Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1929-08-01
kit Carson Was Fur Trader
i'm Montana Years Before He
Was KNOWN i'm Southwest
(By MRS. Nj. e. PLASSMANND

(By MRS. Nj. K. PLASSMANN)
TOR SOME reason unexplained, the
public is far more interested in mer
who have distinguished themselve,
as pirates, highWaymen, Indian fighters
or burglars, than they are in those who
have won fame in the professions
Mr.. Birney, the author of "Vigilante,'
recently published in the Saturday
Evening Post, called my attention tc
this. without purposing to do SO, wher
OF Billy the Kid" and others of thi,
type. Why" said he, Il never hearc
of Colonel Sanders until I came tc
Montana" intimating that his life
would not rival that of the renowned
Billy in its appeal to the majority.
Many years have passed since Black
beard, Robin Hood, and other pirates
and bold knights of the road lived ano
operated in their chosen line, yet today
any new adventure of theirs would fine
countless readers, who could not be
induced to read of the victories in
science won by Loeb or Steinmetz.
Allied to the criminal heroes, but the
product Of a higher social evolution
are the Indian fighters. They did not
transgreSS the law, for they lived in
" n1A1l1 law QlN INV tAlcl
except codes formulated by themselves
or by the natives they fought or mar
ried. These frontier heroes on lead
ing the simple life, soon reverted tc
semi-savagery, and, with no force to
restrain them. acted according to their
natures. Some were brutal and blood
thirsty, while others exhibited better
qualities, and were true heroes. Among
these latter, none has Won greater and
better deserved fame than the little
~red-headed, freckled faced Irishman,
Kit Carson.
In the days of Robin Hood and his
merry men, it is quite likely highway
men were needed by way of protest
against existing social conditions; like
wise in the frontier period Of our
the settlement of our country by the
white race.
When l was a child, yet within my
recollection, the western expedition OF
General Fremont was fresh in the
minds of our people. He was a candi-
date for the presidency. 1t was he who
introduced Kit Carson to the general
public. although Carson had already
gained fame in the wilderness.
CarsOn's name is generally associ-
ated with the extreme Southwest, where
most of his later life was spent, either
along the Sante Fe trail or as guide
and scout. Earlier than this he was
a trapper, in fur trading days, and a
trapper did not confine his operations
to n locality; he went wherever the
beaver we're most plentiful.
No part of the Northwest was better
beaver country than right here in Mon
tana. This region the Blackfeet claimed,
and were prepared to defend. OF course
all west of the Missouri belonged to
the Indians by right of solemn treaty
with our government. but the trappers
ignored this treaty, and wherever it
paid them to do so, they advanced a
counter claim, supported by pristine
law, not yet obsolete, that might makes
right, and they generally won their
case.
On coming in conflict with the
Blackfeet, they made the discovery
that n tribe of Indians was power
full enough to defy them. Again and
again trappers invaded this territory.
only to be driven back, ANONYMOUSLY
defeated. The noted Indian fighter,
Fitzpatrick, is reported to have had his
hair turn white in narrow escape
from an Indian raid, and Bridger came
near losing his life in the neighbor-
hood Of Three Forks.
Once, when Kit Carson was trapping
in Montana, the Blackfeet stole the
horses belonging to him and his COM
rades. Horses possessed a value in those
days, almost incomprehensible now.
Even after the fur trading epoch ended,
death was the verdict for a horse thief.
Trappers could Ill afford to lose their
horses, and Carson was not n to
submit tamely to their theft.
At once he and his comrades set out
to recover them. The trail of the In
dams was not hard to follow, and they
0 0 came in sight Of those they sought,
a number Of warriors well armed, while
on a nearby hillside they saw their
horses. Both parties were on foot,
but the trapperS found themselves not
only out-numbered, but at signal dis
advantage with those they pursued.
The ground was covered deep with
snow, over which the Indians could
pass rapidly on the snow shoes they
wore, while the trappers f1oundered
through it in moccasins. Under the
circumstances, Carson thought diplo-
macy was in order, and made signs that
he wished to have q talk with the foe.
The fact that the Indians consented
to this speaks we'll for the reputation
Kit had gained among both Indians
and whites, as a sure shot. Indians
never cared to risk any unnecessary
loss of life on their own side in war
fare.
The two parties met, and after the
usual preliminaries, the Blackfeet adj
mitted they made a slight mistake in
stealing the horses, thinking they were
the property Of their tribal enemies,
the Snakes. This admission seemed
magnanimouS on their part. accepting
it as genuine, Carson followed it up
with the demand that the stolen horses
should be returned forthwith. APP
parently this way of settling the mis-
understanding was perfectly satisfactory
with the Blackfeet, who at once dis
patched some of their number to bring
in the stolen animals. When these ar
rived, they proved to be five of the
worst ponies the Indians owned.
1t now became evident that the
Blackfeet, contrary to their custom,
had INDUCED in crooked" talk, and if
Carson wanted his horses back, he
and his men must fight for them.
Surmising what was about to hap
pen the Indians took refuge behind
trees and rocks, and the white men fol-
lowed suit. CarSon'S men were con-
siderably o~utnumbered, but they were
fighters, had good guns, although they
were muzzle leaders, and plenty OF
ammunition. Added to this, their shots
rarely went wild, for they were trained
markSmen, and the Indians failed sad