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AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESSWHAT TO DO THERE AND HOW TO DO IT.

A HANDBOOK for TRAVELLERS and EMIGRANTS.

BY

JOHN KEAST LORD,AUTHOR OF 'THE NATURALIST IN VAXCOUVER ISLAND' ETC.

Cljirb 6bili0.

LONDONHARDWICKE & BOGUE, 192 PICCADILLY

1876.


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10H. R. H.

THE DUKE OF CAMBKIDGEFTRLD MARSHAL IN THE ARMY AXI>

GENERAT, COMA[ANDINa IN CHIEP,K.O., K.r., O.C.B., &c. &c.

(J^ljis Xxiih S(!Iork

IS, BY rRRMlSSION, MOST EESPKCTFUl.l Y DEDICATKI)HY

HIS liOYAI. IIIGHNKSS'S

MOST HUMHI.K sr, IJVANT,

JOTIN KEAST LORD,


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INTRODUCTION.-

I

Where and when to camp ; how to equip andmanage a train of pack-mules; break, gear, andsaddle wild horses; cross streams, build log shanties,trenail a raft, dig out a canoe or build it with barkor hide, manage dog-sleighs, and tramp on snow-slioes ; what to carry and what to leave at home ; or,to sum up in a few words, the way to get through awild country as one ought, by adopting the bettermeans of doing that wliich has to be done, are mattersof no trhhng value to travellers of all denominations.Tliere are details tliat a novice cannot possibly acquire,save it be from the past experiences of other travellers,or, faihug assistance such as this, he must learn hislessons in the field and forest by finding them outfor himself, always a tedious, unsatisfactory, and veryoxpCw3ive process. Believe me, in travelhng, as in


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VUl INTRODUCTION.everything else, there is a right way and a wrongway of going to work, and, for some inexpHcablereason, 'young beginners' are strangely predisposedto follow the latter course.

The experience of twenty years passed as a ramblerin various parts of the world, though principally astrapper, hunter, and naturalist, East and West of theRocky Mountains, enables me to state from actualc>bservation, that a ' g] een hand,' to use a slang term,on his first visit to a wild country, in nine cases outof ten arrives from the land of civilisation completelyhampered, entangled, and weighed doAvn, so to speak,with a medley of utterly useless things, which lienever would have purchased had he been guided ordirected by any person who knew how to travel.

!

Again and again, friends and strangers have soughtmy gnidance, when fitting out to travel, either in thepursiut of spoi-t and pleasure or to seek a fortune infar-olT lands as emigrants. Hence I am induced too^l^er a few practical hints on the general details oftravelling, trusting the rough suggestions I shall offermay prove of use to those who are dis])osed to wntureinto a distant country wherein wheels, steam, iron


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INTRODUCTION. IXand macadamised roads, are unknown luxmies; andin which, as a Yankee once said to me, in referenceto Southern Oregon : ' Stranger, you bet your bottomdollar a man has to keep his eyes skinned, his knifesharp, and his powder diy, or he'll hav' his har ris'd,sure as beaver medicine, if he travels thim parts.'

John Keast Loed, F.Z.S.Late Naturalist to the British North American Boundary Commission ;Author of the 'Naturahst in Vancouver Island and British Columbia.


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CONTENTS.-o-

CHAPTER I.Home in the Wilderness and ElsewhereAn Imaginary JourneyAVhat

the word racking meansFitting out for a JourneyRules to be observedin the choice of Pack AnimalsGeldings preferable to MaresMules killedby Magpie: and Blowing-fliesBeware of Crupper CutsWhat a Hoofoiight not to be, and what it ought to beShooing advisable, if possibleHow to examine the EyesMules with Defective Vision dangerous to adegreePrevalence of ' Cataract 'The way to examine the TeethParrot-Mouthed Mules always lose conditionNever work Pack Animalsthin ' Points ' of a good Pack Mule.... pack 1

CHAPTER II.Average worth of Pack MulesMortality in Cold RegionsPoisonous

effects of the Horse-tail Rush (cquisctum)Advantages of Sheds andDrythThe Bell-mareValue of a Horse's TailBranding . IG

CHAPTER III.Fur-Traders' System of PackingJourney from Fort Colville to FortHopeDisadvantages of the Cross-tree Pack-saddleCrimean PackSaddles radically badDesirability of the ' Aparejo 'How to mak(> anApartjoIts WeightEvidences of SufferingIn search of PackSaddlesThe ' Rigging ' . . . . . .63


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Xll CONTENTS.

CIIAPTEU IV.RidiiiR SiiddlcsStirrups'Cabrosto' preferable to an ordinary bridle-

Tethering .

Wagons and TeamingCHAPTER V

97

CHAPTER VI.The more desirable form of TentThe Lodge of the SavageThe SibleyToutTIh' Bell TentThe Guble-ended Tent

The Miner s TentHalf-f^helter TentPoles and PegsHow to pitch a Tent and make it

. It 1secure .

CHAPTER VII.A Hunter's BeddingBedding for Tents or Log-housesBedstead, how tomake-Systems of Packing up BeddingTools necessary for a Wand.'rerThe way to fell your first TreeHow to split a LogTraps to beavoided .CHAPTER VIII.Cooking UtensilsA Fryingpan equal to any emergencyTea and CoflFeoversus Rum and WaterCanteens more ornamental than useful ThePlan for making your o.vn Camp BasketsIron OvensCamp Kettles-Flour better than Bisciiit-Yeast Powder. How to bake a LoafFixedt\ , . , 131Ovens . .

CHAPTER IX.What to wearAvoid LeatherWoollen Fabrics preferable to all others-BootsINlocassinsHow to manage with Snow-shoesHatMosqnito-bagFishing GearA good day's Sport . . .139

CHAPTER X.FirearmsMuzzle-loadersBreech-loaders Riflos-

vcrsus PouchThe better Plan for cleaning GunsRevolversShot-bolt

. 149


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CONTENTS. Xlll

CHAPTER XI.I'acking tlio Train for a startDriving inHalteringPutting on tlioAparojos and 'Saddling up'Synching-Packing on the LoadThe wayto pack BarrelsSlingingRoping and CoveringThrowing the Riataand fastening itOur MarchThe abandoned CampEntering theTimber'Stringing out' and CountingMules apt to lie down ifhalted ....... page 158

CHAPTER XII.Narrow TrailsPackmaster goes ahead of the Bell-mareMountain

PassesBridge-makingCrossing SwampsDangerous Corners . 173CHAPTER XIII.

Ifow to cross RiversSwim MulesMake Rafts, Canoes, and a Bull-BoatThe way to cross a River with your Horse, and to Raft your Gun, andAmmunition, without wetting themCampingUnsaddlingEnd of theMarch . . . . . . .181

CHAPTER XIV..Mustangs: their first appearance in MexicoFoimd in Texas, California,Oregon, British Columbia, and ElsewhereBreaking a Wild Horse notan Easy TaskA Wanderer should be his own ManufacturerThe "Wayto Make a Lassoo and a CabrestoLassooing, Saddling, Mounting, RopingWild Cattle-An Exciting Adventure . . . . '205

CHAPTER XV.Winter and Sumnur Travelling with DogsIdlersFree FightsPackingDogsThe ' Travaille' preferableHow to make and use a TravailleThe Sleigh and ToboganBone Rings and TogglesThe Way to Harnessyour TeamA long Whip desirablePrecautions against RheumatismSure Bind Sure Find 'Feeding DogsSore FeetMerry-Bella . 2'28

CHAPTER XVI.The Wild Honey-beeBee HuntingHow to line a BeeHoiioy Hunting

ofton a Profitable Employment Texan IslandsA Hunter's Disgust


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XIV CONTEXTS.luliljlo BerriesHoots oft.'ii Poisonous and to bo Eaton with Caution.Substitute for TobaccoInsects which are devoured by the Red PeoplePemmacanPreserving MeatExtractum Carnis : Morgan's system-Preserving Beef and Mutton freshJerking BeefCatching and CuringWhite-fish and Sahnon page 244

CHAPTER XVII.A Puzzle for a CarpenterTo Build a Log-house without IronSplit-

ShinglesPut on the RoofMake a Door, Fireplace, and Chimney-Log Quarters of the Bomidary CommissionEffects of ColdA Cautionto bo rememberedTo procure a Light from two pieces of Wood-Getting a Light with a GunHow to carry Luciforc . 263

CHAPTER X-^III.Mosquitoes Sand-flies The Breeze-fly The Trumpet-flies Jack-SpaniardsStone-WaspsRattle-Snake BitesA use for the RattleThe Trap-door SpiderThe Deer-tickLeeches in the Mouth . 27-i

CHAPTER XIX.Hints on TaxidermyWhat Tools to carryTo set Fall-trapHow toPack the proceeds of the HuntThe End.... 305

Index . 319

! !


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LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS.

