At Present We Shall Stop With Him At Cantonment
Leavenworth, The Frontier Post Of The United States; Where He
Arrived On The 27th Of September.
Here his first care was to have his Nez Perce Indian, and his
half-breed boy, Baptiste, vaccinated.
As they approached the
fort, they were hailed by the sentinel. The sight of a soldier in
full array, with what appeared to be a long knife glittering on
the end of a musket, struck Baptiste with such affright that he
took to his heels, bawling for mercy at the top of his voice. The
Nez Perce would have followed him, had not Wyeth assured him of
his safety. When they underwent the operation of the lancet, the
doctor's wife and another lady were present; both beautiful
women. They were the first white women that they had seen, and
they could not keep their eyes off of them. On returning to the
boat, they recounted to their companions all that they had
observed at the fort; but were especially eloquent about the
white squaws, who, they said, were white as snow, and more
beautiful than any human being they had ever beheld.
We shall not accompany the captain any further in his Voyage; but
will simply state that he made his way to Boston, where he
succeeded in organizing an association under the name of "The
Columbia River Fishing and Trading Company," for his original
objects of a salmon fishery and a trade in furs. A brig, the May
Dacres, had been dispatched for the Columbia with supplies; and
he was now on his way to the same point, at the head of sixty
men, whom he had enlisted at St. Louis; some of whom were
experienced hunters, and all more habituated to the life of the
wilderness than his first band of "down-easters."
We will now return to Captain Bonneville and his party, whom we
left, making up their packs and saddling their horses, in Bear
River Valley.
42.
Departure of Captain Bonneville for the Columbia Advance of
Wyeth Efforts to keep the lead Hudson's Bay party A
junketing A delectable beverage Honey and alcohol High
carousing The Canadian "bon vivant" A cache A rapid move
Wyeth and his plans His travelling companions Buffalo hunting
More conviviality An interruption.
IT was the 3d of July that Captain Bonneville set out on his
second visit to the banks of the Columbia, at the head of
twenty-three men. He travelled leisurely, to keep his horses
fresh, until on the 10th of July a scout brought word that Wyeth,
with his band, was but fifty miles in the rear, and pushing
forward with all speed. This caused some bustle in the camp; for
it was important to get first to the buffalo ground to secure
provisions for the journey. As the horses were too heavily laden
to travel fast, a cache was digged, as promptly as possible, to
receive all superfluous baggage. Just as it was finished, a
spring burst out of the earth at the bottom.
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