Beyond the Old Frontier

THE CH

een years old, who, in 1846, travelled westward from St. Louis with a train led by Mr. St. Vrain, of the firm of Bent, St. Vrain & Co., and after some time

th of that traversed by him who was to become one of the greatest historians of America. The charm of each volume lies in its freshness. Neither238 could have been written except by one who saw things with the enthusiastic eyes of youth, who entered upon each adventure with

ed with the firm of Pierre Chouteau, Jr., & Co., so well known in the fur trade of the West. Here, t

the trip before him was the "laying in a good store of caps, fine glazed powder, etc.," but in those days the percussion cap was sti

se one was Drinker, a Cincinnati editor; another, a Mr. Chadwick. Besides these there were Ge

pen. Here, too, he saw his first Indians, the Wyandottes, who, in 1843, had been moved westward from their homes in Ohio. Here, of cou

any, as drivers of the teams. As I have ever been a lover of sweet, simple music, their beautiful and piq

f which Drinker and I were in need; one of which, Frank De Lisle, 'le maitre de wagon,' sold me for fifty dollars, whom, from his fanciful color, brown and white spots, and

our expert Mexican, Bias, their heads drawn up to a wagon wheel, with scarce two inches of spare rope to relax the tight noose on their necks, and starved for twenty-four hours to subdue their fiery tempers; then harnessed to a heavy wagon, lashed unmerciful

pots among the teams and the wagons. A few days later came the first rain-storm-a dismal occasion to the young traveller on the plains. There are few old plainsmen but can still recall something of the discomfort of a long day's travel in the storm; of the camping at night with clothing thoroughly wet and bodies thoroughly chilled, and the sitting or lying, or perhaps even sleeping in the wet

westward where hardwood could be procured, the men felled hickories and oaks for spare axle-trees, and swung the pieces under their w

iven by De Lisle; all rise, and, in half an hour, the oxen are yoked, hitched and started. For the purpose of bringing everything within a small compass, the wagons are corralled; that is, arranged in the form of a pen, when camp is made; and as

given to all sorts of malicious dodging; perhaps I have not worked myself242 into a pr

they are the same garrulous, careless fellows; generally caroling in honor of some brunette Vide Poche, or St. Louis Creole beauty, or lauding, in the words of their ancestry, the soft skies and grateful wine of La Belle France, occasionally uttering a sac

after camp was made. More and more buffalo were seen, and before long we hear of the plain literally covered with them, and now, as buffalo were killed more often, Garrard is introduced to a prairie dish which no one will ever eat again. He s

ould bring inquiring friends. Speaking of hostile Indians, reminds me of a question related by one of our men: at a party, in a Missour

hin fifteen feet of the nearest I raised my rifle half way to the face and fired. Reloading, still in hot pursuit (tough work to load on a full run), I followed, though without catching up. One feels a delightfully wild sensation when in pursuit of a band of buffalo, on a fleet horse, with a good rifle, and without a

' (I had, in my eagerness, leaned forward in the saddle, and a stumble of the horse would h

neither knew how to shoot nor where to shoot, and our author na?vely remarks, after one of his chases: "To look at a buffalo, one w

meat' of him; crawling up close, the buffalo scented him and pitched about every way, too blind to travel straight or fast. Chad fired; the mad animal, directed by the rifle report, charged. How they did 'lic

LAKE JESSIE, UPP

hrough245 which they passed, and of the odd ways of the dogs and the curious apparent companionship or at least co-habitation of the snakes and the prairie owls with them. As they passed through this reg

carried strapped to the saddle, and, with backs to the wind, talked in a low tone, until hearing Mr. St. Vrain's gun, when we remounted. Again and again the rifle was heard, in hasty succession, and hastening to him, we found a fat cow stretched, and a wounded male limping slowly off. The animals were tied to the horns of our cow; and, with butcher knives, we divested the body of its fine coat; but, finding myself a 'green hand,' at least not an ad

nd mouth, he made the most ferocious looking object it is possible to conceive; and, if nurses could portray to obstinate

