Departure from—Green River valley—Popo-Agie—Its course—The rivers into which it runs—Scenery of the Bluffs the great Tar Spring—Volcanic tracts in the Crow country—Burning Mountain of Powder River—Sulphur springs—Hidden fires—Colter's Hell-Wind River—Campbell's party—Fitzpatrick and his trappers—Captain Stewart, an amateur traveller—Nathaniel Wyeth—Anecdotes of his expedition to the Far West—Disaster of Campbell's party—A union of bands—The Bad Pass—The rapids—Departure of Fitzpatrick— Embarkation of peltries—Wyeth and his bull boat—Adventures of Captain—Bonneville in the Bighorn Mountains—Adventures in the plain—Traces of Indians—Travelling precautions—Dangers of making a smoke—The rendezvous
ON THE 25TH of July, Captain Bonneville struck his tents, and set out
on his route for the Bighorn, at the head of a party of fifty-six men,
including those who were to embark with Cerre. Crossing the Green River
valley, he proceeded along the south point of the Wind River range of
mountains, and soon fell upon the track of Mr. Robert Campbell's party,
which had preceded him by a day. This he pursued, until he perceived
that it led down the banks of the Sweet Water to the southeast. As this
was different from his proposed direction, he left it; and turning to
the northeast, soon came upon the waters of the Popo Agie. This stream
takes its rise in the Wind River Mountains. Its name, like most Indian
names, is characteristic. Popo, in the Crow language, signifies head;
and Agie, river. It is the head of a long river, extending from the
south end of the Wind River Mountains in a northeast direction, until it
falls into the Yellowstone. Its course is generally through plains,
but is twice crossed by chains of mountains; the first called the
Littlehorn; the second, the Bighorn. After it has forced its way through
the first chain, it is called the Horn River; after the second chain,
it is called the Bighorn River. Its passage through this last chain
is rough and violent; making repeated falls, and rushing down long and
furious rapids, which threaten destruction to the navigator; though a
hardy trapper is said to have shot down them in a canoe. At the foot of
these rapids, is the head of navigation; where it was the intention of
the parties to construct boats, and embark.
Proceeding down along the Popo Agie, Captain Bonneville came again in
full view of the "Bluffs," as they are called, extending from the base
of the Wind River Mountains far away to the east, and presenting to the
eye a confusion of hills and cliffs of red sandstone, some peaked and
angular, some round, some broken into crags and precipices, and piled up
in fantastic masses; but all naked and sterile. There appeared to be no
soil favorable to vegetation, nothing but coarse gravel; yet, over all
this isolated, barren landscape, were diffused such atmospherical tints
and hues, as to blend the whole into harmony and beauty.
In this neighborhood, the captain made search for "the great Tar
Spring," one of the wonders of the mountains; the medicinal properties
of which, he had heard extravagantly lauded by the trappers. After a
toilsome search, he found it at the foot of a sand-bluff, a little east
of the Wind River Mountains; where it exuded in a small stream of the
color and consistency of tar. The men immediately hastened to collect
a quantity of it, to use as an ointment for the galled backs of
their horses, and as a balsam for their own pains and aches. From the
description given of it, it is evidently the bituminous oil, called
petrolium or naphtha, which forms a principal ingredient in the potent
medicine called British Oil. It is found in various parts of Europe and
Asia, in several of the West India islands, and in some places of the
United States. In the state of New York, it is called Seneca Oil, from
being found near the Seneca lake.
The Crow country has other natural curiosities, which are held in
superstitious awe by the Indians, and considered great marvels by the
trappers. Such is the Burning Mountain, on Powder River, abounding
with anthracite coal. Here the earth is hot and cracked; in many places
emitting smoke and sulphurous vapors, as if covering concealed fires. A
volcanic tract of similar character is found on Stinking River, one of
the tributaries of the Bighorn, which takes its unhappy name from the
odor derived from sulphurous springs and streams. This last mentioned
place was first discovered by Colter, a hunter belonging to Lewis and
Clarke's exploring party, who came upon it in the course of his lonely
wanderings, and gave such an account of its gloomy terrors, its hidden
fires, smoking pits, noxious streams, and the all-pervading "smell
of brimstone," that it received, and has ever since retained among
trappers, the name of "Colter's Hell!"
Resuming his descent along the left bank of the Popo Agie, Captain
Bonneville soon reached the plains; where he found several large streams
entering from the west. Among these was Wind River, which gives its name
to the mountains among which it takes its rise. This is one of the most
important streams of the Crow country. The river being much swollen,
Captain Bonneville halted at its mouth, and sent out scouts to look for
a fording place. While thus encamped, he beheld in the course of the
afternoon a long line of horsemen descending the slope of the hills on
the opposite side of the Popo Agie. His first idea was that they were
Indians; he soon discovered, however, that they were white men, and,
by the long line of pack-horses, ascertained them to be the convoy of
Campbell, which, having descended the Sweet Water, was now on its way to
the Horn River.
