The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1884-03-28
CID TIMES ON THE H!sSAERI,

law1essness. Three or four posts of the
Hudson Bay Company and the entire
white occupation of this vast extent OF
territory, and on their trading tours, to
and from these posts, the Sioux, ASSN
iboines. Orees, Blackteet, Gros Ven
tres and other tribes, fought and
slaughtered each other at will.
What a rapid and almost incredible
change has comet All these fierce, old
time feuds and battles have passed
away like an ugly dream. Yet in the
interests of national history, it is desir-
able that some record OF them should
be preserved.
In my seaach after such rude vestiges
of early history, l was repeatedly direct
ed to an old half-breed trapper, hunter,
and interpreter, Francois Lamoille, now
passing bis last days on a little place of
his own, at Medicine Hat" on the Sas-
katchewan River.
i recently paid this old man a visit
and found him sitting on a meat-block
in the midst of an encampment of six
teen or seventeen tepees, where were
lodged nearly sixty half-breeds-men,
women and children-of whom he is the
patriarch, in the truest tribal sense,
being father, or grandfather, to nearly
ell of them.
Though seventy five years old, Fran
co.'s has still a great deal of why endur-
ance in him, and is swarthy and wrink-
led enough to realize ones ideal Of q
sheik of the Bedouins.
On making known my business, the
old man responded with courtesy and
in English-shouting out at the time
in bugle-note tones, "Marche! Marched"
to a number of ferocious wolf-dogs that
came shutting my legs, apparently with
hostile intentions; then, lighting his
pipe, and pressing down the live coal
with a horny thumb, he began to tell
me Of the old days.
"From 1848 to 1851 will endeavor
30 use his own words-"I was employed
almost constantly by the Hudson Bay
Company, at their posts on the Nilsson
ri, to interpret for the traders. The
first year / was at the post where Fort
Union now stands.
"Tham war rough times there then.
The Injuns was all at war amongst
themselves, and were pretty sure to
murder every white they came upon
outside the trading-posts.
"The week arter / came to the post,
an old chum Of mine, named Parvote,
who traded with the Grows, lost his
life, while out hunting only q few miles
from the stockade. On going out he
said to me that he should probably come
In before sunset; but we didn't think it
strange that he didn't come, for hunters
was often away several days at a time.
But he didn's come back the next night,
neither an the third day, four of us
set out to hunt him up.
We wasn't long IN finding his traks
In the snow, en- follered ,em to where
we saw by the footprints that he had
been iined by five I%njuns, an then we
made up our minds that he had been
captured. We naturally s'posed twas
all up with him; but keepin' on, we
ca-ae TO 9 place where the Iniuns had
stopped ter have a smoke with him, an
this made us feel q little easier.
I'VE didn't feel so long, however, for
q few hundred yards from there we
found poor Parvote stretched out dead
In the snow. He vas lynn on his face,
with his right hand, full er powder,
pressed close to his chest, an an arrer
stickin' in his back. He had been shot
ia tie right side too.
'The Injuns most likely asked him
for some powder an when he refused
sem, they'd walked along q bit with him.
side by side-he was too sharp ter let
sem get behind him ifhe could help it,
an when they caught him off his guard,
they'd killed him.
His havin' q handful er powder press
ed close to his heart, was most likely
intended ter mean that he was stingy
with his powder, an that that was the
eeason they'd Killed him.
"Au the Sioux and Blackfeet were
great ho~rsethieves. The American Fur
Company had apost right on the Mis-
souri, at the fork oy the Yellerstone.
@Our own hosses werekept in a strong
etockade that was built round the fort.
The agent had told us not ter let any Of
our hcsses 90 outside Of the stockade;
but one day we let EN- out, all hobbled,
for awhile, ter feed on the fresh grass
Jest outside. They hadn'tmuch more'n
got out, when a party of Sioux come
along, on foot, lariated the best of EN-
ia plain sight on us, an drove tho others
on 81 remember that not long after
wards d hand of Assiniboines, bout Il
hundred Of 'em, come in from Wood
Mountain ter trade. Two half breeds
started that mornin' for our biz post on