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diff --git a/42925-8.txt b/42925-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index e71550e..0000000 --- a/42925-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,19103 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Conquest, by Eva Emery Dye - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - - - - -Title: The Conquest - The True Story of Lewis and Clark - - -Author: Eva Emery Dye - - - -Release Date: June 12, 2013 [eBook #42925] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CONQUEST*** - - -E-text prepared by Melissa McDaniel and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made -available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustrations. - See 42925-h.htm or 42925-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/42925/42925-h/42925-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/42925/42925-h.zip) - - - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/conquesttruestor00dyeerich - - -Transcriber's note: - - Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - - Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=). - - - - - -THE CONQUEST - -The True Story of Lewis and Clark - -by - -EVA EMERY DYE - - - * * * * * - - JUST READY - - [Illustration: WILLIAM CLARK] - - [Illustration: MERIWETHER LEWIS] - - THE EXPEDITION - of - LEWIS AND CLARK - - Reprinted from the Edition of 1814 - - With an Introduction and Index - By JAMES K. HOSMER, LL.D. - -Notwithstanding that in America few names are more familiar upon the -tongue than those of Lewis and Clark, it is a singular fact that the -Journals of their expedition have for a long time been practically -unattainable. The lack thus existing, felt now more and more as the -centenary of the great exploration draws near, this new edition has -been planned to fill. The text used is that of the 1814 edition, which -must hold its place as the only account approaching adequacy. - -Dr. Hosmer, well-known for his work in Western history, has furnished -an Introduction, giving the events which led up to the great -expedition and showing the vast development that has flowed from it, -in a way to make plain the profound significance of the achievement. -There has also been added an elaborate analytic Index, a feature which -the original edition lacked. - -The publishers offer this work in the belief that it will fill all -requirements and become the standard popular edition of this great -American classic. - - _In two square octavo volumes, printed from new type of - a large clear face, with new photogravure - portraits and fac-simile maps._ - - In box, $5.00 net; delivered, $5.36. - - A. C. McCLURG & CO., CHICAGO - - * * * * * - - -THE CONQUEST - - - * * * * * - - BY MRS. DYE - - McLOUGHLIN & - OLD OREGON - A Chronicle - - FOURTH EDITION - 12mo. $1.50 - -"A graphic page of the story of the American pioneer."--_N.Y. Mail and -Express._ - - * * * * * - - - [Illustration: From a Rare Painting. - "Judith"] - - -THE CONQUEST - -The True Story of Lewis and Clark - -by - -EVA EMERY DYE - -Author of "McLoughlin and Old Oregon" - - - - - - - -Chicago -A. C. McClurg & Company -1902 - -Copyright -A. C. McClurg & Co -1902 -Entered at Stationers' Hall, London -Published Nov. 12, 1902 - -University Press ˇ John Wilson -and Son ˇ Cambridge, U. S. A. - - - - -NOTE OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT - - -The author hereby acknowledges obligation to the Lewis and Clark -families, especially to William Hancock Clark of Washington, D.C., and -John O'Fallon Clark of St. Louis, grandsons of Governor Clark, and to -C. Harper Anderson of Ivy Depot, Virginia, the nephew and heir of -Meriwether Lewis, for letters, documents, and family traditions; to -Mrs. Meriwether Lewis Clark of Louisville and Mrs. Jefferson K. Clark -of New York, widows of Governor Clark's sons, and to more than twenty -nieces and nephews; to Reuben Gold Thwaites of the University of -Wisconsin, for access to the valuable Draper Collection of Clark, -Boone, and Tecumseh manuscripts, and for use of