The Width
Of The River Enabled Them To Keep At A Sufficient Distance, And
They Soon Landed At Fort Cass.
This was a mere fortification
against Indians; being a stockade of about one hundred and thirty
feet square, with two bastions at the extreme corners.
M'Tulloch,
an agent of the American Company, was stationed there with twenty
men; two boats of fifteen tons burden were lying here; but at
certain seasons of the year a steamboat can come up to the fort.
They had scarcely arrived, when the Blackfeet warriors made their
appearance on the opposite bank, displaying two American flags in
token of amity. They plunged into the river, swam across, and
were kindly received at the fort. They were some of the very men
who had been engaged, the year previously, in the battle at
Pierre's Hole, and a fierce-looking set of fellows they were;
tall and hawk-nosed, and very much resembling the Crows. They
professed to be on an amicable errand, to make peace with the
Crows, and set off in all haste, before night, to overtake them.
Wyeth predicted that they would lose their scalps; for he had
heard the Crows denounce vengeance on them, for having murdered
two of their warriors who had ventured among them on the faith of
a treaty of peace. It is probable, however, that this pacific
errand was all a pretence, and that the real object of the
Blackfeet braves was to hang about the skirts of the Crow band,
steal their horses, and take the scalps of stragglers.
At Fort Cass, Mr. Wyeth disposed of some packages of beaver, and
a quantity of buffalo robes. On the following morning (August
18th), he once more launched his bull boat, and proceeded down
the Yellowstone, which inclined in an east-northeast direction.
The river had alluvial bottoms, fringed with great quantities of
the sweet cotton-wood, and interrupted occasionally by "bluffs"
of sandstone. The current occasionally brings down fragments of
granite and porphyry.
In the course of the day, they saw something moving on the bank
among the trees, which they mistook for game of some kind; and,
being in want of provisions, pulled toward shore. They
discovered, just in time, a party of Blackfeet, lurking in the
thickets, and sheered, with all speed, to the opposite side of
the river.
After a time, they came in sight of a gang of elk. Wyeth was
immediately for pursuing them, rifle in hand, but saw evident
signs of dissatisfaction in his half-breed hunters; who
considered him as trenching upon their province, and meddling
with things quite above his capacity; for these veterans of the
wilderness are exceedingly pragmatical, on points of venery and
woodcraft, and tenacious of their superiority; looking down with
infinite contempt upon all raw beginners. The two worthies,
therefore, sallied forth themselves, but after a time returned
empty-handed. They laid the blame, however, entirely on their
guns; two miserable old pieces with flint locks, which, with all
their picking and hammering, were continually apt to miss fire.
These great boasters of the wilderness, however, are very often
exceeding bad shots, and fortunate it is for them when they have
old flint guns to bear the blame.
The next day they passed where a great herd of buffalo was
bellowing on a prairie. Again the Castor and Pollux of the
wilderness sallied forth, and again their flint guns were at
fault, and missed fire, and nothing went off but the buffalo.
Wyeth now found there was danger of losing his dinner if he
depended upon his hunters; he took rifle in hand, therefore, and
went forth himself. In the course of an hour he returned laden
with buffalo meat, to the great mortification of the two regular
hunters, who were annoyed at being eclipsed by a greenhorn.
All hands now set to work to prepare the midday repast. A fire
was made under an immense cotton-wood tree, that overshadowed a
beautiful piece of meadow land; rich morsels of buffalo hump were
soon roasting before it; in a hearty and prolonged repast, the
two unsuccessful hunters gradually recovered from their
mortification; threatened to discard their old flint guns as soon
as they should reach the settlements, and boasted more than ever
of the wonderful shots they had made, when they had guns that
never missed fire.
Having hauled up their boat to dry in the sun, previous to making
their repast, the voyagers now set it once more afloat, and
proceeded on their way. They had constructed a sail out of their
old tent, which they hoisted whenever the wind was favorable, and
thus skimmed along down the stream. Their voyage was pleasant,
notwithstanding the perils by sea and land, with which they were
environed. Whenever they could they encamped on islands for the
greater security. If on the mainland, and in a dangerous
neighborhood, they would shift their camp after dark, leaving
their fire burning, dropping down the river some distance, and
making no fire at their second encampment. Sometimes they would
float all night with the current; one keeping watch and steering
while the rest slept. in such case, they would haul their boat on
shore, at noon of the following day to dry; for notwithstanding
every precaution, she was gradually getting water-soaked and
rotten.
There was something pleasingly solemn and mysterious in thus
floating down these wild rivers at night. The purity of the
atmosphere in these elevated regions gave additional splendor to
the stars, and heightened the magnificence of the firmament. The
occasional rush and laving of the waters; the vague sounds from
the surrounding wilderness; the dreary howl, or rather whine of
wolves from the plains; the low grunting and bellowing of the
buffalo, and the shrill neighing of the elk, struck the ear with
an effect unknown in the daytime.
The two knowing hunters had scarcely recovered from one
mortification when they were fated to experience another. As the
boat was gliding swiftly round a low promontory, thinly covered
with trees, one of them gave the alarm of Indians.
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