4

Frontippikce


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XVI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

L()(J I'kdstead .....Thk way to fold Bkdding anu Cloths in a wateupuoof wkai-i-euBaruel ChaiuHow TO fell a TreeLoGGixo rp A Tree .TuEE-Bninfii'; .Cedar CanoeBark Canoe .Swimming a Horse .The TravailleBone IIino and TogcjleDoQ HarnessSnow ShoeFrame of a Log-hovseSplitting a Loo for ShinglesAmongst the 'Punkies'The Breeze-fly and Lancets

1171191211211271761911921932302322332422G42G;3276290

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AT HOMEIN

THE WILDERNESS.CHAPTER I.

Home in the Wilderness and ElsewhereAn Imaoinary Journev^y\u^t the Word Packiiu; meansFitting out for a JourneyIfules to be ob.^erved in the choice of lack Animals(Jeldingsprefcrable to MaresMules lulled by Magpies and IJlowing-fliesBeware of Crupper CutsWhat a Hoof ought not to be,and what it ought to beShoeing advisable, if possibleHow toexamine the Eyes-Mules with JX^fective Vision dangerous to adegreelrevalence of * Cataract'The way to examine theTeethI'arrot-Mouthed Mules always lose conditionNever workPack Animals thin' l^oints ' of a good Pack Mule.

I SHOULD like to know who is able to boast a moreperfect independence than is he who has learned theart, for art it most assuredly is, of being ' at home in thewilderness.' What cares such a one for quarter-day;no flintj-hearted landlord threatens to sell him up ifthe rent is not paid j that terrible man, the tax-gatherer,


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AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS.

t

has no terrors for liim, and never 'jnst looks in' withhis ug'ly book and an ink-bottle dangling from the coatbutton, for his little account, which it is not at alltimes convenient to pay. All the collectors that everwere, or ever will be, could not in the wildernesscut off your water supply or stop your light. I quiteagree in ojjinion with that dweller in the wilds, who,when the newly-arrived settler boasted that the sunnever set u2)on England's possessions naively replied,' Wa'al stranger, that ar likely enough, kase 'tis low'dby all as cum from thim parts that the tax bos nevercamps down to sleep.' At home in the wilderness inright good earnest you live rent free, ppy no taxes,get fuel for the trouble of cutting it, and water andlight without paying a rate ; though surrounded withan abundauce of fish, flesh, and fowl, you are freefrom meat hiUs, nothing to lock into your house,and no thieves to lock out: front door and latchkevare useless incumbrances ; you wear what you like,do what you like, go out when you like, com? homowhen you like, snap your fingers at 'Mrs. Grundy,'and care less for her evil tongue than the bite of amosquito.To feel that one is at home, though it be in the

wilderness, is always to me a great source of pleasure.What household word is more cherished than is that ofhome ? How delightful are all its associations, in ithow many hopes and joys arc hidden j the woods and


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THE MAGIC OF HOME. 3

u

streams dear to us in childhood, the hoary hills andflower-decked meadows, the old church spire grey withlichens, the Sabbath bells that were wont to peal sosoftly down the valley, are but a few of the links whichunite us to home. Happy memories not to be countedcling round about it like trailing vines, and livinggarlands of brilliant blossoms encircle the brown,sombre, branchless trunks of tropical palms, adding tothem beauty and usefulness, as prattling children clingto their parents and make the father's right armstronger. ' No tonerue shall tell what bliss o'erflows themother's tender heart while round her the offspring ofher love lisp her name.' Or to employ a more homelysimile, as the ivy enwraps the crumbling ruin andentvviues its evergreen arms round the sturdy oak, inlike manner the remembrance of home with all itstreasures winds itself at all times round the heart of theiin)sentee, nor need there be ancest^'al mansions, broadlawns, acres of woodlands, rich pastures, fertileorchards, and gardens, to recall household joys, or to1 lark the spot wherein they abide : not a bit of it.]Iome is not shut within narrow limits, is not con-fined to scenes of pleasure, regal splendour, or thedwellings of the great. Wherever warm hearts are tobe found together, with contentment and a heartydesire at all times to do the best that can be doneund(n' existing circumstances, health and strength, awill to work, and an unwavering trust in God who

B 2


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4 AT HOME IX THE WILDERNESS.cares even for the sparrows, there believe me exist theprimal elements, the magic of home.

' Mankind, however fettered and benighted ;Ilowe'er oppressed by penury and care ;Have their existence by one beacon lighted,Kave still one bliss which all may freely share.'

A novice finds travelling terribly perplexing, becausehe has no idea of making himself at home, neither doeshe discover until stern necessity stares him in the facehow absolutely requisite it is to cultivate a habit ofobserving. He must train his eyes until his sightequals in delicacy of perception the to^cli of the blind.Trifles impercei3tible to the tyro are to the practisedtraveller pages of information, as easily read and com-prehended as are those of a printed book. His treadshould be light and stealthy, so as to avoid crackingfallen ^ranches unnecessarily or rustling the bushesnothing should escape his attention. The disturbance ofinsects, the switch of a tail, the flajD of an ear, thegleam of an eye, a displaced stone, or a broken twig, arematters not to be passed lightly by. He must educatehis ears too. The voices of birds, the calls denotinglove and anger made by different animals, the hum andbuz of insects whether loud and angry, as evidencingaimoyance and irritability, or soft and low as indicativeof peaceful security ; the sough of the breeze and theroar of the torrent must be to the cultivated heariiiL^of the dweller in the wilderness as understandable as


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WHAT WE HAVE TO DO. 5diiFerent musical notes are to tlie ears of a practisedmusician ; and to some extent he must be a musicianand ventriloquist of a certain kind himself. He mustacquire the art of imitating sounds ; the amorous bellowof the lady moose-deer to attract her lord, the plaintive' bleat ' of the fawn to lure the doe, the * call " of thewild turkey, and the whistle of the beaver and marmot,are a few examples selected from a goodly number toshow that to be at home in the wilderness demandsthat the dweller therein, to be successful in the pursuitof game, must needs be a skilful imitator of forestsounds.Be it my pleasant duty to act as guide and in-

structor to all who may feel disposed to wanderthrough far away lands. Come then with me now, inimagination

' To cvftofpy mountaing, where the hunter buildethin.s fragile dAvelling like nu eagle's lair :To southern climates, whore the sunlight gildothThe vine-clad hills -with colours ever fnir.To far otf lands, where the savage roameth,The untutored lord of many a scene sublime :To groves and glens, to where the ocean foameth;To every country and to every clime.'

We shall have rough roads and narrow trails to travel,deep and swift-flowing streams to cross where boatsaud bridges are as yet unknown ; we must learn tobuild our own houses and provide our larder withmeat, and how to cook it and provide the requisite fuel.


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6 AT HOME IN THE WILDERXESS. -We must wield the axe, paddle our canoe, lassoo wildhorses and ' gentle,' and ride them when captured ; it isnecessary also that we should be able to * pack ' eithermules or horses, yoke and drive oxen and manage ateam of mules, tramp on snow shoes and harness dogsto a sleigh ; but we shall find out all we have to do aswe jog on our way. And if on the completion of ourimaginary wanderings you have learned to makeyourself at home in the wilderness, the Wanderer willhave fulfilled all he set out to accomplish as guide andinstructor. I have introduced a short story here andthere which will serve to illustrate the district we aretravelling through, as well as the character of thesavages we shall have to encounter ; and it will,perhaps, too, lighten the tedium of continuous tellingwhat to do and what to leave undone.The general equipment of a mule-train, or pack and

saddle horses, if mules are not to be procured, forms byno means the least valuable part of the experiencewhich it is absolutely requisite a traveller shouldpossess. Packing means putting anything and every-thing, irrespective of shape or size up to a weight of3001bs., on mule or horseback, and so fastening it thatit shall neither rock nor sway from side to side, shiftbackwards up-hill or forwards on a descent, or fall offif the animal carrying the load stumbles or even rollsdown a hill-side. The same remarks will applywhether the pack-train consists of four mules or one

1


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OUR FIRST TRIP.

I

hundred. Mules are far preferable to horses for allpurposes of transport. And so let us begm by-supposing that we are, say in Upper California,' fitting out ' for a trip through Southern Oregon, tocross the Rocky Mountains.

