ys :
Aer) 7 it
¥
i)
>
De
SDAA
ay é he
aw,
ig
ee
se ue
% i Ne a
a
See
en
(sated
a
re
Rati athe
Lane ie
Noes
peyit
es
A
PEE AAA
u a 4
ie
Faye, ah
Le 1a
ee RS
AAAS
ye
rors
ee Nie iG
EW teat 3
i Pra oe
a aS
ayo
”
yo
ee Pesce:
wr SS
hey
tthe tery
bli cated te 6 4 ee
Pog eriss SS 3
(ess toe
Ok
o- fe - - ~~ - te dee eee OE NNN ene en ne en ee ee ee ee eee eee
GIFT
TO THE B. Y. U. LIBRARY
ie aby
; Aen
pe Neri
S ONS
a
iT
Se Bis,
nye?
MUrAR!
NORA aia
hi Peet Heli
Pa aN ee
Does.
PV SS a
“aes
HISTORY
OF
THE AMERICAN FUR TRADE
OF THE
FAR WEST
be A
Gadd
q t4
UUs
Cs
*
CONTENTS OF VOLUME II.
CHAPTER XXVII. ~s
PAGE
THe Santa Fe TrapeE—Santa FE . : ; ; . | « 483-488
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Tue Santa Fe Trape.— HistoricaL SKETCH ‘ ; . 4890-514
CHAPTER XXIX.
Tue Santa FE Trape.— CHARACTER OF THE BUSINESS . . 515-529
CHAPTER XOCxX.
THe Santa FE TrapeE.—THE TRAIL é ‘ ‘ ; . 530-544
CHAPTER XXXI.
THe SANTA FE TRADE.—INCIDENTS OF THE TRAIL A . 545-553
PART III.
DONTEMPORARY EVENTS CONNECTED WITH THE: FUR
TRADE.
CHAPTER I.
THe War oF 1812 : : ‘ ; ; . 555-501
CHAPTER TT:
Tue YELLOWSTONE EXPEDITION OF I8I9-1820 . ; - . 562-587
CHAP PER IIT.
Tue ARICARA CAMPAIGN OF 1823. : : A . 588-607
v1 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV.
PAGE
THe YELLOWSTONE EXPEDITION OF 1825. : : , . 608-618
CHAPTER V.
THe SMALLPOX SCOURGE OF 1837. ; ; ; ‘ . 619-627
CHAPTER VI.
Mixirary OccupPpaTION A 5 ; ; ; , ; . 628-633
CHAPTER VII.
GEOGRAPHICAL AND SCIENTIFIC EXPLORATIONS . : : . 634-630
CHAPTER VIII.
MISSIONARY WorK A ‘ ; : : ; ; . 640-640
PART IV.
NOTABLE INCIDENTS AND CHARACTERS IN THE HISTORY
OF THE \FUR) TRADE,
CHAPTER TL,
“Tue Lost TRAPPERS” . , : : . 651-656
CHAPTER.
Tre Battie oF Pierre's HOLE : : : s : . 657-664
CHAPTER III.
THe DEATH OF HENRY VANDERBURGH . ; ? a . 665-672
CHAPTER IV.
Tue Battte or Fort MCKENZIE. : ; ; : . 673-677
CHAPTER V.
SmuccLINc Liguor up THE MISsouURI . { A : . 678-683
CHAPTER VI.
RosE AND BECKWouURTH, THE Crow CHIEFS. : 3 . 684-691
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE SANTA FE TRADE.
SANTA FE.
Antiquity of Santa Fe — Early history — Description — Character of
population — Government of New Mexico — Religion — Jealous feeling
toward the United States— Backward state of commerce — Domestic
life— Allegiance of the people to their government.
T HE scene of our narrative now shifts from regions that
had but recently come to the knowledge of the civil-
ized world to one of the oldest settlements of Euro-
pean colonists upon the continent of America. Three hun-
dred years before the close of the period covered by this
work the Spanish had entered New Mexico, Arizona, and
California. Long before any one but De Soto had entered
. the almost illimitable valley of the Mississippi Coronado had
crossed many tributaries of that stream and had even pene-
trated to the plains of central Kansas. At the time when
Louisiana came into the possession of the United States,
there were communities upon its very borders already vener-
able with two centuries of history under European govern-
ment, and entitled to be called “old” in a degree which
many of the United States, even a century later, can not
approach. In dealing with those scattered communities of
traders whose adventures are the subject of our present in-
quiries, we find them now wandering over unknown and un-
explored wilds, treading upon ground untrodden by white
men before, and anon trafficking in the streets of a town
where Europeans had held sway for six generations. It
was a singular circumstance, this contiguity of the new and
the old, and how such a condition could have lasted so long
A484 SANTA FE.
would be quite inexplicable without a clear understanding
of the claims of the rival colonizing powers of Europe.
Santa Fe was founded in the first or second decade of the
seventeenth century. The precise date and circumstances of
this event are not known, and may never be, but the date
itself lies between 1609 and 1617. Thus, while not the old-
est town in the United States, it is one of the oldest and is
surpassed in this distinction by only two or three others.
The little village had an arduous road to travel in
its first two hundred years of existence. It was con-
quered by the natives and reconquered from them, but
finally arrived at the portal of the nineteenth century with its
authority fairly established, although not upon that firm
foundation which alone can ensure the stability of govern-
ment. The native races, with whom its people had mingled
to such an extent as to produce a mixed class in which the
Spanish and native blood about equally prevailed, had never
become, in spite of this consanguinity, loyal supporters of
their Spanish and Mexican rulers.
Santa Fe, during the period of its most prosperous trade
with the United States, was a city of perhaps three thousand
inhabitants. It had grown up among: the ancient Pueblo
towns of the upper Rio Grande, and it is even claimed by
some, although on doubtful authority, to have occupied the
site of one. The city lies on a small tributary of the Rio
Grande, some twelve miles east of the river. The valley
where the town is built is one of the most beautiful in the
West. The surrounding peaks, some of them resting at alti-
tudes where the snow rarely disappears, engirdle it like a
mighty wall which is at once an ornament and a protection.
The climate is mild and salubrious and the situation as a
whole is ideal.
The old city presented in appearance nothing in common
with a modern American city. The streets seem to have
radiated from a central point like the roots of a tree, along
lines of least resistance, and are mostly without any pretense
of regularity, either in direction, width, or grade. The only
‘ \h
POPULATION OF SANTA FE. 485
marked exception was the Plaza, or public square, the cen-
tral common of the town. On one side of this square
stood, and still stands, a long, low, one-story building, dig-
nified with the name of palace, and probably the most inter-
esting historic edifice in New Mexico or in the entire south-
west. Other buildings of notable antiquity are the cathedral
and church of San Miguel, the latter being one of the very
oldest structures in the United States. The buildings were
mostly constructed of adobe and at a distance presented the
appearance of a group of brick-kilns. It is recorded of a
very intelligent and discriminating observer that upon his
first visit to Santa Fe he hailed the sight of these rude heaps
as evidences that he was near his destination, for he thought
them simply the brick yards where the city manufactured
its building material. He was greatly astonished to learn
that they were the city itself. Few of the buildings had any
glass, yet the interiors were often furnished with a consid-
erable degree of luxury.
In the little town thus meagerly described and in others
of lesser note for several hundreds of miles along the Rio
Grande north and south, dwelt a population little enough
like that of the United States. It was not very far removed
from the ancient pueblos in whose midst it existed and with
whom it was so largely amalgamated. Art and learning
were practically unknown except among the military and
religious orders and even there they scarcely deserved the
name. An impenetrable ignorance of the outside world
pervaded nearly all classes, an ignorance in part the result of
the extreme isolation of the colony and in part fostered by
the authorities, both civil and religious, as a safeguard to
the never-sure allegiance of the subjects either to church or
state. No such thing as a public press was known. Of
medical and other sciences there was the densest ignorance,
and even the common arts, upon which so much of every-
day life depends, were in a hopelessly backward state. Agri-
culture rivaled its sister arts in the state of neglect which
oppressed it. The industry of mining, the most important
486 DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN COLORADO.
in the province, was so trammeled with government restric-
tions and ignorance of the art of mining that the wealth
which lay within the bosom of those mountains remained
almost untouched until that country came into the possession
of the United States.*
The government of New Mexico was no better than its
various manifestations that we have just described. It was,
what Gregg aptly calls it, a military hierarchy. The army
and the priests were the ruling power. Although a feeble
attempt was at one time made at representative government,
it was promptly abandoned and the conduct of affairs was
generally prescribed according to the unrestricted will of
colonial governors. Justice was administered on the basis
of open and unblushing corruption and a long purse was the
only passport to judicial favors.
The religion of the people was exclusively Catholic. No
other form of public worship was allowed and foreigners
were compelled to confine their devotions to their own
homes. The Church was the one flourishing institution in
the colony and the repository of Wet little leasning was to
be found there.?
Here, as in all her colonies, Spain exhibited that petty
jealousy of rival powers which is born of conscious inferior-
ity and a prescience of impending-decay. This feeling was
*James Purcell was the discoverer of gold ‘ the mountains of
Colorado. About the year 1804, while wandering alone among the
mountains near the head of the Arkansas, he found a small amount
of gold, which he later threw away despairing of ever reaching civiliza-—
tion. Gregg, in Commerce of the Prairies, vol. II., p. 185, states that
“some trappers have reported an extensive gold region about the
sources of the Platte river; yet although recent search has been made
it has not been discovered.”” Some reader of the copy of Gregg’s work
which belongs to the Mercantile Library of St. Louis placed the follow-
ing note opposite the above extract in the year 1858: “The truth of
this report has been confirmed this year.”
*Governor Marmaduke, who visited Santa Fe in 1824, expressed ‘his
astonishment at the blind religious zeal of the people. Only the Catho-
lic religion was tolerated, but it seemed to him unquestionably the one
best suited to the people.
COMMERCIAL CONDITIONS. 487
particularly bitter toward the United States, which to Span-
ish eyes was a black cloud rising on the horizon and certain
soon to burst like a tempest over the land. Throughout the
two score years of commercial intercourse prior to the con-
quest of Mexico, American citizens underwent every form
of indignity at the hands of the government, from conniv-
ance at petty thefts of the trader’s goods to the basest and
most unprovoked murders. The moralist may not wholly
approve of the motive behind the American cause in the War
with Mexico, but if all other motives were lacking, that
alone of expiation for the accumulated wrongs of many ©
years would justify the conquest of this vast territory from
a government that did not know how to rule it.
It follows as a matter of course that with a government
and a people such as have been described, commerce could
not but languish. The trade of the colony was hampered
alike by distance and government restrictions. Before the
American imports began to arrive, foreign goods came
mostly by way of Vera Cruz over a road between fifteen
hundred and two thousand miles long. By the time they
reached Sante Fe they brought a price (when people could
afford to buy) which seems almost incredible when com-
pared with those of today. Under these conditions trade
was necessarily small and the people were forced to do with-
out many things which others of no better means, but living
nearer the coast, could procure. It was a blessing to the
isolated New Mexican when the hated and dreaded Ameri-
can arrived.
From this sinister aspect of New Mexican institutions it
might be concluded that a people so circumstanced must be
unhappy and miserable as under an unjust oppression. But
this would be a great mistake. Buried in ignorance, they
did not know their true estate and, like the negro in
slavery, were contented with a condition which would be
abhorrent to a people of higher civilization. Devoid of the
cares that spring from an ambitious nature, content with
their daily lot, looking forward to no higher condition, they
exhibited to the foreign visitor a more serene contentment
488 CONTENTMENT OF THE PEOPLE.
than he was familiar with under the boasted institutions of
his own country. Their simple habits of life, their various
amusements, their fandangoes, music, and balls, their sports
— and above all their gambling, gave to their listless minds
all the exercise they needed. The Church held absolute
monopoly of their spiritual guidance and led them in blind
obedience along the devious ways of a morality based upon
ignorance and superstition. She ministered largely to their
temporal pleasures by her numerous fetes and holidays, and
at the same time held out to their minds the promise of
eternal happiness when this round of pleasure should come
to an end. ;
The allegiance of such a people to such a government
could not be strong. Even the dark ignorance in which
they lived did not entirely blind them to the fact that their
rulers cared more for themselves than for their people.
Gleams from the restless fires of liberty that were burning
in the outside world now and then shot into the little valley
from beyond the mountains, and there was a latent feeling
that a better state of affairs ought to exist than their govern-
ment was able to give. This feeling the later intercourse
with the American traders did much to foster, and the
American government when it arrived found a people to
whom their old allegiance had become a byword, and who
were ready to welcome the liberator with open arms.®
*“ These people are wonderfully improved, I am told, within the last
three years, as well in their manners, dress, etc., as in their political
advancement. Liberal principles are fast gaining ground and taking
deep root and in proportion as these increase, the bigotry and tyranny
of the church are weakened.” Letter from an American trader dated
Santa Fe, Feb. 7, 1826, published in the Missouri Republican, April 20,
1826.
CHAPIER XXVIII.
THE SANTA FE TRADE.
HISTORICAL SKETCH.
The Mallet brothers — First commercial expedition — Morrison and
La Lande— James Purcell — Manuel Lisa — Pike’s expedition — Mal-
gares’ expedition— The Spaniard and the American — McKnight,
Baird and Chambers— Chouteau and DeMunn— Adventures of D.
Meriwether — Termination of Spanish sovereignty in Mexico — Baird,
McKnight and Chambers again — William Becknell — Glenn and Fow-
ler — Becknell’s second journey — First wagons on the Santa Fe Trail—
Expedition of Baird and Chambers, 1822 — Expeditions of 1824 — Beck-
nell on Green river — Expedition of James O. Pattie— Summary of
early expeditions — Government survey of road to Santa Fe — Military
escorts to the caravans — Major Riley’s escort — Obstacles to the trade
— Influence of the trade upon the War with Mexico.
ROBABLY the first expedition that ever crossed the
country all the way between Santa Fe and the Mis-
souri river was the Spanish military force which was de-
stroyed by the Missouri Indians in 1720. The next was
that of the Mallet brothers who in 1739 set out with six
companions to go from the French settlements on the Mis-
sissippi to the Spanish settlements of New Mexico. They
had understood that their route lay by the headwaters of
the Missouri and they consequently ascended that stream as
far as the Aricara villages, where they learned their mis-
take. Retracing their steps for a distance they struck
across the country to the southwest, passing the Pawnee
villages on their way, and arrived at Santa Fe July 22, 1739.
On the 1st of May, 1740, they started on their way back.
Three of the party returned by way of the Pawnee villages
and the rest went down the Arkansas and the Mississippi
to New Orleans.
490 FIRST POST ON THE UPPER ARKANSAS.
The first known expedition from the upper Mississippi
country to the neighborhood of the Spanish settlements near
Santa Fe, undertaken strictly for purposes of trade, is
described by Captain Amos Stoddard in his Sketches of
Louisiana. No date is given, but it was before 1763,
though probably not long before, for one of the members
of the party was still living in 1812. Captain Stoddard’s
account of the expedition runs thus: ‘‘ While Louisiana was
in the hands of France, some of the French traders from the
upper Mississippi transported a quantity of merchandise by
way of the Arkansas to the Mexican mountains where they
erected a temporary store, and opened a trade with the In-
dians and likewise with the Spaniards of north Mexico,
The Spanish traders at or near Santa Fe, deeming this an
infringement of their privileged rights, procured the im-
prisonment of the Mississippi adventurers, and the seizure
of their effects; and demanded punishment and confiscation.
The cause was ultimately decided at Havana. The
prisoners were liberated and their property restored on the
ground that the store in question (situated on the east side
of the summit of the mountains, and below the source of the
Arkansas) was within the boundaries of Louisiana.” From
this description it is evident that the “ temporary store’ was
in the neighborhood of the modern city of Pueblo, Colorado.
and was therefore the first structure known to have been
erected by white men within the limits of the state of
Colorado.
‘During the Spanish regime in upper Louisiana there
would seem to have been no reason of a political character
why a trade between St. Louis and Santa Fe should not have
sprung up. But it did not to any great extent, for there is
no record of any expedition either way during this period.
There must, however, have been some intercourse, for Lewis
and Clark incidentally refer to communication with that
country in a way to lead one to suppose that it was not an
uncommon thing.
The second commercial expedition of which we have a
LA LANDE’S ADVENTURES. 491
positive record, occurred almost simultaneously with the
transfer of Louisiana to the United States. It was made
by William~ Morrison of Kaskaskia, Ulinois, a leading
merchant of the Mississippi valley and later a member of the
firm of Lisa, Morrison and Menard in 1807, and of the
Missouri Fur Company in 1809. In the spring of 1804
Morrison sent one Baptiste La Lande, a French Creole, to
find his way to Santa Fe and carry thither a small assort-
ment of goods with a view of ascertaining what kind of a
market was to be found there. La Lande traveled by way
of the Pawnee villages, ascended the Platte river to the
mountains, and then sent some Indians to Santa Fe to see
if he would be permitted to visit the town. Some Spaniards
came out to meet him and escorted him and his merchandise
to the village. He probably reached Santa Fe in the sum-
mer or fall of 1804. He told Pike in March, 1807, that he
had been there nearly three years. The goods found ready
market and La Lande quickly accomplished the purpose of
his mission. But he was a long way from home, between
which and him intervened many hundreds of miles of desert
country and many hundreds of dangerous savages. The
dread of these perils was magnified by the Mexicans, who
wanted La Lande to stay there. The government also lent
its assistance by offering him land, doubtless preferring that
he should stay rather than return with reports which would
inevitably lead to a renewal of the enterprise. Last, and
perhaps most effectual, the influence of female admirers
turned the scale of the doubtful adventurer. He shuffled off
without apparent compunction his obligation to his em-
ployer, appropriated the money to his own use, and decided
to make Santa Fe his home.
When Lieutenant Pike left St. Louis on his official expedi-
~ tion to the source of the Red river in 1806 Morrison seized
the opportunity to get word, if possible, to Santa Fe, and
find out what had become of La Lande, and he placed his
claims against La Lande in Pike’s hands. Later Pike made
this commission an occasion for sending an emissary to
AQ2 JAMES PURCELL.
Santa Fe; but, as the student of Western history knows, he
was himself escorted thither, vw et armis, and had an oppor-
tunity to press the claim in person. In fact, La Lande was
sent to him in the character of a spy to draw from him the
motives of his visit to the Spanish frontier. But Pike
quickly fathomed his design and treated the renegade so
unceremoniously that he was fain to beat a precipitate retreat
from the presence of the irate officer.
This is about all we know of La Lande. Pike endeavored
to secure satisfaction of Morrison’s claim, but without suc-
cess, and the faithless fellow was left in congenial company
among his adopted compatriots.
Less than a year after the arrival of La Lande in Santa
Fe, or in June, 1805, James Purcell, a native of Bardstown,
Kentucky, arrived. In 1802 with two companions he left
St. Louis to hunt among the Osage Indians, and when about
to depart by way of the Arkansas river for New Orleans.
was robbed of his furs by a band of Kansas Indians.
Purcell and his companions recovered their property by dint
of daring performances which excited the admiration of the
Indians and even of some of the traders who happened to be
in the vicinity. The little party now undertook to reach
St. Louis, but ill luck seemed to pursue them, for they lost
all their furs in the Missouri river near the mouth of the
Kansas. Here they met a trader on his way up the river
to the Mandan Indians and Purcell joined his expedition.
Upon arriving at their destination Purcell was dispatched
to the southwest to trade with the plains Indians in the valley
of the Platte. In the spring of 1805 the bands of Indians
with whom he was wandering were driven into the Bayou
Salade where the South Platte finds its source. The
Indians, who knew that they were not far from the Spanish
settlements, sent Purcell to get permission to come in and
trade. He arrived in June, 1805, and liked the situation
so well that he did not even return with the Indian deputies
to notify the parties who had sent him of the success of the
errand,
SCHEMES OF MANUEL LISA. 493
Purcell remained in Santa Fe for many years thereafter.
Up to the time of Pike’s arrival he had been pursuing his
trade of carpenter to great profit except, as he assured Pike,
when working for officers. He was held under pretty strict
surveillance, was forbidden to write, and narrowly escaped
capital punishment for having unwittingly violated the local
law by making some gunpowder. But on the whole he
found the new situation agreeable and decided to make
Santa Fe his future home.
In 1806 there was being organized at St. Louis by a
prominent trader a project for trade with Santa Fe. The
scheme was to form a large depot among the Osages, and
then at the proper time to push on with an escort of friendly
Indians to within “ three or four days’ travel of the Spanish
settlements.” Leaving the main party with the goods under
guard of the friendly Indians, the leader was to go to Santa
Fe with a few well-selected articles and try to get permis-
sion to bring in his entire outfit. If not successful he was
to induce as many Spaniards as possible to go back with him
and trade at his camp.
Nothing more was ever heard of the venture, and it is
known to us only through a letter of instruction from Gen-
eral Wilkinson to Lieutenant Pike, dated August 6, 1806.
In this letter Wilkinson takes strong ground against the
enterprise and urges Pike to do all in his power to frustrate
it. The name of this enterprising trader is not mentioned,
but it is thought to be Manuel Lisa. The surmise is very
probably correct, for nothing could have been more natural
than that Lisa should have undertaken such a venture. He
* Pike is almost our only authority upon La Lande and Purcell, but I
have seen a confirmatory reference to the latter in the Missouri Intelli-
gencer of April 10, 1824, which contains an article upon the Navajo In-
dians by one James Purcell, lately returned from Santa Fe and “ for
nineteen years a citizen of New Mexico.” This confirms the date of
his arrival as given by Pike, 1805. The spelling Purcell is undoubtedly
correct although Pike gives it as Pursley.
* So considered by Dr. Elliott Coues in his carefully annotated edition
of Pike’s Journals, Francis P. Harper, New York, 1895.
494 PIKES EXPEDITION.
was already in relations with William Morrison, who had
sent La Lande to Santa Fe, and who was anxious to learn
the fate of that expedition. But if it was Lisa that gentle-
man’s attention was soon turned to other Pek of activity
and his plans never materialized.
The first journey ever made by an officer of the United
States government to Santa Fe occurred in 1806-7. Lieu-
tenant Zebulon Montgomery Pike was ordered to visit cer-
tain tribes of Indians in the newly-acquired regions to the
west and southwest of St. Louis, among them the
Comanches, near the sources of the Arkansas and Red rivers,
and also to determine the “ direction, extent and naviga-
tion”’ of those two streams. It was inevitable that these
instructions should take him into Spanish territory and there
is strong reason to suspect that he had other instructions,
not in writing, that required him to push his explorations
much nearer the Spanish capital of Santa Fe than his pub-
lished orders or his skilful disclaimer in his journal would
indicate. No one may ever know whether the trap into
which Pike ran, when he built his redoubt on the west
bank of the Rio Grande and hoisted the American flag in
the very faces of the Spaniards, was a trap set by himself
or not; but every circumstance of the expedition indicates
that it was all a scheme to get into Santa Fe and learn what
he could of the country without having his purpose
suspected. Such at any rate was the outcome of the affair.
Pike and the remnants of his party, after the terrible experi-
ence of the previous winter in the mountains, were marched
as prisoners to Santa Fe. Thence, after a brief sojourn,
they were taken to Chihuahua, where they were brought
before the governor. ‘They were then permitted to return
home, which they did via Natchitoches on the Red river,
where they arrived July 1, 1807.
It is not the purpose here to give any detailed account ot
this celebrated expedition. It has been dealt with ii the
most exhaustive manner by the latest editor of Fike’s Jour-
nals, Dr. Elliott Coues. and does not come within the
MALGARES EXPEDITION. 495
program of the present work further than to show its rela-
tions to the development of the Santa Fe trade. Pike
cial and political condition of this Spanish province, and
his expedition had unquestionably a large influence in
inducing traders to look in that direction for profitable
adventure.
It is an interesting coincidence that almost simultaneously
with the United States exploring expedition into Spanish
territory there took place a much more formidable one from
Santa Fe far into United States territory. The Spanish
expedition consisted of one hundred dragoons of the regular
army and five hundred mounted militia, with two extra
horses and a mule to each man and ammunition for six
months. It was commanded by a distinguished Spanish
officer, Don Facundo Malgares. It left Santa Fe probably
about the middle of June, for that was the date of a commis-
sion carried by Malgares to the chief of the Pawnees. The
route of the party at first lay down the Canadian, thence
northeast to the Arkansas, and from that point to the Pawnee
villages where a grand council was held. The expedition
then returned to Santa Fe where it arrived in October. The
Spaniards could scarcely have been a month ahead of the
Americans at the Pawnee villages. Their expedition,
according to Pike, was intended to forestall his own, and it
is a remarkable instance of the energetic fashion in which
a Spaniard could execute an enterprise when he once really
set about it.
There is a profound significance in the almost simulta-
neous presence of these two expeditions upon the boundless
prairies that separated the frontier settlements of their
respective countries. One was looking into the future and
paving a way for the irresistible expansion of his people.
The other was clinging to the past and watching with dis-
trustful eye the too rapid progress of a rival power. Both
were visiting the wild inhabitants of the plains and seeking
490 M KNIGHT, BAIRD, AND CHAMBERS.
with presents and speeches and grandiloquent pictures of the
greatness of their respective nations, to secure their attach-
ment. In this preliminary skirmish between two powers,
which were even then, did they but know it, preparing the
way for inevitable conflict, the advantage was on the side
of the Spaniard. Between the powerful and well-appointed
expedition of Malgares and the small and poorly-equipped
handful of men with Pike the contrast was great, and to the
untutored mind of the prairie inhabitant there could be no
doubt of the outcome of a trial of strength between their
governments. He could not see the forces behind these
outward manifestations — the expanding vigor of a young
nation and the decadent energies of the old; but in due time
he came to know.
It was not until several years after Pike’s return that
attempts were renewed to open a trade with Santa Fe — at
least no records of such attempts have come down to us.
Public attention had been strongly attracted to the upper
Missouri by the return of Lewis and Clark. All the lead-
ing St. Louis traders had united in a company to prosecute
the trade in that region, and for the time being the south-
west dropped out of consideration.®
The next expedition to Santa Fe of which there is any
record took place in 1812. It was composed of twelve men,
the leaders of the enterprise being Robert McKnight, James
Baird and Samuel Chambers. They were induced to under-
take the journey in the belief that Spanish authority in New
Mexico was overthrown by the revolutionary chief Hidalgo,
and that they should find the baneful customs and regula-
tions which were practically prohibitive of foreign trade,
removed. Their hopes were doomed not only to disappoint-
ment, but to a reality exactly the reverse of what they
expected. The Hidalgo movement had failed, the chief had
*In November, 1800, three men by the names of Smith, McClanahan
and Patterson, under the guidance of a Spaniard, Manuel Blanco, left
St. Louis for Santa Fe. Nothing further is known of them—Missouri
Gazette, October, 1810.
CHOUTEAU AND DE MUNN. 497
been executed, and the Spanish authorities, intensely sus-
picious of foreigners and especially of Americans, seized
the traders immediately upon their arrival, sent them to Chi-
huahua and put them in prison. Here they remained
upwards of nine years, or until the revolutionary movement
finally succeeded under Iturbide, when they were set at
liberty. Mr. John McKnight, brother of the trader, went
to New Mexico to find his brother in 1821 and both returned
with several other traders in September, 1822.* Baird also
returned in 1822 while Chambers made his way down the
Canadian in the fall of 1821.
The next expedition to Santa Fe, so far as is known,
occurred in 1815-17. In the summer of 1815, Mr. A. P.
Chouteau and Julius De Munn of St. Louis formed a part-
nership for the purpose of trading on the upper Arkansas.
They left St. Louis on the roth of September, “‘ in company
with Mr. Phillebert, a trader, who had gone to the moun-
tains the year before, and who had come back to get a
supply of goods to enable him to buy horses to bring 1n his
furs.”® On their way to the mountains Chouteau and
De Munn purchased Phillebert’s entire outfit and the time
of his men. Phillebert had appointed Huerfano creek, a
branch of the Arkansas, as a rendezvous for his men, but
when his party arrived there, December 8, 1815, they learned
from some Indians that the men, despairing of Phillebert’s
return, and being destitute of necessaries, had taken every-
thing with them and had gone over to the Spaniards. It
was accordingly decided that De Munn should go after
them. He found the men at Taos, where they had been well
treated, and upon going to Santa Fe to see the governor he
was himself very well received at the capital. . This favor-
able reception induced De Munn to seek permission to trap
on the headwaters of the Rio Grande, which he had observed
to abound in beaver. The governor had not authority to
*This disgraceful affair will always remain a blot upon the history of
American diplomacy.
’ ®See Part IV., Chapter I.
498 EQUIVOCATING SPANIARDS.
grant permission but promised to recommend it to his gov-
ernment. Not being able to wait for a reply, De Munn
went back, taking his engagés from Taos, and returned to
Chouteau’s camp on the Huerfano. It was there decided
that De Munn should return to St. Louis for an additional
equipment. He accordingly set out on the 27th of Feb-
ruary, 1816, with Phillebert and one man and reached St.
Louis in forty-six days.
De Munn, with a new outfit and party, left St. Louis July
15, and returned to the mouth of the Kansas river, where he
met Chouteau, who had agreed to come there with the
winter’s hunt. Chouteau, on his way down, had had a
severe fight with the Pawnees in which he had lost one man
and had killed several of the Indians. After dispatching
the furs to St. Louis Chouteau and De Munn returned to the
mountains with a party of forty-five men. The hunters
went on to the Sangre de Cristo mountains while De Munn
started for Santa Fe to see if the governor had yet received
authority for the Americans to hunt upon Spanish territory.
He was disappointed to learn, before he reached Santa Fe,
that there had been a change of governors and that the new
incumbent was ill-disposed to his interests. He was not
even permitted to visit the capital, but was ordered with all
his people to withdraw from the Spanish dominions. De
Munn returned with his party and all turned north to the
headwaters of the Arkansas, where they remained during
the fall and winter.
It was then planned to start early in the spring and make a
hunt on the headwaters of the Columbia ; but still hoping for
some favorable concession from the Spaniards which would
enable them to pursue their adventures in their present
neighborhood, De Munn made another trip to Taos. He
found things most unfavorable. The authorities pretended
to have information that there were a fort and twenty thou-
sand men on the Arkansas, and De Munn, instead of return-
ing with the desired concession, was escorted back by two
hundred armed men who were ordered to cause all caches
TAKEN TO SANTA FE. 499
to be raised, to investigate the question of the fort and armed
force, and if nothing of that sort should be found, to conduct
the traders a distance down the Arkansas, and then let them
go back to St. Louis. After a long train of negotiations
and an examination of the territory in question, it was
finally agreed that the party might be allowed to remain on
the north side of the river.
An attempt was made in the spring of 1817 to reach the
Columbia by crossing the mountains of Colorado, but the
snow would not permit, and the season being now far
advanced, it was decided that Chouteau should remain on
the headwaters of the Arkansas and Platte for another year
and that De Munn should return to St. Louis with the furs.
Descending from the mountains to a place where a quan-
tity of furs had been cached, both Chouteau and De Munn
made preparations for the latter’s departure for St. Louis.
May 23rd, 1817, was fixed as the date of departure.
Unluckily it rained hard that day and prevented the start and
on the 24th a force of Spanish troops appeared with orders
to escort the whole party to Santa Fe. This was accord-
ingly done, and all the furs and property of the traders were
confiscated. The party were thrown into prison and for a
time even confined in irons. After forty-eight days’ impris-
onment they were tried by court-martial and sentenced to
leave the dominions of Spain, forfeiting all their property
except one horse each. The party returned to St. Louis,
where they arrived early in September.®
Thus, after three years of the arduous toil of a trapper’s
life, these courageous adventurers had the satisfaction of
seeing the whole fruit of their labors swept away in an
instant. After their return to the United States a formal
application for relief in the sum of about thirty thousand
° Missourt Gazette, Sept. 13, 1817. “ Mr. Auguste Chouteau, Mr. De
Munn and companions, after 48 days’ confinement in the prison of Santa
Fe, returned last Sunday to their rejoicing families and friends.”
For the circumstances of the Santa Fe court-martial see infra Chap-
ter XXXI., Incidents of the Trail.
500 END OF SPANISH DOMINION.
dollars was made to the United States government. The
claim was favorably reported upon, but whether ever paid
or not does not appear.
The outrageous treatment of Chouteau and De Munn,
and the knowledge that a party of Americans were even then
languishing in the dungeons of Chihuahua, seems to have
deterred further adventure in that direction until the over-
throw of Spanish power in Mexico in 1821. There is some
evidence, however, that parties must have gone to Santa Fe
during these years, for otherwise it is difficult to see upon
what the St. Lous Inquirer of September, 1822, could have
based the remark that “it is becoming a familiar operation
for our citizens to visit this capital.’’ The only actual
record of such a journey during these years that has come
to our notice is that of a Mr. D. Meriwether, an Indian
trader, who 1n 1819 accompanied a war party of Pawnees
as far as to the Spanish frontier. Here they encountered a
Spanish force by which the Pawnees were utterly defeated
and Meriwether was taken prisoner, carried to Santa Fe,
and placed in confinement. Over thirty years afterward he
returned to the place of his imprisonment as governor of
New Mexico.
The period of Spanish dominion in New Mexico, which
terminated in 1821, was thus marked by total failure on the
part of American traders to gain any foothold in the Santa
Fe trade, and the commerce of the prairies, which was soon
to attain such large proportions, can not be said to have yet
begun.
The first effect of the change of form of government in
New Mexico was favorable to the American traders, who
were thereafter permitted to visit Santa Fe. As soon as
the news of successful revolution reached the United States,
John McKnight, brother of the unfortunate trader who,
with James Baird, Samuel Chambers and others, had now
been prisoners in Mexico for nine years, started for Chihua-
hua to see if he could not secure his brother’s release.
Whether as a result of this effort or not, the whole party
WILLIAM BECKNELL. 501
were set at liberty and returned to the United States.
Chambers went home by way of the Canadian river in the
fall of 1821. Baird and the McKnight brothers returned
by way of Santa Fe. Upon their arrival at Taos they fell
in with a party under two traders by the names of Hugh
Glenn and Jacob Fowler, who had come out from the
States the previous autumn and were now about to return.’
Joining this party June 1, 1822, they reached home in July
following.
To William Becknell, of Missouri, belongs the honor of
being the founder of the Santa Fe trade and the father of
the Santa Fe Trail. It was he who took the first success-
ful trading expedition to Santa Fe. He first passed along
the general route later followed and he was the first to take
wagons over the route. In the Missouri Intelligencer of
Franklin, Missouri, June 10, 1822, Becknell had an adver-
tisement calling for a company of seventy men “ to go west-
ward for the purpose of trading for horses and mules and
catching wild animals of every description.” Although
Santa Fe is not mentioned, it is difficult to conceive of
any other place “ westward” where mules could be traded
for. Thither in fact the party was bound. They rendez-
voused at the home of Ezekiel Williams (of “ Lost Trap-
pers”’ fame) on the 4th of August and crossed the Mis-
souri at Arrow Rock, September 1st. They reached the
Arkansas September 24th and Santa Fe November 16th.
Becknell’s route was up the Arkansas to the mountains
where, according to Gregg, it was his intention to remain
and trade with the Indians, but having fallen in with a
party of Mexicans he was induced to take his outfit to Santa
"See infra p. 502.
John McKnight subsequently built a post on the upper Arkansas near
which he was killed by the Comanches in 1823. His fort was then
abandoned.—Missouri Intelligencer, August 12, 1823. Robert Mc-
Knight evidently returned in later years to the scene of his long
incarceration, for Kit Carson says he hired out to him as teamster
in Chihuahua in 1828. Peter’s Province Life and Frontier Adventures,
Pp. 33.
502 EXPEDITION OF GLENN AND FOWLER.
Fe. Here he sold out at a handsome profit, and on Decem-
ber 13th left San Miguel with a single companion by the
name of McLaughlin and reached home January 29th, 1822.
During the same year Jacob Fowler, of Covington, Ken-
tucky, who rejoiced in the title of Major, and Hugh Glenn,
of Cincinnati, Ohio, who was known among his acquaint-
ances by the Blue Grass addition of Colonel, made a joint
expedition to Santa Fe. Glenn had already established a
trading post on the Arkansas river near the mouth of the
Verdigris, and hither Major Fowler made his way via Fort
Smith early in September, 1821. Colonel Glenn joined the
party, which numbered twenty persons, and, possibly by
virtue of nominal rank, assumed the command. The start
from Glenn’s post was on the 21st of September, 1821.
Their course for some time was in the country to
the north of the Arkansas, but it came back to that river
near the mouth of the Little Arkansas. It then continued
up the river to the base of the mountains, where, on the 2nd
of January or thereabouts, Colonel Glenn left Fowler with
most of the party while he set out with four men for Santa
Fe. Nothing was heard from him until the 28th of January
when some Spaniards arrived with news of the success of
the Mexican Revolution. Glenn sent word that he had met
with a very friendly reception at Santa Fe and requested
Fowler to proceed there at once with his party, for he had
obtained permission to hunt and trap in the Mexican prov-
inces. On the 8th of February, 1822, Fowler arrived in
Taos, where he met Colonel Glenn. The Colonel then
returned to Santa Fe while Fowler made a spring hunt in
the mountains. At some time during the spring they were
joined by McKnight’s party just from the prisons of Chi-
huahua, and on the Ist of June they all set out for the United
States. On the 12th they met a party under Braxton
Cooper on the Arkansas a little east of the present boundary
line between Colorado and Kansas. On the 29th of June,
near Ottawa, Kansas, they came upon a wagon trail made
by William Becknell’s party only a short time before. The
BECKNELL’S SECOND EXPEDITION. 503
party reached Fort Osage July 5th, whence they proceeded
to St. Louis and Fowler reached his home in Covington,
Kentucky, on the 22nd of July.®
The favorable report brought back by Becknell in the win-
ter of 1821-22 led to repetitions of the enterprise in the
following spring. Both Braxton Cooper and Becknell him-
self took out expeditions. Cooper set out in the latter part
of April, made the journey in safety, and the greater part
of the company returned in the following autumn. Becknell
left Arrow Rock near Franklin May 22 with twenty-one
men and three wagons. Between the Missouri and the Ar-
kansas he was stopped by the Osage Indians, who threat-
ened to confiscate his property, but through the good offices
of one of the Chouteaus who was trading with these Indians
at the time, he was allowed to proceed.
Upon his arrival at the Arkansas he was joined by the
party of a Mr. Heath who is not elsewhere mentioned in the
narratives of the times. The journey from the Arkansas
to San Miguel, the first Spanish settlement, situated about
fifty miles from Santa Fe, consumed twenty-two days.
How long Becknell remained in Santa fe at this time is not
known, but the return journey, which took forty-eight days,
probably occurred in October and November.
This journey is of historic importance in that it was the
first which led directly to San Miguel by way of the Cimar-
ron river instead of following the Arkansas to the moun- |
*The chief value of the Glenn-Fowler expedition is in the fact that
Major Fowler kept a journal, and that this-journal has been published
under such able editorship as that of Dr. Elliott Coues. With a degree
of courage such as few editors would have shown, Dr. Coues has
reproduced the preposterous orthography of the original journal with ab-
solute fidelity, and it is probably the best example of poor spelling
and punctuation in existence. Apart from its singular appearance
the journal has a real value as a contribution of the history of an
obscure period. Perhaps the most valuable feature of all is the ex-
haustive editorial commentary upon topics connected with the expe-
dition. The Journal of Jacob Fowler. Elliott Coues. New York,
Francis P. Harper, 1808.
504 FIRST WAGONS TO SANTA FE,
tains; and it was also the first that made use of wagons in
__the Santa Fe trade. To William Becknell therefore belongs
the credit of having made the first regular trading expedition
from the Missouri to Santa Fe; of being the first to follow
the route direct to San Miguel instead of by way of Taos;
and the first to introduce the use of wagons in the trade.
