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Show AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 52 ·1 f r h. ves ami·a Indian tribes nearlyd constant pen o ou b Without wives an double their present num ers. lonely way; without £ ·t us on our children to com or t resort to when hungry; no well-furnished wagons o .I t mporarily made ; our roads be£ o re us but htr ai ks. e f the animals that h a d · · f t e S IllS 0 clothing consisting o . . fl and often whole days fallen before our ~nernng n .~sl, without food; occa-ffi . t . tions or entue Y d on insu cien ra ' d the entire night, an h le party on guar h. sionally our w o h h unceasing watc Ing h d f g us t roug . our strengt eser In fli . s that made theus ap-and fatigue; the·se are su enn.g magnitude my power pear trivial, and ours surpass In of relation. . ts were subjected to Without doubt, many ~migrh·an 1 part of the em- 1 h d h. dunng t e ear y considerab e ar s Ip, I d the Indians came . · b th loss of catt e, an h Igratwn, Y e f bl But it was throug in for their full share oh t ame.many were lost; and extreme carelessness td ath .solosses upon the Indians h h h~e~~~ ~ · t ose w o d heir stock, or a portion of It, have frequently foun . ~ far in advance of them, or harnessed to wago~s 81 • er The morality of the lagging carelesslyt I£n th;I;or:~~eed very much that of whites I have no oun b 1 d . for there are plenty of the former,. e ong-t ·h e rteo tmra~inn's on the routes ' who would not hesitate· to Itnakg e an ox or. t wo ' if any chance ~o ff. e. r-ed for getting hold of them. d 1 d d But to return. At the time when I ha codn G· u the to p"roceed W.i th the part y, w e wer.e encampde thI n £ rke rairie away from any stream (haVIng p~sse e .. o ~f the Platte), and were again in a starving conditi?n. Except an occasional hare or rabbi:, there was no sign of su lying ourselves with any kind. of game. Wpep t rave1 e d on ti·n we arrived at Pilot Butte, where JAMES P. BECKWOURTH. 53 two misfortunes befell us. A great portion of our horses were stolen by the Crow Indians, and General Ashley was taken sick, caused, beyond doubt, by exposure and insufficient fare. Our condition was growing worse and worse ; and, as a measure best calculated to procure relief, we all resolved to go on a general hunt, and bring home something to supply our pressing necessities. All who were able, therefore, started in different directions, our customary mode of hunting. I traveled, as near as I could judge, about ten miles from the camp, and saw no signs of game. I reached a high point of land, and, on taking a general survey, I discovered a river which I had never seen in this region before. It was of considerable size, flowing four or five miles distant, and on its banks I observed acres of land covered with moving masses of buffalo. I hailed this as a perfect Godsend, and was overjoyed with the feeling of security infused by my opportune discovery. However, fatigued and weak, I accelerated my return to the camp, and communicated my success to my companions. Their faces brightened up at the intelligence, and all were impatient to be at them. rrhe general, on learning my intelligence, desired' us to move forward to the river with what horses we had left, and each man to carry a pack on his back of the goods that remained after loading the cattle. He farther desired us to roll up snow to provide him with a shelter, and to return the next day to see if he survived. The men, in their eagerness to get to the river (which is now called Green River), loaded themselves so heavily that three or four were left with nothing but their rifles to carry. Though my feelings toward the general were still unfriendly (knowing that he had / |
