The Two Rival Associations Already Mentioned, The American Fur
Company And The Rocky Mountain Fur Company, Had Their Several
Places
Of rendezvous for the present year at no great distance
apart, in Pierre's Hole, a deep valley in the heart
Of the
mountains, and thither Captain Bonneville intended to shape his
course.
It is not easy to do justice to the exulting feelings of the
worthy captain at finding himself at the head of a stout band of
hunters, trappers, and woodmen; fairly launched on the broad
prairies, with his face to the boundless West. The tamest
inhabitant of cities, the veriest spoiled child of civilization,
feels his heart dilate and his pulse beat high on finding himself
on horseback in the glorious wilderness; what then must be the
excitement of one whose imagination had been stimulated by a
residence on the frontier, and to whom the wilderness was a
region of romance!
His hardy followers partook of his excitement. Most of them had
already experienced the wild freedom of savage life, and looked
forward to a renewal of past scenes of adventure and exploit.
Their very appearance and equipment exhibited a piebald mixture,
half civilized and half savage. Many of them looked more like
Indians than white men in their garbs and accoutrements, and
their very horses were caparisoned in barbaric style, with
fantastic trappings. The outset of a band of adventurers on one
of these expeditions is always animated and joyous. The welkin
rang with their shouts and yelps, after the manner of the
savages; and with boisterous jokes and light-hearted laughter. As
they passed the straggling hamlets and solitary cabins that
fringe the skirts of the frontier, they would startle their
inmates by Indian yells and war-whoops, or regale them with
grotesque feats of horsemanship, well suited to their halfsavage
appearance. Most of these abodes were inhabited by men who had
themselves been in similar expeditions; they welcomed the
travellers, therefore, as brother trappers, treated them with a
hunter's hospitality, and cheered them with an honest God speed
at parting.
And here we would remark a great difference, in point of
character and quality, between the two classes of trappers, the
"American" and "French," as they are called in contradistinction.
The latter is meant to designate the French creole of Canada or
Louisiana; the former, the trapper of the old American stock,
from Kentucky, Tennessee, and others of the western States. The
French trapper is represented as a lighter, softer, more
self-indulgent kind of man. He must have his Indian wife, his
lodge, and his petty conveniences. He is gay and thoughtless,
takes little heed of landmarks, depends upon his leaders and
companions to think for the common weal, and, if left to himself,
is easily perplexed and lost.
The American trapper stands by himself, and is peerless for the
service of the wilderness. Drop him in the midst of a prairie, or
in the heart of the mountains, and he is never at a loss. He
notices every landmark; can retrace his route through the most
monotonous plains, or the most perplexed labyrinths of the
mountains; no danger nor difficulty can appal him, and he scorns
to complain under any privation. In equipping the two kinds of
trappers, the Creole and Canadian are apt to prefer the light
fusee; the American always grasps his rifle; he despises what he
calls the "shot-gun." We give these estimates on the authority of
a trader of long experience, and a foreigner by birth. "I
consider one American," said he, "equal to three Canadians in
point of sagacity, aptness at resources, self-dependence, and
fearlessness of spirit. In fact, no one can cope with him as a
stark tramper of the wilderness."
Beside the two classes of trappers just mentioned, Captain
Bonneville had enlisted several Delaware Indians in his employ,
on whose hunting qualifications he placed great reliance.
On the 6th of May the travellers passed the last border
habitation, and bade a long farewell to the ease and security of
civilization. The buoyant and clamorous spirits with which they
had commenced their march gradually subsided as they entered upon
its difficulties. They found the prairies saturated with the
heavy cold rains, prevalent in certain seasons of the year in
this part of the country, the wagon wheels sank deep in the mire,
the horses were often to the fetlock, and both steed and rider
were completely jaded by the evening of the 12th, when they
reached the Kansas River; a fine stream about three hundred yards
wide, entering the Missouri from the south. Though fordable in
almost every part at the end of summer and during the autumn, yet
it was necessary to construct a raft for the transportation of
the wagons and effects. All this was done in the course of the
following day, and by evening, the whole party arrived at the
agency of the Kansas tribe. This was under the superintendence of
General Clarke, brother of the celebrated traveller of the same
name, who, with Lewis, made the first expedition down the waters
of the Columbia. He was living like a patriarch, surrounded by
laborers and interpreters, all snugly housed, and provided with
excellent farms. The functionary next in consequence to the agent
was the blacksmith, a most important, and, indeed, indispensable
personage in a frontier community. The Kansas resemble the Osages
in features, dress, and language; they raise corn and hunt the
buffalo, ranging the Kansas River, and its tributary streams; at
the time of the captain's visit, they were at war with the
Pawnees of the Nebraska, or Platte River.
The unusual sight of a train of wagons caused quite a sensation
among these savages; who thronged about the caravan, examining
everything minutely, and asking a thousand questions: exhibiting
a degree of excitability, and a lively curiosity totally opposite
to that apathy with which their race is so often reproached.
The personage who most attracted the captain's attention at this
place was "White Plume," the Kansas chief, and they soon became
good friends.
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