The two parties came together two or three days afterwards, on the
4th of August, after having passed through the gap of the Littlehorn
Mountain. In company with Campbell's convoy was a trapping party of the
Rocky Mountain Company, headed by Fitzpatrick; who, after Campbell's
embarkation on the Bighorn, was to take charge of all the horses,
and proceed on a trapping campaign. There were, moreover, two chance
companions in the rival camp. One was Captain Stewart, of the British
army, a gentleman of noble connections, who was amusing himself by a
wandering tour in the Far West; in the course of which, he had lived
in hunter's style; accompanying various bands of traders, trappers, and
Indians; and manifesting that relish for the wilderness that belongs to
men of game spirit.
The other casual inmate of Mr. Campbell's camp was Mr. Nathaniel Wyeth;
the self-same leader of the band of New England salmon fishers, with
whom we parted company in the valley of Pierre's Hole, after the battle
with the Blackfeet. A few days after that affair, he again set out
from the rendezvous in company with Milton Sublette and his brigade of
trappers. On his march, he visited the battle ground, and penetrated to
the deserted fort of the Blackfeet in the midst of the wood. It was a
dismal scene. The fort was strewed with the mouldering bodies of the
slain; while vultures soared aloft, or sat brooding on the trees around;
and Indian dogs howled about the place, as if bewailing the death
of their masters. Wyeth travelled for a considerable distance to the
southwest, in company with Milton Sublette, when they separated; and the
former, with eleven men, the remnant of his band, pushed on for Snake
River; kept down the course of that eventful stream; traversed the Blue
Mountains, trapping beaver occasionally by the way, and finally, after
hardships of all kinds, arrived, on the 29th of October, at Vancouver,
on the Columbia, the main factory of the Hudson's Bay Company.
He experienced hospitable treatment at the hands of the agents of that
company; but his men, heartily tired of wandering in the wilderness, or
tempted by other prospects, refused, for the most part, to continue
any longer in his service. Some set off for the Sandwich Islands; some
entered into other employ. Wyeth found, too, that a great part of the
goods he had brought with him were unfitted for the Indian trade; in a
word, his expedition, undertaken entirely on his own resources, proved a
failure. He lost everything invested in it, but his hopes. These were as
strong as ever. He took note of every thing, therefore, that could be of
service to him in the further prosecution of his project; collected
all the information within his reach, and then set off, accompanied by
merely two men, on his return journey across the continent. He had got
thus far "by hook and by crook," a mode in which a New England man can
make his way all over the world, and through all kinds of difficulties,
and was now bound for Boston; in full confidence of being able to form a
company for the salmon fishery and fur trade of the Columbia.
The party of Mr. Campbell had met with a disaster in the course of
their route from the Sweet Water. Three or four of the men, who were
reconnoitering the country in advance of the main body, were visited one
night in their camp, by fifteen or twenty Shoshonies. Considering this
tribe as perfectly friendly, they received them in the most cordial and
confiding manner. In the course of the night, the man on guard near the
horses fell sound asleep; upon which a Shoshonie shot him in the head,
and nearly killed him. The savages then made off with the horses,
leaving the rest of the party to find their way to the main body on
foot.
The rival companies of Captain Bonneville and Mr. Campbell, thus
fortuitously brought together, now prosecuted their journey in great
good fellowship; forming a joint camp of about a hundred men. The
captain, however, began to entertain doubts that Fitzpatrick and his
trappers, who kept profound silence as to their future movements,
intended to hunt the same grounds which he had selected for his autumnal
campaign; which lay to the west of the Horn River, on its tributary
streams. In the course of his march, therefore, he secretly detached
a small party of trappers, to make their way to those hunting grounds,
while he continued on with the main body; appointing a rendezvous, at
the next full moon, about the 28th of August, at a place called the
Medicine Lodge.
On reaching the second chain, called the Bighorn Mountains, where
the river forced its impetuous way through a precipitous defile, with
cascades and rapids, the travellers were obliged to leave its banks,
and traverse the mountains by a rugged and frightful route, emphatically
called the "Bad Pass." Descending the opposite side, they again made for
the river banks; and about the middle of August, reached the point below
the rapids where the river becomes navigable for boats. Here Captain
Bonneville detached a second party of trappers, consisting of ten
men, to seek and join those whom he had detached while on the route;
appointing for them the same rendezvous, (at the Medicine Lodge,) on the
28th of August.
All hands now set to work to construct "bull boats," as they are
technically called; a light, fragile kind of bark, characteristic of
the expedients and inventions of the wilderness; being formed of buffalo
skins, stretched on frames. They are sometimes, also, called skin boats.
