Bozeman avant courier. [volume] (Bozeman, Mont.) 1872-1882, 1879-02-27
WILSON'S LETTERS.
The YellOwst0ne Valley From Sher-
man to Porcnp.nc.

OF the many beautiful spots that arc
found on the Yellowstone, there are few
that will rival Pease Bottom. 1t is twelve
miles in length. and varies from half to q
mile in width. Its pretty meadows are
dotted by groves Of stately cottonwoods,
whose cool recesses are. in the summer
time. a constant temptation to the traveller
to lie by and rest beneath their ample
shade. The hills about are tavorite re-
sort of many species of game. and in their
season the buffalo come in to roll on the
ample pasturage and drink of the crystal
waters of the river. But these very charms
have made it the f;Norite resort OF the In
dians, who guarded it closely and would
permit no intrusion without struggle.
Probably no section Of the valley has seen
more of romance or Of tragedy than this.
! Here Gen. Custer first woke the sluInber-
ing echoes with the vOlleys OF his squad
r5ns. Here. the followin" winter. the party
of prospectors from BoZeman were furious
ly attacked Here, in 1873, Major Pease
and his party Of explorers stopped for Il
time. Their stay of several weeks was al
most one constant fight. Three miles be-
low Sherman they erected Fort Pease.
which. with their howitzcr. enabled them
to maintain their ground against repeated
attacks. There is little left of the old tort
now but few charred stakes. Scattered
| about for several hundred yards are deep.
! ia - Al, I,,D
received his death shot. Fourlow mounds
surrounded by 4 rough fence. mark the
spot where some who fell here were buried.
We dismount and carefully examine TIE
head-boards, but The pencil inscription has
| been nearly efflccd and it is with nauch diff
liclilty that we finally dccip'ler the name
-"W eeks.'' and KILLED by Indians JaIu-
ary'-,ilc balance is gone. and the others
are entirely illegible.
In this bottom Gen. Gibbons command
canped in 1876. and here it was that Major
Thompson. that accomplished and popular
officer. driven to despair by long years O.:
suffering. terminated his life by suicide.
In the lower portion Of the bottom Mr.
p. s. Wilmington has located. When We
were there he had just completed comfort
able ranch building and corr.ls. and next
spring will make a small beginning in the
stock business by putting 100 head Oh: cat
tie on the range.
Fir. Z. +. tsiIiS.lIr alro TIES Z DIIu y
stock here. In conversation with him. he
informed us that a Crow lad Just co,ne in
WHO stated that lie had been chased by a
party Of Sioux. and narrowly escaped.
Mr.. O!lson said. however, th1t these In
dams were notorious Lars. md tj:at the
chances We're the story was untrue. The
coac, Lad been fire.! upon few days be
fore. which made the story seem more
probable, but we decided, after some hesi-
tation, to proceed.
The road soon after climbs the inevitable
bench. which. to the next bottom. is about
twelve miles across. 1t is boua,led by 4
low mountain range, four or five miles
distant. Tie growth OF buffalo grass is
heavy. and there is besides great guam
tity of red top and some sand grass. There
are no streams upon it, but numerous small
lakes and pools. which usually become dry
in the fall While the water lastedit would
make splendid range for stock.
The prospect from this bench is very
fine. The valley on the other side OF the
river sweeps along for many miles, guard
ed by dark blue mountains. A very large
camp Of Crows was just opposite. whose
lodges were scattered over the prairie for
a great distance. Their horses. apparently
to the number of thousands. were grazing
in all directions. Ihe tom-tom of tleir
gongs could be plainly heard long after the
camp was lost to sight.
We had descended from the bench and
were travelling by an unfleqnented trail in
order to save distance, when we noticed
eight Indians emerging from grove OF
cottonwoods. They wore more than an
ordinary amount of savage tinery. being
decked with profllsion of feathers and
thoroughly painted. We felt little un-
easy, for if that Crow had told the truth.
we had ''met the enemy.' Two things
were noticed: They had no squaws with
them and no lodge poles. 1t sight of It's
they set up yell, scatteredacross the trail
in rude skirmish line. put their horses in
to keen jump and came directly toward
us.
What was to be done? That they were
Sioux seemed evident. There was a little
knoll about a quarter ofa mile away where
Il good fight could probably be made, bu,
Bob, who had been limping tor a day or
vi,tI,1 1tryn 1oSvc
could not have reached it in time If the fate
of the nation had depended upon it. We
locked around for the shelter of some
friendly canyon in which to make "a stand
off," but the smooth surface OF the prairie
showed no crevice that would shelter a
partridge. There was nothing to do but
to await the result. If they were Sioux
we were .'gone," il Crows, probably safe.
On they came, two Of them brandishing
long cavalry sabres, and the whole pack
yelling as though each was possessed of Il
devil. Our needle gun was made resid;'.
but We felt cold sickening chill creep
over us. TO be murdered in that dcsol.te
spot by a band of such wretches seemed
miserable end to existence. We finally
stopped, determined, on the next suspi-
cious move, to drop one of them if possi-
BILE.
At this they rode back in bunch, and
one of them shouted, "HowY' We re-
piled, and waved them off. They swerved
to one side. and without checking the pace
ot their horses. swept by. As they passed
1 seemed as though we could almost ieel !
he presence Of the '.grim phantom
They were doubtless Crows, and at their
I'D trick OF trying to trighten white man.
After the affair was over, we did not at
empt to persuade ourselves that we were
lot frightened. for we knew better. Our
eet have been in ''slippery places" before,
tut never since coming into existence We're
We so badly scared, and we solemnly
'owed never to take any chances again.