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CHAPTER 18
Meeting with Hodgkiss Misfortunes of the Nez Perces Schemes
of Kosato, the renegado His foray into the Horse Prairie-
Invasion of Black feet Blue John and his forlorn hope Their
generous enterprise-Their fate-Consternation and despair of the
village- Solemn obsequies -Attempt at Indian trade -Hudson's Bay
Company's monopoly-Arrangements for autumn- Breaking up of an
encampment.
HAVING now a pretty strong party, well armed and equipped,
Captain Bonneville no longer felt the necessity of fortifying
himself in the secret places and fastnesses of the mountains; but
sallied forth boldly into the Snake River plain, in search of his
clerk, Hodgkiss, who had remained with the Nez Perces. He found
him on the 24th of June, and learned from him another chapter of
misfortunes which had recently befallen that ill-fated race.
After the departure of Captain Bonneville in March, Kosato, the
renegade Blackfoot, had recovered from the wound received in
battle; and with his strength revived all his deadly hostility to
his native tribe. He now resumed his efforts to stir up the Nez
Perces to reprisals upon their old enemies; reminding them
incessantly of all the outrages and robberies they had recently
experienced, and assuring them that such would continue to be
their lot until they proved themselves men by some signal
retaliation.
The impassioned eloquence of the desperado at length produced an
effect; and a band of braves enlisted under his guidance, to
penetrate into the Blackfoot country, harass their Villages,
carry off their horses, and commit all kinds of depredations.
Kosato pushed forward on his foray as far as the Horse Prairie,
where he came upon a strong party of Blackfeet. Without waiting
to estimate their force, he attacked them with characteristic
fury, and was bravely seconded by his followers. The contest, for
a time, was hot and bloody; at length, as is customary with these
two tribes, they paused, and held a long parley, or rather a war
of words.
"What need," said the Blackfoot chief, tauntingly, "have the Nez
Perces to leave their homes, and sally forth on war parties, when
they have danger enough at their own doors? If you want fighting,
return to your villages; you will have plenty of it there. The
Blackfeet warriors have hitherto made war upon you as children.
They are now coming as men. A great force is at hand; they are on
their way to your towns, and are determined to rub out the very
name of the Nez Perces from the mountains. Return, I say, to your
towns, and fight there, if you wish to live any longer as a
people."
Kosato took him at his word; for he knew the character of his
native tribe. Hastening back with his band to the Nez Perces
village, he told all that he had seen and heard, and urged the
most prompt and strenuous measures for defence. The Nez Perces,
however, heard him with their accustomed phlegm; the threat of
the Blackfeet had been often made, and as often had proved a mere
bravado; such they pronounced it to be at present, and, of
course, took no precautions.
They were soon convinced that it was no empty menace. In a few
days a band of three hundred Blackfeet warriors appeared upon the
hills. All now was consternation in the village. The force of
the Nez Perces was too small to cope with the enemy in open
fight; many of the young men having gone to their relatives on
the Columbia to procure horses. The sages met in hurried council.
What was to be done to ward off a blow which threatened
annihilation? In this moment of imminent peril, a Pierced-nose
chief, named Blue John by the whites, offered to approach
secretly with a small, but chosen band, through a defile which
led to the encampment of the enemy, and, by a sudden onset, to
drive off the horses. Should this blow be successful, the spirit
and strength of the invaders would be broken, and the Nez Perces,
having horses, would be more than a match for them. Should it
fail, the village would not be worse off than at present, when
destruction appeared inevitable.
Twenty-nine of the choicest warriors instantly volunteered to
follow Blue John in this hazardous enterprise. They prepared for
it with the solemnity and devotion peculiar to the tribe. Blue
John consulted his medicine, or talismanic charm, such as every
chief keeps in his lodge as a supernatural protection. The oracle
assured him that his enterprise would be completely successful,
provided no rain should fall before he had passed through the
defile; but should it rain, his band would be utterly cut off.
The day was clear and bright; and Blue John anticipated that the
skies would be propitious. He departed in high spirits with his
forlorn hope; and never did band of braves make a more gallant
display-horsemen and horses being decorated and equipped in the
fiercest and most glaring style - glittering with arms and
ornaments, and fluttering with feathers.
The weather continued serene until they reached the defile; but
just as they were entering it a black cloud rose over the
mountain crest, and there was a sudden shower. The warriors
turned to their leader, as if to read his opinion of this unlucky
omen; but the countenance of Blue John remained unchanged, and
they continued to press forward. It was their hope to make their
way undiscovered to the very vicinity of the Blackfoot camp; but
they had not proceeded far in the defile, when they met a
scouting party of the enemy. They attacked and drove them among
the hills, and were pursuing them with great eagerness when they
heard shouts and yells behind them, and beheld the main body of
the Blackfeet advancing.
