The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1925-10-23

as the object of your enterprise. that
you note particularly the number Of
warriors that may be in each tribe
or nation that you meet with, their
alliances with other tribes, and their
relative position as to a state Of peace
or war, and whether their friendly or
warlike dispositions toward each
other are recent or of long standing.
You will crafty us by describing
their manner of making war; Of the
mode Of substituting themselves dur
ing a state of war, and a state of
peace; their arms, and the effect of
them; whether they act on foot or
on horseback; detailing the discipline
and manOeuvers of the war parties;
the power Of their horses, size, and
general description; in short, every
information which you may conceive
would be useful to the government"
Not in the least deferred by these
simple instructions, Captain 8onne-
vile left the frontier post of Fort
Usage, May /, 1882. His company
was made up of 10 men he lad re-
cruited from the hangers on at the
fort. With these were two assistants,
Walker and Cerre, both Of whom
had seen considerable service in the
wilderness in trapping and Indian
fighting. His supplies and trading
goods were carried in twenty wag-
Ons, drawn by oxen, mules and
horses. 1t would be interesting TO
know which set the pace, the oxen
mules, or horses. The wagons were
destined to become objects Of great
curiosity to the Indians they met.
The first one Of these latter to
attract the notice Of Bonneville, was
Chief White Plume, who lived in a
large stone house, built for hiIn by
the government. OF it Irving says
ct might be palace without, but it
was wigwam Within" with other
witty comments at the expense of
the chief with the attractive name.
Before bidding him farewell, Bonnie
vile, discovered that White Plume
acquired some of the lights Of civil
izatiOn from his proximity to the
whites, as was evinced in his knOwl-
edge Of driving a bargain. He re-
CURED hard cash in return for some
corn with which he supplied the
worthy captain, and left the latter
at a loss which most to admire, his
native chivilry as a brave or his &C
CURED adrOitness as a trader" In
this connection it should be recalled
that these Indians raised corn.
Bonneville at length struck the
Platte, or Nebraska River, and did
not fail to tell Of the landmarks,
along it, like Chimney Rock, and
ScOtt's bluff, and relates the story
of how it was named. Briefly It is
this: A man by name Of Scott, hav-
ing been taken i'll on Laramie F0.k,
was abandoned by his companions,
on the pretext that they were going
in search of herbs to heal him, when
the truth was they hurried to over
take some white men whose trail
they had run across. Fear of starva-
ton drove them to this shameful
act. The next year, some OF this
party found the bones Of Scott on
the bluff that is now his monument
He had cTaWled sixty-five miles from
where they left him. This Is the bluff
we set out to visit in 1868; walked
all day and never reached It.
Somewhere IN this region Bonnie
vile saw the first biehorn sheen.
IA little later he encountered the
Crows. They lived up 50 their repu-
tatiog Of being friends OF the white
man. and they also we're not untrue