Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1942-12-11
INSCRIPTIONS American Fur Co. Trader
Gave John Smith a Terrific Fleeing


goose and needles In 1888 to Join the
hardy ranks Of the American Fur
Co. brigades.
The tracks that John Smith left in
the fur country Of the Rockies were,
like those Of most Of his compatriots,
few and hard to find He stayed in
Montana only one season, and he left
the territory with little to show for
his time here: with only. 1t appears, a
borrowed" Indian pony, and the
nickname Of "Blackfoot" in token Of
the tribe with which the broomtail
originated.
In John Smiths departure from
Montana, however, and in the events
that Immediately preceded 1t, is one of
the best of the many picturesque tales
for which the buckskin-clad indiv-
idualists Of the Rocky Mountain Fur
Co. were responsible. It's so good that
it reads more like fiction than fact
possibly because Solomon Silver was
never one to let good story lose
color in the telling.
Solomon Silver, one Of the last Of
the free trappers and traders to sur
vive civilization, had the yarn directly
from Blackfoot John, with whom he
spent many years in the southwest
Before his death he fortunately re-
lated it to Stanley Vestal, competent
western historian who has recorded
it in Mountain Men," published by
the Houghton Mifflin Co.
John Smith, as Vestal tells the story,
was born calculator. Soon after his
arrival on the fur grounds, and after
his first experience at his company's
annual rendezvous, he discovered that
his new mode of life was extremely
precarious from both physical and
economic viewpoints. He didn't mind
the danger, but he did disapprove Of
the system which left the trapper, who
took the risks, always poor and in
debt
Big Profit in Whisky
He learned that gill of whisky at
rendezvous cost as much as gallon
did in st. Louis, and that other
necessities of life were sold by the
"booshways" at equal profit. He de-
termined to set up as trader him.
self, and set about acquiring stake.
When spring closed his first trap
ping season on the upper Missouri he
cached the most of his furs, and took
only enough to the 1884 rendezvous
to pay his debt.
After the meeting he returned to
his cache, with the intention Of build
ing a bullboat and floating downriver
to the Missouri metropolis alone,
rather than selling his catch at a
tenth its value.
He built his boat, of buffalo hides
and willows, loaded his beaver and
started his journey. Misfortune struck
! during his first night on the river.
The bullboat hit a snag, overturned,
and dropped him into the water. He
lost nothing from the boat, but he
was chilled, and wet, and afraid to
huild a fire Before morning ne
had a raging toothache; the whole
side of his face was racked with
neuralgia.
THE nearest doctor was some $500
miles away"
Painkiller was the only immediate
solution to his difficulty-and Smith
had no painkiller. Glumly, after day
light. he pushed his boat into the
water again and wondered how far
he was from trading post.
Reached Fort Mckenzie
He found out-much sooner than he
anticipated. The current swung MIN
| around a group of brush-groWn Is
lands Just below he spied a cluster OF
log buildings on the prairie. He had
reached Fort Mckenzie, new post OF
the American Fur Co.
That his own Rocky Mountain Fur
Co. and the owners of Fort Mckenzie
were bitter rivals John Smith was I'M
doubtedly aware. He was soon to learn
! inst how that rivalry could affect a
poor trapper with swollen jaw.
There was no one about the post
so early in the day. Smith padded to
shore, pulled a few beaver from one
of his packs, went up to the fort and
ratified the gate A yawning clerk at
last appeared, took a look at Smith
and his Jaw, and grinned rather
wickedly, as he realized the stranger
was no employe of his company.
Smith demanded painkiller, and
groaned. The clerk made no move TO
open the gate. He demanded the
| trapper's name, and he grimaced ms
belief at the John Smith" he got for
an answer. He began to trade.
Dicker Was Painful
The details of the dicker, as re-
lated by Smith to Silver and by Sill
yer to Vestal, were exceedingly PAIN
full. The clerk refused to part with
the gill of laudanum Smith desired;
he demanded that Smith purchase tne
entire quart. And he refused to sell
the quart, at any price, unless Smith
traded away all his hard-earned pelts.
The trapper perceived he was over
a barrel, and that there was little ne
could do about it. He traded-tor new
blankets, tobacco, powder, a gallon OF
firewater. He obtained about a seVenth
of the value of his beaver-the beaver
he intended to sell for their full worm
in St. Louis.
Tired and angry, he received ms new
possessions through the wicketCau
except the laudanum. Again he de-
manded his medicine. The clerk
Before he could let it go, he said,
he'd have to have Smiths promise
that in the future Smith would deal
only with the company. -
Smiths already strained temper
gave way. He showed barrel OF his
pistol through the wicket. knowing,
though the clerk did not, that 1t was