Deerfoot in the Mountains, Edward Sylvester Ellis [e book reader online .txt] 📗

expedition. The men had to cut their way in many places through the brush, clamber over jagged stones and climb such precipitous walls that several of their horses were crippled. Then snow began falling and the nights became very cold. Game seemed to have deserted the country, and the sufferers had to eat all their supply of flour and parched corn. Beginning with September 14, they were obliged to kill and eat some of their horses, and even at that had to be very sparing or the supply would have been exhausted.
Descending the western side of the mountains, however, they found abundant edible roots, dried salmon and dried berries at the Indian villages. The famishing men feasted so ravenously that most of them became ill. New canoes were constructed, and leaving their horses with a chief they started down the Clearwater and reached the Columbia on October 16. Ten days were occupied in making the portage of the falls and rapids, and on the morning of November 7, when the fog lifted, they saw in the distance the Pacific Ocean.
A month later the party went into winter quarters. It rained eternally, the weather was chilly and their condition for a long time was miserable in the extreme. The shelter built for themselves was called Fort Clatsop. There they remained until March 23, 1806, when the explorers set out on their return journey. They had to face difficulties, hardships and sufferings again, but they had learned from experience and were better prepared to do so. They embarked on the Yellowstone July 24, and ten days later reached its junction with the Missouri. At this point the men were driven almost frantic by the mosquitoes. At midday, September 23, 1806, they arrived at St. Louis, where the whole town turned out to welcome them. There the party was disbanded, and, passing to their various destinations, the Lewis and Clark expedition took its place in history.
During the latter part of the chat between Lewis and Clark, Deerfoot came quietly forward and sat down beside the Shelton boys. He listened closely to all that was said. When the officers asked questions, the Shawanoe left the answers to the brothers. But more than once they were in doubt, and turned to him for aid. His prompt response in every instance was noticed by the officers, who, after a time, addressed their questions almost wholly to him.
Finally, at a late hour, the visitors wrapped themselves in their blankets and stretched out on the ground, with their feet turned toward the blaze. The explorers always maintained a watch, for though they felt no fear of the Indians they were subject to unpleasant visits, as in the case when a bison swam a river and went plunging like a steam engine through the camp. Moreover, the men had seen enough of the grizzly bear to hold him in respectful awe, and they did not intend to have any of the brutes steal a march upon them.
The morning was clear and pleasant, and the explorers were astir at an early hour. A breakfast was made from catfish and goose, and a cordial farewell took place. The boys wished Captains Lewis and Clark the best of fortune, and Lewis complimented them, and especially Deerfoot, for the information they had given him of the region through which they expected to force their way. In return, Lewis advised his guests to bear directly to the south and not to follow the course of the Missouri, as he and his company had done. In fact, it would have been absurd for the three to adopt any other plan. They could make no use of the current because they had no boats, and if they procured them from the Indians they could not be made to carry the horses. The distance was much greater by the Lewis and Clark route, which held no attractions to our friends. When, therefore, Victor Shelton told Captain Lewis that his advice would be followed, he said that which had been determined upon before the meeting of the two parties.


CHAPTER XXIV.
OVERBOARD.
Our friends, after parting with the Lewis and Clark expedition, pressed southward, in search of a milder climate and a more direct route to their homes. They were traversing a region broken by many streams, detached mountain spurs and ranges of lofty elevation. Black Butte, as it is known to-day, in Dawson County, Montana, was left on the left, after which they rode through the valley of Little Porcupine Creek to the Yellowstone, which was crossed with considerable difficulty. Turning more to the east, they passed the rough, precipitous section, the scene many years afterward of the appalling Custer massacre, and now an immense Indian reservation, and, entering the present State of Wyoming, skirted the foothills of the well-known Big Horn range. Here the scenery was of the grandest character. Had the party not been accustomed for months to such impressive exhibitions of the majesty of nature, they could have spent weeks of enjoyment where the like is found in few parts of the world. They pushed on, however, not making what might be termed a real halt until they came to the Laramie Mountains, almost the equal of the former in picturesque beauty.