r his tail; and before the bridle rein could be tightened, ran some rods; but, turning his head, and setting the rowels of my spurs in his flanks, I dashed up within thirty feet of the bull; and at the crack of the gun, the 'poor buffler' dropped his head, his

er covering the march through the buffalo range!247

licious roast. Among others, boudins were roasting without any previous culinary operation, but the tying of both ends, to prevent the fat, as it was liquified, from wasting; and when pronounced 'good' by the hungry, impatient j

poor bull" from "fat cow"; freeze into it, boys!' And all fall to, with ready kn

up with the one absorbing thought of satisfying our relentless appetites; progressing in the work of demolition, our eyes closed with ineffable bliss. Talk of an emperor's table-why, they cou

s had never been at war with the white people, and they were on terms of especial friendliness with Bent and St. Vrain, from whose trading posts they obtained their supplies. A little later, on the way to Bent's Fort, they passed a Cheyenne medicine lodge, with its sweat-house, and later still Indian graves on scaffo

ohn Smith, who, with his wife, his little boy Jack, and a Ca

e with them for robes. Early in his life on the plains he had married a Cheyenne woman and established intimate relations with the tribe, among whom he remained for many years. He was present in the camp of the Cheyennes during the Chivington massacre at Sand Creek, in 1864, at which time his son, Jack, the child mention

the cone-shaped lodges of the village came in sight, to be reached a few hours later. Riding into the camp, they halted at the lodge of one of the principal men, and unsaddling and unpacking their animals there, entered it with their goods, and according to custom established themselves in the250 back part, which was at once given up to them by the host. And now began an entirely new li

ons. Their dresses were made of buckskin, high at the neck, short sleeves, or rather none at all, fitting loosely, and reaching obliquely to the knee, giving a relieved, Diana look to the costume; the edges scalloped, worked with beads, and fringed. From the knee, downward, the limb was encased in a tightly fitting leggin, terminating in a neat moccasin-both

ueerly, trotting industriously under their burdens; and, judging from a small stock of canine physiological informa

in the water, was amusing; the little fellows, holding their breaths, not daring to cry, looked imploringly at their inexorable mother

tting their squaws unpack the animals, pitch the lodges, build fires, arrange the robes, and, when all was ready, these 'lords of creation' dispersed to their several homes to wait until their patient and enduring spouses prepared some food. I was provoked, nay, angry, to see the lazy, overgrown men,

nd here is a glimpse of the training received by a baby, which should fit him for the hardships th

half frozen. How he would laugh and brighten up, as he felt the warmth of the fire! Being a boy, the parents have great hopes of him as a brave and chief (

must be horrible, saying that buffalo meat was unquestionably the most delicate food in this or any other country. Smith agreed that buffalo was the best, but that dog meat was the next, a

pening at the top of the cone; my thoughts carrying me momentarily everywhere; now home; now enjoying some choice edible, or, seated by a pleasant friend, conversing; in short, my mind, like the harp in Alexander's feast, the chords of which, touched by the magic hand of memory, or flight of fancy, al

' promptly r

urprise, at the name. 'Terra

m hard-shell l

Ye

e critters in and cook 'em in the shell alive-those stewi

that's a fact, wagh!

o us, our butcher knives were in immediate requisition. Taking a piece, with hungry avidity, which Smith handed me, without thought, as to what part of the terrapin it was, I ate it with much gusto, calling 'for more.' It was extremely good, and I spoke of the delicacy of the meat,

