He will get his discharge in three days,
and it is thought that he was after a suit of citizen clothes of the
doctor's. Not so very long ago he was their striker. No one in the
garrison has ever heard of an enlisted man troubling the quarters of
an officer, and it is something that rarely occurs. I spend every
night with Mrs. Norton now, who seems to have great confidence in my
ability to protect her, as I can use a revolver so well. She calmly
sleeps on, while I remain awake listening for footsteps. The fact of
my having been at a military post when it was attacked by
Indians - that a man was murdered directly under my window, when I
heard every shot, every moan - and my having had two unpleasant
experiences with horse thieves, has not been conducive to normal
nerves after dark.
During all the commotion at Mrs. Norton's the night the man got in her
house, her Chinaman did not appear. One of the officers went to his
room in search of the burglar and found him - the Chinaman - sitting up
in his bed, almost white from fear. He confessed to having heard some
one in the kitchen, and when asked why he did not go out to see who it
was, indignantly replied, "What for? - he go way, what for I see him?"
I feel completely upset without a good saddle horse. George is
developing quite a little speed in single harness, but I do not care
for driving - feel too much as though I was part of the little buggy
instead of the horse. Major and Mrs. Stokes are expected soon from the
East, and I shall be so glad to have my old neighbors back.
CAMP ON BIRCH CREEK, NEAR PIEGAN AGENCY, MONTANA TERRITORY,
September, 1882.
BY this time you must have become accustomed to getting letters from
all sorts of out-of-the-way places, therefore I will not weary you
with long explanations, but simply say that Major Stokes and Faye sent
for Mrs. Stokes and me to come to camp, thinking to give us a pleasant
little outing. We came over with the paymaster and his escort. Major
Carpenter seemed delighted to have us with him, and naturally Mrs.
Stokes and I were in a humor to enjoy everything. We brought a nice
little luncheon with us for everybody - that is, everyone in the
ambulance. The escort of enlisted men were in a wagon back of us, but
the officer in charge was with us.
The Indians have quieted down, and several of the officers have gone
on leave, so with the two companies now here there are only Major
Stokes, who is in command, Faye, Lieutenant Todd, and Doctor Norton.
Mrs. Stokes has seen much of camp life, and enjoys it now and then as
much as I do. The importance of our husbands as hosts - their many
efforts to make us comfortable and entertain us - is amusing, yet very
lovely. They give us no rest whatever, but as soon as we return from
one little excursion another is immediately proposed. There is a
little spring wagon in camp with two seats, and there are two fine
mules to pull it, and with this really comfortable turn-out we drive
about the country. Major Stokes is military inspector of supplies at
this agency, and every Piegan knows him, so when we meet Indians, as
we do often, there is always a powwow.
Three days ago we packed the little wagon with wraps and other things,
and Major and Mrs. Stokes, Faye, and I started for a two days' outing
at a little lake that is nestled far up on the side of a mountain. It
is about ten miles from here. There is only a wagon trail leading to
it, and as you go on up and up, and see nothing but rocks and trees,
it would never occur to you that the steep slope of the mountain could
be broken, that a lake of good size could be hidden on its side. You
do not get a glimpse of it once, until you drive between the bushes
and boulders that border its banks, and then it is all before you in
amazing beauty. The reflections are wonderful, the high lights showing
with exquisite sharpness against the dark green and purple depths of
the clear, spring water.
The lake is fearfully deep - the Indians insist that in places it is
bottomless - and it is teeming with trout, the most delicious mountain
trout that can be caught any place, and which come up so cold one can
easily fancy there is an iceberg somewhere down below. Some of these
fish are fourteen or more inches long.
It was rather late in the afternoon when we reached the lake, so we
hurriedly got ourselves ready for fishing, for we were thinking of a
trout dinner. Four enlisted men had followed us with a wagon, in which
were our tents, bedding, and boxes of provisions, and these men busied
themselves at once by putting up the little tents and making
preparations for dinner, and we were anxious to get enough fish for
their dinner as well as our own. At a little landing we found two
row-boats, and getting in these we were soon out on the lake.
If one goes to Fish Lake just for sport, and can be contented with
taking in two or three fish during an all day's hard work, flies
should be used always, but if one gets up there when the shadows are
long and one's dinner is depending upon the fish caught, one might as
well begin at once with grasshoppers - at least, that is what I did. I
carried a box of fine yellow grasshoppers up with me, and I cast one
over before the boat had fairly settled in position.
