THE OLD SANTA FE TRAIL - COLONEL HENRY INMAN (surface ebook reader .TXT) 📗
- Author: COLONEL HENRY INMAN
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It Was Claimed by These Old Traders, When They Related this To Me,
That The Savage Generally Was Not Satisfied, Always Insisting Upon
Having More Sticks Placed on The Pile. I Suspect, However, That The
Trader Was Ever Prepared for This, And Never Gave More Than He
Originally Intended. The Price Of That Initial Robe Having Been
Determined on, It Governed the Price Of All The Rest For The Whole
Trade, Regardless Of Size Or Fineness, For That Day. What Was Traded
For Was Then Placed by The Indian On One Side Of The Lodge, And The
Trader Put What He Was To Give On The Other. After Prices Had Been
Agreed upon, Business Went On Very Rapidly, And Many Thousand Dollars'
Worth Of Valuable Furs Were Soon Collected by The Successful Trader,
Which He Shipped to St. Louis And Converted into Gold.
In A Few Years, Relatively, The Indian Began To Appreciate The Value
Of Our Medium Of Exchange And The Power It Gave Him To Secure At The
Stores In the Widely Scattered hamlets And At The Military Posts On
The Plains, Those Things He Coveted, At A Fairer Equivalent Than In
The Uncertain And Complicated method Of Direct Barter. It Was Not
Very Long After The Advent Of The Overland Coaches On The Santa Fe
Trail, That Our Currency, Even The Greenbacks, Had Assumed a Value
To The Savage, Which He At Least Partially Understood. Whenever The
Indians Successfully Raided the Stages The Mail Sacks Were No Longer
Torn To Pieces Or Thrown Aside As Worthless, But Every Letter Was
Carefully Scrutinized for Possible Bills.
I Well Remember, When The Small Copper Cent, With Its Spread Eagle
Upon It, Was First Issued, About The Year 1857, How The Soldiers Of
A Frontier Garrison Where I Was Stationed at The Time Palmed them Off
Upon The Simple Savages As Two Dollar And A Half Gold Pieces, Which
They Resembled as Long As They Retained their Brightness, And With
Which The Indians Were Familiar, As Many Were Received by The Troops
From The Paymaster Every Two Months, The Savages Receiving Them In
Turn For Horses And Other Things Purchased of Them By The Soldiers.
I Have Known Of Indians Who Gave Nuggets Of Gold For Common Calico
Shirts Costing Two Dollars In that Region And Seventy-Five Cents In
The States, While The Lump Of Precious Metal Was Worth, Perhaps,
Five Or Seven Dollars. As Late As Twenty-Eight Years Ago, I Have
Traded for Beautifully Smoke-Tanned and Porcupine-Embroidered
Buffalo-Robes For My Own Use, Giving In exchange A Mere Loaf Of Bread
Or A Cupful Of Brown Sugar.
Very Early In the History Of The United states, In 1786, The Government,
Under The Authority Of Congress, Established a Plan Of Trade With
The Indians. It Comprised supplying all Their Physical Wants Without
Profit; Factories, Or Stations As They Were Called, Were Erected at
Points That Were Then On The Remote Frontier; Where Factors, Clerks,
And Interpreters Were Stationed. The Factors Furnished goods Of All
Kinds To The Indians, And Received from Them In exchange Furs And
Peltries. There Was An Officer In charge Of All These Stations Called
The Superintendent Of Indian Trade, Appointed by The President.
As Far Back As 1821, There Were Stations At Prairie Du Chien,
Fort Edward, Fort Osage, With Branches At Chicago, Green Bay In
Arkansas, On The Red river, And Other Places In the Then Far West.
These Stations Were Movable, And Changed from Time To Time To Suit The
Convenience Of The Indians. In 1822 The Whole System Was Abolished
By Act Of Congress, And Its Affairs Wound Up, The American Fur Company,
The Missouri Fur Company, And A Host Of Others Having By That Time
Become Powerful. Like The Great Corporations Of To-Day, They
Succeeded in supplanting The Government Establishments. Of Course,
The Indians Of The Remote Plains, Which Included all The Vast Region
West Of The Missouri River, Never Had The Benefits Of The Government
Trading Establishments, But Were Left To The Tender Mercies Of The
Old Plainsmen And Trappers.
Until The Railroad Reached the Mountains, When The March Of A Wonderful
Immigration Closely Followed, Usurping The Lands Claimed by The
Savages, And The Latter Were Driven, Perforce, Upon Reservations,
The Winter Camps Of The Kiowas, Arapahoes, And Cheyennes Were Strung
Along The Old Trail For Miles, Wherever A Belt Of Timber On The Margin
Of The Arkansas, Or Its Tributaries, Could Be Found Large Enough To
Furnish Fuel For Domestic Purposes And Cottonwood Bark For The Vast
Herds Of Ponies In the Severe Snow-Storms.