This last achievement was four years before Ashley took his
wheeled cannon to the Salt Lake valley, eight years before
Smith, Jackson and Sublette took wagons to Wind river,
and ten years before Bonneville took them to Green river.®
In the fall of 1822 James Baird and Samuel Chambers, of
the unfortunate party so long imprisoned in Chihuahua,
took an expedition consisting of about fifty men from
Franklin to Santa Fe. Upon their arrival at the Arkansas
they were overtaken by a snow storm of such severity as to
compel them to go into winter quarters. They encamped on
an island and remained there through a very severe winter,
in which all their animals perished. When spring arrived,
being unable to transport their goods, they cached them
some distance above the island on the north shore. Thence
they went to Taos, procured some mules and came back and
recovered their property. The spot was thereafter known
as the Caches.” ;
° The evidence on this point is conclusive. See Journal of Jacob Fow-
ler, p. 167. “ We have to leave the wagon [road] we fell into two days
back, which road was made by Becknell and his party on their way to
the Spanish settlements.” This was July 1, 1822. Becknell himself in a
letter written in 1825 referred to this year as the time “ when I opened
the road to Santa Fe.” The Missouri Intelligencer, Feb. 18, 1823, says:
“ But one wagon has ever gone from this state to Santa Fe and that
was taken by Captain Wm. Becknell . . . in the early part of last
spring, and sold there for $700, which cost here $150.” This might
mean that Becknell lost two wagons on the way, but Becknell’s journal
indicates that he took all the wagons through. Niles Register
mistakenly refers to Cooper as having taken the three wagons to Santa
Fe, “to the great astonishment of the people.” It was, of course,
Becknell. Gregg, usually so accurate, evidently errs in saying that
Becknell was defeated in his effort to cross the Cimarron desert and
had to return to the Arkansas and go by way of Taos. Becknell’s
Journal makes it plain that he crossed the desert.
** See Gregg, Commerce of the Prairies, vol. I., p. 67, and Missouri
Intelligencer, Sept. 3, 1822.
EXPEDITIONS OF 1824. 505
We have the record of but one expedition to Santa Fe in
the year 1823, although there were undoubtedly others.
This was composed of thirty persons under the command
of Colonel Cooper and it left the vicinity of Franklin about
May 6th. Each member of the party took two pack horses
and two hundred dollars’ worth of goods. The party
returned in safety in the following October, bringing in four
hundred “ jacks, jennies and mules,’’ some other live stock
and a quantity of furs."?
The year 1824 was an eventful one in the history of the
Santa Fe trade, for it was marked by an immense increase in
the number and activity of those who had entered the rising
business. About the ist of April of that year, in a tavern in
the little town of Franklin a company of men assembled to
discuss the organization of a Santa Fe expedition. It was
to be upon a more extensive scale than any yet undertaken,
and it was proposed to make a large use of wagons. The
details were arranged and a rendezvous was appointed at Mt.
Vernon, Missouri, on May sth, each man to come equipped
with one good rifle, one pistol, four pounds of powder, eight
pounds of lead, and twenty days’ provisions.
The expedition set out on its long journey May 15, 1824;
crossed the Missouri six miles above Franklin on the follow-
ing day; and on May 23rd arrived at the place of organiza-
tion “three miles from the settlements.” Here the party
was organized for crossing the plains. A. Le Grand, well
known in frontier history, was elected Captain, and others
to the various subordinate offices. Among the party were
Mr. Marmaduke, who afterward became governor of Mis-
souri, and Augustus Storrs who next year went out as
United States consul to Santa Fe. The expedition consisted
of eighty-one men, one hundred and fifty-six horses and
mules, twenty-five wagons and about thirty thousand dol-
lars’ worth of merchandise. This was the first expedition
upon which wagons were extensively used.
The party resumed their journey May 25th, reached tue |
™ Missouri Intelligencer, May 13 and Oct. 28, 1823.
506 ' BECKNELL ON GREEN RIVER.
Arkansas June 1oth, passed San Miguel July 25th and
arrived in Santa Fe July 28th. After a successful trade
most of the party returned home. They reached Franklin
September 24th after an absence of four months and ten
days. They brought back as a result of their trade one
hundred and eighty thousand dollars in gold and silver and
ten thousand dollars’ worth of furs. It was one of the most
profitable ventures in the history of the Santa Fe trade.
Mr. Marmaduke, who kept a diary of the expedition,
remained in Santa Fe during the winter and left for home
May 31, 1825.1? |
In the fall of 1824 Braxton Cooper took a party to Santa
Fe, leaving home in November. He lost two men on the
way — one by the name of Wixon, who was murdered by
the Osage Indians, and another by the name of Glen Owen,
who was killed by the Comanches.
The whereabouts of William Becknell during these two
years are not very clear, but it is certain that he was actively
engaged in the trade, for we find him in the fall of 1824
making a journey far to the west of Santa Fe. He leit
Santa Cruz November 5th with nine men and went to Green
river (so mentioned specifically) where he remained during
the winter. The little party suffered great hardship from
hunger and cold. In an account furnished the Missouri
Intelugencer, June 25, 1825, a week after Becknell’s return
to the United States, he says: “‘ We subsisted for two days
on soup made from the raw hide which we had reserved for
soling our moccasins, and the following morning the
remains were dished up into hash. The young men
employed by me had seen better days and had never before
gone supperless to bed nor missed a wholesome and substan-
tial meal at the regular hour except one who was with me
when I opened the road to Santa Fe.”’
In this connection the following account from the /ntelli-
gencer of April 19, 1825, will be of interest. On the 24th
“ Yhe data for the foregoing narrative were gleaned from the Mis-
sourt Intelligencer.
FIRST USE OF NAME “GREEN RIVER.” 507
of August, 1824, William Huddart and fourteen men left
Taos and traveled west to “‘ Green River (probably the Colo-
rado of the West)” where the party separated, nine of them
ascending the river. The others fell in with a trader by the
name of Robidoux who had with him five Americans. Two
days later they were attacked by the Arapahoes, who killed
one man and robbed the rest. Huddart and his five com-
panions then left Robidoux and returned to Taos.
These two items are of especial interest as giving the first
known use of the name Green river as applied to the Colo-
rado of the West; for there seems to be no doubt that this
was the stream referred to in both instances. It also gives
us a clue to the wanderings of that active trader Robidoux
who, at a very early day, built a post on the Gunnison river
and another in the vailey of the Uintah on the farther slope
of the Colorado of the West.
An interesting event of the year 1824 was an expedition
of twenty-six Spaniards from Santa Fe to Council Bluffs,
where, with the aid of Major O’Fallon, Indian Agent, they
concluded a treaty with the Pawnees who at that time were
the scourge of the traders in the territory of both govern-
ments. The Spaniards were greatly pleased with the atten-
tions shown them by Major O’Fallon. They left for Santa
Fe on the 11th of August.® |
The year 1824 witnessed also another expedition, that of
James O. Pattie and his father, who left their home on the
Gasconade river, Missouri, June 24th with the intention of
going up the Missouri river. They were stopped at Coun-
cil Bluffs on account of having no license and they then
decided to join a party under Sylvester Pratte for Santa
Fe. They left Council Bluffs July 30th, went first to the
Pawnee villages on the Loup, thence south to the Arkansas,
_ and thence via Taos to Santa Fe, where they arrived on the
5th of November. ‘The career of the Patties for the six
years thereafter was mainly in the far southwest, in New
Mexico, Arizona and California, and does not fall within
* Missouri Intelligencer, Sept. 25, 1824.
508 JAMES O. PATTIE.
the scope of this work. The younger Pattie afterward pub-
lished an interesting account of his adventures under the
title of The Personal Narrative of James O. Pattie. It is
a faithful work, in very simple style, almost pathetic in its
details of misfortune, and forms one of the many indict-
ments of Spanish inhumanity toward Americans during
those early years.
The year 1825 was also one of great activity in the Santa
Fe trade. It is not, however, necessary to follow in minute
detail, as in the preceding years, the comings and goings of
the now frequent expeditions. The interest which always
attaches to the beginnings of any enterprise justifies a
descent to the minutest circumstances which may elucidate ©
its history; but this is no longer the case where such begin-
nings have grown into a regular routine. Henceforth it will
be necessary to present only those features which stand forth
with unusual prominence, relegating to the condensed sum-
nary of a footnote the details of the several expeditions.'4
* 1825 — Becknell returned from Santa Fe June 1.— Marmaduke left
Santa Fe May 31; date of arrival in Franklin not known. — Another
party left Santa Fe in June arriving in Franklin August 1 with 500
mules and horses; pursued usual route; went from San Miguel to
Canadian; down this stream 300 miles; thence N. E. to Arkansas at
mouth of Little Arkansas; thence through Osage country home; were
roughly handled by Osages.— May 16, large party, 105 men, 34 wagons,
240 mules and horses, Augustus Storrs, newly appointed consul to San-
ta Fe, Captain, left Fort Osage for Santa Fe; party returned by de-
tachments at various times and by different routes during fall; a
number, among them Storrs, remained. — Another caravan left in May
with 81 men, 200 horses and $30,000 worth of goods; no further record.
— A party of Tennesseeans left Jackson, Tenn., for Santa Fe, in April;
returned as far as Arkansas river with some of the above parties
and then continued down that stream.
1826 — Early in April a party arrived in Franklin from Santa Fe.
About same time party of 100 left for Santa Fe. — About June 1, anoth-
er party of between 80 and 100 persons, “ with wagons and carriages of
every description” left Franklin for Santa Fe. — June 9, “six or seven
new and substantial wagons” laden with goods arrived in Franklin
en route for Santa Fe; owned by Mexican, Mr. Escudero, who was in
charge of them. This was about the beginning of Mexican proprietor-
SUMMARY OF EXPEDITIONS. 509
It was in the year 1824 that the question of marking the
road to Santa Fe and of providing a military escort for the
caravans began to be agitated. Senator Thomas H. Benton
of Missouri succeeded in getting an appropriation-of*ten
thousand dollars for marking the road and twenty thousand
dollars for securing the right of transit from the Indians
ship in trade which monopolized more than half the business in 1843.—
It appears that in September of this year a party under Ceran St.
Vrain (if we may trust Inman) set out for Santa Fe, arriving there in
November; in this party was a runaway boy, Kit Carson, then 17 years
old.
1827 — Spring caravan from Franklin had 52 wagons and 105 men;
Ezekiel Williams, captain; Augustus Storrs and David Workman
along; the largest party yet; the only outgoing expedition mentioned,
but of course there were others; about 60 of the party returned about
Sept. 30, with 800 head of stock, valued at $28,000; absent four months;
cleared 40 per cent. — May 31, a party returned from Santa Fe success-
ful.—July 19, a party of twenty arrived two days before from Santa Fe
with several hundred mules and $30,000 specie.
1828.— About Ist of May caravan left Franklin for Santa Fe with
$150,000 worth of merchandise and 150 persons.— May 18, a party
was at Blue Springs en route to Santa Fe, with 37 wagons, and
$41,000 worth of goods; September 12, 70 to 80 persons arrived in
Franklin from Santa Fe; venture profitable, but lost two men, Munroe
and McNees. — Oct. 28, party of 25 arrived in Franklin from Santa
Fe; had been attacked by Indians who stole all their animals; killed
John Means of Franklin, and compelled them to cache their specie.—
Bent’s Fort erected this year; according to some authorities, the fol-
lowing year.
1829. — Spring caravan consisted of about 70 persons and 35 wag-
ons; Charles Bent captain; military escort under Major Riley; Sam-
uel C. Lamme killed en route; return cargo valued at $34,000; reached
Franklin early in November.— There seems to have been no other cara-
van this year.
1830. — About May 22, party of 120 with 60 wagons left Franklin for
Santa Fe, returning in October with fair profits.
1831.— May 15, large party, of which Josiah Gregg was a member,
numbering nearly 200 and including some ladies, 100 wagons, two
small cannon, and $200,000 worth of goods, left Independence, Mo.,
and having organized at Council Grove, left that place May 27; crossed
the Arkansas June 13, and arrived at San Miguel in due course. — May
21st there was preparing at Franklin a large party for Santa Fe with
about $200,000 worth of goods.— Some of the members had put their
510 SANTA FE ROAD COMMISSION.
across their territories. A commission was appointed con-
sisting of Benjamin Reeves, George C. Sibley and Thomas
Mather. Their work began in 1825 and continued for three
years. The necessary concessions were secured from the
Indians and the road was surveyed from Fort Osage to
Taos.
entire property in the venture. — One of above parties returned, in Octo-
ber, after a successful trip—October 20 a party of twenty-five or
thirty persons passed Columbia, Mo., for Santa Fe, mostly from Eastern
states. It was this year that Smith, Jackson and Sublette made their
unfortunate journey across the plains in which Smith lost his life.
1832.—— Principal caravan under Charles Bent; date of departure
not given; returned about November Ist, with $100,000 specie and
$90,000 other property.—A party returning in the fall and winter of
this year attacked by Indians on Canadian January 1 and lost all their
property and one man.
1833.— June 20, spring caravan at Diamond Grove, 184 men, 93
wagons, under Charles Bent; November 9, 100 of above party re-
turned with $100,000 specie and large amount of other property. —
Gregg returned this fall.
1834.—May 24, caravan of about 125 wagons; Gregg probably with
it; part of caravan under Captain Kerr left Santa Fe September io,
arrived home in October, 140 men and 40 wagons with returns amount-
ing to over $200,000.
The record of the caravans during the following years is very ob-
scure, although it is certain that they continued as heretofore. — Va-
rious causes contributed to the deficiency of record. Of all the author-
ities relied on in this note the Missouri Intelligencer is the most im-
portant, and next are the St. Louis papers and the Niles Register.
The Missouri Inteligencer and Boone’s Lick Advertiser began its
career in Franklin, where the Santa Fe trade had its origin and for a full
decade its headquarters. As the trade was at that time peculiarly an
industry of the country around Franklin the local paper kept a close
account of its doings. June 29, 1826, the paper was transferred to Fay-
ette in the same county but back from the river, and four years later,
May 4, 1830, it was removed to Columbia, Missouri. As _ its
habitat was moved away from the river it became less in touch with the
Santa Fe trade. The trade itself gradually transferred its headquarters
to Independence, Missouri, which by 1830 had become the main starting
point. This town had no paper, and reports of events at so great a
distance often failed to be made. While, therefore, we should expect
that the later records would be the more complete, they are in reality
less so.
MILITARY ESCORTS. SII
Troubles with the Indians, resulting in frequent robberies
and occasional loss of life, early led to appeals for govern-
ment protection. A military post on the boundary line was
at first proposed, but this idea was abandoned on account of
the difficulty of supply and the fact that the garrison would
be of little use except in its immediate vicinity. In 1829 the
experiment of an escort was tried. Major Bennett Riley *
with four companies of the 6th Infantry was detailed from
Fort Leavenworth to accompany the spring caravan to the
‘frontier. He set out June 5th and joined the caravan a few
days later at Round Grove. The expedition proceeded
without incident to the Arkansas and up this stream to the
vicinity of Chouteau Island. As the road here turned off
to the Cimarron and lay on Mexican soil, the United States
troops could go no farther. This was about the middle of
July.
Scarcely had the caravan disappeared on the other side of
the river when some horsemen came riding back furiously
and announced that it had been attacked and one of its num-
ber killed. Major Riley at once crossed the river and has-
tened to their relief. He then escorted them for a day
longer, but knowing the serious nature of an armed march
into foreign territory without permission, he determined to
go no farther. The caravan had become so panic-stricken
by the recent event that about half of them resolved to
abandon the trip and remain with the troops, but they were
shamed out of their purpose.
Major Riley then returned to the neighborhood of Chou-
teau Island and went into summer camp, having agreed to
await the caravan’s return until October 1oth. He hada
hard summer of it, being frequently annoyed by the Indians,
and several incidents of thrilling interest enlivened the long
stay in the barren and uninteresting region. Finally the
1oth of October arrived and brought no caravan. Major
Riley decided to wait one day longer. No one appearing by
* A distinguished officer whose name is perpetuated in “ Fort Riley,”
an important military post in central Kansas.
512 AMERICANS AND MEXICANS ON THE ARKANSAS.
the morning of the 11th, a parting salute was fired and the
troops set out for home. But scarcely had they gotten under
way when some horsemen overtook them and announced
that the caravan was at hand. A halt was made immedi-
ately. The caravan was found to be accompanied by an
escort of Mexican troops under Colonel Viscara, Inspector
General of the Mexican army. . It had had a sharp brush
with the Indians a few days before ** in which Viscara came
near losing his life. The escort was hospitably received by
the American troops; the officers were feasted as well as the
limited resources would permit, and a review was had in
their honor.
It was a remarkable scene — this gathering of the military
forces of two nations in protection of an international com-
merce. It was moreover one of the most heterogeneous
gatherings conceivable, for the Santa Fe caravans embraced
every class and condition of men to be found in the frontier
settlements of either country. Never, since the days when
Coronado penetrated to the Kansas plains, had the barren
and treeless prairies witnessed a more interesting spectacle.
Three days were spent in this agreeable intercourse, and on
the 14th of October the caravan, after bidding farewell to its
Mexican escort, placed itself under the protection of the
national troops and took up its march for home.
The policy of furnishing escorts for the caravans did not
commend itself to the authorities. The large caravans were
amply able to protect themselves if they exercised reason-
able caution, while it was of course impossible to furnish an
escort for every little band that might choose to make the
trip. Moreover the escort could only go to the frontier and
had to stop at the very point where the danger was greatest.
Unless a Mexican escort were there to meet the caravan it
was of very little use to provide protection over the least dan-
gerous half of the way. The experiment of 1829 was there-
fore not often repeated. In 1834 an escort of sixty dra-
goons under Captain Wharton accompanied the caravan;
6 See p. 551.
MEXICAN OUTRAGES. ai
but this, according to Gregg, was the last one until 1843.
The trade pursued the even tenor of its course during these
years with little of incident or note except the never-ending
troubles at the custom house. But the situation of affairs,
as regarded the provincial government, became less and less
satisfactory. Mexico was falling into the same habit of sus-
picion and jealousy that had been so fatal to commercial
intercourse during the Spanish regime. From their point of
view there may have been some cause for this feeling. The
onward march of American settlement they conceived to be
fraught with great danger to their own authority in the
northern provinces. Already Texas was as good as lost and
the same might soon prove true of New Mexico. There was
consequently a growing opposition among the Santa Fe
authorities to a continuance of the trade, although it was
always popular with the people.
The ephemeral insurrection of 1837 which for a short
time subverted Mexican authority bore hard on the Amer-
ican traders, for they were suspected, though apparently
without foundation, of complicity in this movement. The
various Texan-Santa Fe expeditions, so injudiciously man-
aged, were another great annoyance to the trade; for here
again the authorities believed that the traders were privy to
the plans of the Texans. Consideration of these interest-
ing events is foreign to the purpose of this work; and
belongs rather to the history of those great political changes
which were about to come over this region. The lamentable
tragedies to which they gave rise burned deeply into the pub-
lic mind in the United States and went far to justify the
sweeping conquest which followed so shortly after.
This brief sketch of the Santa Fe trade prior to 1843
would be incomplete if we omitted to refer to its supreme
importance in the war which was even then (1843) gath-
ering like a storm on the prairies. The long intercourse of
twenty years had made our people thoroughly familiar with
the routes, distances, character of country, and the people to
be encountered in military operations in that quarter. The
514 BENEFICENT INFLUENCE.
interchange of commerce had made the New Mexicans bet-
ter acquainted with our people, had created a friendly feel-
ing towards them, and had effectually paved the way for the
change of allegiance that was soon to follow.
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE SANTA FE TRADE.
CHARACTER OF THE BUSINESS.
Commercial isolation of Santa Fe — Origin of the trade — Franklin
the “cradle” of the Santa Fe trade— Independence and Westport —
Kinds of merchandise used — Character of return cargo— Magnitude
of the trade — Profits — Small proprietors — Further statements as to
magnitude of the trade— The Santa Fe caravans— Organization at
Council Grove — Progress of the caravan— Arrival at Santa Fe—
Placing the goods on sale— Customs regulations — Armigo’s duty on
wagons.
| 1830 the following item appeared in a paper published
in western Missouri:' “ The inland trade between
the United States and Mexico is increasing rapidly. This
is perhaps one of the most curious species of foreign inter-
course which the ingenuity and enterprise of American
traders ever originated. The extent of country which the
caravans traverse, the long journeys they have to make, the
rivers and morasses to cross, the prairies, the forests and
all but African deserts to penetrate — require the most
steel-formed constitutions and the most energetic minds.
The accounts of these inland expeditions remind one of the
caravans of the East. . . . The dangers which both
encounter—the caravan of the East and that of the West—
are equally numerous and equally alarming. Men of high
a and somewhat romantic natures are requisite for
oth.” |
This singular business, the “ Commerce of the Prairies,”
was unique in American history and owed its origin to the
condition of commercial isolation which existed in New
* Missouri Intelligencer, Feb. 12, 1830.
516 COMMERCIAL ISOLATION.
Mexico prior to the coming of the Americans. In spite of
the extreme paucity of geographical knowledge of the coun-
try between New Mexico and the Missouri in the earlier
years of the century, in spite also of thé jealous surveillance
of the Spanish government over the domestic affairs of her
colonies, and the careful exclusion of all knowledge concern-
ing them from the outside world, certain facts had become
known to the American merchants of St. Louis and the set-
tlements along the lower Missouri. It was clear that the
Missouri river near the mouth of the Kansas was much
nearer to Santa Fe than was Vera Cruz, whence all imported
fabrics reached that inland town. Inasmuch as there was
continuous navigation from American and foreign ports to
St. Louis and even to the mouth of the Kansas, nearly three.
hundred miles farther west, it was an obvious proposition
that traders from the Missouri could import goods to Santa
Fe more cheaply than the Mexicans themselves by way of
Vera Cruz. The only uncertainty in the matter related to
the duties which the Spaniards might levy upon imports.
If these were reasonable, then it was evident that the advan-
tage of trade would lie with the Americans. These consid-
erations led to attempts, as early as 1804, to open trade rela-
tions between St. Louis and Santa Fe. They were renewed
at intervals, but always unsuccessfully, until the overthrow
of Spanish power in Mexico. The trade then began to
develop rapidly into a flourishing commerce which continued
with little interruption until Santa Fe became an American
city. It will be considered here in reference to the char-
acter of the traffic, the method of conducting the caravans
and the conditions encountered in Santa Fe.
“The town of Franklin on the Missouri river . .
seems truly to have been the cradle of our trade,” says Josiah
Gregg, the historian of the Santa Fe Trail. Franklin was
the first town of importance in the celebrated tract of western
Missouri known as Boone’s Lick. It has now been entirely
washed into the river, while on the opposite shore has arisen
the thriving town of Boonville. At the time when the Santa
CRADLE OF SANTA FE TRADE. 517
re trade commenced, Franklin was the most important town
of Missouri west of St. Louis, and the first to establish a
newspaper. It was two hundred and five miles by river
above the mouth of the Missouri and one hundred and
eighty-seven below the mouth of the Kansas. The earlier
expeditions to Santa Fe, after 1820, nearly all started from
this locality, and were made by residents of the Boone’s Lick
country. But as the trade grew in importance, as steam-
boats began to ascend the Missouri, and particularly as
traders from other points began to engage in the trade, the
starting place was gradually transferred to that point on the
Missouri which was nearest to Santa Fe. Independence,
Missouri, near the mouth of the Kansas, began to be an out-
fitting point as early as 1827. In the course of the next six
years the Missouri river destroyed the steamboat landing
and the boats had to go farther up where there was a con-
venient and permanent bank. Here arose Westport land-
ing, and a few miles back, Westport itself, which from that
time began to draw a share of the outfitting trade from Inde-
pendence. By 1831 Franklin had almost entirely lost its
hold as the starting place for the caravans, which thence-
forth was permanently fixed in the neighborhood of the
mouth of the Kansas. The trail to the mountains also,
started from this point and the growing volume of the moun-
tain trade still further augmented the importance of this
early rendezvous.
The goods taken to Santa Fe in trade comprised almost
every variety that are made use of in every day life. There
were dry goods, silks, hardwares, calicoes, velvets, drillings,
shirtings, etc. ; but domestic cottons constituted fully half the
cargo. The trade extended beyond Santa Fe, and in later
years a large portion of it was carried to Chihuahua, and
some even to California. From this last region were
brought horses and mules which thus found their way from
the distant Pacific to the Mississippi valley and possibly even
farther east. The furs from the Colorado mountains were
frequently brought in by way of the Trail either by traders
518 MAGNITUDE OF THE TRADE.
who had purchased them, or by the trappers who joined the
caravans for protection. The most important item in the
return cargo was specie, both gold and silver, which was
transported in large quantities to the States.
The magnitude of the Santa Fe trade at one time rose to
about four hundred and fifty thousand dollars per annum.
For the twenty-two years from 1822 to 1843 inclusive, it
averaged over one hundred and thirty thousand dollars, or
nearly three millions for the period. The following table,
which is the only complete summary of the trade ever pre-
pared, was compiled by Josiah Gregg, the most competent
authority who has treated of the subject. It gives the esti-
mated value of the merchandise invested in the trade, the
proportion taken to other points than Santa Fe, and the
number of men, wagons, and proprietors foreach year. The
value of the goods is that of the Eastern markets where they
were purchased,
Amount
of Mdse.
STATISTICS OF THE: TRADE. 519
Proprietors.
Remarks.
—<_—— | ———— | — |\Keq—]Pe eo i — ..._
ees | $$$
12,000
35,000
65,000
gO,000
85,000
150,000
60,000
120,000
250,000
140,000
180,000
150,000
140,000
130,000
150,000
gO, 000
250,000
50,000
150,000
160,000
450,000
I0o
105
20
40
$ 3,000
5,000
7,000
8,000
20,000
5,000
20,000
80,000
50,000
80,000
70,000
70,000
60,000
80,000
40,000
100, 000
10,000
80,000
90,000
300,000
{ Pack animals only used [ex-
cept Becknell’s wagons].
Pack animals only used.
do. and wagons.
do. do.
Wagons only henceforth.
3 men killed, being the first.
U.S. escort. 1 trader killed.
First oxen used by traders.
Two men killed.
Party defeated on Cana-
dian. Twomen killed, 3
perished.
2nd U.S. escort.
Arkansas expedition.
Chihuahua expedition.
Texan-Santa Fe expedition.
{ grd U.S. escort. Ports
closed.
520 SMALL PROPRIETORSHIP.
In a business of so hazardous and uncertain a character
the profits must necessarily have been large to justify a pur-
suit of it. The goods were mostly bought in Eastern mar-
kets, and were sold at a great advance, often more than one
hundred per cent upon the first cost. But by the time that
the sales were accomplished and the various expenses and
losses in transporting them so far were deducted, the net
profits rarely exceeded forty per cent, and were frequently
as low as ten per cent. There were of course occasional
instances of actual loss.
A striking characteristic of the Santa Fe trade was its di-
vision among a great number of proprietors. The above table
shows to what a degree this was true and only in the later
years did the investments average as much as one thousand
dollars per proprietor. It was a business of small dealers,
and no “ American Fur Company ”’ followed the Santa Fe
Trail. Not infrequently individuals took with them all they
possessed, and as the enterprises were generally profitable the
trade was undoubtedly a great benefit. Often individuals
would secure credits by mortgages upon their property until
their return in the fall. If, as occasionally happened, the
Santa Fe market proved dull, and it required considerable
time to get rid of one’s cargo by retail, these home obliga-
tions enforced a resort to the less profitable method by whole-
sale in order that the business might terminate in time for the
trader to get back home and satisfy his creditors.”
* The following letter is from a distinguished Santa Fe trader and
plainsman, a partner of the no less distinguished Bent brothers. It is
an example of the practice already alluded to: .
SAN FERNANDO DEL Taos, Sept. 14, 1830.
Messrs. B. PratrE & Co.
Gentlemen :—It is with pleasure that I inform you of my last arrival
at Santafe which was the 4th of August. we were met at Red river
by General Biscusa the customhouse officer and a few soldiers, the
object in coming out so far to meet us was to prevent smuggling and
it had the desired effeck, there was a guard placed around our wagons
until we entered Santafe, we had all to pay full dutys which amounts
to about 60 percent on cost. I was the first that put goods in the
Customhouse and I opened immediately, but goods sold very slow, so
WYETH’S ESTIMATE OF THE TRADE. 521
While there is no reason to doubt the substantial accuracy
of the figures heretofore given concerning the Santa Fe
trade, there were those at the time who ridiculed its impor-
tance, as there are those who ridicule every movement which
the enterprise of man sets on foot. To give a fair hearing to
both sides, however, the following comments will be of value.
They are the substance of a spirited protest which appeared
in the Missouri Republican of St. Louis, February 16, 1830,
against a statement which had been made upon the floor of
Congress that the trade of 1829 had amounted to two hun-
dred thousand dollars and was deserving of government pro-
tection. The writer had procured an estimate from those
who alone knew anything about it, with the result that one
slow that it was discouraging. I found that it was impossible to meet
my payments if I continued retaling. I there fore thought it was best
to hole Saile & I have done so. I send you by Mr. Andru Carson and
Lavoise Ruel one wagon eleven mules, one horse and 653 skins of
Beaver, 961 lbs. nine hundred and sixty one pounds, which you will
have sold for my account. I do not wish the mules sold unless they sell
for a good price.
I am with much respect
Your obdt. servt.
Ceran St. Vrain.”
The following observations by Nathaniel J. Wyeth (Sources of the
History of Oregon, p. 119) are to the same purpose: “The following
statement is my view of the Santa Fee business, derived however from
superficial observation. viz.:
First cost of goods carried to St. Fee and duties paid the Mexi-
RLS ee PERN G Eel ee ie ces ota cro die Wieicsa cess aie's'» ous eee.» ©4 vies $100,000
er AN GE XPENSES ON SAME 2c os occ icc cg ot oe uidis ccc ccucecducs 50,000
Profits and interests in the States between the importer and the
OTL ae eile Ao cuca a See Sicigeee idea eles eae eee’ 25,000
$175,000
Returns made from St. Fee in Specie and Beaver............ $200,000
Peonts remaining to the: ot. Pee traders: .......5... 0.20 eccecees $ 25,000
“This is, I presume, about the result of the trade. The goods are
carried to St. Fee by about 30 distinct traders in about 75 wagons.
The largest trader has rarely more than 12 wagons. More than one-
half of these people are farmers and buy their goods on 12 months and
often mortgage their farms and consequently are obliged to make
returns the same year.”
522 ADVERSE OPINION OF THE TRADE.
hundred and thirty-three thousand dollars and nine hun-
dred of the twelve hundred mules which were brought back
belonged to Spanish refugees who were with the caravan and
were daily expecting a decree for their return. The specie
amounted to between twenty and thirty thousand dollars,
about twice the cost of the military escort, which did not pre-
vent the loss of an estimable trader who was killed by the
Indians. The furs belonged mostly to traders who came in
with the caravan for protection and whose property repre-
sented the fruit of two or three years’ toil. ‘“ A majority
of the traders invest in the trade from $100 to $600; these
capitalists live cheaply upon buffalo meat, and improve their
habits and morals among the, in every way, vicious and las-
civious inhabitants of Santa Fe . . . Jt will not be
denied that most of the traders are professedly smugglers.
Others deceive the ignorance, or overcome by bribes the con-
scientious scruples, of the custom house officer, the agents of
the republic of Mexico. Ought this trade to be protected
by the government ”’?
Nevertheless the trade was one of considerable magnitude
and genuine importance. It was as honestly conducted as
any business could be which had to do with Spanish officials.
It was an unquestioned blessing to the isolated community
penned up in the mountains and it was a source of revenue to
a great many worthy American citizens. So important had
it become to the New Mexicans that when a decree prohibit-
ing it was promulgated in 1843, Gregg predicted that, unless
the decree were speedily withdrawn, revolution would
follow.
vThe most interesting feature of the Santa Fe trade was
that which related to the long journey over the plains. The
distance from Independence to Santa Fe was over seven hun-
dred miles, and except for the last fifty miles, no permanent
abode of civilized man greeted the eye of the traveler.
Much of the intervening territory was prairie country, some
of it a barren, sandy, trackless desert, where lack of water
was an ever-present peril. All of it, except a narrow strip
'
‘
q
]
|!
4
:
a ee ee Se ee
ee ee ee ee
LA
ss
THE CARAVAN. 523
at either end, was infested with some of the most treacher-
ous and restless Indians to be found west of the Mississippi.
So real were the perils of these long journeys that it was
extremely hazardous for small parties to undertake them
alone. The traders early formed the practice of banding
together for mutual protection, over at least the most danger-
ous part of the journey. Hence arose the custom of form-
ing caravans which every year crossed the plains in each
direction.
The traders, being of a very independent class, were
averse to sinking their individuality in a general organiza-
tion except when danger positively compelled it; and they
therefore deferred the caravan formation to the latest possi-
ble moment. From Independence they set off by themselves
and went on in this way one hundred and fifty miles to
Council Grove. Here, for many years, the caravans were
organized, for beyond this point attacks might be looked for
from the savages.
The first step in the organization was to select officers.
In the larger caravans the list was quite extensive, including
captain, Ist and 2nd lieutenants, marshal, clerk, pilot,
court (three members), commander of guards, and a chap-
lain. For captain it was customary to select an experienced
plainsman, bold and fearless, yet of cool judgment. These
qualities, however, were rarely so conspicuous as to indicate
any one man for exclusive choice, and as a result there was
a goodly amount of electioneering. The American of the
plains could not shake off the training of his native country,
and these elections usually proceeded by the most approved
American methods. ‘One would have supposed,” says
Gregg, “that electioneering and party spirit would hardly
have penetrated so far into the wilderness; but so it was.
Even in our little community we had our office-seekers and
their political adherents, as earnest and devoted as any of
the modern school of politicians in the midst of civilization.”
Not only in the work of effecting an organization, but in
the organization itself, the patriotic trader patterned after
524 PATRIOTISM ON THE PRAIRIES.
the institutions of his beloved country. Augustus Storrs,
referring to the expedition of 1827, says: ‘“‘ Our govern-
ment is almost as complete and perfect as though we com-
posed a republican government; we can never forget the
blessings of our own institutions; and I have no doubt that
the longer we are absent the more forcibly this idea will
occur to us.” In truth, the fires of patriotism burned ever
brightly on the prairies and in the mountains, and no wan-
dering band was so benighted as to forget to render honor to
the institutions of their country wherever the anniversary of
its natal day overtook them. Upon such occasions the entire
resources of the party were called into requisition — artil-
lery (when there was any), oratory, and games of skill —
while the celebration was rounded off in true prairie style
with the most ample feast and frolic which buffalo meat
and alcohol could produce.
The authority of the captain was very limited, and his
orders were obeyed only according to the whim of the indi-
vidual, who generally considered himself as good a captain
as any one. There was a notable absence of anything like
discipline except in the matter of guards, and the captain’s
functions were practically limited to fixing hours of start-
ing and stopping and the location of camp. The result
was that these organizations were always subject to greater
danger from the Indians than would be a similar body of
troops. Although the members were generally armed,
there was no system of inspection to compel them to keep
their arms in order, and they were likely to be found hors
de combat when suddenly required for use.
The caravans, if large, were organized into divisions, each
under charge of a sub-officer whose duty it was to superin-
tend the details of the march, select the best creek crossings,
and look after the arrangements for the evening camp.
Guard duty was relentlessly enforced, and no members of
the party, except officers and invalids, were exempt.
The composition of the caravans was the most hetero-
geneous imaginable. The vehicles consisted of heavy
COMPOSITION OF THE CARAVANS. 525
wagons, carts, and light carriages. There were occasion-
ally elegant outfits on the road. “It has the air of ro-
mance,” says an early writer, “to see splendid pleasure car-
riages with elegant horses journeying to the Republic of
Mexico! Yet it is sober fact.” The draught animals
were horses, mules, and oxen. There were always a large
number of saddle-horses. In personnel the caravans were
composed of all sorts. There was first the plain man of
business, intent only on the prosecution of his enterprise.
There were the rough denizens of the plains who, in long
years of living in these unsettled wilds, had become half In-
dian in dress, habits, and general appearance. There were
pleasure-seekers, health-seekers, scientific travelers, and now
and then ladies. Then there was always the picturesque
Mexican with a dress peculiarly his own, even when, as was
generally to some extent the case, there was a marked ab-
sence of any dress. The equipment of the party was like-
wise of no common pattern, and there were as many vari-
eties of dress, saddles and fire-arms as there were of men,
wagons, and animals. “The wild and motley aspect of
the caravan,” as Gregg well observes, “ would have formed
an excellent subject for an artist’s pencil.”
The progress of these huge caravans was always slow, and
rarely averaged more than fifteen miles a day. The location
of springs and creeks determined the length of march, for
water could not be found wherever wanted. At night the
caravans were generally parked in some form suited to
the ground and the necessities of defense. The danger
from Indians was always a serious one to small parties, but
never to large ones, except when small groups were care-
lessly permitted to get away from the support of the main
body. Gregg says that “in the course of twenty years
since the commencement of this trade I do not believe there
have been a dozen deaths upon the Santa Fe route, even
including those who have been killed off by disease as well
as by the Indians.” While this may have been strictly true
of the Santa Fe traders, it is certain that the casualties upon
526 ORGANIZATION AT COUNCIL GROVE.
the plains among the smaller parties greatly exceeded this
number.
The scene of bustle and confusion during the hasty prep-
aration of each morning for the day’s march, when anrmals
were being saddled or harnessed, fastened to the wagons,
and everything gotten ready for the start, was something to
be long remembered by those who had once seen it. Asa
general thing the best of spirits prevailed among the party
and there was a friendly rivalry not to be the last in the per-
formance of duty. All writers agree that the sight of these
huge caravans in motion was a most interesting one — truly
American in its individuality, variety and independence.
The line, when in single file, often stretched out for more
than a mile in length. At other times, upon the broad, even
prairies, where the whole country was one vast road, the
caravan would form in three or four parallel columns, thus
giving the appearance of greater compactness and strength.
The motion of this large body, with the scattering groups of
horsemen on its flanks or in advance, the shouting of the
drivers, the incessant cracking of the whips, and the jolting
and creaking of the wagons all combined to form a medley
of sights and sounds that never failed to excite the enthu-
siasm of the beholder.
The election of officers having taken place at Council
Grove, every one exerted himself to get into the best possi-
ble state of preparation for the long journey that lay before
him. The goods, perhaps, required repacking, and the
greatest ingenuity was shown in placing the packages in
the wagons so that they would not jolt with the constant
shaking of the several hundred miles of travel. Wood
was gathered from the ample supply in Council Grove and
* The transportation on pack animals of such a substance as specie
would naturally seem to be very difficult; but the ingenuity of the
trader hit upon a most effectual method. The specie was placed in
large bags made of fresh bull hide. It was then shaken down as com-
pactly as possible and the bag was sewed tightly together. The shrink-
age of the hide as it dried out compacted the contents so as to make
almost a rigid mass.
ARRIVAL IN SANTA FE. 527
strapped underneath the wagons for use in case of breakages.
Over the tops and sides of the cargoes were spread sheets
of thick canvas to resist rain in the driving storms of the
prairies.
The caravan, upon arrival in the buffalo country, subsist-
ed largely upon game, and the universal testimony is that
these long journeys were health restorers which might have
rivaled the fabulous fountains of youth which so appealed
to the credulity of the early Spanish adventurers. The
only really serious problem of subsistence en route related to
provision for water in crossing the Cimarron desert. There
were stretches of the journey where from one to four days
had to be passed_without water, depending upon the speed
of the traveler and his knowledge of the location of springs.
All the later caravans carried enough water with them from
the Arkansas to get them safely through this region.
