The Placer herald., 1860-02-25
The Hunters Revenge,

| P0uy, Wdo Ouc IIdUCOlS OOTIIldlue, tOSdyeuT,
who had established notoriety for his cour-
age and physical strength, and, like many
others of his class, he was sometimes vain
of his extraordinary powers, and fond of ex-
bibiting them to his associates. He would
load his brawney shoulders with packs which
his comrades could scarcely lift from the
ground, and without evincing the small
est degree of fatigue, would march with
them, day after day, through the wilderness,
often leaving his lightly loaded companions
far in the rear 1t was no uncommon thing
for Francois to nger in the camp an hour
or two after his companions had started,
take the trail they were followir G, and after
few hours, pass them quietly; and, after
travelling till the middle of the afternoon,
stop at some convenient spot for encamping.
He usually selected some water course, which
he judged his friends would reach about
night-fa.l, and, striking camp, would surprise
them with well prepared supper Of venison
or other game, which he had prepared
against their arrival.
On certain occasion, when ascending the
Bois des Sioux river alone, in his canoe, he
was attacked by large party of Sioux In
dians who, after sinking his canoe by per-
foraing its bottom with their rifles, and
making desperate fight Of it, succeeded in
making him a prisoner. His reputation, for
courage and strength had reached them, and
before putting him to torture they determin-
ed to test his powers. According y, they
took him to the edge Of the cliff, some two
hundred feet high, beneath which ran the
river and after preparing rope OF bark,
and fastening one end of it to a large stone
at the base Of the cliff, they directed him to
raise it to where they were collected in a
group to witness the feat. Germaine, whose
judgment for self reliance never deserted
him, readily consented to humor the Indians,
but declared the thing was impossible with
so short a rope. The Indians, who had
brought the free end of it 10 the bank, in
sisted that it was all sufficient, besides being
strong enough to raise the weight of twice
that of the stone. Still Germalne persisted
in declaring that the rope was not long
enough by many feet, and refused to crafty
their curiosity unless his demand was com
piled with, and the rope heightened to suit
him. Seeing that, unless they INDUCED his
caprice, they would be deprived of that por-
ton of their anticipated sport, the Indians
yielded. and, collecting more bark, added
the requisite number of fee. to the rope.
All being now right, the Frenchman was or
dered to lift the stone. But Francoise de-
liberately proceeded to knot the end lasso-
wise, and gathered it in coil at the end of
the cliff, after first clearing the ground of
brush and broken limbs, which might inter-
fere with its free run.
The stone Which was Of several hundred
weight, was a heavy lift, even for Germaine,
and he exerted all his power to start it from
its bed But when once started, the labor
of raising was omparatively lighter. After
he had drawn it up few feet, he was order
ed to lower it again, when four of the most
stalwart warriors tried their united strength
upon it, but they could not bulge it an inch.
After Germaine was ordered to raise it to
the top of the bank. With an outlay of all
his muscular force, he obeyed, and as it NOV
ed slowly along the base of the cliff, the In
dians in their excitement gathered in knots
upon the very verge and looking downward
watched its ascent. Hand over hand the
Frenchman toiled at his task, but with his
keen gray eyes taking in all about him. He
had raised the huge weight one third of the
distance, when the stone, catching against a
letting ledge of superintendent scha'e, de
fed all his herculean strength to raise 1t
higher. As he struggled to overcome this
resistance, the Indians gathered closer and
closer upon the verge of the cliff. and watch
ed the effect of the efforts of the prisoner.
At this moment, stopping The rope par
TALLY over the top of stunted cedar bush,
and holding the strain upon his left hand,
he reached forward, and gathered up the
coiled portion in his right, he gave it one
wide swing over bis head which opened its
broad running moose, and with skillfu cast,
let it drop over the largest lot of excited In
dians, as they were looking below. The
fatal circle, true to the design Of. the brave
Francois, encompassed no less number
than six of his enemies, and letting 90 his
hold, the rock, with noise like thunder,
rushed headong into the abyss, dragging with
lightning speed the six bowling Indians after it
So sudden and awful was the frightful de-
nouement that the surviving Indians, some
tb;rtv in number. were for many minutes
horror struck and regardless OF all else about
them. During the excitement and confusion,
the vovapeur. seeing the way clear made
GOOD his escape, flying with the speed of a
wild deer. The swiftest runners were sent
in pursuit. but they soon gave up the chase
az useless and the fortunate Francois return
ed in safety to his comrades on Lake Travers.
The spot where this incident occurred is well
known to the hunters and Indians of that
region. and still retains the name of "Fran-
coise Cliff" Upon the smooth surface OF
the limestone near the waters edge, the
Sioux have commemorated the event by rude
carvings, representing six warriors in the
| - Liz hoadlnnn from The adra of