The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1894-12-14

( tenderIv as he knocked the ashes
1ut of its wide bowl. carved in the
likeness of bison's head
Fill up again. Thad." said |, and
while We smoke tell Us the story of
that pipe. Come, you've promised 1t
often enough
A smile lit up the ragged. weather.
scanned face of the old trapper as he
vazed long and musinglv at the short
pipe he held in his hand, and in the
plav Of his features one might have
read tales of daring and proves, and
Of cunning and strategy as subtle as
that of the willy Sioux whose right of
possession 10 the great prairies of the
northwest old Thad cambridge was
one of the first to dispute.
ut amt no Injun pipe" he began.
though it is mads of pipestone same
as the whites found in use by all the
tribes of the nor'west when they first
came among m. and l low | was about
the first white man to dig the stone
and make pipe of this kind for him
self Common as were these pipes
among the Injuns. there is only one
spot in all the country where the soft,
red stone they're made of is to be
found 1t was by the merest accident
that happened to stumble upon the
quarry. and bigger accident yet that
nv scalp didn't pay for the find. 1t
was when l was trappin' up on the
headwaters OF the Des Moines one
spring, early in the 'forties. I'd gone
farther up into that lake and prairie
region than I'd ever been before, and
taken as prime a lot of beaver and OF
ter as ever a cheatin' trader beat an
honest trapper out of. 1 hadn't seen
an Injun on the prairies all that
spring. nor didn't expect to, though
that amt sayIn' that | camped in plain
sight and left an open trail wherever
went. In1uus are like the bad deeds
a man has done and tried to cover up;
they're always turnin' up when you
least expect 'em. and knew the crit
tiers too well for that
II struck out to the northeast from
nv camp one mornin' intendin' to cir
Gle round to the north and west to
look at some ponds and lakes that l
couldn't well get at with my canoe.
l. LTdNGlCu Until dbOul A1COA- W Ch
struck somethin' that changed my
plans mighty sudden. l can tell you l
wasn't looIzin' for Injun sign. when all
at once l stepped smack into plain
trail leadin' toward my camp, dozen
miles or more off to the south. To say
was surprised wouldn't be putin il
half strong enough. At least dozen
ponies had passed that way but few
DAYS before. and what puzzled me more
than anything else was the fact that
the trail looked as If 1t had been used
for years. l knew there was big
Sioux village up to the north on Big
Stone lake, but where this trail could
lead to that I had never struck 1t be-
fore. scourin' all the country to the
south as I'd done for months, was more
than I could guess. ! thought l knew
Iniuns and Injun ways pretty well, but
this thing stumped me. | dropped
down in the grass to study the matter
over. but couldn't make head nor tail
OF it. Here's somethin' for you to
learn. old man. said to myself, and
there's just one way for you to learn
it So. takin the caps off to see that
both barrels of nv rife were well
primed. started south along the trail,
keepiu' a short outlook on all sides. l
hadn't gone three miles when, on
roundin' a little hill. I saw a faint
smoke risin' out of fringe of willows
in the valley of a little creek about
mile ahead.
"Keepin' carefully under cover,
-, ~h.a r0NlaS of
three or four tepees peepin' up
through the tops Of the willows. and
quite a band of ponies browsin' along
the creek. I knew they couldn't be
huntin' buffalo. for all the herds were
of to the south and west of the Big
Muddy at that time of the year. and
when Injuns go trappin' they don't go
in bands nor on horseback, either.
There was rocky rise Of ground
few hundred yards up the creek from
their camp that l thought would give
me a good outlook. and l crept round
toward it, for had made up my mind
to find what they were up TO if
had to Wilt for dark to reconnoiter
their camp. reached the point, and
was creepin' along between two of
the many lodges of rock that stuck up
a few feet above the prairie sod, when
l happened to notice that pieces of the
stone had been Clipped off here and
there. l picked up piece and ex-
amined 1t a minute. Great Scott. |
could hardly believe my eyes: but
when I whipped out my knife and
tried 1t. the whole thing. the old trail
and all. was as plain as daylight to me-
I'd found the redskins pipestOne
quarry.
The discovery so upset me that l
came pretty near fOrgettin' that Sioux
camp in the willows Just below. I'd
learned from the Wiunebagos along
the Mississippi that the quarry was
located somewhere out on these
prairies between the two Big Waters
and I'd a notion for years that I'd like
to find it and fashion a pipe for my
self There were plenty of Injun make
to be had at almost any post traders;
bat l never fancied the Injun pipes,
with their long shanks and clumsy
stems. more like the handle of toma-
hawk than a pipe stem l felt pretty
ticklish when I fairly realized where
I was and Rugged the ground close
enough. I can tell you, until l had
taken a good peep all around Nary
red war IN sight. and l knew they
hadn't seen ne from their camp, for
I'd kept too well uSder cover. Now
that I'd found the rock l meant TO
have a piece of II for a pipe, Iniuns or
no Injuns- So gettin' big ledge be
tween me and their camp, l began
lookin' for piece TO suit me. I picked
M several and threw them down
scair snnintin, nrer the rn.,Ss every