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Show [ 243] 38 had hcco111 ~o much \vorn ns to be scarcely able to tra\ el. In this sil uation, th<'y were not likely to find encoura~t>m ent_ in th_e hostile attitude of the Indians and the new aud unexpected difficulties wlw.:h spHmg- up before them. '1'h~y \\·ere told that the country was entirely S\\' 'Pl of grass, and that few or rio buffalo \\·ere to be found on their line of route; and with their weakened animals it woulu be impossible for them to transport their heavy wtwon. m•cr the :nountain. Under these circumstances, they disposed of their warrons and cattle at the forts; selling them at the prices they had paid i11 n~e States, and tnkiug in cxclwngc rofl'ee and sugar nt one dollar a pound, anJ miserable \VOITl out hor es, which died before they rca~hed the mountnins. l'\1r. Boudca.u informed t}le that he had purchased tlurty, nnd lhe lower fort eighty head of fine cattle, SOllie of tlu~m of the Dutlwm breed. .Mr. Fitzpatrick, whose name and high reputation me familiar to all _wl~o int 'rest them~eln·s in thr. history of this country, hnd reached Larmn1e nt company with Ivlr. Bridger; aud the migrants were fortunate enough to obtain flis SCtTic s to guide them ns far as tlle llritish post of Fort n.nll, about two hundred and fifly miles bryond the South Pass of the lllOUiltams. They lwd started for this post on the fourth of July, and immediately after th 'ir departure, a war party of three hundred aud fifty braves sat out upon their trail. As tlwir principal cltief or pa1ti ~ an hnd lost some r 'lations in the rec nt tight, and had sworn to kill the first wh itcs on his pnth, it was suppas d tl1nt their intention wns to attack the pmty, c:hodd a favorable opportunity ofTcr· or, if tlley were foiled in their principal object by the Yigilance of :.Mr. F itzpntlick, coutent themselves with stealing horses and cutting ofr stlazg-lerc::. 'fhc~e had been gone but a few dnys previous to our arrival. 'J'IIc rflcct of the engagcnwut with Mr. F~npp hnd beeu greatly lo irritate 1hc hostile spirit of the savag-cQ; anti immediately subsequent to 11Hlt event, the Grot! Ventre Indians had united with the Oglallahs and Cheyennes, and taken the field in great force, so far as I could a certain, to the amount of eight hundred lodge ', Their object was to make an attack on a camp of Snake a1:d Urow Indians, a11d a body of about one hun<Jrcd whites, who had nwd<~ a r 'lH.lf·zvous c:om ·where in the Green River \'alley, or on the weet 'Vntrr. After spending sometime in brfialo hunting in the llcighborhoocl of the Aledic.inc Bow lllOUiltain, they were to croc: over to the Green Ri\'er water ·, and return to Laramie by way of the South Pass t\llcl the Sweet. \Vater ,·alley. According to the calculation of the Indians, Mr. Boudcau in formed me, they were somewhere neat the head of the Swcdt W at cr. 1 subsequently learned that the party led by !vir. l•,itzpatrick were overtaken by their pur ue1s, nenr Rock lndepentlence, in the valley of the Sweet Water; but his kill nud resolution saved them from surprise, aud small as his force wns, they did not Yenturc to attack him oprnly. Ilcre they lost one of their pnrty by nn accident, and contiuuing up the valley, they cn111e suddenly upon the large villngc. From these they met with a doubtful rccrptiou. Loug 1csidcnce and familiar acquaintance had given to Mr. Fitzpatrick gr<>nt personal inflncnce among them, and a portion of them were dispo!:icd to let him pas quietly; but by far the greater number were inclincu to ho tile measures, and the chiefs spent the whole of one night, during which th~y kept the little party in the midst of them, in council, dchntjng the quc~t1on of attacking them the next day; but the infit1cuce of the "Broken Hanel,'' a ~ they culled Mr. Fitzpatrick (one of his hands having been 8hattrrcd by the burstirw of a gun), at I ngth prevailed, and obtained for tltem an unmoletJtcd pas!:::\age; but they sternly assured him that this I \ 39 [ 243] path wns no longer open, and that any party of whites which should h crl'nfter be fouml upon it, would m ·et wirh cerrain destructiou. From all that I have been able to learn, I have no doubt that the emigrants owe t heir live.; to Mr. Firzpatliek. 