THE OLD SANTA FE TRAIL - COLONEL HENRY INMAN (surface ebook reader .TXT) 📗
- Author: COLONEL HENRY INMAN
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It Was Absolutely Necessary, Or Could Be Done With Perfect Safety.
On Occasions When He Had No Beaver, Upon Which He Generally Subsisted,
He Ventured to Kill A Deer, And After Refreshing His Empty Stomach
With A Portion Of The Flesh, He Placed the Carcass In one End Of The
Canoe. It Was His Invariable Custom To Sleep In his Canoe At Night,
Moored to The Shore, And Once When He Had Laid In a Supply Of Venison
He Was Startled in his Sleep By The Tramping Of Something In the
Bushes On The Bank. Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! Went The Footsteps,
As They Approached the Canoe. He Thought At First It Might Be An
Indian That Had Found Out His Locality, But He Knew That It Could
Not Be; A Savage Would Not Approach Him In that Careless Manner.
Although There Was Beautiful Starlight, Yet The Trees And The Dense
Undergrowth Made It Very Dark On The Bank Of The River, Close To Which
He Lay. He Always Adopted the Precaution Of Tying His Canoe With
A Piece Of Rawhide About Twenty Feet Long, Which Allowed it To Swing
From The Bank At That Distance; He Did This So That In case Of An
Emergency He Might Cut The String, And Glide Off Without Making
Any Noise. As The Sound Of The Footsteps Grew More Distinct,
He Presently Observed a Huge Grizzly Bear Coming Down To The Water
And Swimming For The Canoe. The Great Animal Held His Head Up As If
Scenting The Venison. The Captain Snatched his Axe As The Most
Available Means To Defend Himself In such A Scrape, And Stood With
It Uplifted, Ready To Drive It Into The Brains Of The Monster.
The Bear Reached the Canoe, And Immediately Put His Fore Paws Upon
The Hind End Of It, Nearly Turning It Over. The Captain Struck One
Of The Brute'S Feet With The Edge Of The Axe, Which Made Him Let Go
With That Foot, But He Held On With The Other, And He Received
This Time A Terrific Blow On The Head, That Caused him To Drop Away
From The Canoe Entirely. Nothing More Was Seen Of The Bear,
And The Captain Thought He Must Have Sunk In the Stream And Drowned.
He Was Evidently After The Fresh Meat, Which He Scented from A Great
Distance. In the Canoe The Next Morning There Were Two Of The Bear'S
Claws, Which Had Been Cut Off By The Well-Directed blow Of The Axe.
These Were Carefully Preserved by Williams For Many Years As A Trophy
Which He Was Fond Of Exhibiting, And The History Of Which He Always
Delighted to Tell.
As He Was Descending The River With His Peltries, Which Consisted of
One Hundred and Twenty-Five Beaver-Skins, Besides Some Of The Otter
And Other Smaller Animals, He Overtook Three Kansas Indians, Who Were
Also In a Canoe Going Down The River, As He Learned from Them,
To Some Post To Trade With The Whites. They Manifested a Very
Friendly Disposition Towards The Old Trapper, And Expressed a Wish
To Accompany Him. He Also Learned from Them, To His Great Delight,
That He Was On The Big Arkansas, And Not More Than Five Hundred miles
From The White Settlements. He Was Well Enough Versed in the
Treachery Of The Indian Character To Know Just How Much He Could
Repose In their Confidence. He Was Aware That They Would Not Allow
A Solitary Trapper To Pass Through Their Country With A Valuable
Collection Of Furs, Without, At Least, Making an Effort To Rob Him.
He Knew That Their Plan Would Be To Get Him Into A Friendly
Intercourse, And Then, At The First Opportunity, Strip Him Of
Everything He Possessed; Consequently He Was Determined to Get Rid
Of Them As Soon As Possible, And To Effect This, He Plied his Oars
With All Diligence. The Indians, Like Most North American Savages,
Were Lazy, And Had No Disposition To Labour In that Way, But Took It
Quite Leisurely, Satisfied with Being Carried down By The Current.