The first evidence of approach to the Spanish settlements
would usually be the meeting of some lonely Cibolero or
Mexican buffalo hunter. The picturesque costumes of these
denizens of the prairies was in itself an attraction that made
the meeting of more than passing interest, but the fact
that they brought news from Santa Fe made their welcome
one of genuine enthusiasm. The great subject of inquiry
from these prairie news agents was the state of the custom
. house administration, for upon this depended in no slight
degree the success or failure of the enterprise. A few of
the most experienced traders generally posted ahead as soon
as it was safe to leave the caravan, in order to arrange all
this troublesome business in advance of the main arrival.
The entry of the caravan into Santa Fe was of course an
event of very lively interest. The long sojourn in the unin-
habited prairies was in itself enough to make an approach to
civilized abodes a matter of no ordinary importance. It
was the end of a long and tedious journey, and the begin-
ning of a long and luxurious rest; for the life of the cara-
van employes while in Santa Fe was a continuous round ¢ ‘
conviviality. Before entering the city every one, even to
528 CUSTOMS REGULATIONS.
the lowest employe, did his best to improve his personal ap-
pearance. He subjected his hair and beard to such barber-
ing as the rude conveniences of the plains afforded and made
himself as irresistible as possible in the eyes of the dusky
maidens of Santa Fe. Even the animals, as Gregg observes,
caught the-spirit of the occasion and however much they
might have lagged of late, now pricked up their ears and
bent forward under their heavy loads with quick and elastic
step.
The joy of these sun-browned travelers was reciprocated
by the inhabitants of Santa Fe, to whom the caravan was
like the arrival of a ship at some solitary island of the sea.
Pouring out into the streets they would announce the event
with shouts of “ The wagons! The Americans! The arri-
val of the caravan’’! And at once, in a spirit of fraternity
which knows no frontier lines or national jealousies, they
would join with their American visitors in joyous celebra-
tion of the event.
The traders attended at once to the serious business of
their visit. The goods were entered at the custom house
with the least possible delay and were then exhibited for
sale. They were generally closed out at retail, but it often
became necessary in a dull market to sell in bulk in order to
get ready for the return caravan. Many of the traders were
compelled to stay more than a season and often went to
other points, so that the return caravans were rarely more
than half as large as the outgoing.
The Santa Fe end of the business was thoroughly char-
acteristic of the government and people of that country.
Both the Spanish and Mexican authorities always exhibited
a jealousy of their northern neighbors that would gladly
have interdicted the trade altogether, but that the extreme
isolation of the remote northern province made commerce
with the United States almost indispensable to the domestic
welfare of the people, while it was a source of considerable
revenue to the government. The customs restrictions upon
the trade were always heavy, often capricious, and were a
GOVERNOR ARMIGO’S INVENTION. 529
never-ending source of annoyance to the traders. They
were the subject of most anxious inquiry as the cara-
vans approached Santa Fe, for changes might have trans-
pired since the latest information which would make or
ruin an enterprise. The extreme venality of the custom
house officers led to all kinds of peculation and bribery, and
it has been estimated that not more than one-half of the
revenue receipts found their way to the public treasury.
It was a common saying that the duties on American goods
went one third to the traders, one third to the officials and
one third to the government. Between smuggling and brib-
ery the trader must have felt that he had left behind him
in his native land all semblance of virtue in the transaction
of business. |
In 1839 Governor Armigo conceived the brilliant idea
that, by placing an arbitrary impost on each wagon that en-
tered the territory, regardless of its cargo, he would avoid
the official corruption and smuggling which diverted from
its proper destination so much of the revenue. This im-
post he fixed at five hundred dollars. But however carefully
he may have figured out the proper amount to charge, he
totally failed to foresee the consequences of his act. Trad-
ers at once increased enormously the size of the wagon loads
by using stronger wagons and more teams to each, rejecting
largely the bulky coarse stuffs of small value and loading
with fine fabrics of higher value. The impost was thus
made to operate as a great reduction of the former tariff
and was quickly abrogated by the governor.
The customs regulations which had shifted about so often
in the course of twenty years, and which had already exclud-
ed many articles of great importance to the trade, finally
in 1843 prohibited the trade altogether. It was a blind and
fatal error, an expiring effort to stay the tide of destiny.
It only served to make the people of New Mexico more dis-
satisfied with so capricious and oppressive a government
and caused them to accept with greater readiness the always
difficult change from one sovereignty to another.
CHAP THR xa
THE SANTA FE TRADE.
THE TRAIL.
General Description — The Cimarron Desert — Mountain branch of
the Trail— Government survey of the road— Work of Surveyor
Brown — Location of the Trail— Other routes to Santa Fe— Itin-
erary of the Trail— Council Grove— The Arkansas river — Pawnee
Rock — Kit Carson — The Caches — Chouteau Island — The Cimarron
Desert — Bent’s Fort — Bent and St. Vrain — Josiah Gregg.
Gr historic highway known as the Santa Fe Trail,
along which the “commerce of the prairies” was
carried from 1820 to the advent of the railroad, extended
from Independence on the Missouri, near the mouth of the
Kansas, to Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico. Both in
its origin and destination, however, the trade extended be-
yond these points. Most of the American traders started
from St. Louis or Franklin, while they frequently went
beyond Santa Fe to Chihuahua or other towns. But the
term Santa Fe Trail did not apply to these extensions. It
referred only to the route across the broad, uninhabited re-
gion between the frontier settlements of the two countries.
It lay half in American and half in Spanish territory, for
the ford of the Arkansas, where the boundary was crossed,
was almost exactly midway between the two termini.
It will repay one for the trouble of examining the map
to note how little this route varied from a straight line. It
is remarkable that the traders should so soon have found so
direct a route, and it is a striking example of how accurately
the instinct of direction will lead one through an unknown
country. Far more direct is it than the “ Santa Fe route” .
DIVISIONS OF ROUTE. 531
of today which whirls the comfortable traveler over this
distance in one-twentieth of the time on the old Trail. They
were good road surveyors—these old explorers of the
plains and mountains.
There were four distinct stages of the journey between
Independence and Santa Fe. The first extended to Council
Grove where the caravans were organized. It was all in
a well-watered prairie country, comparatively safe from
Indian depredations, and was the pleasantest part of the
route. The next division extended to the ford of the Arkan-
sas. It was near the beginning of this stage that the country -
began to change geologically, botanically, and climatically.
It was the transition from the humid prairies of eastern Kan-
sas to the arid plains of the West— from the regions safe
from Indian depredations to those where the Pawnee
and Comanche made the traveler’s life a burden. It was
thus the line between ease, pleasure and safety, and toil, diffi-
culty and danger.
The third division of the route was the most dangerous
and dreaded ofall. It was the Cimarron desert, and extend-
ed from the Arkansas river to the source of the Cimarron.
Wislizenus thus describes it: ‘“ The high plain between the
Arkansas and the Cimarron, whose elevation above the sea
is about three thousand feet, is the most desolate part of the
whole Santa Fe road, and the first adventurers in the Santa
Fe trade stood many severe trials here. Within the dis-
tance of sixty-six miles from the Arkansas to the lower
springs of the Cimarron there is not one water course or
water pool to be depended upon during the dry season. The
soil is generally dry and hard; the vegetation is poor and
scarcely anything grows there except some short and
parched buffalo grass and some cacti.” It was here that the
tantalizing mirage was seen in greater perfection than any-
where else in the plains. To add to the natural difficulty of
the situation the Indians were here most dangerous and there
was greater loss of life than upon any other portion of the
Trail.
532 THE CIMARRON DESERT.
So inconspicuous and uncertain were the landmarks of
this region that in the earliest years there was great danger
of getting lost in crossing it; while the terrible effects of
thirst tended to unsettle the equanimity of the traveler and
hasten dangers which were near enough at best. The sad
death of Jedediah S. Smith in the spring of 1831 resulted
from this cause. As these perils came tobe more fully un-
derstood, provision was made beforehand to avert them.
A full supply of water for both man and beast was laid in
for about two days’ steady travel, and no reliance was placed
upon the country until this inhospitable region was crossed.
The fourth division of the journey lay between the Cim-
arron desert and Santa Fe. Although the road still ran
through a barren and worthless country, it was now in the
foothills of the mountains, where there were landmarks for
guidance and streams enough for camps. Traveling was
therefore safe if proper precaution were taken against the
Indians.
When expeditions first began to be made from Missour1
to Santa Fe they ascended the Arkansas to the vicinity of
where La Junta, Colorado, now stands, and then turning
south, went first to Taos and then to Santa Fe. Even after
the shorter trail was established across the desert, the route
by the upper Arkansas continued to be used; for there was
always a large amount of trade from that section. Bent’s
Fort was the great stopping place on this branch of the
eats
As the Santa Fe trade began to assume large proportions,
government aid was sought in protecting the caravans and in
locating a road. On the 14th of December, 1824, Senator
Thomas H. Benton, who took a great interest in the Far
West, presented a petition to Congress reciting the nature,
magnitude, and importance of the Santa Fe trade, and pray-
ing that the government would endeavor to secure from the
Indians the right of undisturbed passage through their lands,
and that it would establish a military post on the Arkansas
at the point where the Trail crossed it. The subject was
SANTA FE ROAD COMMISSION. Bas
energetically pressed during that session of Congress and
resulted in an appropriation of ten thousand dollars for
marking the line of a road from the Missouri frontier to
New Mexico, and one of twenty thousand dollars for secur-
ing concessions from the Indians.
In accordance with the law a commission consisting of
Benjamin Reeves, George C. Sibley, and Thomas Mather,
with a surveyor by the name of J. C. Brown, set out in
June, 1825, to execute the work. The survey was made by
chain and compass with sextant observations for lati-
tude and longitude. The line as surveyed followed the Trail
pretty closely until after it left the Cimarron river where it
bore off to the westward and terminated at Taos. The
memoir accompanying the maps of the survey states that
the road was “surveyed and marked ” from Fort Osage to
Taos, but this would seem to be wrong. As far as the Ar-
kansas river it was plainly marked with raised mounds, but
beyond this point, if marked at all, it must have been in so
temporary a way that the evidence of it quickly disappeared.
The great mistake made in this survey was in attempting
to force travelers to take any but the shortest practicable
route. It is always a dangerous experiment to ignore that
tendency of human nature, and of the American type in par-
ticular, to take the short cut. Knowing the perils of the
Cimarron desert Brown thought it better to ascend the Ar-
kansas to Chouteau Island and then go straight south to
the lower spring of the Cimarron, which could be reached
in one day. But it was traveling two sides of a triangle
where it was possible to follow the third, and the traders
preferred to take their chances by the shorter route. In like
manner Brown thought it better for travelers to go first to
Taos because that was the “ nearest of the Mexican settle-
ments, the most northern and the most abundant in provision
for man and beast.” He accordingly turned off to the right
at a point some distance beyond the head of the Cimarron
and made straight for Taos. But here again the traders
refused to follow him.
534 LOCATION OF THE TRAIL.
_ From a practical point of view the survey was thus of lit-
tle use; but it was a substantial contribution, or would have
been if published, to the geographical knowledge of the
West. The survey was carefully executed, was extremely
accurate, and was mapped in conjunction with descriptive
notes in a most convenient method. Had the government
published these notes exactly in the form in which they were
written, which could have been done at very slight expense,
they would have made a succinct guide book of the Trail
sufficient for all requirements down to the day of railroads.
It is an instance almost without parallel where the govern-
ment, after doing a really useful piece of work, has pigeon-
holed it in perpetuity, and deprived the public of any benefit
from it.
As in the case of the Oregon Trail it is not easy to locate
with precision upon modern maps the line of the Santa Fe
Trail through the cultivated sections to the eastward of the
Arkansas river. The land surveys have thrown the roads
into the four cardinal directions. The railroads follow the
old line more closely, although by no means exactly. The
names no longer mark the precise localities then designated
by them, but more than likely have been transferred to
neighboring railway stations or the sites of towns near by.
Thus it results that if the old Trail could be spread down like
a ribbon over the farms and fences of fertile Kansas it would
lie mostly where no road now goes. It is possible neverthe-
less to locate it within narrow limits and point out the mod-
ern places near which it lay — so near in fact that from any
neighboring church steeple one could overlook the route
along which the motley caravans wended their way some
seventy years ago.
While the line of travel specifically known as the Santa Fé
Trail was that here described, it must not be supposed that
it was the only route, or that it was followed rigidly through-
out all its course. It was not an uncommon thing for par-
ties both on the main trail and the mountain branch to pass
by way of Taos. Numerous parties followed the Arkansas
VARIATIONS OF ROUTE. 535
to and from Little Rock or Fort Smith and did not go by
way of Independence at all. In 1839 Gregg left Van Buren,
Arkansas, and followed the general course of the Canadian
until he reached the main trail. On the return route he
kept still more to the south. In 1840 the experiment was
tried of going direct to Chihuahua from Red river across
the present state of Texas. None of these experimental
routes gained any permanency.
Attempts to simplify the problem of transportation led to
numerous absurd schemes. One man secured a concession
giving him the exclusive right to navigate the Rio Grande,
and doubtless imagined that a vast fortune would fall to
him when his boats should carry merchandise to Santa Fe
along that dusty stream, and put to rout the antiquated car-
avans of the plains. Another party made an importunate
appeal to Congress to remove the “ raft’ in the Red river,
for if this obstruction could be removed, of the practicability
of which he said there could be no doubt, the ‘‘ Red river will
then become navigable for steamboats of moderate size
to within sixty miles of Santa Fe, whence it will be easy
to go in barges twenty-four leagues farther,”’ or twelve miles
beyond Santa Fe! There is no evidence that the caravan
_ route ever took any measures to forestall this threatened
competition.
In 1830 a man by the name of Wolfskill opened a route
from Taos to southern California, passing north of the
Grand Cafion of the Colorado of the West. .
4
pe
GLASS CRAWLS TO FORT KIOWA. 7OL
that he could undertake to leave his lonesome and unhappy
camping ground. He resolved to strike out for Fort Kio-
wa, a post on the Missouri river a hundred miles away. It
required magnificent fortitude to set out on a journey like
that, still unable to stand, and with hardly strength to drag
one limb after the other; with no provisions nor means of
securing any, and in a hostile country where he was at the
absolute mercy of the most worthless renegade that might
cross his path. But the deep purpose of revenge held him
up, and a stroke of fortune came to his rescue.
He happened one day upon a spot where a pack of wolves
had surrounded a buffalo calf and were harrying it to death.
Glass lay low until the calf was dead, when he appeared upon
the scene, put the wolves to flight, and took possession of
the calf.. Without knife or fire, it was not an easy thing to
turn to account his good fortune, but hunger is not fastidious
and Glass most likely took counsel of the wolves as to ways
and means of devouring what he required. Taking what
he could with him, he pursued his way, with inconceivable
hardship and distress, and at last reached Fort Kiowa.®
After an experience like that through which he had just
passed, it might be supposed that Glass would have been
inclined to rest at the fort, at least until his wounds could
get well. But he had not long been there when a party of
trappers came along in a boat bound for the Yellowstone
river. This was just the opportunity that he wanted, and
he promptly joined them, bidding adieu to the protection of
the fort.
When the party were nearing the Mandan villages, Glass
° Cooke says that Glass’ razor was left; that in the incident of the
wolves and the buffalo calf he waited until the wolves had eaten
enough to satisfy their hunger before he drove them off lest they
should attack him. He further says that Glass went first to the Aricara
villages, which he found deserted except by some dogs, and that he
spent two days taming these before they would come near enough for
him to get hold of them. This is, however, not probable, for Glass
would not have gone deliberately back into the hands of those Indians
while there was any other chance of life. Cooke also says that Glass
then went to a trading post at the mouth of the Teton river.
®
702 ANOTHER NARROW ESCAPE.
thought to save a little time by going overland across a bend
in the river to Tilton’s fort, a trading establishment in that
vicinity. It proved to be a lucky move, for on the following
day all of his companions were massacred by the Aricara
Indians. Those always treacherous savages had but lately
taken up their abode near the Mandan villages, and the
travelers were wholly ignorant of the snare into which they
were running. As Glass was approaching the fort he saw
two squaws whom he at once recognized as Aricaras.*
Alarmed at his danger he sought to conceal himself, but
too late, for the squaws at once notified the warriors, who
immediately began pursuit. Glass, still feeble from his
wounds, made an ineffectual effort at flight. His enemies
were almost within gun shot when two mounted Mandans
rushed forward and seized him. Great was his surprise
and joy at this unexpected deliverance, and it gave him in-
creased faith that he should yet live to accomplish his mis-
sion of revenge.
The Indians carried Glass to Tilton’s fort, and the same
night he left the fort alone and set out up the river. After
traveling alone for thirty-eight days, all the way through
hostile country, he at length arrived at Henry’s fort near
the mouth of the Bighorn river. Here he was received as
one risen from the dead, for no one had doubted the story of
his companions. Glass was chagrined to find that his com-
panions had gone to Fort Atkinson.® Still intent on‘ his
purpose of revenge, he promptly accepted an offer of
* This event is confirmed by an entry in the Missouri Intelligencer
of February 25, 1824.
* Cooke’s account of this affair is very much colored, too much so to
be true, and was probably the result of the natural growth which such
stories undergo through many repetitions.
“Cooke says that the younger of the two men was found at Henry
fort; that he was petrified with fear when he saw Glass; but that Glass
had compassion on him, and let him go on account of his youth, his
penitence, and, more likely, because he considered eS: who
was the older, the real culprit.
Cooke has no account of Glass’ adventures beyond ed arrival at
Henry’s fort.
A THIRD ESCAPE. 703
service as a messenger to carry a despatch to Fort Atkin-
son. Four men accompanied him and they left Henry’s
fort on the 28th of February, 1824.
The route of the party lay eastward into the valley of
Powder river, thence southward to the sources of that
stream, and across into the valley of the Platte. Here they
made some skin boats and floated down the river until they
were out of the foothills, when, to their infinite dismay,
they came upon a band of Aricaras, a part of Grey Eye’s
band, the chief who had been killed the previous summer by
a shot from Leavenworth’s artillery. The new chief’s name
was Elk Tongue. ‘The warriors came down to the river
and by many protestations of friendship induced the trav-
_ elers to believe that they were sincere. Glass had at one
time spent a whole winter with the chief, had joined him in
the chase, had smoked his pipe, and had quaffed many a
cup with him in the wigwam. When he alighted from his
canoe the old chief embraced him as a brother. The whites
were thrown off their guard and accepted an invitation to
visit the chief’s lodge. While partaking of the hospitable
pipe a child was heard to utter a scream, and on looking
around, Glass perceived some squaws carrying away their
effects. The little party well understood what this meant,
and springing at once to their feet fled with the utmost pre-
cipitation. Two of them were overtaken and put to death,
one within a few yards of Glass, who had found conceal-
ment behind a point of rocks. Glass was thoroughly versed
in the arts of Indian life and he succeeded in baffling their
search until finally they abandoned it altogether. He had
lost all of his property except a knife and flint, and thus
equipped he set out in a northeast direction to find Fort
Kiowa.?
*“ Although I had lost my rifle and all my plunder, I felt quite rich
when I found my knife and steel in my shot pouch. These little
fixens make a man feel right peart when he is three or four hundred
miles away from anybody or anywhere —all alone among the painters
[panthers] and the wild varmints.” From article in Missouri Intelli-
gencer.
7O4 SCHEME OF REVENGE ABANDONED.
The buffalo calves at this season were very young, and
as the country abounded in buffalo, Glass had no difficulty
in getting what meat he desired, while his flint enabled him
to build a fire. He was fifteen days in reaching Fort Kiowa,
and at the first opportunity went down the river to Fort
Atkinson, where he arrived in June, 1824. Here he found
his faithless companion (for he now cherished revenge only
against one of the party), who had enlisted in the army.
Thus, under protection of the law, Glass did not feel dis-
posed to resort to extreme measures. The commanding
officer ordered his property to be given up and provided him
with a new equipment. Thus appeased, he relinquished his
scheme of revenge and contented himself with entertaining
the people of the garrison with stories of his marvelous
experiences.
In weighing the two principal authorities for this story
we are inclined to think that Glass’ sudden relinquishment
of his purpose of revenge may have been due to new light
obtained from the two men who deserted him. It was ask-
ing a great deal for those two men to expose themselves to
destruction for one whose life they doubtless believed was
already as good as lost, and whatever may have been the
considerations of humanity, it was only heroic indifference
to personal safety that could have induced them to stay.
They should have stayed, of course, but their failure to do
so is not without its justification.
In Colonel Cooke’s account, the name of one of the men
left with Glass was Fitzgerald; the name of the other is not
given, but he is said to have been a mere youth of seven-
teen and doubtless on his first trip to the mountains. Glass
does not seem to have cherished revenge against him, but
to have blamed Fitzgerald alone. Who the young man
was is not known, but the late Captain La Barge, who re-
members the tradition well, says that it was James Bridger.
Bridger is supposed to have been born in 1804 and this
would indicate 1821 or 1822 as the year of the occurrence.
The discrepancy is not great enough to preclude the possi-
GLASS KILLED BY THE ARICARAS. 795
bility of its being Bridger, but there is no other proof of it
than this intangible tradition.
Glass turns up occasionally in the correspondence of
those early days and we know that he was at Fort Union ©
about 1830. He was at one time employed as hunter for
the fort and used to hunt for bighorns on the bluffs oppo-
site the post. These bluffs are still known as Glass’ Bluffs.
Glass finally succumbed to his old enemies, the Aricaras,
in the winter of 1832-3. The circumstances of his death
were related 1° to Maximilian, Prince of Wied, who has thus
recorded them: “Old Glass, with two companions, had
gone from Fort Cass [winter of 1832-3] to hunt bears on
the Yellowstone, and as they were crossing the river on the
ice farther down, they were all three shot, scalped, and
plundered by a war party of thirty Aricaras who were con-
cealed on the opposite bank. These Indians, who are the
most dangerous to the whites, went then to the sources of
the Powder river, and it happened that Gardner with about
twenty men and thirty horses was in the neighborhood. As
it was dark, when they were seated about several fires, the In-
dians suddenly appeared, addressed them in the Minnetaree
language, surrounded the fire and dried their shoes. Gard-
ner, being well acquainted with the character of the Indians,
immediately took some precautions, which were the more
necessary, as a Minnetaree woman who was with the party
told him that the strangers were Aricaras. He gradually
collected his people around one of the fires, with their arms
in readiness to act. He was also afraid for his horses,
which were scattered on the prairie, and some of which
were actually missing, and he had already sent some of his
men to erect in the neighborhood what is called a fort, of
trunks of trees, for the night. The Indians are accus-
tomed, when they intend to steal horses, suddenly to give
a signal, on which they all jump up, scatter the horses, and
drive away with them. Gardner, aware of this, watched the
enemy closely, and when, on the signal being given, they
* By Johnson Gardner, the well-known free trapper.
706 GLASS DEATH REVENGED.
all withdrew, three of them were seized and bound. When
the Aricaras perceived this, several of them came back, pre-
tended to be innocent of the stealing of the horses, and
begged for their captive comrades, but Gardner declared to
them that if they did not immediately deliver up all the
horses, the prisoners must die; one of them, however, had
cut the bonds with which he was bound, and escaped. The
Indians entreated for a long time, but were refused. ‘The
others, seeing that they must die, commenced their death
song, related their exploits, and affirmed that they were
distinguished warriors. One of them had old Glass’ knife,
and his rifle had also been seen in the possession of these
Indians. ‘The horses, however, were not brought, and the
prisoners, alleging a pressing necessity, were taken aside;
but in the thick copse they attempted to escape, on which
one of them was stabbed and several shots were fired at the
other, who was then killed with a knife. They were both
scalped and I received one of the scalps as a present, which
was unfortunately lost in the firé on board the steamer.
Gardner, by way of precaution, had all the fires put out and
passed the night in the fort, which was now completed.
They were not disturbed during the night, and found, in
the morning, that the Indians had retired with their booty,
leaving the prisoners to their fates. The Aricaras had
begged for one of them in particular, who was a celebrated
warrior, and had even brought back three horses which
they tied up near at hand, to exchange them for the pris-
oners; but Gardner did not attend to their request.”
Grxaey TER DX.
THE TREACHERY OF MIKE FINK.!
Early life—A great shot— His friends Talbot and Carpenter —
Goes to St. Louis — Shoots off a negro’s heel— Enters Ashley’s serv-
ice — Quarrels with Carpenter—Slays Carpenter— Killed by Tal-
bot — Talbot drowned. |
WS HE FINK, a character in early Western history.
whose well-authenticated performances were so re-
markable as to appear rather the creations of fancy than
actual occurrences, was a native of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
He had little education and made ridicule of what he had.
He used to spell his name Micke Phinck and he loved to
affect the extremes of barbarous jargon that characterized
the language of the unlettered boatmen on the Western
rivers. Mike early became fascinated with the boatman’s
life, and the sound of the boat horn was his most entrancing
music. He learned to imitate its notes, so that when he first
took service in a keelboat he could fill the office of trumpeter
without any instrument. The river life suited his tastes and
he longed to visit its remotest ports — even New Orleans,
where he had heard that the people spoke French and wore
their Sunday clothes all the week.
When the water was too low for navigation Mike spent
most of his time in Pittsburg and vicinity, killing squirrels
and shooting at a target for beef at the frequent Saturday
shooting matches and company musters of the militia. He
* This story is given nearly verbatim from the Missouri Intelligencer
of Sept. 4, 1829, quoted from Flinit’s Western Review, which in turn
took it from an ephemeral publication called the Western Souvenir.
The article was entitled “The Last of the Boatmen.” Author not
given.
708 JOKES MADE TO LAUGH AT.
soon became renowned as the best shot in the country, ac-
quiring the soubriquet of “Bangall,’’ and on account of his
extraordinary skill he was excluded from participation in the
matches. As a price for this exclusion he was allowed the
“fifth quarter ” of the beef, as it was called — the hide and
tallow. His usual practice was to exchange his “quarter ”
at a dram shop for whiskey, with which he treated every-
body and particularly himself. He became fond of
strong drink, but never was intoxicated. He could drink
a gallon in twenty-four hours and not show any effects of it.
His language was a perfect sample of the half-horse, half-
alligator dialect of the early race of boatmen. He was a
good deal of a wit, a quality which won him the admiration,
but at the same time excited the fears, of the whole boat-
ing fraternity; for he usually enforced his jokes with a
sound drubbing if any one had the temerity to refuse to
laugh at them. He used to say that he told his jokes to be
laughed at, and that no one should make light of them. The
consequence was that Mike always had about him a band
of laughing sycophants who were as afraid of his frown as
a vassal might be of the displeasure of his lord.
Mike used to proclaim himself — “I am a Salt river
roarer, and I love the wimming, and as how I am chock full
of fight.”’ And indeed he had a chére amie in every port
who would “ fight their deaths ” in his defense.
Among his confederates were two men conspicuous for
their prowess and were Mike’s fast and confidential friends.
Their names were Carpenter and Talbot. Each of the
three was a match for the other in fighting and in markman-
ship and were adepts in the virtues and mysteries of Mike’s
calling.
Mike’s weight was about 180 pounds. He was five feet
nine inches high; with broad, round face and pleasant fea-
tures; brown skin, tanned by the sun and the rain; blue but
very expressive eyes, inclining to gray; broad white teeth;
and square, brawny form, well proportioned, with every
muscle fully developed, indicating the greatest strength and
SKILL IN MARKSMANSHIP. 709
activity. Except as to stature he was a perfect model for a
Hercules.
As already stated, he was an expert marksman, and many
of his shooting feats have been related by those who pro-
fess to have witnessed them. On one occasion while as-
cending the Mississippi river above the mouth of the Ohio,
he saw a sow with eight or nine pigs on the river bank. He
declared in boatman phrase that he “ wanted pig,’ and
took up his rifle to shoot one. He was requested not to
do so, but he nevertheless laid his rifle to his face, and as
the boat glided up the river under easy sail, some forty or
fifty yards from shore, he shot at one pig after another,
cutting their tails: off close to their bodies, but not doing
them any other harm!
- In 1821, while standing on the levee in St. Louis, he saw
a negro on the river bank listlessly gazing at what was going
on around him. He had a remarkably shaped foot peculiar
to some African tribes. His heel protruded to the rear so
far that his foot seemed to be as much in the rear as in front
of the leg. This unshapely form offended Mike’s eye and
outraged his sense of symmetry. He determined to correct
it. Lifting his rifle at thirty paces he actually shot the heel
away, inflicting an ugly wound. The boy dropped to the
_ ground, screaming “murder!” Mike was indicted in the
Circuit court of the county, tried and found guilty. His
plea in justification of the offense was that he wanted to fix
the boy’s foot so that he could wear a genteel boot. Mike’s
punishment, which is not stated, could not have been very
severe, for he was at liberty in the spring of 1822.
Mike’s particular friend, Carpenter, was also a great shot,
and it was a common thing for him and Mike to fill a tin
cup with whiskey and shoot it from each other’s heads at a
distance of seventy yards. The feat was always performed
successfully, the cup being bored through without injury to
the person supporting it. It was a favorite performance
* The writer of this article states that he himself had seen the record
of the trial.
710 A DEADLY QUARREL.
with these two men, who regarded it as a fresh avowal of
confidence in each other.
Mike had first visited St. Louis in 1814 or 1815 and was
there frequently afterward. In 1822 he and his two friends,
Talbot and Carpenter, enlisted in the company which Gen-
eral Ashley and Major Henry were organizing for their at-
tempt to open up a trade with the mountain tribes. They
enlisted in the threefold character of boatmen, trappers, and
hunters. ‘The company ascended as far as to the mouth of
the Yellowstone, where a fort was constructed, from which ©
the party was sent out in detachments to trap on the trib-
utaries of the Missouri and the Yellowstone. Mike and his
friends, with nine others, went to the Muscleshell river,
where they found a warm and commodious habitation for
the winter.
During their sojourn here Mike and Carpenter fell into
a deadly quarrel, which, however, was smoothed over for
the time by the interposition of friends. The cause is not
certainly known, but there seems to have been a woman in
the case, a squaw for whose good graces they had become
rival aspirants. On the arrival of spring the little party
visited the fort, and here, over a draught of whiskey, they
renewed their smothered quarrel. Again they made a
treaty of peace, and in evidence of their sincerity Mike pro-
posed that they repeat their familiar feat of shooting the
whiskey cup from each other’s head. This would not only
be a test of reconciliation, but of mutual trust and confidence
as well.
A preliminary question to be decided was which should.
have the first shot. To determine this Mike proposed to
“sky a copper,” or in modern phrase, to flip a copper. This
was done and Mike won the first shot. Carpenter, who
knew from long experience the uncompromising character of
Mike’s hatred, declared his belief in his companion’s treach-
erous intent, and that he should surely be killed. But he
scorned life too much to repudiate his compact, and accord-
ingly he prepared to die. He bequeathed his rifle, bullet
FINK AND CARPENTER KILLED. ful
pouch, powder horn, belt, pistol and wages to Talbot, and
then went out to the place where the trial was to occur. He
filled his cup with whiskey and placed it on his head, while
Mike was loading his rifle and picking his flint. Carpen-
ter stood up at the proper place, erect and serene, without a
change of countenance to indicate what was passing in his
mind. Mike leveled his rifle at the distance of sixty yards.
After drawing a bead he took down his rifle and smilingly
said: “ Hold your noddle steady, Carpenter, and don’t
spill the whiskey, as 1 shall want some presently.” He
again raised his rifle and in an instant Carpenter fell, expir-
ing without a groan. The ball had penetrated his forehead
in the center an inch and a half above the eyes. Mike coolly
set the breech of his gun on the ground, and applying his
mouth to the muzzle, blew the smoke out of the barrel, all
the while keeping his eye upon the prostrate form of his old-
time friend. Finally he said: “Carpenter, you have
spilled the whiskey!’’ He was told that he had killed Car-
penter. “It is all a mistake,” he said, “ for I took as fine
a bead on the black spot on the cup as I ever took on a squir-
rel’s eye. How did it happen”? He then cursed his rifle,
the bullet, and finally himself.
In this remote region where the power of the law was not
yet known, and among a party who had an exaggerated
dread of Mike’s prowess, the crime was permitted to pass off
as an accident, and Mike was allowed to go at large. But
Talbot, who was Carpenter’s fast friend, was convinced of
Mike’s treacherous intent, and resolved upon revenge when-
ever opportunity should offer. Some months afterward,
Mike, in a fit of gasconading, declared that he had killed
Carpenter on purpose and was glad of it. Talbot instantly
drew his pistol, the same which Carpenter had bequeathed
him, and shot Mike through the heart. Mike fell and ex-
pired without a word.
Talbot likewise was not called to account, for nobody had
any authority to do so and few doubtless felt any inclination,
as it was probably considered a just penalty for the killing
RUZ TALBOT DROWNED.
of Carpenter. Moreover, Talbot was a terrible enemy, fero-
cious and dangerous as a grizzly of the prairies. About
three months later he was present in the Aricara battle under
Colonel Leavenworth, where he displayed a coolness which
would have done honor to a better man. He came out of
the battle unharmed, but about ten days later while attempt-
ing to swim the Teton river he was drowned. Thus per-
ished the “ last of the boatmen.’’?
* Remarkable as this story is it has authentic confirmation. In Gen-
eral Clark’s letter book on Indian Affairs, now in possession of the
Kansas Historical Society at Topeka, there is a list of deaths among
Ashley’s and Smith, Jackson and Sublette’s parties before 1830. The
statement says that in 1822 Mike Fink shot Carpenter; that Fink was
soon after shot by Talbot, who was later drowned in the Teton river
The year should be 1823.
The following notice appeared in the St. Louis Republican of July
16, 1823: “By a letter received in town from one of General Ashley’s
expeditions we are informed that a man by the name of Mike Fink, well
known in this quarter as a great marksman with the rifle, and is the
same who some time since in this place shot off a negro’s heel to enable
him, as he said, to wear a genteel boot! was engaged in his favorite
amusement of shooting a tin cup from the head of another man, when,
by aiming too low, or from some other cause, shot his companion in the
forehead and killed him. Another man of the expedition (whose name
we have not yet heard) remonstrated against Fink’s conduct, to
which he (Fink) replied that he would kill him likewise, upon which
the other drew a pistol and shot Fink dead on the spot.”
4
|
‘
GITADPEER X.
THE ADVENTURES OF JOHN COLTER.
Colter in Lewis and Clark expedition — Remains in the upper coun-
try — Enters Lisa’s employ — Sets out to find the Crows — Crosses to
Pierre’s Hole — Fight with the Blackfeet — Colter starts for Fort Man-
uel alone — Crosses Yellowstone Park — “ Colter’s Hell ”— Colter goes
to Three Forks — Terrible adventure on Jefferson Fork — His miracu-
lous escape — Result of Colter’s adventures — His subsequent career.
+ OHN COLTER was one of the private soldiers attached
to the expedition of Lewis and Clark in the years
1804-6. When the returning explorers had arrived at their
former winter quarters near the Mandan villages, some fifty-
five miles above where Bismarck, North Dakota, now stands,
Colter asked for his discharge in order that he might remain
in the upper country and trap. He had met two hunters
only the day before who were bound for the upper rivers
and they offered him substantial inducements if he would
accompany them. As his record on the expedition had been
excellent, his commanding officers assented to the request,
gave him his discharge, outfitted him in good shape, and he
forthwith set out on his proposed expedition. This was
August 15 or 16, 1806.
Colter remained in the upper country all the following
winter, but in what precise locality is not known. It is
probable, from subsequent events, that it was in the valley
of the Yellowstone. In the following spring he set out, ap-
parently alone, to return to St. Louis, but on his way met
the expedition of Manuel Lisa near the mouth of the Platte
river. To this band of adventurers into an unknown coun-
try the service of a man like Colter, who had spent a winter
there and had twice passed entirely through it, could not but
Jia, RELATIONS WITH THE BLACKFEET.
be very important. He was persuaded (if persuasion was
necessary) to join the expedition and accordingly turned
back a second time from his journey towards home.
Nothing occurred on the voyage with which his name its
connected until the arrival of the expedition at the mouth
of the Bighorn. Lisa had expected to find the Blackfeet na-
tion very hostile on account of the loss of one of their num-
ber at the hands of Captain Lewis the previous summer on
his way back from the Pacific! It may have been a fear of
this hostility that caused his unlucky decision to establish
himself in the country of their enemies, the Crows. But it
seemed that a detachment of Lisa’s party met a band of
Blackfeet, either before or soon after the arrival at the
mouth of the Bighorn, from whom interesting and impor-
tant information was obtained. Far from being hostile,
these Indians evinced a pacific disposition and said that the
provocation under which Captain Lewis acted was so ob-
vious and flagrant that they had not cherished this act as a
justification of hostility, and were ready to open relations of
trade with the whites.
Lisa was greatly pleased at this prospect. He had
already arranged to send Colter to notify the surrounding
bands of Indians of his arrival, and he probably directed him
to proceed also to the Three Forks of the Missouri and con-
fer with the Blackfoot nation. It was a perilous adventure
and one requiring great courage and hardihood. ‘“ This
man,” says Brackenridge, “ with a pack of thirty pounds
weight, his gun and some ammunition, went upwards of
five hundred miles to the Crow nation; gave them informa-
tion, and proceeded from thence to several other tribes.”’
It seems that when Lisa arrived in the country the Crows
were in the upper end of the valley, probably on Wind river,
and Colter had to travel a long distance to reach them. He
then most likely secured the services of a party of the Crows
* These Indians were Grosventres of the Prairie, but were always
classed with the Blackfeet by the traders and trappers. See Part V.,
Chapter IX.
COLTER WOUNDED IN BATTLE, 715
to guide him by the best trail across the mountains, for he
could hardly have followed so well by himself what is now,
and doubtless was then, the best route through this excep-
tionally rugged country. All available evidence indicates
that Colter traveled directly from Wind river to Pierre’s
Hole, crossing the Wind River mountains by Union or
Two-gwo-tee passes and the Teton range by the pass of the
same name. The sublime and wonderful scenery and the
remarkable topographical situation by which divergent
streams flow from a common neighborhood to widely-sepa-
rated river systems, and the ease with which the mountains
could be crossed,” impressed Colter deeply. When he re-
turned to St. Louis he drew the attention of Clark, Bracken-
ridge and others to these remarkable features.
It is probable that it was in the valley of Pierre’s Hole
that “the party in whose company he happened to be,” was
attacked, as related by Brackenridge. This party, accord-
ing to Biddle, was of the Crow nation and the attacking
party were Blackfeet.2 A fight ensued and Colter, by the
necessity of the situation, was compelled to take part with
the Crows. He distinguished himself greatly and received >
a severe wound in the leg. The Blackfeet were defeated,
but not until they had seen the pale-face ally of their ene-
mies, to whom, no doubt, they attributed their discom-
fiture. |
The Crows, having conducted their guest across the
mountains, and probably not deeming it wise to linger until
the vengeance of the Blackfeet should bring reinforcements
upon them, left Colter at this point and returned to their
*“ At the head of the Gallatin Fork and of the Grosse Corne of the
Yellowstone [the Bighorn river] from discoveries since the voyage of
Lewis and Clark, it is found less difficult to cross than the Allegheny
mountains. Colter, a celebrated hunter and woodsman, informed me
that a loaded wagon would find no obstruction in passing.” Bracken-
ridge. The Gallatin river was mistaken for one of the upper branches
of the Yellowstone, probably; but it is clear that Colter here refers to
Union or Two-gwo-tee pass at the head of Wind river.
*In all probability these Indians were Grosventres.
716 FIRST TOUR OF YELLOWSTONE PARK.
country. This conclusion seems certain from Colter’s own
narrative to Brackenridge, who says that notwithstanding
the wound in his leg, “he returned to the establishment
entirely alone and without assistance, several hundred
miles.’ Colter, upon his return to St. Louis, gave to Gen-
eral Clark a description of his route, which the latter placed
upon the map accompanying the report of the Lewis and
Clark expedition and legended it ‘‘ Colter’s Route in 1807.”
