Chapter 15

A hunt after hunters Hungry times A voracious repast Wintry

weather Godin's River Splendid winter scene on the great Lava

Plain of Snake River Severe travelling and tramping in the

snow Manoeuvres of a solitary Indian horseman Encampment on Snake

River Banneck Indians The horse chief His charmed life.

THE continued absence of Matthieu and his party had, by this

time, caused great uneasiness in the mind of Captain Bonneville;

and, finding there was no dependence to be placed upon the

perseverance and courage of scouting parties in so perilous a

quest, he determined to set out himself on the search, and to

keep on until he should ascertain something of the object of his

solicitude.

Accordingly on the 20th December he left the camp, accompanied by

thirteen stark trappers and hunters, all well mounted and armed

for dangerous enterprise. On the following morning they passed

out at the head of the mountain gorge and sallied forth into the

open plain. As they confidently expected a brush with the

Blackfeet, or some other predatory horde, they moved with great

circumspection, and kept vigilant watch in their encampments.

In the course of another day they left the main branch of Salmon

River, and proceeded south toward a pass called John Day's

defile. It was severe and arduous travelling. The plains were

swept by keen and bitter blasts of wintry wind; the ground was

generally covered with snow, game was scarce, so that hunger

generally prevailed in the camp, while the want of pasturage soon

began to manifest itself in the declining vigor of the horses.

The party had scarcely encamped on the afternoon of the 28th,

when two of the hunters who had sallied forth in quest of game

came galloping back in great alarm. While hunting they had

perceived a party of savages, evidently manoeuvring to cut them

off from the camp; and nothing had saved them from being

entrapped but the speed of their horses.

These tidings struck dismay into the camp. Captain Bonneville

endeavored to reassure his men by representing the position of

their encampment, and its capability of defence. He then ordered

the horses to be driven in and picketed, and threw up a rough

breastwork of fallen trunks of trees and the vegetable rubbish of

the wilderness. Within this barrier was maintained a vigilant

watch throughout the night, which passed away without alarm. At

early dawn they scrutinized the surrounding plain, to discover

whether any enemies had been lurking about during the night; not

a foot-print, however, was to be discovered in the coarse gravel

with which the plain was covered.

Hunger now began to cause more uneasiness than the apprehensions

of surrounding enemies. After marching a few miles they encamped

at the foot of a mountain, in hopes of finding buffalo. It was

not until the next day that they discovered a pair of fine bulls

on the edge of the plain, among rocks and ravines. Having now

been two days and a half without a mouthful of food, they took

especial care that these animals should not escape them. While

some of the surest marksmen advanced cautiously with their rifles

into the rough ground, four of the best mounted horsemen took

their stations in the plain, to run the bulls down should they

only be maimed.

The buffalo were wounded and set off in headlong flight. The

half-famished horses were too weak to overtake them on the frozen

ground, but succeeded in driving them on the ice, where they

slipped and fell, and were easily dispatched. The hunters loaded

themselves with beef for present and future supply, and then

returned and encamped at the last nights's fire. Here they

passed the remainder of the day, cooking and eating with a

voracity proportioned to previous starvation, forgetting in the

hearty revel of the moment the certain dangers with which they

were environed.

The cravings of hunger being satisfied, they now began to debate

about their further progress. The men were much disheartened by

the hardships they had already endured. Indeed, two who had been

in the rear guard, taking advantage of their position, had

deserted and returned to the lodges of the Nez Perces. The

prospect ahead was enough to stagger the stoutest heart. They

were in the dead of winter. As far as the eye could reach the

wild landscape was wrapped in snow, which was evidently deepening

as they advanced. Over this they would have to toil, with the

icy wind blowing in their faces: their horses might give out

through want of pasturage, and they themselves must expect

intervals of horrible famine like that they had already

experienced.

With Captain Bonneville, however, perseverance was a matter of

pride; and, having undertaken this enterprise, nothing could turn

him back until it was accomplished: though he declares that, had

he anticipated the difficulties and sufferings which attended it,

he should have flinched from the undertaking.

Onward, therefore, the little band urged their way, keeping along

the course of a stream called John Day's Creek. The cold was so

intense that they had frequently to dismount and travel on foot,

lest they should freeze in their saddles. The days which at this

season are short enough even in the open prairies, were narrowed

to a few hours by the high mountains, which allowed the

travellers but a brief enjoyment of the cheering rays of the sun.