the original journals -of Lewis and Clark which Mr. Thwaites is now editing; to George W. -Martin of the Kansas Historical Society at Topeka, for access to the -Clark letter-books covering William Clark's correspondence for a -period of thirty years; to Colonel Reuben T. Durrett of Louisville, -for access to his valuable private library; to Mr. Horace Kephart of -the Mercantile Library, and Mr. Pierre Chouteau, St. Louis; to the -Historical Societies of Missouri, at St. Louis and Columbia; to Mrs. -Laura Howie, for Montana manuscripts at Helena; to Miss Kate C. -McBeth, the greatest living authority on Nez Percé tradition; to the -descendants of Dr. Saugrain, and to the families and friends of -Sergeants Pryor, Gass, Floyd, Ordway, and privates Bratton, Shannon, -Drouillard, of the Lewis and Clark Expedition; also to the Librarian -of Congress for copies of Government Documents. - - E. E. D. - - OREGON CITY, OREGON, - September 1, 1902. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - BOOK I - - WHEN RED MEN RULED - - PAGE - - I. A CHILD IS BORN 1 - - II. THE CLARK HOME 7 - - III. EXIT DUNMORE 12 - - IV. THE WILDERNESS ROAD 14 - - V. A BARREL OF GUNPOWDER 17 - - VI. THE FEUDAL AGE 19 - - VII. KASKASKIA 24 - - VIII. THE SPANISH DONNA 28 - - IX. VINCENNES 32 - - X. THE CITY OF THE STRAIT 38 - - XI. A PRISONER OF WAR 41 - - XII. TWO WARS AT ONCE 43 - - XIII. THE KEY OF THE COUNTRY 47 - - XIV. BEHIND THE CURTAIN 50 - - XV. THE ATTACK ON ST. LOUIS 53 - - XVI. OLD CHILLICOTHE 60 - - XVII. "DETROIT MUST BE TAKEN" 63 - - XVIII. ON THE RAMPARTS 69 - - XIX. EXIT CORNWALLIS 72 - - XX. THE OLD VIRGINIA HOME 77 - - XXI. DOWN THE OHIO 81 - - XXII. MULBERRY HILL 87 - - XXIII. MISSISSIPPI TROUBLES 91 - - XXIV. ST. CLAIR 97 - - XXV. THE SWORD OF "MAD ANTHONY" WAYNE 102 - - XXVI. THE SPANIARD 106 - - XXVII. THE BROTHERS 113 - - XXVIII. THE MAID OF FINCASTLE 119 - - XXIX. THE PRESIDENT'S SECRETARY 122 - - XXX. THE PRESIDENT TALKS WITH MERIWETHER 131 - - - BOOK II - - INTO THE WEST - - I. THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE 139 - - II. THE KNIGHT OF THE WHITE HOUSE 144 - - III. RECRUITING FOR OREGON 149 - - IV. THE FEUD IS ENDED 154 - - V. THE CESSION OF ST. LOUIS 157 - - VI. SERGEANT ORDWAY WRITES A LETTER 166 - - VII. INTO THE LAND OF ANARCHY 167 - - VIII. "THE SIOUX! THE SIOUX!" 176 - - IX. THE ROMANCE OF THE MANDANS 185 - - X. THE FIRST DAKOTA CHRISTMAS 192 - - XI. THE BRITISH FUR TRADERS 199 - - XII. FAREWELL TO FORT MANDAN 204 - - XIII. TOWARD THE SUNSET 208 - - XIV. THE SHINING MOUNTAINS 214 - - XV. A WOMAN PILOT 221 - - XVI. IDAHO 228 - - XVII. DOWN THE COLUMBIA 235 - - XVIII. FORT CLATSOP BY THE SEA 242 - - XIX. A WHALE ASHORE 249 - - XX. A RACE FOR EMPIRE 257 - - XXI. "A SHIP! A SHIP!" 259 - - XXII. BACK TO CIVILISATION 265 - - XXIII. CAMP CHOPUNNISH 272 - - XXIV. OVER THE BITTER ROOT RANGE 277 - - XXV. BEWARE THE BLACKFEET 279 - - XXVI. DOWN THE YELLOWSTONE 283 - - XXVII. THE HOME STRETCH 288 - - XXVIII. THE OLD STONE FORTS OF ST. LOUIS 296 - - XXIX. TO WASHINGTON 303 - - XXX. THE PLAUDITS OF A NATION 307 - - - BOOK III - - THE RED HEAD CHIEF - - I. THE SHADOW OF NAPOLEON 315 - - II. AMERICAN RULE IN ST. LOUIS 319 - - III. FAREWELL TO FINCASTLE 322 - - IV. THE BOAT HORN 327 - - V. A BRIDE IN ST. LOUIS 331 - - VI. THE FIRST FORT IN MONTANA 335 - - VII. A MYSTERY 337 - - VIII. A LONELY GRAVE IN TENNESSEE 343 - - IX. TRADE FOLLOWS THE FLAG 344 - - X. TECUMSEH 352 - - XI. CLARK GUARDS THE FRONTIER 360 - - XII. THE STORY OF A SWORD 369 - - XIII. PORTAGE DES SIOUX 376 - - XIV. "FOR OUR CHILDREN, OUR CHILDREN" 386 - - XV. TOO GOOD TO THE INDIANS 390 - - XVI. THE RED HEAD CHIEF 397 - - XVII. THE GREAT COUNCIL AT PRAIRIE DU CHIEN 404 - - XVIII. THE LORDS OF THE RIVERS 415 - - XIX. FOUR INDIAN AMBASSADORS 421 - - XX. BLACK HAWK 429 - - XXI. A GREAT LIFE ENDS 434 - - XXII. THE NEW WEST 438 - - - - -THE CONQUEST - - - - -Book I - -_WHEN RED MEN RULED_ - - - - -I - -_A CHILD IS BORN_ - - -The old brick palace at Williamsburg was in a tumult. The Governor -tore off his wig and stamped it under foot in rage. - -"I'll