One Of His
Chief Objects, As He Gave Out, Was To Kill An Indian; An Exploit
Which He Afterwards Succeeded In Achieving, Much To The Jeopardy Of
Ourselves And Others Who Had To Pass Through The Country Of The Dead
Pawnee's Enraged Relatives.
Having become disgusted with his
emigrant associates he left them, and had some time before set out
with a party of companions for the head of the Arkansas.
He sent us
previously a letter, intimating that he would wait until we arrived
at Bent's Fort, and accompany us thence to the settlements. When,
however, he came to the Fort, he found there a party of forty men
about to make the homeward journey. He wisely preferred to avail
himself of so strong an escort. Mr. Sublette and his companions also
set out, in order to overtake this company; so that on reaching
Bent's Fort, some six weeks after, we found ourselves deserted by our
allies and thrown once more upon our own resources.
But I am anticipating. When, before leaving the settlement we had
made inquiries concerning this part of the country of General Kearny,
Mr. Mackenzie, Captain Wyeth, and others well acquainted with it,
they had all advised us by no means to attempt this southward journey
with fewer than fifteen or twenty men. The danger consists in the
chance of encountering Indian war parties. Sometimes throughout the
whole length of the journey (a distance of 350 miles) one does not
meet a single human being; frequently, however, the route is beset by
Arapahoes and other unfriendly tribes; in which case the scalp of the
adventurer is in imminent peril. As to the escort of fifteen or
twenty men, such a force of whites could at that time scarcely be
collected by the whole country; and had the case been otherwise, the
expense of securing them, together with the necessary number of
horses, would have been extremely heavy. We had resolved, however,
upon pursuing this southward course. There were, indeed, two other
routes from Fort Laramie; but both of these were less interesting,
and neither was free from danger. Being unable therefore to procure
the fifteen or twenty men recommended, we determined to set out with
those we had already in our employ, Henry Chatillon, Delorier, and
Raymond. The men themselves made no objection, nor would they have
made any had the journey been more dangerous; for Henry was without
fear, and the other two without thought.
Shaw and I were much better fitted for this mode of traveling than we
had been on betaking ourselves to the prairies for the first time a
few months before. The daily routine had ceased to be a novelty.
All the details of the journey and the camp had become familiar to
us. We had seen life under a new aspect; the human biped had been
reduced to his primitive condition. We had lived without law to
protect, a roof to shelter, or garment of cloth to cover us. One of
us at least had been without bread, and without salt to season his
food. Our idea of what is indispensable to human existence and
enjoyment had been wonderfully curtailed, and a horse, a rifle, and a
knife seemed to make up the whole of life's necessaries. For these
once obtained, together with the skill to use them, all else that is
essential would follow in their train, and a host of luxuries
besides. One other lesson our short prairie experience had taught
us; that of profound contentment in the present, and utter contempt
for what the future might bring forth.
These principles established, we prepared to leave Fort Laramie. On
the fourth day of August, early in the afternoon, we bade a final
adieu to its hospitable gateway. Again Shaw and I were riding side
by side on the prairie. For the first fifty miles we had companions
with us; Troche, a little trapper, and Rouville, a nondescript in the
employ of the Fur Company, who were going to join the trader
Bisonette at his encampment near the head of Horse Creek. We rode
only six or eight miles that afternoon before we came to a little
brook traversing the barren prairie. All along its course grew
copses of young wild-cherry trees, loaded with ripe fruit, and almost
concealing the gliding thread of water with their dense growth, while
on each side rose swells of rich green grass. Here we encamped; and
being much too indolent to pitch our tent, we flung our saddles on
the ground, spread a pair of buffalo robes, lay down upon them, and
began to smoke. Meanwhile, Delorier busied himself with his hissing
frying-pan, and Raymond stood guard over the band of grazing horses.
Delorier had an active assistant in Rouville, who professed great
skill in the culinary art, and seizing upon a fork, began to lend his
zealous aid in making ready supper. Indeed, according to his own
belief, Rouville was a man of universal knowledge, and he lost no
opportunity to display his manifold accomplishments. He had been a
circus-rider at St. Louis, and once he rode round Fort Laramie on his
head, to the utter bewilderment of all the Indians. He was also
noted as the wit of the Fort; and as he had considerable humor and
abundant vivacity, he contributed more that night to the liveliness
of the camp than all the rest of the party put together. At one
instant he would be kneeling by Delorier, instructing him in the true
method of frying antelope steaks, then he would come and seat himself
at our side, dilating upon the orthodox fashion of braiding up a
horse's tail, telling apocryphal stories how he had killed a buffalo
bull with a knife, having first cut off his tail when at full speed,
or relating whimsical anecdotes of the bourgeois Papin. At last he
snatched up a volume of Shakespeare that was lying on the grass, and
halted and stumbled through a line or two to prove that he could
read.
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