The snow was generally at least twenty inches in depth, and in

many places much more: those who dismounted had to beat their way

with toilsome steps. Eight miles were considered a good day's

journey. The horses were almost famished; for the herbage was

covered by the deep snow, so that they had nothing to subsist

upon but scanty wisps of the dry bunch grass which peered above

the surface, and the small branches and twigs of frozen willows

and wormwood.

In this way they urged their slow and painful course to the south

down John Day's Creek, until it lost itself in a swamp. Here they

encamped upon the ice among stiffened willows, where they were

obliged to beat down and clear away the snow to procure pasturage

for their horses.

Hence they toiled on to Godin River; so called after an Iroquois

hunter in the service of Sublette, who was murdered there by the

Blackfeet. Many of the features of this remote wilderness are

thus named after scenes of violence and bloodshed that occurred

to the early pioneers. It was an act of filial vengeance on the

part of Godin's son Antoine that, as the reader may recollect,

brought on the recent battle at Pierre's Hole.

From Godin's River, Captain Bonneville and his followers came out

upon the plain of the Three Butes, so called from three singular

and isolated hills that rise from the midst. It is a part of the

great desert of Snake River, one of the most remarkable tracts

beyond the mountains. Could they have experienced a respite from

their sufferings and anxieties, the immense landscape spread out

before them was calculated to inspire admiration. Winter has its

beauties and glories as well as summer; and Captain Bonneville

had the soul to appreciate them.

Far away, says he, over the vast plains, and up the steep sides

of the lofty mountains, the snow lay spread in dazzling

whiteness: and whenever the sun emerged in the morning above the

giant peaks, or burst forth from among clouds in his midday

course, mountain and dell, glazed rock and frosted tree, glowed

and sparkled with surpassing lustre. The tall pines seemed

sprinkled with a silver dust, and the willows, studded with

minute icicles reflecting the prismatic rays, brought to mind the

fairy trees conjured up by the caliph's story-teller to adorn his

vale of diamonds.

The poor wanderers, however, nearly starved with hunger and cold,

were in no mood to enjoy the glories of these brilliant scenes;

though they stamped pictures on their memory which have been

recalled with delight in more genial situations.

Encamping at the west Bute, they found a place swept by the

winds, so that it was bare of snow, and there was abundance of

bunch grass. Here the horses were turned loose to graze

throughout the night. Though for once they had ample pasturage,

yet the keen winds were so intense that, in the morning, a mule

was found frozen to death. The trappers gathered round and

mourned over him as over a cherished friend. They feared their

half-famished horses would soon share his fate, for there seemed

scarce blood enough left in their veins to withstand the freezing

cold. To beat the way further through the snow with these

enfeebled animals seemed next to impossible; and despondency

began to creep over their hearts, when, fortunately, they

discovered a trail made by some hunting party. Into this they

immediately entered, and proceeded with less difficulty. Shortly

afterward, a fine buffalo bull came bounding across the snow and

was instantly brought down by the hunters. A fire was soon

blazing and crackling, and an ample repast soon cooked, and

sooner dispatched; after which they made some further progress

and then encamped. One of the men reached the camp nearly frozen

to death; but good cheer and a blazing fire gradually restored

life, and put his blood in circulation.

Having now a beaten path, they proceeded the next morning with

more facility; indeed, the snow decreased in depth as they

receded from the mountains, and the temperature became more mild.

In the course of the day they discovered a solitary horseman

hovering at a distance before them on the plain. They spurred on

to overtake him; but he was better mounted on a fresher steed,

and kept at a wary distance, reconnoitring them with evident

distrust; for the wild dress of the free trappers, their

leggings, blankets, and cloth caps garnished with fur and topped

off with feathers, even their very elf-locks and weather-bronzed

complexions, gave them the look of Indians rather than white men,

and made him mistake them for a war party of some hostile tribe.

After much manoeuvring, the wild horseman was at length brought

to a parley; but even then he conducted himself with the caution

of a knowing prowler of the prairies. Dismounting from his horse,

and using him as a breastwork, he levelled his gun across his

back, and, thus prepared for defence like a wary cruiser upon the

high seas, he permitted himself to be approached within speaking

distance.

He proved to be an Indian of the Banneck tribe, belonging to a

band at no great distance. It was some time before he could be

persuaded that he was conversing with a party of white men and

induced to lay aside his reserve and join them. He then gave them

the interesting intelligence that there were two companies of

white men encamped in the neighborhood. This was cheering news to

Captain Bonneville; who hoped to find in one of them the

long-sought party of Matthieu. Pushing forward, therefore, with

renovated spirits, he reached Snake River by nightfall, and there

fixed his encampment.