teach them, the ingrates, the rebels!" Snatching at a worn -bell-cord, but carefully replacing his wig, he stood with clinched -fists and compressed lips, waiting. - -"They are going to meet in Williamsburg, eh? I'll circumvent them. -These Virginia delegates! These rebellious colonists! I'll nip their -little game! The land is ripe for insurrection. Negroes, Indians, -rebels! There are enough rumblings now. Let me but play them off -against each other, and then these colonists will know their friends. -Let but the Indians rise--like naked chicks they'll fly to mother -wings for shelter. I'll show them! I'll thwart their hostile plans!" - -Again Lord Dunmore violently rang the bell. A servant of the palace -entered. - -"Here, sirrah! take this compass and dispatch a messenger to Daniel -Boone. Bade him be gone at once to summon in the surveyors at the -Falls of the Ohio. An Indian war is imminent. Tell him to lose no -time." - -The messenger bowed himself out, and a few minutes later a horse's -hoofs rang down the cobblestone path before the Governor's Mansion of -His Majesty's colony of Virginia in the year of our Lord 1774. - -Lord Dunmore soliloquised. "Lewis is an arrant rebel, but he is -powerful as old Warwick. I'll give him a journey to travel." Again he -rang the bell and again a servant swept in with low obeisance. - -"You, sirrah, dispatch a man as fast as horse or boat can speed to -Bottetourt. Tell Andrew Lewis to raise at once a thousand men and -march from Lewisburg across Mt. Laurel to the mouth of the Great -Kanawha. Here are his sealed orders." The messenger took the packet -and went out. - -"An Indian war will bring them back. I, myself, will lead the right -wing, the pick and flower of the army. I'll make of the best men my -own scouts. To myself will I bind this Boone, this Kenton, Morgan, and -that young surveyor, George Rogers Clark, before these agitators taint -their loyalty. I, myself, will lead my troops to the Shawnee towns. -Let Lewis rough it down the Great Kanawha." - -It was the sixth of June when the messenger drew rein at Boone's door -in Powell's Valley. The great frontiersman sat smoking in his porch, -meditating on the death of that beloved son killed on the way to -Kentucky. The frightened emigrants, the first that ever tried the -perilous route, had fallen back to Powell's Valley. - -Boone heard the message and looked at his faithful wife, Rebecca, busy -within the door. She nodded assent. The messenger handed him the -compass, as large as a saucer. For a moment Boone balanced it on his -hand, then slipped it into his bosom. Out of a huge wooden bowl on a -cross-legged table near he filled his wallet with parched corn, took -his long rifle from its peg over the door, and strode forth. - -Other messengers were speeding at the hest of Lord Dunmore, hither and -yon and over the Blue Ridge. - -Andrew Lewis was an old Indian fighter from Dinwiddie's -day,--Dinwiddie, the blustering, scolding, letter-writing Dinwiddie, -who undertook to instruct Andrew Lewis and George Washington how to -fight Indians! Had not the Shawnees harried his border for years? Had -he not led rangers from Fairfax's lodge to the farthest edge of -Bottetourt? Side by side with Washington he fought at Long Meadows and -spilled blood with the rest on Braddock's field. More than forty years -before, his father, John Lewis, had led the first settlers up the -Shenandoah. They had sown it to clover, red clover, red, the Indians -said, from the blood of red men slain by the whites. - -But what were they to do when peaceful settlers, fugitives from the -old world, staked their farms on vacant land only to be routed by the -scalp halloo? Which was preferable, the tyranny of kings or the Indian -firestake? Hunted humanity must choose. - -The Shawnees, too, were a hunted people. Driven from south and from -north, scouted by the Cherokees, scalped by the Iroquois, night and -day they looked for a place of rest and found it not. Beside the -shining Shenandoah, daughter of the stars, they pitched their wigwams, -only