The Bozeman weekly chronicle. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1883-1889, 1883-07-04

prospector and Jose a Mexican, were in
the employ of Frost, then just appointed
Crow agent; they went from the agency
to Benson's and stayed there two days !;
on the morning Of the third day they
started back. They had left their rifles
at the agency, and with the exception of
a pistol carried by Jose, were entirely
unarmed. When within one half mile
of the agency buildings party Of fifteen
Sioux darted from coulee and gave
chase to them; they put their horses at
full speed, and would have escaped from
this party but were headed off by squad
of ten others, who killed and scalped
them within six hundred yards of the
stockade. Jose emptied his lstol at
them and killed a horse, and it is
thought; wounded an Indian. The Crows
were all away on hunt and there we're
but few men at the agency; they heard
the firing and saw the Sioux, but did not
dare to sally out for fear of the stockade
being taken. Bill Hamilton, an old from
tiersman and the best Indian sign talker
in the west, tried to induce them to go,
and when they would not. mounted his
horse and made dash alone, but the
Sioux had left right after killing Norris
and Jose and were half mile away.
Early in the spring ofthis year Joseph
Lee and George Ackerly, had put their
traps, blankets and cooking outfit in
boat and trapped down the Yellowstone
to Pompey's Pillar; here they cached
their furs and then walked back to Ben
sons, and getting horses went down and
packed their things up the river, getting
back all right, though they saw a war
party of Sioux, and had Travelled all of
one night to get away from them. In
the fall they out6tted at the Crow agency
and went down the country towards the
Big Horn for the winters wolfng. They
were never seen again alive, but the
finding of their camp will be spoken of
later on.
In April of this year (lS73) the very
first steamboat to navigate the Yellow
stone, came up the river with load of
supplies for Gen. Stanley; this boat was
named the "Key West" and was COM
manded by Capt. Grant Marsh. The
spring raise had not come down and the
boat was forced to stop at the Buffalo
Rapids, just below the mouth of Powder
river. Several volleys were fired by In
dams at the steamer on her trip; in one
Of these volleys, which was received
while going up, ball cut hair from the
pilots head, and another man, q deck
hand, was slightly wounded.
All Indians are fond of whisky, and
after the first taste will give anything
they may have for more, and though
against the law there were many men in
the west who would take the chances of
being caught by the United States Mar
shal and of the greater danger of being
killed by the savages, when their latent
hostility to the whites comes to the sur
face, as it does when they are excited by
liquor.
The Nez Perces were the only Indians
in the west that were allowed to buy
whisky openly, they having a special
clause to that effect in their treaty with
the Government; they did not drink to
excess while in the settlement, but in
this case we have to speak of, they had
been away from it so long that they ap-
parently could not restrain themselves.
Late i'm the fall of 1873 about two hum
dred of these people and the same nuns
ber of Crows went down to the Musle-
shell river on q buffalo hunt and had
accumulated many robes and packs of
dried meat. Early in the next February
George Town and Billy Casio started
from Benson's Landing for this Indian
camp with fifty gallons of whisky, and
found it at the Big Bend Of the Mussel-
shell they came upon the camp unex-
pectedly, and had no time to cache part
of their stock of liquor, as they had in
tended to do. The Nez Perces were eag-
er to trade and gave readily horse for a
gallon of whisky. After ten gallons had
been traded for at this rate the young
warriors became uncomfortable and took
possession of the entire outfit, and they
would have killed the traders but for the
intercession of the Nez Perces. Charley
(afterward killed at the Big Hole fight
who talked to the warriors while the
whites fed to the brush, and after night
started afoot for Bensons, which place
they reached few days afterward worn
out and sick of whisky trading.
The drunken warriors began to fight
among themselves, aud the Crows and
older Nez Perces packed up quickly and
went to the Yellowstone, and did not
stop travelling for twentv-four hours.
Ninety young bucks stayed and drank
and fought till nine oftheir number were
killed and seven others wounded, then
one of them, more sensible than the rest,
split the remainder of the whisky. These
traders had unconsciously done good
deed, for afterward none of the different
Nez Perce or Grow chiefs would allow
whisky to be brought into their camps.
(TO BE CoNTINUED.)
Rules OF Beauty.
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