The chronicle=news., 1914-12-10

but this was before the rambuncti ous
white man came along to upset the
charming equanimity of thing
When Fort Benton was established
by the fur traders, at the head of
navigation on the upper Missouri,
along about 1850 or possibly a little
earlier, the savages of that region
were gentle folk as modest as q go-
pher and as harmless as Il Kitten.
They were armed only with the prim-
itive weapons of the chase, nor did
they ever suppose they would need
anything more warlike than their
spears. bows and arrows. OF course
they dotted on buffalo hide shield
for dress parade upon festive orcas-
ions when they wanted to put on a
little dog as splurge before the
white brethren.
Then came the powder and ball
age with those funny looking shoot
ing irons which the aborisines called
thunder guns for want OF another
name. The natives were powerfully
afraid of the white man 3 firearms ut
first, believing that they were the
dark wItchery of some mysterious
medicine which spelled death and
damnation to everybody who tritled
with such Internal things. In time,
however. as they witnessed the dead
ly effect of the pale faces weapons
and noticed how easily the game was
brought down by the tonch of the
treacherons trigger they concludeo
that what was good for the white
men might also be good for them and
they began to covet the newfangled
armory. Their sign for a gun was
the imitation of its explosion and
was made by suddenly opening the
-lenched fist and forcing the untift-
ed palm rapidly forward. at the same
time uttering tho word, ''poot'. This
gutteral ejaculation was made to
simulate the voice of the awful thing
that spoke so deadly and made such
l heap big noise about It.
Along the early fifties the Can
udian government issued supply OF
aowder and ball Queen Anne NUS
kcts to the Assinboine. Grow ana
Dakota Indians, who dwelt on that
side of the international line and
vcry soon, in the course OF their
tribal trading back and forth, many
nj those cld-fashtoned English arms
with their flint locks and flash pans
found their niinble way over the
ho,ndorv The tn6ians sawed Off
ITO oueen Anne harrels until they
ware onIv n fnot lone. and with these
tucked away under their blankets. 50
that r,rn mi.ht 500 what thev cnr-
ried tratr inv was romnleta for then
thoy w,ro looaed ror man beast mr.
jevi1 They often norred a handful
NJ novder into theea ahbrev;ated har-
rolls dr,nned in an ounce bnl,et and
pot , huffalo every limo thev rode nm
along side of ono ana nu,jed tho triu-
,or I'll, n,.;cs ~ ,mnrun;t;o, nf
o,,,r,o r,.. ~. ~ s,ght An o,,rco
tnadnn bulIet brouvht a dollar n
Mound AZ nonder wac worth ION mr.
,r,r, 5ol,ar. or &c many buffal,
aides u.h;lo often later nm tho r. p
n.r,,,ss;or cons for tho horae ,iatols
nor.r ro,d loss tb.n do,,or n hoy
Ir,or,. HOO, in +ba river from ci,;l,z.
,t,or ,,r,,,,1,t nm , r,ig s,,,,nly en- that
,ho stool nsvar ran ont
,rha .r,ios, tr.,,rors ,,sod to rec,ta
,root storiss ohn,,t tho conauc, ~
vita o,,,r,,,s Ioror, tbo white MAN
hoy,r sboo,i,q them In travelling
IN ora d,,,n ,I,o r;r,r /, +hotr
n..hi,or bo,t. ,to olt door ante.
.,,a ,rd ,nnu,,toir sheen a,d -c,ts
~, na,,o T., a-o,.,, a, ~, ,or.o.
,dua 4, l,oi, wondor,nolv at tho
,,ro,yo No, s:omet,r,os tbay would
,,,l,,, ,lory on sborn rcr ,f,,os ho-
,,r, sat,,ryi,a ,,,air noc,,;..; cnr,,s-
~. ,rd sos,,ir.iv trv,,u 4, en.ta a.
Inc antics until tbe white stran.era
hen., sbo,tina. them aud thep like
| ,hs noor Indian the creotrres bocomo
| axcitod and mir their r,,hherneckinp
10 scpd rauid1v AWAY whenever the