The stupefaction into which I was thrown by the revolting announcement, only increas

uld smell as sweet,' and that it would be prejudice to stop, I broke the shackles of deep-rooted antipathy to the255 canine breed, and, putting a choice morceau on top of that already swallowed, ever afte

hich caused his auditors to shriek with laughter. He watched them at the sign language, amused them with games and the few books which he possessed, wen

ds; he 'shu-ed' and shouted, and swore, but Jack had gone too far to be easily pacified. He then sent for a bucket of water from the river, and poured cupfull after cupfull on Jack, who stamped and screamed, and bit, in his puny rage. Notwithstanding, the icy stream slowly descended until the bucket was emptied, another was sent for, and again and again the256 cup was rep

days the white trader in the Indian camp was regarded as a great man, and was treated with respect, to retain which he carried himself with much dignity. But Garrard cared nothing for this respect, and mad

any dances to celebrate257 the victory and to rejoice over the triumph that the tribe had made over its enemies. "The drum, at night, sent forth its monotony of hollow sound, and our Mexican, Pedro, and I, directed by the booming, entered a lodge, vacated for the purpose, full of young men and squaws, following one another in a continuous circle, keeping the left knee stiff, and bending the right with a half-forward, half-nega

illiant with vermillion; others were blacked, their robes, leggins and skin dresses, glittering with beads and porcupine quill work. Rings and bracelets of shining brass encircled their taper arms and fingers, and shells dangled from their ears. Indeed, all t

was one hundred and fifty feet in diameter. There Appolonian emulators chanted the great deeds performed by the Cheyenne warriors; as they ended, the dying strain was caught up by the hundreds of the outside circle, who, in fast-swelling, loud tones, poured out the burden of their song. At this juncture, the march was quickened, the scalps of the slain were borne aloft and shaken in wild delight, and shrill warnotes, risi

n, I sat259 down near 'Old Bark,' and smoked death and its concomitant train of evils to those audac

s, and porcupine; the mixture of tobacco and bark, was pr

NNE IND

and soon after, William Bent, with twenty-three men, started for the Mexican settlements. They passed far to the southward of Pike's Peak, met a few United States soldiers and volunteers, and toward the middle of February were joined by Sublette, with two companions, who reported forty thousand men enlisted for Mexico. Toiling through the mountains in true w

6

CK BY C

d the boy, with his eighteenth birthday only just behind him, paints in one of the last chapters of his book a spirited picture of the alarms, surprises, narrow escapes, and swift changes of an Indian raid on the moving wago

agued Camanches and Arapahoes, whose propinquity was as well-known as dreaded, they would not be str

ing ears of the flagging mules betokened weariness, objects were seen directly before us in the trace. Keen

'-and, striking spurs into his large brown California mule, he loped forward, followed by some eight or ten of us. We soon ascertained, beyond a doubt, enough danger to lessen our party to five-the colonel, Barton, Brown, McCarty,

n restored order. The wagons, mules, and men advanced to the brow of the hill and made a coral: that is, the two front wagons came together, and the inside forewheels of those following, were made to touch the outside hindwheel of the one262 immediately in front. In this manner, a secure but irregular oval pen was formed, into which were driven the oxen, the caballada, and the riding animals, thus leaving the men free to devote their whole attention to the enemy. There was little noise, but much alacrity, and considerable trepidation among th

ach man to his liking. Lieutenant Brown, with five men, took a position on a knoll fifty yards from us, and kept up an incessant firing, which was warmly reciprocated by the foe. It became exciting; the warriors galloping furiously,263 bent down, now on this side, now on that, until nothing of their person could be seen but the heel and part of the leg thrown across the cantle of the saddl

long, in no small hurry, with three of the outraged foe at his heels, who were in return repelled at fullest speed by us. A ball overhead, causes even the coolest man to dodge involuntarily, however surely he may know that t

d the charge been made before the coral was formed, they would have scalped the whole party, for our force was small,264 and composed for

dbuttes beyond the river. They were evidently intending to make another descent, on the first fair opportunity. Our flankguards were on the alert, and the day ended without a conf

colonel's saddle, as I collected it, and he was already loaded with sufficient265 to boil our cup of coffee and fry the slice of pork for which we were well prepared by several hours' fasting, when, all at once, the three horsemen strung out in a straight shoot for the wagons, without a word to us. 'Hallo!' shouted we, 'what's your hurry?' The fast receding men said nothing, but pointed to the southwest, in which direction there approached, at full speed, a war-party of about forty, endeavoring to cut us off from the wagons which were then coralling in great confusion. Dusky figures, and light puffs of smoke, showed faintly in the distance, the attack on the straggling train. No time was to be lost in rejoining our company,

