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Show [ 174 J great imprudenre · and therefore, though relucta nt lr, I d<~te rmin e d to leave the:n. l{andolph 'bad bern the li fe of the c.amp, a nd th e.'.' pet it gorron'' wa nlllc.h regretted by the men, to whom hts b.uoya ut spm.ts had_ a ffor~ eJ great amnst' lllCllt. They all , howe.ve r, ag r~c d m the P' ~ lHWt~ o{ leavlllg him nt the fort , because, a they sa id, he mtght cost the li ve'. o( some of rhe men in a fight with the IJJdians. . July 2 l.-A portiou of our bagga~e? wtth our field not: s a nJ. obscrvatious and several in st rttnw.nts, were lett at the fort. Ont' ol the gentlemen, Mr. 'Galpin, took clt a rge o~ a barometer, which he engaged to obs~rve during my a b ::;e n cL~ i and I tntrustecl to Ra ndolph, by \~ay of occupation, the regular wi11ding .up of two ~) f my chrononJetcrs, which we re amo n ~ the instruments le ft. Om obsc rvn twns showed that the chronometer wluch I retaiued for the continuation of onr vL>yage had preserved its rate in a rnot satisfacto ry manner. As deduced from it. the lonoitudc of Fort Laramie is 7h. 01' 2 1", a nu from lun ar di stance 7h. 01 ' 29" ; giving for the adopted longitude 10-1° 4 7 ' 43" .. Compa rin? tile barometrical o~ c rva t ~o n::l made during our stay here, w1th those ol Dr. G. E ngelman ~ t St. Lou1s we fi nd for the elevati nn of tltc fort a bove the Gul f of .Mex 1co 4,4 70 feet. The winter climate here is rema rkably mild for the latitude; but ra iuy weather is frequeut, and the place is celcu rated for winds, of wl~ich ~h e P.revailing one i::; wes t. An east wiud itl summer, and a south wuHl 111 wtnter, Gre said to be al ways arcolllpanied with rain . W c were ready to depa rt ; the tenrs were struck, the mules geared up, and our horses saddled, auu we walked up to the fort to take the stirrup cup with om fri e nd ~ in an cxce!lcnt homc-bre.weu prepa rat ion. \V'hile thus pleasantly engaged, seated w one of tlw hltle r oo! chamber, , at the door of which a man had been statiot1 cd to preveut a ll i11trusion from the Inuians, a nnmher of chiefs, . everal of them powerful fi tlc- looking men, forced their way into tile room in spite of all oppo ilion. Ha nding me the following letter, they took their sca ts in sil ence : "FoRT PLAT'r E, J nillet 1, 1842. "M:l.'t. FnEMONT: Les ches s'ctaut assembles prcse ntemcnt me di ent de vous avertir de ne poiut vous mettre en route, a vant que lc parti de jeuues gens, qui est en d c h or~, soient de retour. De plus, ils me disent qu'ils sont trc cer tains qu' ils fe rotlt feu a Ia prc m ie rl~ rencontrc. lis doivent Gtre de retour da ns sept a 11llit jour.. Excusez si je vous fa is cos observations, mai il me semble qH'il est man devoir de vans avcrtir du dauger. Mcme ue pins, les chefs sont les portenrs ue ce bill et, q IIi vous defendent de par tir a\'ant le retour de guerriers. "Je snis votrc obcissa llt se rvit eur, " JOSEPH BISSONETTE, '' Par L. ll. CliARTRAlN. "Les noms de quelques chej<;.- Lc Cha pea u de L outre, le Casseur de Flccbes, Ia Nnit Na ir, la Queue de Bmnf." [Translation.] ,, FORT PLATTE, .l ll (IJ 1, lS-!2. '· l\ln. FRE MONT : The chiefs, having assembleu in cou ncil, have just told me to warn you not to set ant before the party of yo u11g men wiJich 45 [ 174 ] is now ant shall have returned. Furthermore, they toll me that tlwy a rc very snre they will fi re u p n ~1 you as so n~l ns they t!l <'rt yo ~1. They aro e xpcc.ted back i~ 1 seven or ctgh t days. bxcnsc 1~e lor maln11g the o obscrva tiuns but tt cern - my duty to waru you of dallg"t' r. ..l\lloreover, tho chi efs w it~ prohibit your . cttiug out before the return ol' tile warrior' are the bea rers of thi. not<'. ., I am your obedient . crvattt, '' JOSEPH HIS .. ONET Tl~, " By L. B. HAHTHAIN. '' Nanlfs of some of the chiefs.-Titc Otter Ilat, the Breaker of Arrows, the• Black Ntght ; the Hull's Ta il." After reading this, I ment ioned its purport to my comptttHnns; a11d, seemg that all wen~ fully posse ed of it contents, one of' the Iudian ' rose up, att d, havi ng fi r t sha ken bauds witlt I!lt> , spo!\C ns f'o! lows : "You have come a1uoug ns at a bnd tJme. ~ o tl JC of our people ha ve been killed, and our young men, who are go ne to the llJOlll ttains, are eager to avenge the hluod of their n· la.tious whiclt !tas h <'C tl shed by the wl~ites. Our y ou ng men a rt.! had, and , if they mct:t yo u, they wil l belwve th at yon are carrying goode; a nd :1 lll1Ullnition to their enemies, and will fire tt pon ynu. Yon ltave to ld n ' that tl 1i willlll a kc war. \Ve lwow that our great fath er has many sold iers and big gnus a ttd we arc anx io us to have our lives. vVc lovl' the whites, aud a rt> desi rou.:; of peace. ThinkirJg of' all the e things, we lw vc dctcrlllined to ke;cp yon here urtt il onr warrio rs re turn. We ~He glad to see you amortg u . Onr fath er is rich, and \ \<"C expected tl1at you would have brouglt t presents to us-hors<·s, aud guus, and bla nkets. But we :1.rc• glad to see yo11. vVc lool npon you r coming as tltc light which goes befo re the un; for you will tell onr great fath er that you have cen us, a11d that we a te 11ak ·d aml poo r, alld have 11othing to eat; and he will send us a ll the c thing:-:." lie wu followed by the ot hers, to the same e fleet. The obsc rvntions of tlte savage a ppea red reaso na ble ; hut f was aware that they had in view only the prese11t object of tktain i ll ~ nw, auu were un will ing 1 should go fn rther into the conutry. In reply, [ asked them, throuoh tlw interpretation of l\l r. Boudt>an, to sel r t two or thrre of their nuru ber to accomp:my 11 u ntil we should 111ect their people-th ey ·hould Spread their robe. in my tcrtt a11d eat at my ta hlc, a nd on om rctnm I would give them prcseuts i11 rr ward of th eir servicl' ·. Tiley decl ined , saying that there were 110 young ll l(>tl left in tile villngc, <tllu that they were too old to travel so many days on lwrsebDck, a nd prefe rred now to . mokc their pipes in the lodge, and I ·t the warriors go on tl te war path. Besides, they !tau 110 power o ver the yo ung men, and wf' re a fraid to mter fe re with rhein. I 11 my tnm 1 addressed thrm : ' · You say that you love the wb1 tc~; why have yon ki lled . n many already thi ·pring? Yon say that you love the whi te , and arc full of many expression of friendship to us; but you arc not willing to undergo the fatigue of a few clay ' ride to save our lives. ~~e uo uot believe what you have said, a nd will uot listen to yon. Whatever a chief among us tells his soldiers to do, is done. We arc the oluien:; of the great c h ief~ your fat her. Ilc has told ns to come here and sec t his couutry, aud all the Indian. , h i~ children. Why |
