Deerfoot in the Mountains - Edward Sylvester Ellis (ebook reader that looks like a book txt) 📗

their stead.
[Illustration: A Visit from Captains Lewis and Clark.]
The explorers had not suffered from any lack of game. The catfish taken from the river weighed three or four pounds apiece, and several deer, elks and bears had been shot. Among the latter was one belonging to the grizzly species. To show the tenacity of these mammoth brutes, the journal of the explorers records that after the beast had been shot through the heart "he ran at his usual pace nearly a quarter of a mile before he fell." Wild geese were seen in such numbers that their killing often became so easy that it could not be called sport.
By the time our friends had completed their meal night had fully come, and the drop in the temperature made the warmth of the blaze pleasant. A second fire had been started at some distance, where most of the men gathered. Being apart from their leaders, there was more freedom of action and speech. In the course of the evening the boys heard the strains of a violin coming from the other camp, and, turning their heads, saw one of the men seated on a boulder with his head thrown back and vigorously sawing on his fiddle, while his companions were dancing in the open space in front, which was lit up by the firelight. Most of the hardy fellows solemnly swayed their bodies and shuffled back and forth with their arms akimbo, but others were more lively and dashed off jigs, reels and rigadoons. A French _voyageur_ suddenly threw up his heels, supporting himself on his hands, and kept excellent time to the notes of the fiddle.
Neither Lewis nor Clark had ever heard of Deerfoot, but it soon developed that three of their men, Joseph and Reuben Shields and George Shannon, of Kentucky, knew a good deal about him. Shannon was but a boy himself, being only seventeen years old, but had once met the Shawanoe along the Ohio, when he was in the company of Simon Kenton. Deerfoot recalled the incident, and was glad to renew the acquaintance. At the invitation of Shannon he walked with him to the farther camp fire, and became a pleased witness of the boisterous sport of the men.


CHAPTER XXIII.
LEWIS AND CLARK'S EXPEDITION.
With George and Victor Shelton seated on the fallen tree on one side of the camp fire, and Captains Lewis and Clark on the other, these two famous explorers told the story of their expedition, which must always retain an historical interest for all of us.
As early as 1785, while Jefferson was in Paris, he became impressed with the value of the Northwest. This interest increased after his return home, and when he became President he secured an appropriation of twenty-five hundred dollars from Congress for the purpose of defraying the expense of an exploration of the vast region to the northwest of the Mississippi. This appropriation was made in February, 1803.
The area of Louisiana was more than a million square miles, and greater than that of the whole United States as it then existed. It was purchased from France for the sum of fifteen million dollars, the treaty to that effect between the two governments being ratified in the summer of the year named. By this single transaction the dominion of the United States was extended across the whole continent of North America, from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
The exploring party that entered this enormous region was under the command of Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. It will be noted that both of these officers held the same rank. Military law does not permit the anomaly of equal authority, and Clark was really the junior, but in point of fact the rights of the two were the same. They were so considerate toward each other that no difference ever arose, and "the actual command and conduct of the expedition devolved upon each in exactly equal degree."
Lewis belonged to an old Virginia family and early displayed enterprise, boldness and discretion. He won the promotion to a captaincy at the age of twenty-two, and was barely thirty years of age when called to take part in this memorable exploration. Clark was also a native of Virginia, but his childhood had been spent in Kentucky, whither his parents removed. He was a younger brother of the more famous General George Rogers Clark, but for whom the Allegheny Mountains instead of the Mississippi would have been our western boundary after the close of the Revolution. He was about thirty-three years old when he joined Lewis. He possessed excellent qualities, and it may be said that no two persons could have been selected who were better fitted to lead the score and a half of men across the continent.
On July 5, 1803, Captain Lewis left Washington, hoping to gather his men and materials in time to reach La Charrette, the upper white settlement on the Missouri, and there spend the winter. The inevitable delays followed, and the Spanish commandant of the province, not having received official notice of the transfer, would not allow the expedition to pass through the territory. The explorers, therefore, went into camp for the winter at the mouth of the Du Bois River, a little north of St. Louis, on the eastern bank of the Mississippi. This point was left on May 14, 1804. Entering the Indian country the leaders held a council with the Ottoes and Missouris, and by the distribution of gewgaws and presents won the good will of the red men. Lewis and Clark named the place of meeting Council Bluff, which is retained to this day, although the site of the modern city is below the meeting place and on the opposite, side of the river.
