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Show I 304 AUTOBIOGRAPHY UF eel, and removed the effects of the present fort to the new site, and then immediately set about constructing a new post. We measured off one hundred and eighty yards square, which we inclosed as quickly as possible with hewn timber eighteen feet high, and of sufficient thickness to resist a rifle ball: all the houses required for the accommodation of the inmates were commodiously constructed inside. Having finished the constn1ction of the fort, I gave full instructions for the management of its affairs, and then departed for the village, where my presence was required to incite the Indians to devote themselves to trapping and hunting buffalo, for which service I was paid by the American Fur Company. As. I was about starting, a deputation of fifty Asne- bomes came to the post, leaving a letter from Mr. M 'Kenzie at ~he lower fort addressed to me, requesting m~ to constrain ~he As-ne-boines into a treaty of peace With the Crows, In order that their incessant wars might be b~ought to a ~lose, and the interests of the company less Interfered With. Had they aiTived earlier while the village was present at the old fort, I would have immediateLy called a council of the nation, and had the business. settled.. I seriously regretted their inopportune aiTival, as It not only delayed the conclusion of the ~roposed peace, which was in every way desirable, but 1t would have saved me a very hazardous and anxious journey with the whole deputation of hostile Indians on our way to the village, where I had but one companion as a guarantee for my security. I was aware that the Indians .remembered many a horse-borrowing adventure wherein I had taken an active part, and I had had too much experience of Indian character not to appreciate to the full the imminent da~ger I incurred JAMES P. BECKWOURTH. 305 I in trusting myself with this band of savages in our in-tended journey across the wilderness. Mr. l{ean, a native of Massachusetts, was 1ny companion on this excursion. We started on foot, in company with the party of As-ne-boines. Every thing went well until our fourth day out. We were traveling leisurely along, the Indians in close conversation among themselves, of which I understood but little-not enough to make out the subject of their consultation, though I mistrusted I formed the matter of their discourse. One of the chiefs and his son were a few rods in advance, in close conversation. The party at length halted, and sat down on the grass to smoke. My companion, unsuspicious of evil, started on to kill buffalo while the party rested. The chief and his son, who were in advance, returned, and passed one on each side of me. I instantly heard a gun-click, which I felt certain was the sound of cocking it. I turned my head, and saw the chief's son with his piece leveled ready to shoot. I sprang to my feet, and grasped the barrel of his gun just as he discharged it, the load passing into the air. I drew my battle-axe, and raised it to strike the treacherous rascal down ; but a chief arrested n1y arm, saying, as nearly as I could understand him, " Hold ! Don't strike him : he is a fool ! " A general melee then ensued among the party ; high words were bandied, and there seemed an equal division among them on the propriety of taking my life. By this time I had withdrawn a few yards, and stood facing them, with 1ny rifle ready cocked. On hearing the report, my companion ran back, and, seeing how matters stood, exclaimed, '' There is a fort just ahead, let us run and get into it ; we can then fight the whole . parcel of the treacherous devils." |
