Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1889-05-22
From the Brooklyn Times.
A STORY Of FORT WHOOP UP,
BY w. H. WILLIAMS.

BY W. H. WILLIAMS.
An hour after sunset on the 18th OF
November, 1882, / drove e very tired
and leg-weary pair of mules into the
strong and spacious stockade of Fort
Whoop Up, in the southern portion of
the Province Alberta, in the Canadian
Northwest.
A half-breed boy took my mules to a
comfortable stable inside the fort, while
the only other occupant Of the place
gave me a hearty welcome and invited
me into his quarters.
A few minutes later we sat down to
an excellent supper of antelope steak,
warm bannOcks and strong tea, and
to take a good cigar and a seat in one of
two big rush-bottomed chairs, which
were drawn up on either side of the big
fireplace, in which a great fire of dry
cottonwood logs was blazing cheerily.
Presently | introduced the subject of
"old times" and he quickly warmed
with the theme.
Dye know, stranger" said Mr..
Akers, Its not often | come across any
body | kin talk to like you. One man
m along an he don't know any,
thing 'cept about bull whackin' an
VIOLIN and SIGH like, au' p'r'aps the
next is some English swell as kin only
talk about Germany an Rooshia an
lnjia an Gladstone, an yet he couldn't
harness a boss or cook a meal of vittils
to save his life. Now ]. like a man as
knows suthin' about this kentry an
other kentries too; a man as kin ride a
cayuse IN drive a mule team, and yet
wy oyf11yt o11 0rIIo- ILL., -
knows | hate a tenderfoot, but he don't
make me as mad as some fool of a mule
skinner who comes to this kentry an in
two years forgets everything he ever
knew outside of it, thinks Injuns was
only made to be killed, and swears jest
to show off.
II had a little experience with some
of 'em when [ fust KEN up here from
Montana, an if We like I'll tell we about
it,"
Of course I readily assented, and Mr..
Akers, lighting a cottonwood splinter at
the fire, lit a fresh cigar, and, after in
wiling me to profit by his example, COM
menced as follows:
"You see when I first KEN out from
Maine, / struck fur st. Louis, an from
thar I KEN up the Missouri, tradin' an
.huntin' an trappin' till I struck Fort
Benton. { got around among the In
juns, an like the rest of the traders in
stock / could carry. Of course l had
other truck, but thar was more profit on
whisky than anything else. But I
never doctored my whisky. I'd Just
take out a few kegs Of high wines an
never put nothin' in it but water, an
the more they'd drink the more water
I'd chuck in it, an SO they'd never get
drunk. The other traders used to put
%strychnine an red pepper an terbac-
Ger, an all sorts o. pisenous drugs be-
sides the water in thelrn, an give it to
'em, the same strength right on till they
was crazy, tightin' drunk, or else laid
out paralyzed.
"Now that wasn't my way at all. I'd
sell 'em all the whisky as was good fur
'em, an all the drink (sich as it was)
that they wanted. but I'd keep 'em
from gettin' fghtin' drunk.
you've hurd tell about Injuns goin'
crazy when they gifts the taste of liquor.
That's all rot. They're jist like any
body else. They take whisky, it makes
tight. Now the difference comes in
right here. White men'll thump, an
bite, an ~rassel, an gouge when they
fight, but the Injuns don't know nothin'
bout that kind o. fghtin'. They allus
fight with knives an guns, an of course
thet's dangerous.
II saw the only way to stop it was to
give 'em just enough whisky to make
'em feel good, but not to let 'em git
fghtin' drunk. The more they took
the weaker I'd make it. I'd get all
their turs an robes jist the same, but
when they'd wake up next mornin'
broke, an think they's had an awful
spree, they wouldn't be a mite sick, an
they wouldn't be any of 'em kniied.
They'd all be thar, an ready to go right
out huntin' and trappln' agin, Jest the
the same as if they'd sold their furs fur
blankets an grub an ammunition.
"Arter a while, when they found thar
want enough for the military to do
lookin' arter the I%njuns, they set them
to huntin us traders jest tn keep their
hands in like, an at the same time give
this government a sorter nominal re-
turn to show fur their grub and wages.
They KEEP huntin' us an runnin' us
outen first one camp an then another,
we kept shinnin off up this way till
we KEN TO the conclusion that We was
outen Uncle Sans kentry, an then we
stopped right in our tracks an said we
wouldn't be took on British territory.
"Up here with the South Crus an
Blackfeet I KEEP on tradin' jest the same
way as / had with the Assiniboines,
Crows, South Rigans an the rest of EN-
down in Montana, and it riled those
other cusses because they want doin'
80 well.
"Arter a while they mostly gave up
tradin' an took to VIOLIN A lot of