For a time the expedition acted the part of peacemaker among the Indians. The officers patched up peace agreements between the tribes that were on the verge of warfare, and made treaties with the Yankton branch of the Sioux and the Ricaras. All these natives were familiar with white men, having known both French traders and the employees of the British Fur Company. The Indians showed a friendly disposition toward the explorers, but their wonder was unbounded at sight of the African servant, he being the first of his race they had ever seen. With the waggery of his nature this negro gravely informed them that he was really a wild animal that had been caught and tamed. The simple folk believed his fantastic yarns, which were emphasized by numerous feats of strength on his part.
Progress up the river was slow, because of the many sand bars and numerous curves of the stream. The hunters, who kept in advance, secured large quantities of fresh meat, and dried a good deal for the winter supply. The region of the Mandans was reached in the latter part of October. There a fort was built and occupied during the winter. This was in what is now McLean County, North Dakota. The winter was very severe, and many of the men had their hands and feet frostbitten, while the continual glare of the snow caused a temporary blindness.
At this fort another interpreter was engaged. He was a Canadian, whose wife was a member of the Snake tribe of Indians of the Rocky Mountains. She was stolen when a child and brought east, where she was bought by the Canadian, who made her his wife. She was a remarkable woman, and the only one of her sex who accompanied the party. When she set out she carried an infant barely two months old. She not only stood the journey as well as any of the men, but displayed a rare degree of intelligence. She remembered much of the wild region through which the party had to pass, and smoothed the way among her own race for the white invaders. She became very popular with all the members, and deserved the praise which the leaders gave her.
Six canoes were soon completed. The company made their start April 7, 1805, sixteen going down stream with a barge laden with curiosities of the region for President Jefferson, while thirty-two formed the permanent party, which pressed into the great unknown region spreading out before them. The names of all these explorers are preserved in the archives of the War Department under the title of "A roll of the men who accompanied Captains Lewis and Clark on their late tour to the Pacific Ocean through the interior of the continent of North America, showing their rank, with some remarks on their respective merits and services."
Early as was the season, the men suffered much from mosquitoes. Spring kept company with the expedition. Herds of deer, elk, buffaloes and antelopes were seen grazing on the rich grass, and there seemed no end to swans and geese. Passing the alkali regions, the party reached, in the latter part of April, the mouth of a large river, to which they gave the name of Yellowstone. Joseph Fields, of Kentucky, ascended it for eight miles, and was the first white man to do so. Rains, high winds and cold weather welcomed them into the hills of Montana, and often the boats had to be dragged along the banks by means of elk-skin cords. They were thus laboriously making their way when, as has been shown, they were met by Deerfoot and the Shelton brothers at the mouth of the Musselshell River.
The story of the Lewis and Clark expedition, therefore, ended for George and Victor Shelton at the point named. It will not be uninteresting, however, to sum up the history of one of the most memorable enterprises connected with the development of the West. Captains Lewis and Clark gained a great deal of valuable knowledge from the boys, who had traversed a large part of the region which they intended to explore. The excellent memories and the marked intelligence of the youths were admired by the officers.
A few days after the meeting between the two parties Lewis climbed to the top of the highest elevation north of the river and gained his first view of the Rocky Mountains, known at that time as the Stony Mountains. All the numerous streams were described and named. It has been charged against the explorers that they were lacking in sentiment and imagination, for most of the names thus given by them have been supplanted by others, but it cannot be said that these changes have always been an improvement.
On the second day of summer the explorers had to face a puzzling problem. A large branch flowing from the north was so similar to the Missouri that it seemed it must be that river, while the one hitherto accepted as such bore to the south. Which was the branch that, according to the reports of the Indians, had its rise in the Rocky Mountains, near the source of the Columbia? To settle the question the party divided, one ascending either branch. Upon reuniting it was agreed that the south branch was the real Missouri. The northern stream was named the Maria. This was another of the few instances in which the title given by the explorers stuck.
The rapids five miles below the Falls of the Missouri were reached on June 15. These had to be passed by a portage. An idea can be formed of the great difficulties encountered when it is stated that, although the portage was hardly eighteen miles long, it took eleven days to make it. The men, however, were in high spirits, and at night Peter Cruzatte added to the "gayety of nations" by playing on his violin.
About the middle of August horses were obtained from the tribe from which the Indian wife of the interpreter had been stolen. The passage through the mountains or over the Divide caused the greatest suffering of the