to find a new and stronger foe, the dreaded white man. Do their -best, interests would conflict. Civilisation and savagery could not -occupy the same territory. - -And now a party of emigrants were pressing into the Mingo country on -the upper Ohio. Early in April the family of Logan, the noted Mingo -chief, was slaughtered by the whites. It was a dastardly deed, but -what arm had yet compassed the lawless frontier? All Indians -immediately held accountable all whites, and burnings and massacres -began in reprisal. Here was an Indian war at the hand of Lord Dunmore. - -Few white men had gone down the Kanawha in those days. Washington -surveyed there in 1770, and two years later George Rogers Clark -carried chain and compass in the same region. That meant -settlers,--now, war. But Lewis, blunt, irascible, shrank not. Of old -Cromwellian stock, sternly aggressive and fiercely right, he felt the -land was his, and like the men of Bible times went out to smite the -heathen hip and thigh. Buckling on his huge broadsword, and slipping -into his tall boots and heavy spurs, he was off. - -At his call they gathered, defenders of the land beyond the Blue -Ridge, Scotch-Irish, Protestants of Protestants, long recognised by -the Cavaliers of tidewater Virginia as a mighty bulwark against the -raiding red men. Charles Lewis brought in his troop from Augusta, -kinsfolk of the Covenanters, fundamentally democratic, Presbyterian -Irish interpreting their own Bibles, believing in schools, born -leaders, dominating their communities and impressing their character -on the nation yet unborn. - -It was August when, in hunting shirts and leggings, they marched into -rendezvous at Staunton, with long knives in their leathern belts and -rusty old firelocks above their shoulders. In September they camped at -Lewisburg. Flour and ammunition were packed on horses. Three weeks of -toil and travail through wilderness, swamp, and morass, and they were -at the mouth of the Great Kanawha. - -But where was Dunmore? With his thousand men he was to march over the -Braddock Road to meet them there on the Ohio. Rumour now said he was -marching alone on the Shawnee towns. - -"And so expose himself!" ejaculated Lewis. - -But just then a runner brought word from Lord Dunmore, "Join me at the -Shawnee towns." - -"What does it mean?" queried Lewis of his colonels, Charles Lewis of -Augusta, Fleming of Bottetourt, Shelby and Field of Culpepper. "It -looks like a trap. Not in vain have I grown gray in border forays. -There's some mistake. It will leave the whole western portion of -Virginia unprotected." - -Brief was the discussion. Before they could cross the Ohio, guns -sounded a sharp surprise. Andrew Lewis and his men found themselves -penned at Point Pleasant without a hope of retreat. Behind them lay -the Ohio and the Kanawha, in front the woods, thick with Delawares, -Iroquois, Wyandots, Shawnees, flinging themselves upon the entrapped -army. - -Daylight was just quivering in the treetops when the battle of Point -Pleasant began. At the first savage onset Fleming, Charles Lewis, and -Field lay dead. It was surprise, ambuscade, slaughter. - -Grim old Andrew Lewis lit his pipe and studied the field while his -riflemen and sharp-shooters braced themselves behind the white-armed -sycamores. There was a crooked run through the brush unoccupied. -While the surging foes were beating back and forth, Andrew Lewis sent -a party through that run to fall upon the Indians from behind. A -Hercules himself, he gathered up his men with a rush, cohorns roaring. -From the rear there came an answering fire. Above the din, the voice -of Cornstalk rose, encouraging his warriors, "Be strong! be strong!" -But panic seized the Indians; they broke and fled. - -Andrew Lewis looked and the sun was going down. Two hundred whites lay -stark around him, some dead, some yet to rise and fight on other -fields. The ground was slippery with gore; barked, hacked, and red -with blood, the white-armed sycamores waved their ghostly hands and -sighed, where all that weary day red men