First and foremost, mules must be purchased if wemean to travel comfortably. If our party does notexceed three, we shall require five pack-mules, two ridingmules for the packers, three riding mules for ourselves,and a bell-mare to be ridden by the guide or the cook, orany outsider attached to the party. In selecting mules,when purchasing always choose geldings or ' machos,'as they are usually styled, in preference to mares. Theformer are invariably much stronger, keep in bettercondition, and are far less liable to those aberrations oftemper which lady mules are in the constant habit ofdisplaying, much to the packer's annoyance and dis-comfiture. Be sure to examine carefully the back, archof the ribs, under surface of the tail close to the rump,hoofs, and eyes. If you discover the evidences of pre-vious sores on the back or sides, especially if the skincovering the spot or si)ots looks shiny and polished,have nothing to do with the mule; the greatest carewill not prevent regalliiig, and a sore-backed mule isworse than none at all, because the poor animal travelsin pain and misery all day, if loaded, and gets no restor a chance to feed after the day's work is done, inconsequence of the ceaseless persecution inflicted by


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AT HOME IN THE WILDERXESS.swarms of flies ; and, what is far worse, magpies, if anyare about, will be pretty sure to percli on the back of

||i the chafed animal, and eling-ing' on by their sharp claws,peck away at the sore with a sort of fiendish delight.During our work, w^lien marking the Boundary line, wehad several mules and horses seriously injured by themagpies, the packers having incautiously turned the

I' animals out with sores exposed. I observed one of our

mules on the Sumass prairie, near the Fraser River,British Columbia, rolling maxU}", but was at a loss toimagine the cause. As I stood quietly watching himhe got on his legs, but no sooner was he up than acouple of magpies which I had not previously noticedissued from an adjoining bush, swooped down upon theluckless mule, and commenced again what they hadclearly just left off, literally, and not in mere figure ofspeech, to eat him alive. Vain were all the torturedbeast's writhings, kickings, and attempts by mouth andtail to displace the greedy birds ; they hung on with aperseverance certainly worthy of a better cause. Rollingwas his only chance, but even then his persecutorssimply hopped off patiently to bide another o]3portunity.Too much occupied to notice my approach, the two

g'^^irmands permitted me to get within range : a shrillwhistle sent them hurry-scurry from their horrid ban-quet, for which they paid the penalty of their lives ; Ishot one with each barrel. Their beaks, as I pickedthem up, were recking with the blood of the mule, and


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MAGPIES AXD BLOWING FLIES. 9in one was still grasi^ed a bit of quivering mnscle. Wehad in our employ a quaint specimen of the thorough-bred woodsman; old ' Pine-knot ' we styled him, in com-pliment to his toughness or powers of endurance; inother words, he combined within himself the variouscrafts of gold-washer, axeman, hunter, packer, trapper,and rowdy in general. He hated magpies nearly asmuch as ho loved whisky, and invariably tried his bestto destroy every one he saw. * Darned cusses,' he usedto exclaim, ' they'd as leve eat a Injun as a boss, andthat's more nor a skunk ad do, you may bet high on it.'To return to our subject. These several causes

rapidly produce loss of condition, and the probability isthe mule will either have to be shot or abandoned ; theformer being by far the more charitable course, and one1 should always advise. I have several times discoveredabandoned pack animals in a most pitiable condition.Once I remember finding a mule on a small open patchof prairie land in Oregon, which had been left by itsowners in consequence of a stake wound just above thehoof having produced such excessive lameness as torender further rapid progression impossible. Blowingflies soon found out the sore, laid their eggs, whichwere rapidly developed into larvcc, or maggots in plainEnglish, and these had burrowed in every direction,betwixt the horny hoof and bone, consuming what isequivalent to that most exquisitely sensitive tissue,commonly called in man * the quick of the nail,' whilst


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10 AT HOME IX THE WILDERNESS.the helpless animal lived. It makes my heart ache evennow when I recall its look of agony as on three legsthe poor beast limping along said, in language quite asintelligible as articulated words could have been, ' Inpity help me.' On examining the foot, I found thehoof was almost detached from its union with the ad-joining tissues, which were being rapidly devoured bythe maggots. What was to be done ? No system oftreatment which I could have adopted would have beenof the slightest avail. Charity whispered, ' End its suf-ferings as speedily as you can,' which I did by sending abullet through its brain.

I could recount many other instances of finding de-serted animals enduring horrible sufferinp-s, but thisone will suffice ; and I have related it with a view toinduce those who read these lines (should they ever haveoccasion to abandon an animal) to kill it at once. Asa general rale it is far more humane than to give ananimal * a chance for its life.' You ask, why it is de-sirable to look imderneath the tail ? Because * cruppercuts' are of common occurrence, and when once a mule'stail has been badly cut by the sawing motion of thecripper it never properly heals, and although the woundmay be skinned over, so as to escape the eye of an inex-perienced buyer, still no person accustomed to packingwould purchase a mule if signs of * crupper-cut ' werediscoverable.

If the hoofs are worn very much, and the sole and

\i


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fADVANTAGE OF SHOEING. 11

frog come flat upon the ground, or if old cracks are tobe seen about the coronets, or if a ridge or ridges ofbone encircle the coronet, commonly called -'ring-bone,'have nothing to do with the mule ; he will be sure towork lame the first rough ground you drive him over.Badly worn hoofs are usually composed of weak poorhorn, and when the wear brings down the lower edge ofthe outer horn to its union with the horny sole, smallfragments of gravel are apt to work in, often causing anincurable lameness. A good hoof should be black, veryoval, and hard as flint. Shoeing pack animals is allvery well, if you can find a shoeing smith, and afford topay him a dollar (4s.) a shoe ; hence shod animals areseldom seen ; now and then a favourite riding mule orhorse may be indulged with a set of shoes, if a roughcountry has to be travelled over.The Commission mules and horses were always shod,

but then we had our own soldier shoeing-smiths, andcould afford to do it. One thing I am quite sure of,shod mules are capable of enduring greater fatigue,carry a heavier weight, and travel much faster than dothose which are without the iron protection to the feet.A light shoe, turned up at the heels, steeled at the toes,and put on firmly with eight nails, is the kind of shoeI found to answer best for general purposes. Turningup the heels prevents slipping when going down steei?trails, and saves the flat part of the shoe from a greatdeal of wear.


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12 AT HOME IN TITE WILDERXESS.

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A rigid and most careful scrutiny of the eyes is a firstnecessity. To examine them, stand at the mule's side,shatle the eye to be examined with your hand and lookthroug-h it from corner to corner, then place yourself infront, and peer into the interior of the eye as yon wouldinto a well if seeking for truth at the bottom of it.Should you discover any pearly-looking- specks, like tinywhite beads, at once reject him. Mules are extremelyliable to ' cataract,' and a mule with defective vision isdangerous to a degree ; not only does he risk his ownlife, by shying on narrow trails, and perhaps fallingover a cliff into a river, or down a vertical wall of rocks,nobody knoAvs where, with the freight and packing gearbut by suddenly backing or halting, the mules following-close to him are stopped suddenly, trails being veryseldom wide enough for one mule to pass by another.The hinder mules in the train, immediately there is ahtuit, as if actuated by a vicious determination to pusheach other over, crowd on iipon those that are obligedto stop in consequence of the semi-blind mule refusing toproceed, from dread of some imaginary object, producedby defective vision. The result of all this usually is,that two or three good mules may be either killed ordangerously hurt, in consequence of your purchasinga bad mule with unsound eyes.

Anotlier thing a dim-sighted mule does is to runagainst the trees with his load, and if he happens to becarrying a box, or anything breakable, smash it goes,

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THE WAY TO EXAMINE MULES. 1:3

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to a certainty. In examining large bands of mules, inCalifornia and elsewhere, when purchasing- for theGovernment Boundary Commission transport, I wasastonished to find so many had ' cataract.' Why thisshould be I cannot tell, excepting the disease is inherited.Old and worn-out mares are frequently, though unwisely,thought good enough to ' raise ' a mule from ; and over-ridden ' mustangs ' are usually turned out to take theirchance in wet or cold, and from this cause are extremelyliable to inflammatory affections of the eyes, which ge-nerally ends in the formation of ' cataract.' Hence, Iam disposed to attribute the frequency of the disease,in young mules, to inheritance ; although blows fromthe packers' whips, or ophthalmia produced by cold andexposure to inclement weather, may be, and I feelsure often is, the cause of the disease in older and hard-worked animals.We complete our examination by taking a peep atthe teeth ; it is very seldom pack-mules will allow anyliberties to be taken with their mouths, and they alwaysmanifest a very decided objection to showing theirincisors. If you have a quiet horse to deal with,nothing is easier than to place a finger behind the tusk,or tush, or in the space betwixt the grinding andcutting teeth if it be a mare, then to raise the lips withthe left hand, and by the wearing down of the ' marks 'find out the age ; but with ill-disposed mules the caseis altogether different, you might as reasonably expect


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T14 AT HOME LV THE WILDERNESS.