This map makes it clear that from Pierre’s Hole Colter un-
dertook to reach Lisa’s fort by the most direct route possi-
ble. Such was probably his plan. He knew that it would
be folly for him now to proceed to the Three Forks, where he
would become an instant victim of Blackfoot vengeance.
The best thing to do was to make his way back to the fort
and report to Lisa. To go by the way he had come would
be to make a long detour and nearly double the distance over
a direct line. Colter had a sufficient eye for topography to
know that Lisa’s fort lay about northeast of his position.
He accordingly launched into the dense pine forests that
cover the country on the northern flank of the Teton range
and the southern portion of the Yellowstone National Park.
It may with difficulty be imagined what must have been his
astonishment when, emerging from the forests upon the
shore of that surpassingly beautiful mountain lake near the
source of the Yellowstone river, he found its shore steaming
with innumerable boiling springs and geysers. As a mat-
ter of fact Colter’s route was carrying him directly across
the present Yellowstone Park, from southwest to northeast.
He saw the strange phenomena on the shore of Yellowstone
Lake, and along the course of its outlet for a distance of
some forty miles. There is no record that he ever men-
tioned having seen the Falls of the Yellowstone, but he could
hardly have escaped them, considering the course of his
journey as outlined upon the map. He continued down the
Yellowstone so long as it bore to the northeast on his gen-
eral course, but left it by way of the valley of the East Fork
where the main stream turns abruptly to the northwest.
COLTER GOES TO THREE FORKS. 7G
Thence he continued his course almost on the line of the
present route to the northeast corner of the Park and event-
ually found his way back to Lisa’s fort.
This very remarkable achievement — remarkable in the
courage and hardihood of this lone adventurer and remark-
able in its unexpected results in geographical discovery —
deserves to be classed among the most celebrated perform-
ances in the history of American exploration. Colter was
the first explorer of the valley of the Bighorn river; the
first to cross the passes at the head of Wind river and see
the headwaters of the Colorado of the West; the first to
see the Teton mountains, Jackson Hole, Pierre’s Hole, and
the sources of the Snake river; and most important of all,
the first to pass through that singular region which has
since become’known throughout the world as the Yellow-
stone Wonderland. He also saw the immense tar spring
at the forks of the Stinkingwater river, a spot which came
to bear the name of “ Colter’s Hell.”
Colter had now accomplished enough to entitle him to
lasting distinction in the cause of geographical exploration;
but honors of a more perilous character still awaited him.
As soon as spring opened — for Colter could not have re-
turned to Lisa’s fort before the arrival of winter — Lisa
dispatched him again to visit the Blackfeet. Colter set out
directly for the Three Forks of the Missouri where he seems
to have employed his time trapping until the Indians put in
an appearance. He was accompanied on this expedition by
a companion named Potts, very likely the same one who had
been a fellow soldier in the Lewis and Clark expedition.
Biddle relates that when these two men met the Blackfeet
these Indians did not even yet evince hostile intentions, but
that an altercation soon ensued, ending in a combat in which
Potts was killed and Colter made his escape. This affair
was probably the same as that related by John Bradbury in
his Travels in North America, and better known through
Irving’s Astoria. Colter gave the account of his miraculous
escape to the English naturalist immediately after his return
718 MEETING WITH THE BLACKFEET.
to St. Louis in the spring of 1810. All other accounts are
based upon Bradbury’s. The simple and direct language in
which the author has clothed his recital tells the story so
well that even the skilful pen of Irving adopted it almost
without change. The adventure is one of those remarkable
experiences which have now and then occurred in our fron-
tier history, almost beyond credibility, but nevertheless in
their details clearly possible. The story is here repeated in
the exact words of Bradbury :*
“This man came to St. Louis in May, 1810, 1n a small
canoe, from the headwaters of the Missouri, a distance of
three thousand miles, which he traversed in thirty days. I
saw him on his arrival, and received from him an account of
his adventures after he had separated from Lewis and
Clark’s party; one of these, from its singularity, I shall re-
late. On the arrival of the party at the headwaters of the
Missouri, Colter, observing an appearance of abundance of
beaver there, got permission to remain and hunt for some
time, which he did in company with a man by the name of
Dixon, who had traversed the immense tract of country
from St. Louis to the headwaters of the Missouri alone.
“Soon after he separated from Dixon, and trapped in
company with a hunter named Potts; and aware of the hos-
tility of the Blackfeet Indians, one of whom had been killed
by Lewis, they set their traps at night, and took them up
early in the morning, remaining concealed during the day.
They were examining their traps early one morning, in a
creek about six miles from that branch of the Missouri
called Jefferson’s Fork, and were ascending in a canoe, when
they suddenly heard a great noise, resembling the trampling
of animals; but they could not ascertain the fact, as the
high, perpendicular banks on each side of the river impeded
their view. Colter immediately pronounced it to be occa-
sioned by Indians, and advised an instant retreat; but was
accused of cowardice by Potts, who insisted that the noise
*See Bradbury’s Travels in North America, Irving’s Astoria, and
the Yellowstone National Park, by the present author. -
2 ee a
COLTER CAPTURED. 719
was caused by buffaloes, and they proceeded on. Ina few
minutes afterwards their doubts were removed by a party of
Indians making their appearance on both sides of the creek,
to the amount of five or six hundred, who beckoned them to
come ashore. As retreat was now impossible, Colter turned
the head of the canoe to the shore; and at the moment of
its touching, an Indian seized the rifle belonging to Potts;
but Colter, who is a remarkably strong man, immediately
retook it, and handed it to Potts, who remained in the canoe,
and on receiving it pushed off into the river. He had scarce-
ly quitted the shore when an arrow was shot at him, and he
cried out, ‘Colter, I am wounded.’ Colter remonstrated
with him on the folly of attempting to escape, and urged
him to come ashore. Instead of complying, he instantly lev-
eled his rifle at an Indian, and shot him dead on the spot.
This conduct, situated as he was, may appear to have been an
act of madness; but it was doubtless the effect of sudden and
sound reasoning; for if taken alive, he must have expected
to be tortured to death, according to their custom. He was
instantly pierced with arrows so numerous that, to use the
language of Colter, ‘he was made a riddle of.’
“They now seized Colter, stripped him entirely naked,
and began to consult on the manner in which he should be
put to death. They were first inclined to set him up as a
mark to shoot at; but the chief interfered, and seizing him
by the shoulder, asked him if he could run fast. Colter,
who had been some time amongst the Kee-kat-sa, or Crow
Indians, had in a considerable degree acquired the Blackfoot
language, and was also well acquainted with Indian customs.
He knew that he had now to run for his life, with the dread-
ful odds of five or six hundred against him, and those armed
Indians; therefore he cunningly replied that he was a very
bad runner, although he was considered by the hunters as re-
markably swift. The chief now commanded the party to
remain stationary, and led Colter out on the prairie three or
four hundred yards, and released him, bidding him to save
himself if he could. At that instant the horrid war whoop
\
720 THE RACE FOR LIFE.
sounded in the ears of poor Colter, who, urged with the
hope of preserving life, ran with a speed at which he was
himself surprised. He proceeded towards the Jefferson
Fork, having to traverse a plain six miles in breadth,
abounding with prickly pear, on which he was every instant
treading with his naked feet. He ran nearly half way
across the plain before he ventured to look over his shoulder,
when he perceived that the Indians were very much s¢at-
tered, and that he had gained ground to a considerable dis-
tance from the main body; but one Indian, who carried a
spear, was much before all the rest, and not more than a
hundred yards from him. A faint gleam of hope now
cheered the heart of Colter; he derived confidence from the
belief that escape was within the bounds of possibility; but
that confidence was nearly fatal to him, for he exerted
himself to such a degree that the blood gushed from his nos-
trils, and soon almost covered the fore part of his body.
* He had now arrived within a mile of the river, when he
distinctly heard the appalling sound of footsteps behind
him, and every instant expected to feel the spear of his pur-
suer. Again he turned his head, and saw the savage not
twenty yards from him. Determined if possible to avoid the
expected blow, he suddenly stopped, turned round, and
spread out his arms. The Indian, surprised by the sudden-
ness of the action, and perhaps of the bloody appearance of
Colter, also attempted to stop; but exhausted with running,
he fell whilst endeavoring to throw his spear, which stuck
in the ground and broke in his hand. Colter instantly
snatched up the pointed part, with which he pinned him to
the earth, and then continued his flight. The foremost of
the Indians, on arriving at the place, stopped till others came
up to join them, when they set up a hideous yell. Every
moment of this time was improved by Colter, who, al-
though fainting and exhausted, succeeded in gaining the
skirting of the cottonwood trees, on the borders of the fork,
through which he ran and plunged into the river. Fortu-
nately for him, a little below this place there was an island,
COLTER WINS. 7a
against the upper point of which a raft of drift timber had
lodged. He dived under the raft, and after several efforts,
got his head above water amongst the trunks of trees, cov-
ered over with smaller wood to the depth of several feet.
Scarcely had he secured himself when the Indians arrived on
the river, screeching and yelling, as Colter expressed it,
‘like so many devils.” They were frequently on the raft
during the day, and were seen through the chinks by Colter,
who was congratulating himself on his escape, until the
idea arose that they might set the raft on fire.®
“In horrible suspense he remained until night, when
hearing no more of the Indians, he dived from under the
raft, and swam silently down the river to a considerable dis-
tance, when he landed, and travelled all night. Although
happy in having escaped from the Indians, his situation was
still dreadful; he was completely naked, under a burning
sun; the soles of his feet were entirely filled with the thorns
of the prickly pear; he was hungry, and had no means of
killing game, although he saw abundance around him, and
was at least seven days’ journey from Lisa’s fort, on the
Bighorn branch of the Roche Jaune river. These were
circumstances under which almost any man but an Amer-
ican hunter would have despaired. He arrived at the fort
in seven days, having subsisted on a root much esteemed by
the Indians of the Missouri, now known by naturalists as
psoralea esculenta.”
From this time on deadly enmity toward the white race
became the settled policy of the Blackfeet Indians. There
is probably little doubt that it was the apparent favoritism of
the white traders toward their enemies the Crows that
turned the scale. For this appearance the action of Lisa
°For a parallel case to that of Colter see narrative of the escape of
Oskononton by hiding under a raft in a river. Ross’ Fur Hunters
of the Far West, p. 180.
*“This adverse feeling arose from a jealousy prevalent among all
savage (and some civilized) nations, of those who trade with their
enemies. The Crows and Blackfeet are almost continually at war; the
company detached a party to trade with the former; this gave offense
722 COLTER (TN (ST. Louis,
in building his first post in Crow territory, and Colter’s acci-
dental presence in the ranks of the Crows when these In-
dians were attacked by the Blackfeet, are mainly responsible.
Colter thus became in part the involuntary cause of that
deadly feud which lasted beyond the life time of any of his
contemporaries.
Colter remained on the upper rivers until after Lisa’s re-
turn in the summer of 1809 with an extensive outfit of the
newly formed St. Louis Missouri Fur Company. But he
very wisely abandoned the country before the disastrous
events of 1810 at the Three Forks of the Missouri. He set
out for St. Louis about April Ist of that year and made the
descent of the rivers in thirty days, a distance, according to
his own estimate, of some three thousand miles. Colter
remained in St. Louis for a considerable time, and evidently
talked a great deal about his adventures. He gave Clark
important data for his forthcoming map of the Lewis and
Clark expedition. He succeeded in making himself ac-
counted a confirmed prevaricator, and a cloud of doubt and
ridicule hung over his memory until far later years proved
the truth of his statements.
Among those who esteemed Colter’s accounts of sufficient
importance to merit attention may be mentioned General
William Clark, Henry M. Brackenridge, the author, and
John Bradbury, the English naturalist. He was seen by
Bradbury in the spring of 1810, immediately after his re-
turn to St. Louis. Bradbury also spent the forenoon of
March 18, 1811, with Colter while en route up the Missouri
with the Astoria expedition of that year. Colter had lately
married and was living near the river above the point where
the little creek La Charette empties into the main stream.
He was full of admonitions in regard to the Blackfeet and
urged the most careful measures to prevent trouble with
to the Blackfeet, who had not the. same opportunity of procuring arms,
etc., the Hudson Bay factory being several days’ journey from their
hunting grounds, and with which they could not trade with equal
advantage.” Lowmisiana Gazette, July 26, 1810.
COLTER’S DEATH. _ 722
them. He was himself very much disposed to accompany
the expedition, but he was too recently married to be able
to come to a decision not to remain.
This is the last positive record that we have of the dis-
coverer of the Yellowstone Wonderland. In the Lowsianea
Gazette, St. Louis, December 11, 1813, there appeared a
notice by the administrator of the estate of “ John Coulter,
deceased,” calling for a settlement of all claims for oragainst
the estate. The final settlement left a balance in favor of
the estate of $229.4134. The deceased may or may not
have been the subject of this sketch; but if so, his terrible
experiences among the Blackfeet might very easily account
for his early demise.
PART VP.
THE COUNTRY AND ITS INHABITANTS.
CEA DAR i,
THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.
View of the western country — The Continental Divide — The name
“Rocky Mountains ” — Physical aspect of the Rocky mountains — At-
tractions of mountain life— The Teton range—The Grand Teton—
The Absaroka range—The Wind river mountains—The Bighorn
mountains — The Black Hills — Other Wyoming ranges — Front and
Rampart ranges— Pike’s Peak— Mount of the Holy Cross— The
Spanish peaks—The Uintah mountains—The Wasatch range—
Montana and Idaho ranges— The Blue mountains— The Sierra Ne-
vadas — The Cascade range.
UOTERE it possible for an observer to be poised far
above the surface of the earth, near that locality
where the Teton mountains lift their majestic summits
above the clouds, and were he endowed with a power of
vision that could pierce to the uttermost verge of the hori-
zon, he would see beneath and around him a panorama which
it is here desired to fix clearly in the mind of the reader. It
is a panorama of mountains and plains, of lakes and rivers,
of forest-crowned hills and treeless deserts, that stretches
away to the distant alluvial plains of the Mississippi on the
east and to the broad expanse of the Pacific on the west.
The first and most obvious feature of the landscape. thus
spread out like a map before the eye, is its vast aggrega-
tion of mountains. Except far to the eastward, peaks in-
numerable arise on every hand. Some extend in well-
720 THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE.
defined ranges like broken ridges on the surface of the earth;
other stand detached and alone like solitary protuberances
from its crust. The variety of form and aspect is infinite.
Here a pointed spire of primeval rock stands motionless
among the shifting clouds; there a flat mesa or table,
crowned with grassy sward, terminates in bold escarpments
overlooking the valleys and plains below. Lofty fields of
perennial snow, grey patches of rock where vegetation never
thrives, broad areas of dark evergreen forest, wide-spread-
ing slopes of native pasture — all combine to produce an
effect which is different in every detail, yet displays as a
whole a distinct uniformity of character.
Amid the seemingly purposeless and accidental distribu-
tion of these mountains, the eye may trace an irregular line
across the country from north to south, along which the
ground is higher than in the immediate vicinity on either
side. It is the line which separates the waters that flow into
the Atlantic from those which flow into the Pacific — the
height of land between the two oceans, or, as it is commonly
called, the Continental Divide. It is everywhere a line of
deep sentimental interest, for it is not easy to realize that,
from points so close together, streams should flow to des-
tinations so widely separated. Little as the country may
vary in its aspect on one side from that on the other, the
imagination sees a difference, and the early traveler always
considered himself “across the Rocky mountains” when
he had passed this dividing line. ‘ Here, hail Oregon!”
reads an old itinerary of the Oregon Trail when South Pass
is reached. It mattered little that the greater part of his
journey still lay before him, with mountains to cross more
difficult than any yet encountered; to him it seemed that his
labors were nearly over when he saw the first tiny rivulet
flowing to the very country whither he was bound.
The Divide is an extremely sinuous line, whose position
may best be understood by consulting the map. Its gen-
eral direction in passing from the Canadian to the Mexican
border is a little east of south, crossing the northern boun-
MOUNTAIN PASSES. 727
dary in the northwestern corner of Montana and the south-
ern in the southwestern corner of New Mexico. Its total
length is about 2,000 miles in passing through a little less
than sixteen degrees of latitude. On the eastern slope the
Mississippi system drains about 1,450 miles of this distance,
and the Rio Grande the remainder, while on the western
slope the Columbia drains about 730 miles and the Colorado
system 1,270 miles.
It might quite naturally be supposed that the geological
evolution of a continent would have left this height of land
upon the summits of the more prominent ranges; and this
is the case along a portion of the Bitter Root range between
Montana and Idaho, the Wind River mountains in Wyo-
ming and several of the lofty ranges in the state of Colorado.
Generally, however, it lies on lower ground. In the vicin-
ity of Yellowstone Lake, for example, it is but a little higher
than the lake surface, and in central Wyoming it extends for
many miles over a desert plateau of comparatively low alti-
_ tude where the streams sink into the ground and never reach
the true drainage of either ocean.
As the Divide is not generally on the crests of high moun-
tains, passes over it are rarely difficult. The only charac-
teristic passes are Union and Two-gwo-tee at the head of
Wind river, a few over the range between Montana and
Idaho, and several within the limits of the state of Colorado.
In other places they are generally low and practicable, while
in some sections, as in central Wyoming and northern New
Mexico, the Divide can be crossed almost anywhere with-
out discovering its actual location. The most celebrated
crossing, the well-known South Pass, which holds so prom-
inent a place in the early history of the West, scarcelv de-
serves the name of a mountain pass. It is barely 7,500 feet
high, and is situated in an open valley of gentle slopes in
either direction, with little to mark it as a crossing of the
main chain of the Rocky mountains. But as a gateway be-
tween the Atlantic slope and the Pacific, it became the most
noted pass in the mountains.
728 THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.
It is a noteworthy fact that a natural geographical line
of so great interest as the Continental Divide should have
been so little utilized in establishing the boundaries of mod-
ern political divisions. It forms a state boundary in only
one place and that is for about one hundred miles between
Montana and Idaho. During the period of the fur trade,
however, it was the eastern boundary of the disputed ter-
ritory of Oregon all the way from the Spanish to the Rus-
sian possessions.
It was the Continental Divide and the ranges in the imme-
diate vicinity which were known to the traders and trappers
as the Rocky mountains. That name has now, however,
no particular habitat and can scarcely be found upon any
modern large scale map, where every separate range has its
own local name. The term has come to mean, in the popular
mind, the mountains between the Mississippi and the Pacific,
just as “the Alleghenies”’ applies in a general way to the
mountains between that stream and the Atlantic. The name
itself is not a happy choice, for it might apply with equal
propriety to any range of mountains in the world. It came
into general use only in the present century. Early writers
refer to these mountains as the Missouri, Mexican, Shining,
Snowy, and Stony mountains, until finally from the French
Montagnes Rocheuses came the modern name. The general
system was also at one time referred to by geographers as
the great Chippewyan system, and it would have been well
if this name had survived, as the name Appalachian has in
the East.
The physical aspect of the Rocky mountains is altogether
characteristic. The traveler who passes hurriedly through
them on the modern railroad is liable to contrast unfavorably
their grey color, severe outlines and barren slopes with the
verdure-clad hillsides of the Eastern states. Not so he,
who, like the ancient trapper, frequents their unaccustomed
haunts, comes in close contact with their wild and pictur-
esque details, and observes their varying moods with the
changes of each day and of the seasons of the year. This
ss
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 729
more intimate acquaintance discloses a wealth of beauty
which the uniform green of the Eastern mountains does not
possess, and it is said by reputable painters of natural scen-
ery, that no mountains in the world, not even the Alps,
afford scenes so satisfactory to the art as those of the Rocky
mountains.
The general appearance of the mountains is of a greyish
color where vegetation is scarce. This results not only from
the exposed areas of rock im situ, but from the disintegrated
rock which covers the mountains in many places with a ster-
ile soil. The reddish color of iron oxide is widely present,
particularly in the smaller hills of the Bad Lands, while
yellow and other colors are of frequent occurrence.
The greater number of the northern mountains have ex-
tensive grassy slopes, whose broad areas, inclined upward
as on a mighty easel, and spread out in rolling stretches with
gentle depressions between them, look like beautiful carpets
of green or brown, according to the season, softened by the
mellow haze of distance and burnished by the crimson rays
of the morning and evening sun. At the higher elevations,
from five to ten thousand feet, forests of pine, fir and similar
trees abound extensively and cover the mountains with a
mantle of dark green or black. At frequent intervals
throughout these forests are open spaces, filled with luxuri-
ant grass, forming parks of faultless beauty amid the som-
ber solitudes of the surrounding woods. Everywhere in
these wild and sublime situations occur the always pleas-
ing groves of the quaking aspen, a grateful relief either
from the gloomy view of extensive forests or the uniform
prospect of grass-covered slopes. Taken together, these
varied arrangements of nature present an artistic appear-
ance that reminds one of the cultivated sections in the moun-
tain regions of Europe where man has contributed so much
to enhance the beauty of nature.
The scenery of these mountains, moreover, is subject to
continual and interesting change. Scarcely have the bleak
storms of winter subsided, and while yet deep fields of
f
730 ‘AUTUMNAL COLORING.
snow lie upon the upper slopes, the soft blossoms of spring
shoot eagerly from the scanty soil and oppose the gentle
warmth of their blooms to the chill snow which is slowly
receding before them. So profuse and beautiful are the
flowers in these lofty regions that one would doubt if any
other season could rival the springtime in beauty. But in
truth the somber season of autumn is the most attractive of
all. The early frosts cover the mountain sides with the
most varied and gorgeous colors. ‘The quaking aspen,
which before was simply a mass of green upon the moun-
tain side, now stands forth with tenfold greater distinctness
in its rich autumnal foliage. The low growth of under-
brush, which scarcely attracts the eye at other seasons, takes
on a livelier hue, transforming whole mountain sides into
fields of pleasing colors. Even upon those inaccessible and ©
apparently barren slopes, where the eye had not before de-
tected any sign of vegetable life, may now be seen spots of
crimson and gold, as if nature had scattered here and there
rich bouquets of flowers and bunches of fruit.
It is not upon the surface of the earth alone that are to
be seen the grandeur and beauty of these regions. Even
the wild mountain storms which are frequent at certain
seasons have an attraction peculiarly their own, and all the
more remarkable by the very contrasts which they produce.
If, in passing, they display on a terrible scale the power of
the elements, on the other hand, they leave behind them, in
the sun-gilded clouds among the mountain tops, the most
peaceful and pleasing pictures which nature anywhere
affords.
Again, in the long rainless season, the atmosphere, like
the painter’s brush, tints the hills, in ever-varying intensity,
with the purple and blue of distance. For this is pre-em-
inently a land of cloudless skies. The risings and settings
of the sun are on a scale of sublime magnificence, while the
moon rides among the mountain peaks with a serene splen-
dor unknown in less favored climes.
It was among scenes like these that the mountaineer of
LOVE OF MOUNTAIN LIFE. hoa
early days imbibed that strong love of wilderness life which
made him restive ever after under the restraints of civiliza-
tion. That he looked at nature with an artist’s eye, that he
was often conscious of the beauty of his surroundings, that
he ever paid much attention to these things, is scarcely prob-
able. In his practical, hard-working life he doubtless often
wished that there were no mountains, for they caused him
many a wide detour and many a weary climb. So little use
did he find for them that he gave very few of them names,
and the mountain nomenclature of the West is mostly the
outgrowth of a later period. Nevertheless he loved this
rugged country and unconsciously yielded to those subtle
influences which he made no attempt to analyze, but which
bound him to wild nature with a force that he was unable to
resist. The hardship of his life, the ever-present perils
which environed him, the ties of kindred and home, none
of these could extinguish the passion for mountain life
when once he had tasted its pleasures.
Having taken this general view of the Rocky mountains
as a whole, it will be of interest to notice more in detail some
of the important local ranges. Directly beneath our as-
sumed point of observation lies the most noted historic sum-
mit of the West, the culminating peak of the Teton range.
In early times this range was more commonly known as the
Three Tetons (Les Trois Tetons), because from certain
points, particularly from the west, three peaks stood out
prominently above all the others. The range covers a com-
paratively small area, perhaps sixty miles long by ten to
twenty broad, the notable part of it scarcely exceeding
twenty miles in length. The Tetons are a prominent excep-
tion among the mountains of the surrounding country in
that they rise in bold relief directly from the valleys around
them. In general the mountains are so hemmed in by suc-
cessive terraces of foothills that their true altitude can not
be grasped by the eye; but the Grand Teton rises in sheer
‘relief above the surface of Jackson Lake almost a mile and a
half. The altitude of this peak is nearly thirteen thousand
732 THE GRAND TETON.,
eight hundred feet, being the highest mountain of the cen-
tral region north of Colorado, unless it be Fremont Peak
in the Wind River mountains, which 1s of almost exactly
the same altitude.’
It is not alone its great altitude that has made the Grand
Teton so famous in frontier history. The topography of
the surrounding country is such that its summit is visible at
a great distance in almost every direction, while its appear-
ance from wherever seen is striking and unmistakable.
From Union Pass, for example, sixty miles east, it looks like
a slender spire of pure outline piercing the sky, in appear-
ance so remarkable that the beholder is forced to question
whether it can really pertain to any mountain. It was the
great prominence of this peak and its ease of identification
from other mountains that made it so useful to the early
travelers. Far and wide it was the beacon of the trapper.
Familiar with its different aspects as seen from different di-
rections, he could tell his position at once when his eye fell
upon it.
Could this ancient monument disclose the record of what
has transpired within its horizon, it would make known
some of the most interesting events in the annals of the fur
trade. For this was the paradise of the trapper. In every
direction meandered the streams along which he was wont to
pursue his trade, and near by were the valleys where the
rival companies gathered in annual conclave to fight the
bloodless battles of their business. There is scarcely an
acre of open country in sight of it that has not been the
scene of forgotten struggles with the implacable Blackfeet,
while far and near, in unknown graves, lie many obscure
wanderers of whose lonely fate no record survives.
The pass by which the Teton range is crossed connects
*The Grand Teton is one of the most difficult mountains to climb of
which there is any knowledge. To the present time (1901) it has been
ascended by white men only twice; by Messrs. N. P. Langford and
James Stevenson in 1872, and by Messrs. William Owen, Frank S.
Spalding, John Shive, and Frank Peterson in 1808.
ABSAROKA AND WIND RIVER RANGES. 738
the valley of Jackson Hole on the east with Pierre’s Hole
on the west. It is not a very high pass, but a singular one
in its extremely narrow and ridge-like character. The ap-
proach from either direction is excessively steep and the
traveler scarcely reaches the top from one side before he be-
gins the descent on the other. The pass was extensively
used in early fur trade days, and it is still the only practicable
connection between the two valleys.
As our observer, from his aerial vantage ground, looks
to the eastward beyond the Continental Divide, range upon
range of lofty mountains greets his eye almost to the limit
of the horizon. Inthe near foreground is a rugged chain of
mountains, known in modern geography by the name Ab-
saroka,* which fills almost the entire space between the Yel-
lowstone and its principal tributary, the Bighorn river. It
is one of the most compact mountain masses upon the con-
tinent, with fully a hundred peaks towering above the tim-
ber line, and it comes as near to being an impassable barrier
as can be found in the Rocky mountains.
To the southwest the Absarokas merge into the Wind
River mountains,? one of the most famous ranges of the
west. Viewed from whatever point, these mountains pre-
sent a sublime and imposing spectacle. From the valley of
Green river, that favorite summer meeting-ground of the
trappers and traders, they appear like a solid rampart to the
eastward, with Fremont Peak (13,790 feet) the command-
ing summit; while from across the valley of Wind river, on
the other side of the range, they bound the southwestern
horizon with a wavy line so lofty as scarcely to seem to rest
* This name as here applied is of recent date and is intended to com-
memorate the tribe of Indians (Absaroka, or Crows) who dwelt in the
valley of the Bighorn river to the eastward of these mountains.
* This name more probably arose from the prevalence of southwest
winds on the summits of these mountains than from any characteristic
of the valley itself, as the name might imply. Union Pass, near the
head of Wind river, is one of the windiest places in the world, and
the trees and other vegetation are so bent over by the constant blast that
in many instances they stand more nearly horizontal than vertical.
7 34 ; THE BIGHORN MOUNTAINS.
upon the earth. Immense snowfields lie upon these dizzy
heights throughout the summer, and feed the innumerable
lakes and streams which unite to form the rivers on either
side.
This mighty barrier lay directly in the route of travel be-
tween the valleys of the Yellowstone and Bighorn rivers on
the northeast and those of Green river, Salt Lake and Snake
river on the southwest and west. As a consequence, travel-
ers had to bend out of their course and cross the mountains
by the head of Wind river to the north, or in the other
direction by South Pass at the head of the Sweetwater.
The Wind River mountains are celebrated in fur trade
history and in native lore. The Indians clothed them with
superstitious legends, as they always do any locality whose
secret places they are unable to explore, while the scarcely
less ignorant trapper felt a wholesome awe of their weird
and gloomy retreats.
Beyond the valley of the Bighorn river, which lies at the
eastern base of the Absarokas, rises the extensive range of
the Bighorn mountains.* It is atypical example of detached
mountain masses in the Far West. Extending north and
south for one hundred and fifty miles between the Bighorn
and Powder rivers, it forms a compact barrier through
which there are but few practicable passes. The range
abounds in fine scenery and is the home of a great number
of lakes of Alpine beauty. Several of the peaks attain great
altitude, the highest, Cloud Peak, being 13,300 feet high.
This was likewise a range with which the trapper always had
to reckon, for it lay directly in his route from the trapping
grounds of the Bighorn to those of Powder river.
Far to the eastward of the Bighorn mountains, across a
dreary waste of reddish hills and broken, uninviting country,
the observer may descry the dark and shaggy eminences of
the Black Hills, the extreme eastern outlier of the Rocky
*This name is of course derived from the animal of the same name,
Ovis Montana, which formerly abounded in this region, and is still
occasionally seen there.
THE BLACK HILLS. 735
mountains. The dense forests of pine and stunted, wind-
torn cedars gave to these hills, when seen from a distance,
the dark appearance from which is derived their name.
Like most of the other early names of the Northwest, this
one was first used by the French. Long before any Amer-
ican had visited these parts, Les Cotes Notres were well
known to the Creole trader and voyageur. ‘The name is now
restricted to the mass of mountains enclosed by the two
forks of the Cheyenne river, in the modern states of Wyo-
ming and South Dakota, but it had a far broader application
in the early times.
The Black Hills, though not to be compared as mountains
with those farther west, were nevertheless a notable and
important range. Harney Peak, the commanding summit,
is 7,368 feet high. The scenery of the hills is, in many
places, grand and sublime, and certain localities, like that of
Sylvan lake and the Spearfish cafion, bear high comparison
with the finest scenery on the continent. The abundance
and variety of floral growth add an element of beauty which
is one of the chief attractions.
These mountains were famous in Indian lore, and many
were the legends concerning their mysterious labyrinths, and
the dangers and terrors concealed within them. No other
mountains in the entire West surpassed them in this regard.
At the same time they were a great resource to the surround-
ing tribes, who made annual excursions thither in quest of
wood for the various uses of their manner of life.
To the trapper, the Black Hills were the best known, as
they were the nearest, mountains that he was wont to fre-
quent. They were rich in the commercial products which
were the objects of his pursuit, and his operations embraced
the entire region.
Extending southwesterly from the Black Hills of Dakota,
southerly from the Bighorn range, and southeasterly from
the Wind River mountains, are many detached spurs and
isolated peaks which merge together in the region along
the upper North Platte and the Laramie rivers, and extend
730 THE MOUNTAINS OF COLORADO.
thence southerly to the high mountains of Colorado. These
ranges are now known under a variety of local names, but in
the fur trade period they were collectively a part of the
Black Hills. Probably the most noted summit in those scat-
tered groups is Laramie Peak, nearly fifty miles west of old
Fort Laramie, and one of the best known landmarks of
this region. |
The territory embraced within the modern political divi-
sions of Colorado and northern New Mexico is a typical
mountain region. It is here that the Rocky mountains
appear in all their grandeur — massive, lofty and sublime.
The principal peaks are nearly all over 14,000 feet high. In
marked contrast with other portions of the West, where
the approach to the main ranges is through a long
succession of foothills, extending perhaps hundreds of
miles, the mountains of central Colorado rise at once in full
magnitude directly from the prairies. This is notably true
of the Front and Rampart ranges, which face the plains to
the north and south of Denver. As seen from far out on
the prairies they appear like a mighty wall of corrugated
outline, projected against the western sky, while from the
mountains themselves the far-stretching savannas resemble
the unbroken vista of the ocean.
Two prominent peaks stand out from these ranges dis-
tinctly visible for a hundred miles to the eastward. They
are Long’s Peak in the Front range, and Pike’s Peak at the
southern extremity of the Rampart range. The former
peak was named in 1820 for Major Stephen H. Long, whose
exploring party discovered it. It is 14,271 feet high.
Pike’s Peak is now the best known summit of the Rocky
mountains, and holds a prominence with the traveling public
which the Grand Teton formerly held with the trappers and
traders. Pike’s Peak, though previously known to the
Spaniards, was first seen by Americans, so far as we posi-
tively know, in 1806, when it was visited, though not
ascended, by Lieutenant Z. M. Pike, of the United States
Army, whose name, after many vicissitudes and changes, it
PIKE'S PEAK. 737
now bears. The Grand Teton was not discovered until a
year later, when it was probably seen by John Colter.
Pike’s Peak is 14,147 feet high, or 347 feet higher than the
Teton summit. Like the latter, it rises in sheer relief a mile
and a half above the valley below. The summits of these
two mountains are strikingly different, one being of rounded
outline, and comparatively easy of access; the other a rocky
pinnacle, which it is almost impossible to climb.
In southern Colorado the Sangre de Cristo and Culebra
ranges are similarly situated to the Front and Rampart
ranges farther north, although they do not rise so directly
from the eastern plains. At the southern extremity of the
Sangre de Cristo range is Blanca Peak (14,464 feet), dom-
inating the valley of the upper Rio Grande, and the highest
mountain in Colorado. A little to the eastward of the
Culebra range rise the Spanish Peaks (12,720 feet), two
prominent outlying summits which were noted landmarks
during the period of the Santa Fe trade and subsequent
exploration.
Back of the easternmost line of the Colorado mountains
a continuous succession of ranges extends to the western
boundary of the state, so diversified in detail that it would be
impossible in the space here available to describe them. In
the central portion of the state they are of lofty and massive
proportions, extending in every possible direction, and con-
trolling the topography of the country. Farther west their
appearance changes materially, assuming more the charac-
ter of bad lands, though on a stupendous scale, and they are
known, from their peculiar forms, as mesas, book cliffs,
buttes, and the like.®
* Among the loftier peaks of central Colorado may be mentioned the
Mount of the Holy Cross, a name which dates from the fur trade
period. Its modern application, however, is not the same as it was
then. It now belongs to a mountain some fifteen miles northwest of
Leadville, Colorado—a noble peak 14,176 feet high—on the face of
which there is a cross formed by the perpetual snows which gather
in longitudinal and transverse chasms on the mountain side.
As noted by Farnham, 1839, the name applied to a conical hill about
738 MOUNTAINS OF UTAH.
The mountain passes of Colorado are the most noted in
the Rocky mountains, now that South Pass has lost its
former prominence. ‘The great development of this region,
owing to the discovery of valuable mineral deposits, has
given to the question of getting over the high ranges, an
importance which it did not possess during the fur trade
era. Many new passes, never crossed by the trapper, have
been found by the engineer, and these, as well as the old
ones, are among the chief modern attractions in this home
of mountain scenery.
The mountainous sections of Colorado were not fre-
quented by the trapper to the same extent as were the regions
farther north. Possibly the very difficulty of traversing the
country made it less desirable to operate in. It was, of
course, well known, and its streams were worked for beaver,
but it did not compare in this respect with the region about
the sources of the Missouri, Columbia, and Green rivers.
Passing from the broken and rugged terrain of Colorado
into the northeastern corner of Utah, a remarkably compact
and imposing chain of mountains is encountered, to which
the name Uintah has been given. It extends almost due
east and west for about a hundred miles, and forms such a
solid mass that very few practical crossings have been dis-
covered in modern times. The culminating summit of the
range is Gilbert Peak, 13,687 feet high. These mountains
lie directly athwart the course of Green river, which is forced
to make a detour of about sixty miles to the eastward in
order to get by them. The country round about was
eight hundred feet above the general level. The cross was formed by
“two transverse seams of what appeared to be crystallized quartz.”
The upper end of the cross was “about 100 feet below the summit.”
“The upright was about 60 feet in length; the cross seam about 20
feet, thrown across the upright near its top.” “The trappers have
reverently named this peak the Myuntain of the Holy Cross.”
Singularly enough this mountain is not far distant from the modern
Holy Cross Mountain. As near as can be determined from the imper-
fect description it was just north of the pass over the Continental
Divide near Breckenridge, Colorado.
MOUNTAINS OF MONTANA. 739
famous trapping territory, as may be inferred from the fact
that nearly all of its many streams bear names that were
given by the trapper.
Extending north and south through the state of Utah, and
for a long distance forming the divide between the valleys
of Green river and Great Salt Lake, is a prominent chain of
mountains known by the name of Wasatch. Nearly east
of the southern extremity of Great Salt Lake it forms a
junction with the Uintah mountains. A little farther north
it is broken by a deep rift, through which a railroad now
finds its way. Still farther north it rises again in a bold
mass of mountains which occupies the interior of the horse
shoe formed by the course of Bear river.
The entire region to the northward between the valleys
of Green river on the east and Bear and Snake rivers on the
west is filled with mountain ranges, known under different
names, but forming part of a general system which extends
from the Wasatch and Uintah mountains on the south to
the Teton and Wind River ranges on the north. These
mountains abound in fine streams, which made them a
favorite resort of the trapper. The great highway across
them in the early days was that now followed by the Ore-
gon Short Line railroad.
Extending from the region of the Yellowstone National
Park along what is now the boundary line between Montana
and Idaho is a long and almost continuous range of moun-
tains which makes a broad sweep from the west to the north,
and finally leaves the territory of the United States in north-
western Washington. The southern portion of this range
to about latitude forty-six degrees is still known on some
maps by the name Rocky mountains. North of this point
it bears the name Bitter Root as far as it forms the state
boundary. It then takes the name of Cceur d’Aléne, and
extends in a northwest direction across the narrow strip of
northern Idaho and the northeast corner of Washington into
the British possessions. The southern portion of this
range, as above described, lies on the Continental Divide,
740 THE BLUE MOUNTAINS.
but this line leaves it just north of latitude forty-six, swings
eastward to the near vicinity of Helena, Montana, and then
extends north to the boundary.
The whole of western Montana is very mountainous, and
the name of the state was well chosen. The mountains
extend far eastward to the center of the state in smaller
detached ranges, such as the Judith, Belt, Little Rocky, and
Bear Paw mountains. In that section immediately north of
the National Park, they assume a massive and lofty charac-
ter, which denotes their close connection with the Absaroka
range already described.
The entire country among these mountains was a fruitful
one to the trapper, and was frequented as much as any in
the West. The ranges had numerous and easy passes, and
were not, except in the few places already noted, formidable
obstacles to travel. Several of the most important Indian
tribes made their home in the country round about. The
region was therefore one of great activity in the days of the
fur trade, although it was mainly exploited by British com-
panies in that portion which lay on the Pacific slope.
West of the Bitter Root mountains in central Idaho the
country is excessively broken by ranges of mountains that
separate the eastern tributaries of Snake river. The Salmon
river and Clearwater mountains are the most important.