Early the next morning (13th January, 1833) , diligent search was

made about the neighborhood for traces of the reported parties of

white men. An encampment was soon discovered about four miles

farther up the river, in which Captain Bonneville to his great

joy found two of Matthieu's men, from whom he learned that the

rest of his party would be there in the course of a few days. It

was a matter of great pride and selfgratulation to Captain

Bonneville that he had thus accomplished his dreary and doubtful

enterprise; and he determined to pass some time in this

encampment, both to await the return of Matthieu, and to give

needful repose to men and horses.

It was, in fact, one of the most eligible and delightful

wintering grounds in that whole range of country. The Snake River

here wound its devious way between low banks through the great

plain of the Three Butes; and was bordered by wide and fertile

meadows. It was studded with islands which, like the alluvial

bottoms, were covered with groves of cotton-wood, thickets of

willow, tracts of good lowland grass, and abundance of green

rushes. The adjacent plains were so vast in extent that no single

band of Indians could drive the buffalo out of them; nor was the

snow of sufficient depth to give any serious inconvenience.

Indeed, during the sojourn of Captain Bonneville in this

neighborhood, which was in the heart of winter, he found the

weather, with the exception of a few cold and stormy days,

generally mild and pleasant, freezing a little at night but

invariably thawing with the morning's sun-resembling the spring

weather in the middle parts of the United States.

The lofty range of the Three Tetons, those great landmarks of the

Rocky Mountains rising in the east and circling away to the north

and west of the great plain of Snake River, and the mountains of

Salt River and Portneuf toward the south, catch the earliest

falls of snow. Their white robes lengthen as the winter advances,

and spread themselves far into the plain, driving the buffalo in

herds to the banks of the river in quest of food; where they are

easily slain in great numbers.

Such were the palpable advantages of this winter encampment;

added to which, it was secure from the prowlings and plunderings

of any petty band of roving Blackfeet, the difficulties of

retreat rendering it unwise for those crafty depredators to

venture an attack unless with an overpowering force.

About ten miles below the encampment lay the Banneck Indians;

numbering about one hundred and twenty lodges. They are brave and

cunning warriors and deadly foes of the Blackfeet, whom they

easily overcome in battles where their forces are equal. They are

not vengeful and enterprising in warfare, however; seldom sending

war parties to attack the Blackfeet towns, but contenting

themselves with defending their own territories and house. About

one third of their warriors are armed with fusees, the rest with

bows and arrows.

As soon as the spring opens they move down the right bank of

Snake River and encamp at the heads of the Boisee and Payette.

Here their horses wax fat on good pasturage, while the tribe

revels in plenty upon the flesh of deer, elk, bear, and beaver.

They then descend a little further, and are met by the Lower Nez

Perces, with whom they trade for horses; giving in exchange

beaver, buffalo, and buffalo robes. Hence they strike upon the

tributary streams on the left bank of Snake River, and encamp at

the rise of the Portneuf and Blackfoot streams, in the buffalo

range. Their horses, although of the Nez Perce breed, are

inferior to the parent stock from being ridden at too early an

age, being often bought when but two years old and immediately

put to hard work. They have fewer horses, also, than most of

these migratory tribes.

At the time that Captain Bonneville came into the neighborhood of

these Indians, they were all in mourning for their chief,

surnamed The Horse. This chief was said to possess a charmed

life, or rather, to be invulnerable to lead; no bullet having

ever hit him, though he had been in repeated battles, and often

shot at by the surest marksmen. He had shown great magnanimity in

his intercourse with the white men. One of the great men of his

family had been slain in an attack upon a band of trappers

passing through the territories of his tribe. Vengeance had been

sworn by the Bannecks; but The Horse interfered, declaring

himself the friend of white men and, having great influence and

authority among his people, he compelled them to forcgo all

vindictive plans and to conduct themselves amicably whenever they

came in contact with the traders.

This chief had bravely fallen in resisting an attack made by the

Blackfeet upon his tribe, while encamped at the head of Godin

River. His fall in nowise lessened the faith of his people in his

charmed life; for they declared that it was not a bullet which

laid him low, but a bit of horn which had been shot into him by

some Blackfoot marksman aware, no doubt, of the inefficacy of

lead. Since his death there was no one with sufficient influence

over the tribe to restrain the wild and predatory propensities of

the young men. The consequence was they had become troublesome

and dangerous neighbors, openly friendly for the sake of traffic,

but disposed to commit secret depredations and to molest any

small party that might fall within their reach.