Year: 1872

! Far West:


Riding out above Julesburg, a
rock was pointed out to me, at the
foot of which had been enacted 9
tragedy, the mere recital of which


made my blood run cold. The


place was q deep canon, surround


ed by high bluffs, and there was


a lonely silence in, the frowuine
rocks that oppressed every visitor,


and made then, glad 10 Easten


their departure from the gloomy
dell. Many years ago two young
men came from the East, and as.
cending the Missouri, engaged in
the fur business They-were bo.
som friends. and prospered in all
their undertakings /; money flowed
in their Golfers, and they, became
wealthy; still they stayed in the
West, that had been 30 generous
to them, and finally determined
to make it their permanent home.
One of these young men had q


fair sister, who lived in st. Louis,
where the parties went annually
to sell their furs and divide the
profits OF their business. The
girl, infatuated by the tales Of, ad.
venture told her by her brother,
longed to visit the great West,
and begged so hard that her broth.
er finally consented. For q whole


year she lived at the hunters
rancho on the headwaters Of the
Missouri, and when the time came
for the partners to go down the
river to sell their furs, lone of them,
the brother, was sick and could not
go. The girl was 10th to leave
her brother, but be urged her to
go home and gee their mother,
saying he would soon be well and
follow after fer. In trusting his
darling to bis friend and partner,
the two set out in a Mackinaw
boat we'll manned and provided
with every comfort. The broth
er grew worse, and the summer
wore away before he was able TO
travel. In the meantime the part.
ner returned, bringing him news
from home and division of the an
nual profits, which were larger
than ever before. The brother,
pleased with the manner in which
their business had been managed,
readily yielded to the suggestion
of his partner to delay his visit
home, devoted the winter to &C
tive operations, and go down in
the spring with furs. All went
well until midwinter, when the
brother received letter from home
that nearly crazed him. The let
ter WAS from his mother, and gave
a long and circumstantial account
of the seduction and ruin of his
beloved Nina by his partner. The
girl had confessed everything, and
told how he had seduced her while
bringing her home down the Mis-
souri,, and then abandoned her.
The poor girl unable to bear her
shame, had become a maniac,
and soon would be q MOTHER
The first impulse of the brother,
on reading this letter was to seek
out at once and kill the villain
who had ruined his family, but he
thought the momentnry suffering
inflicted by a ball was not enough
punishment for such scoundrel,


and so. devised plan of revenge
that no Indian could have outdone
Tor cruelty. Keeping the receipt
of this letter a profound secret,
he went on with his business as
usual, and every day met bis
partner on the same terms Of
friendly intimacy as formerly
When the skins were packed and
all in readiness to go down the
river, the brother went to Fort
Benton and there had executed a
will, leaving the name of the per-
son who made it a blank, after
which he returned to his camp on
the Jefferson Fork. He then
represented that on the Platte
great profits were to be made in
the fur trade, and proposed to his
partner instead Of going down the
Missouri they should 60 over to
old Fort Kearney, and intercept
their boats at the mouth of the
Platte on the Missouri. The in.
ducement was that if they found
all as represented they would es-
tablish a branch of. their business
at Fort Laramie. and thus increase
their profits. The partner readi.
ly assented to proposals SO mani
testify for the advantage of both,
and alone they set out, taking
with them only q pack mule to-
carry the -four and bacon to be
used on the journey. They trav-
eled for many days, and finally