At These Various Points The Indians Congregated to Trade With The
Whites. As Stated, Bent'S Fort, The Pueblo Fort, And Big Timbers
Were Favourite Resorts, And The Trappers And Old Hunters Passed a
Lively Three Or Four Months Every Year, Indulging In the Amusements
I Have Referred to. They Were Also Wonderful Story-Tellers, And
Around Their Camp-Fires Many A Tale Of Terrible Adventure With Indians
And Vicious Animals Was Nightly Related.
Baptiste Brown Was One Of The Most Famous Trappers. Few Men Had Seen
More Of Wild Life In the Great Prairie Wilderness. He Had Hunted
With Nearly Every Tribe Of Indians On The Plains And In the Mountains,
Was Often At Bent'S Fort, And His Soul-Stirring Narratives Made Him
A Most Welcome Guest At The Camp-Fire.
He Lived most Of His Time In the Wind River Mountains, In a Beautiful
Little Valley Named after Him "Brown'S Hole." It Has A Place On The
Maps To-Day, And Is On What Was Then Called prairie River, Or
Sheetskadee, By The Indians; It Is Now Known As Green River, And Is
The Source Of The Great Colorado.
The Valley, Which Is Several Thousand Feet Above The Sea-Level,
Is About Fifteen Miles In circumference, Surrounded by Lofty Hills,
And Is Aptly, Though Not Elegantly, Characterized as A "Hole."
The Mountain-Grass Is Of The Most Nutritious Quality; Groves Of
Cottonwood Trees And Willows Are Scattered through The Sequestered
Spot, And The River, Which Enters It From The North, Is A Magnificent
Stream; In fact, It Is The Very Ideal Of A Hunter'S Headquarters.
The Temperature Is Very Equable, And At One Time, Years Ago, Hundreds
Of Trappers Made It Their Winter Quarters. Indians, Too, Of All The
Northern Tribes, But More Especially The Arapahoes, Frequented it To
Trade With The White Men.
Baptiste Brown Was A Canadian Who Spoke Villanous French And Worse
English; His Vocabulary Being Largely Interspersed with "Enfant De
Garce," "Sacre," "Sacre Enfant," And "Damn" Until It Was A Difficult
Matter To Tell What He Was Talking about.
He Was Married to An Arapahoe Squaw, And His Strange Wooing and
Winning Of The Dusky Maiden Is A Thrilling Love-Story.
Among The Maidens Who Came With The Arapahoes, When That Tribe Made
A Visit To "Brown'S Hole" One Winter For The Purpose Of Trading With
The Whites, Was A Young, Merry, And Very Handsome Girl, Named "Unami,"
Who After A Few Interviews Completely Captured baptiste'S Heart.
Nothing Was More Common, As I Have Stated, Than Marriages Between
The Trappers And A Beautiful Redskin. Isolated absolutely From Women
Of His Own Colour, The Poor Mountaineer Forgets He Is White, Which,
Considering The Embrowning Influence Of Constant Exposure And Sunlight,
Is Not So Marvellous After All. For A Portion Of The Year There Is
No Hunting, And Then Idleness Is The Order Of The Day. At Such Times
The Mountaineer Visits The Lodges Of His Dark Neighbours For Amusement,
And In the Spirited dance Many A Heart Is Lost To The Squaws.
The Young Trapper, Like Other Enamoured ones Of His Sex In civilization,
Lingers Around The House Of His Fair Sweetheart While She Transforms
The Soft Skin Of The Doe Into Moccasins, Ornamenting Them Richly
With Glittering Beads Or The Coloured quills Of The Porcupine, All
The Time Lightening The Long Hours With The Plain-Songs Of Their Tribe.
It Was Upon An Occasion Of This Character That Baptiste, Then In the
Prime Of His Youthful Manhood, First Loved the Dark-Eyed arapahoe.
The Course Open To Him Was To Woo And Win Her; But Alas! Savage Papas
Are Just Like Fathers In the Best Civilization--The Only Difference
Between Them Is That The Former Are More Open And Matter-Of-Fact,
Since In savage Etiquette A Consideration Is Required in exchange
For The Daughter, Which Belongs Exclusively To The Parent, And Must
Be Of Equal Marketable Value To The Girl.
The Usual Method Is To Select Your Best Horse, Take Him To The Lodge
Of Your Inamorata'S Parents, Tie Him To A Tree, And Walk Away.
