THE OLD SANTA FE TRAIL by COLONEL HENRY INMAN (best fiction novels of all time .TXT) 📕

Equivalent According To His Ideas, Then The Bargain Was Made.

It Was Claimed by These Old Traders, When They Related this To Me,

That The Savage Generally Was Not Satisfied, Always Insisting Upon

Having More Sticks Placed on The Pile.  I Suspect, However, That The

Trader Was Ever Prepared for This, And Never Gave More Than He

Originally Intended.  The Price Of That Initial Robe Having Been

Determined on, It Governed the Price Of All The Rest For The Whole

Trade, Regardless Of Size Or Fineness, For That Day.  What Was Traded

For Was Then Placed by The Indian On One Side Of The Lodge, And The

Trader Put What He Was To Give On The Other.  After Prices Had Been

Agreed upon, Business Went On Very Rapidly, And Many Thousand Dollars'

Worth Of Valuable Furs Were Soon Collected by The Successful Trader,

Which He Shipped to St. Louis And Converted into Gold.

 

 

 

In A Few Years, Relatively, The Indian Began To Appreciate The Value

Of Our Medium Of Exchange And The Power It Gave Him To Secure At The

Stores In the Widely Scattered hamlets And At The Military Posts On

The Plains, Those Things He Coveted, At A Fairer Equivalent Than In

The Uncertain And Complicated method Of Direct Barter.  It Was Not

Very Long After The Advent Of The Overland Coaches On The Santa Fe

Trail, That Our Currency, Even The Greenbacks, Had Assumed a Value

To The Savage, Which He At Least Partially Understood.  Whenever The

Indians Successfully Raided the Stages The Mail Sacks Were No Longer

Torn To Pieces Or Thrown Aside As Worthless, But Every Letter Was

Carefully Scrutinized for Possible Bills.

 

 

 

I Well Remember, When The Small Copper Cent, With Its Spread Eagle

Upon It, Was First Issued, About The Year 1857, How The Soldiers Of

A Frontier Garrison Where I Was Stationed at The Time Palmed them Off

Upon The Simple Savages As Two Dollar And A Half Gold Pieces, Which

They Resembled as Long As They Retained their Brightness, And With

Which The Indians Were Familiar, As Many Were Received by The Troops

From The Paymaster Every Two Months, The Savages Receiving Them In

Turn For Horses And Other Things Purchased of Them By The Soldiers.

 

 

 

I Have Known Of Indians Who Gave Nuggets Of Gold For Common Calico

Shirts Costing Two Dollars In that Region And Seventy-Five Cents In

The States, While The Lump Of Precious Metal Was Worth, Perhaps,

Five Or Seven Dollars.  As Late As Twenty-Eight Years Ago, I Have

Traded for Beautifully Smoke-Tanned and Porcupine-Embroidered

Buffalo-Robes For My Own Use, Giving In exchange A Mere Loaf Of Bread

Or A Cupful Of Brown Sugar.

 

 

 

Very Early In the History Of The United states, In 1786, The Government,

Under The Authority Of Congress, Established a Plan Of Trade With

The Indians.  It Comprised supplying all Their Physical Wants Without

Profit; Factories, Or Stations As They Were Called, Were Erected at

Points That Were Then On The Remote Frontier; Where Factors, Clerks,

And Interpreters Were Stationed.  The Factors Furnished goods Of All

Kinds To The Indians, And Received from Them In exchange Furs And

Peltries.  There Was An Officer In charge Of All These Stations Called

The Superintendent Of Indian Trade, Appointed by The President.

As Far Back As 1821, There Were Stations At Prairie Du Chien,

Fort Edward, Fort Osage, With Branches At Chicago, Green Bay In

Arkansas, On The Red river, And Other Places In the Then Far West.

These Stations Were Movable, And Changed from Time To Time To Suit The

Convenience Of The Indians.  In 1822 The Whole System Was Abolished

By Act Of Congress, And Its Affairs Wound Up, The American Fur Company,

The Missouri Fur Company, And A Host Of Others Having By That Time

Become Powerful.  Like The Great Corporations Of To-Day, They

Succeeded in supplanting The Government Establishments.  Of Course,

The Indians Of The Remote Plains, Which Included all The Vast Region

West Of The Missouri River, Never Had The Benefits Of The Government

Trading Establishments, But Were Left To The Tender Mercies Of The

Old Plainsmen And Trappers.

 

 

 

Until The Railroad Reached the Mountains, When The March Of A Wonderful

Immigration Closely Followed, Usurping The Lands Claimed by The

Savages, And The Latter Were Driven, Perforce, Upon Reservations,

The Winter Camps Of The Kiowas, Arapahoes, And Cheyennes Were Strung

Along The Old Trail For Miles, Wherever A Belt Of Timber On The Margin

Of The Arkansas, Or Its Tributaries, Could Be Found Large Enough To

Furnish Fuel For Domestic Purposes And Cottonwood Bark For The Vast

Herds Of Ponies In the Severe Snow-Storms.

