The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911, 1909-04-28

UUUuVVVOsuU III OUuu
grizzly and cinnamon; there was
mountain lion, too. But the most val
liable of all was Siberian fox; bun
die of twelve or fourteen inches
through would be worth six or seven
hundred dollars.
"The lower Missouri was alive with
boats from so to rs. There were
between two and three hundred; 40
many as fourteen would leave St.
Louis in q single day. Pilots were
scarce; they didn't average more than
. single one to . boat. In travelling
on the river between here and Kansas
City you were never out Of. sight of .
boat; and they. were loaded with
freight and passengers like bush with
blackberries. Indians! Well, l guess
90. l knew all the great western
chiefs Sitting Bull, Rain-in-the-F Face,
Red Cloud. I knew 'em before Bill
Cody did; I was in that country when
he came up there and got to be q
scout. l was ambushed by Sitting
Bull in rs. I was captain of the
steamboat Western, and had Colonel
Moore of Fort Buford with me; we had
annuities and gratuities goods for the
Indians. 1t was just below Fort Peck;
we come to shore under a high bank
with three or four canyons-coulees
they call 'em there cutting through
it. The first thing We knew, those
canyons were full of Indians shootin'.
There were eight people in the pilot.
house when the first volley struck US
Colonel Moore, two preachers, who
were goin' up to work among the In
dams! four others and myself: Colonel
Moore was just behind me; one bullet
went through his lower jaw and knock.
ed out some of his teeth and one cut
the collar of my coat clean through,
right at the back of my neck. In
about a second the others were all
laying down, and Colonel Moore
reached for me: Lie down., he says.
We can't afford to lose you 1 forgot
to say that my pilot had deserted at
Yankton, and was the only man on
board who knew the river. No, says
l to Colonel Moore, I'm going to get
the boat out of here or the Indians II
kill US all and burn her. We backed
away and turned toward the other
bank; that brought the stern of the
boat between the Indians and the pilot
house. I went downstairs; the boat
was as empty as q church on week
days; everybody had gone down into
the hold. We had guns aboard; I'd
got them at the fort, in case of need. |
The clerk, Barney Earl, was locked up
with the guns. I called to him, and
he unlocked the door and handed me
two guns, and says he: 'Here-you
take 'em-I cant shoot l come out |
with the guns, and there was a half:
breed Indian-he was the only man in |
sight. Here I says, take this gun
and shoot at them devils, or I'll shoot |
you, and he did it. Well, when the |
others heard the shootin' it encouraged
'em a lot, and they came out and took
hold and helped, and the Indians went
away. We counted sixty bullet holes
in the pilot-house.
"Did I see any buffaloes? There's
two ladies now living in St. Louis who
went with me up to Fort Benton on the
Twilight, when I carried 4S5 passen-
gers at $500 apiece; and I killed the
game for all of 'em. How did do it?
Every day or two we'd come to place
where a herd of buffalo was crossing
the river, and the boat would run in
among 'em; I'd just rig my derrick.
fall, and let down a great moose right
in front of big fellow and haul him
up on board. l didn't need no cow
boy to rope stock for me; we got all
the fresh meat we wanted that way.
In 81 l brought down seventeen
buffaloes alive-roped 'em right out of
the river, and hauled my catch on
board with the derrick-fall. It beat
any seine you ever saw. But the
awfallest sight ever saw on the river
vas 81, 900 bufaloes drowning. It was
about fifteen miles below the mouth of
The Yellowstone, and l was with my
own boat, the Ben johnson. Charles
B. Chouteau was with me that trip,
and we come out on deck together.
You know what those plains are like
Ill light brown, and stretching away
q the end O the world; you can see
ifty miles each way. Well, out there
IN the prairie was a great black wave