Montana oil and mining journal., 1938-03-19

HAIR. All When Diplomacy Demanded.
M E. Miner and Jack Board
man, earIy-day Montana ca8tHemen,
once won the friendship Of . Paegan
chief by their ability 20 eat dog
meat, after they had unwlttingiy
ridden into . hostile camp In search
of q missing band of horses. AS q
result of the gust0 manifested at
the banquet table which the In
dkans set for them, they rode away
from the camp in safety-and with
the horses.
Miner, for many years president Of
the Miner Livestock Co., which ran
cattle on both sides of the Missouri
river, and Boardman, son-in-law of
the late Conrad Kohrs, were at the
time young men only recently from the
east. They had been reared in the
lap of luxury and had come west in
search of adventure. They cheerfully
accepted whatever of hardships or dis
comfort that came their way on the
range, but they were inclined to be
particular about what they ate and
where they slept. 1t has even been told
Of them that for several years after
they came to the cattle country they
carried a bathtub with them on pack
horse, when riding the range.
One spring a small bunch Of horses
belonging to them turned up missing
and they started riding the Arrow creek
country of central Montana in search
Of the animals. While following the
creek valley. IN rough country, they
turned a point and rode right into
camp of Piegans They were seen in
stantly and it was too late to turn
back, so they rode boldly forward into
the Indian camp where there were in
the neighborhood of 100 fighting men.
The Piegans, while not at war with
the whites at that time, were none too
friendly. Miner and Boardman MADE
known their mission as best they could
by signs and two young bucks conducted
them TO the tepee of the chief, whom
thew found surrounded by several of
his head men. Their reception was
friendly. The Indians all shook hands,
the white men seated themselves in the
circle and the pipe was passed. Again
by signs they informed the Indians that
they were in search Of missing horses,
and had come to that camp to inquire
about them. They were given no infor-
nation about their horses but were
given to understand that feast was
being prepared for them.
That seemed, at the time, encourag-
ing news. for from their knowledge of
the Indians customs, they knew their
chances of leaving the camp unharmed
would be good if they ate with the In
dianS. Both inwardly decided that in
this instance they would lay aside their
Squeamishness and eat whatever was
placed before them.
Their determination wavered some
when they saw an Indian woman grab
one of several fat puppies which had
been playing about the tepee, cut its
throat and begin to make preparations
for the meal They saw her shove it,
head, aide, hair and everything into
boiling pot, and it dawned upon them
then they were going to be offered q
feast Of dog meat.
They were dismayed, but for time
were consoled with the thought that
there were SO many bucks present that
one small puppy wouldn't go far and
that their portion probably would be
small. Alas for their hopes. When the
squaw prepared to serve the meal, they
discovered to their CONSERVATION that
they alone were to eat. And eat they
did-at least enough to satisfy their
host.
When they had finished, the chief
told them that one Of his young men
knew where their horses were and that
he would drive them into camp for
them In short time they were on
their way home with the horses, which
of course had been stolen by the In
dians, and later returned to them.
A friend to whom Miner related the
incident remarked that the two must
have had pretty strong stomachs in
order to get away with the meal
Strong stomachsl" replied Miner.
You'd have thought they were strong
if you had seen how far we threw that
dog meat after we got out of sight of
the Indian camp"