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Show 86 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF troops. The soldiers listened with astonishment to the wild adventures of the mountaineers, and would, in turn. , engage our attention with recitals of their own expenence. At length we arrived at Council Bluffs, where we remained three days, feeling ourselves almost at home. We of course had a good time at the Bluffs, and the three days passed in continual festivities. Providing ourselves with a good boat, we bade adieu to the troops, who stayed behind at the Bluffs, and continued our descent of the river. The current of the Missouri is swift, but to our. impatient minds a locomotive would have seemed too tardy in removing us from the scenes of hardship and privation we had just gone through to the homes of our friends, our sweethearts, our wives and little ones. Those who reside in maritime places, and have witnessed the hardy tars step ashore in their native land, can form an adequate idea of the happy return of the mountaineers from their wanderings on the Plains to St.Louis, which is their great sea-port; or, if a pun is admissible, I may perhaps say see-port; for there we see our old friends, there we see our fun and merriment, and there we sometimes " see sights." Arrived at St. Charles, twenty miles above St.Louis, the general dispatched a courier to his friends, 1\fessrs. Warndorf and Tracy, to inform them of his great success, and that he would be in with his cargo the next day about noon. When we came in sight of the city we were saluted by a piece of artillery, which continued its discharges until we landed at the market-place. There were not less than a thousand persons present, who hailed our landing with shouts which deafen~d our ears. Those JAMES P. BECKWOURTH. 87 who had parents, brothers and sisters, wives or sweethearts, met them at the landing; and such a rushing, crowding, pulling, hauling, weeping, and laughing I had never before witnessed. Every one had learned our approach by the courier. My father, who had moved to St. Louis, was in the crowd, and was overjoyed to see me. Ife had lost a part of his property by being surety for other men, and I could see that age had left its traces upon him during the little time that I had been absent. Our cargo was . soon landed and stored, the men receiving information that they would be paid off that afternoon at the store of Messrs. W arndorf and Tracy. We accordingly repaired thither in a body to receive our pay. 'The full amount was counted out in silver to each man, except three, namely, La Roche, Pellow, and mysel£ To us the general gave twenty-five dollars each, telling us he would see us there again. I immediately thought of my difficulty with hirn in the mountains, and concluded that the remainder of my pay was to be withheld on that account. We t~ok our twenty-five dollars each, and went a"\yay, askmg no farther questions, though we took no trouble to conceal our thoughts. Before we left the countingroom, the general told us to repair to any hotel we chose, and have whatever we liked to call for until the next morning, and he would pay the bill. Accordingly, we all repaired to Le Barras's hotel, and had a glorious time of it. The house was thronged with our friends besides, who all felt themselves included in the general's hospitality. General Ashley called on us the next morning, and, perceiving that we had ''run all night," told us to keep on another day at his expense, adding that, if we wished to indulge in |