The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1873-11-21
THE WILD HUNTER OF THE BLUE
BY GEN. JAMES S. BRIsBIN.

| BY GEN. JAMES S. BRISBN.
1t is ten years ago, said Mr.. Belden,
and at that time the country back from
! the Missouri was not much settled. The
| fame of the Big Blue lands had spread
far and wide; and, every week, scores
| of farmers from Iowa, Illinois, and
Missouri came in and settled on the rich
bottoms, almost invariably writing back
to their friends in the states that the
land was one flowing with milk and hon
ey, and urging them to come and take
up farms. So the settlement prospered
amazingly, and Beatrice, Neb., which
| had at first only been a town con pa
per, became thriving village in real
ity.
Among the farmers who came to set
tie in this new country was Mr.. Thomp-
| son and his family. They had formerly
lived in Iowa, on the Big SioIx river,
miles from Sioux City; but, not pros
pering there, they sought to better their
condition by moving to Nebraska, and
selected the Big Blue as the place of
their future home. Mr.. Thompson's
family consisted Of his wife; his daugh-
ter Mary, sweet girl of sixteen; and
an old man who had spent the best part
of his life in the service of the family,
and, now that he was old, was retained
for the good he had done, and that he
might have home in his declining
years. At one time Mr.. T. had been
well off in the world, but unfortunate
| speculations in western lands had ruined
| him, and, at the time of which I speak,
he had little left besides few horses.
a wagon or two, and dozen head of
cattle.
Near to where Mr.. Thompson had
settled on the Blue, lived wild young
man who had won for himself the name
of "the Wild Trapper of the Blue"
He lived all alone on the head-waters
of little creek, and was rarely seen
except when he came, once in every two
or three months, to the traders to ex-
change his furs and skins for -four, to-
baccO, matches, coffee, and such other
articles as he needed. On these occa-
sions, after having made his purchases,
he would lounge about the traders for
several days, drinking bad whisky, and
quarreling with every one he could get
to quarrel with him. When under the
influence of whisky, he would mount
his horse, and with two large navy-re-
volvers in his belt, ride up and down
the village, defying every one to come
out and fight him. For the slightest
offense, either real or imagined, he
would fire at man, and, if he had a
grudge at any one, that persons cattle
or horses were sure soon afterwards to
be missing. It was more than limited
that he was the principal or accomplice
in many Of the thefts, and, if ne were
so minded, could tell where most of the
Ill H. Al
on the Salt Lake stage road had gone. Yet
such was the reputation of this young
desperate for courage and wickedness
that no one cared to meddle with him,
and, wherever he went, his society was
tolerated rather than preferred. No ten
men could have been induced to go to
his rancho to search for stolen stock,
and so the matter was allowed to rest,
every one blaming him with all sorts
of crimes, but no one being able to
swear the suspicious were correct.
One evening just as Mr. Thompson
and his family 7ere sitting down, in
their humble cf n, to a supper of corn
bread and veF son, a tall young man,
mounted on a wiry pony, rode up. He
was scarcely nineteen years of age, and
wore the inevitable leggings and long
IIOCh VI buC WGSGcIA nuuO6IS, 1TJuR0u
with buckskin. His face was brown as
brim of his slOuch hat, his countenance
betrayed unmistakable signs of dissipa- |
ton.
Mr.. Thompson politely invited the |
stranger to dismOunt and partake of |
their frugal meal, and, springing from
his horse, he made haste to enter but |
when he saw Mary, he drew back,
and would have mounted again |
had not Mr.. Thompson insisted upon
his stopping long enough to eat some
thing. It was not long before Mr..
discovered from the CONVEX
sation that his guest was none other
than the famous young desperate of |
the Blue, and the discovery was at
tended with considerable anxiety and
alarm. The quick eye of the hunter
detected in an instant the alarm his
presence had created, and, rising from
the table before he had finished his
supper, he said, with a dignifed air:
''I am indeed the Wild Trapper of
the Blue, and, like every one else, you
think me bad ; but am not so bad as
they say. or he added, after a mo-
ment' 8 pause, " if some one in the world
would only believe me good, might
become like other men"
Then, fixing his piercing eyes on Ma
", he gazed at her a full minute, and,
turning on his heel, he left the cabin
without saying another word. The fami-
", through the open doorway, saw him
swing his 1.-the body across his pony,
and gallop swiftly away over the prairie
oward his cabin.
From this visit Mr.. Thompson au-
cured bad luck; but, as day after day
md week after week passed and they
saw no more of him, they began to think
hey had done the young man an inius-
ice. True, they often heard of him in
he village, where he continued his
thinking and fighting but, although
he nearest way would have led him by
Mr.. Thompson's house, both in going
md coming, he always crossed the prai-
lie some miles above, and never came
near the place.
Mr.. Thompson, who had once been
Kind husband, an indulgent father, and
| man of good habits, disappointed by
'epeated failures in business, and vexed
Dy poverty, had, of late years, taken to
1rink, and now was little better than a
common drunkard. His wife and
laughter had persuaded him to move
rom Iowa, hoping, when his old associ-
atoms were broken up, he would do
better in Nebraska, and make their new
nome a happy one. For a time their
most sanguine wishes seemed about to
De realized. The farm they had taken
up was a good one, the crops were
abundant, and all seemed to promise a
lappy future. Mr.. Thompst had left
IF drinking entirely, and was again the
Kind and affectionate husband and fa-
her of former years. The happiness of