They extend across the state westwardly to and beyond
Snake river, which has cut its way through them in one of
the most imposing cafions in the world. To the west of
Snake river these mountains continue into Oregon, where
the range extends first southwest and then west well toward
the center of the state. They are here known as the Blue
mountains, and are particularly noted in fur trade history as
the difficult barrier that lay between the Columbia river and
the upper course of the Snake. The topography of the
country was such that all travel between these rivers, the
Snake and the Columbia, was compelled to traverse this
range. The same necessity exists today and the railroad
now follows essentially what was once the Oregon Trail.
THE SIERRA NEVADAS, 741
Southwardly from the Salmon river and Blue mountains,
through southern Idaho and Oregon, western Utah and
eastern Nevada, even to the borders of California and Ari-
zona, was a region which, though not mountainous in the
sense of those just described, contained many broken and
detached ranges, isolated peaks and buttes, and singular
irregularities of ground which fall under none of the usual
designations. These eminences are not generally of great
altitude, but owing to the surrounding topography are often
visible at immense distances and therefore serve as important
landmarks. The Three Buttes of the Snake river plain are
conspicuous examples.
There remains to be considered that extensive mountain
system which lies parallel to the Pacific coast and forms the
final barrier between the Mississippi valley and those of Cali-
fornia and Oregon. In its southern portion it is known as
the Sierra Nevada, and farther north as the Cascade range.
The Sierra Nevada is probably the most extensive and
massive array of mountains in the United States, if not in
North America. Its lofty peaks, its successive ranges,
which give great depth to the system, its never-melting
snow fields and its deep and gloomy cafions have made it
a most formidable barrier to travel, which even at this day
is crossed in but few places. The principal mass of these
mountains extends upwards of two hundred miles parallel
to the San Joaquin valley of California. In this portion of
its course are found its loftiest peaks, reaching to an altitude
of nearly 15,000 feet. In the western foothills is the mar-
velous cafion of Yosemite, and near by a grove of those
gigantic redwood trees which are one of the wonders of
nature. |
The Sierra Nevadas break down somewhat in northern
California, and merge for a short distance with the Coast
range, which lies close to the ocean. Klamath and Pitt
rivers here find their way through the range from the eastern
side to the Pacific. North of the Klamath the name Cas-
cade begins, and continues to the British boundary. The
742 LOFTY MOUNTAIN PEAKS.
principal gap through the Cascades is where the Columbia
river makes its way to the ocean, although there are other
practicable openings both north and south.
The Sierra Nevada and the Cascade ranges abound in
noble peaks, including some of the loftiest in the country.
Owing to their proximity to the coast, and the low altitude
of the valleys to the westward, their elevation is more appar-
ent than in other sections of the mountains. The three most
notable peaks are situated respectively at the southern, cen-
tral, and northern portions of the range. Mt. Whitney, in
southern California, is the highest peak in the United States,
with an elevation of 14,898 feet. In the space between the
Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges is Mt. Shasta, 14,350
feet, one of the best known mountains of the West. Mt.
Rainier, north of the Columbia river in Washington, has
an altitude of 14,444 feet, and is plainly visible from sea
level on Puget Sound. It is one of the few mountains in
the world which stands out in full relief, and it affords per-
haps the most perfect example of a single mountain peak to
be met with in nature.
The mountain ranges last considered were not of great
importance in the American fur trade, because in only three
or four instances did the operations of the American com-
panies reach so far. The streams of the Cascade range,
however, were thoroughly exploited by the Hudson Bay
Company, and were as rich a field as the West afforded.
The expeditions of the Astorians and of Nathaniel J. Wyeth
to the Columbia, and of J. S. Smith and I. R. Walker to
California, were the only instances in which Americans ever
seriously attempted to develop the fur trade of these moun-
tains.
CHAPTER? IT,
VALLEYS AND PLAINS.
The typical mountain valley — Valleys along the Three Forks — The
Gallatin valley — Valley of the Three Forks — Great Bend of the Yel-
lowstone — Gardner’s Hole — Jackson Hole — Jackson’s Little Hole —
Pierre’s Hole— Upper Green river valley — Brown’s Hole — Ogden’s
Hole — Cache valley — The Grande Ronde — Old and New Parks and
Bayou Salade — San Luis valley — The Plains — Change in the country
westward from the Missouri— The Bad Lands— The “Great Ameri-
can Desert’ — Prairie roads — Storms of the prairies — Prairie fires —
The mirage — The plains not a trapping country.
HE “holes” of the mountains, as they were called by
the trappers, were of paramount importance in the
business of the fur trade, as indeed they have been in all
enterprises which man has carried on among the mountain-
ous regions of the earth. Nothing in nature is more beau-
tiful than a typical valley in the Rocky mountains. Around
it tower the eternal hills, like faithful sentinels, to guard and
protect it. Perennial streams of crystal water, fresh from
the pure snows on the mountain sides, flow down from every
direction into the plains below. Converging lines of foliage
mark the courses of these streams as they mingle one with
another, until all are united in a broad ribbon of verdure,
which meanders across the valley and finally leaves it
through some opening in the surrounding hills. Scattered
here and there are groves of the quaking aspen, but generally
the lowlands are covered with nutritious grasses, which en-
joy here a more healthy and luxuriant growth than in the
arid tracts below the mountains. The flowers of spring
likewise bloom in greater profusion and with more exquisite
colors than where nature has deprived them of the moisture
which they require.
744 THE GALLATIN VALLEY.
These mountain valleys must be distinguished on the one
hand from extensive basins, like that of the Bighorn river,
which comprise a great variety of topography, and on the
other, from those contracted openings through the moun-
tains which fall more properly under the designation of
cafions. The open valleys here considered were in the nature
of parks, grateful oases in the waste of rugged country,
where the wild game loved to gather and the mountaineer
found rest from his prodigious labors. In these charming
retreats he was wont to pitch his camp, where there were
water and grass for his stock, wood for his fire, shelter from
the tempest, and convenience to the objects of his pursuit.
What he did not find here, unfortunately, was protection
from savage foes, who, like their pale face brethren, loved
the valleys and made them their home.
There were hundreds of these valleys in the Rocky moun-
tains, but it will here be possible to refer only to a few of
the more important. Each of the three forks of the Mis-
souri had its parks or basins. The beautiful valley of upper
Red Rock creek, the source of Jefferson Fork, known in
recent years as Centennial valley, was a much frequented
spot in early times. Near the sources of the Madison there
were also numerous parks, which are still without distinc-
tive names; but which were familiar resorts to the hunters
and trappers. All of these valleys were connected by easy
passes over the Continental Divide with the equally impor-
tant basin of Henry Lake, one of the ultimate sources of the
Columbia.
Along the lower course of the Gallatin and its principal
tributary, the East Fork, is one of the most extensive and
beautiful mountain valleys inthe West. It is the vacant bed
of an ancient lake, surrounded by a cordon of mountains
which are flecked here and there with patches of snow and
are clothed in the varying hues of the atmosphere, depend-
ent upon their distance from the beholder... The valley is
upwards of thirty miles long, with a remarkably even to-
q
7
=
¢
:
}
? br SP ne ey ee yet eA es —o _—
THE VALLEY OF THE THREE FORKS. 745
pography and a bountiful supply of water from the Gallatin
and its various tributaries. It was the scene of great activ-
ity during the entire period of the fur trade and yielded
untold wealth to the coffers of the traders.
The immediate valley where the Three Forks unite to
form the Missouri is of very limited area, but was of great
importance in the early days. A glance at the map will
show its strategic and commercial relation to the surround-
ing country. A short distance to the eastward lay the valley
of the Yellowstone, while to the south, by easy passes over
the Divide, access was had to the Snake river valley
ai@pathemrecion beyond, “North, and west -lay an
extensive country prolific in the fruits of the chase.
The Three Forks themselves and their numerous tributaries
were the best trapping ground on the continent. All of
these considerations appealed strongly to the early traders,
and very soon after the return of Lewis and Clark, in 1806,
attempts were made to found a trading post there. These
efforts, though more than once repeated, always failed on
account of the hostility of the Blackfeet Indians; and a sort
of fatality has hung over the spot even to the present day.
In recent years, the government went to the upper end of
the East Gallatin valley to found a military post, where has
also arisen the principal town in this part of the country.
The ground around the Three Forks has been staked out
into streets and blocks of a city yet to be, but not a house
stands upon the spot. It is a singular fact, and is account-
ed for by some, on the ground that the valley was the im-
memorial fighting ground of hostile tribes, while the soil
was sterile on account of the alkali washed down from the
higher sections. Be this as it may, it seems as if nature had
ordained that this meeting place of the sources of the
world’s longest river should remain unchanged by the hand
of man.
The Great Bend of the Yellowstone, where Livingston,
Montana, now stands, was a picturesque spot hemmed in
by lofty hills, and a convenient point to the trappers, who
740 JACKSON HOLE.
often passed their winters there. In ascending the Yellow-
stone from the Great Bend to its source, a series of canons
is passed between which the valley spreads out into open
parks, where the bottom lands and hillsides are carpeted, like
the green hills of France, with meadows so uniform and
lawn-like as scarcely to seem the product of unaided nature.
In an open valley of most attractive surroundings on one
of the upper tributaries of the Yellowstone, a free trapper,
Johnson Gardner, plied his trade as far back as 1830, and
gave the river and valley hisname. “Gardner’s Hole” was
the uncouth name of this beautiful spot which every tourist
now sees as he enters the Yellowstone National Park.
South of this government reservation lies one of the
most celebrated of all the mountain valleys, still known by
the name first given it, Jackson Hole.t The name em-
braces the whole valley along the eastern base of the Tetons
from the north shore of Jackson Lake to the mouth of the
Little Grosventre river, a distance of upward of forty
miles.
A most striking feature of this wonderful valley is its
extremely flat topography, surrounded as it is by some of
the most rugged mountains on the continent. Its beauty
is greatly enhanced by the presence of several lakes which
lie immediately at the base of the Teton range, and in whose
placid surfaces these mountains stand reflected as from the
most perfect mirror. The landscape thus formed has been
the despair of painters of natural scenery since the valley
became frequented by students of nature. Neither pen nor
pencil, nor the modern perfection of the photographic art.
can reproduce its marvelous beauty.
Whatever the trapper may have thought of the scenic at-
traction of this valley, he certainly loved the spot, and it was
always one of his favorite haunts. It was a most conven-
ient base of operations. From north to south through it
flowed the Snake river, with its sources mainly in the Yel-
*Named for David Jackson, of the firm of Smith, Jackson and Sub-
lette, who did business in this region from 1826 to 1830. (Ferris.)
EY
PIERRES HOLE. 747
lowstone Park farther to the north. Three large tributaries
joined the main stream in this vicinity and all were full of
beaver when the trapper first visited them. Jackson Hole
was thus a point from which small trapping parties could
explore the many branches of these larger streams and to
which they could return with the fruits of their labors. It
was probably also safer from Indian incursions than were
other valleys less difficult of access. There was no easy way
to get into it, and from most directions it was then, and is
still, exceedingly difficult to enter it at all.
Another valley which bore the name of Jackson was
Jackson’s Little Hole. It was situated at the source of
Hoback river just across the Divide from Green river, and
was the first camping place after leaving Green river for
Jackson or Pierre’s Hole.
From Jackson Hole a trail led across Teton Pass to the
scarcely less celebrated locality of Pierre’s Hole.2 The Te-
ton or Pierre river drains the western slope of the Teton
mountains. It rises in Teton Pass, and flows slightly west
of north for about thirty miles, when it turns due west and
flows into Henry Fork of Snake river. It was that portion
of the valley that lay along the northerly course of the
stream to which the name Pierre’s Hole applied. The open
valley is about twenty-five miles long, and five to fifteen
broad. On the right hand, looking down stream, rises the
mighty wall of the Teton range, while on the left is the
much less lofty range of the Snake River mountains.
Through the center of the valley wound the inevitable line
of trees which showed where the waters from the mountains
were flowing, and many a tributary could be discovered
coming in from the highlands on either side. The valley
is a most attractive one, and is now being rapidly filled up
with industrious settlers.
Pierre’s Hole was a particularly favorite resort of the
trader. Several of the annual rendezvous were held here.
*“Tt receives its name from an Iroquois chieftain, who first discovered
~ it, and was killed in 1827 on the source of the Jefferson river.” (Ferris. )
748 BROWN’S HOLE.
and there are still in existence business papers of the Rocky
Mountain Fur Company which bear the date, “ Pierre’s
Hole, Under the Three Teton Mountains.” The events of
the year 1832, which are narrated in detail elsewhere, would
alone make the valley famous.
About seventy miles southeast of Jackson’s Hole was an
amphitheatre-shaped basin situated where Green river
emerges from the Wind River mountains in a westerly direc-
tion and turns due south on its long journey to the Gulf of
California. The valley was not so closely hemmed in by
mountains as were those just described, but it was even more
important to the fur trade. It was a favorite rendezvous
for many years, and witnessed some of the most notable
gatherings of the Indians and traders that ever took place
in the mountains.
Two hundred miles by the river channel below the local-
ity just described, Green river flows for sixty miles in a
direction nearly due east along the northern base of the
Uintah range. Some twenty-five miles of this distance is
through an open valley from five to six miles wide, hemmed
in by the mountains in the most effectual manner. The river
enters and leaves it through dismal, deep, and impassable
caiions, and take it all in all, it is little else than a solitary
mountain prison, surrounded with the grandest scenes of
nature, but cut off entirely from the outside world. This
was the famous Brown’s Hole® of the trappers, known in
modern geography by the more pleasing name of Brown
Park. In the later years of the fur trade the valley was
much frequented by the trappers, who even maintained at
one time an inferior trading post there.
Near the northeastern shore of the Great Salt Lake there
was a deep recess in the range of lofty mountains to the east,
known in early times as Ogden’s Hole, where now the city
of Ogden, Utah, stands. It was a sheltered cove of strik-
ing form and beauty, and no doubt was frequented by the
*This name is understood to have been given for the trader who
first did business in the valley.
CACHE VALLEY. 749
retainers of that noted trader whose name it now bears.
The most important valley near Great Salt Lake, however,
was that traversed by Bear river in northern Utah and south-
ern Idaho. It was an extensive valley, bounded on the east
by a noble range of mountains, and on the west by smaller
hills, where all the conditions were to be found that made a
desirable stamping ground for the trapper. Today it is the
home of a busy population, with ten or more thriving vil-
lages all in sight at once. It is still known by its original
name of Cache Valley, which arose from some unrecorded
circumstance, possibly from the cache of beaver furs belong-
ing to Peter Skeen Ogden which shadowy tradition says was
“lifted” by General Ashley, to the latter’s great financial
advancement.®
A little valley which deserves a passing notice lies in the
eastern flank of the Blue mountains in Oregon, directly on
the line of the old Oregon Trail. It was named by the
French, from its form, Grande Ronde, and was a well-
known camping and resting place on the Trail.
The principal open valleys in the Colorado mountains
are those now known as the North, Middle and South Parks,
but which the trappers knew as the New and Old Parks and
the Bayou Salade.® In them the North Platte, Grand and
*Peter Skeen Ogden, a leading spirit of the Hudson Bay Com-
pany in the decade between 1820 and 1830.
poce-fart II, Chapter XVI.
A. W. Ferris, in Life in the Rocky Mountains, says that the valley
was named from the circumstance that there an employe of Smith,
Jackson and Sublette, while engaged with others in building a cache in
the side of a bank, was killed by the bank caving in. “ His compan-
ions,” says Ferris, “believed him to have been instantly killed, knew
him to be well buried, and therefore left him.” It is quite possible that
the writer was somewhat mixed as to the locality of this accident. An
exactly similar mishap occurred in the Wind river valley in 1830.
* Where the names New and Old, as applied to the North and Middle
Parks, came from, I do not know. Sage says that the modern North
Park was not at first as much frequented by hunters as was the Middle
Park, and as a result game increased in it at the expense of its southern
neighbor. When the hunters began to be drawn to it extensively they
750 MOUNTAIN PARKS OF COLORADO.
South Platte rivers respectively find their sources. They
are typical mountain valleys, although considerably larger
than those just described. They were great resorts for the
trappers, and the Bayou Salade in particular was a favorite
retreat for both the white man and the Indian.
On the upper course of the Rio Grande there were two
notable valleys, known by the names of Taos and San Luis.
Taos was the northernmost of the Spanish settlements in
New Mexico and was a famous place in the annals of the
fur trade. The San Luis valley, as an opening among
rugged mountains, is one of the most striking in the entire
West. Surrounded by lofty peaks, among which is the dom-
inating summit of Sierra Blanca in the Sangre de Cristo
range, it is itself as smooth and even as the flattest prairie —
so uniform in surface that the railroads which radiate from
Alamosa in the center of the valley extend in almost
straight lines for a distance of from twenty-five to fifty miles.
The trappers who plied their calling in these valleys and the
country to the westward were mostly connected with the
Santa Fe trade and brought their furs either to Santa Fe or
Taos for sale or shipment to the United States.
Such are a few typical mountain valleys among the hun-
dreds that were known to the trapper. His claim upon them
nas long since been transferred to a more civilized posterity,
who have utilized the streams where he once trapped for
beaver to extract from the soil a less precarious livelihood
than they ever yielded to him. Their beauty and grandeur
remain and their utility has been increased, but the romance
called it the New Park in distinction from that with which they had
been longer acquainted. New or North Park was also called the Bull
Pen by the trappers.
The word bayou in the early French usage in this country meant a
slack water slough connected with some larger stream. “In township
12 South Range 76 West, on the south Fork of S. Platte river in South
Park, Colo., are two saline lakes and a salt creek. It was anciently a
great resort for buffalo and was given the name Bayou Salade by the
trappers.” (Berthoud.)
THE PLAINS. 751
of their early occupation by white men has permanently
passed away.
What was included in the term “ plains,” as used in fron-
tier history, it would be difficult to say. “‘ Across the
plains” generally meant from the Missouri river to one’s
destination, whether across the prairies of Kansas, the staked
plains of Texas, the sand hills of Nebraska, the Bad Lands of
Dakota, the sage brush tracts scattered everywhere through-
out the West, the lava wastes of Idaho, or the alkali des-
erts of Utah, Nevada, and California. The term “ prairies,”
in popular use, referred more specifically to the region be-
tween the Missouri river and the foothills of the mountains,
those broad and treeless areas, often rolling and diversified,
yet as often flat as the level sea, lying in part within the
region of rains and luxuriant vegetation, and in part in the
arid zone beyond.
To convey an idea of the external aspect of the country
which the trader and trapper passed over and lived in while
absent from the frontiers, it will be expedient to follow them
in a journey from the Missouri to the heart of the moun-
tains and note those features which especially appealed to
them in the line of their particular business.
For one hundred and fifty miles out from Independence,
or say to the 98th meridian, the traveler was in a country
agriculturally rich. Here nature reveled in exuberant
growth, for there were a bountiful soil, abundant rain, and
dew in the morning, as in the most favored localities in the
East. All descriptions of the prairies in the early days
abound in enthusiastic praise of this delightful region, and
nearly all foresaw in it the home of populous communities
yet to be. With little qualification this was true of the
country north and south, within these limits of longitude, to
the boundaries of the United States. Although it lay mostly
out of the timber belt, the soil was exceedingly fertile, and
whatever man might intelligently cultivate was bound to
flourish there.
But as the traveler held on his way another one hundred
752 THE PRAIRIES.
and fifty miles, or say to the 10Ist meridian, a notable change
came over the face of the country. ‘The rolling hills sank
into the even plains, as uniform and monotonous as the
naked ocean. Look in whatever direction he might, no
undulation of the ground restricted the limit of vision, and it
needed only a passing sail to make the illusion complete.
He observed that the soil was less deep and rich, the rains
evidently much less frequent, the water very scarce except in
the larger streams, the trees along the river less abundant,
and vegetation generally less luxuriant, if not actually
dwarfed and scanty. Before the western limit of this belt
was reached there began to appear infallible signs which
denoted proximity to the desert. Among them were the
sage brush, the cactus, and the prairie dog, those singular
products of the vegetable and animal worlds which seem to
flourish only where nature is parched and dry. The soil
also began to show a white efflorescence denoting the pres-
ence of the dreaded alkali, which from here on would render
many of the streams and pools unfit for drink and would
fill the air along the road with a suffocating dust.
The third belt of three degrees of longitude, extending
to the 104th meridian, carried the traveler into the worst
features of the plains country. He found himself in the
hilly region which betokened proximity to the mountains,
whose glistening crests he could already discern in the dis-
tance. Rock began to appear in the bluffs along the streams.
In some localities, as in the valley of the North Platte, the
elements have carved these rocks into remarkable shapes to
which the early traveler gave such names as Court House,
Chimney, and the like. Generally, however, the exposed
rock has been mellowed down by the action of time into
gentler slopes where vegetation finds a precarious foot-
hold.
A curious and remarkable region in this zone is that com-
prising the sand hills of Nebraska. These rounded hills,
composed of sand with a thin covering of turf, are often of
considerable height, and are so like one another that it is
THE BAD LANDS. 753
impossible to distinguish between them. Landmarks are
wanting, and once off the trail one is almost certain to get
confused as to his bearings. Not even the dense and track-
less forest is so easy a place to get lost in. These hills,
though useless for agriculture, afforded fair grazing for the
buffalo.
Farther north in Dakota between the Black Hills and the
Missouri is a tract of country where nature seems to have
outdone herself to render her aspect hideous and forbid-
ding. The whole country is cut up by gullies, or coulées,
while the ancient surface of the ground is indicated here and
there by harder material, which has resisted the action of
time and stands aloft above the general level. The elements
have carved these hills into the most varied and fantastic
shapes, sometimes like the domes and towers of a city, and
again unlike anything which art or nature has elsewhere
produced. In some of the hills or bluffs there is a distinct
stratification, the appearance of which was confused by the
_ paths of the mountain sheep in former times, as it is by
domestic sheep now. The soil has an oily, slippery consist-
ency when wet which makes it impossible at such times to
clamber up the steep slopes. On these barren, ashy hills no
vegetation thrives, or in such lonesome, sickly forms as are
found only where life pines and languishes from the pov-
erty of nature. Little animal life is seen except the snake
and the lizard, unless indeed from some lofty pinnacle the
stately bighorn surveys in solitary independence the scene
of desolation around him.
These are the Bad Lands, the Mauvaises Terres of the
French, and present the hopeless side of the Western coun-
try, a true picture of the Great.American Desert. In one
form or another the Bad Lands are found over a vast extent
of country. The whole region between the Black Hills and
the Bighorn mountains, extending north to the Missouri,
contains tracts of this character. The valley of the Bighorn
is full of bad lands. South of the Sweetwater river in Wy-
oming are extensive areas which differ essentially from the
754 THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT.
Dakota bad lands, but surpass them, if possible, in general
worthlessness. Here may be seen those soda lakes where
the alkali of the plains exhibits itself in a concentrated form,
which has annihilated every form of life within it. In this
strange and uninviting region are extensive fossil remains,
which indicate that in past geological time, conditions more
favorable to life prevailed here. The Pacific side of the
mountains even outdoes the Atlantic slope in its desert
appearance. The valley of Green river from its source to its
mouth abounds in bad lands of one form or another In
Colorado and Utah the broken character of the country is on
a stupendous scale, cut up with impassable cafions and
walled in in every direction by lofty and almost vertical
cliffs. The vast lava plains of Snake river with their suffo-
cating dust, the barren deserts of Utah and Nevada with
their salt fields and waterless stream beds, and the lifeless
wastes of southern California are a part of this scene of
widespread desolation. To the south the picture is equally
uninviting. It would be difficult to say what proportion of
the immense region of New Mexico and Arizona is of this
worthless character, but it is large enough. To the east of
the mountains the Cimarron desert, so often fatal to human
life from its lack of water, is a fair example of the evil con-
ditions which geologic evolution has imposed upon this
country.
As already observed, these desolate tracts present the
hopeless side of the Western country and constitute in the
aggregate the Great American Desert. The early geogra-
phers were not wrong in placing such a desert on their maps,
much as they have been ridiculed for doing so. Their error
lay rather in its location and in their failure to note the
many important exceptions. While it was then true,
and will so remain until geologic and climatic changes shall
have worked a revolution in this country, that west of the
103rd meridian and east of the Sierra Nevadas there is not
a point from which one can not find within a radius of a
hundred miles true desert conditions; still the country was
ROADS ACROSS THE PLAINS. 755
not all of this character. There were the thousand valleys
through which coursed perennial streams destined to make
them rich with cultivated fields, and there were the moun-
tains with their hidden treasures of wealth; while even the
desert tracts yielded a scanty pasturage which in the aggre-
gate sustained countless multitudes of grazing animals.
These were very important exceptions to the rule of the
desert, and their existence has confounded nearly all the
early predictions concerning the future of this country.
Having considered the general character of the country
which the traveler had to pass through in crossing the
“plains,” it remains to notice some of their more striking
peculiarities which had a practical bearing upon these over-
land journeys and upon the business for which they were
undertaken. Except in the spring of the year the roads
over the prairies were excellent, the fords practicable, and
traveling a comparatively easy matter. Not so in the season
of rains, when the roads were converted into quagmires, the
streams were unfordable, and camping wretchedly uncom-
fortable. In general the outgoing expeditions of spring en-
countered great difficulties from high water both on the prai-
ries and in the mountains; but on their return in the autumn
these obstacles had mostly disappeared. The drawbacks of
spring travel were in some degree compensated by the balmy
and invigorating air of that season, while the better condi-
tions that prevailed later in the season lost some of their
advantage from the parched and dusty state of the country,
which was hard both upon man and beast.
The storms of the prairies, whether in summer or winter,
were always characterized by great severity. The cyclonic
character of the summer storms has become well known since
the country has settled up. They were the same in the early
days, and many are the records of demolished camps, stam-
peded herds, drenched and damaged cargoes, when these ter-
rific tempests have descended upon the solitary caravans of
the plains. In winter the prairie blizzard was then and is
now death to the wayfarer who is caught in it away from
756 PRAIRIE FIRES.
shelter. Consequently travelers rarely ventured across the
plains in winter, and death has overtaken more than one
rash adventurer who has wandered too far from a safe
retreat.
A common peril on the prairies after the spring rains had
ceased and the grass had become dry was the prairie fire.
How these could have been so frequent‘ as they seem to
have been is a mystery. When the conditions were ripe for
one of those fires — that is, when the growth of grass had
been abundant, but had become dry, and when a brisk, dry
wind was blowing, the phenomenon was one of marvelous
beauty, if viewed from a point of safety, but of peril and
terror when the beholder stood in its way. The speed of
the fire over the prairies depended of course largely upon
the wind and was therefore a very variable quantity; but
that at times it exceeded that of the fleetest horse there is
abundant evidence. Likewise the intensity of the fire varied
greatly. When driven by a strong wind over areas of
tall dry grass it was a veritable traveling furnace, and no
matter how great its speed nor how quickly past, it was
death to whatever it touched. In other instances, with a
mild wind and short grass, the line of flame could anywhere
be crossed with impunity. The spectacle of a strong prai-
rie fire at night was one of the most magnificent that nature
affords. The long sweeping line of fire stretching from
one part of the horizon to the other, the lambent flames soar-
ing high into the air, the flitting forms of animals driven
suddenly from cover, and the reflection of the brilliant light
in the clouds, composed a scene of truly terrible sublimity.
The usual method of avoiding the danger of these fires
was to start one in the immediate vicinity of the person or
company in peril. This fire, at first small and harmless,
would soon burn over an area large enough to form a safe
asylum, and when the sweeping cohorts of flame came bear-
ing down upon the apparently doomed company, the mighty
*“ The prairies are on fire in every direction” is a frequent entry in
the old Fort Pierre journals,
THE MIRAGE. | 757
line would part as if by pre-arrangement and pass harmless
by on either side.
Among the most singular, and at times the most distress-.
ing, phenomena of the plains were the mirages. Although
these were seen in nearly all parts of the West, it was in the
southern plains that they were most prominent. To see them
to the best advantage requires favorable conditions both
physical and mental. Not alone must the plain, the atmos-
phere, and the sun be right, but the effect will be greatly
heightened if the mental state of the beholder has been suita-
bly prepared for the phenomenon. To this end, suppose him
to be journeying over one of those barren, even tracts which
so extensively abound to the south of the Arkansas, and
particularly in the Cimarron desert. The sun is almost un-
endurable in its intensity; the ground is parched and dry;
the grass withered and sparse; no tree or shrub relieves the
landscape; no sign of water is visible anywhere; while the
oppressive heat and the cravings of thirst tax his endurance
to the utmost. In the midst of his sufferings comes a prom-
ise of relief. Several miles ahead of him in a gentle depres-
sion he distinctly sees a body of water ; it may be a river, but
more probably a lake. Its surface gleams in the sun and
here and there it is roughened by passing breezes. The
shore line is distinct and is bordered with objects that look
like trees. The sight inspires new life; the spirits rise; and
the pace of the traveler is quickened with fresh energy. It is
wasted effort on the part of more experienced companions
to urge caution in trusting so implicitly to appearances.
Confidently he pushes forward with his eyes fixed on the re-
freshing sight before him. But as he nears it a change comes
over the scene. The surface of the lake begins to show gaps
and breaks that he has never noticed on any other lake.
These gaps increase as he approaches; the water surface
diminishes; it begins to have a trembling, shimmering
appearance; it finally vanishes from sight; and when the
traveler reaches the spot he is still surrounded by the same
cheerless landscape over which he has already traveled so
758 THE PLAINS NOT TRAPPING TERRITORY.
far. With what tenfold power does his thirst now come
back, enhanced by the bitter disappointment! The lesson of
the mirages or “ false ponds” was hard to learn and it
required many a chastening such as has been described to
place one fully on his guard against it.
The cause of the phenomenon of the mirage is not per-
fectly understood, and has received a variety of explanations,
some maintaining that it is due to refraction alone, others to
reflection. Strange as it may seem, these false appearances,
if we may trust the many accounts of observers, are some-
times erect, at other times inverted. The necessary condi-
tions of an effective mirage are a broad plain with an exten-
sive horizon free from conspicuous undulations; a dry, hard
ground which will reflect readily the rays of the sun; warm,
dry and clear weather, so that the eye can easily scan the
ground for several miles. Wislizenus holds that the true
mirage always shows objects double, the lower erect by re-
fraction through the stratum of air next to the ground, and
the upper inverted by reflection against the surface of a
different stratum some distance above. Whatever may be
the true explanation the delusion is a perfect one, and its
tantalizing effect upon the thirsty wayfarer was often more
distressing than the thirst itself.
The plains were not, strictly speaking, trapping territory,
for the beaver and other fur-bearing animals dwelt mainly
within the mountain regions. But they were the home of
the buffalo and the buffalo was the life of the fur trade. The
countless herds of these useful animals which overran the
territory of the Far West, supplying the necessities of life to
its nomadic population, were a product of the plains country,
and but for this limitless expanse of grazing territory, their
existence in such enormous multitudes would have been
impossible.
Cre Vik lil
RIVERS AND LAKES.
THE MISSOURI SYSTEM AND THE PLAINS RIVERS.
Importance of streams to the trapper— The three great river sys-
tems — Their historical associations — Their relation to the fur trade —
The Missouri river —Its length —Its name — Mouth of the Marias —
Mouth of the Yellowstone — The Yellowstone and its tributaries — Lo-
cality of the Mandans — Locality of Fort Pierre— The Platte river —
Mouth of the Kansas — Mouth of the Missouri — Physical characteris-
tics of the Missouri— The Plains rivers — The Arkansas — The Cim-
arron river — The Canadian river — The Red river — The Rio Grande.
mie OUCH the mountain systems of any country are
the primary factors in determining its topography,
they are, from a practical point of view, of less importance
in human affairs than are the streams of which they are gen-
erally the source. Particularly true was this of the business
of the fur trade. Except in the case of certain desert tracts,
the mountains were the principal barriers to travel which
the trapper had to cross in his ubiquitous wanderings. The
valleys of the streams, on the other hand, were the universal
routes of travel and the places of abode during his sojourn
in the wilderness. Every thing that he required was to be
found there. Along their banks were groves of cottonwood
which furnished wood for fuel, temporary huts, trading
posts and boats, and ample shelter both from the heat of
summer and the cold of winter. He also found there the
various animals of which he had need, and particularly the
beaver, whose capture was the main object of his labors. In
the larger valleys dwelt the Indian tribes with whom he
traded so extensively. The great rivers furthermore afford-
760 THE GREAT RIVER SYSTEMS.
ed him his cheapest means of transporting his furs to market.
Everything contributed to give the water courses of the
country an importance which no other physical feature pos-
sessed. This may account for the prominence given to the
delineation of the streams upon the early maps, as may be
seen by comparing them with modern railroad maps; and
also for the fact that nearly all the streams, quite unlike the
mountains, bore well-known names given by the trappers,
most of which they retain to the present day.
The water courses of the West which were of importance
to the trapper belonged nearly all to three great systems —
the Missouri, on the Atlantic slope, and the Colorado and
Columbia on the Pacific. ‘There were besides a few streams
in the southeast, such as the Arkansas and the Rio Grande,
and also many on the Pacific coast; and there were the lakes
and rivers of the Great Basin which do not flow into the
ocean. Itisa noteworthy fact that within a distance of fifty
miles from the Grand Teton, where our imaginary observer
is stationed, lie the sources of the three river systems just
referred to. To the northeast the Continental Divide sweeps
in a full quarter circle from a little west of north to a little
south of east, and just beyond it are the sources of the
Three Forks of the Missouri, the Yellowstone, and the Wind
and Bighorn rivers. About a hundred miles southeast, one
of the tributaries of the Platte, a water of the Missouri,
finds its source. Within the arc of the circle just described
lie the sources of Snake river, the southern branch of the
Columbia, while southeast in the direction of Fremont
Peak, are the headwaters of Green river, the principal source
of the Colorado.
The areas drained by these three systems within the
United States, nearly all of which were operated in by the
fur companies, are approximately as follows:
The Missouri system above Inde-
pendence: co Uy aia enna eileen 490,000 square miles
The:Golorado systenien wart ik eae 248,000 ies
HISTORICAL COINCIDENCE. 76 I
The Columbia system within the
Lona alles clathrin Ra 220,000 square miles
The Arkansas and Canadian above
URC ITGUTICE OUP merece ele. ois 146,000 sf »
The Rio Grande above El Paso....... 42,000 5 if
Mee Gleatemoci orm) 6 Se NS) 215,000 % is
The Missouri river, being much longer than the Colorado
and the Columbia, has a gentler slope and a slower current.
As is well known, it is navigable nearly to its source. The
rivers across the Divide, on the other hand, have a rapid
fall, broken by frequent cascades, and flow for long distances
through cafions of immense depth. They are not navigable
with safety except in their lower courses.
An interesting historical coincidence connected with these
river systems relates to the territorial expansion of the
United States. Upper Louisiana comprised the valley of
the Missouri and its tributaries. A large part of the ces-
sion from Mexico lay in the valley of the Colorado. Ore-
gon comprised the watershed of the Columbia with limited
territory besides. It is a pleasing reflection that these exten-
sive regions, embracing conditions so various, and even civ-
ilization so unlike, have fallen, in the process of time, under
one government; and that, as these rivers find their sources
among the same perennial snows, so the communities that
dwell in their valleys look to a common fountain head for
the blessings of national life.
In the business of the fur trade the fields of operation of
the several companies conformed in a broad sense to the
natural divisions of the country based upon these drainage
systems. The Missouri Fur Company and its successor, the
American Fur Company, confined their business mainly to
the watershed of the Missouri. The Rocky Mountain Fur
Company had its center of operations in the valley of Green
river, but its parties frequented also the headwaters of the
Missouri and Columbia and the valley of Great Salt Lake.
The British fur companies west of the mountains occupied
762 THE MISSOURI SYSTEM.
the watershed of the Columbia. The Santa Fe traders
operated in the Arkansas and Rio Grande valleys.
To the individual trapper the innumerable ramifications
of these streams were a familiar field of labor. It was his
duty to seek them out and explore them for beaver. In car-
rying out this duty during two score ‘years it may be doubted
if there was a rivulet in all the mountains, capable of sus-
taining a beaver family, that he did not visit. He was
acquainted with all the sources of all the rivers in the trans-
Mississippi region, and many a stream which is unknown
and unvisited today was a familiar haunt to him.
THE MISSOURIVSYSTicM,
Both in its physical characteristics and in its eventful his-
tory, the Missouri river must be ranked as one of the most
remarkable streams upon the globe. Its source is farther
from the sea than that of any other, the distance from the
head of Red Rock creek, the upper course of Jefferson Fork,
to the Gulf of Mexico being 4,221 miles. Of this distance
398 miles is above the mouth of the Jefferson, 2,547 miles is
in the Missouri proper from Three Forks to the mouth, and
1,276 miles is in the Mississippi. The total length of the
Mississippi river is 2,553 miles, half of which is on each
side of the mouth of the Missouri. It thus appears that the
Missouri river 1s longer than the entire Mississippi and
more than twice as long as that part of the latter stream
above the junction of the two. This fact has led to the fre-
quent observation that the name which applies to the lower
course of the Mississippi ought to have followed the Mis-
souri.?
*From this very general view there is excellent reason to dissent.
It is not clearly a logical rule that the name of a stream should follow
the longest tributary. The size and importance of a river may be
more rationally gauged by the volume of flow than by the length of
channel. From this point of view the Ohio has the strongest claim
to the name and the Missouri the weakest, for the latter stream dis-
charges less water than either of the others. But there are other rea-
sons why neither the length of the stream nor the volume of flow should
—=_
4
a
{
{
,
j
,
‘6
THE NAME “ MISSOURI.” 763
From the Three Forks the Missouri flows almost due
north to the junction of a large stream from the west, the
Marias river. In this distance it passes through the cele-
brated “ Gates of the Mountains,” a stupendous cafion of
vertical walls about eighty miles below the Forks. One
hundred and fifty miles farther down it flows over a suc-
cession of cataracts known as the Great Falls of the Mis-
in this case control, and why the name as it actually applies is exactly
right. The Mississippi river flows nearly south through its entire
course; it is obviously the trunk stream and all others merely laterals.
It divides the country into two great sections, the east and the west.
On one side the streams come mainly from the Alleghenies, on the
other side from the Rockies. The Mississippi is the great central water
course which gathers up the drainage from both sides and conveys
it to the sea. Political divisions are based upon it. For almost its
entire length it is a boundary between states. The phrases “trans-
Mississippi” and “beyond the Mississippi,’ so well established in our
national literature, would have no meaning if either of the great tribu-
taries carried the name. In fact the naming of this stream is one of
those striking instances where the common sense of the multitude is
better than the wisdom of the wise, for no doubt if the matter had
been left to some learned geographer or society of savants the name
would have been placed on the Missouri river to the perpetual incon-
venience of future generations.
The first known reference to this stream was by Marquette, who
saw it in 1673. Upon a crude sketch which he made of the country
through which he passed, the Missouri river appears under the name
of Pekittanoui. In the region whence it was supposed to flow, were
noted the names of several tribes of Indians and among them the
Oumessourit tribe which lived nearest the mouth, though some dis-
tance from it. From this tribe, at an early date, the river came to be
known. The name passed through nearly every combination of its let-
ters which the eccentricity of orthographers could devise, but had set-
tled down to its present form before the close of the eighteenth century.
The word seems indubitably to have meant, as applied to the Indian
tribe, Living at the Mouth of the Waters. Their own name for their
tribe was Ne-o-ta-cha (Say) and had the same signification. The
most probable theory is that the word Missouri or Oumessourit was
the equivalent or translation of this name by some other tribe or na-
tion, probably the Illinois, from whom it passed to the French. There
seems to be no foundation for the popular notion that the name is
simply characteristic, and means Muddy Water.