The second chief wavered a little at the sight and proposed an
instant retreat. "We came to fight!" replied Blue John, sternly.
Then giving his war-whoop, he sprang forward to the conflict.
His braves followed him. They made a headlong charge upon the
enemy; not with the hope of victory, but the determination to
sell their lives dearly. A frightful carnage, rather than a
regular battle, succeeded. The forlorn band laid heaps of their
enemies dead at their feet, but were overwhelmed with numbers and
pressed into a gorge of the mountain; where they continued to
fight until they were cut to pieces. One only, of the thirty,
survived. He sprang on the horse of a Blackfoot warrior whom he
had slain, and escaping at full speed, brought home the baleful
tidings to his village.
Who can paint the horror and desolation of the inhabitants? The
flower of their warriors laid low, and a ferocious enemy at their
doors. The air was rent by the shrieks and lamentations of the
women, who, casting off their ornaments and tearing their hair,
wandered about, frantically bewailing the dead and predicting
destruction to the living. The remaining warriors armed
themselves for obstinate defence; but showed by their gloomy
looks and sullen silence that they considered defence hopeless.
To their surprise the Blackfeet refrained from pursuing their
advantage; perhaps satisfied with the blood already shed, or
disheartened by the loss they had themselves sustained. At any
rate, they disappeared from the hills, and it was soon
ascertained that they had returned to the Horse Prairie.
The unfortunate Nez Perces now began once more to breathe. A few
of their warriors, taking pack-horses, repaired to the defile to
bring away the bodies of their slaughtered brethren. They found
them mere headless trunks; and the wounds with which they were
covered showed how bravely they had fought. Their hearts, too,
had been torn out and carried off; a proof of their signal valor;
for in devouring the heart of a foe renowned for bravery, or who
has distinguished himself in battle, the Indian victor thinks he
appropriates to himself the courage of the deceased.
Gathering the mangled bodies of the slain, and strapping them
across their pack-horses, the warriors returned, in dismal
procession, to the village. The tribe came forth to meet them;
the women with piercing cries and wailings; the men with downcast
countenances, in which gloom and sorrow seemed fixed as if in
marble. The mutilated and almost undistinguishable bodies were
placed in rows upon the ground, in the midst of the assemblage;
and the scene of heart-rending anguish and lamentation that
ensued would have confounded those who insist on Indian stoicism.
Such was the disastrous event that had overwhelmed the Nez Perces
tribe during the absence of Captain Bonneville; and he was
informed that Kosato, the renegade, who, being stationed in the
village, had been prevented from going on the forlorn hope, was
again striving to rouse the vindictive feelings of his adopted
brethren, and to prompt them to revenge the slaughter of their
devoted braves.
During his sojourn on the Snake River plain, Captain Bonneville
made one of his first essays at the strategy of the fur trade.
There was at this time an assemblage of Nez Perces, Flatheads,
and Cottonois Indians encamped together upon the plain; well
provided with beaver, which they had collected during the spring.
These they were waiting to traffic with a resident trader of the
Hudson's Bay Company, who was stationed among them, and with whom
they were accustomed to deal. As it happened, the trader was
almost entirely destitute of Indian goods; his spring supply not
having yet reached him. Captain Bonneville had secret
intelligence that the supplies were on their way, and would soon
arrive; he hoped, how-ever, by a prompt move, to anticipate their
arrival, and secure the market to himself. Throwing himself,
therefore, among the Indians, he opened his packs of merchandise
and displayed the most tempting wares: bright cloths, and scarlet
blankets, and glittering ornaments, and everything gay and
glorious in the eyes of warrior or squaw; all, however, was in
vain. The Hudson's Bay trader was a perfect master of his
business, thoroughly acquainted with the Indians he had to deal
with, and held such control over them that none dared to act
openly in opposition to his wishes; nay, more -- he came nigh
turning the tables upon the captain, and shaking the allegiance
of some of his free trappers, by distributing liquors among them.
The latter, therefore, was glad to give up a competition, where
the war was likely to be carried into his own camp.
In fact, the traders of the Hudson's Bay Company have advantages
over all competitors in the trade beyond the Rocky Mountains.