Williams Soon Left Them In the Rear, And, As He Supposed, Far
Behind Him. When Night Came On, However, As He Had Worked all Day,
And Slept None The Night Before, He Resolved to Turn Aside Into A
Bunch Of Willows To Take A Few Hours' Rest. But He Had Not Stopped
More Than Forty Minutes When He Heard Some Indians Pull To The Shore
Just Above Him On The Same Side Of The River. He Immediately
Loosened his Canoe From Its Moorings, And Glided silently Away.
He Rowed hard For Two Or Three Hours, When He Again Pulled to The
Bank And Tied up.
Only A Short Time After He Had Landed, He Heard Indians Again Going
On Shore On The Same Side Of The Stream As Himself. A Second Time
He Repeated his Tactics, Slipped out Of His Place Of Concealment,
And Stole Softly Away. He Pulled on Vigorously Until Some Time After
Midnight, When He Supposed he Could With Safety Stop And Snatch A
Little Sleep. He Felt Apprehensive That He Was In a Dangerous Region,
And His Anxiety Kept Him Wide Awake. It Was Very Lucky That He
Did Not Close His Eyes; For As He Was Lying In the Bottom Of His Canoe
He Heard For The Third Time A Canoe Land As Before. He Was Now
Perfectly Satisfied that He Was Dogged by The Kansans Whom He Had
Passed the Preceding Day, And In no Very Good Humour, Therefore,
He Picked up His Rifle, And Walked up To The Bank Where He Had Heard
The Indians Land. As He Suspected, There Were The Three Savages.
When They Saw The Captain, They Immediately Renewed their Expressions
Of Friendship, And Invited him To Partake Of Their Hospitality.
He Stood Aloof From Them, And Shook His Head In a Rage, Charging
Them With Their Villanous Purposes. In the Short, Sententious Manner
Of The Indians, He Said To Them: "You Now Follow Me Three Times;
If You Follow Me Again, I Kill You!" And Wheeling around Abruptly,
Returned to His Canoe. A Third Time The Solitary Trapper Pushed
His Little Craft From The Shore And Set Off Down Stream, To Get Away
From A Region Where To Sleep Would Be Hazardous. He Plied his Oars
The Remainder Of The Night, And Solaced himself With The Thought
That No Evil Had Befallen Him, Except The Loss Of A Few Hours' Sleep.
While He Was Escaping From His Villanous Pursuers, He Was Running
Into New Dangers And Difficulties. The Following Day He Overtook
A Large Band Of The Same Tribe, Under The Leadership Of A Chief,
Who Were Also Descending The River. Into The Hands Of These Savages
He Fell A Prisoner, And Was Conducted to One Of Their Villages.
The Principal Chief There Took All Of His Furs, Traps, And Other
Belongings. A Very Short Time After His Capture, The Kansans Went
To War With The Pawnees, And Carried captain Williams With Them.
In A Terrible Battle In which The Kansans Gained a Most Decided
Victory, The Old Trapper Bore A Conspicuous Part, Killing a Great
Number Of The Enemy, And By His Excellent Strategy Brought About
The Success Of His Captors. When They Returned to The Village,
Williams, Who Had Ever Been Treated with Kindness By The Inhabitants,
Was Now Thought To Be A Wonderful Warrior, And Could Have Been
Advanced to All The Savage Honours; He Might Even Have Been Made
One Of Their Principal Chiefs. The Tribe Gave Him His Liberty For
The Great Service He Had Rendered it In its Difficulty With An
Inveterate Foe, But Declining all Proffered promotions, He Decided
To Return To The White Settlements On The Missouri, At The Mouth
Of The Kaw, The Covetous Old Chief Retaining all His Furs, And Indeed
Everything He Possessed excepting His Rifle, With As Many Rounds
Of Ammunition As Would Be Necessary To Secure Him Provisions In the
Shape Of Game On His Route. The Veteran Trapper Had Learned from
The Indians While With Them That They Expected to Go To Fort Osage
On The Missouri River To Receive Some Annuities From The Government,
And He Felt Certain That His Furs Would Be There At The Same Time.
