Yet In Spite
Of These Dispositions He Had Always Had His Ears Open To
Our Counsels, And Had Actually Made A Peace With The Chayennes
And The Indians Of The Rocky Mountains.
He concluded by saying,
that however disposed they were to visit the United States,
the fear of the Sioux would prevent them from going with us."
The truth was that One-eye had no notion of going to Washington;
he was afraid of nobody, and his plea of possible danger
among the Sioux was mere nonsense to deceive the white men.
Captain Clark visited the village of Black Cat, and that worthy
savage made the same excuse that Le Borgne (One-eye) had already
put forth; he was afraid of the Sioux. The journal adds: -
"Captain Clark then spoke to the chiefs and warriors of the village.
He told them of his anxiety that some of them should see their
Great Father, hear his good words, and receive his gifts; and requested
them to fix on some confidential chief who might accompany us.
To this they made the same objections as before; till at length
a young man offered to go, and the warriors all assented to it.
But the character of this man was known to be bad; and one
of the party with Captain Clark informed him that at the moment
he [this Indian] had in his possession a knife which he had stolen.
Captain Clark therefore told the chief of this theft, and ordered
the knife to be given up. This was done with a poor apology for having
it in his possession, and Captain Clark then reproached the chiefs
for wishing to send such a fellow to see and hear so distinguished
a person as their Great Father. They all hung down their heads
for some time, till Black Cat apologized by saying that the danger
was such that they were afraid of sending any one of their chiefs,
as they considered his loss almost inevitable."
Although there was so much reluctance on the part of the Indians
to leave their roving life, even for a few months, there were
some white men among the explorers who were willing to give up
their home in "the States." The journal says: -
"In the evening Colter applied to us for permission to join the two
trappers who had accompanied us, and who now proposed an expedition
up the river, in which they were to find traps and to give him
a share of the profits. The offer was a very advantageous one;
and as he had always performed his duty, and his services could
be dispensed with, we consented to his going upon condition
that none of the rest were to ask or expect a similar indulgence.
To this they all cheerfully assented, saying that they wished
Colter every success, and would not apply for liberty to separate
before we reached St. Louis. We therefore supplied him, as did
his comrades also, with powder and lead, and a variety of articles
which might be useful to him, and he left us the next day.
The example of this man shows how easily men may be weaned
from the habits of civilized life to the ruder, though scarcely
less fascinating, manners of the woods.
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