Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1935-06-27

the fall before, the kind hearted agent
issued them rationS. Then, instead OF
hunting and laying by a winter supply
Of food of their own they lay in camp
and ate that provided by the govern
ment. Then winter came, there were
scarcely enough rations left for the
whites, to say nothing Of the red men.
and the Indians were left to shift for
themselves. Even then they would per-
haps have not been SO bad off had not
the buffaloes for some unknown reason
crossed the Missouri onto the MuSsel-
shell to winter instead Of staying ON
the Marias and Teton as usual.
Issuing of rations was a blunder on
the part of the agent. 1t showed his
little knowledge of Indian character
to think they would provide food for
themselves when plenty was already
being given them. His intended kind
ness came near finishing the tribe.
Such were conditions when our party
entered the stockade. With a tribe OF
desperately hungry Indians outside
and none too much food inside, the
agency force was uneasy. Riflemen in
the new party were a welcome addition
to the defensive force. Little less well
NOiilC Wtic tilt Qttl, Sllttp, dllJtlOpcS
and other food the party brought with
them.
That night the wagons were unloaded
and at daylight the next morning were
started on the return journey to Hell
ena.
One may properly ask why the gov
eminent did not send in supplies for
the hungry Indians. The answer is
| cfmnlp Amnlp cI1nnlipc haA hapr f,,r-
nished the fall before had they been
judiciously used. No" additional sup
plies could be brought by river until
early summer The mountain road
from COrinne, 600 miles away on the
Union Pacific railroad in Utah was well
impossible, so additional supplies were
virtually an impossibility.
How the Indians got through the
winter l do not know. Many died from
hunger and disease. Spring came, the
buffaloes returned, the Indians had
food in abundance, forgot their win
ter'S suffering and were more friendly.
The whites ceased worrying. Con-
tentment reigned on the Teton.
In the spring and summer that fol-
lowed, the Siren became much of a
ladies' man. Some of the Indian girls
were admitted to the stockade from
time to time. Frequently they cam to
mother and asked:
Where ~papOOSe?"
With "papoose" in their possession,
they would play for hours inside the
stockade, or until he remembered his
bottle. They were never, however, al
lowed to take him outside the stock
ade.
On his return from these little ex-
cursions with the dusky maidenS the
Sirens mother always undressed him
and shook his clothes over a paper
spread on the floor as a precaution.
Many incidents occurred that were
of great interest to the Sirens brothers.
An old skunk contrived to establish her
home under a building inside and neal
the stockade wall. Here she brought
forth her family and lived for months.
At last, when her six were h%alf-grown,
she led them proudly forth onto the
parade ground in the center of the
stockade in the dusk of a summer eve
ming.
This was most unfortunate for the
skunks as well as for everyone else. Two
young, inexperienced dogs saw them
and dashed with much barking, in great
glee, to defeat. AS the two dogs re-
tired in disgust, rubbing and rolling on
the ground, two others from the other
side OF the stockade rushed at the seven
skunks which had formed a circle.
heads out. The skunks had their fight
ing. blood up by this time and the Sec
ond pair of dogs retired in greater
chagrin than the first.
| Men, women and children, hearing
the melee, gathered from all parts OF
the StOckade. The dogs whined and
rubbed against their masters clothing.
At last, N of the men, remarking, 1T
cant be any worse" got his shotgun and
killed the skunks. Then, with a pitch
fork, he carried the seven little bodies
outside the Stockade. The next day
an old squaW found them, and feasting
followed in a tepee on the river bank.
1t was many moons before the in
habitantS of the stockade forgot the
incident.
Two of the men we're rival fishermen
They Wed with each other as to which
could get the largest trout. Sometimes
one was ahead, sometimes the other.
AT last n came in carrying a five and
q half pound cutthroat trout and gloat-
ed over his rival numerically.
The unfortunate one examined the
lish for a while, admiring its beauti-
ful rosy sides and then said, IF you can
catch such a fish as that, it must be
easy and trudger off with his fishing
tackle.
An hour later he came back with
another fish which could not be told
IN size or color from the first. In those
days there were real fish in the Mis-
souri, and its tributaries.
Boy Chief and Heavy Runner were
rival chiefs, each with his group of fol-
lows. Time hung heavily on their
hands, for they were no longer per-
mitted to raid the Sioux or the Crows.
They could not even go on a horse
stealing expedition against the whites.
80 to relieve the tedium, they staged a
tight OF their own Heavy Runner was
Killed and buried just outside the
stockade, and his three wives mourned
on his grave. Each tried to evince
grief than the other two together.
Wailing mournfully, they dug up the
fresh mound Of earth in the efforts to
uncover the body. Now and then, as a
more complete expression of sorrow.
a finger was whacked off or they CASH
ed their bodies with knives. 1t was a
grueSome sight, and with the boys and
girls who witnessed it. it still remains
as a sort of nightmare