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to pull your fiiigor from the snap of a steel trapunscathed as for it to escape from out a mule's mouthwithout bein


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WHY MULES WORK TIIIX. 15or the g-eneral herbage scanty, parrot-mouthed mulesinvariably lose condition.Here will be as good a place as any to caution all

young travellers against ' working their pack animalsthin.' So long as mules retain their rotundity andplumpness, the sure signs of good condition, there isvery little fenr of galling them, unless it happens orarises from the most reprehensible carelessness on thepart of the packers ; but let your mules once get thin,from over-driving, over-loading, or from either of thecauses j)reviously pointed outwhich faults should,or at any rate ought to have been discovered in theexamination prior to purchasingand all the care andskill the most practised hands are able to adopt will notprevent the occurrence of galled backs and chafed ribs.Numbers of mules in large pack trains are found by

their packers to ' work thin,' from some cause or othernot discoverable. Such animals are always discarded,and when placed in jiasture where the grass is long,there, with i^lenty to eat and nothing to do, they soonfatten, and are finally disposed of to the unwary. Apack mule should be short upon the legs, strong andrather arched along the back, tliick in the shouldersand muscular about the loins. The hoofs should bosmall and black, and the hocks straight and fine, with-out any tendency to bend inwards, or what is technicallydesignated ' cow-hocked.' He shouldhavebright full eyes,sharp teeth, a good long swishy tail, and a sound skin.


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IH

IG AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS.

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CHAPTER II.Average wortli of Pack MulesMortality in Cold RegionsPoisonous

ofl'ects of tlie Horse-tail Kusli {equisetinn)Advantages of Shedsand DrN'th The Bell-mareValue of a Horse's Tail Branding.

We have fixed on the raules we intend to purchase,and agreed with the f^eJler as to the price to be j)aid,which, on a rough average, will amount to about 120dollars (25?.) to 150 dollars (30?.) per head. If mulesare purchased in Sonora or Texas, unbroken, or onlypartially tamed, and driven up into California at thebuyer's risk, they may be obtained at a much less costthan I have quoted as the average price current inUpper California,. I was sent from Vancouver's Islandinto California especially to purchase a band of eightymules for the Boundary Commission, which cost, onewith another, 120 dollars per head. Like all othermarketable matters, mules rise and fall in value, inaccordance with the demand and supply, or in tlieratio of successful gold-hunling. Whenever mining isprosperous mules are dear; when the miners are 'do- iupon their luck,' mules can be obtained at compuni-tively small prices.


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EFFECTS OF FOOD AND CLIMATE. 17In cold regions the mortality is sometliing awful

during the winter, an d in that way the value is oftenincreased. It may be interesting to mention as aninstance of this, and as an example how differencesof food and climate affect mules, which are generallysupposed to be hardy to a provei'b, (a most erroneousidea, by the w^ay) , that during the time we were at workon the Boundary line, y\rest of the Cascade mountains,the gold discoveries on the Fraser River ' Bars ' attracteda vast concourse of miners, and consequently muletrains, for the puii)ose of supjDlying the diggers'necessities. When the cold weather came on themule trains were, nearly every one, driven down tothe Sumass and Chilukweyuk prairies, in order towinter the animals. The grass was in great abund-ance, and small sheds were run up with ' wickey andmad,' (twined branches plastered with clay or mud), toprotect the nudes, whilst the owners or packers incharge built themselves log shanties; and thus pro-vided, no apprehePoions were entertained but that allwould go on a.3 * merry as a marriage bell.'But the too sauguine Californians little dreamed

what the winters were like in British Columbia ; snowrapidly coverrd up the grass far too deeply for themules to dig it away with their feet, in order to reachthe buried herbage. No dry fodder had been providedto meet this contingency, so, in the absence of all otherkinds of foliage, the hungry mules began to devour


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18 AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS.

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the lar^e patches of equisetum, or horse-tail rush,which covered many acres of grom :d under the trees,by the river side, and around the swampy edges of thebush ; being in a great measure protected by the trees,and growing often to a height of six feet, it was easilycomeatable above the snow. The effect of this plantwas perfectly astounding. As soon as the mules begar.to eat it they were seized with a disease preciselyresembling Asiatic c holera ; the most violent purgingcame on, accompanied with cramp, rigors, utter prostra-tion, and speedy death. More than five hundred mulesdied on these two prairies in less than a month. Whatthe cause of this poisonous effect might have been Iam puzzled to say. My impression at the time was,that the animals' stomachs and intestines beinjr com-paratively empty, and at the same time the generaltolerance of the system being further weakened bythe excessive cold and lack of requisite food rich incarbon, the flinty covering of the rush acted mechani-cally as a mineral irritant to the mucous lining ofthe alimentary canal, producing dysentery of a mostviolent character. This is simply a tiieory, and mustbe estimated only as such. I mention the fact inci-dentally as a warning to travellers, who nuiy perchancebe placed in a like disagreeable and ruinous portion.I have often seen the mules eat this ho^'se-taii j ishduring the summer, when mixed with other food, andthen no ill effects accrued from it.


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ADVANTAGES OF A DRY BED. 19

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I wintered all the Commission mules and horsesduring the following winter on the same prairies, andwith signal success ; but I had grown wiser by havingwitness c;d the misfortunes of others. So I took theprecaution to have a requisite suoply of the long grassmowed and converted into hay during the summer, andlikewise a supply of barley safely housed in a log store,which grain was brought all the way from Chili toVancouver Island, and thence up the Eraser andSumass rivers, by boat, to be finally landed on thisdesert prairie. I had a large square enclosed withopen sheds, in which the animals were fed and kept,being driven out only to ice-holes cut in the stream,twice every day, to drink.The grand secret of wintering animals successfully

h\ jj^ry cold districts is, I am convinced, to insure theira;'\ iys having a, dry bed to lie on, and shelter fromti 1 -iliing falling from tlie heavens. Cold, howeverintense, (I have wintered mules, hoises, and cattle whenthe temperature has been 32 below zp!':o), never doesthem any hann, so long as tlieir bodies are dry andthey have plenty to eat. Wet and cm'rents of fi'ostyair do all the mischief, not the intensity of dry cold.Every one of my animals living in the open sheds werehealthier, and less predisix)sed to colds and lung affec-tions than were those more closely shut up.

After this little digression, we must go in pursuit ofthe next essential, and that is a ' bell mare.' With a

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120 AT HOME IX THE WILDERXESS.

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train of mules, if the number of animals composing itexceeds three or four, you must have a * bell mare.' Asmall band of mules can be either hobbled or tetheredwhen you are camj)ing'; with a large number thissystem is imj); voticable. Experience has taught thepackers that mul . ill follow a mare or gelding, (theformer being always preferred), should it have a belltied round its neck, wherever it goes ; more than this,at night, when camping, all you have to do is to securethe 'bell mare,' either by hobbling or tethering her,and the mules will very rarely graze further away thanthey can distinctly hear the bell, which is always tink-ling so long as the mare is eating' or wandering about.When the bell ceases, in consequence of the mare'slying down, the mules also lie down and take their rest.When the mare gets up, and the bell begins to ring,the mules also arise and again commence feeding.The ' bell mare ' always precedes the mule train, and isridden by the cook as a rule. Her pace regulates thatof the train, and must be most carefully watched bywhomsoevc '' has the charge of the train. Over-driving,as I have before said, is most hurtful to loaded animals.From what I have stated in reference to this said

' bell mare,' it is quite clear we must be very carefulin the selection of the lady to be honoured with suchan unruly family. In the first place she must beperfectly gentle, and not very young ; young mares aregiven to ramble and very often get amorous fits.

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THE BELL MARE. 21Wliilst this lasts, all discipline is to a great extentat an end amongst the pack of mules ; they one and all(that is, the geldings) become like Ingoldsby's abbot,when seated by the devil, disguised as a fair lady,* less pious and more polite.' She must not be viciousor given to kicking. A light grey, if we can get her ofthat colour, is by far the best, because she is much mororeadily seen, when browsing among tr^es; and aboutfourteen hands, or fourteen hands two inches, is themore preferable size. Her back must be free from galls,her eyes sound, a,rd, what is of more value than youAvho have not earned experience can well imagine,she must ha


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22 AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS.means a horse with its ears cropped short, like aterrier's, and the tail cut off close up to the rump.This is, or once was, a common custom with theSiskyoo Indians, and all horses so trimmed are de-signated by the generic term of * Siskyoo.' The objectof this barbarous custom was to enable these Indianseasily to recognise their own horses if stolen, andsubsequently discovered herding with other bands.Horse-stealing is the primary cause of nearly everyIndian war and quarrel.The poor ' Siskyoo ' beast, although as perfect a cobas any man need have looked on, was neverthelessutterly valueless during the summer : unable to whipaway his tormentors, they worried him with impunity,until want of rest and continuous irritatior. reducedhim well-nigh to a, skeleton. * When found make anote of .' Always look out for long-tailed mulesand horses in a fly-country.

I happened to stumble upon the following strangeadventure during my stay at New Walla-Walla :

* Colonel, I guess thar's two imigrants a waitin tosee you, just a starvin, narry shoe on, and mighty nearskeert to death.* So said Sergeant to Colonelas we sat at mess, on .t cold bleak autumn evening, inthe mess-room at New Walla-Walla.

