; after
which they made some further progress and then encamped. One of the men
reached the camp nearly frozen to death; but good cheer and a blazing
fire gradually restored life, and put his blood in circulation.
Having now a beaten path, they proceeded the next morning with more
facility; indeed, the snow decreased in depth as they receded from the
mountains, and the temperature became more mild. In the course of the
day they discovered a solitary horseman hovering at a distance before
them on the plain. They spurred on to overtake him; but he was better
mounted on a fresher steed, and kept at a wary distance, reconnoitring
them with evident distrust; for the wild dress of the free trappers,
their leggings, blankets, and cloth caps garnished with fur and topped
off with feathers, even their very elf-locks and weather-bronzed
complexions, gave them the look of Indians rather than white men, and
made him mistake them for a war party of some hostile tribe.
After much manoeuvring, the wild horseman was at length brought to a
parley; but even then he conducted himself with the caution of a knowing
prowler of the prairies. Dismounting from his horse, and using him as a
breastwork, he levelled his gun across his back, and, thus prepared for
defence like a wary cruiser upon the high seas, he permitted himself to
be approached within speaking distance.
He proved to be an Indian of the Banneck tribe, belonging to a band at
no great distance. It was some time before he could be persuaded that
he was conversing with a party of white men and induced to lay aside his
reserve and join them. He then gave them the interesting intelligence
that there were two companies of white men encamped in the neighborhood.
This was cheering news to Captain Bonneville; who hoped to find in one
of them the long-sought party of Matthieu. Pushing forward, therefore,
with renovated spirits, he reached Snake River by nightfall, and there fixed his encampment.
Early the next morning (13th January, 1833), diligent search was made
about the neighborhood for traces of the reported parties of white men.
An encampment was soon discovered about four miles farther up the river,
in which Captain Bonneville to his great joy found two of Matthieu's
men, from whom he learned that the rest of his party would be there
in the course of a few days. It was a matter of great pride and
self-gratulation to Captain Bonneville that he had thus accomplished his
dreary and doubtful enterprise; and he determined to pass some time
in this encampment, both to await the return of Matthieu, and to give
needful repose to men and horses.
It was, in fact, one of the most eligible and delightful wintering
grounds in that whole range of country. The Snake River here wound
its devious way between low banks through the great plain of the Three
Butes; and was bordered by wide and fertile meadows. It was studded with
islands which, like the alluvial bottoms, were covered with groves
of cotton-wood, thickets of willow, tracts of good lowland grass, and
abundance of green rushes. The adjacent plains were so vast in extent
that no single band of Indians could drive the buffalo out of them;
nor was the snow of sufficient depth to give any serious inconvenience.
Indeed, during the sojourn of Captain Bonneville in this neighborhood,
which was in the heart of winter, he found the weather, with the
exception of a few cold and stormy days, generally mild and pleasant,
freezing a little at night but invariably thawing with the morning's
sun-resembling the spring weather in the middle parts of the United
States.
The lofty range of the Three Tetons, those great landmarks of the Rocky
Mountains rising in the east and circling away to the north and west
of the great plain of Snake River, and the mountains of Salt River and
Portneuf toward the south, catch the earliest falls of snow. Their white
robes lengthen as the winter advances, and spread themselves far into
the plain, driving the buffalo in herds to the banks of the river in
quest of food; where they are easily slain in great numbers.
Such were the palpable advantages of this winter encampment; added to
which, it was secure from the prowlings and plunderings of any petty
band of roving Blackfeet, the difficulties of retreat rendering it
unwise for those crafty depredators to venture an attack unless with an
overpowering force.
About ten miles below the encampment lay the Banneck Indians; numbering
about one hundred and twenty lodges. They are brave and cunning warriors
and deadly foes of the Blackfeet, whom they easily overcome in battles
where their forces are equal. They are not vengeful and enterprising
in warfare, however; seldom sending war parties to attack the Blackfeet
towns, but contenting themselves with defending their own territories
and house. About one third of their warriors are armed with fusees, the
rest with bows and arrows.
As soon as the spring opens they move down the right bank of Snake River and encamp at the heads of the Boisee and Payette. Here their horses wax
fat on good pasturage, while the tribe revels in plenty upon the flesh
of deer, elk, bear, and beaver. They then descend a little further, and
are met by the Lower Nez Perces, with whom they trade for horses; giving
in exchange beaver, buffalo, and buffalo robes. Hence they strike upon
the tributary streams on the left bank of Snake River, and encamp at the
rise of the Portneuf and Blackfoot streams, in the buffalo range. Their
horses, although of the Nez Perce breed, are inferior to the parent
stock from being ridden at too early an age, being often bought when but
two years old and immediately put to hard work. They have fewer horses,
also, than most of these migratory tribes.
At the time that Captain Bonneville came into the neighborhood of these
Indians, they were all in mourning for their chief, surnamed The
Horse. This chief was said to possess a charmed life, or rather, to be
invulnerable to lead; no bullet having ever hit him, though he had been
in repeated battles, and often shot at by the surest marksmen. He had
shown great magnanimity in his intercourse with the white men. One of
the great men of his family had been slain in an attack upon a band of
trappers passing through the territories of his tribe. Vengeance had
been sworn by the Bannecks; but The Horse interfered, declaring himself
the friend of white men and, having great influence and authority among
his people, he compelled them to forego all vindictive plans and to
conduct themselves amicably whenever they came in contact with the
traders.
This chief had bravely fallen in resisting an attack made by the
Blackfeet upon his tribe, while encamped at the head of Godin River. His
fall in nowise lessened the faith of his people in his charmed life; for
they declared that it was not a bullet which laid him low, but a bit of
horn which had been shot into him by some Blackfoot marksman aware, no
doubt, of the inefficacy of lead. Since his death there was no one with
sufficient influence over the tribe to restrain the wild and predatory
propensities of the young men. The consequence was they had become
troublesome and dangerous neighbors, openly friendly for the sake of
traffic, but disposed to commit secret depredations and to molest any
small party that might fall within their reach.