and white had struggled -together. And among the heaps of Indian slain, there lay the father of -a little Shawnee boy, Tecumseh. - -Cornstalk, chief of the Shawnees, Red Hawk, pride of the Delawares, -and Logan, Logan the great Mingo, were carried along in the resistless -retreat of their people, down and over the lurid Ohio, crimson with -blood and the tint of the setting sun. - -On that October day, 1774, civilisation set a milestone westward. -Lewis and his backwoodsmen had quieted the Indians in one of the most -hotly contested battles in all the annals of Indian warfare. - -"Let us go on," they said, and out of the debris of battle, Lewis and -his shattered command crossed the Ohio to join Lord Dunmore at the -Shawnee towns. - -"We have defeated them. Now let us dictate peace at their very doors," -said Lewis. But Dunmore, amazed at this success of rebel arms, sent -the flying word, "Go back. Retrace your steps. Go home." - -Lewis, astounded, stopped. "Go back now? What does the Governor mean? -We must go on, to save him if nothing else. He is in the very heart of -the hostile country." And he pressed on. - -Again the messenger brought the word, "Retreat." - -"Retreat?" roared Lewis, scarce believing his ears. "We've reached -this goal with hardship. We've purchased a victory with blood!" There -was scorn in the old man's voice. "March on!" he said. - -But when within three miles of the Governor's camp, Lord Dunmore -himself left his command and hastened with an Indian chief to the camp -of Lewis. Dunmore met him almost as an Indian envoy, it seemed to -Lewis. - -"Why have you disobeyed my orders?" thundered the Governor, drawing -his sword and reddening with rage. "I say go back. Retrace your steps. -Go home. I will negotiate a peace. There need be no further movement -of the southern division." - -His manner, his tone, that Indian!--the exhausted and overwrought -borderers snatched their bloody knives and leaped toward the Governor. -Andrew Lewis held them back. "This is no time for a quarrel. I will -return." And amazed, enraged, silenced, Andrew Lewis began his retreat -from victory. - -But suspicious murmurings rolled along the line. - -"He ordered us there to betray us." - -"Why is my lord safe in the enemy's country?" - -"Why did the Indians fall upon us while the Governor sat in the -Shawnee towns?" - -"That sword--" - -Andrew Lewis seemed not to hear these ebullitions of his men, but his -front was stern and awful. As one long after said, "The very earth -seemed to tremble under his tread." - -All Virginia rang with their praises, as worn and torn and battered -with battle, Lewis led his troop into the settlements. Leaving them to -disperse to their homes with pledge to reassemble at a moment's -notice, he set forth for Williamsburg where news might be heard of -great events. On his way he stopped at Ivy Creek near Charlottesville, -at the house of his kinsman, William Lewis. An infant lay in the -cradle, born in that very August, while they were marching to battle. - -"And what have you named the young soldier?" asked the grim old -borderer, as he looked upon the sleeping child. - -"Meriwether Lewis, Meriwether for his mother's people," answered the -proud and happy father. - -"And will you march with the minute men?" - -"I shall be there," said William Lewis. - - - - -II - -_THE CLARK HOME_ - - -"What do you see, William?" - -A red-headed boy was standing at the door of a farmhouse on the road -between Fredericksburg and Richmond, in the valley of the -Rappahannock. - -"The soldiers, mother, the soldiers!" - -Excitedly the little four-year-old flew down under the mulberry trees -to greet his tall and handsome brother, George Rogers Clark, returning -from the Dunmore war. - -Busy, sewing ruffles on her husband's shirt and darning his long silk -stockings, the mother sat, when suddenly she heard the voice of her -son with his elder brother. - -"I tell you, Jonathan, there is a storm brewing. But I cannot take an -oath of allegiance to the King that my duty to my country may require -me to disregard. The