704 THE MOUTH OF THE MARIAS,
souri, which extends for a distance of eight miles and
includes four distinct cataracts and many rapids, the total
fall in the whole distance being over 500 feet. The Lower
or Great Fall is truly the Niagara of the West, and ranks
among the world’s greatest cataracts; but owing to its
remote situation it will probably never receive the homage
from the lovers of nature that it deserves. On the other
hand, if developments now in progress continue, the mighty
power of these falls will yet be harnessed effectually into
the service of man.
About thirty-seven miles below the Great Falls, or two
hundred and twenty-four miles below the Three Forks, is
the head of navigation on the Missouri, distant 2,285 miles
from the sea. Its elevation above sea level is 2,565 feet,
nearly half a mile. From this point the river descends like
an interminable winding staircase to the level of the sea, and
with so gentle a slope that great boats can ascend it the entire
distance.
The locality at the mouth of the Marias river was a place
of much importance in the fur trade. At this point the Mis-
souri abandons its northerly course and turns completely to
the eastward. This was the center of the Blackfoot territory
and here was established the first successful trading post
among those Indians, from which, after many changes.
sprang the celebrated Fort Benton, perhaps the best known
post upon the river.
From the mouth of the Marias the general course of the
river is eastward for several hundred miles, flowing within
a hundred miles .of the British boundary all the way. On
the north it receives the waters of Milk river and on the
south those of the Muscleshell, the only two considerable
tributaries above the Yellowstone and these important in
length rather than volume of flow.
At the distance of 786 miles below the Three Forks is the
mouth of the Yellowstone river, the largest tributary of
the Missouri. The confluence of these two streams was one
of the most important situations in the West, not only during
SURVIVING BASTION OF OLD FORT BENTON
-
ON ee
THE YELLOWSTONE. 765
the fur trade era, but through the entire period of frontier
history. Commanding as it did the commerce of both
streams at a time when all trade of that region followed the
river valleys, it possessed an importance which in’ modern
times it has completely lost. Here stood the greatest of the
American Fur Company’s posts, Fort Union, where tran-
spired many stormy events during the more than thirty years
of its existence. It was in the country of the Assiniboine
Indians, but many other tribes also made it their principal
center of trade.
The Yellowstone river is one of the most noted rivers on
the continent. It is not only a great river, in itself worthy
of high comparison, but it comes from a region which in
recent times has acquired celebrity throughout the world as
that singular place where nature seems to be still engaged in
finishing the work of manufacturing a planet. The river
comes mainly in its upper course from the Yellowstone
National Park. It flows through the beautiful Yellowstone
Lake, over the Great Falls, and through the Grand Cajon,
and exhibits within a distance of fifty miles a combination
of grandeur and beauty unparalleled upon any other river in
the world. |
From its source it flows north a hundred and fifty miles
to the Great Bend of the Yellowstone, where it turns
abruptly to the east. It then flows nearly due east for about
a hundred miles, when it turns gradually to the north and
finally flows northeast to its junction with the Missouri. It
receives no tributaries worthy of mention from the north, but
many important ones from the other side. Of these the
principal one is the Bighorn river, which, in its upper course,
bears the name of Wind river.
The valley of this stream throughout its entire length was
a popular one with the fur companies. It was the home of
the Crow tribe of Indians, a splendid fur-bearing country,
and was always much frequented by trappers. It drained
the Absaroka mountains on the west through the Grey Bull
766 LOCALITY OF THE MANDAN VILLAGES.
and Stinkingwater ? rivers, and the Bighorn mountains on
the east ; while its upper course gathered up the waters from
the northern slopes of the Wind River mountains. The
region at the mouth of the Bighorn was long the site of a
trading post, which was moved here and there at different
times to satisfy the whims of the Indians.
Below the mouth of the Bighorn, the Rosebud and Tongue
rivers bring down the waters from the northern slopes of the
Bighorn mountains, and still farther down, the important:
stream of Powder river comes in with the drainage of nearly
the whole eastern slope of that range. The valley of the
upper course of Powder river was a favorite wintering
ground for the trappers on account of the abundance of
game and pasturage to be found there.
From the mouth of the Yellowstone the Missouri flows
at first in a general eastern course, but trends gradually in
a southerly direction until it arrives at the site of the old
Mandan villages, where it turns completely to the south. In
this distance of 255 miles the only tributary of any note is
the Little Missouri, a long but unimportant stream from the
south which rises west of the Black Hills in Wyoming.
The locality of the old Mandan villages has been known
to white men for one hundred and sixty years, and has ever
since been an important situation. Hither came De la Ver-
endrye in the years about 1740 on his uncertain course to-
ward the Western Ocean. The location is near the British
line and was easily reached from the Red river settlements—
a fact which gave it great importance in those times when
British influence was a formidable menace upon our border.
It was at this point that Lewis and Clark passed the winter
of 1804 and 1805. Trading posts were established here at
an early date and continued until they were superseded by
the military posts and Indian agencies of later times.
From the site of the Mandan villages the Missouri pur-
sues a southerly course, with a slight trend to the east, to the
* By recent enactment the Legislature of Wyoming has changed the
name of this river to Shoshone.
LOCALITY OF FORT PIERRE. 707
site of old Fort Pierre and the modern city of Pierre, the
capital of South Dakota. In this distance of nearly three
hundred and fifty miles no tributaries of moment come in
from the east. On the west there are several streams of
great length but little volume, of which the principal ones
are the Heart, Cannon Ball, Grand, Moreau, and Cheyenne
rivers, the last being the largest and most important. The
two forks of the Cheyenne, which unite in the main river
just east of the Black Hills, completely encircle that mass
of mountains. Their junction was an important trading
center for the Indian bands in that vicinity.
With the possible exception of the site of Fort Union
the position of Fort Pierre was the most important upon
the upper river. It was in the heart of the Sioux country
and controlled the trade of the numerous bands of Indians
belonging to that tribe. It was at an angle in the course of
the stream where its direction changed from south to south-
east and was nearer than any other point on the river to old
Fort Laramie on the Platte. It therefore commanded all
of the trade of the Black Hills and much of that from the
upper Platte valley.
The course of the Missouri below Fort Pierre is south-
east to the mouth of the Niobrara, thence due east nearly to
the mouth of the Big Sioux river, and thence slightly east of
south to the mouth of the Platte. Of the tributary waters
received in this distance, the Teton, White, and Niobrara on
the west are the most important. The Teton came in near
the site of Fort Pierre and trading posts belonging to one
company or another stood near its mouth during the entire
period of the fur trade. The river was familiarly known
down to 1830 as the Little Missouri. After that period it
was long known as the Teton; but now the name Bad river
seems to have become a fixture.
White river flowed through the desolate Bad Lands of
South Dakota and its valley was the route of travel between
Pierre and Laramie.
The Niobrara rises far west at the southern base of the
708 MOUTH OF THE PLATTE.
Black Hills and enters the Missouri at the northeast corner
of the modern state of Nebraska. It is, in its lower course,
a strong swift stream, and was always known, until recent
years, by its French name, L’Eau qu Court, or simply as
the Qui Court.2 This stream, like those just mentioned, had
trading posts upon its borders.
On the east shore the most considerable cabutaties are
the James * or Dakota river, the Vermilion, and the Big
Sioux. The James is a very lengthy stream which flows
from north to south across both Dakotas, but carries a com-
paratively small volume of water. In its valley an extensive
trade was carried on in fur trading times.
At the mouth of the Vermilion stood a considerable trad-
ing post and on the Big Sioux there was another though less
important one.
The neighborhood of the mouth of the Platte river early
acquired and has always held great prominence as a com-
mercial center. Many trading establishments and two or
three military posts have been built here and now two flour-
ishing cities with numerous smaller towns have taken their
place. The situations of these several establishments were a
little above the mouth of the Platte, but it was undoubtedly
the junction of that stream with the Missouri which con-
trolled their location. The local trade here was principally
with the Omahas, Iowas, Otoes, and Pawnees, in addition to
which there was an extensive outfitting trade for expeditions
to Oregon and the Far West.
The mouth of the Platte river was, in these early days, the
division point between the upper and lower Missouri. So
important a landmark was it then considered that the voy-
*The translation of this name, Running Water, is still retained
on the upper course of the Niobrara, but curiously enough, where the
river is a sluggish stream and has none of the characteristics that gave
rise to the name.
* James river, or “ The Jim” as it is more commonly called, or again,
the Dakota, was always known to the traders as the Riviére a Jacques,
often written Au Jacques, and even O Jacques. The name was given
for one of the earliest traders who frequented the valley.
¢
THE NAME “ PLATTE.” 769
agwers Lame ti treat it as the Equator of the Missouri, and
it was a regulay thing to subject the uninitiated to the rude
jokes which are familiar to the navigator upon the high seas
as an incident of crossing the “ line.”
Of all the tributaries of the Missouri the Platte® is the
most remarkable and interesting, and is surpassed in size,
though not in length, by the Yellowstone alone. The ex-
treme length of the Platte is about a thousand miles. Its
two branches, the North and South, rise respectively in
North and South Parks of the state of Colorado. The
North Fork flows nearly north into central Wyoming, where
it turns to the east by a gradual curve, passing through a
sublime and beautiful cafion of red sandstone, when, gently
turning to the right, it takes a southeasterly course into the
state of Nebraska. The South Fork descends abruptly from
the mountains in an easterly direction and then flows north
for a considerable distance along their eastern base, past the
site of the city of Denver, after which it turns to the north-
east and joins the larger fork at the site of the modern town
of North Platte in Nebraska. Thence the united streams
pursue an easterly course to the Missouri river.
The principal tributaries of the North Fork are the Sweet-
water and the Laramie rivers. The Sweetwater joins the
main river where the latter makes its great bend to the east.
It is a very notable stream in that its course was followed by
the old Oregon Trail from Independence Rock near its
mouth to South Pass at its source. The Laramie was an
important stream in the fur trade era, for near its mouth
*The name Platte is characteristic and arises from the extremely
shallow character of the stream. Its use dates from 1739. In that year
two brothers, Mallet, with six companions, undertook to reach Santa
Fe from a point on the Missouri somewhere near the present site of
Sioux City. They left the river on the 209th of May and arrived
at the Platte June 2. (“Le 2 Juin ils tombérent sur une riviére qu’ils
nommerent la Riviere Plate.’ De Margry.) The party ascended the
main stream and the South Fork to the mountains and reached Santa
Fe on the 22nd of July.
° For origin of these two names, see Part II., Chapter XXVI.
770 DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATTE.
were the trading establishments of Fort John and Fort
Platte, which were later succeeded by Fort Laramie, the
most famous military post on the frontier.
The South Fork of the Platte recetved many tributaries
from the mountains, among them the Big Thompson, the St.
Vrain, and the Cache a la Poudre. ‘The locality of the
mouths of these streams was likewise important in fur trade
history, there having been no fewer than three trading posts
established there.
The Platte proper is one of the most extraordinary of
rivers. Its fall is very rapid, and its bed being composed
of fine sand, one would expect that the rapid current would
erode a deep channel through it. No such result, however.
The broad bed of the river stands almost on a level with the
surrounding country, while the water flows back and forth
in such sinuous and irregular courses as to increase in a
marked degree the length of the channel. The sand
washed up in one place is dropped in another and the bed is
built up as fast as it is cut down. ‘Thus it results that so
unresisting a material as fine sand withstands the action of
the current better than a harder material, for it is certain that
if this river with its heavy fall were flowing over solid rock
it would have carved out a deep and cafion-like bed.
To see the Platte in all its glory one must see it during the
spring floods. Then it spreads over its entire bed, upwards
of a mile wide, and rivals the Mississippi itself in preten-
tiousness of appearance. But one has only to look a little
closely to see through the thin veneer of this imposing
appearance, and to discover, instead of a deep and powerful
volume of water, sand bars innumerable, which show their
glossy backs above the water and disclose the deceptive char-
acter of the stream. Irving very aptly characterized the
Platte as “the most magnificent and the most useless of
rivers,” and a modern satirist has described it as a river “a
thousand miles long and six inches deep.”
The navigation of such a stream was of course largely out
of the question. Bullboats, or flatboats made of buffalo
THE MOUTH OF THE KANSAS. yagi
hide, have descended from above Fort Laramie, but where
one such attempt has succeeded, probably ten have failed.
From the mouth of the Loup Fork of the Platte near where
the Pawnee villages were located boats did frequently
descend the short distance to the Missouri with the trade of
those Indians.
Despite its uselessness as a stream the Platte has won a
permanent place in the history of the West. If boats could
not navigate its channel, the “ prairie schooner ”’ could sail
along its valley, where lay the most practicable route across
the plains. It led the overland traveler by gradual and im-
perceptible ascents from near the level of the ocean to the
very summit of the Continental Divide. Along it lay the
old Oregon Trail, most famous of the overland highways,
and along the main river in modern times was built the first
transcontinental railroad.‘
From the mouth of the Platte river the Missouri continues
its course slightly east of south to the mouth of the Kansas
river, the site of the modern Kansas City. This is the sev-
enth important locality on the course of the stream at which
it is worth while to pause. The river here turns abruptly
to the east, and holds its course for nearly four hundred
miles to its junction with the Mississippi. At this impor-
tant bend travelers to Santa Fe or the mountains left the
river. It was the eastern terminus of the Oregon and Santa
Fe Trails and became the principal outfitting point for the
entire West. Near by stood the military post of Fort Leav-
enworth, while the small towns of Independence and West-
port became the progenitors of the modern Kansas City.
The Kansas, or Kaw, river, which joins the Missouri from
the west at Kansas City, is a large and important tributary.
It rises in eastern Colorado and flows eastward through the
entire state of Kansas. Its two tributaries are the Repub-
“However useless the river Platte may seem to have been in its
earlier history, it has been utilized to a remarkable degree in later
times for irrigation, and it is not improbable that in the course of time
its entire flow will be drawn out upon the neighboring lands.
7/2 PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MISSOURI,
lican and Smoky Hill rivers, of which the first flows for a
considerable distance through southern Nebraska. In the
valley of the Kansas river dwelt a tribe of Indians of the
same name, for whose accommodation a trading post was
long maintained about ten miles above the mouth.
Between Kansas City and the mouth of the Missouri there
are several tributaries, but only one of any importance in
the present connection. This is the Osage river, which comes
in from the southwest a little below the present site of Jeffer-
son City, Mo., and along the valley of which dwelt the pow-
erful tribe of the Osage Indians. Lieutenant Pike ascended
this stream on his famous Southwestern expedition in 1806.
The eighth and last important locality on the course of
the Missouri is that near the mouth of the stream. Here
was the city of St. Louis, the principal fur trading mart in
the United States and the base of operations for the entire
Western country. Its history and its relation to the fur
trade have been fully noted in another place.
The physical characteristics of the Missouri river over the
navigable portion of its length are the same as those of the
lower Mississippi. For nearly the whole distance below
Fort Benton it flows through a valley built up from alluvial
deposits, with nothing like a hard or rocky bed to hold it in
place. The fall is rapid, the current swift, and the soft
banks are therefore always undergoing erosion. The shore-
line here recedes and there advances as the earth which falls
into the stream in one place is dropped in extensive bars in
another. At certain seasons this action is rapid and destruc-
tive and hundreds of acres in a single locality are frequently
washed away in the course of a few days.
The river naturally develops a succession of bends which
are often very pronounced. In many instances the opposite -
portions of these bends approach very close to each other, so
that while the river distance around may be several miles,
the distance across may be only a few hundred feet. In time
this narrow neck is cut through, a large body of land is trans-
ferred to the other shore, and the old bend becomes another
REFRACTORY BEHAVIOR. TH
of those crescent shaped lakes which abound throughout the
valley. Thus the channel of the river is ever migrating from
one side of the valley to the other, changing its length, read-
justing its slopes, destroying extensive and fertile bottoms,
building up new land, and giving rise to never-ending dis-
putes in the ownership and jurisdiction of property. In
recent years the government has undertaken to harness this
refractory stream, for now that farms and cities line its
course, these destructive raids are becoming an evil that has
to be attended to. ‘The problem, however, is one not easy
to solve and it will be generations yet before the river is
imprisoned within fixed limits.
A river whose bed is composed of sand or alluvium can
not have a clear current. That of the Missouri always has
a muddy appearance and in seasons of high water the
amount of sediment which it carries is very great. The
current has no uniform or regular flow, but is everywhere
whirling and boiling in ceaseless internal commotion. The
bottom has no stability. It is a mass of moving sand drifts
which are building here and washing away there and shifting
their position continually. The navigator can never tell
where the channel will be twenty-four hours ahead. The
constant cutting of banks fills the bed of the river with fallen
trees which are drawn along by the powerful current until
they become anchored in the bottom, forming the most dan-
gerous obstacles to navigation. These obstacles are called
snags and sawyers, or sometimes “ breaks,” from the appear-
ance which they produce where they lie a little beneath the
surface. They come almost entirely from cottonwood trees.
The newly formed lands along the river bottoms are gen-
erally covered with willows which often attain considerable
size. Their growth is of astonishing rapidity, and scarcely
is a new sand bar formed and uncovered by the water, when
the thick, tender crop is seen shooting vigorously upward.
As these willows are extensively used in regulating works
on the river, it seems as if nature, in giving this stream its
hist THE PLAINS RIVERS.
wild and unruly character, has provided the means ready at
hand by which it may be placed under control.
Of all the Western rivers the Missouri was by far the most
important to the trader. It would be impossible to estimate
the great amount of business that has been transacted upon
it, or the strange and unusual adventures it has witnessed.
Its navigation is a science by itself. As a business it has
now wholly passed away, but its record will survive as one
of the most important chapters in the history of the West.
PLAINS RIVERS.
Under this title will be briefly described two characteristic
streams of the arid region of the Southwest: the Arkansas
and its tributaries and the Rio Grande. The Red river lies
between them, but it plays very little part in the operations
of the fur trade.
The most striking characteristics of the plains streams are
their great length and comparatively small drainage area.
The Canadian branch of the Arkansas, for example, through
the five hundred miles of its course has a watershed which
averages scarcely fifty miles wide. The same is true of the
North Canadian and the Cimarron. Even in a humid cli-
mate these streams would be small in comparison to their
length. In a region where rain rarely falls, most of them
are totally dry for considerable distances and long periods.
The water which flows from the mountains is not sufficient
to overcome the seepage and evaporation on the plains in
the dry season and even the main Arkansas is a very small
stream in its course through western Kansas and eastern
Colorado.
The Arkansas is the best type of the plains streams as well
as the most important in this section of the country. It was
often spoken of in early times as the “‘ River of the Plains.”
Only that portion which lies above the mouth of the Canadi-
an is of interest in connection with the fur trade. Below this.
point the river enters the humid belt and takes its charac-
ter almost entirely from the local drainage. In fact if the
THE ARKANSAS RIVER. 7795
upper two-thirds of its course were wiped out of existence,
the difference could scarcely be noted at the mouth of the
stream.
The sources of the Arkansas are in the Rocky mountains
to the westward of Pike’s Peak. This part of its course is
full of magnificent scenery, most of which is now accessible
by means of the Colorado railroads.
The Arkansas river bore the unique distinction among
Western streams of being an international boundary. Prior
to the war with Mexico it was the frontier between the
United States and that country from the rooth meridian to
its source. This fact gave it an artificial importance which
it in no way possessed as a natural water course.
For about one hundred miles west from the Great Bend of
the Arkansas, the main line of the old Santa Fe Trail fol-
lowed the north bank of the river, while a branch of the Trail
followed it to the foot of the mountains. The upper course
of the Arkansas was a great resort for traders and trappers
and here arose the well-known Bent’s fort which held com-
mercial sway for many years over the surrounding country.
The Cimarron river is important as being on the line
of the Santa Fe Trail, which followed its course for nearly
ninety miles. It was generally dry, but there were two or
three permanent springs which came to be well known, and
marked the stages of the journey as effectively as do the
oases of an eastern desert. The country bordering the valley
- was of a desert character and was infested with bands of hos-
tile Indians. It was the scene of much suffering and fre-
quent loss of life during the Santa Fe trade.
The Canadian rises in the mountains northeast of Santa
Fe and is here a strong, full stream, but it quickly loses this
character when it gets well away from the hills. In its upper
course it flows for a long distance through a reddish soil
which imparts its color to the water. This circumstance,
coupled with the general trend of the valley and its corre-
spondence with what was known of the Red river of the
Natchitoches, led to a mistaken identity of the two streams.
770 THE CANADIAN RIVER.
Down to the year 1820 the Canadian was always supposed to
be the upper course of Red river. Under this assumption
Major Long in that year descended the former stream on
his intended exploration of the sources of the latter. It
was not until he had reached the lower valley of the
Canadian that he discovered the error under which geogra-
ers, travelers, and the local Spanish authorities had hith-
erto labored — an error which had become the more firmly
fixed in geography from having the sanction of that em1-
nent authority on New Spain, the Baron von Humboldt.
The Red river lies south of the Canadian and empties into
the Mississippi in latitude 31°, being the most southern of
the great western tributaries of that stream. Its sources
do not extend beyond the boundaries of Texas. The name
Red, or its Spanish equivalent, was applied in these early
days to a great number of streams, and it was only by add-
ing some qualifying descriptive that the particular river
meant could be understood. Thus the Red river here con-
sidered was then known as the Red river of the Natchito-
ches. As geographical nomenclature has become more
established other names have been given to most of these
streams, and the name Red river, as applied in this section
of the country, is now restricted to the great southern
tributary of the Mississippi.
The Rio Grande below El Paso forms the boundary be-
tween Mexico and the United States. This part of the
river, which was formerly more commonly known as the
Rio Bravo, lies entirely outside the field of the American
fur trade. Above El Paso the river came almost directly
from the north and was called the Rio Grande del Norte.
The Rio Grande was a typical plains river —a_ bold,
dashing stream where it descended from the mountains, but
utterly insignificant in its lower course except in seasons
of flood. In ordinary times it could not so much as float
a canoe, for in parts of its course it flowed almost entirely
underground, and today it is incapable of furnishing the
THE RIO GRANDE. ere
water required for the irrigation of the neighboring
country.
The valley of the Rio Grande above Santa Fe is one of
great beauty, particularly in those localities where it ex-
pands into open prairies like the San Luis Valley. In its
upper course it was a great resort for the trapper and it
was from this section that the ancient overland trail started
for southern California.
The chief importance of the Rio Grande valley lay in its
connection with the Santa Fe trade, which was so long
maintained between the frontier settlements of the United
States and Mexico. It was here that were located the
historic villages of Santa Fe and Taos — one the capital
and chief town of northern Mexico, and the other its north-
ernmost settlement.
CHAPTER IV,
RIVERS AND LAKES.
THE COLORADO AND COLUMBIA SYSTEMS
AND
THE GREAT BASIN.
The Colorado of the West —Its cafions — Its name — Green river —
Its tributaries — Grand river— The lower Colorado — Snake river —
Its source — Physical characteristics — Lower course — Tributaries —
The upper Columbia — Historical importance of the Columbia — The
name “Oregon’’— The Great Basin—Great Salt Lake—lIts tribu-
taries —Its history — Sevier Lake— Humboldt river and lake — Oth-
er features of the Great Basin — Political boundaries.
THE COLORADO SYSTEM.
HE Colorado with its tributaries forms one of the most
remarkable river systems on the globe — remarkable
in its magnificent mountain sources, in its cafions of un-
surpassed and unapproachable grandeur, and in the strange
and forbidding country through which it flows, carrying
the chill waters of a northern clime to the burning shores of
a tropical sea. It is preéminently a system of cafion
rivers. No other known stream can approach it in this
regard. From the point where Green river enters the
Flaming Gorge at the southern boundary of Wyoming to
the lower end of the Grand Cafion of the Colorado, a
distance of upwards of a thousand miles, ninety per cent
at least of the channel length lies in the bottom of cafions
whose walls vary in height from a few hundred to several
thousand feet. In some places the walls recede in succes-
sive terraces, in others they are nearly vertical, while the
swift river follows its devious course at almost unfathom-
able distance below, hidden from view, and practically shut
THE COLORADO OF THE WEST. 779
out from the light of day. All the tributaries of this
stream likewise flow through cafions, whose majesty and
beauty are excelled only by those of the main stream itself.?
Of the tributaries of the Colorado, the Green river, which
is really the main stream, is the largest. Coming down to
the west from the Wind River mountains, where it is fed by
lakes of Alpine magnitude and splendor, it turns nearly due
south and holds this direction until it crosses the southern
boundary of Wyoming. The upper course of Green river
was a great place of rendezvous for the traders and trap-
* The earliest use of the name Colorado, as applied to this river, has
not come to the author’s notice. It is of course very ancient as
American history goes, and only an intimate acquaintance with early
Spanish manuscripts of the northern provinces of New Spain could
settle the question. For a time the name applied to the whole river, but
now only to that portion below the junction of the Green and Grand.
That part of the stream now called the Green river was very com-
monly known, down to 1840, as the Seeds-kee-dee, or prairie hen river.
It generally so appears in the literature and correspondence of the
times. The name Green river began to come into general use about
1833, although it dates back as far as 1824. Its origin is uncertain.
Bancroft says it was given for one of Ashley’s men, but it certainly
was in use before Ashley was in the country, for William Becknell
has left a narrative of a trip that he made from Santa Fe to Green
river in 1824, and the name was evidently a fixture at that time among
the Spanish. Fremont says that it was the “Rio Verde of the
Spaniards” and adds that “the refreshing appearance of the broad
river, with its timbered shores and green wooded islands, in contrast
to its dry sandy plains, probably obtained for it the name of Green
river.” This does not seem unreasonable, although some who are well
acquainted with the characteristics of the river are more inclined to
attribute the name to the appearance of the water, which is a very
pronounced green, than to the foliage of the valley, which is in no
marked degree different from that along other streams in this locality.
At the time that Ashley and his men entered the valley of Green river
in 1824 it was supposed to flow into the Gulf of Mexico. Various hints
in the correspondence of the times show this to be the case, and it is
averred even that General Ashley thought so when he started to de-
scend the river in a canoe in 1825. It is certain, however, that the As-
torians understood the identity of the stream in 1811-12 for they called
it the “Colorado or Spanish” river. (See Missouri Gazette, May 15,
1813.)
780 GREEN RIVER.
pers. Here Bonneville built his “Fort Nonsense” and
here the Rocky Mountain and American Fur Companies
assembled annually for many years to transact the busi-
ness of the mountains. All of the tributary streams, and
there were hundreds of them, abounded in beaver, the val-
~ leys were frequented by buffalo, and all the conditions
were present to make it a veritable paradise for the fur
trader.
In its course through western Wyoming Green river re-
ceives many important tributaries, nearly all of which still
retain the names given them by the parties of General Ash-
ley between 1824 and 1830. On the east the two largest
are the New Fork and the Big Sandy, both of which rise
in the Wind River mountains. New Fork drains a large
section of the mountains and is a fine, bold stream. The
origin of its name is uncertain. The Big Sandy, so called
from the character of the country in its lower course, was
on the line of the Oregon Trail for part of its length, and
one of its branches flowed out of South Pass.
On the west there are twelve considerable tributaries
from the state of Wyoming. Horse creek, near the upper
end of the valley, where so many annual rendezvous were
held, received its name from the circumstance that Thomas
Fitzpatrick was robbed of his horses there by the Crow
Indians in 1824. La Barge creek was named for the father
of Captain Joseph La Barge, the well-known Missouri river
pilot and boat owner. Fontenelle creek was named for
Lucien Fontenelle, who was later a leader of the mountain
expeditions of the American Fur Company. Black Fork,
a large mountain stream, and its tributary, Ham’s Fork,
were well known to the trappers. Both names date from
Ashley’s time, but it is uncertain for whom they were given.
Henry Fork is believed to be named for Andrew Henry,
whose name the north fork of Snake river also bears.
Soon after Green river crosses the southern boundary of
Wyoming it turns abruptly to the east and flows in that
direction for about sixty miles into the northwest corner of
TRIBUTARIES OF GREEN RIVER. Ghat
Colorado. Along the lower portion of this course was
situated the valley of Brown’s Hole. After leaving this
beautiful valley the river turns abruptly to the southwest,
rounding the Uintah range, and then pursues its course
for several hundred miles, trending more and more to the
south, until it is joined by the Grand river, the two together
forming the Colorado.
The course of Green river over this distance is through
a succession of cafions, and only in a few places does it
come out into open country where an easy approach may
be had to its banks. The most important of these open-
ings is where the Denver and Rio Grande railroad now
crosses, and where the old Spanish trail from Abiquiu,
New Mexico, to Los Angeles, California, crossed in the
early part of the century.
The largest tributaries from the east along this stretch of
tiewtiver are ine, Yampah or, Bear and the White, river
which drain a large section of northwestern Colorado.
The headwaters of these streams were good trapping terri-
tory and on an upper tributary of the Yampah the trader
Henry Fraeb once had a post.
On the west the Uintah river is considerably the
largest tributary between Henry Fork and the mouth of the
Grand. It drains the southern slopes of the Uintah moun-
tains and was a splendid trapping country. For many
years the trader Robidoux maintained a post on its banks.
Price river valley has been utilized in modern times to carry
the railroad up the slopes of the Wasatch range. San Ra-
fael river, which also rises in the Wasatch mountains, is the
last considerable tributary of Green river.
Grand river, the great eastern tributary of the Colorado
of the West, lies almost entirely in the state of Colorado,
and drains fully one-quarter of the mountain area of the
state. The main stream rises in Middle Park, Colorado,
between the sources of the North and South Platte. It
flows through a series of magnificent cafions, and several
open valleys, which were once barren, but are now convert-
782 THE LOWER COLORADO.
ed by modern enterprise into prosperous fruit farms. The
principal tributary of Grand river is the Gunnison, which
comes in from the south and joins the main stream a few
miles east of the Colorado-Utah line? It is a large and
important stream, and its valley abounds in sublime and
beautiful scenery.
The watershed of the Grand river was all good trapping
territory, although not so much frequented by the traders
as were the streams farther north. Only one post seems
to have existed in the entire valley and that was Robidoux’s
post on the Gunnison, at the mouth of the Uncompahgre, its
principal southern tributary.
The Colorado river proper below the confluence of the
Green and Grand has but little connection with the history
of the fur trade. The physical character of the country
precluded access to the river for the greater part of its
length until it emerged from the Grand Cafion near the
mouth of the Virgin river. By that time it was in a lati-
tude where the trapping business was no longer profitable.
Most of its tributaries, likewise, along this stretch of the
river, were shut in between the walls of deep cafions and,
like the main stream, were inaccessible. However interest-
ing and attractive this region may now be to lovers of nat-
ural scenery, it was not so to the people of the fur trade,
and was but little frequented by them.
The only tributary of the Colorado from the west that
will here be referred to is the Virgin river, which drains a
large section of southern Utah and enters the main stream
near the point where it turns to the south after its west-
wardly course through the Grand Cafion. In 1826 Jede-
7 As late as the era of the Pacific railroad surveys, the name Grand
river was used to describe the southern branch, now called the Gunni-
son. After Captain Gunnison’s exploration of the valley of the latter
stream and his tragic death in 1853 his name was given to the tributary,
while the name Grand became permanently fixed on the main stream.
The latter was, prior to this time, called Blue river, but this name is now
applied to the stream which drains the valley comprised in the modern
Summit County of Colorado.
(,
is
THE COLUMBIA SYSTEM. 783
diah S. Smith named it Adams river for the President.
Its present name would seem to be of Spanish origin, al-
though there is a suggestion of a possible origin in the
fact that the name of one of Smith’s men, who passed along
the stream and was later killed in California, was Thomas
Virgin.
Of the eastern tributaries the Rio San Juan, the Little
Colorado, and the Gila are most important. The latter
stream, which enters the Colorado at the southern bound-
ary of the United States, has an extensive watershed includ-
ing all of southern Arizona and southwestern New Mex-
ico. It was too far south to be of any importance in the
fur trade.
THE COLUMBIA SYSTEM.
The sources of the Snake, the south fork of the Columbia,
are inextricably interlaced with those of the Missouri, Yel-
lowstone, and Green rivers. The principal branch comes
from the Yellowstone Park, where it drains Shoshone,
Lewis and Heart lakes, which lie just across the Divide
from Yellowstone Lake. Flowing south from the Park,
it skirts the eastern base of the Teton range, passing through
Jackson Lake and Jackson Hole, and finally, after rounding
the southern extremity of the range in a deep and rugged
cafion, it turns off to the northwest. In its course of fifty
miles along the base of the Tetons it receives great accessions
from the east, the principal tributaries being Buffalo Fork,
Grosventre and Hoback rivers. Just at the point where it
crosses the state line between Wyoming and Utah it receives
two more large tributaries from the south, the Salt and John
Day rivers.®
*It is unfortunate that modern geography has made a mistake in
perpetuating the name of this stream. It should be John Gray. There
was a John Gray in the Hudson Bay Company service under Alexander
Ross, and a person by the same name, but whether the same individual
or not is uncertain, in the American Fur Company’s service between
1830 and 1835. Both John Grays (if different individuals) were dis-
tinguished hunters, and from one of them came the name Gray’s Hole
784 THE SNAKE RIVER.
=
The Snake follows its course to the northwest for upward
of a hundred miles, when it is joined by a tributary of almost
equal magnitude from the north. This is Henry Fork of
Snake river, which rises in Henry Lake, just across the
Divide from Red Rock Lake, the source of Jefferson Fork
of the Missouri. Before it reaches the main Snake it is
augmented by an important tributary from the southeast,
the Teton or Pierre river, which drains the valley of Pierre’s
Hole, at the western base of the Teton range. ©
From the junction of the two branches of the Snake, the
main stream flows at first directly south. It has now
acquired those peculiar qualities which give it a distinct
character among the streams of the West. Starting from
the same elevation as does the Missouri, and reaching the
sea in half the distance, it is much more rapid and torren-
tial than the eastern stream. It flows with a strong current
almost from the start, and its dark, gloomy waters, moving
here in silent but dreadful power, there in loud and violent
impetuosity, breathe danger and treachery at every step.
Many indeed have been the lives lost in its uncertain cross-
ings. For a great distance in southern Idaho it flows
through ancient lava fields in a narrow gorge of varying
depth, and over a _ constant succession of rapids
and» cascades. .In many ‘places. not even the musual
trees line the water’s edge, and a traveler two hundred yards
away would never suspect the presence of a great river, for
the narrow cleft in the even plain is quite indiscernible unless
from some neighboring elevation. Through portions of this
gorge the river has wrought a most weird and fantastic
channel, with winding and broken shoreline and rocky islets,
all black and dismal like the aspect of the surrounding coun-
try. Once in a while it comes forth from its lava prison,
and, as if for joy at its temporary release, disports itself
over miles of country, in many separate channels, lined with
dense groves of willow and cottonwood. Its harsher char-
as applied to a valley on the stream which is now called John Day.
The hunter who bore the latter name was never near this stream.
TRIBUTARIES OF SNAKE RIVER. 785
acteristics become accentuated as the river approaches the
Blue mountains. It is all the way an unnavigable stream,
and only at rare intervals has it been possible to establish
safe ferries.
From the junction with Henry Fork to the mouth of the
Salmon river, the course of the Snake is approximately that
of a great semi-circle, extending southwest, west, and
around to the north. It flows over three immense cataracts,
the American, Shoshone, and Salmon Falls, and receives
many large tributaries on either hand. Of these the more
important only will be noted. The Portneuf river, so
named for a Canadian trapper murdered on its banks by
the Indians, comes in from the southeast about fifteen miles
above the American Falls. It was an important stream in
‘early years, for it led almost directly from the great bend of
Bear river, whence the Oregon Trail passed over to the val-
ley of the Snake. The modern railroad also follows the
valley of the Portneuf. The mouth of this stream was the
locality of the well-known Fort Hall, the most important
trading post, and later the chief military post, of the Snake
river valley.
The other tributaries on the left bank of the Snake are
the Raft river, Goose creek, Salmon Falls river, and Owyhee
river, which all flow nearly north. The Owyhee is a large
stream, and rises as far south as northern Nevada. The
Malheur, Powder, and Grande Ronde rivers collect the
drainage from the eastern slopes of the Blue mountains,
Nearly all of these streams were familiar to travelers along
the old Oregon Trail.
On the right bank of the Snake only one important tribu-
tary, the Malade, is received until the river enters upon its
long northerly course where it now forms the boundary
between Idaho and Oregon. Exactly at the point where
this natural boundary begins, and opposite the mouth of the
Owyhee, the Boise river joins the Snake. This was an
important stream. Its course was nearly due west, and the
Oregon Trail followed it all the way from the modern site
786 THE SALMON AND CLEARWATER RIVERS.
of Boise City to its mouth. A few miles below the conflu-
ence of the Snake and the Boise stood a Hudson Bay Com-
pany post, and at this point the Oregon Trail crossed the
Snake on its way over the Blue mountains to the Colum-
bia.
Below the Boise the principal eastern tributaries of the
Snake are the Payette, Weiser, Salmon, and Clearwater riv-
ers. The courses of the Payette and Weiser are peculiar,
being nearly south, parallel to the course of the Snake, but
flowing in the opposite direction. The eastern limit of their
watersheds is not far distant from the parent stream.
Salmon river is a large and important stream. Its main
source is in central Idaho, whence it flows north to the site
of the modern Salmon City. Here it is joined by a large
tributary from’ the southeast, the Lemhi river, which car-
ries the western waters from the ranges along the Conti-
nental Divide between Idaho and Montana. Below the con-
fluence of these two streams the main river takes a westerly
course and flows nearly across the state to within a few miles
of the Snake river. Here it turns abruptly to the north, and
parallels the Snake very closely for about forty miles before
it enters the main stream. The Salmon river had a notable
history in the fur trade and pioneer period. Its valley was
a rich trapping territory, and was the home of the Nez
Perce tribe of Indians.
Clearwater river, also a large stream, and the last impor-
tant tributary of the Snake, joins the latter stream where it
turns from its northerly course westward toward the Colum-
bia. Like the Salmon river, the Clearwater finds its source
in the mountains along the eastern boundary of Idaho, and
flows entirely across the state. It rivaled its sister to the
south in its wealth of beaver fur, and its valley was likewise
occupied by the Nez Perce Indians.
The course of the Snake through the range which con-
nects the Blue mountains with those east of the river is in a
cation which ranks among the most wonderful in the world.
It attains its greatest magnitude near the mouth of the
THE UPPER COLUMBIA. 737
Salmon river, where both streams are in the bottoms of
gorges of black volcanic rock, perhaps three thousand feet
deep, through which they flow with torrential velocity, their
white, foamy surface forming a marked contrast with the
gloomy majesty of the walls which enclose them.
Below the mouth of the Clearwater the Snake is navi-
gable to its outlet. It flows in a considerable curve to the
north, through the region known as the Great Plain of the
Columbia, and enters the latter stream three hundred and
thirty-six miles from the sea.
The upper Columbia drains the territory comprised in
northeastern Washington, northern Idaho, northwestern
Montana, and a large part of British Columbia. It enters
United States territory already a great river, swollen by the
thousand streams which the lofty mountains of these north-
ern regions afford. Its course and those of its tributaries
are exceedingly irregular and broken, difficult to follow on
the map, and form a striking contrast to the more regular
course of the rivers east of the Divide. The region of its
sources abounds in noble lakes, and the scenery is on a scale
of grandeur scarcely equalled in any of the mountains to the
south. It was a splendid region for the trapper, and every
one of its streams yielded an annual tribute to the coffers
of the Hudson Bay Company, or its predecessor in those
parts, the Northwest Company. From the utmost source
of the Columbia, the fur company’s trail lay across the
Divide to the sources of the Saskatchewan, whence it led
east to the Red river valley, Lake Superior, and to Montreal.
Where the Columbia crosses the international boundary,
it receives Clark’s Fork from the east with the waters of
northern Idaho and northeastern Montana. The valley of
this stream is also a region of notable lakes, of which the
principal are the Pend d’Oreille, Flathead, and Missoula,
and it gives rise to hundreds of the finest streams in the
mountains. It was the home of those staunch friends of the
whites, the Flathead Indians, and was a favorite haunt of
the hunter and trapper.
