The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1927-01-28

as the wilderness gave them. They asso-
ciated with Indians or with other white
men like themselves. They became primitive
men.
The Character of Jim Bridger
Some recent writer seeks to rehabilitate
Jim Bridger, and make him over after a
civilized pattern. He could not have been
the heavy drinker he is generally pictured
as being, says the writer, or he could not
have acted as a trustworthy guide. Even
clergymen drank when the last century
was young, and did not deem it sinful.
Could better be expected of men who had
no law save their own incinatiOns? The
trappers were exposed to extremes Of tenn
peratures, and when half frozen, believed
there was nothing better than whiSkey, or
some alcoholic drink to restore the circu-
latiOn. They did not believe it possible to
have a good time, unless they became
glOriOusly drunk. 1t is not for us to con-
denim them, nor is it necessary to hide the
truth concerning them. These mOuntaineers
were the product of their surroundings,
and should not be judged by present-day
standards of morality.
The trappers were totally untitled by
education for the settler or community
life. They were not tillers of the soil, or
mechanics, nor endowed with the knOwl-
edge required in the professions. They
excelled in wOOdcraft, and knew the ways
of wild animals. Their constant wander
ing in search Of beaver streams, was not
the best of preparation for cOpfining their
activities to a limited area. Then, too, as
%trappers, they acknowledged no SuperiOrS,
and it went against the grain for them to
be treated with the cOndecensiOn they met
from the settlers. They could ride and
shoot; track Indians or wild animals ;
%prOphesy what the weather would be al
most with the accuracy of the United
States Weather Bureau; and live on what
the country provided until partial exter-
minatiOn of game deprived them Of their
food supply.
After the Last Rendezvous
The last rendezvous left them face to
face with the serious problem OF how they
were hencefOrth to earn a living. They
could not turn back the stream of emigra-
ton which grew in volume from year to
year. What were the trappers to dOf This
question they solved in different ways as
suited individual temPeraments. Many
drifted down to Santa Fe, where there was
still plenty of opportunity to exercise theii
accomplishments with the sole exception
Of trapping. Others, notably the worst ele-
ment, became bandits, rObbing alike whites
and Indians. The danger of rObbing or
killing Indians, was we'll recognized by the
mOuntaineers. According to Indian custom
if one Of their number suffered loss Of
property, or was killed, it was not the Grim
inal who was held responsible for the dead
but the tribe, or the race to which he be-
lOnged. The Indians did not discriminate
if the transgressOr was a white man, bu'
held all white men accountable, and they
felt perfectly justified in rObbing or kill
ing the next white man they ran across
aware VI LnAn GuELUAAF II AaAA ANi
some of the former trappers to recover
stolen horses from their former cOmrade
Iturned bandits, and return their prOpert!
TO the owners to avert their vengeance.
A number of the trappers went to tn
lower Columbia, and a few welded to tn
= old life, stayed in the mountains, trapping
and dispOsing of their furs to the Hudson
Bay Company, at Fort Hall. Most Of tn
leaders returned East, where they rapid
], spent the money so hardly gained. Thrift
t was a virtue unknown to the fur mel
: except the enforced saving arising fror
s their being unable to spend. They wOrke
t hard during the fur-hunting season, per
+ haps to throw away, in a rendezvou
T carOusal, what they had earned at tn
risk of their lives from starvation, attack
By wild animals, or wilder Indians.
Among the trappers who remained in tn
mountains for a time after the generi
dispersion, was Joe Meek, then but twenty
eight years old. Others, like Bridger, VIII
stayed, found cOngenial occupation 9
guides for United States troops, or tC
private parties. They were admirably fitte
to act in this capacity, familiar, as the
were, with every foot of the country, an
the WAYS of the red men.
Meek associated himself with a ma