The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1925-10-23
(Rv NJ. u. PLAsSMANN)

80
TN THESE days when Western
stories abound in novels and
Il magazines; stories wherein cow
boys and badmen are the heroes,
with the inevitable sheriff always
in the foreground; stories whose
authors in many instances seem
to have derived their local color
from the movies, it is hard to
credit the statement, although true,
that once there was a time Wash
ington Irving's writings were read
with avidity and furnished equal
thrills with the Mystery Of the
Lazy D."
Of course all this was long, long
ago, when books and magazines were
few, and taste for good literature
had not been developed by the forced
reading of a novel of ScOtt's, OF a
Shakespeare play overnight, to fuTn-
ish material for an elaborate written
criticism the following day.
Before our family started across
the Plains in 1868, Bonneville's Ad-
ventures became a textbook for US
all, for we were to shape u west
ward course over much of the cOun-
try described by Irving in his inimit-
able manner but we, like many
others, knew little of the early life
of the redOubtabIe captain he made
famous for all time. It vas but late-l
" that I learned more regarding
Bonneville, although the initials B.
/. Z. p|refacing his surname should
have apprised me that he was a for
eigner. Americans must, it is agreed,
have two initials, bUt-a foreigner is
less economical, and ven the ON
mOnalty may indulge in four or five,
while royalty is frequently not salts
fled with fewer than a dozen of these
appendages.
Captain p. I. z. Bonneville was q
native of France and. together with
his mother, came to America in
charge Of no less n person than
Thomas Paine, author of the Age of
Reason, as Bonneville Sr. for some
Offense against the government, was
not permitted to leave France. At
the required age he entered West
Point, and at the time he undertook
his western journey. he was Captain
of the 9TH Regiment, New York.
The pictures of him with which we
are familiar, represent him as being
full of face. with numerous double
chins. and the wrinkles about the
eyes indicate that he was possessed
of a sense of humOr. He Tesembled
an English squire, more than cur
p~recOnceived idea of a French man,
in all but the saving sense Of humOr.
We know that he was bald, ana can
easily imagine him as Of a TUddy
complexion. and a man who was fond
of the good things of life. Then why
did he elect to head an expedition
that must necessarily run the gaunt-
let of famine and danger?
Perhaps it was French thrift,
which has become proverbial since
the last war. Great fortunes were
benig made in the fur trade. That
shrewd German financier, AstOT, had
thought it worth trying, yet with dis
astrOus results. Ashley, Manuel Lisa,
and the American Fur Company, and
some few free lances, like Harvey,
were willing to accept the attendant
risks for the profit which might &C
crue. Whatever the motive, Captain
Bonneville became imbUed with the
spirit of adventure, and applied for
a leave of absence for the Ostensible
purpose of exploring the country to
the Rocky Mountains, and beyond,
with a view of a-scertaining the ma
tuTe and character of the several
tribes of Indians inhabiting those re-
gions; the trade that might be profit
ably carried on with them. the quail
ty of the soil, the productions, the
minerals, the natural history, the
climate, the geography and tOpo-
graphy, as well, of the various parts
of the country within the limits OF
the territories belonging to the
United States, between our frontier
and the Pacific" Quite a compre-
hensive task for one man to accom-
plish in the year accorded him.