 

 

 

At These Various Points The Indians Congregated to Trade With The

Whites.  As Stated, Bent'S Fort, The Pueblo Fort, And Big Timbers

Were Favourite Resorts, And The Trappers And Old Hunters Passed a

Lively Three Or Four Months Every Year, Indulging In the Amusements

I Have Referred to.  They Were Also Wonderful Story-Tellers, And

Around Their Camp-Fires Many A Tale Of Terrible Adventure With Indians

And Vicious Animals Was Nightly Related.

 

 

 

Baptiste Brown Was One Of The Most Famous Trappers.  Few Men Had Seen

More Of Wild Life In the Great Prairie Wilderness.  He Had Hunted

With Nearly Every Tribe Of Indians On The Plains And In the Mountains,

Was Often At Bent'S Fort, And His Soul-Stirring Narratives Made Him

A Most Welcome Guest At The Camp-Fire.

 

 

 

He Lived most Of His Time In the Wind River Mountains, In a Beautiful

Little Valley Named after Him "Brown'S Hole."  It Has A Place On The

Maps To-Day, And Is On What Was Then Called prairie River, Or

Sheetskadee, By The Indians; It Is Now Known As Green River, And Is

The Source Of The Great Colorado.

 

 

 

The Valley, Which Is Several Thousand Feet Above The Sea-Level,

Is About Fifteen Miles In circumference, Surrounded by Lofty Hills,

And Is Aptly, Though Not Elegantly, Characterized as A "Hole."

The Mountain-Grass Is Of The Most Nutritious Quality; Groves Of

Cottonwood Trees And Willows Are Scattered through The Sequestered

Spot, And The River, Which Enters It From The North, Is A Magnificent

Stream; In fact, It Is The Very Ideal Of A Hunter'S Headquarters.

 

 

 

The Temperature Is Very Equable, And At One Time, Years Ago, Hundreds

Of Trappers Made It Their Winter Quarters.  Indians, Too, Of All The

Northern Tribes, But More Especially The Arapahoes, Frequented it To

Trade With The White Men.

 

 

 

Baptiste Brown Was A Canadian Who Spoke Villanous French And Worse

English; His Vocabulary Being Largely Interspersed with "Enfant De

Garce," "Sacre," "Sacre Enfant," And "Damn" Until It Was A Difficult

Matter To Tell What He Was Talking about.

 

 

 

He Was Married to An Arapahoe Squaw, And His Strange Wooing and

Winning Of The Dusky Maiden Is A Thrilling Love-Story.

 

 

 

Among The Maidens Who Came With The Arapahoes, When That Tribe Made

A Visit To "Brown'S Hole" One Winter For The Purpose Of Trading With

The Whites, Was A Young, Merry, And Very Handsome Girl, Named "Unami,"

Who After A Few Interviews Completely Captured baptiste'S Heart.

Nothing Was More Common, As I Have Stated, Than Marriages Between

The Trappers And A Beautiful Redskin.  Isolated absolutely From Women

Of His Own Colour, The Poor Mountaineer Forgets He Is White, Which,

Considering The Embrowning Influence Of Constant Exposure And Sunlight,

Is Not So Marvellous After All.  For A Portion Of The Year There Is

No Hunting, And Then Idleness Is The Order Of The Day.  At Such Times

The Mountaineer Visits The Lodges Of His Dark Neighbours For Amusement,

And In the Spirited dance Many A Heart Is Lost To The Squaws.

The Young Trapper, Like Other Enamoured ones Of His Sex In civilization,

Lingers Around The House Of His Fair Sweetheart While She Transforms

The Soft Skin Of The Doe Into Moccasins, Ornamenting Them Richly

With Glittering Beads Or The Coloured quills Of The Porcupine, All

The Time Lightening The Long Hours With The Plain-Songs Of Their Tribe.

It Was Upon An Occasion Of This Character That Baptiste, Then In the

Prime Of His Youthful Manhood, First Loved the Dark-Eyed arapahoe.

 

 

 

The Course Open To Him Was To Woo And Win Her; But Alas! Savage Papas

Are Just Like Fathers In the Best Civilization--The Only Difference

Between Them Is That The Former Are More Open And Matter-Of-Fact,

Since In savage Etiquette A Consideration Is Required in exchange

For The Daughter, Which Belongs Exclusively To The Parent, And Must

Be Of Equal Marketable Value To The Girl.

 

 

 

The Usual Method Is To Select Your Best Horse, Take Him To The Lodge

Of Your Inamorata'S Parents, Tie Him To A Tree, And Walk Away.

