Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1927-05-06
The Fra1 Youth Who Came Into the Wilderness Ar
in 1912. at Time When Doctors Said He Could wV
Not Lue; HoU He Became One of Vests Most
How Uncle Billy "Cleaned Up" the Crolc Nation D


there plumber were found the rifles. am
munition and rinke of a party OF trap
pers they had previously surprised and
annihilated.
Lifts His First Scalp
Returning TO camp the trappers came
upon the body OF one OF the dead In
dams.
boy, this is your opportunity" said
Williams 10 Hamilton. Lift the scalp
from that buck. II belongs to you"
"Of COURSE" said Uncle Billy, in re-
counting his experiences in later years..
Il knew how to scalp, having watched
the trappers lift hair from the other
three Indians; and l soon had the feat
accomplished. Scalping was easy. The
method was to run the knife around the
head under the hair, cutting through to
the skull bone; then taking hold of the
scalp lock and giving it a quick jerk. The
scalp would come on easily. Afterwards
you would dry it on a hoop"
Their course then took the trappers
northward. Passing the Thermopolis hot
springs, they a camp downstream IN
the valley of the Big Horn. -Four days
later they scouts of the Sho-
shones, who, under Chief Washable were
returning from a hunting trip to Elk
Water 1.-THE Yellowstone rIyerl.
The Shoshone Trail
Down in Gallatin county, Just about q
mile south of Bozeman there is a trail"
which Wends its way across the prairie.
1t is formed by the junction of two trails.
One of these approaches from Three
Forks while the other emerges from the
West Gallatin canyon. This pathway
traverses the valley, in an easterly course,
striking an almost bee line for the Boze-
man pass to the great bend OF n yell
lowstone. Those h have Travelled 1t
say it crosses the small streams by the
best fords, ascends and descends the
buttes, tablelands and mountains by the
best ridges and ravines. 1t is almost IN
observable across the stony bottoms but,
on the loose soil of the prairie. 1t is
deeply worn.
In Montana there may be other trails
which have born the tread of greater
numbers of Indians, such as, perhaps,
the Blackfeet trails, many of which con-
verged at the Three Forks as we'll as at
the Big Falls of the Missouri, or the
great lodge-pole trails, winding their
courses through the forests and across
the valley of the Big Blackfoot river in
Deer Lodge county, but 1T is doubtful II
there is another trail that has been SO
important to both redmen and white.
To the Enemy's Country
In the beginning of things out West
when the native lived and enjoyed his
living unmolested, the Shoshones and
other trans-Rocky nations Of Indians,
living as they did outside of the main
buffalo range, had to cross the mountains
to hunt their meat The buffalo coun-
try was then the property of the much
feared Blackfeet tribes, and to trespass
thereupon was q most dangerous under
taking. 1t Is told of the Shoshones that
they accomplished this very gracefully
under a clever ruse. To get to the bur
falo hunting grounds on the upper MUS
selshell. they traversed this primitive
trail.
In the buffalo days there wandered.
lunmolested in small herds, what were
known as outlaw buffalo bands. THESE
consisted Of old scurvy bulls, whose hide
and flesh were worthless either Tor Iur
or meat. Because Of the method OF their
travel ~tgenerally in single file ana scat
tered), they were always recognized, but
never harmed. The S%hoshones conceived
the idea of masquerading to resemble
one Of these outlaw bands. They used,
on these forays into the enemy's country,
ponies of dark color. A buffalo robe was
thrown over the saddle to resemble the
hump of a bull. The Indians wore a
skin en- their head. walked close to the
head Of the pony. holding their fances
down low SO that there could be no CLINT.
All the while they kept we'll in the
shadow Of the foothills, out of the sun
At a distance, writer's tell us, 1T was al
most impossible to distinguish them
from an outlaw buffalo ban Either
the Shoshones or other tribes were con-
tinually using this route. That is one
reason why the Blackfeet frequented the
Three Forks. They sought to protect
their, hunting grounds against these In
truders.
Not only did the Shoshones and Nee
Perces come hither To hunt, but 1t was,
as we'll. their custom to trek the long
distances down the Missouri to the Man
dan villages to trade for meat, furS,
vegetables and corn. This, too, was a
: famous war trail, for Town it's defiles and
over It's divides marched the Nez Perce5r
the Snakes, the S~aleeshes, the Flatheads,
and the Kootenais on their expeditions
against Crow or Blackfeet; or the Black
feet travelled in expeditions against
mountain tribes.
And, too, it was over this age-old trail
that passed eastward Captain William
Clark OF his way to explore the Yellow
stone in 1906. 1t was this way that hur-
ried the harassed John Coulter before
the pursuing Blackfeet. Manuel Lisa
with his small band. trod this pathway.
on to the Three Forks to build Fort
Manuel. Bonneville's explorers came this'
way to view and appraise a new countft,
Father DeSmet carried the torch of
Christianity over this route which has re-
NAMED q guiding line for the %argonauts
and pioneers to pilot them to and from
the land Of gold when Montana vas very
young. This trail has been greatest In
Significance, for 1T traversed that section
which could be called the cradle" from
which the infant, Montana, emerged,
grew and became a great commonwealth
in the heart of the Northwest.
With Chief Wasbasie
1t was on this trail tnat the trapper
party Of which Hamilton was a member,
found the ~Shoshones on this eventful
trek through the wilderness.
I'm the morning. the tribe arrived, "a
~bodyguard of twenty men being in the
lead,' said Uncle Billy. I'VE soon had o
feast prepared and the alumet of peace
was passed. The plumber we had taken
from the dead Blackfeet was spread out
and soon a lively trade followed, particu-
larly With the squaws. They would give
a pair OF fancy moccasins for almost any
thing that belonged to the Blackfeet.
The chiefs son brought a good horse
and gave 1t to me. A present from an
Indian means that he wants something
that you possess. / soon found out that
it was one of my scalps, and I gave it to
him. He was a noble youth with the
characteristics of his father. and both
were extremely friendly to the whites.
Il had learned the sign language SO
rapidly that now / was able to talk to-
these Shoshones on almost any subject.
My proficiency proved q marvel to CHIEF
Washable, and he would not believe that
I had not been raised by some indian
tribe. II was amusing to hear some Of
the questions that the Indian women
4 ncLrayl tn.z e "a ,-1.-t 4~sN. ~ r fsx.-lr