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Show 284 AU'rOBIOGUAPHY OF them to come and kill him. He was eventually shot ~ow,n, probably by. a bullet fired by one of Fitzpatnck s men, who, bemg encamped with the Cheyennes had joined them for the sport of shooting Indians: There were two small boys in the party of Crows, who went as moccasin-:arriers. They were taken prisoners, a?d placed b~h1nd two warriors to be conveyed to 1th e· village. While on the way thither' each d rew h' ~~ rnife and plunged it into the body of his custodi ea. ch k.i lling .h is man. The little fiello ws were cuta nto, pieces In an Instant, which was their own choice, rath-er than to be captive to the enemy. When I returned from escorting Fitzpatrick, I informed the Cr~ws of the fate of their party; but I withheld all mentwn of the participation of the whites. Thereupon ensued another dreadful time of mo . Wh I urn1ng. en parted from Fitzpatrick and party, they all appeared very grateful for their deliverance and . f they had not lost their horses when they enc~m ed I I K.I:esudml e the! never would have entertained oth~· b~t nen Y feelmgs toward me. 'I S.h Io rt.l y after this . occurrence we held a gran d coun- CI Ie ative to certain national affairs. I th . proceeded, taking Winters and fc • e~ aga~n Wh our warrwrs With me. ha en ~e had appro~ched within a mile of the fort, I . ppenm~ to be considerably in advance of the t In ascendmg a small hill wh h pa~ y, d fi ' en near t e summit I Fpe ere care ully over, an d d I· scovered a party of Bla'c k eet, not more than three hundred y d a· . tin b h . ar s Istant, sit-b 1 y t e roadside, smoking their pipes. I drew ac r my head, for I saw one Indian comin directl upon me, and motioned m . g Y Th d . . Y men to a ravine close by . en, Ismountmg· I cr t b k . d 1 d ' . ep ac to the brow of the hill an ay own flat until the Indian's head came W.i t h1' n' I • JAMES P. BECKWOURTH. 285 sight. I sprang instantly to my feet, and shot him dead. In less than a rninute I had his scalp; ran back and mounted my horse; then, riding to the summit of the hill, I displayed the scalp to the Indians, who were advancing at their topmost speed. As soon as they saw me they turned and fled, thinking, no doubt, that I had a strong force lying in wait. I rode on and· overtook my party, and we reached the fort without molestation or pursuit. About two hours after, the Indians presented themselves before the fort, and challenged us to come out and fight. We hoisted the scalp I had just taken in answer to the invitation. I consider we may thank my acquired habit of caution for our escape, for, had the Indian surprised us instead of my surprising him, it is more than probable that every one of us would have been killed. We were detained at the fort for the space of eight days, on account of the numbers of the Black Feet prowling about. They finally left, and as soon as we were satisfied that the way was clear, we loaded ten pack-horses with goods, and Winters and myselftaking two men each-returned to the Crow vi!lage. The villages hnd separated during our absence; Long Hair and his village having taken one direction, and mine having taken another. Winters took LongHair's trail, with the goods ; I followed my village through the Bad Pass, and overtook it at Black Panther Creek. I then went on to Wind River, trapping and hunting very successfully all the way, the journey occupying about a month. We went into winter quarters under Wind River Mountain, at the mouth of Po-po-on-che .. (Long Grass Creek). Here, after gathering a sufficient quantity of buffalo and elk horns, we supplied ourselves with a large outfit of fine new bows. The horns |
