St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-02-23

60 SFANS/S/SDT@@Sa aA~SsVsS
ticles that had been brought from the
Hudson Bay companys trading post
for the purpose. 1t was not many
hours afterward, while we were on the
move, when a second party of about
eighty naked beggars put in an ap-
pearance, and they, too, had to be sup
piled with presents. An old CHIEF
named Red Eagle was the boss of the
TWO crowds, we found and had pur-
posely divided his forces. The unwel-
come visitors were very much inter-
ested in Dr. Rays observations of the
sun They thought he was taking pic
lures, and protested if likenesses of
the bear. wolf or other animal should
be sent to England they, and their
children for many generations, would
starve. Through an interpreter, after
some trouble their fears were allayed.
ut was while we were in the COM
pany of these hostiles that several of
our finest horses were stolen, in bread
! daylight I, as personal guide to chap
lin, Johnston and Ray, determined the
! reds should not have the horses. After
a search I found the high-priced ami
mails tethered by the nose, in a patch
of willows, with their heads drawn up
as high as they could go, to keep them
from making any noise. The mean
ness of the redskins angered me, and
l served notice that the next one that
laid hands on a horse to steal him
down will come his meat-house,' as
we used to say in those days. This
did not please Mccoy, who feared
that, if any one was hurt, we would
all get into trouble. Several times aft
erward / had a hard task to prevent
theft of our best horses, but we did
not lose one On the entire trip.
TREACHEROUS CREES.
although we did not find it out I'M
til later, some of McCoy's half-breeds
gave the hostiles pointers as to the
route we were to take, and by going
cross country they easily headed us off
next day. Again they invaded the
camp, resistance being useless because
of the smallness of our party. They
wanted more presents, and to appease
their demands almost exhausted our
supply. One ugly thief made me so
angry that l had to give him a sound
thrashing. When the harness, a more
than ordinarily good one, had been re-
moved from my team it was placed in
the wagon for safe keeping. Pretty
soon a buck with a big buffalo robe
about his shoulders walked by the rig
and quick as lightning he seized one
of the brides and tucked it under
his robe. Happening to see the act, [
appealed to Mccoy. He advised me to
let the Indian keep the bride, but I
thought we needed it worse than he
did. Running after him, | tripped him
onto his back, pulled aside the robe,
and, taking the bride, whipped him
over the head and face as hard as I |
knew how. The other Indians, much |
to my surprise, began to laugh most
heartily, and the thief sneaked away in
disgrace. We rather expected trouble
from him, but he didn't bother us again.
The unWelcome visitors remained
with US until late in the night, and
made several attempts to mix their
ponies UP with our horses, in order to
sneak them away. Only by the closest
watching were we able to foil them.
MILLIONS OF BUFFALO.
Shortly after getting clear of this
party We began to feel trembling of
the earth, and for three days before
we saw them realized that we were
getting close to a gigantic herd of
buffalo. For half d day before we met
them-for they were coming down
from the winter feeding grounds to
the plains, while we were going in
an opposite direction-we saw great
clouds of dust arising, and heard the
mufiled believing OF the bulls. The
three distinguished travellers estimated
the number of animals in the herd at
1000, eco or more
"a better idea of the vast army of
buffalo will be had when 1 state that
though we were only on one edge of
it, it was hard work to force our way
along and thus keep from being
crushed and trampled to death, horses
and all. The fact that we Travelled
in wagons alone saved u.s. Only one
buffalo was killed at this time a big
bull that threatened to make trouble
for US. The shot that killed him start
ed a small stampede that drove some
Of our stock and a lot of buffalocs
into lake. Six and q half days were
spent in getting clear of the march
ing millions of wild beasts, and
great part of the time we were fore
ing passage for our teams and We
hicles with the big roamers Of the
plains crowding us on all sides.
During the trip-which continued
well into the fall, and covered a wide
range of Countrywide party killed all
the buffalo they cared to, besides sew
eral grizzlies and many deer, elk and
antelope. The last hunting ground
was at Devils Lake, N. D., and from
there the outfit went to the starting
point, minus Mccoy and his guides
The English gentlemen insisted that
| accompany them to ST. Paul, and we
brought along numerous fine speci-
mems of heads and hides that were
cured and prepared for shipment to
England, where today, I suppose, they
grace fine mansions. No finer men
ever set foot on our soil than Chaplin
and Johnston, and they made many
friends during their stay here.
Ever since the war 1 have hunted
and trapped in Minnesota for living,
l might say, but today one must go
into the far wilderness or the noun
tain retreats to find big game. The
change of conditions, the development
of Minnesota and the Northwest in
thirty years, is a wonderful thing to
contemplate, from the standpoint of
that hunt in '61.''
HI,FEV N= TIs- - -