If The Animal Is Considered a Fair Exchange, Matters Are Soon Settled
Satisfactorily; If Not, Other Gifts Must Be Added.
At This Juncture Poor Baptiste Was In a Bad Fix; He Had Disposed of
All His Season'S Earnings For His Winter'S Subsistence, Much Of Which
Consisted of An Ample Supply Of Whiskey And Tobacco; So He Had
Nothing Left Wherewith To Purchase The Indispensable Horse. Without
The Animal No Wife Was To Be Had, And He Was In a Terrible Predicament;
For The Hunting Season Was Long Since Over, And It Wanted a Whole
Month Of The Time For A New Starting Out.
Baptiste Was A Very Determined man, However, And He Shouldered his
Rifle, Intent On Accomplishing By A Laborious Prosecution Of The
Chase The Means Of Winning His Loved one From Her Parents,
Notwithstanding That The Elements And The Times Were Against Him.
He Worked industriously, And After Many Days Was Rewarded by A Goodly
Supply Of Beavers, Otters, And Mink Which He Had Trapped, Besides
Many A Deerskin Whose Wearer He Had Shot. Returning To His Lodge,
Where He Cached his Peltry, He Again Started out For The Forest With
Hope Filling His Heart. Three Weeks Passed in indifferent Success,
When One Morning, Having Entered a Deep Canyon, Which Evidently Led
Out To An Open Prairie Where He Thought Game Might Be Found, While
Busy Cutting His Way Through A Thicket Of Briers With His Knife,
He Suddenly Came Upon A Little Valley, Where He Saw What Caused him
To Retrace His Footsteps Into The Thicket.
And Here It Is Necessary To Relate A Custom Peculiar To All Indian
Tribes. No Young Man, Though His Father Were The Greatest Chief In
The Nation, Can Range Himself Among The Warriors, Be Entitled to
Enter The Marriage State, Or Enjoy Any Other Rights Of Savage
Citizenship Until He Shall Have Performed some Act Of Personal
Bravery And Daring, Or Be Sprinkled with The Blood Of His Enemies.
In The Early Springtime, Therefore, All The Young Men Who Are Of The
Proper Age Band Themselves Together And Take To The Forest In search
--Like The Knight-Errant Of Old--Of Adventure And Danger. Having
Decided upon A Secluded and Secret Spot, They Collect A Number Of
Poles From Twenty To Thirty Feet In length, And, Lashing Them Together
At The Small Ends, Form A Huge Conical Lodge, Which They Cover With
Grass And Boughs. Inside They Deposit Various Articles, With Which
To "Make Medicine," Or As A Propitiatory Offering To The Great Spirit;
Generally A Green Buffalo Head, Kettles, Scalps, Blankets, And Other
Things Of Value, Of Which The Most Prominent And Revered is The
Sacred pipe. The Party Then Enters The Lodge And The First Ceremony
Is Smoking This Pipe. One Of The Young Men Fills It With Tobacco And
Herbs, Places A Coal On It From The Fire That Has Been Already
Kindled in the Lodge, And, Taking The Stem In his Mouth, Inhales The
Smoke And Expels It Through His Nostrils. The Ground Is Touched with
The Bowl, The Four Points Of The Compass Are In turn Saluted, And
With Various Ceremonies It Makes The Round Of The Lodge. After Many
Days Of Feasting and Dancing The Party Is Ready For A Campaign, When
They Abandon The Lodge, And It Is Death For Any One Else To Enter,
Or By Any Means To Desecrate It While Its Projectors Are Absent.
It Was Upon One Of These Mystic Lodges That Baptiste Had Accidentally
Stumbled, And Strange Thoughts Flashed through His Mind; For Within
The Sacred place Were Articles, Doubtless, Of Value More Than
Sufficient To Purchase The Necessary Horse With Which He Could Win
The Fair Unami. Baptiste Was Sorely Tempted, But There Was An
Instinctive Respect For Religion In the Minds Of The Old Trappers,
And Brown Had Too Much Honour To Think Of Robbing The Indian Temple,
Although He Distinctly Remembered a Time When A Poor White Trapper,
Having Been Robbed of His Poncho At The Beginning Of Winter, Made
Free With A Blanket He Had Found In one Of These Arapahoe Sacred
Lodges. When He Was Brought Before The Medicine Men Of The Tribe,
Charged with The Sacrilege, His Defence, That, Having Been Robbed,
The Great Spirit Took Pity On Him And Pointed out The Blanket And
Ordered him To Clothe Himself, Was Considered good, On The Theory
That The Great Spirit Had An Undoubted right To Give Away His Own
Property; Consequently The Trapper Was Set Free.
Brown, After
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