* Wliat may be their busmess, Sergeant ? * inquiredthe Colonel.

* Waal, it aint easy to make out ; thar Britishei-s, andtalk tall about Injens, muder, and risin har, and *

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THE CAPTAINS STORY. 23*Very well,' said the Colonel, 'bring them to my

quarters after they have been rationed by the Quarter-master.'

I may as well briefly explain, for the enlightenmentof my readers, where Walla-Walla is situated, and bywhat sequence of events it happened that I was locatedin so remote a place.The clear swift-flowing stream, with its double name

Walla-Walla, so called by a tribe of Eed Lidians livingon its banks, (the name, by the way, translated intoEnglish, means ever-bright and sparkling), winds incrooked course through a vast sandy plain, to mingleits waters with those of the Columbia River, at adistance of quite 700 miles from the sea. The steamerlands all adventurous wanderers who may chance toperil themselves in so desolate a country at Old Walla-Walla, which is the head of na\ igation on the Colum-bia, and Old Walla-Walla was once a fort, not as weare prone to picture a fort, battlemented and bristlingwith guns, but was simply a square enclosed by mud oradobe walls, containing a few miserable hovels, whichwere once tenanted by the fur-traders in the employof the Hudson's Bay Company ; but the Red Skinsbeing by far too hostile to be trusted, or traded with,the fur-traders were eventually driven from their fort,the crumbling remains of which now only adds itso^vll to that of the surrounding desolation. The tra-veller is turned out from the steamer to take his chance


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24 AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS.of getting somehow to New Walla-Walla as besthe can, by a four-horse machine called a stage. Thedistance is thirty miles straight over a treeless sandyplain, on which nothing grows save stunted Avild sage(or artemisia), where there is no trace of a road, and themnd always blows in one's face, and being heavilyfreighted with fine sand, together with small pebbles,manages to discharge its cargo into the wayfarer's ears,nose, pockets, and will penetrate his watch if he isfortunate enough to possess one. Let him but ventureto close his mouth, and the meeting teeth grind awayupon a stratum of flinty sand, as though one hadindulged in a scouring brick for luncheon.The stage, tugged along by four horses, is so con-

structed with straps and springs as to be in reality a mostingenious contrivance for dislocating limbs and pitchinga passenger head first against the opposite side of theunpadded interior, or into the stomach of a vis-a-vis,should there be any such unfortunate individual to bepitched into. The probability is, however, that the com-pliment may be returned at any unexpected momentif a tight hold-fast is not maintained by your friendopposite on the strong leather loops, which dangle inevery direction, like ropes for the drowning, ready forany emergency.

If any one can endure this continued trapeze per-formance for about four or five hours, the probabil:^ es arein favour of his reaching New Walla-Walla in about


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NEW WALLA-WALLA CITY. 25the same condition as a person may be supposed toarrive at after being vigorously tossed in a blanket fora short time by muscular rustics.New Walla-Walla 'ci7i/' stands on a sandy shingly flat.

The small amount of grass visible looks as dry as hay,and excepting a clump of dwarfed and stunted-lookingtrees, which seem so bent and emaciated that one is ledto imagine the trees must have been the victims of achronic rheumatism or a perpetual cramp, not a parti-cle of any other wood is discoverable, as far as eye canscan the dismal extent of arid waste, in the very midstof which this * city ' is built. Cities in this part of theworld are only such in name ; squares, terraces, cres-cents, busy streets, and massive mansions crowded withcivic dignitaries are not by any means essentialrequirements. In this particular instance the city ofNew Walla-Walla consisted of not more than thirtyhouses, all constructed of unplaned planks or ' lumber,'so called, the style of architecture, being solely inaccordance with the tastes or inventive genius ofthe builder, of the most varied and questionablecharacter, forcibly reminded one of booths on a race-course wherein thirsty pleasure seekers regale them-selves, rather than of houses, a resemblance rendered themore striking by the motley throng riding, lounging,and sitting in groups, amidst the houses in the ' main 'street, a straight dusty thoroughfare, towards whichmost of the houses faced. I enter a gaudy bar-room


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26 AT HOME IX THE WILDERNESS.all aglitter with tinselly finery, bright-coloured glassbottles, and small brigades of decanters fitted withstrange-looking stoppers which let out the containedpoison, disguised as whisky, by a kind of machinery,and near them arrays of smeary drinking vessels standin quartets, together with jugs of cold water like sentriesready by. At the shortest notice drinks can be in-dulged in ; for all classes in Walla-Walla city, if inpossession of the all-powerful dollar, take drinks. Onevery occasion a man imbibes : when he is sorry, whenhe is joyful, wlien swamped by disappointment or floatedby prosperity. Men cement their friendships with gincock-tails and juleps, and terminate acquaintances anddisagreements in a * Brandy Smash.' The mournerdrinks with those who do not grieve, and they drinksimply because the mourner asks them. If the god-dess of Liberty were seen strolling through Walla-Walla I feel sure somebody would immediately ask herto take an eye-opener. Behind the bar-counter a gor-geous individual is conspicuous at all times, radiant insmiles, shirt front, studs and rings, whose greatest ac-complishment appears to consist in the ability to toss colddrinks from one tin cup into another without spillingany. He usually has an immense cigar ' stowed ' awayin the corner of his mouth, one half of which is chewed,whilst the other is pufied slowly away. Leaving thebar I see ' billiard saloon ' in letters which he whoruns can read, and wonder as well I may by what


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A QUEER MATCH. 27

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means a billiard table could have been brought here, andstill further, who the individuals can be who are likely toplay on it. A peep in to the * billiard saloon,' and themystery at once ends. Why, everybody plays, from thedarky boy who polishes your boots, or the barber whodoes the easy shaving, up to the colonel commandingthe ' military post,' and it is just as likely as not, youmay witness a match, if you sit and take a drink in thesaloon, betwixt a ' bummer ' with * narry a cent ' in hispocket, or clothes on his back worth pillaging from off ascarecrow, and a military officer in full uniform. Stroll-ing still further through the city, stores, groceries,'barbers' saloons,' livery stables, places alike all astirwith the bustle of business, are respectively passed.This quaint little place, I am told, owes its origin to twocauses, one the discovery of gold on the Cold-waterand Burnt "Rivers, tributaries to the Snake River, andboth of which head from the slopes of the Blue moun-tains. Like the magnetic mountain of Sinbad'a travelswhich dragged nails out of ships, and a man, if he hadiron on his boots, straight up against its side, where hewas held like a fly on a wall, so with speed or poweras potent, the prospect of obtaining gold drew ad-venturers to New Walla-Walla, from whence they pro-cured the necessary articles for fitting out, to sink orswim, in their struggles for fortune. The * Americangarrison,' or * military post,' is situate about a mile fromthe city on a patch of rising ground, close to a small creek


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28 AT HOME IX THE WILDERXESS.or * crik,' as Transatlantics usually pronounce the word.A troop of dragoons, and three, or sometimes four com-panies of infantry, are usually stationed at this outpost,their duty being that of i^rotecting settlers againstIndian incursions. The soldiers are a great support tothe citizens, notwithstanding the very admirable systemadopted by the United States military authorities ofhaving a sutler, or in other words, appointing a civilian,whose duty it is to sujiply all requisites to officers andmen, up to a certain fixed amount, at a regular tariff,for which he is paid at the pay-table of the regiment.Should the sutler, however, trust any soldier to anamount beyond his pay he must lose it, the paymasterbeing only responsible for goods supplied up to the re-gulation amount. The sutler's store is always a greatlounging place, and as he sells drinks, in some measureon the sly, it very materially lessens the crop of smallcoin which would be otherwise reaped by the Walla-Walla citizens, as the sutler being nearest to home getsthe first produce, if not the entire harvest. The * Post

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was neatly laid out, in shape a very large square, thecentre being the drill ground ; the sides Avere appro-priated to officers' quarters ; barracks for the men, andthe quartermaster's stores. All the houses were madeof planks planed, painted, and fitted with very capitalglazed windows. I was staying there for a time, theguest of the officers, awaiting means of transport toreach the dalles en route to Portland.