Wyeth was the first ready; and, with his usual promptness and hardihood,
launched his frail bark, singly, on this wild and hazardous voyage, down
an almost interminable succession of rivers, winding through countries
teeming with savage hordes. Milton Sublette, his former fellow
traveller, and his companion in the battle scenes of Pierre's Hole,
took passage in his boat. His crew consisted of two white men, and two
Indians. We shall hear further of Wyeth, and his wild voyage, in the
course of our wanderings about the Far West.
The remaining parties soon completed their several armaments. That
of Captain Bonneville was composed of three bull boats, in which he
embarked all his peltries, giving them in charge of Mr. Cerre, with a
party of thirty-six men. Mr. Campbell took command of his own boats, and
the little squadrons were soon gliding down the bright current of the
Bighorn.
The secret precautions which Captain Bonneville had taken to throw his
men first into the trapping ground west of the Bighorn, were, probably,
superfluous. It did not appear that Fitzpatrick had intended to hunt in
that direction. The moment Mr. Campbell and his men embarked with the
peltries, Fitzpatrick took charge of all the horses, amounting to above
a hundred, and struck off to the east, to trap upon Littlehorn, Powder,
and Tongue rivers. He was accompanied by Captain Stewart, who was
desirous of having a range about the Crow country. Of the adventures
they met with in that region of vagabonds and horse stealers, we shall
have something to relate hereafter.
Captain Bonneville being now left to prosecute his trapping campaign
without rivalry, set out, on the 17th of August, for the rendezvous at
Medicine Lodge. He had but four men remaining with him, and forty-six
horses to take care of; with these he had to make his way over mountain
and plain, through a marauding, horse-stealing region, full of peril
for a numerous cavalcade so slightly manned. He addressed himself to his
difficult journey, however, with his usual alacrity of spirit.
In the afternoon of his first day's journey, on drawing near to the
Bighorn Mountain, on the summit of which he intended to encamp for the
night, he observed, to his disquiet, a cloud of smoke rising from
its base. He came to a halt, and watched it anxiously. It was very
irregular; sometimes it would almost die away; and then would mount up
in heavy volumes. There was, apparently, a large party encamped there;
probably, some ruffian horde of Blackfeet. At any rate, it would not do
for so small a number of men, with so numerous a cavalcade, to venture
within sight of any wandering tribe. Captain Bonneville and his
companions, therefore, avoided this dangerous neighborhood; and,
proceeding with extreme caution, reached the summit of the mountain,
apparently without being discovered. Here they found a deserted
Blackfoot fort, in which they ensconced themselves; disposed of every
thing as securely as possible, and passed the night without molestation.
Early the next morning they descended the south side of the mountain
into the great plain extending between it and the Littlehorn range. Here
they soon came upon numerous footprints, and the carcasses of buffaloes;
by which they knew there must be Indians not far off. Captain Bonneville
now began to feel solicitude about the two small parties of trappers
which he had detached, lest the Indians should have come upon them
before they had united their forces. But he felt still more solicitude
about his own party; for it was hardly to be expected he could traverse
these naked plains undiscovered, when Indians were abroad; and should
he be discovered, his chance would be a desperate one. Everything now
depended upon the greatest circumspection. It was dangerous to discharge
a gun, or light a fire, or make the least noise, where such quick-eared
and quick-sighted enemies were at hand. In the course of the day they
saw indubitable signs that the buffalo had been roaming there in great
numbers, and had recently been frightened away. That night they encamped
with the greatest care; and threw up a strong breastwork for their
protection.
For the two succeeding days they pressed forward rapidly, but
cautiously, across the great plain; fording the tributary streams of the
Horn River; encamping one night among thickets; the next, on an island;
meeting, repeatedly, with traces of Indians; and now and then, in
passing through a defile, experiencing alarms that induced them to cock
their rifles.
On the last day of their march hunger got the better of their caution,
and they shot a fine buffalo bull at the risk of being betrayed by the
report. They did not halt to make a meal, but carried the meat on with
them to the place of rendezvous, the Medicine Lodge, where they arrived
safely, in the evening, and celebrated their arrival by a hearty supper.
The next morning they erected a strong pen for the horses, and a
fortress of logs for themselves; and continued to observe the greatest
caution. Their cooking was all done at mid-day, when the fire makes no
glare, and a moderate smoke cannot be perceived at any great distance.
In the morning and the evening, when the wind is lulled, the smoke rises
perpendicularly in a blue column, or floats in light clouds above the
tree-tops, and can be discovered from afar.
In this way the little party remained for several days, cautiously
encamped, until, on the 29th of August, the two detachments they had
been expecting, arrived together at the rendezvous. They, as usual, had
their several tales of adventures to relate to the captain, which we
will furnish to the reader in the next chapter.
