His Party
Consisted Of Four Canadians, Giles Le Clerc, Francois Landry,
Jean Baptiste Turcot, And Andre La Chapelle, Together With Two
Hunters, Pierre Dorion And Pierre Delaunay; Dorion, As Usual,
Being Accompanied By His Wife And Children.
The objects of this
expedition were twofold:
To trap beaver, and to search for the
three hunters, Robinson, Hoback, and Rezner.
In the course of the autumn, Reed lost one man, Landry, by death;
another one, Pierre Delaunay, who was of a sullen, perverse
disposition, left him in a moody fit, and was never heard of
afterwards. The number of his party was not, however, reduced by
these losses, as the three hunters, Robinson, Hoback, and Rezner,
had joined it.
Reed now built a house on the Snake River, for their winter
quarters; which being completed, the party set about trapping.
Rezner, Le Clerc, and Pierre Dorion went about five days' journey
from the wintering house, to a part of the country well stocked
with beaver. Here they put up a hut, and proceeded to trap with
great success. While the men were out hunting, Pierre Dorion's
wife remained at home to dress the skins and prepare the meals.
She was thus employed one evening about the beginning of January,
cooking the supper of the hunters, when she heard footsteps, and
Le Clerc staggered, pale and bleeding, into the hut. He informed
her that a party of savages had surprised them, while at their
traps, and had killed Rezner and her husband. He had barely
strength left to give this information, when he sank upon the
ground.
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