788 TRIBUTARIES OF THE COLUMBIA.
The distance on the Columbia from the mouth of Clark’s
Fork to the mouth of the Snake is four hundred and sixteen
miles. The only notable tributary on the left or south bank
is the Spokane river, an important stream on whose banks
stood a trading post, Spokane House, some ten miles below
the modern site of Spokane City.
The course of the Columbia, in the state of Washington,
is first south one hundred and twelve miles to the mouth
of the Spokane, thence slightly north of west for about one
hundred miles, to where the tributary Okanagan comes in
from the north. This was the site of an important trading
post which accommodated the Indians dwelling in the coun-
try to the north.
From the Okanagan to the mouth of the Snake the gen-
eral course of the Columbia is a little east of south. The
only considerable tributary received in this distance is the
Yakima, which comes in from the west with the drainage
of a large extent of the Cascade range in central Wash-
ington.
From the mouth of the Snake the Columbia continues
southeast for a short distance, when it turns abruptly to the
right and holds a course nearly due west for about one hun-
dred miles. At this important bend two small but notable
tributaries flow in from the northern slopes of the Blue
mountains. These streams, the Walla Walla and the Uma-
tilla, are important ones in the fur trade and missionary his-
tory of Oregon. It was in this vicinity that the Oregon
Trail, after crossing the Blue mountains, came to the Colum-
bia river.
Three great tributaries join the Columbia between the
Snake river and the sea, and all come in from the south.
They are the John Day 4 and the Des Chutes rivers, which
bring in the contributory waters of the Blue and Cascade
ranges in central Oregon; and the Willamette, a large
stream which is fed by both the Coast and Cascade ranges,
*This stream is named for the John Day who figures in the overland
Astorian expedition of 1811-12,
MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA. 789
and drains the extensive and beautiful valley between. The
latter stream enters the Columbia near the site of the modern
city of Portland, and opposite old Fort Vancouver, the most
important locality on the Pacific slope during the fur trade
era. Here the British companies had their Pacific coast
establishment, and from this point they ruled as lords of the
ccuntry for fully two score years.
As if deflected from its course by the impact of the Wil-
lamette, the Columbia, at its junction with this stream, turns
sharply to the north and continues in this direction for about
forty miles, when it swings in an easy curve to the left and
holds a course due west to the ocean. For many miles
above the mouth of the river it expands into a broad estuary,
where ocean vessels ride in safety, and it finally enters the
Pacific over what was in early times one of the most danger-
ous bars known to navigation.
Like all the rest of the Western country, the valley of the
Columbia west of the Cascade range presented every grada-
tion of quality from rich and fertile bottom lands to the
most barren and worthless desert. Large sections of the
Great Plain of the Columbia, as the region between that
river and the Snake, and above their junction, is called, are
fertile lands and will yield to reclamation. But in the days
of the fur trade this country had no value except for grazing
the few horses which were required in a business where boats
were the usual means of transportation. The true trapping
country was farther up, among the thousand tributaries and
mountain lakes that were spread over an area four times
as large as New England. All of this region ranked with
that about the headwaters of the Missouri in its abundance
of beaver.
The Columbia was not a navigable stream in the same
sense that the Missouri was, but was subject to far greater
extremes. The character of the Missouri was practically
uniform from its mouth to the head of navigation, and a
boat which could navigate it at its outlet could navigate it
all the way. Not so with the Columbia, which, in one
790 NAVIGATION OF THE COLUMBIA.
part of its course or another, could accommodate every
known kind or size of craft, but in which the navigation was
nowhere continuous for large steamboats for more than
about two hundred miles. For one hundred miles above
the mouth ocean vessels can pass with ease and safety. For
fifty miles farther up, or to the Cascades, river boats can
navigate at all seasons of the year. Here navigation was
formerly completely interrupted, and the traders had to
make portages, whose natural difficulty was greatly en-
hanced by the presence of thieving and treacherous bands of
Indians. In modern times a canal eliminates this obstacle
altogether. Nearly fifty miles farther up is another rapid,
where the river is compressed into a narrow channel with
such a turbulent current that the passage of boats in either
direction is out of the question. Above the Dalles, as this
place is called, the most serious obstruction is Priest rapids,
but by the aid of the cordelle, portages could be avoided, and
navigation was practically continuous in small craft to Boat
Encampment, near the source of the river, where the British
trail started for the East. It was also possible to ascend the
Snake river in boats to about thirty miles above the mouth
of the Clearwater. .
In spite of its many rapids and the difficult portages at
the Dalles and Cascades, boats were the universal means of
_ transportation during the fur trade era from the mouth to
the source of the Columbia. The lighter craft ascended the
tributaries for long distances, and if the total navigable
length of all these streams, as actually used by the traders,
could be determined, it would be found to amount to more
than two thousand miles.
The valley of the Columbia has but an incidental interest
in the history of the United States fur trade. Only one
important enterprise was ever undertaken there by an Amer-
ican company, and that was Mr. Astor’s project in 1811-13.
Nathaniel J. Wyeth undertook to found a business there
twenty years later, but wholly without success. Jedediah S.
Smith, Joshua Pilcher, and Captain Bonneville succeeded
HISTORIC ASSOCIATIONS. 791
in obtaining a glimpse of the resources of the valley, but
scarcely so much as carried away a beaver skin. The Brit-
ish companies held absolute commercial sway over that
region, and its fur trade history therefore relates mainly to
the history of those companies.
No river upon the continent, and few upon the globe, have
held a larger place in history, considering the time that it has
been known, than this “ River of the West.” Whether
viewed by the business man or the poet, its effect upon the
imagination of the pioneer was the same. One saw in its
valley a land full of the possibilities of material greatness ;
the other a land full of the grandeur and beauty of nature
and hallowed by the traditions and activities of man. Both
alike, as they looked out upon the wide-spread rolling
ocean beyond the headlands that guarded its entrance, felt
that there were no limits to the greatness of the coming
time,
“When through this gate the treasures of the North
Flow outward to the sea.’’ >
The very name of the river — the original name, Ore-
gon — was enshrined in poesy while yet the existence of
the stream was an unsolved mystery. The adventures of
the fur trader, the trials of the missionaries, the perils of
the navigator, the sufferings of the resolute emigrant, and
the political controversy of a quarter of a century, are all
inseparably interwoven with its history.®
*Sunset at the Mouth of the Columbia. (Mrs. Victor.)
*The origin of the name “Oregon” has puzzled geographers and
historians as almost no other name has. It is so beautiful and
sonorous and has become so deeply fixed in the popular mind that the
desire to know whence it came is an unusually strong one. It was
first used by Jonathan Carver in 1778, but without the slightest clue
to his authority save that he received it from the Indians. But none
of the tribes with which he had intercourse had any such word. There
is much reason to think that it came from the Spanish. Early writers
refer to it as the “Oregon of the Spaniards.” One of the first, if not
the first, attempts at explanation, appeared in the Missouri Republican
of St. Louis in 1825 in which “A Subscriber” explained the origin of
the name as a Spanish word “ oregano,’ a plant of the wild marjoram
¢
792 THE NAME “ OREGON.”
THE GREAT BASIN.
To the westward of the valley of the Colorado lies an
immense territory with no rivers that flow into the sea.
Its area is over 200,000 square miles, comprising portions
species, which was said to flourish on the banks of the river. In a
subsequent issue, a person who signed himself “ Patrick” took the
“Subscriber” to task for being “after robbing the whole country of
the best part of its name” which, he averred, was in full, Teague O’Re-
gan, a family name in the island of Erin. Captain Bonneville thought
that the oregano was the wild sage which grew so abundantly in por-
tions of the valley. Other writers have sought to associate the name
with the storms of the coast by deriving it from the French word
Ouragan, hurricane. Still another explanation is that it is from the
Spanish orejon, lop-eared, or hanging-ears, descriptive of a species of
rabbit, and also of an Indian tribe found in these parts.
None of these explanations, unless possibly the first, merits serious
consideration, and so the name is still wrapped in impenetrable mystery.
If it was really the creation of historian or geographer who coined it
from “airy nothing” and gave it “a local habitation and a name”
on this most interesting river, then all praise to the genius who created
it. That it was an acceptable name time has amply proven, and the
circumstances of its history have endeared it to the popular mind.
Bryant built it skilfully into his “ Thanatopsis” where he says:
“ Lose thyself in the continuous woods
Where rolls the Oregon and hears no sound
Save his own dashing.”
The picture was a pleasing one, “ Oregon” a pleasing word, the poem
a great one, and all combined to fix the name in the hearts of the
people. Hall J. Kelley was, we believe, the first one to transfer it to the
country drained by the river, which he did in his impassioned writings
on the subject beginning about 1815. Then followed the long and
bitter controversy over the “ Oregon Question,” at one time not very
far from war, until the name became one of the most familiar in our
geography. (For a careful inquiry into the origin of this name, see
footnote p. 17, vol. 34, Bancroft’s History Western States. It is by
Mrs. Frances Fuller Victor, probably the ablest living authority on the
history of Oregon.)
The nomenclature of the streams of the Columbia Valley, with the
exception of the main river and a few of its larger tributaries, is mostly
the work of the Northwest and Hudson Bay companies. Nearly all the
names date from before 1820.
TRIBUTARIES OF GREAT SALT LAKE. 793
of California, Oregon, and Utah, and nearly all of Nevada.
It is known in the geography of the United States as the
Great Basin. Its most salient hydrographic feature is the
Great Salt Lake, with an area of 1,700 to 2,100 square miles,
according to the height of its fluctuating surface. It is a
body of water without outlet and of excessively saline qual-
ity. The lake is now scarcely a tenth of its former size, for
the Quaternary Lake Bonneville, as traced out by geologists,
had an area of nearly 20,000 square miles, was a freshwater
lake, and drained north into Snake river, making the Great
Basin, geologically at least, a portion of the Columbia valley.
The tributaries of Great Salt Lake all come from the
eastern shore, the country to the west being a barren, water-
less waste known as the Great Salt Lake desert. The moun-
tains to the east of the lake yield many perennial streams,
such as the Bear, Ogden, and Weber rivers. Of these Bear
river is the most important and is quite a large stream. Its
course is peculiar. Rising on the other side of the Wasatch
range, almost due east of the Great Salt Lake, it flows north
through Wyoming and Utah into the state of Idaho, where
it turns completely about and flows south into the lake. Bear
river was an important stream in the early days, for along
a portion of its valley lay the famous Oregon Trail, and this
importance it retains to the present day as the route of the
Oregon Short Line railroad.
Bear Lake occupied the center of a large, marshy tract
which drained into Bear river a short distance west of the
Wyoming boundary. It was first known to the trappers as
Black Bear Lake, and later as Bear Lake. To Ashley’s men
in 1826 it was known as Little Lake, in distinction from the
Great Lake farther west. At that time Bear river was
Spoken of by Ashley as “a water of the Pacific ocean.”
Next to Bear river Weber river is the largest tributary of
Great Salt Lake. It rises directly west of the sources of
Bear river and flows northwest into the lake. Weber cafion,
‘and the picturesque gorge along one of its branches known
as Echo cafion, form an opening through the Wasatch range
794 HISTORY OF GREAT SALT LAKE.
which was utilized by the first trans-continental railroad.
Near its mouth Weber river is joined by a tributary from
the east known as Ogden river, a beautiful stream which
drains that remarkable nook in the mountains, elsewhere re-
ferred to as the “ Ogden’s Hole” of the trappers, and now
occupied in its lower portion by the city of Ogden, Utah.
The third stream of importance emptying into Great Salt
Lake joins that body of water near its southeastern extrem-
ity and is known, since the Mormons settled in its valley, as
Jordan river. It flows due north from another considera-
ble lake now called Utah Lake, a body of fresh water fed by
the drainage of the western slopes of the Wasatch range
through nearly a degree of latitude. Provo river, Spanish
Fork, and Salt creek are the principal tributaries of Utah
Lake.
The early history of Great Salt Lake is intimately bound
up with the history of the fur trade. There is no certain
evidence that any white man ever saw the lake until the
hunter and trapper came. Father Escalante, in 1776, came
as far north as Utah Lake, but did not see the Great Salt
Lake. Ona map of North America “engraved for Guth-
ries New System of Geography” in 1811, and “drawn
from the best authorities,’ and a very good map of the
known portions of the continent, there is represented a con-
siderable lake very nearly in the same latitude and longitude
as Great Salt Lake. It shows the lake without an outlet and
thus avoids the error involved in the Rio Buenaventura
myth, which represents the lake as flowing through a river
of that name into the Pacific—an error which Captain
Bonneville is generally given the credit of correcting. On
this map there is no name to the lake, but instead the follow-
ing legend: “ Lake, etc., laid down according to Mr. Law-
rence, who is said to have traveled through this country to
California in 1790 and 1791.” Nothing farther in this con-.
nection has come to light, but it leaves unsettled a very inter-
esting question as to who actually first saw this lake.
The first. party of white men known to have passed any-
DOUBT AS TO FIRST DISCOVERER. 795
where near the lake were the Astorians in 1811-12. The
detached party left by Hunt at Fort Henry went south at
least as far as to Bear river. When Stuart and Crooks re-
turned in the summer of 1812 they met this party and were
guided by Miller, one of their number, to this stream and
ascended its course for a considerable distance. Although
very near to the lake, there is no positive evidence that Mil-
Jer’s trapping party actually saw it.
It is highly probable, although here again the direct evi-
dence is lacking, that the Northwest and Hudson Bay peo-
ple saw this lake prior to 1824. Donald McKenzie worked
all through the country around the headwaters of the Snake
before 1820, and Ross quotes a letter written by him from
** Black Bear’s Lake” in 1819. It seems scarcely possible
that so large a trapping party could have passed so much
time in this vicinity without discovering the Great Salt
Lake.
So far as indubitable proof goes, the discovery of the lake
is connected with the expeditions of General William H.
Ashley which penetrated these regions in 1823-6. 853
Hole, as elsewhere narrated. The name Grosventre, as
applied to the large eastern tributary of Snake river in Jack-
son Hole, and also to a neighboring range of mountains, was
given from the circumstance that the Grosventres passed
along this stream on their way to the Arapahoes about the
year 1830.
The Grosventres were also commonly called Falls Indians
in this early day, from the fact, it is said, that they lived near
the Falls of the Saskatchewan. In common usage they
were called Blackfeet by the traders and trappers, and very
few understood their true tribal relations. Their own lan-
guage was very difficult to acquire, and as they understood
the Blackfoot language they always used it in their inter-
course with the whites. This tended further to confuse the
distinctions between the two tribes, and accounts for the
fact that so many of the hostile acts of the Grosventres were
charged up to the account of the Blackfeet. Thus it has
always been commonly understood that it was a Blackfoot
Indian that Captain Lewis killed on his return from the
Pacific in the summer of 1806, but it was, as a matter of fact,
a Grosventre.
~ Next to the Grosventres, the Blood Indians were the most
troublesome to the traders. They were bitterly hostile, but
their wanderings did not so often bring them into con-
tact with the whites. The Siksikau, or Blackfeet proper,
were also very hostile.
As the several bands roamed over pretty much the same
territory, it is difficult to say just what the usual habitat
of each was; but, broadly speaking, the Siksikau dwelt
northeast in the valley of Milk river; the Bloods near the
sources of the Marias and Milk; the Piegans west of the
Missouri along the lower course of the Marias; and the
Grosventres along the south shore of the Missouri from the
Great Falls to the Judith Basin, although some author-
ities place them north on the south fork of the Saskatchewan.
All of the Blackfoot bands belonged to the predatory class
*See Part IV., Chapter IT.
854 HOSTILITY OF THE BLACKFEET.
of Indians and their wanderings were very extensive. As
they were hostile to nearly all the surrounding tribes, and as
they were constantly invading their neighbors’ territory,
they lived in a state of perpetual warfare. Another source
of trouble with their neighbors was the fact that the Judith
Basin was one of the most popular buffalo regions in the
entire West, and the tribes from beyond the mountains, such
as the Snakes, Nez Perces, and Flatheads, annually repaired
thither for their supply of meat. Such visits were more
than likely to result in hostile encounters.
For two reasons the Blackfeet Indians were of great im-
portance in the fur trade: ‘Their country was the richest
beaver country of the West and the Indians themselves were
the most hostile. Abundant riches and deadly peril were
therefore the conflicting influences which actuated the bold
invader of this coveted region. Every portion of it is
marked by struggles, now mostly forgotten, between the
whites and the natives, and history will never know how
many of the early trappers fell before the savage hatred of
this terrible tribe.
The Blackfeet were splendid examples of their race, well
formed physically, fond of athletic sports, excellent horse-
men, great hunters, proud of the gaudy ornaments of dress,
inordinately fond of liquor and gambling, addicted to the
usual native vices of filth, beggary, and small thieving —
in short they were true savages so far as that term can be
properly applied to the aboriginal American. Their repu-
tation for courage — even of the native quality — has been
disputed, but their almost continuous record of war shows
that they were not afraid of battle.
It seems most unfortunate that a better understanding
could not have been brought about at an early date between
the Blackfeet and the whites. The common verdict of those
who became acquainted with these Indians on a peaceable
footing is that they were a very tractable and intelligent
tribe to get along with, and later experience confirms this
view. But in some way the key to the situation could not
THE CROWS. 855
be found until a score of years had left its record of blood-
shed upon the history of this region.
THE CROWS (Siouan).
These Indians, with the Minnetarees, belonged to the
Hidatsa sub-stock of the Siouan family. The native name
of this tribe is Absaroka, which is said to signify a species
of hawk. The French translated 1t Corbeau and called the
tribe les Corbeaux. The translation of this name into
English gives the designation by which these Indians have
been universally known, since the white man found them.
Although modern writers divide the tribe into different
bands, particularly the Crows proper and the mountain
Crows, these distinctions never obtained among the trap-
pers. The tribe was not numerous and probably did not
number over 10,000 souls in its best days. Their country,
always so known, the true Absaroka, or home of the Crows,
was the valley and watershed of the Bighorn river. It
extended, to be sure, considerably to the eastward, and may
be said to have included the valleys of the Rosebud, Tongue,
and Powder rivers, and also a strip of territory on the north
bank of the Yellowstone. But still, when mention was
made of the “ Crow country,” the valley of the Bighorn was
always meant, the heart of Absaroka being in the lower por-
tion of the valley near the mouth of the Little Bighorn.
The Crows were considered to be the best formed phys-
ically of any of the Western Indians. Tall, graceful, pleas-
ing in physiognomy, they were exceptionally fine looking.
In dress and ornamentation likewise they excelled most
other tribes. They made a particular point of developing
long hair, which they regarded as a great ornament. But
however much they might excel other tribes in physical
development, they were in no degree behind them in the
vices and defects of Indian character.
The Crows were the equestrian tribe of the Missouri val-
ley. In proportion to their numbers they possessed more
and better horses than any other. They were the most
856 THE CROWS GOOD FUR PRODUCERS.
expert of horse stealers and the most skilful robbers among
the Missouri tribes. For this reason, rather than on
account of any hostile intent, they caused a great deal of
trouble to the traders in every part of the West. They
always professed friendship for the whites and usually were
peaceably disposed toward them. There is in fact almost
no record of their having killed white men or having made
war against them; but very many instances of their having
committed robberies upon them.
The principal enemies of the Crows were the Sioux and
Blackfeet. With the latter tribe they were never at peace
in the early days, and the history of their relations to each
other is one of unremitting hostility. The allies of the
Crows were the Minnetarees and the Mandans.
A peculiarity of the Crow nation was their fondness for
having white men among them. In the cases of Edward
Rose and James P. Beckwourth the tribe adopted them,
made them chiefs, and no doubt profited greatly from their
leadership. There is no other tribe whose history is so full
of romantic adventure, and the country of no other so
abounded in the wildness and weirdness as well as the
beauty of nature.
The Crows were exclusively a wandering tribe, never
having lived in fixed villages. They were encountered by
trappers in almost every part of the trans-Mississippi region.
They were great buffalo hunters and the fur companies
regarded them as the best robe producers of any of the In-
dian tribes. They were, however, very exacting, and gave
the traders no little trouble to satisfy their whims in the
matter of trading posts. The American Fur Company in
the course of twenty years built four posts for their accom-
modation, and the Missouri Fur Company two; but the
Indians were never satisfied and wanted the location
changed continually. The method of trading which proved
most satisfactory was to send traders with small outfits of
merchandise to reside in the villages, moving from place to
THE ASSINIBOINES. 857
place as the Indians moved, and by their presence encour-
aging them to make robes.
THE ASSINIBOINES (Siouan).
These Indians were true representatives of the Siouan
stock and even called themselves by the native family name,
Dakota, or Nakota, as they more commonly pronounced it.
During the best days of the fur trade they numbered some
28,000 souls. Their territory bordered on the Missouri
river from the mouth of Milk river to below the mouth of
the Yellowstone and thence extended north to the Saskatch-
ewan and east to the Assiniboine river. It lay mostly out-
side what is now the territory of the United States. The
tribe comprised no fewer than eight distinct bands, some of
which are often mentioned in the fur trade correspondence.
_ The Assiniboines resembled closely the other Sioux tribes
— tall, rather slender, with broad faces and high cheek
bones. Their clothes were the usual leathern make of the
plains Indians, and a characteristic feature was the head-
dress adorned with two horns. The ornamentation was in
other particulars similar to that of other Indians. Although
armed to some extent in these times with guns, they all had
bows and arrows.
They were a wandering tribe of Indians, living in movable
tents, and their chief resource for subsistence was the buf-
falo. They were very expert in driving the buffalo into the
parks or pens which have already been referred to. There
was a noted enclosure of this sort within ten miles of Fort
Union and around it were the bones of thousands of buffalo
slain there.
The Assiniboines were an equestrian tribe, though not so
well supplied with horses in these early times as were some
of their neighbors. Like all other tribes they considered
horse stealing a legitimate business.
They were generally friendly to the whites, though not
to be trusted, and they did not scruple to rob when they
could do so with impunity. They were good robe-makers
858 THE MINNETAREES.
and were an important tribe to the traders. Fort Union,
which was in their territory, was their great trading point.
As this tribe, like the Blackfeet, resided in both American
and British territory, there was sharp competition for their
custom on both sides of the line; and much of the complaint
of the American traders about the use of liquor by the Brit-
ish related to its use among these Indians.
THE MINNETAREES (Siouan).
These Indians were also commonly known as the Gros-
ventres of the Missouri, the last three words being added to
distinguish the name from that of the Grosventres of the
Prairie (Algonquian). There was nothing in the physical
characteristics of either of the tribes to justify the name.
Minnetaree is the name by which the Mandans cailed these
Indians. It was always spelled as here given in the early
years, but the modern official orthography is Minitari.
The true tribal name was Hidatsa, but it was formerly rarely
heard in popular use.
Under the name Hidatsa the Minnetarees and the Crows
were once united in a single sub-stock of the great Siouan
family. They migrated from the southeast at some not very
remote period, and, for causes not clearly understood, sepa-
rated, the Minnetarees stopping near the Mandans on the
Missouri, and the Crows moving farther to the westward.
It is probable that the origin of their distinctive tribal names
arose in some way from this separation.
After this event the Minnetarees gradually abandoned the
wandering life and settled down in permanent villages like
the Mandans, from whom, through long association, they
adopted many customs. Their huts were of the same gen-
eral pattern as those of their new neighbors, and like the
latter they had separate villages for summer and winter use.
Their home was on the right bank of the Missouri near the
mouth of Knife river. At the time of the visit of Lewis
and Clark their number was estimated at 2,500 souls.
Early writers describe the Minnetarees as the tallest and
THE MANDANS. 859
best formed of the Missouri Indians, excepting only their
kindred, the Crows. They delighted in elegance of cos-
tume and made use of.all the ornamentation characteristic
of Indian ingenuity in these matters. |
They were generally friendly to the traders, although
there are records of some outrages committed by them.
There were two or three posts in their neighborhood at one
time and another, but they were later all merged in the large
post of Fort Clark, which accommodated both their own
trade and that of the Mandans.
The Minnetarees found their natural allies in the Crows
and Mandans, and although liable to frequent misunder-
standings with other tribes, their record is not that of a war-
like nation.
THE MANDANS (Siouan).
Of no other tribe of the Missouri valley are there extant
so many complete and circumstantial accounts by early writ-
ers as of the Mandans. ‘This arose from the fact that the
situation where the tribe has dwelt since it became known
to white men was one of great strategic and commercial 1m-
portance. Its relation to the surrounding country has been
explained in another place. It was for many years the
farthest point to which the operations of the traders were
carried up the Missouri and the tribe thus became familiarly
known to the fur companies both north and south of the
national boundary. Travelers likewise in these remote
regions rarely got beyond the Mandans prior to 1830 and
naturally devoted a great deal of attention to the tribe where
they turned back on their expeditions. Thus from one
cause or another these Indians received a large share of
attention from the earlier explorers of the Missouri valley.
The tribal history of the Mandans is exceedingly obscure ;
but one fact stands out with only too great certainty, and
that is their terrible misfortunes as a result of their contact
with the white race. Our first knowledge of them locates
them on the Missouri river considerably below their later
860 MISFORTUNES OF THE MANDANS.
location, where they dwelt in nine villages, two on the west
shore and seven on the east. They must have numbered
at that time at least 6,000 souls. The hostility of the Assin-
iboines and Sioux through many years gradually depleted
their numbers, while the smallpox on different occasions
made such terrible havoc among them as to threaten their
extermination. The different bands consolidated with one
another as the tribe diminished, until at the time of the visit
of Lewis and Clark there were only two villages numbering
between 1,500 and 2,000 occupants. It was in this situation
that they were found by the traders who came first from
the British companies and later up the Missouri from St.
Louis. In 1837 the tribe experienced its last visitation of
the smallpox, which carried off all but about thirty of its
people. This terrible calamity, which resulted in the almost
complete extermination of an interesting and important
Indian tribe, is described in another part of this work.
The Mandans were a prominent example of stationary
tribes living in permanent villages. They had separate vil-
lages for summer and winter use, the latter being located
in the forest where it was better protected from the fierce
blizzards of the northern prairies. The winter village was
occupied about four months of the year.
These Indians were an agricultural tribe, if that term can
be appropriately applied to the crude method by which the
natives cultivated the soil. Their principal product was the
maize, but they also raised certain vegetables introduced by
the whites.
Their main reliance for subsistence was, of course, the
buffalo. Their country was in the very heart of the buffalo
range and at certain seasons these animals roamed in count-
less thousands over the surrounding hills. At such times
they were taken in great numbers without difficulty. At
other times it was necessary to make long excursions to find
them.
Physically the Mandans were rather above the average
Indian in stature, though scarcely the equals in this respect
THE ARICARAS. S61
of the Minnetarees and Crows. They were robust and
broad-shouldered. Their countenances were not so strik-
ing in the aquiline nose and high cheek bone as the other
Siouan tribes. The eyes were dark brown, the mouth and
jaw broad, the hair long and black and cultivated to
great length. A greyish mixture was very common in the
hair of many and was a characteristic feature. The teeth
were fine and remarkably permanent, even in old age. The
complexion was of a brown, copperish tinge, although in
many individuals it approached white very nearly. The
women were short, robust, and not handsome even for
Indian women. The men were notoriously vain in mat-
ters of dress, and exercised great ingenuity in ornamenta-
tion. |
The Mandans were a peaceably disposed tribe and were
always on terms of friendship with the whites. The Sioux
and Assiniboines were their enemies and the Crows and
Minnetarees their allies. The traders always maintained
one or more posts in their neighborhood. Their chief
staples of trade were the robes and tongues of the buffalo,
but they also collected a large amount of beaver fur.
THE ARICARAS (Caddoan).
Next to the Blackfeet the Aricaras were more dreaded
by the whites than any other northern tribe. Though
not so continuously hostile as the Blackfeet they were more
treacherous, and the outrages and loss of life suffered at
their hands form a mournful chapter in the history of the
Missouri Valley.
The Aricaras, commonly called Rees by the traders, were
one of the principal divisions of the Caddoan family whose
pristine habitat seems to have been in the vicinity of the
Red river of the Natchitoches. In their migration north the
Pawnees and the Aricaras parted company, the former set-
tling down on the waters of the Kansas and Platte rivers,
and the latter going north to the heart of the Sioux coun-
try on the Missouri. The tribe was once much more nu-
862 TREACHEROUS CHARACTER.
merous than when it became known to the traders, and the
remains of its ancient villages can be traced all the way from
the Niobrara to the Cannon Ball river along the shores of
the Missouri. The Aricaras claimed no particular country
except that which they actually occupied. At the time of
the voyage of Lewis and Clark they probably numbered
3,600 souls.
Prior to 1830 they lived in clay huts similar to those of
the Mandans and Pawnees, but in this and other matters
they resembled more closely the former tribe, though kindred
to the latter. In physical appearance they were tall and
well formed, and their women were considered the hand-
somest on the Missouri. In their manner of life they did
not differ essentially from the tribes among whom they
dwelt and with nearly all of whom they were on terms of
hostility, if not of actual war.
The principal characteristic of the aes Indians, so
far as it relates to the fur trade, was their treacherous and
warlike attitude toward the whites. What can have been
the cause of their bad faith and their many atrocities has
always been a mystery. They were friends today and ene-
mies tomorrow. One party of trappers they would treat
with hospitality; the next they would seek to destroy. Af-
ter Colonel Leavenworth’s campaign, which was supposed
to have subdued them, they became more troublesome than
ever before. They abandoned their old villages and moved
up to the neighborhood of the Mandans. They soon re-
turned, however, and some years later migrated, it is said, to
the North Platte. It was their depredations and murders
committed upon trading parties in that region that induced
N. J. Wyeth and others in 1833 to return from Green river
to the States by way of the Bighorn, Yellowstone and Mis-
souri rather than risk the journey across the plains; and
also led to the military expedition to the upper Platte under
Colonel Dodge in 1835.
The Aricaras were, in spite of their character for duplic-
ity, useful Indians to the traders, who always had a post
THE SIOUX NATIONS. 863
among them when they resided on the Missouri. They
were good robe-makers and beaver hunters, but their chief
staple of trade was horses; and it was from them that the
traders obtained a goodly part of their supply. The over-
land Astorian party in 1811 outfitted with horses at their
villages and General Ashley did the same thing in 1823
just before his disastrous experience at their hands.
THE SIOUX NATIONS (Siouan).
In popular usage the term Sioux was restricted to the
tribes of the Siouan stock who dwelt in the “ Land of the
Dakotas ” and who, in their own language, were called by
the name Dakota. The term Sioux was of Algonquian
origin, “‘ expressing enmity or contempt,” and through the
medium of the Canadian French descended upon the Dakota
tribes in its present corrupted form.
The Sioux undoubtedly came from the eastward and
reached their historic habitat in comparatively late prehis-
toric times. When they became known to the traders in
the latter part of the 18th century their country embraced
what is now the state of South Dakota with contiguous
territory all around its borders. The population of those
tribes who dwelt in the valley of the Missouri cannot have
exceeded at that time 15,000 souls.
In physical appearance the Sioux were true Indians, the
characteristics of the race being especially marked in them.
Although not so fine looking and well formed as the Min-
netarees and Crows, they were nevertheless of stalwart
physique and great physical power. They were mostly of
medium stature, slender yet muscular, with oval features,
prominent cheek bones and slightly aquiline nose. They
wore long hair braided to the full length, although in some
of the bands the custom prevailed of shaving off the hair
except a tuft on the top of the head.
The Sioux were typical plains Indians and presented in
the highest degree the characteristics which aboriginal life
on the prairies developed. They were exclusively a nomadic
864 THE YANKTONS AND YANKTONAIS.
people and their wanderings extended far beyond their
proper country; but they were not the equals in this respect
of the Crows and Blackfeet. They were among the most
warlike and aggressive of the Western tribes and were every-
where held in terror by their enemies. All of their neigh-
bors, such as the Omahas, the Aricaras, the Cheyennes, the
Mandans, and the Minnetarees, suffered calamities at their
hands from which they never recovered.
There were three important divisions of the Sioux tribes
with which the Missouri traders had to do—the Yank-
tons, the Yanktonais, and the Tetons.
The Yanktons lived in the southern portion of the Sioux
territory along the Missouri river in the valleys of the James,
the Vermilion, and the Big Sioux, and even as far east as
the headwaters of the Des Moines. ‘They numbered about
1,000 people. ‘They were the least troublesome of all the
Sioux tribes and gave the traders comparatively little annoy-
ance. Posts were maintained at different times for their
convenience at the mouth of each of the tributaries of the
Missouri mentioned above.
The Yanktonais, or Yanktons of the Plains, occupied the
upper valleys of the James and Big Sioux rivers, and even
that of the Red River of the North on the east and a long
stretch of the Missouri valley on the west. They numbered
about 2,500 souls. They were on the whole the most
dreaded by the traders of any of the Sioux tribes. They
were treacherous, stealthy, vindictive, and caused a great
deal of trouble. It was a frequent pastime with them to
fire from some secure hiding place upon boats passing along
the river. Small parties were never safe in their country,
while the loss of life and property at their hands during
the period of the fur trade was such as to cause never-
ending solicitude on the part of those who did business
among them.
The modern classification gives two divisions of the
Yanktonais, the Upper and the Lower; but one never finds
this distinction in the literature of the fur trade era. There
; CofE asvg a5)
ANVdUWOO WOH NIVINOOW AMOOU YWHL AO NOILOTOSSIG AO LNANALIOV
THE TETONS. OOS
was a Sioux band, then well known, but now not recognized,
the Teton Saone, or simply the Saone, which may have been
a part of the Yanktonais tribe. They resided on both
sides of the Missouri in the section where Bismarck and
Mandan now stand. It was presumably among these In-
dians that the “ Sawon’’ post, so often mentioned in the
journals and correspondence of the American Fur Com-
pany, was maintained.
The Tetons were a very important tribe of the Sioux and
numbered about 5,000 souls. They dwelt mostly west of
the Missouri and overspread the country as far west as to
the Black Hills and the North Platte, while they ranged
north and south from the Pawnee country to the Mandans.
Like the Yanktonais they were exceedingly troublesome
in the early years of the fur trade and greatly annoyed boat
parties ascending the river. So far did they interfere with
navigation that they came to be known as the pirates of
the Missouri. The Tetons, however, dropped their hostile
attitude much sooner than did the Yanktonais, and in later
years gave the traders little or no trouble.
The Tetons embraced several distinct bands, with each of
which trading posts or houses were maintained. These
bands were the Bois Brulés, who lived on both sides of the
Missouri near the mouths of the White and Teton rivers;
the Sans Arcs; the Blackfeet (Sihasapa) ; the Minnecon-
jous; the Two Kettles; the Ogallalas, who dwelt at the
headwaters of the White and Niobrara rivers at the south-
eastern base of the Black Hills; and the Hunkpapas.
For several reasons the Sioux tribes were the most im-
portant of any with which the fur traders had to do. They
were the most numerous. Their country was one continu-
ous range for the buffalo who were wont to frequent every
part of it. As a result the traffic in buffalo robes was
exceedingly heavy, and the quantities of these peltries that
were shipped from the Sioux country were very great. The
Sioux were also good beaver hunters, and contributed great
quantities of these finer kinds of fur. The various trading
866 RELATIONS WITH THE TRADERS.
companies had posts all over their country from James river —
to the Black Hills, and the total number of these establish-
ments, large and small, that were built during the fur trade
era, would probably exceed one hundred. Fort Pierre,
located nearly in the center of the Sioux country, was the
greatest of these posts, and a very important establishment
in its day.
But if the custom of the Sioux was a matter of great
importance to the traders, the open hostility of some of the
bands and the doubtful friendship of others were not less
so. The location of the Sioux tribes on both sides of the
Missouri placed the navigation and trade of the upper rivers
very largely at their mercy. In the earlier expeditions the
American traders met with much opposition from these
Indians. They were at that time largely under British
influence, and during the War of 1812 came very near taking
sides against the United States. Then they were enemies
of most of the tribes above them, and did not like to have
the whites go up there to trade. Moreover, they acted to ~
some extent as middlemen between the whites and those
tribes, compelling the traffic to pass through their hands
to their great advantage. They did not like to see this busi-
ness interfered with. All these considerations, and the
natural jealousy with which they saw the advent of the
white men, made them regard the approach of the American
traders with an unfriendly eye. More than once they
turned back the early expeditions. But as time wore on
and the traders became firmly established among them, this
hostile feeling largely passed away. There is no doubt that
if, at this time, a wise and judicious policy had been pursued
towards these Indians, they might have been led to their new
destiny without serious difficulty or misunderstanding.
The Sioux were blessed beyond most tribes with sound
practical sense. They knew that their former method of
life could not endure and all that they asked was that, in the
inevitable process of change, the government should keep
its faith with them.: When they saw the agents of the
THE CHEYENNES. 867
government year after year and decade after decade vio-
lating its promises, the smoldering fires of bitterness were
fanned again into flame, until they burst into that terrible
conflagration that raged so furiously in the decade around
1876.°
THE CHEYENNES (Algonquian).
These Indians seem formerly to have been associated with
the Arapahoes and the Atsina (Grosventres of the Prairie),
and to have dwelt in what is now the state of Minnesota.
Their western migration was probably under pressure from
the Sioux, and their southern deflection from their western
course was probably due to pressure from the Assiniboines,
with whom they were never after at peace. Broken and
dispirited with their accumulated misfortunes, they finally
found an abiding place at the eastern base of the Black Hills
among the upper tributaries of the stream that bears their
name. Owing to some internal dissensions, a sntall number
of the tribe seceded prior to 1820 and joined the Arapahoes.
Later the rest of the tribe followed suit, until, by 1840, all
seem to have gone to the country of their kindred.
The Cheyennes are said to have formerly dwelt in perma-
nent villages, but their lot of misfortune had driven them to
a wandering life like that of their new neighbors. In spite
of their disastrous experiences, they were a virile race,
superb horsemen, tenacious of their ancient rights, and able
to acquit themselves with credit when occasion required.
They were much at war with the surrounding tribes, and the
name of the Cheyennes everywhere inspired, if not terror,
at least respect. With the whites they were generally,
though not always, on friendly terms.
The traders found these Indians profitable fur gatherers,
but the principal traffic with them was in horses. These
they obtained in their frequent excursions to the southern
plains, and made a regular business of selling them to the
°The Sauteurs of Spirit Lake frequented the Missouri river valley a
great deal in the latter years of the trade. They were exceedingly
troublesome in 1843.
868 THE PAWNEES.
whites and to other Indians. It was in their village that
the Astorians completed their outfit of horses in 1811. For
the trade of these Indians the American Fur Company reg-
ularly maintained one or more trading posts in their coun-
try.
THE PAWNEES (Caddoan).
The Pawnees, during the period of the fur trade, lived
within the present limits of the state of Nebraska, and dur-
ing the greater part of the time upon the Loup Fork of the
Platte. They consisted of four distinct villages, the Grand
Pawnees, the Republican Pawnees, the Tapage or Noisy
Pawnees, and the Skidi or Pawnee Loups, nearly always
called in early literature the Panimahas. In the later years
of the eighteenth century, the Republican Pawnees moved
south to the northern branch of the Kansas, which has
since been known by their name. They rejoined the other
villages on the Loup Fork probably about 1815.
The Pawnee Loups seem to have been later arrivals in
the trans-Missouri country than were the other tribes. They
claimed to be a distinct people, but their language proves an
affinity. It was with this branch of the Pawnees that the
Aricaras were associated, and the two formerly dwelt east
of the Mississippi. After their migration across the Mis-
souri, the Loups were conquered by the other Pawnee
tribes, while the Aricaras went farther north. The Loups
joined their conquerors and remained thereafter associated
with them.