That huge monopoly centers within itself not merely its own
hereditary and long-established power and influence; but also
those of its ancient rival, but now integral part, the famous
Northwest Company. It has thus its races of traders, trappers,
hunters, and voyageurs, born and brought up in its service, and
inheriting from preceding generations a knowledge and aptitude in
everything connected with Indian life, and Indian traffic. In the
process of years, this company has been enabled to spread its
ramifications in every direction; its system of intercourse is
founded upon a long and intimate knowledge of the character and
necessities of the various tribes; and of all the fastnesses,
defiles, and favorable hunting grounds of the country. Their
capital, also, and the manner in which their supplies are
distributed at various posts, or forwarded by regular caravans,
keep their traders well supplied, and enable them to furnish
their goods to the Indians at a cheap rate. Their men, too, being
chiefly drawn from the Canadas, where they enjoy great influence
and control, are engaged at the most trifling wages, and
supported at little cost; the provisions which they take with
them being little more than Indian corn and grease. They are
brought also into the most perfect discipline and subordination,
especially when their leaders have once got them to their scene
of action in the heart of the wilderness.
These circumstances combine to give the leaders of the Hudson's
Bay Company a decided advantage over all the American companies
that come within their range, so that any close competition with
them is almost hopeless.
Shortly after Captain Bonneville's ineffectual attempt to
participate in the trade of the associated camp, the supplies of
the Hudson's Bay Company arrived; and the resident trader was
enabled to monopolize the market.
It was now the beginning of July; in the latter part of which
month Captain Bonneville had appointed a rendezvous at Horse
Creek in Green River Valley, with some of the parties which he
had detached in the preceding year. He now turned his thoughts
in that direction, and prepared for the journey.
The Cottonois were anxious for him to proceed at once to their
country; which, they assured him, abounded in beaver. The lands
of this tribe lie immediately north of those of the Flatheads and
are open to the inroads of the Blackfeet. It is true, the latter
professed to be their allies; but they had been guilty of so many
acts of perfidy, that the Cottonois had, latterly, renounced
their hollow friendship and attached themselves to the Flatheads
and Nez Perces. These they had accompanied in their migrations
rather than remain alone at home, exposed to the outrages of the
Blackfeet. They were now apprehensive that these marauders would
range their country during their absence and destroy the beaver;
this was their reason for urging Captain Bonneville to make it
his autumnal hunting ground. The latter, however, was not to be
tempted; his engagements required his presence at the rendezvous
in Green River Valley; and he had already formed his ulterior
plans.
An unexpected difficulty now arose. The free trappers suddenly
made a stand, and declined to accompany him. It was a long and
weary journey; the route lay through Pierre's Hole, and other
mountain passes infested by the Blackfeet, and recently the
scenes of sanguinary conflicts. They were not disposed to
undertake such unnecessary toils and dangers, when they had good
and secure trapping grounds nearer at hand, on the head-waters of
Salmon River.
As these were free and independent fellows, whose will and whim
were apt to be law -- who had the whole wilderness before them,
"where to choose," and the trader of a rival company at hand,
ready to pay for their services -- it was necessary to bend to
their wishes. Captain Bonneville fitted them out, therefore, for
the hunting ground in question; appointing Mr. Hodgkiss to act as
their partisan, or leader, and fixing a rendezvous where he
should meet them in the course of the ensuing winter. The brigade
consisted of twenty-one free trappers and four or five hired men
as camp-keepers. This was not the exact arrangement of a trapping
party; which when accurately organized is composed of two thirds
trappers whose duty leads them continually abroad in pursuit of
game; and one third camp-keepers who cook, pack, and unpack; set
up the tents, take care of the horses and do all other duties
usually assigned by the Indians to their women. This part of the
service is apt to be fulfilled by French creoles from Canada and
the valley of the Mississippi.
In the meantime the associated Indians having completed their
trade and received their supplies, were all ready to disperse in
various directions. As there was a formidable band of Blackfeet
just over a mountain to the northeast, by which Hodgkiss and his
free trappers would have to pass; and as it was known that those
sharp-sighted marauders had their scouts out watching every
movement of the encampments, so as to cut off stragglers or weak
detachments, Captain Bonneville prevailed upon the Nez Perces to
accompany Hodgkiss and his party until they should be beyond the
range of the enemy.
The Cottonois and the Pends Oreilles determined to move together
at the same time, and to pass close under the mountain infested
by the Blackfeet; while Captain Bonneville, with his party, was
to strike in an opposite direction to the southeast, bending his
course for Pierre's Hole, on his way to Green River.
Accordingly, on the 6th of July, all the camps were raised at the
same moment; each party taking its separate route. The scene was
wild and picturesque; the long line of traders, trappers, and
Indians, with their rugged and fantastic dresses and
accoutrements; their varied weapons, their innumerable horses,
some under the saddle, some burdened with packages, others
following in droves; all stretching in lengthening cavalcades
across the vast landscape, making for different points of the
plains and mountains.
Content of CHAPTER 18 [Washington Irving's book: The Adventures of Captain Bonneville]
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