sun sinks behind the hills, they may be seen moving from all points toward the camp, where theysurrender themselves to be tied up for the night. Even in situations of danger, the Indians rarelyset
guards over their camp at night, intrusting that office entirely to their vigilant and well-traineddogs.
In an encampment, however, of such fancied security as that in which Captain Bonnevillefound his Indian friends, much of these precautions with respect to their horses are omitted. Theymerely drive them, at nightfall, to some sequestered little dell, and leave them there, at perfectliberty, until the morning.
One object of Captain Bonneville in wintering among these Indians was to procure asupply
of horses against the spring. They were, however, extremely unwilling to part with any, and itwas
with great difficulty that he purchased, at the rate of twenty dollars each, a few for the use ofsome
of his free trappers who were on foot and dependent on him for their equipment.
In this encampment Captain Bonneville remained from the 21st of November to the 9thof
December. During this period the thermometer ranged from thirteen to forty-two degrees. Therewere occasional falls of snow; but it generally melted away almost immediately, and the tenderblades of new grass began to shoot up among the old. On the 7th of December, however, thethermometer fell to seven degrees.
The reader will recollect that, on distributing his forces when in Green River Valley,Captain
Bonneville had detached a party, headed by a leader of the name of Matthieu, with all the weakand
disabled horses, to sojourn about Bear River, meet the Shoshonie bands, and afterward to rejoinhim
at his winter camp on Salmon River.
More than sufficient time had elapsed, yet Matthieu failed to make his appearance, anduneasiness
began to be felt on his account. Captain Bonneville sent out four men, to range the countrythrough
which he would have to pass, and endeavor to get some information concerning him; for hisroute
lay across the great Snake River plain, which spreads itself out like an Arabian desert, and onwhich
a cavalcade could be descried at a great distance. The scouts soon returned, having proceeded nofurther than the edge of the plain, pretending that their horses were lame; but it was evident theyhad
feared to venture, with so small a force, into these exposed and dangerous regions.
A disease, which Captain Bonneville supposed to be pneumonia, now appeared amongthe
Indians, carrying off numbers of them after an illness of three or four days. The worthy captainacted
as physician, prescribing profuse sweatings and copious bleedings, and uniformly with success,if
the patient were subsequently treated with proper care. In extraordinary cases, the poor savagescalled in the aid of their own doctors or conjurors, who officiated with great noise and mummery,but with little benefit. Those who died during this epidemic were buried in graves, after themanner
of the whites, but without any regard to the direction of the head. It is a fact worthy of noticethat,
while this malady made such ravages among the natives, not a single white man had the slightestsymptom of it.
A familiar intercourse of some standing with the Pierced-nose and Flathead Indians hadnow
convinced Captain Bonneville of their amicable and inoffensive character; he began to take astrong
interest in them, and conceived the idea of becoming a pacificator, and healing the deadly feudbetween them and the Blackfeet, in which they were so deplorably the sufferers. He proposed thematter to some of the leaders, and urged that they should meet the Blackfeet chiefs in a grandpacific
conference, offering to send two of his men to the enemy's camp with pipe, tobacco and flag oftruce,
to negotiate the proposed meeting.
The Nez Perces and Flathead sages upon this held a council of war of two days' duration,in
which there was abundance of hard smoking and long talking, and both eloquence and tobaccowere
nearly exhausted. At length they came to a decision to reject the worthy captain's proposition,and
upon pretty substantial grounds, as the reader may judge.
"War," said the chiefs, "is a bloody business, and full of evil; but it keeps the eyes of thechiefs always open, and makes the limbs of the young men strong and supple. In war, every oneis
on the alert. If we see a trail we know it must be an enemy; if the Blackfeet come to us, we knowit
is for war, and we are ready. Peace, on the other hand, sounds no alarm; the eyes of the chiefs areclosed in sleep, and the young men are sleek and lazy. The horses stray into the mountains; thewomen and their little babes go about alone. But the heart of a Blackfoot is a lie, and his tongueis
a trap. If he says peace it is to deceive; he comes to us as a brother; he smokes his pipe with us;but
when he sees us weak, and off our guard, he will slay and steal. We will have no such peace; letthere
be war!"
With this reasoning Captain Bonneville was fain to acquiesce; but, since the sagaciousFlatheads and their allies were content to remain in a state of warfare, he wished them at least toexercise the boasted vigilance which war was to produce, and to keep their eyes open. Herepresented to them the impossibility that two such considerable clans could move about thecountry
without leaving trails by which they might be traced. Besides, among the Blackfeet braves wereseveral Nez Perces, who had been taken prisoners in early youth, adopted by their captors, andtrained up and imbued with warlike and predatory notions; these had lost all sympathies withtheir
native tribe, and would be prone to lead the enemy to their secret haunts. He exhorted them,therefore, to keep upon the alert, and never to remit their vigilance while within the range of socrafty