e Colonel to the frightened trad

nd. The colonel aimed hastily, fired, and galloped back to the coral. I spurred on to cover Coolidge's retreat, who came lumbering with the owgh-owgh-he-a of his pursuers close to his ear. When I drew rein, and placed it between my teeth, my mule, contrary to all precedent and custom, stood stock still, while I took steady aim, at the nearest savage, who, flying along with eager look and harsh yell, was striving to make a sure blow. His band followed on his track, at distances various as their horses' speed. Coolidge, with eyes staring with fright, bent close down to his mule's

crossed the river in a trot, which was quickened into a charge as they reached the bank, and, at one hundred and fifty yards distance, they opened their fire. For a few minutes, rifles, warwhoops, escopetas, hurrahs, contended in discordant strife-a tumult of wild sounds. But they could not stand our well-directed fire, and fell back. They left no dead on the field. This is never done, and the only token of the effect of our balls was, by the wounded precipitately leaving the immediate scene of action. To give straightout evidence of injury, by show of pain, or otherwise, is a breach of their code of h

being too well guarded, they, after many feints, fell back. I sat flat on the ground, my rifle resting on the spoke of a wagon-wheel-firing as often as an Indian came within range-and, when the painted, warwhooping target vamosed for safer quarters, at the crack of the gun, certainly n

eatly-dressed skin, that hung at his neck, which we picked up after the fight, as our only trophy. They now tossed their balls into us from a long distance, by elevating their pieces, being convinced that our coral could not be broken without great loss of life. Two teamsters, about this time gett

our cussed cowardice,' draw

ed Charley McCarty. 'Feel if you haven't got a hole in you

dropping with thirst. The savages filed slowly up the sand buttes on the other

oped along in the bright summer morning. Our exposed position, and the continual expectation of the Camanche yell, kept us excited wildly enough, although no foe delayed our march. By noontide, the saddles were off-the wagons coralled, and the tent pitched once more. Among the remains of the old camps, I found the skull and skeleton of an Indian. The sinews, well gnawed by the

our shirts and buckskins in one hand. At the camp we found a government train, some traders' wagons, any quantity of gaping men, and a whitewoman-a real whitewoman! and we ga

r thirty of us ran down to intercept them as they crossed the creek. A faint cry of Indians! Indians! Indians! from the camp reached those nearest the muleguard, and by them it was repeated and wafted on to us, who, hardly knowing whether to cache in the undergrowth, or to run for camp, stood for a moment undecided, and then 'streaked it' for the wagons. Turning our eyes to the furthest train on the hill, we perceiv

the stream, yells were heard, then the dusky forms of a few Indians were seen; and, by the time we were within long gunshot, some sixty were among the luckless herd, goading them into a lumbering gallop. The colonel's party led the van, and would have saved the cattle, had the teamsters supported them. But, they hanging back, we told them that their oxen might go to --. Hurrying back to camp, Colonel Russell mounted his force and went in pursuit; but, in vain, we tried to repair the loss that negligence and cowardice had effected. Our ride rescued only thirty oxen, and gave us a view of the retreating savages, thrusting their lances into the remainder. In that unfortunate

and the rest he cached. The government people crowded their 'kits' and provision in three wagons; and, toward evening of the next day, we crossed the creek which had now subsided, leaving twenty-six wagons and any amount of extras, to the Indians and the wolves. Toward sundown, as we were hitching up to travel in the night, a party of dragoons, filing down the hill,

ashion, and, we can fancy, gave the boy material274 fo

we ourselves perhaps knew; men with whose sons and daughters we have lived as contemporaries. But the generation that knew these old-timers, Carson, Bridger, Jack Robinson, Jim and John Bake

ric only, for those who have known them will also have crossed the Great Div