'I'hus it would appear that the country was swarrnino- with scattered . 0 war parties; auu when I h 'anl dnriug llw day, the vnrious contradic10ry and exaggerated rumors which were incessantly repeated to them, l was not surpri ·ed that so much alarm p~·cvailcd among my men. CarsotJ, one of the best and mo:3t cxperieuced mountaineers, fully supported the opinion given by Bridger of the dangerous ~tate of the country, and openly expressed his conviction that we could not escape without some ~harp encounters with the Indians. Jn addition to this, he made his will, and among the circnmstances which were constantly occurring to increase their alarm, this was the mo t unfortunate; and I found that a number of my party had beccHne so lllllch intirnidutcd, that they had requested to be discharged at this place. I dined to-day at Fort Platte, whi ch has been mentioned as situated at the junction of Laramie river, with the Nebraska. Ilere I heard a confirmation of the statements given above. The party o' 'varriors which had stnrted a few days since on the trail of the ernigra11ts, was expected back in fourteen day., to join the villarre with which their families and the old men had remained. The arriv:l of the latter was hourly expected, and some lndiuns lHwe just come in who had left them on the Laramie fork, aoout twenty miles above. Mr. Bissonette one of the ~radcrd belong-ing to Fo1 t Platte, urged tho propriety of taking 'with 111e au interpreter and two or three old men of the village, in which case he thoncrht there would be little or no hal.ard in encountering any of the wnr parties. 'rhe pri11cipal danger was in being attacked before they should know who we were. 'fhcy had ~ confused idea of the nnm bcrs and power of on r people, and dreaded to bnng npon thenrclvcs the military force of the United States. 'rhis gentleman, who spoke the language fluently, offered his sc1viccs to accompan.y me so far as the Red Butte:;. lie was desirous to join the lar<Ye ~ party on 1ts return, Lor purposes of trade, and it would suit his views as wei~ as m~ own, to go with us to the Butles; beyond which point it would be nnpo stblt~ to prevail on a Sioux to venture, on account of their fear of ~he Crows. 1-'ront Fort Laramie to the Red Buttes, hy the ordinary road, 1s one hundred and tltirty five miles; and thourrh only ou the threshold of 1 . ' h (anger, 1t se t~m c~d better to ~ccnrc the services of an iutcrpretcr for the par-tial distance, than to have none at all. . So far ns fre~1 ncnt interrn ptiou from the Indians would all ow, we occu-pted our:::;clves Hl makirw some astronomi cal calctllations and brin o-incr up .., ' h 0 the general map to this sta~c of our jo1trncy, but the tent was o-cn rally occnpied by a succes~ion of onr ceremonious visi tors. Some cam~ for presents, and others for it1formation of onr obj·ect i11 comino- to the country· n ' now ~nd then one wo_uld dart up to tho tent on horseback, jerk ofi his t~ap~m_:r.. , a1~d Sti.~lld silen tly at thr. door, holu i n~ his horse by the halter, stgn,fyJtig hts dcstrc to trade. Occasionally a savacre wonld stalk in with au invitation ton. fen ·t of honor, a dog feast, aml dclibcmtely it dow'n and wait qtltctly until I was ready to accompany him. I wont to one · the wotnt! ll and chiluren were sittin ~r ontsHic the lod crc and we took tmr' seats ~ C' ' on bnll'.do robe~ spread aronnd. 'I'hc dng was in a large pot over the fire ia tiw middle of the lodge, and immediately on our arrival was dished up |