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ITHE EMIGRANTS STORY. 29

The Sergeant comes to the Colonel's quarters andsays the two strangers are awaiting admittance, whosestory I am all cm^iosity to listen to. As we await theirappearance, the Colonel said, ' Captain I'll bet fiftydollars those rascally Snake Indians have been playinghavoc again amongst the emigrants. If they have, assure as I live, every loafer of them I catch shall .'The door just then opened, an(T so cut short the

Colonel's threat. Staggering from sheer weakness, andwith travel-worn feet, two men, each about thirty yearsof age, tottered in, marshalled by the Sergeant. I neednot be wearisome by relating, word for word, all that wassaid. Their sad story was briefly as follows. Early inthe summer, a party consisting in all of forty souls,started from the Red River district, their purpose beingto reach the rich valley of the Wilhamet River, thereinto establish themselves, pre-empt farms, and reap theharvest its fertile land usually yields to all who indus-triously develoije its agricultural capabilities. All werehale, hearty, and in the springtime of life, most of the'mbeing married couples and blessed with sturdy youngolive branches. Their equipment was most comj^lete,and carried, as were the women and children, in strongwagons, drawn each by six or eight yoke of powerfuloxen. For many weary weeks this band of hopefultravellers had found their way along the barren routeleading across the great American desert. Rivers weresuccessfully swam or forded, rocky passes tugged and

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toiled over; an occasional buffalo stalk or a trampafter a wapiti, were the only incidents which relieved themonotony of the journey. Indians were the enemies to bedreaded, but on the plains where the travellers fully anti-cipated seeing these marauders none had been observed.Hope, like a cloud with a golden lining, gleamed brightlyand cheerily before them, as, deeming danger well nighat an end, they wended their way down the craggyslopes west of the Rocky Mountains, to follow the courseof the Snake River, and ford it at the only practi-cable spot, which is very near to its junction with theSalmon River, a crossing known as the ' Emigrants'Ford ' of the Snake River. The long-desired fordingplace is at length reachec\ but too late to riskthe somewhat dangerous task of crossing so swift astream until the morrow's light lends its aid. TLoemigrants encamp on the bank of the river, and chatcheerfully by the flickering firelight of dangers sur-mounted, and hopefully of the eas^ jor.mey before them.Once across the river they are safe, as the route is freefrom any further obstacle of importance to Walla-Walla.Their gossip is suddenly interrupted by the appeararceof several ' Snake Indians.'

Not a little alarmed, the poor emigrants make signsof friendship, which the Red Skins readily return ; theysmoke the pipe of good fellowship together, do a littlebarter for meat and fiali, giving in exchange tobacco andbeads, and then the Indians vanish into the darkness


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FIRST APPEARANCE OF THE SAVAGES. 31and are seen no more that night. As there were onlya few savages, no great apprehension was entertainedof an attack ; still additional pre^5autions were taken,and a sharp watch kept during the night, so as to avoidany chance of a sudden surprise. The dreary hours ofthe night one by one rolled by, until the grey light inthe east, tipping as with frosted silver every peak andridge, proclaimed the advent of another day. Every-thing was still, no sign of savages visible, nothing butthe mellow notes of some early songster, the weird wailof the loon, or the thrum of some benighted beetle,hurrying home to hide ere the coming light betrayedhim, disturbed the stillness of surrounding nature. Thesentries rouse the sleepers, most of them far away indreamland, amidst friends and parents ; others in fancyperhaps are wandering once more in the paths so oftentrodden afore-time, amidst fields and flowers, listeningit may be to the prattlings of infancy or the healthfulmellow voices of youth, scenes alike deeply engraven onmemory's tablets, and rendered dear fco the dreamer bya thousand [.nd one pleasani; remembrances.

All are up and busy, the men yoking the oxen andpreparing to ford the river ; the women and children areoccupied packing the camp and cooking equipment andpreparing for the somewhat difficult process of ferryingthe stream. The plan of crossing is to unload partly someof the wagons, and to attach a double or treble team ofoxen to eac^i. First of all the women and children are


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32 AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS.taken across the stream and left on tlie oi^posite bank ;then the wagons, enth-ely emptied, are recrossed for therest of the freight. So by slow and sure degrees, allhands, together with their worldly wealth, are safe on agrassy plateau which stretches away before them forabout four miles, to reach the wooded slopes of a lowranere of hills, known as the ' Blue Mountains.' The sunwas high ere the oxen were again yoked up. A shortmarch only is contemplated, by way of reaching thetimber, and crossing a low divide, in order to arriveat a rivulet of water running through a narrow valleyon the other side, in which they intended campinga favourite camping place for travelling parties, andknown as the * Emigrant Camp.'Not a trace or sign of Indians had been observed

during the morning, and in the buoyancy of theirspirits, consequent on an imaginary safety, the littleband of wanderers, forgetting to take even ordinaryprecautions, were riding along on their wagons, sing-ing, laughing, joking, carelessly happy, dreading no-thing. Suddenly, on nearing the th\ck pine forest, ayell, as though numberless demons were shrieking inAvild delight, momentarily preceded the rush of someeighty mounted * Snake Indians,' who, issuing in detach-ments from various openings in the trees, completelysurrounded the wagon train, and fired a mixed volleyof aiTows and bullets in amongst the fright-strickonemigrants before they well knew what had befallen them.

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ESCAPE OF THE TWO AlEX. 33Several dropped badly wounded, but the remainderfouylit bravely, so soon as they rallied from the suddenpanic into which they were thrown ; even the womenfired from out the wagons at the ruthless Red Slvins,but all to no purpose ; one after another the men wereshot down and scalped, the children killed, and thewomen dragged away to endure a fate too horrible toname. The oxen were speedily set at liberty, thewagons, despoiled of all the savages felt disposed tosteal, were set on fire, and reeking with their bloodyspoils the band of murderers rode away to the ford,driving before them every one of the bewildered bullocks.The two men who related this harrowing story to the

Colonel and myself managed to ''oep in to the bushduring the melee, and when they f^aA\ the Indians de-camp made the best of their way to Walla- Walla. Thepoor heart-broken fellows had subsisted entirely cmberries, gathered as they walked along shoeless. Coot-sore, starving and pennylesstheir wives nmidered,childless, and broken in heart and spirits. Theirterrible misfortunes would have awakened the s} n d-thies of any n)an, if his heart had been of adamantinehardness.

Further questioning elicited many small matters ofdetail which, linked together, rendered ii, extremelyprobable that there were women, if not men, sur-viving this brutal cowjirdly massacre; and iliat therewas likewise a remote probability tliey might bo found

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34 AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS.if souo-ht after. This decided on, the Colonel without amoment's delay made known the story ; volunteers werenot tardy in oifering their services. Indeed I may trulysjiy that the whole g-arrison to a man would have turnedout if it could have been permitted, although the fall ofthe first snow was daily expected and the journey wouldnecessarily be not cold only bat an extremely risky one.A chosen few were selected, and placed under my

command. A small train of lightly packed mules wereto accompany the mounted troopers, in order to carryrations, clothing for the women if any of them shouldbe found alive, and the doctor's requisites, to be ready incase of need. One of the men who had escaped was alsomounted on a powerful horse, and placed under thespecial charge of the kind old Sergeant, who begged sohard for leave to make one of the party, in order to helpas he said ' jist to lynch up any darned skunk of a(imagine a strong adjective) Red Skin they could skeerup,' that the Colonel, though very reluctantly, at last con-sented. All these arrangements were soon completed inthe morning, and with hearty wislies for our safe returnand the deepest execrations human nature could deviselevelled against all icd skins, we trotted I riskly oiit ofthe garrison square and away over the sandy phiin,towards the Blue Mountains, dimly visible in the dis-tance. As we rode through a small encampment offriendly Walla-Walla Indians wc picked up a guide, aqueer-looking old savage, well known at the military I


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OLD AUGER-EYE. B5post as a fi^'st-rate hunter and tracker, but, having-naturally a rather grotesque twist in his vision, thefamiliar sobriquet by which he was usually known wasthat of Old Auger-eye. Taking- his station at the headof the cavalcade, and being mounted on a remarkablyfine skew-balled horse, most conspicuous for its distinctmarkings of white and rich red-brown, the Red manlooked remarkably like the * Wild Hunter of thePrairies ' as he was once to be seen at monster sliows,"^"only that the real hunter wore a ragged old uniformshell jacket and the broadest brimmed * wide-awake 'hat I ever saw, a costume which destroyed to someextent the * Circus Wild Hunter ' and Auger-eye'ssimilarity.

It was very nearly dark when we halted to encampwe had no tents, so each had to pillow his head on hissaddle, and fit himself into inequalities of the groriid asbest he could. AccoMing to our !j;aiide's statement, wecould not possibly reach our destination in less tlinnfour days from this, our first camp ; and as the riverswere aflood, it might be that we should be detained anadditional day, or perhaps more, in order to raft them.Thus sixteen or seventeeu days would have elapsedfrom the time of the massacre ; and if any of thewomen had escaped, it was more than likely theymust perish from starvation before we could arrivewith the needful succour. Still the very sight of the

Circusofl.i> 'J


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AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS.

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poor feeble man, shaken to the very centre with terrorand grief, seemed to rouse the soldiers into ungovernablefury, and I felt quite sure if by chance any * SnakeIndians ' fell into their hands, but little time would begiven them for explanation or repentance. The orderswere positive that all Indians taken alive should bebrought back to the Post as pnsoners, an order Iwell knew the soldiers would never obey.