If The Animal Is Considered a Fair Exchange, Matters Are Soon Settled

Satisfactorily; If Not, Other Gifts Must Be Added.

 

 

 

At This Juncture Poor Baptiste Was In a Bad Fix; He Had Disposed of

All His Season'S Earnings For His Winter'S Subsistence, Much Of Which

Consisted of An Ample Supply Of Whiskey And Tobacco; So He Had

Nothing Left Wherewith To Purchase The Indispensable Horse.  Without

The Animal No Wife Was To Be Had, And He Was In a Terrible Predicament;

For The Hunting Season Was Long Since Over, And It Wanted a Whole

Month Of The Time For A New Starting Out.

 

 

 

Baptiste Was A Very Determined man, However, And He Shouldered his

Rifle, Intent On Accomplishing By A Laborious Prosecution Of The

Chase The Means Of Winning His Loved one From Her Parents,

Notwithstanding That The Elements And The Times Were Against Him.

He Worked industriously, And After Many Days Was Rewarded by A Goodly

Supply Of Beavers, Otters, And Mink Which He Had Trapped, Besides

Many A Deerskin Whose Wearer He Had Shot.  Returning To His Lodge,

Where He Cached his Peltry, He Again Started out For The Forest With

Hope Filling His Heart.  Three Weeks Passed in indifferent Success,

When One Morning, Having Entered a Deep Canyon, Which Evidently Led

Out To An Open Prairie Where He Thought Game Might Be Found, While

Busy Cutting His Way Through A Thicket Of Briers With His Knife,

He Suddenly Came Upon A Little Valley, Where He Saw What Caused him

To Retrace His Footsteps Into The Thicket.

 

 

 

And Here It Is Necessary To Relate A Custom Peculiar To All Indian

Tribes.  No Young Man, Though His Father Were The Greatest Chief In

The Nation, Can Range Himself Among The Warriors, Be Entitled to

Enter The Marriage State, Or Enjoy Any Other Rights Of Savage

Citizenship Until He Shall Have Performed some Act Of Personal

Bravery And Daring, Or Be Sprinkled with The Blood Of His Enemies.

In The Early Springtime, Therefore, All The Young Men Who Are Of The

Proper Age Band Themselves Together And Take To The Forest In search

--Like The Knight-Errant Of Old--Of Adventure And Danger.  Having

Decided upon A Secluded and Secret Spot, They Collect A Number Of

Poles From Twenty To Thirty Feet In length, And, Lashing Them Together

At The Small Ends, Form A Huge Conical Lodge, Which They Cover With

Grass And Boughs.  Inside They Deposit Various Articles, With Which

To "Make Medicine," Or As A Propitiatory Offering To The Great Spirit;

Generally A Green Buffalo Head, Kettles, Scalps, Blankets, And Other

Things Of Value, Of Which The Most Prominent And Revered is The

Sacred pipe.  The Party Then Enters The Lodge And The First Ceremony

Is Smoking This Pipe.  One Of The Young Men Fills It With Tobacco And

Herbs, Places A Coal On It From The Fire That Has Been Already

Kindled in the Lodge, And, Taking The Stem In his Mouth, Inhales The

Smoke And Expels It Through His Nostrils.  The Ground Is Touched with

The Bowl, The Four Points Of The Compass Are In turn Saluted, And

With Various Ceremonies It Makes The Round Of The Lodge.  After Many

Days Of Feasting and Dancing The Party Is Ready For A Campaign, When

They Abandon The Lodge, And It Is Death For Any One Else To Enter,

Or By Any Means To Desecrate It While Its Projectors Are Absent.

 

 

 

It Was Upon One Of These Mystic Lodges That Baptiste Had Accidentally

Stumbled, And Strange Thoughts Flashed through His Mind; For Within

The Sacred place Were Articles, Doubtless, Of Value More Than

Sufficient To Purchase The Necessary Horse With Which He Could Win

The Fair Unami.  Baptiste Was Sorely Tempted, But There Was An

Instinctive Respect For Religion In the Minds Of The Old Trappers,

And Brown Had Too Much Honour To Think Of Robbing The Indian Temple,

Although He Distinctly Remembered a Time When A Poor White Trapper,

Having Been Robbed of His Poncho At The Beginning Of Winter, Made

Free With A Blanket He Had Found In one Of These Arapahoe Sacred

Lodges.  When He Was Brought Before The Medicine Men Of The Tribe,

Charged with The Sacrilege, His Defence, That, Having Been Robbed,

The Great Spirit Took Pity On Him And Pointed out The Blanket And

Ordered him To Clothe Himself, Was Considered good, On The Theory

That The Great Spirit Had An Undoubted right To Give Away His Own

Property; Consequently The Trapper Was Set Free.

 

 

 

Brown, After