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Show 41 [ 174 J the mountains. Mr. Bondean informed me that he had pnrrha~ecl thirty, and the lower fort eighty head of fine cattle, some of them of th Durham brccu. J\1r. Fitzpatrick whose name and high reputation nr<' fatuiliar ro ali who intcre t themsclvrs in tlr<' history of this comrtry, lr :1<l reached Lnrn.mie in conrpany with 1\lr. Bridgt'r; n11d the emigran ts wen" iortnnate enough to obtain hi scrvires to guide them a: far a the British post of Fort lJall, <1hotlt two hundred and fifty tuiles b<•yo11d the South Pass of tlw mountaitlS. They had stnrtrd f'or this post on the 4th of .Tn ly, and, innnccliai •ly after tiH'ir dt'parturc, a war pany of tin •e hu11urcd :wd fifty braves at ont npo11 their trail. A ~ their principal ch ief or p:ntisan had lost somr. r ·lations in the n'ccnt .fi!31lt. nucl had sworn to kill the first whites on hi~ patl1, it was s upJHl~ <·u that their irrtcntiou was to atruck tire party, should a favorable opportunity o(J{·r; or, if thry were foilrd in their pri ncipal objret by the vigilance of Mr. Fit zpatrick, contC' Ilt themselvc. with stealing horse and cutting ofl' tragglcrs. These had b '<'11 gone but a few days previous to our arrival. The efl'ect of the engagement with J\lr. Frapp had. bren gr •atly to ir ritatt' th~ hostile ~pirit of tiH' sa vag 'S ; and inmrcdiatcly suhst'q ut• Jit to that cvc11t the Gro Ventre Irrdians hud united. with the Oglallah ·and CllcyClllle. and taken th ·field in great force- o far as l could a~ccrtain, to the amount of eight hundred lodges. 'l'ht•ir ot,ject was to mako an nttack on a camp of . nalce and Crow Indians, and a body of about one lnlllclrcd whites, wlro had made a rendezvous somewhere in tlte Green river vnl le y, or on the Sweet Water. After spending ome time in buO'alo lltlntiug in tire twigbborhood of rile .1\Icuicin How mountain, they were to cro~s over to tiH' Gr'Cll river waters, aud retumto Laramie by way of til<' South Pass and the Sweet Water vnllcy. According to the calculation of the Indians, Mr. Houclcau irdormc<l tne they were somewhere ncar the head of the Sweet Warer. l subseqtwntly learrwd that the party led by Mr. Fitzpatrick w ·re overtaken by their pursuers ncar Rock Independence, in the valley of the Sweet Water; but his skill and resolntiuu avec] them from surprise, and, small a~ his force was, they did not venture to altack him opcllly. 1 I ere they lo. t one of their party by an nccidrnt, and, continuing up the valley, they en me , ndd nly upon the Ia rae vi IIane. From these they m t with a doubtful rc ·eption. L ong rcsidrncr. and litn1iliar acqnaintance IJad given to .Mr. Fitzpa trick grea t perso11al influence nHwnu them, and a porLion of them were di~pOS('d to let him pass quietly· but by far the greater number were• iucl ined to hostile measure:;;; and th r.hiefs spt•nt the whole of one night, dnri11g which they kept the little party 111 tlw ruid t of them, ir1 council, debat ing- the question of attacking llwrn the next day; but the innuencl! of "th · Brokrn lland,'' as they ralll'd .Mr. Fi tzpa trick, (one or his hands having becll shattcrrd by the bursting of a gnrl,) at length prevailed, aud obt:1ined for tlll'rll :111 llllmolrsted passage; bnt they stcruly as!1med !tim that this path wu no. longer open, and that any party of whit •:::; which shonld h<'reaftcr be f'onnd upott it would n1C'ct with certain destruction. From all that f have brett able to learn, I have no doubt that tlte f'migrants owe their livrs to Mr. Fit zpatrick. Thus it would appear that tlr' conrttry was sw;urnin~ with scntlerrd war pnrti •s; nnd wlr c•n I ll<·ard, dnriwr tire day, the v~tr io u· contra dictory alld c xng~<>rated mnwrs wlriclr \V('I(' illC<'. s:urtly rcpc~nt1'd to tlrc~ nl , I was not ~urpnscd that so llltl r lr alarm prt•vail1•d amo11~ IllY nwtJ. Car$Pil, 01re of tltc !Jest aud mosl cxpcrieuccd nwnutainL'crs, fully supporccd liJe |