Just as Auger-eye had predicted, two, nay nearly threedays, were lost in rafting the horse and mule gear overthe swollen streams ; thus nearly a week had flown bywhen darkness compelled us to camp very near the sceneof this terrible murder. Each watched eagerly for thefirst ray of dawn, no one appeared disposed to sleep,but preferred to sit moodily by the smouldering embers.Few sounds disturbed the intense silence of the nightsave the trampling of the tethered animals, the occasionalsnort of a horse as something tickled its nose, thecontinued munch-munch as they all greedily croppedthe succulent herbage, the distant bay of the wolves,and now and then the startlino- shriek of the niahtowl as it skimmed with mulHed wings over the silentgroup. I never I'emember so long a night ; I began tothink ir.orning had put off coming at all, and reallyenvied old /Vuger-eye, who was coiled up and sleepingfor all the world like a dog. Tlie wished for lightCiime at last, and long ere the sun's rays came fairlyover fhe hills we had * saddled up ' and were cantering


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A HORRIBLE SCENE. 87

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rapidly throiig-li tlie timber, to come out on tlie openpliiteau leading to the ford at the upper fork of theSnake River.As we neared the line where the forest ended andthe prairie land began, the pace increased to almost arace, each appearing to think he ought to be first todiscover a survivor, or reek vengeance on a Red Skin.Hence it happened that every one selected a path forhimself, and the detachment dashed from amidst the pinetrees scattered like a flight of frightened birds. It wasiny fate, I cannot say good fortune, to emerge on the veryspot whereon the terrible butchery had been perpetrated.Once in a lifetime is quite often enough to witness sucha scene as I was in the midst of. Numbers of bodies ofboth sexes, many of them those of children, lay gr^^nand ghastly upon the bright green grass in all sortsof positions. Vitality flown, chemistry had begun itswork of destruction, and lenJing their aid as generalremovers of nuisances were vultures, ravens, wolves, anda host of lesser flesh feeders, together with theirdiminutive yet powerful assistants belonging to thescavenger brigade of the insect army. All the adultshad been scnlped, and many cleft skulls showed thatthe savages had brained with a tomahawk or Jiatchctthe wounded and disabled. I will not sicken you bylingering here, it would be only ^^linful to relate '^Uthe terrible evidences of brutality wc naw, ns wanderingabout amidst the dead bodies, cindered wjigona, and


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spoiled property useless to tlie savages, we realised tothe full what a scene of carnage the fight must havebeen.Whilst the men were occupied in digging a large

pit, into which the remains of the dead were to bedej^osited, old ' Auger-eye ' had been cautiously circlinground the spot, and might be seen every now and thendown U2)on his knees peering intently at the ground. Atlast he appeared to have discovered something ; beckon-ing me, he at the same time pointed in the direction ofthe upward course of the river. All hands were so eagerto learn what discovery the old tracker had lighted on,that persuasion and command failed alike to inducethem to continue at the work on which they wereengaged. Dropping their tools they crowded round theold man, and scarcely venturing to breathe, intentlylistened to what he was saj'ing. In the figurative stylecommon to all Indian languages, the old savage statedhis opinion to be that three, if not four, white peoplehad crossed the plateau after the fight, and by theappearance of their trail were making for the river.Children had accompanied them, but he could not saywhether two or three. He also stated that he hadmade out, from a careful reading of Nature's book,that Indians had visited the i^lace since the fight,nnd that in all likelihood they too had struck thissame trail and followed it up the river. Their suftintold him they luid not passed more than three suns ago


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THE GUIDES READINGS. 39further, if the Indians had not discovered the fugitives,we should most likely capture the ruffians by dividingour party, sending some of them across the ford, to scoutup the right bank of the stream, whilst others were tokeep close to it on the side we were. A third partywas ordered to make a short circuit through the bushand again strike in upon the river a few miles fartherup its course, at which place of rendezvous the differ-ent parties would eventually meet. The opinion beingunanimous that no time should be lost, it was arrangedthat some of the detachment should return on ourhomeward route, to complete the sad task so summarilyabandoned.

Thirsting for a speedy revenge, the men at oncedivided. With Auger-eye as guide I took commandof the detachment who had to search the river-bankthe old Sergeant commanded the scouting party toldoff to cross the ford and scour the timber, on the rightside of the river ; whilst the third band was appro-priated to the Doctor. The weather was cold, and thesky, thickly covered with fleecy clouds, foreboded aheavy fall of snow. The wind blew in fitful gusts, andseemed to chill one's blood with its icy breath assweeping past it went whistling and sighing up theglen. The rattle of the horses' hoofs as the recedingparties galloped over the turf grew fainter and fainter,and when our little band halted on a sandy roach, abouta mile up the river, not a sound was audible save the


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40 AT HOME IX THE WILDEllXESS.steady rliytliin of tlie paiitiiij^ horses and the noisyrattle of the stream, as tumbling- over the cragcry roeksit rippled on its course. The * Tracker' was againdown ; this time creeping- along npon the sand, on hishands and knees, and deliberately and carefully ex-amining the marks left on its impressible surface, whichto his practised eye were in reality letters, nay, evenreadable words and sentences. As we watched thistardy progress in impatient silence, suddenly, as ifstung by some poisonous reptile, the Indian sprangupon his legs and making eager signs for us to approachpointed at the same time eagerly to something a shortdist-ance beyond where he stood. A nearer api)roaclirevealed a tiny hand and pai't of an arm, pushedthrough the sand.At first we imagined the parent, whether male or

female, had thus roughly buried the childa consolatoryassumption Auger-eye soon destroyed. Scraping awaythe sand partially hiding the dead boy, he placed hisfinger on a deep cleft in the skull, which told atonce its own miserable tale. This discovery clearlyproved that the old guide was connect in his readingsthat the savages were following up the trail of tli(3survivors. The man who had escaped and brought usthe intelligence appeared so utterly terror stricken atthis discovery that it was with ditficulty he could bosupported on his horse by the strong troopers who rodebeside lam. We tarried not for additional signs, but


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THE FUGITIVE GIRL. 41

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pusliecl on with all i30ssible haste. The trail was rough,stony, and over a leclg-e of basaltic rocks, renderingj)rogTession not only tedious but difficult and dangerous ;a false step of the horse, and the result might haveproved fatal to the rider. The guide spurs on his Indianmustang, that like a goat scrambles over the craggytrack ; for a moment or two he disappears, being hiddenby a jutting rock ; we hear him yell a sort of ' war-whoop,' awakening the echoes in the encircling hillsreckless of falling, we too spur on, dash round thesplintered point, and slide rather than canter down ashelving bank, to reach a second sand beach, overwhich the guide is galloping and shouting. We can seethe fluttering garments of a girl, who is running withall her might towards the pine trees ; she disai^pearsamongst the thick foliage of the underbrush ere theguide can come up to her, but leaping from off hishorse he follows her closely, and notes the spot whereinshe has hidden herself amidst a tangle of creei^ing vinesand maple bushes.He awaited our coming, and, motioning us to sur-

round the place of concealment quickly, remained stillas a statue whilst we arranged our little detachment soas to preclude any chance of an escape. Then glidingnoiselessly as a reptile through the bushes, he was soonhidden. It appeared a long time, although not morethan a few minutes had elajised from our losingsight of him, until a shrill cry told us something


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42 AT nOA[E IX THE WILDERNESS.was discovere'^1.. Dashing into the midst of the under-brush, a strange scene presented itself. The hardytr( o^ers seemed spell-bound, neither was I the lessastonished. Huddled closely together, and partiallycovered with branches, crouched two women and thelittle girl whose flight had led to this unlooked for dis-covery.

In a state barely removed from that of nudity, theunhappy trio strove to hide themselves from the manystaring eyes which were fixed upon them, not for thepurpose of gratifying an indecent curiosity, but simplybecause no one had for the moment realised the con-dition in which the unfortunates were j)laced. Soon,however, the fact was evident to the soldiers that thewomen were nearly unclad, and all honour to their ruggedgoodness, they stripped off their thick top coats, andthrowing them to the trembling females, turned everyone away and receded into the bush. It was enoughthat the faces of the men were white which had pre-sented themselves so unexpectedly. The destitutefugitives, assured that the savages had not again dis-covered them, hastily wrapped themselves in the coatsof the soldiers, and, rushing from out of their lair,knelt down, and clasping their arms round my knees,poured out thanks to the Almighty for their deliverancewith a fervency and earnestness terrible to witness. Isaw, on looking round me, steaming droj)s tricklingover the sunburnt faces of many of the men, whose


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THE SAD DISCOVERY. 43iron natures it was not easy to disturb under ordinarycircumstances.

