第80章 Irving’s Bonneville - Chapter 28(3)

Arrived on the banks of that river, he found it rapid and boisterous, but not too deep tobe forded. In traversing it, however, one of the horses was swept suddenly from hisfooting, and his rider was flung from the saddle into the midst of the stream. Both horseand horseman were extricated without any damage, excepting that the latter wascompletely drenched, so that it was necessary to kindle a fire to dry him. While theywere thus occupied, one of the party looking up, perceived an Indian scout cautiouslyreconnoitring them from the summit of a neighboring hill. The moment he found himselfdiscovered, he disappeared behind the hill. From his furtive movements, CaptainBonneville suspected him to be a scout from the Blackfeet camp, and that he had goneto report what he had seen to his companions. It would not do to loiter in such aneighborhood, so the kindling of the fire was abandoned, the drenched horsemanmounted in dripping condition, and the little band pushed forward directly into the plain,going at a smart pace, until they had gained a considerable distance from the place ofsupposed danger. Here encamping for the night, in the midst of abundance of sage, orwormwood, which afforded fodder for their horses, they kindled a huge fire for thebenefit of their damp comrade, and then proceeded to prepare a sumptuous supper ofbuffalo humps and ribs, and other choice bits, which they had brought with them. Aftera hearty repast, relished with an appetite unknown to city epicures, they stretchedthemselves upon their couches of skins, and under the starry canopy of heaven,enjoyed the sound and sweet sleep of hardy and well-fed mountaineers.

They continued on their journey for several days, without any incident worthy of notice,and on the 19th of November, came upon traces of the party of which they were insearch; such as burned patches of prairie, and deserted camping grounds. All thesewere carefully examined, to discover by their freshness or antiquity the probable timethat the trappers had left them; at length, after much wandering and investigating, theycame upon the regular trail of the hunting party, which led into the mountains, andfollowing it up briskly, came about two o'clock in the afternoon of the 20th, upon theencampment of Hodgkiss and his band of free trappers, in the bosom of a mountainvalley.

It will be recollected that these free trappers, who were masters of themselves and theirmovements, had refused to accompany Captain Bonneville back to Green River in thepreceding month of July, preferring to trap about the upper waters of the Salmon River,where they expected to find plenty of beaver, and a less dangerous neighborhood.

Their hunt had not been very successful. They had penetrated the great range ofmountains among which some of the upper branches of Salmon River take their rise,but had become so entangled among immense and almost impassable barricades offallen pines, and so impeded by tremendous precipices, that a great part of theirseason had been wasted among these mountains. At one time, they had made theirway through them, and reached the Boisee River; but meeting with a band of BannackIndians, from whom they apprehended hostilities, they had again taken shelter amongthe mountains, where they were found by Captain Bonneville. In the neighborhood oftheir encampment, the captain had the good fortune to meet with a family of thosewanderers of the mountains, emphatically called "les dignes de pitie," or PoordevilIndians. These, however, appear to have forfeited the title, for they had with them a finelot of skins of beaver, elk, deer, and mountain sheep. These, Captain Bonnevillepurchased from them at a fair valuation, and sent them off astonished at their ownwealth, and no doubt objects of envy to all their pitiful tribe.

Being now reinforced by Hodgkiss and his band of free trappers, Captain Bonneville puthimself at the head of the united parties, and set out to rejoin those he had recently leftat the Beer Spring, that they might all go into winter quarters on Snake River. On hisroute, he encountered many heavy falls of snow, which melted almost immediately, soas not to impede his march, and on the 4th of December, he found his other party,encamped at the very place where he had partaken in the buffalo hunt with theBannacks.

That braggart horde was encamped but about three miles off, and were just then in highglee and festivity, and more swaggering than ever, celebrating a prodigious victory. Itappeared that a party of their braves being out on a hunting excursion, discovered aband of Blackfeet moving, as they thought, to surprise their hunting camp. TheBannacks immediately posted themselves on each side of a dark ravine, through whichthe enemy must pass, and, just as they were entangled in the midst of it, attacked themwith great fury. The Blackfeet, struck with sudden panic, threw off their buffalo robesand fled, leaving one of their warriors dead on the spot. The victors eagerly gathered upthe spoils; but their greatest prize was the scalp of the Blackfoot brave. This they boreoff in triumph to their village, where it had ever since been an object of the greatestexultation and rejoicing. It had been elevated upon a pole in the centre of the village,where the warriors had celebrated the scalp dance round it, with war feasts, war songs,and warlike harangues. It had then been given up to the women and boys; who hadparaded it up and down the village with shouts and chants and antic dances;occasionally saluting it with all kinds of taunts, invectives, and revilings.

The Blackfeet, in this affair, do not appear to have acted up to the character which hasrendered them objects of such terror. Indeed, their conduct in war, to the inexperiencedobserver, is full of inconsistencies; at one time they are headlong in courage, andheedless of danger; at another time cautious almost to cowardice. To understand theseapparent incongruities, one must know their principles of warfare. A war party, howevertriumphant, if they lose a warrior in the fight, bring back a cause of mourning to theirpeople, which casts a shade over the glory of their achievement. Hence, the Indian isoften less fierce and reckless in general battle, than he is in a private brawl; and thechiefs are checked in their boldest undertakings by the fear of sacrificing their warriors.

This peculiarity is not confined to the Blackfeet. Among the Osages, says CaptainBonneville, when a warrior falls in battle, his comrades, though they may have foughtwith consummate valor, and won a glorious victory, will leave their arms upon the fieldof battle, and returning home with dejected countenances, will halt without theencampment, and wait until the relatives of the slain come forth and invite them tomingle again with their people. [Return to Contents].