The Tapage Pawnees were the least important of the four
bands, and are not mentioned at all by several of the early
explorers. Thus Pike, in 1806, mentions only the three
larger bands, and likewise Long, who passed through their
villages fourteen years later. At that time the Pawnees
were living 60 miles above the mouth of the Loup. The
Grand Pawnees were farthest down stream, and numbered
about 3,500 people. Three miles above them were the Re-
publican Pawnees, with a population of about 1,000. The
A WARLIKE PEOPLE. 869
Pawnee Loups lived four miles farther up, and numbered
about 2,000 souls.
The Pawnees belonged to the permanent village tribes,
and were, consequently, agriculturalists as well as hunters.
Their lodges were very large, some 60 feet in diameter, cir-
cular in form, with conical roofs of flat slope. To judge
from pictures of them they were not unlike, in general
appearance, when seen from a distance, the thickly-clustered
oil tanks in a modern petroleum district.
The agricultural productions of the Pawnees were the
maize, pumpkins, and squashes. The maize they raised
quite extensively, but left it largely to take care of itself.
When the spring planting was done, they set out on hunting
or foraging expeditions, and did not return until near the
time for harvest. In the winter they cached the harvested
corn and went off again to hunt for meat and robes.
The Pawnees were physically a well-formed and vigorous ©
people, tall, slender and muscular, exhibiting the peculiar
physiognomy of the Indian race. Their great athletic
accomplishment was horsemanship, in which they ranked
with the Crows on the north and the Comanches on the
south. For a tribe who resided in permanent villages, they
led a remarkably predatory life, and rivaled in this respect
their tent-dwelling neighbors. Their excursions were gen-
erally south and southwest, and they were scarcely ever en-
countered in the country to the north and west.
These Indians were at one time and another at war with
nearly all the surrounding tribes, and do not seem to have
had any steadfast allies. A late high authority upon their
history states that they were uniformly friendly to the
whites. But this was not the case during the period of the
fur trade, at which time they rivaled the Comanches as ter-
rors of the southern plains. Gregg says of them that they
were “ among the most formidable enemies of the Santa Fe
traders,’ and the name Pawnee was held in the same degree
of dread by the traders of the south as were the Black-
feet by the traders of the north. Whatever may have
870 PAWNEES UNDER SPANISH INFLUENCE.
been their disposition in later times, they harbored no feeling
of love for the whites at this early day. They held a rela-
tion to the Spanish government for several years analogous
to that held by the Sioux to the British. The Spanish
regarded them somewhat in the nature of allies, or at least
as very friendly disposed toward them, and this fact of itself
made them hostile to Americans. Lieutenant Pike noted
this hostility when he visited the Pawnees in 1806, and it
did not die out for many years after.®
The trade of the Pawnees was principally in robes, the
gathering of which was a great business with them. The
traders never built a post in their country, but conducted
the business from their establishment near the Council
Bluffs. Men were sent with outfits of merchandise to reside
with the Indians while at their villages and to follow them
on their expeditions. The produce of the trade was
shipped down the Loup Fork and the Platte in bull boats,
where it was incorporated in the larger cargoes coming
down the Missouri. |
THE PONCAS (Stouan).
Four of the lower Missouri tribes, viz.: the Poncas, the
Omahas, the Kansas, and the Osages, were once a single
tribe dwelling in the Ohio valley near the Wabash river.
With them was also another band called the Kwapa.
When the tribe migrated westward, the Kwapa separated
from the others at the Mississippi, and the main body began
° As late as 1811 an officer belonging to the government trading fac-
tory at Fort Osage made a visit to the Kansas and Pawnees. He left
Fort Osage May 11; reached the Kansas May 109, at a point about
one hundred miles above the mouth of the Kansas river; found sev-
eral American flags in the village; left village May 22 and reached
Republican Pawnees one hundred and twenty miles farther; contin-
ued journey and crossed Platte about 28th; came to Pawnee villages
on Loup Fork, one hundred miles above mouth; found Pawnees in
close relation with Santa Fe; one Spanish flag found; also a letter
from governor of Santa Fe thanking Pawnees for their loyalty. It is
evident that at this date the Republican Pawnees were still on the
Republican Fork of Kansas river.
THE OMAHAS. ake y Al
the ascent to the Missouri valley. The Osages separated
from the larger group at the Osage river, settling in the val-
ley of that stream, and the Kansas followed suit when they
reached the valley of the river which bears their name. The
Omahas and the Poncas gradually made their way farther
up the river, and finally themselves parted company, the
Omahas settling on the west bank of the Missouri at a con-
siderable distance above the Platte, while the Poncas located
near the mouth of the Niobrara.
Such, in simple outline, are supposed to have been the
movements which carried a great tribe from the forest coun-
try east of the Mississippi to the treeless plains of the central -
West. The movement doubtless consumed a long period of
time, and was marked by wars and other important events,
which are now lost to history. The four sub-tribes had
long been settled in their new homes when the white man
found them, and remained there during the whole period of
the fur trade.
In physical characteristics and in tribal customs the Pon-
cas resembled their kindred, the Omahas. They had been
oppressed through many years by the Sioux, and reduced
by the smallpox, until, when the traders came, they num-
bered but little more than 200 souls. They were always on
friendly terms with the whites, and a regular trading post
was maintained in their territory.
THE OMAHAS (Stouan).
Although this seems to be the correct form of the name,
it was more usually spelled Maha in the first half of the
roth century. The Omahas were once a powerful tribe,
but the oppressions of the Sioux and a terrible epidemic of
the smallpox in the later years of the 18th century had
reduced their numbers to about 400. Their habitat was on
the west bank of the Missouri, about one hundred miles
above the modern city which bears their name. Naturally
a warlike tribe, their spirit had been broken by their great
misfortunes, and they seem not to have gone to war to any
872 THE KANSAS,
great extent after the traders settled among them. On
account of this quiet life they do not figure prominently in
annals of Western adventure. They did, however, produce
some of the most noted chiefs of any of the Indian tribes,
and among them the great chief Black Bird, who died of
the smallpox a few years before the arrival of Lewis and
Clark. |
The Omahas were a popular tribe with the traders, and
seem to have been industrious fur gatherers. ‘They dwelt
in permanent villages, but were absent on their hunting
excursions several months of the year. All of the leading
fur companies maintained trading posts near the old Council
Bluffs for the convenience of these Indians and other tribes
in the vicinity.
THE KANSAS (Siouan).
This tribe dwelt in the valley of the river which bears
their name, and their village was located a few miles above
its mouth. They had a population of about 1,500. They
lived in mud huts not unlike those of the Mandans, and fol-
lowed a life similar to that of the tribes around them.
They were generally at peace with their neighbors, who
were indeed of their own stock. With the whites they were
also usually at peace, although they committed many out-
rages upon small parties. They cultivated maize and fol-
lowed the chase, but became indolent and lazy as their
dependence upon the government increased. A permanent
trading post was maintained among them.
THE OSAGES (Stouan).
This great nation was the first in the Missouri valley to
have a regular trade with the whites. Many years before the
Louisiana Purchase, trading posts had been built in their
country. At the time of the general migration westward
from east of the Mississippi, the Osages settled in the coun-
try along the Osage river and between that stream and the
Missouri. Subsequently they divided into smaller bands.
THE OSAGES. 873
The first separation, which Pike places early in the 18th
century, was into two tribes, the Great and Little Osages,
but later the Little Osages, finding themselves too weak for
self-protection, located near the large village. A third divi-
sion, which Pike calls the Arkansas Schism, was brought
about by the white traders. For many years prior to 1800
Mr. Pierre Chouteau had monopolized the trade of these
Indians, but at about the above date, or perhaps a little
earlier, Mr. Manuel Lisa obtained from the Spanish author-
ities an exclusive grant of their trade. Incensed at this
action, Mr. Chouteau, who had the monopoly of trade on
the Arkansas, intrigued with the Indians and succeeded in
drawing so large a part of the tribe to his post that he prac-
tically nullified the value of Lisa’s monopoly, and led to a
permanent division of the tribe.
The Osages, like the Omahas, Otoes, and Kansas, lived
in permanent villages, but their huts were rectangular in
plan, in which respect their architecture differed materially
from that of the other tribes. The huts were supported by
vertical posts, the center row under the ridgepole being
about twenty feet high and the outside rows about five feet.
Poles and rafters gave support to the roofing of brush, bark
and dirt. These huts were sometimes sixty feet long.
Fires were kindled on the ground under the ridgepole, and
the smoke escaped through openings in the roof.
In language, customs, and dress the Osages were like their
kindred tribes. They were of especial importance to the
trader by reason of their large property in horses, which
they obtained through annual excursions to the southwest-
ern plains. They were good judges of these animals, and
the traders relied on them largely in organizing their expe-
ditions, for these were made up on the very borders of the
Osage country.
The Osages were on the whole friendly to the whites, but
their marauding parties did great mischief to small bands of .
trappers or hunters. There was much complaint of them
by the Santa Fe traders, and many unprovoked outrages
874 THE IOWAS AND OTOES.
were committed by them. Permanent posts were always
maintained in their country.
THE I0WAS (Siouan).
There were three other tribes who dwelt in the lower
Missouri valley, and were familiarly known to the traders.
They were the Iowas, the Otoes, and the Missouris, who all
sprang from a common stock which was closely related to
the Winnebago division of the Siouan family. What their
course of migration was is unknown, but they had crossed
the Mississippi before they first fell under the observation
of white men.
The pristine home of these Indians was practically what
is now the state which bears their name. They were found
within the historic period in almost every part of that
region. Once a powerful tribe, they, like their neighbors,
had been ruined by the smallpox and the Sioux, and they
were a small tribe of only 800 people when the American
traders opened relations with them. ‘They traded princi-
pally at Robidoux post at Black Snake Hills, where St.
Joseph, Mo., now stands, and also to some extent at the
Council Bluffs.
THE OTOES (Siouan).
From at least as far back as the middle of the 18th cen-
tury the Otoes dwelt on the banks of the Platte about 40
miles above its mouth. They lived in dirt villages like the
other tribes of the lower Missouri. They present no charac-
teristics notably different from the surrounding tribes, and
their history during the fur trade period was uneventful.
Their trade all went to the establishments at Council Bluffs.
Tatan was the name of a noted chief of the Otoes who
held sway over the tribe from about 1825 to 1840, when the
fur trade was in its most flourishing condition. He earned
his name from a hard-fought battle between his tribe and
the Comanches or Iatans, in which the latter were utterly
routed. His native name was a long word which signified
THE MISSOURIS, 875
“Prairie Wolf.” JIatan was a popular chief, even with
other tribes, and was frequently called into the councils of
the Pawnees. ,
THE MISSOURIS (Siouan).
This tribe, though of little importance to the fur trade,
is an interesting one historically. From it is derived the
name of the great river on whose shores they dwelt,’ and
where they were actors in events of deep significance in the
history of the trans-Mississippi territory. Within the
knowledge of white men the tribe resided near the mouth
of the river, but they were driven off by the Illinois and
were found early in the 18th century farther up the Missouri
on its left or north bank not far below the mouth of Grand
river. It was here that the tragedy occurred in 1720 in
which a Spanish expedition against the Missouris was
destroyed by these Indians. Near by, ‘on an island, the
French erected their first post in the Missouri valley.®
Sometime after this event they suffered a misfortune from
which they never recovered, and which marks the termina-
tion of their separate tribal existence. They were attacked
by the Sac and Fox Indians, and were almost annihilated.
The remnants of the tribe dispersed among the Osages, the
Kansas, and the Otoes, where they were found by the
traders.
™See Chapter III., this Part.
* See Appendix F.
CHAP THR
NATIVE TRIBES
OF THE SOUTHWEST AND THE TRA-MONTANE COUNTRY.
The Paducas — Trading custom of the Paducas — The Arapahoes —
Tribal history — Characteristics — Relation with the traders — The
Kiowas— The Comanches — Habitat — Characteristics— An eques-
trian tribe— New Mexican tribes— The Pueblos — Meaning of term
as applied to the Indians — Characteristics — The Navajos— The
Apaches— The Shoshones or Snakes — Their country — Characteris-
tics — The Bannocks— The Pai-utes— The Utahs — Their country —
Characteristics — The Sheep-eaters— The Mokis and Mojaves— The
Nez Perces— Other names for the tribe — Confusion as to the name
Flathead — Country of the Nez Perces — Characteristics of the tribe —
Relation to the missionaries and the traders — The Flatheads — Other
tribes of the Columbia Basin — Peculiarities of the coast tribes.
THE \PADUCAS,
| the earlier notices of the country, near the base of the
Rocky mountains at the headwaters of the Platte and
Arkansas rivers, before exploration had penetrated so far,
the name Paduca was applied to the native inhabitants that
were supposed to be located in that section. The first exten-
sive report upon these Indians appears to have been by Bour-
gemont, in 1724, but the precise application of the name has
never been determined. As the country came to be known,
the tribes who dwelt there were found to have other designa-
tious, and the name Paduca consequently fell into disuse. In
one form or another the name is found in the vocabularies of
the several Siouan tribes, and by them was applied to the
Comanches. This, however, was not the understanding of
the earlier authorities, who knew of the existence of the
Comanches, or Iatans, as they were called, but who still
referred to the Paducas as a distinct people. Even Pike,
who was one of the first to identify the Paducas with the
THE PADUCAS. 877
Comanches, directly contradicts himself in his tabulated
statement of the Indian tribes of the West, in which he
mentions the Paducas and the Comanches as separate
tribes. Another early writer refers to the Iatans and the
Paducas as being at war with each other. Furthermore,
the habitat of the Comanches in historic times has been south
of the Arkansas, while that of the Paducas was always
located on the headwaters of the Platte, and one of the prin-
cipal branches of that stream bears the name Paduca on
some of the older maps. It is therefore clear that, what-
ever may have been the Sioux name of the Comanches, the
name Paduca was not considered by the early writers as
belonging to that tribe. On the whole the explanation
given by Dr. James, in his narrative of Long’s Expedition
of 1820, and which is followed by Gallatin in his Synopsis
of the Indian Tribes of North America (1836), appears the
most reasonable of any — that the name Paduca was for-
merly applied collectively to the tribes living at the head-
waters of the Platte, who have since become known under
the separate names of Arapahoes, Kiowas, etc.
The Paducas, or more particularly the Arapahoes, who
were the principal tribe of the Paduca country, formerly
held a sort of fair on a tributary of the south Platte near the
site of the modern city of Denver, Colo. The stream was
at one time known, from this circumstance, as Grand En-
campment creek. At this rendezvous the Arapahoes acted
as middlemen in the exchange of articles obtained from
Spaniards on the south with those obtained through their
kindred, the Grosventres and the Cheyennes, from the Brit-
ish on the north. It is conjectured by some authorities that
the name Arapaho signifies “ he who buys or trades,” and
has reference to this early custom. However this may be,
the fact itself is an interesting one in connection with our
present studies, disclosing as it does the advancing shadow
of the trader long before his actualappearanceuponthe scene.
878 THE ARAPAHOES.
THE ARAPAHOES (Algonquian).
In the western migration of the Arapahoes and Grosven-
tres, as already noted, the Arapahoes went to the headwaters
of the Missouri, and then, turning south, made their way
to the eastern base of the Rocky mountains, in what is now
the state of Colorado. These Indians are described in the
modern scientific classification as the Southern Arapahoes,
the Northern Arapahoes having remained on the head-
waters of the Yellowstone. Be this as it may, no such dis-
tinction was known to the traders and trappers, and no
Indians of this name are ever spoken of as dwelling in the
northern mountains. When the Arapahoes are mentioned
the tribe in the valley of the South Platte is always meant.
In physical characteristics the Arapahoes resembled their
neighbors very closely. In stature they were rather inferior
to the Missouri Indians, but much like them in physiogno-
my and dress. A distinctive feature of their tribal custom
was the tattooed breast. They gave great attention to the
hair, which they permitted to grow to great length, some-
times even increasing its length by the use of false hair.
Their clothing was like that of the tribes farther north, but
contained in addition blankets and other articles obtained
from the Spaniards.
The Arapahoes were exclusively a wandering tribe, liv-
ing in skin tents, and during the period of the fur trade
numbered about 2,500 souls. With most of their neighbors,
except the Utahs and Pawnees, they were at peace. In the
earlier years of the trade they were very hostile to Ameri-
cans, but in 1832 Captain Gant, of the firm of Gant and
Blackwell, established a trading post in their country on the
Arkansas river and succeeded in gaining their confidence.
After that time they were uniformly friendly to the whites.
While not aggressively warlike, they were good fighters, and
were held in high respect by their enemies. They were a
brave, candid and honest people, and were much less given
to beggary and thieving than were most other Indians.
THE KIOWAS. 879
They have proven among the most peaceable of the tribes,
and the most willing to be led in the new pathway of civili-
zation.
The Arapahoes were an important tribe to the traders,
and their country was always one of active operations. Not
only were they good fur producers, but they were accom-
plished traders themselves, from their long experience
already alluded to, in this sort of business. Many posts
were established in their country upon the headwaters of
both the Arkansas and the South Platte.
THE KIOWAS.
So far as known this tribe is of an independent linguis-
tic stock and its history is very obscure. Modern research
claims to have traced its course of migration from the
' headwaters of the Missouri southeastward through the
country of the Crows, who became their allies, and that of
the Sioux and Cheyennes, who became their enemies.
What their first alliances were when they reached the
Paduca country is uncertain. They are known to have been
in close association with the Arapahoes, and as late as
1820 Long found them so associated as if in permanent
union. But it is equally certain that their later and stronger
alliance was with the Comanches. Their habitat, therefore,
was that of their associates, and comprised the entire Arapa-
ho and Comanche country. If it were possible to designate
any one situation as more resorted to by them than another,
it was the valley of the Arkansas on the south side near the
Purgatory river.
The Kiowas were not a tribe well known to the traders,
and almost no mention is made of them in the annals of the
times. A late authority says that they were “the most
predatory and blood-thirsty”’ of the prairie tribes, and
that “they have probably killed more white men in propor-
tion to their number than any of the others.” This state-_
ment is not at all borne out by the records of the fur trade,
in which encounters with the Kiowas are rarely mentioned.
S8O THE COMANCHES.
It is possible that these Indians have been given credit by
later historians for many of the outrages committed by the
Comanches. The long and close association of the two
tribes would make an error of this kind possible. On the
other hand, the same cause may have led the traders to sup-
pose that they were being annoyed by Comanches when
in reality it was the Kiowas. In either case it is a fact that
the literature of the fur trade has very little to say of the
Kiowas but a great deal of the Comanches.
There was an early trading post of the American Fur
Company named Fort Kiowa. Strange to say, it was lo-
cated on the Missouri river near the mouth of White river,
far away from the actual home of the Kiowas.
THE COMANCHES (Shoshonean).
These Indians were the only tribe of the great Shoshonean
family who dwelt exclusively upon the plains. They were
formerly confederated with the eastern Shoshones, who still
reside in Wyoming, but from some cause, supposed to be
the pressure of their enemies, the Sioux, the two bands
separated, the Comanches moving southeast into the plains,
while their associates turned back into the mountains.
Their habitat was south of the Arkansas, in portions of
what are now Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico.
The Comanches were, in the fullest sense, a wandering
people, and it is doubtful if any other American tribe led
an existence of such continuous movement from place to
place. They, of course, had no permanent villages, but:
lived in skin tents, and their entire domestic economy was
ordered with reference to the supreme condition of mobility.
It is even impossible to fix upon any locality in their country
which they frequented more than another. They moved
north and south, according to the season, but for the rest
they went wherever fortune promised to be most propitious.
The worldly wealth of the Comanches and the prime
object of their solicitude was the horse. They were the
most expert horsemen among the American Indians, not
THE PUEBLOS. SSI
even excepting the Pawnees and the Crows. They were
trained to ride from infancy, and their remarkable skill in
handling their animals has been the wonder of all who have
witnessed it. They marked their animals with a slit in the
ear, and they could not be induced for love nor money to
part with their favorite steeds.
In personal characteristics they were not particularly dif-
ferent from the Arapahoes. They wore less clothing than
the northern tribes, for their climate did not require so
much, but they were quite as proud and fastidious about
what they did wear. It is noted of these Indians, as a re-
markable exception, that they did not care for liquor.
The Comanches were a very dangerous tribe, and were
enemies to nearly all their neighbors, whether white or red.
They were the terror of the southern plains, and their name
carried a shudder wherever it was heard, from the Brazos
to the Rio Grande del Norte. They were of very little use
to the traders, for they were not good fur gatherers, but
they always had to be reckoned with on account of their
abandoned and lawless character. Some of the most
lamentable tragedies of the Santa Fe Trail are chargeable
to them.
THE PUEBLOS.
The Indians who dwelt in the northern provinces of Mex-
ico, which are now comprised within the territories of New
Mexico and Arizona, played little part in the history of the
fur trade, and only a very brief reference will be made to
them here. They were too far south for a profitable fur-
bearing country, and it was only occasionally that the regu-
lar fur traders came in contact with them. The Santa Fe
trader had limited dealings with them, and they were, of
course, encountered along the trails between the Rio Grande
valley and California.
The Pueblos dwelt mainly in the valley of the Rio
Grande del Norte. The name Pueblo has no ethnic signi-
ficance in this connection; that is, it is not in any sense a tri-
882 THE NAVAJOS.
bal or family name, but refers to those tribes of Indians in
New Mexico who built and occupied the characteristic vil-
lages called pueblos. They comprised at least three distinct
linguistic stocks, of which the Keresan and Tafioan were the
more important. They were distinguished from surround-
ing tribes by their peaceful and unwarlike nature, the fixity
of their abode, their quiet pursuit of peaceful vocations, and
their marked advance in the cruder arts of civilized life.
The Pueblos of New Mexico were an industrious, pros-
perous and numerous people when the Spaniards entered
their country, but the effects of the political and religious
system which was imposed upon them were sufficient, in the
course of two centuries, to reduce them to scarcely a tenth
of their former number. In the course of long intercourse
with their conquerors, they adopted many of the Spanish
customs, while the latter borrowed extensively from the
Pueblos, so that, with continuous intermarriage, the result
was an amalgam in which the predominant element was a
matter of doubt.
These Indians exercised no particular influence upon the
American fur trade; but owing to the similarity of their
food, dress, and other articles of daily life to those of the
Mexicans, the Santa Fe trade did undoubtedly receive ma-
terial assistance from them. They were always on friendly
terms with the Americans.
THE NAVAJOS (Athabascan).
These Indians are said to have numbered, during the era
of the fur trade, about ten thousand people, and their coun-
try lay west of Santa Fe between the Little Colorado and
San Juan rivers as far-as to the Colorado of the West.
They dwelt in rude huts, somewhat resembling those of
northern permanent villages. The characteristic produc-
tion of their tribal life, which has given them a wide noto-
riety, was the Navajo blanket, an article of such close
texture that it is nearly as impervious to water as a rubber
blanket. The value of a genuine Navajo blanket, like a
THE APACHES. 883
genuine Oriental rug, is very great. Many of these blank-
ets found their way East through the medium of the Santa
Fe traders.
The Navajos were never subjugated by the Spaniards,
with whom they remained in a state of almost perpetual
hostility. Neither did the Catholic missionaries make any
permanent impression upon them. A peace arrangement
was generally made between them and the New Mexican
government every spring, on terms dictated by the Indians.
It was a wily move on their part to secure sufficient tran-
quillity to plant their crops and conduct their trade. At the
close of the season their predatory habits were generally
resumed. They seem to have directed their hostile efforts
only against the Mexicans. There is no evidence that they
were unfriendly to the Americans, and the fur traders
operated freely in their country.
THE APACHES (Athabascan).
The various tribes that fall under the above designation
occupied the vast territory now comprised in the southern
half of the territories of New Mexico and Arizona. The
Apaches were a wandering tribe without fixed habitations,
using skin tents when they used any. Taken all in all, they
have probably been the most troublesome Indians within the
territorial limits of the United States. They are the only
Indians who, in their habitual state, lived neither upon agri-
culture nor upon the chase, but by robbery from surround-
ing peoples. In their whole career of more than two centu-
ries, the Spanish and Republican governments never subju-
gated nor converted them, and, in fact, seem to have existed
only by their sufferance. They were too shrewd to wish
to drive the Spaniards out entirely, for it was from them
that their chief tribute came. They were wont to conclude
a temporary peace with one province while waging war on
another, and the booty obtained from the latter they would
trade in the former. In this way they laid a tribute upon
the provinces, which constituted in large part their sub-
884 RELATIONS WITH AMERICANS.
sistence. While the raias of the Apaches did not reach the
extent of actual extermination of the white population, and
probably were not intended to, they had, in later years,
caused the abandonment of most of the ranches which were
located away from the villages, and the country wore a
depopulated appearance in consequence. It is said that the
Mexican population was gradually diminishing from this
cause in the years immediately preceding the American con-
quest.
The Apaches for many years were rather friendly than
otherwise to the American traders, and the Mexican author-
ities concluded from this that there was some mutual under-
standing or alliance; but there never was. In 1838 the
treacherous conduct of a party of Americans in killing a
large number of Apaches whom they had accosted as friends
put an end to the amicable relations between the two peoples.
Among the problems which the conquest of New Mexico
brought to the United States, the most difficult one was the
Apache problem, and this it took nearly two score years to
settle.
THE SHOSHONES OR SNAKES (Shoshonean).
These Indians were the type of the Shoshonean family,
and the name Snake * was of such general use as almost to
obscure the family name. The tribe dwelt in the upper
portions of the valleys of Green and Snake rivers and the
northern portion of Bear river valley. What their popula-
tion was at the time when the traders first came to their
country is very uncertain, for it is not known just what
bands of Indians different writers intended to include in
their estimates.
* Alexander Ross is authority for the statement that this name arose
from the characteristic of these Indians in quickly concealing them-
selves when once discovered. They seemed to glide away in the
grass, sage brush and rocks and disappear with all the subtlety of a
serpent.
Father De Smet gives the following: “They are called Snakes
because in their poverty they are reduced like reptiles to the condition
of digging in the ground and seeking nourishment from roots.”
SHOSHONES OR SNAKES. 885
In physical characteristics the Shoshones were inferior
to the tribes heretofore described. The precarious liveli-
hood which they were able to extract from the poverty of
the country could not sustain a stalwart physique, and they
did not present that appearance of hardy manhood that was
generally observed among the Indians farther east. They
were, however, excellent horsemen and good warriors, and
their martial prowess, if not to be compared with that of the
‘Blackfeet and the Crows, was held in wholesome respect
by the neighboring tribes.
They were exclusively a wandering tribe. The
necessities of subsistence, which was mainly derived from
the buffalo and the salmon, compelled long excursions,
either to the lower rivers, where fish were taken, or to the
plains of the Missouri, in quest of buffalo. From the nature
of their means of subsistence, these Indians partook of the
traits and customs of both the fishing and hunting Indians.
While the Shoshones were a brave, active and shrewd peo-
ple, they were, on the other hand, suspicious, treacherous and
jealous. They were not openly hostile, but were such invet-
erate beggars and thieves that they were considered an intol-
erable nuisance. With the whites they were always at
peace after their first few years’ acquaintance. They were
good fur gatherers, though not so useful in this respect as
the Missouri Indians. There were only two trading posts
in their territory, Fort Boisé, in the western portion, and
Fort Hall, in the central. The establishment of both these
posts, however, arose from peculiar conditions of compe-
tition among the traders, and not from any real necessity
to accommodate the trade of the Indians. The usual meth-
od of exploiting the resources of the Snake country was
by means of white trapping parties, who also traded such
furs as the Indians might have to sell.
The Shoshones were on friendly terms with the Nez
Perces and Flatheads at the north, but were generally at
war with the Crows, Blackfeet, and Utahs on the eastern
border of their country. Necessity compelled them to go
886 THE BANNOCKS AND PAI-UTES.
annually into the country of the Blackfeet to hunt buffalo,
but on such occasions they went in sufficient force to bid
defiance to their enemies. Frequently these expeditions
were made in alliance with the Nez Perces or Flatheads.
THE BANNOCKS (Shoshonean).
The Bannocks were the most warlike of the Shoshone
tribes except the Comanches, and in this respect compared
favorably with the plains tribes across the mountains. But
while they were better specimens of Indian manhood than
were certain other tribes of this stock, they were of a more
troublesome character than the Snakes, and had the repu-
tation of being a sort of lawless banditti, frequently infest-
ing the routes of travel and causing trouble to the emigrants.
The trappers had many hostile encounters with them, and
kept a careful watch upon them whenever in their vicinity.
One of the earliest notices of them is the pursuit of one of
their bands in 1824 by a party under James Bridger, then a
young man, for the purpose of retaking some horses which
they had stolen. The country of the Bannocks was the
territory between the Great Salt Lake and Snake river, and
it lay athwart both the Oregon and California Trails.
PAI-UTES OR ROOT DIGGERS (Shoshonean).
These were the most degraded and pitiable of all the
Indian tribes of the West. They dwelt in that desolate
waste to the west and south of Great Salt Lake, where
nature has dealt with a more niggardly hand than in any
other part of the country. The barrenness of the country
‘was reflected in the character of the inhabitants. They
were inferior in stature, almost devoid of clothing, and
nearly always in a condition bordering on starvation.
Their degradation is attested by the fact that they subsisted
to a considerable extent upon ants, other insects and vermin,
and also upon roots, from which fact they were called by
the opprobrious epithet of Root Diggers, or simply Diggers.
In the winter they sought shelter among the sage brush and
THE UTAHS. 887
lived upon grass seed, or anything that the scanty gratuity
of nature afforded them. They had no horses, and were
armed only with the bow and arrow. ‘They were “ destitute
of all the necessaries that make life even desirable.” Asa
rule they were friendly to the whites, more perhaps through
fear than otherwise. ‘They were harmless through inca-
pacity to do harm. ‘They were, however, disposed to theft,
and at times made their annoyances from this cause almost
insufferable. This was the excuse offered for the frightful
massacre of these Indians by the Walker party in 1833, of
which an account is given elsewhere.
The name Root Diggers has by some writers been restrict-
ed to the tribe of Pai-Utes; but it was used with reference
to several tribes. It was an epithet derived from a manner
of life, and the trappers applied it to any of those degraded
peoples who dug roots for a subsistence, or depended upon
other equally precarious means.
THE UTAHS (Shoshonean).
The Utahs dwelt north of the Navajo country in the
valleys of Green and Grand rivers. The crest of the Wa-
satch range on the west and the Uintah mountains on the
north denoted the limits of their country in those directions.
They are said to have numbered about 2,500 souls.
They were a predatory tribe, never having lived in fixed
villages. In physical development they ranked with the
Bannocks and Shoshones, and were rated as the best horse-
men living west of the mountains. They bore an excellent
character among the hunters, as being less addicted to thiev-
ing, dishonesty, gambling, and other native vices, than were
most of the other tribes. They were a thrifty race as
Indians go, well clothed, and were industrious in gathering
furs. While not belligerent in character, they were a brave
and warlike people when occasion made war necessary.
Their excursions for buffalo brought them into frequent
contact with the Cheyennes, Arapahoes, and other eastern
tribes, with whom they had many deadly encounters.
888 MINOR TRIBES.
Their country was rich in beaver, and was well known to
the traders, who built no fewer than four trading posts
within it. These were Robidoux’s two posts on the Uintah
and Gunnison rivers, Fort Davy Crockett in Brown’s Hole,
and Fraeb’s post on the Yampah. -TIrails led from their
country to Santa Fe, and they were well known to the New
Mexicans, whose language, it is said, they understood.
THE TUKUARIKA OR SHEEPEATERS (Shoshonean).
This small and insignificant tribe was distinguished as
being the only tribe of Indians ever known to have regularly
dwelt within any part of that singular region which is. now
the Yellowstone National Park.
THE MOKIS AND THE MOJAVES.
In the far south dwelt two tribes, the Mokis (Shoshonean),
in the valley of the Colorado Chiquito, and the Mojaves
(Yuman) on the lower course of the Colorado of the West,
who are occasionally mentioned in fur trade literature. It
was the latter tribe who massacred the party of Jedediah S.
Smith in August, 1827, while crossing the river on a raft
en route to California.
THE NEZ PERCES (Shahapitian).
These Indians were frequently called by the name Cho-
punnish, and by their own name, Sahaptin. The name
Flathead was also applied to them in ignorance of actual
tribal distinctions on the coast, and much confusion has
arisen thereby. For example, the famous Flathead deputa-
tion to St. Louis in 1832 for the purpose of seeking religious
instruction was undoubtedly composed of Nez Perce In-
dians. There is, in fact, a great deal in the nomenclature of
the Western tribes which is still without adequate explana-
tion, for the customs which would seem to have given rise
to certain names had almost entirely passed away even in
the days of the fur trade. Thus one of the most intelligent
and observing of the traders,” who spent five years in the
*W. A. Ferris, Life in the Rocky Mountains.
FURTHER CONFUSION OF NAMES. 889
Far West from 1830 to 1835, and passed one winter among
the Flatheads, refers to these incongruities as follows:
“* Several tribes of mountain Indians, it will be observed,
have names that would be supposed descriptive of some
national peculiarity. Among these are the Blackfeet, Flat-
heads, Pend d’ Oreilles, Nez Perces, Grosventres, etc. And
_yet it is a fact that of these the first have the whitest feet ;
there is not among the next a deformed head; ..
there is not among the Nez Perces an individual having
any part of the nose perforated; nor do any of the Pend d’
Oreilles wear ornaments in their ears; and finally, the Gros-
ventres are as slim as any other Indians, and corpulency
among them as rare.’ Whether the Nez Perces ever did
wear nose pendants does not seem to be a matter of definite
record, and it may well be doubted. It was a name given
by the French, and probably with no more reason than were
the names Grosventre or Pied-noir. But it is a fact that
the Nez Perces did follow to some extent the custom of flat-
ening their heads, although it died out after the advent of
the white man. Mrs. Whitman (1836) records her im-
pressions upon finding children undergoing this process of
_ deformation, and there is a positive record by an eye-wit-
ness that the deputation of Indians who went to St. Louis
in 1832 had flattened foreheads.* It was, in fact, the Nez
Perces rather than the tribe which bears the name Flatheads,
that practiced this deformation, and it was one of the few
mountain tribes that did so, although the custom prevailed
extensively among the natives of the coast. The early
nomenclature, which still obtains, was therefore given in
ignorance of actual conditions, and is largely misleading.
That this same confusion of names existed before the advent
of the white man is evident from the following observation
by Lewis and Clark: “The custom, indeed, of flattening
the head by artificial pressure during infancy prevails among
all the nations that we have seen west of the Rocky Moun-
tains. To the east of that barrier the fashion is so perfectly
8 See Appendix D,
890 THE NEZ PERCES.
unknown that there the western Indians, with the exception
of the Snake nations, are designated by the common name:
Flatheads.” It is singular that this name should finally
have settled on the tribe where the practice prevailed the
least.* |
The country of the Nez Perces was the lower watershed
of the Snake river, including particularly the valleys of the
Clearwater and Salmon rivers on the east, and the Grande
Ronde river on the west. The tribe was the most important
of the Shahaptian stock, and played a notable part in the fur
trade and missionary history of the Columbia valley. Phys-
ically they were a well-developed race, and compared favor-
ably with the tribes east of the mountains. They were an
equestrian tribe, and were well supplied with horses. Thetr
subsistence was both the salmon and buffalo. They made
annual excursions to the Judith Basin to lay in their supply
of meat, and the trail habitually followed in these journeys
is still well known to the white inhabitants of that country.
All later accounts agree that the Nez Perces were a highly
honorable tribe in their dealings with the whites and with
other Indians, although a different impression was made
upon Lewis and Clark and upon the Astorians. They were
a brave and powerful tribe, and their relations with all their
neighbors, except the Blackfeet, were friendly. They were
always staunch friends of the whites, and it can never cease
to be a matter of keen regret that their tribal history could
not have been brought to an end without the mournful
tragedy of the war of 1877.
One of the most noteworthy characteristics of this tribe
and of the Flatheads also was their deeply religious nature.
They eagerly sought instruction in the Christian religion,
adopted its rites and ceremonies with zeal, and became the
*A striking illustration of this confusion of names is found in a
little incident which occurred in St. Louis when one of a deputation
of Indians from these distant tribes died there and was buried in the
Catholic burying ground. The record of burial refers to this Indian as
a “Nez Perce of the Choponeek tribe, a nation called by the name
Flathead.”
THE FLATHEADS, 8gI
most fruitful field for missionary effort of any of the West-
ern tribes.
Although the Nez Perce country belonged commercially
to the Hudson Bay Company, the American traders operated
in it extensively. It was rich in beaver fur, and this, with
the abundance of horses to be had from these Indians,
made them an important tribe to the trade. Fort Nez
Perce or Walla Walla, a Hudson Bay Company post, was
located on Snake river a little above the mouth of the Walla
Walla.
THE FLATHEADS OR SALISH (Salishan). -
The Flatheads here referred to dwelt in the extreme west-
ern part of Montana between the Continental Divide on the
east and the Bitter Root range on the west. Their country
was drained by Clark’s Fork of the Columbia, and its center
was near the large and beautiful Flathead Lake.
The characteristics of the Nez Perce Indians were accen-
tuated in the Flatheads. They were extremely receptive
of religious influences; always friendly to the whites, and
to most of the neighboring tribes; brave and vigorous in
battle, and intensely warlike when war was unavoidable.
Nearly all their hostile encounters were with the Blackfeet,
but these were many. If we may accept the evidence of
Father De Smet, whose affection for these Indians made
him rather partial towards them, they were more than a
match in battle with their enemies.
The Flathead country was very rich in beaver, and was
a great resort for trappers. The Hudson Bay Company
maintained a regular post there.
OTHER TRIBES OF THE COLUMBIA VALLEY.
The valley of the Columbia lying outside the pale of the
American fur trade, except in the country of the Shoshones,
Nez Perces, and Flatheads, no detailed notice will be given
of the tribes dwelling there. The number of these tribes
was very great. In the upper Columbia valley were the
&g2 COAST TRIBES.
Pend d’Oreilles, Coeur d’Alénes, Spokanes, Cayuses, Walla
Wallas, and Umatillas, who resembled in characteristics and
customs the Flatheads and the Nez Perces. The Indians
along the lower Columbia were a very different sort of
people, owing to their different environment and means of
subsistence. The Indians of the plains and the central
mountain regions were horsemen, accustomed to the most
hardy exercises in the pursuit of game and war and they
were generally muscular and well formed. The coast In-
dians, on the other hand, subsisted principally upon fish,
passed their time largely on or around the water, paddling
in their canoes, or engaged in the unathletic work of still
fishing. They were less strong physically than the plains
Indians, of inferior build, and in no sense comparable to
them as specimens of physical manhood. They became,
indeed, very expert in the arts that pertain to canoe naviga-
tion and fishing, but they were physically ill-formed, with
“broad, flat feet, thick ankles and crooked legs.”’
The tribes near the mouth of the Columbia were gener-
ally friendly to the whites, and were of great importance
in the early fur trade of this section. They were much
addicted to small thieving and were inveterate gamblers,
though not so fond of liquor as most other tribes. They
were excellent traffickers, having quickly learned the white
man’s value of their wares and were as shrewd as any one
in driving a bargain.
Near the Cascades and Dalles of the Columbia dwelt some
of the most troublesome tribes to be found in the entire
West. They were sagacious and shrewd, but entirely with-
out conscience, and were the boldest and most successful
thieves and robbers among the aboriginal tribes. This
locality had long been a trading emporium between the
Indians of the upper and lower Columbia, and the Indians
there seem to have acted as middlemen in the traffic. Dur-
ing the career of the Pacific Fur Company on the Columbia
these Indians were a constant peril to expeditions passe
up and down the : river. 3
oye a)
DEMCO, INC. 38-2971 |
Sides
tlie ln
| : | bi casera a oe eg nts : ES eae an eat pee Fe
TN
» ?
ee
s