It was soon explained to the fugitives that they weresafe, and as every hour's delay was a dangerous wasteof time, the rescued women and child were as care-fully clad in the garments of the men as circum-stances permitted, and placed on horses, with atrooper riding on either side to support them. Thusreinforced the cavalcade, headed by Auger-eye, movedslowly back to the place where we had left the packtrain encamped with all the necessary supplies. Ilingered behind to examine the place wherein thewomen had concealed themselves. The boughs of thevine-maple, together with other slender shrubs con-stituting the underbrush, had been rudely woven toge-ther, forming, at best, but a very inefficient shelter fromthe wind which swept in freezing currents through thevalley. Had it rained theymust soon have been drenched,or if snow had fallen heavily, the * wickey ' house and itsoccupants soon would have been buried. How had theyexisted? This was a question I was somewhat puzzledto answer.On looking round I observed a man's coat, pushed

away under some branches, and on the few smoulderingsticks, by which the women had been sitting when thechild rushed in and told of our coming, was a small tinpot with a cover on it, the only utensil visible. Whilstoccupied in making the discoveries I was sickened by a


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41 AT HOME IX THE WILDERNESS.noisome stench, whicli proceeded from tlie dead bod}'of a man, carefully hidden by branches, c^rass, andmoss, a short distance from the little cage of twistedbouy-hs. Gazin*^ on the dead man a suspicion toorevolting to mention suddenly f^-ished upon me. Turn-ing away saddened and horror-stricken 1 leturned tothe cage and removed the cover from off" the saucei'an,the contents of which confirmed my worst fears. Hastilyquitting liie fearful scene, the like of which I trustnevt'r to witness again, I mounted my horse andgalloped after the party, by this time some distaiuM?ahead.Two men and the guide were desired to find the spot

where the scouting parties were to meet each otlwM*, andto bring them with all speed to the mule camp. It wasnearly dark when we reached our destination, the skylo()ke(l black and lowering, the wind appeared to be in-creasing in ''orce, and small particles of halt'-froz'-nrain drove smartly against our f{.ces, telling in prettyplain language of the coming snow-fall. Warm tc:,', agood substantial meal, and suitable clotlies, whit-li hadl)een sent in case of need by tlie officers' wives stationedat the ' Post.-' W(rked wonders in the way of restoringbodily weakness ; l)ut the shock to the mental systemtime alone could alleviate. 1 cannot say 1 slept muchduring the nigld. Anxiety lest we might be snowed in,and a fate alinnst as t


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MISSING LlXIvS IX THE NAllllATlVE 45sat upon me like a nig-litinare. More tliaii this, the secretI lui'l discovered seemed to i)ail every sense and sickenme to the very heart, and throuj^hout the silent hoursof the dismal darkness I i)assed in review the ghostlypageant of the fight and all its horrors, the escape,and iiight of the unhappy survivors, the finding themurdered boy and starving women, and worse than allthe secret I had rather even now draw a veil over, andleave to the imagination.Morning came with anything but a cheery aspectevery preparation was made for an instant departure?

so soon as the scouting parties should come in. As wcawait cheir arrival, the women fill up bit by bit themissing links in the narrative, which aretliat theyescaped from tlie Indians by creeping into the bush ;and accon)[)anied b}- the husband of one of the twowomen, badly woun


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40 AT HOME IX THE WILDEKXESS.touched on nor in any way alluded to, neither were themen ever made acquainted with it. To this hour thepoor women, for aught I can tell, believe it is knownsolely to themselves.The trampling of the approaching horses was a

welcome sound. Emerging from the forest, the mentrotted briskly towards us, and as they came near Icould make out three mounted savages in the midst ofthe troopers; their hands were tied tightly behind theirbacks, and their feet fastened by long cords passedunderneath the bellies of their horses.The Sergeant reported having pounced upon tho

Indians unexpectedly in the bush ; that the}'- made everyefl'ort to escape ; that one of them tried to stab atrooper, but only succeeded in inflicting a flesh woundin the arm; that having secured them, not a word didthey utter, neither could they be induced to taste food.A council of war was at once held. I tried to en-force my orders to take the prison


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A STRANGE PLACE OF EXECUTION, 47

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than endeavour to enforce what I felt sure I couklnot possibly carr^ out.A branch suited to their purpose was soon found, and

from it three tether-ropes dangled, each with a noose atthe end ; the horses, carrying their terror-strickenmasters, the three Snake Indians, were now led under-neath the moss-covered branches, which drooping to theground formed a kind of curtain round the tree. Itwas a strange place of execution. Above the sturdybranches resembled natural arches; underfoot grewmoss, and grass soft as a velvet carpet; a dim half-light found its way in varied quantities through theleafage, giving the scene a solemnity and grandeuralmost unearthly in its character. Each savage hada, noose adjusted to his neck; their legs were unboundfrom beneath the horses' bellies ; * remh/ ' j^eeled the deepvoice of the Sergeant, then a smart cut administeredto each of the horses caused them to spring frombeneath their riders, who were left swinging from thebranch. The heavy jerk must have produced immediatedeath, for a slight convulsive shudder alone shook theframe of each savage as the soul quitted its tenement,to wing its way to that bourne from whence no travellerreturns.

I need not weary you by recounting the return toheiid-(piarters ; we had a cold and perilous trip, snowfell heavily and rendered it a ditHcult matter to followthe trails, but old ' Auger-eye,' true to his instincts,


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48 AT 1I0.ME IX Tin: WlLDEliXESS.guided US safely on our way, until we trotted into thesquare of the cosy * Post,' welcomed by the hearty con-f-ratulations of all, there to relate over and over ayainthis strang-e story.

So ended this romantic narrative, which I relate, asnearly as memory will permit it, in the words of mykind-hearted host.

I heard some tinic afterwards of the rescued womenone of them had married a soldier who was present at thediscovery in the ' wickey ' house, and that the little girlwas adopted by a settler and his wife, who were as fondof her as though she had been their own child. Theother wonuin was still a servant to Captain D , whotold me the tale.But to return. Let us suppose ourselves to have pro-

cured our ' bell mare,' riding and pack mules. The nextthing is branding, and obtaining the equipment, or, asit is termed, in packer phraseology, 'the rigging.'

Branding is a small matter of detail a novice wouldhardly think of very much importance, nevertheless itsneglect may, and frequently does, prove the cause ofvery s(,'rious annoyance, and not uncommonly resultsin the loss of the mules or horses with which he istravelUng. To explain clearly what I mean, let us sup-lose you have paid for your [>ack-train, and to laivetaken a receipt only for the money; the mules arebranded M.C., which means, for example, ]\Iike (^istle,a well-known packer, ih>m whom you have purchased


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WIIAli'::^ YOUR BRAND? 49

asmy

the

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them. Yon start, and on reaching some outpost town,up walks the U.S. district consbable, who, as a rule,like the Cornish Mayor of Tintagel, combines withinhis sacred person the varied offices of judge, mayor,magistrate, constable, registrar-general of marriagesand births, and chin-shaver in general. I should havewritten city, as there are no towns in the wilds ofAmericaa log-shanty, hog-stye, and hen-house areenough in themselves to warrant the civic title. Thefunctionary of many offices says to you, * Stranger, wardid you git them mules ? ' * Wliy, I bought and paidfor them,' you indignantly reply, and if your temperwill allov^r you so far to condescend, out comes thereceipt, which you imagine will prove a stojiper to theimpudent questioner. Not a bit of it ; he deliberatelyreads it through, and with a leer in his eye, says, as hesquirts out a small cataract of tobacco-juice, * Wliar'syour brand; tliar ain't none on the mule, nor iiarrycounter-brand on this liar receipt; you might a jisistole 'em from Mike's baud, or may-be the mules hav(^strayed, and y(>u might a found 'em ; I shall emi)ound'em, stranger, until you get Mike's counter-braudreceipt.' So your mules are stopp^a until you can lindmeans to communicate Avith the seller, and in that wayprove your right of ownership.Now, what you ought to have done is this: vv^hen

the purchase was complet(>d you should liave Inmghia brand, or have had one made by the blacksmith.

a


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50 AT IIOMI-: IX THE WILDERNESS.

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Initials are as good as anything' ; our Commissionbrand was B.C. and the broad an^ow. The lettersshould have been burnt into the skin under the brandmark of the sillier, and on his receipt it shouldhave been written : branded M.C., brand of sellercounter-branded, B.S. (Bill Stubbs), brand of buyer.The thigh on the near side of the animal is thebest place for the brand mark, because it will be themore readily seen ; well nigh every operation, such asgirthing, roping, mounting, or what not, is usuallydone on the near side. The branding-iron should bemade red-hot, and then applied lightly, and keptagainst the skin after the hair is burnt off sufficientlylong to scald it and destroy the roots of the hair, butnot long enough to cause a sore, which is sure toslough, and in that case might be troublesome tomanage. Branding on the hoofs is of no use; the markrapidly grows out, and then you

at home in the wilderness 1876

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