Here, In An
Encampment Of The Natives, He Met With Six White Men, Wanderers
From The Main Expedition Of Mr. Hunt, Who, After Having Had Their
Respective Shares Of Adventures And Mishaps, Had Fortunately Come
Together At This Place.
Three of these men were Turcotte, La
Chapelle, and Francis Landry; the three Canadian voyageurs who,
it may be
Recollected, had left Mr. Crooks in February, in the
neighborhood of Snake River, being dismayed by the increasing
hardships of the journey, and fearful of perishing of hunger.
They had returned to a Snake encampment, where they passed the
residue of the winter.
Early in the spring, being utterly destitute, and in great
extremity, and having worn out the hospitality of the Snakes,
they determined to avail themselves of the buried treasures
within their knowledge. They accordingly informed the Snake
chieftains that they knew where a great quantity of goods had
been left in caches, enough to enrich the whole tribe; and
offered to conduct them to the place, on condition of being
rewarded with horses and provisions. The chieftains pledged their
faith and honor as great men and Snakes, and the three Canadians
conducted them to the place of deposit at the Caldron Linn. This
is the way that the savages got knowledge of the caches, and not
by following the tracks of wolves, as Mr. Stuart had supposed.
Never did money diggers turn up a miser's hoard with more eager
delight, than did the savages lay open the treasures of the
caches.
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