The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1889-03-21
rlve French rouris,s na,..ersa.

This doubtful story comes from Cheyenne,
Wyoming Five wealthy tourists from
France have met death in the Yellowstone
Park as o result Of defying the government
regulation and venturing through the land
of geysers, cataracts and natures weirdest
wonders in the winter when the National
Park is officially closed. There were three
men and two women in the party, besides
Henry Ferry an old hunter and scout, who
acts as q professional, was guide. Ferry was
wintering in Montana and picked the tour
lists up there. They came from the Pacific
coast had plenty Of money and wanted to
gee the park in winter. Knowing they
could not gain entrance in the ordinary
T Thsv made deFf 5im O. b Eas offer a app ns Seeon to- TO-
outfit them at once. The French people
said they came from Lyons and gave their
names as M. LIE Claire, q silk merchant, and
wife; NJ. j. Vincent, q broker, and his wife,
and Paul Gerot, a man of NEARLY sixty, who
was an uncle of Mrs. Vincent and q retired
wine merchant. All were willing to rough
1t, and they started in two emigrant
wagons, with four mule teams and an
abundance Of provisions and liquors.
Ferry shot considerable game for
them and they %journeyed by
slow stages for three weeks, camping every
night and drinking around u big fire until
pretty late. When the party reached Rattle.
snake canyon they camped alongside q lit
tie creek and tied the mules a half mile away
where the creek widened into a shallow lake.
The six people drank unusually late and
deeply that night, and the two married men
and Ferry tell asleep alongside the fire about
midnight. Ferry awoke at daylight and
went to look after the mules. Before he
reached them he heard a succession of yells,
a bullet ploughed through the calf of his leg
and q couple of horsemen dashed by him,
one OF whom nearly Drained him with O gun
as he passed. Ferry sank into unconscious
ness at once n never recovered his senses
until evening. Then he was so weak that
after crawling to the creek he tainted again.
1t was the morning of the second day when
the guide came to his senses, and after bind
ing up his leg found he had strength
enough to crawl to the camp. 1t was silent
as death, and he guessed the truth before his
eyes rested on five bloody and mangled
corpses. The tourists had been murdered
in their sleep and their bodies thrown to-
gether in a heap after being mutilated. The
two women had been scalped, but the savage
the men. Clashes about the head showed
where the scalping knife, perhaps in
amateurs' hands, had refused to do it's
work. The wagons were overturned, the
liquors and most of the provisions gone, and
everything of value in the outfit had been
taken, including q considerable sum of
gold coin. Ferry was two weeks on his
journey to Canyon City, whence this story
m He was nearly crazy when he arrived
ut the mining town, and for several days
was in a delirious fever. When he recovered
he told the story of the massacre, but was
so incoherent that it took several repeti-
tons to get at the complete narrative.
Ferry said that wolves were already in sight
of the bodies when he LETT. He believed that
Indians were the murderers, because he
heard their yells md saw the bodies, which
were mutilated in indian fashion. He stuck
to his story, however, that only the
two women had been scalped. The miners
believe that the murderers were Montana
outlaws who followed the party through the
spark, knowing that they carried several
thousand dollars in gold with them and
that their mules and outfit would be a rich
prize in themselves. When Ferry heard this
he became frightened apparently, and twice
tried to escape from the miners. The latter
kept a close watch on him, but Ferry at last
sluded them and has disappeared. He was
20 accom- pany q party who were going
through the park to bury the bodies, and II
possible to get some trace of the murderers.
His disappearance has led to a suspicion
that he was in league with the attacking
party and led the tourists into O trap. 1t is
lot probable that any one will venture into
Rattlesnake canyon before spring now
There will be only the wagons and the bones
;hat.the wolves left to tell the tale then.