Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-04-09

WIZ vivid AWA NNNNNNNAWAAH AANNA hN"
scended into the valley Of the Marias,
and had panned out plenty Of ground
without getting color. resolved 10
60 further down the stream 80, leav-
ing the valley, rose up 10 the plains
and rode TO the eastward. Cutting off
a big bend Of the little river, came 20
the edge Of bluff. Carefully, looked
over. Below me was a little glen. The
high bluffs receding from the river bank
and describing circle inclOsed some
thirty acres Of meadow and a little
grove Of poplar trees. Cautiously
looked and made out the tops of several
lodges standing in the grove. This was
pleasant discovery. Then l noticed
that there we're no horses 10 be seen so
l dismounted, and, lying down behind
some rocks, watched the camp. After
an hour of watchfulness was convinced
that there were no Indians in the viii
lage. Not sign Of life could see; no
smoke, no blackening Of the leaves Of
the trees. A careful examination Of the
bunch grass with my field glass showed
me that It was in seed, and that IL had
not been grazed on. Still afraid that
there was some trap, hesitated, when
l saw seven white-tailed deer walk out
of the woods, stand an instant, then
slowly feed back into cover. Knowing
that they would not stay near an Indian
village, l at once mounted and rode
down trail into the valley. l struck
heavy trail leading into the grove. 1t
had not been used lately, as I saw spi-
ders' webs stretched across it. / rode
into the woods and soon came on the
camp. There were twenty lodges, the
tents in two rows. l sat on my horse
and looked carefully at the deserted vii
lage. The birds fitted from tree to tree.
Some sat on the lodge poles and sang.
Spiders webs stretched from bunch to
bunch of the grass. thought all the
spiders in Montana had spun their webs
there. Every lodge had its door sewn
up. say every lodge, but there were two
or three open. 1 was awe-stricken and
strongly inclined to ride away without
further investigation, but decided to
look into this strange condition. / dis
mounted, and cut slit into the first
lodge. Looking into the gloom of the
tent, was startled to see many Indians
sitting around the walls all blanketed,
all motionless. Enlarging the slit by a.
cross slash so as to admit the light, l
was shocked to find that these were dead
Indians. The flesh had dropped from
their skulls. The circle of dead men
seemed to be grinning welcome to me.
Their stony, white teeth glistened bright
ly. The empty sockets of their eyes all
seemed to be turned on me. would
not have been surprised to have had a
bony arm and fleshless hand come forth
from under the rotted blankets and
beckon me to enter. The arms of the
dead warriors lay before them or at
their sides. There were bows, and quiv-
ers filed with long war-arrows, and
fiint-lock muskets. Hanging above them
on the lOdge-poles were punches
of worm-eaten, jerked meat.
| looked into several of the lodges
All were the same.
Gone tent, the largest, had but sim
| gle occupant. His hair was decked
with feathers. Hanging around the
fleshless neck bone was great neck
lace of the claws of the grizzly bear, the
points of the claws hidden between the
ribs. Above him, fastened to a lodge
pole, dangled bunch of Indian scalps !;
full belt of cartridges was buckled
around him. His blanket was thrown
across his legs, and lying ON his lap,
with the fleshless hands grasping it, was
a breech-loading rifle. There sat a war
chief with bow and full quiver to his
back, ready to engage in fight the min
ute the soul should again be breathed
into him. Leaving him to await the
summons, l went to the tents that were
opened. These found had been plum
dered. The dead had been thrown
down, their skulls apparently kicked
out, as they were not TO be seen, and
the smaller bones had been scattered
over the ground. Saddles were gone,
blankets were missing. Indignant at
the outrage that had been offered to the
dead of brave people, was about to
enter the lodge, when it seemed as
though l heard voice speaking, so dis
tinctly was the idea conveyed to my
brain. 1 said: you ass! This is the
village of the Blackfeet dead;' then
slower, as if the words dropped into my
ears one by one. They-died-Of- =
smallpox Instantly comprehending
my danger, ran to my horse, mounted,
and rode quickly away. was afraid
to look back for fear the dead warriors
were standing outside of their lodges,
motiOning me to return. was dread
fully nervous, actually frightened. The
horrors of the village haunted me and
drove me from the valley. went north
to the Milk River. Not finding color
there, crossed the range and descend
ed to the Flathead River. ] was tired
of prospecting, and, being still nervous,
l thought months fishing and hunting
would restore my nerves, and hoped
would remove the specter of the small
pox village and its ghastly inmates from
my mind. had crossed the range by
one of the Milk River passes, and had
come down the western slope some dis
tance above the Flathead Lake. Riding
down the valley / saw horses with ropes
on their necks, grazing on plain where
a brook ioined the main river. Sus-
pecting Indians, hid in thicket and
glass. / could see nothing except the
horses and some objects under a thorn
bush by the side of the creek. l rode
to the bush. There, in a
filthy condition and in the erup-
lively loathsome state of small
pOx, lay two men, miners like
myself. Their condition was indescrib-
ably offensive and pitiable. The iron
prospecting pans lay near them; also
bacon, flour, rifles, and great quantities
of blankets. 1 dismounted, unsad-
died my horse, turned him loose,
and building a shelter of blankets, at
once began cooking for and nursing
those men. nursed them long. When
they were mending, had recovered SO
that they could walk about little,
took sick. l was chilly; little waves Of
cold ran down my backbonei I had