After Leaving The Kansans He Travelled on Toward The Missouri,
And Soon Struck The Beginning Of The Sparse Settlements. Just As
Evening Was Coming On, He Arrived at A Cluster Of Three Little
Log-Cabins, And Was Received with Genuine Backwoods Hospitality By
The Proprietor, Who Had Married an Osage Squaw. Williams Was Not Only
Very Hungry, But Very Tired; And, After Enjoying an Abundant Supper,
He Became Stupid And Sleepy, And Expressed a Wish To Lie Down.
The Generous Trapper Accordingly Conducted him To One Of The Cabins,
In Which There Were Two Beds, Standing In opposite Corners Of
The Room. He Immediately Threw Himself Upon One, And Was Soon In
A Very Deep Sleep. About Midnight His Slumbers Were Disturbed by
A Singular And Very Frightful Kind Of Noise, Accompanied by Struggling
On The Other Bed. What It Was, Williams Was Entirely At A Loss To
Understand. There Were No Windows In the Cabin, The Door Was Shut,
And It Was As Dark As Egypt. A Fierce Contest Seemed to Be Going On.
There Were Deep Groanings And Hard Breathings; And The Snapping Of
Teeth Appeared almost Constant. For A Moment The Noise Would Subside,
Then Again The Struggles Woud Be Renewed accompanied as Before
With Groaning, Deep Sighing, And Grinding Of Teeth.
The Captain'S Bed-Clothes Consisted of A Couple Of Blankets And A
Buffalo-Robe, And As The Terrible Struggles Continued he Raised
Himself Up In the Bed, And Threw The Robe Around Him For Protection,
His Rifle Having Been Left In the Cabin Where His Host Slept, While
His Knife Was Attached to His Coat, Which He Had Hung On The Corner
Post Of The Other Bedstead From Which The Horrid Struggles Emanated.
In An Instant The Robe Was Pulled off, And He Was Left Uncovered and
Unprotected; In another Moment A Violent Snatch Carried away The
Blanket Upon Which He Was Sitting, And He Was Nearly Tumbled off The
Bed with It. As The Next Thing Might Be A Blow In the Dark, He Felt
That It Was High Time To Shift His Quarters; So He Made A Desperate
Leap From The Bed, And Alighted on The Opposite Side Of The Room,
Calling For His Host, Who Immediately Came To His Relief By Opening
The Door. Williams Then Told Him That The Devil--Or Something
As Bad, He Believed--Was In the Room, And He Wanted a Light.
The Accommodating Trapper Hurried away, And In a Moment Was Back
With A Candle, The Light Of Which Soon Revealed the Awful Mystery.
It Was An Indian, Who At The Time Was Struggling In convulsions,
Which He Was Subject To. He Was A Superannuated chief, A Relative Of
The Wife Of The Hospitable Trapper, And Generally Made His Home There.
Absent When Captain Williams Arrived, He Came Into The Room At A
Very Late Hour, And Went To The Bed he Usually Occupied. No One
On The Claim Knew Of His Being There Until He Was Discovered,
In A Dreadfully Mangled condition. He Was Removed to Other Quarters,
And Williams, Who Was Not To Be Frightened out Of A Night'S Rest,
Soon Sunk Into Sound Repose.
Williams Reached the Agency By The Time The Kansas Indians Arrived
There, And, As He Suspected, Found That The Wily Old Chief Had Brought
All His Belongings, Which He Claimed, And The Agent Made The Savages
Give Up The Stolen Property Before He Would Pay Them A Cent Of Their
Annuities. He Took His Furs Down To St. Louis, Sold Them There
At A Good Price, And Then Started back To The Rocky Mountains On
Another Trapping Tour.
Chapter III (Early Traders)In 1812 A Captain Becknell, Who Had Been On A Trading Expedition
To The Country Of The Comanches In the Summer Of 1811, And Had Done
Remarkably Well, Determined the Next Season To Change His Objective
Point To Santa Fe, And Instead Of The Tedious Process Of Bartering
With The Indians, To Sell Out His Stock
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