Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1942-07-11
LIFE WAS GRIM
in EARLY DAYS
DIARY REVEALS
CONTINUED from Historical Pager

dispose Of 1t all himself. he called II
some Of the poorer Indians who werV
near at hand, and paid the poor Low
Indian" to clean his plate, by thu
gift of a 'fbreechcloth, or a calicC
shirt"
Caste counted at mealtime IN the
fort also The first class sat at the
table with the trader, or bourgeois, as
he was termed. The second class was
fain to be satisfied with what was
left from the first table, while the
third class was made up Of men who
! had volunteered for the service In st.
Louis, and were ignorant Of what
awaited them in the way of treatment.
They belonged to the cuisine Of rot
4 ten dried buffalo meat Francois Al
satien was their cook.
Meat Was OdorOus
Every morning Francois received a
package of this dried buffalo meat.
very odorous. It could be detected from
a distance. He would drop it In his
kettle which was always full of bullion
three or four days old, and swing the
kettle hanging to a bringuebal, or
break, over the fire, in his large CHM
ney and let 1t boil until cooked. The
manner OF serving the meal was to
puC the kettle in the middle OF the
room, and wait for the first sound of
the bell, then open the door. The old
travellers provided each with a wooden
fork, would rush in It was to see who
would fork out the best pieces. The
new men had to wait and satisfy
themselves with the rest"
This description conveys a vivid
picture of how the meat was eaten.
but fails to tell in what manner the
soup was disposed of-certainly not
with forks, with which useful articles,
only the initiated seem to have had
the foresight to take with them at
mealtime.
Letellier was soon promoted to first
class, but even then did not find his |
meals satisfying. Provisions were held |
at exceedingly high rates at the COM
OanyS store, dollar a pound being |
asked for corn, sugar, coffee and flour.
In his leisure time, Letellier trapped, |
125 wolves and red foxes,
Through the sale Of these, he was
to buy some of the luxuries
re craved.
In the middle of January. 1851. a
'arty Of five started out from the
ort to trade with q neighboring IN
Ian camp, carrying their goods In
hree two-wheeled carts drawn by
mules. The weather was mild and
for the journey when they
EFT. They had not been gone long,
loWeyer, when the wind rose, and
Izzard OF unusual severity set in. The
ext day two Of the traders arrived
t the fort with the information that
wo OF their number were frozen to
cath, and that another, wrapped in
lankets, was buried in the snow. A
escue was at once dispatched to bring
the dead, and the man in the snow.
no eventually recovered. At this
me, OF 40 Indians who were hunting.
succumbed to the cold.
t Funeral of Iron Horse
Before being transferred to Fort /
MON, Letellier took part in the flu /
eral Of the Sioux chief, Iron Horse {
no in singing gave I'D his last /
-eath," and thus describes it.: I
AFTER having made the coffin and
'vered it with scarlet cloth and t
aced the defunct in it, old Francois I
Alsatien came up to the tepee with t
8 heavy old two-wheeled cart that f
% never been painted and covered n
tn dry mud. A large bull covered t
tn rawhide harness was hitched C
this cart. We loaded the coffin into | /
e cart and started for the Indian r
metery, Francois standing by the
dc OF his cart, driving his old bull b
Henrl Plcotte, a partner Of the P. c
lougeau Fur Co., and myself follow f
g behind the cart; two squaws, hired n
the relatives of the defunct to do q
e crying part of the ceremony under d
e scaffold following behind us. n
lghing and chattering while walking r,
slowly for 1t was a very hot after q
'on. Mr.. Picotte was In shirt sleeves
Tn his hands behind his back. his
ad bowed down. He broke the ST.
nee by saying to me, Dace, what a :
,ht 1t would be if such a funeral
oceSsion appeared in the streets of
I. LOUIS 1t would be unique one.
e we would have more followers lc
an we have now, replied" s.
After the coffin was placed on the u
affold the chiefs bow and arrows h
re laid on the coffin, and above Il
IS was unfurled the Stars and 81
ripes. A thunder shower being i'm m
nent, the white men left the spot B
rriedly for the fort but were caught ii
the storm. "A torrent of rain was ct
snlng all around, yet we could hear
E crying OF the squaws They were j.
ing 1t so loud and fine, to please fl
cir friends, who had hired them for s
at purpose" If