Glacier County chief., 1940-05-10

ment. But mutiny in the camp grew
apace. A blizzard started, and kept up
for a week.
Ross could smile at this. The back
trail was as tough as the one ahead.
The mutineers might as well go for
ward now.
When the storm abated and before
friendly Nez Perez Indians came to
camp. They had been on a buffalo
hunt, and the buffalo were but five
days away, and they were plentiful,
but the snow was deeper ahead.
Ross took advantage Of this diver
neers, and offered to reduce his debt
to the company If he would hunt the
hills and provide meat for the camp.
He called for 80 others to accompany
the Nez Perce back to the buffalo
country, on snowshoes, to hunt buffalo.
With his forces split up, Ross could
see the end of his troubles. The storm
was followed by thaw that made
better grazing for the horses, and he
sent the Indian women picking cram
berries in the marshes. In a short
time the hunters were back with buff
falo meat, and the women began max
ing pemmican, much of which was dis
patched to the western forts.
Rebellion Breaks Anew
Snowblindness affected six men, and
rebellion began anew. Old Pierre was
the only man who would work on the
trail Nights were spent gambling, and
the days grumbling.. Old cadillac, a
half-breed, made an Indian drum by
stretching buffalo skin on hoops. John
Grey. the rebel, uncased his fiddle and
made music. Ross had an idea.
A camp concert! Two or three lodges
were turned into one. The drum, fiddle
concertinas, Jews harps and a fife
came out. The night was danced away
with a roaring celebration that the
mountains had never experienced be-
fore, and were not to have again until
Northern Pacific construction camps
appeared more than half a century
later When morning came Ross was
ready with another surprise, sprung
so quickly that the jewellers did not
grasp its import until they were tired
out.
The sun was coming up gloriously
whole crew would go out and dig out
that snow to the tune of John Grey's
fiddle! And John Grey literally fid-
died them through the deep drifts.
-Four days later. however, the novel;
ty was gone, and all but seven men
refused to work. Those seven men
cleared away the last mile of the
snow blockade, and on Thursday,
April Is, the expedition passed into
open country.
$4,000 Worth of Pelts
The next two months were spent
around the three forks of the Missouri
river, in what is now Yellowstone park,
and along the Snake river. There was
some Indian trouble along the way,
but no more mutiny nor labor trouble.
When Ross and his expedition reached
Spokane House in November they had
$4,000 worth of beaver, and Ross
turned in to help fit Peter Skene Og-
den out for his first trip to the Snake
river during the coming winter. Ogden
had 176 men in his outfit, and ex-
pected to bring in at least sl4,5O0 in
beaver pelts.
Ogden himself would never give all
the facts regarding his adventures on
the Snake on that trip. But on his
own expedition, Ross had met a party
of American trappers from Henry's
brigade. They had 900 beavers, but
would sell none to Ross. Ogden re-
turned the following year without any
beaver, but the American traders
turned s14.500 in beaver in at the St
Louis market that season, based or
price of $3.50 per pelt. 1t was this
catch that enabled Ashley to retire
from the mountains and turn over tc
the others the business of dealing with
the brigadeS of free trappers scattered
throughout the mountain country.
The true story Of Ogden's encounter
with the free trappers and the inside