By this time the unremitting hard work began to tell upon the horses. Zigzag showed slight lameness, and Jack, the animal ridden by George Shelton, surely needed rest. Only Whirlwind continued as powerful, active and fresh as ever. Deerfoot and the boys always walked a number of miles each day, not only for the sake of the horses, but to gain the exercise each needed. Deerfoot ran races with Whirlwind, who was inconsiderate enough to beat him every time. Sometimes they frolicked like a couple of boys. The Shawanoe delighted to tease the noble creature, who delighted to have him do so. One habit of the youth was to pretend he was offended with the stallion. He would turn his back upon him and repel his advances toward a reconciliation. Whirlwind would poke his nose first over one shoulder and then the other, rubbing it against the cheek of Deerfoot. If the latter sulked too long, Whirlwind would show his impatience by flirting his head against that of the youth, whirling about, kicking up his heels and galloping off. No words could have said more plainly:
"I don't care. Pout all you want to. I shan't coax you any more. I haven't much opinion of you anyway."
And then Deerfoot had to make peace with his offended majesty. But the stallion never held off long, and George and Victor laughed at the antics of the couple.
The halt of which I have spoken was made one afternoon, near the southern end of the Laramie range. No more favorable spot could have been selected, for the grass was abundant and of the best quality. A stream of considerable size issued from the mountains and flowing northeast joined the North Platte, a hundred miles away, and there was enough timber to yield all the fuel needed. The horses were unsaddled and unbridled, the pack removed from the back of Zigzag and the three owners were at liberty to do whatever they chose to pass away the hours. It was so late that they stayed in camp till morning, when it was decided to set off on a hunt, Deerfoot going by himself, while the brothers, as usual, kept company.
There had hardly been a day since parting from Lewis and Clark that our friends had not seen Indians or signs of them. Sometimes it was the smoke of their camp fires in the distance, and then they caught sight of a band of horsemen, who might number three or four or five times as many warriors. It was the rule of Deerfoot to avoid coming in contact with these wanderers, so long as he could do so without rousing their suspicion by his actions. While in a general way the strangers could be counted upon as friendly, they contained a ratio of lawless if not desperate characters, who were liable to be tempted by the hope of plunder. Whirlwind was quite sure to attract envious eyes. Moreover, the party was now in a region which was visited, more or less, by trappers and hunters in the employ of fur companies, or who operated independently. The majority of these men were rough and reckless of the rights of others. They had little faith in the Golden Rule where Indians were concerned, and affrays between them and the native inhabitants were numerous. Many a white man who went into the mountains never came out again. He fell a victim to his own wrongdoing and received the fate he had invited so long. Others succeeded in getting through the lines with their pack animals laden with peltries, to St. Louis, to return again the following autumn and to face and overcome, or possibly fail to overcome, the perils they had met so often.
The sun was shining from a clear, balmy sky, for summer had come, when Deerfoot swept every portion of the visible horizon with the spyglass without detecting a sign of red men. To the westward towered the immense Laramie range, while the plains stretched eastward and were crossed by numerous streams, on whose banks thriving towns and cities have been built in later days. Less than a hundred miles to the southeast was the site of the present city of Cheyenne.
Before reaching the scene of this encampment the travelers had twice come within range of grizzly bears. The first was ignored, but the second did not choose to be passed by in such cavalier fashion. He first appeared close to camp, much to the terror of the horses, and then deliberately proceeded to attack everything in sight. He came within a hair, too, of killing Zigzag and Prince before he was brought low by the bullets of all three, Deerfoot burying two in the colossal carcass.
Black and cinnamon bears were observed, but no disturbance followed on the part of men or brutes. Several times the wolves, coyotes and pumas became so troublesome that a number were killed. Bison were so plentiful that hardly a day passed without sight of them. In some instances the droves contained tens of thousands.
George and Victor Shelton soon found themselves climbing among the foothills. Deerfoot had gone in another direction, the agreement being that they should return to camp soon after meridian, and not to go far from headquarters. While none felt misgiving as to danger, all had learned to be circumspect.
It may be said that the stroll of the boys was as much to gain exercise as to hunt game, though the latter object was the one avowed by them. In those days a person did not have to look far for such sport, but it seemed as if the wild animals scented the danger and kept out of the way. When noon came the tired boys sat down beside a mountain torrent, without either having fired his rifle.
"We haven't heard the report of Deerfoot's gun," said George, "and I don't see that there is any use of hunting further."
"Nor do I. I'm hungry and we shan't be able to get anything to eat this side of camp. It must be the game noticed that _I_ was with you, and they have all run to their holes."
"We have one consolation," remarked George, ignoring the last sentence. "It will be easier getting back to camp, for it's down hill all the way."
"But we shall have a good deal of climbing to do. I'm ready to say I've gained enough exercise to last me till to-morrow. I think," added Victor, rising to his feet and looking at the noisy torrent a few feet in front, "that we can shorten the distance by crossing that."
"How