Governor has been good to me, I admit that. I -cannot fight him--and I will not fight my own people. Heigh-ho, for -the Kentucky country." - -Dropping her work, Mrs. Clark, Ann Rogers, a descendant of the martyr -of Smithfield, and heir through generations of "iron in the blood and -granite in the backbone," looked into the approaching, luminous eyes. - -"I hope my son has been a credit to his country?" - -"A credit?" exclaimed Jonathan. "Why, mother, Lord Dunmore has offered -him a commission in the British army!" - -"But I cannot take it," rejoined George Rogers, bending to press a -kiss on the cheek of his brown-eyed little mother. "Lord Dunmore means -right, but he is misunderstood. And he swears by the King." - -"And do we not all swear by the King?" almost wrathfully exclaimed -John Clark, the father, entering the opposite door at this moment. - -"Who has suffered more for the King than we self-same Cavaliers, we -who have given Virginia her most honourable name--'The Old Dominion'? -Let the King but recognise us as Britons, entitled to the rights of -Englishmen, and we will swear by him to the end." - -It was a long speech for John Clark, a man of few words and intensely -loyal, the feudal patriarch of this family, and grandson of a Cavalier -who came to Virginia after the execution of Charles I. But his soul -had been stirred to the centre, by the same wrongs that had kindled -Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson. These were his friends, his -neighbours, who had the same interests at stake, and the same high -love of liberty. - -"If the King would have us loyal, aye, then, let him be loyal to us, -his most loyal subjects. Did not Patrick Henry's father drink the -King's health at the head of his regiment? Did not Thomas Jefferson's -grandsires sit in the first House of Burgesses in the old church at -Jamestown, more than a century before the passage of the Stamp Act? -And who swore better by the King? None of us came over here from -choice! We came because we loved our King and would not bide his -enemies." - -George Rogers Clark looked approvingly at his father, and yet, he owed -fealty to Lord Dunmore. Even as a stripling he had been singled out -for favours. - -"I see the storm gathering," he said. "If I choose, it must be with my -people. But I need not choose,--I will go to Kentucky." - -It was the selfsame thought of Daniel Boone. - -"But here are the children!" - -Nine-year-old Lucy danced to her brother, William still clung to his -hand, and their bright locks intermingled. - -"Three red-headed Clarks," laughed the teasing Jonathan. - -More than a century since, the first John Clark settled on the James, -a bachelor and tobacco planter. But one day Mary Byrd of Westover -tangled his heart in her auburn curls. In every generation since, that -red hair had re-appeared. - -"A strain of heroic benevolence runs through the red-headed Clarks," -said an old dame who knew the family. "They win the world and give it -away." - -But the dark-haired Clarks, they were the moneymakers. Already -Jonathan, the eldest, had served as Clerk in the Spottsylvania Court -at Fredericksburg, where he often met Colonel George Washington. Three -younger brothers, John, Richard, and Edmund, lads from twelve to -seventeen, listened not less eagerly than Ann, Elizabeth, Lucy, and -Fanny, the sisters of this heroic family. - -But George was the adventurer. When he came home friends, neighbours, -acquaintances, gathered to listen. The border wars had kindled -military ardour with deeds to fire a thousand tales of romance and -fireside narrative. Moreover, George was a good talker. But he seemed -uncommonly depressed this night,--the choice of life lay before him. - -At sixteen George Rogers Clark had set out as a land surveyor, like -Washington and Boone and Wayne, penetrating and mapping the western -wilds. - -To survey meant to command. Watched by red men over the hills, dogged -by savages in the brakes, scalped by demons in the wood, the frontier -surveyor must be ready at any instant to drop chain and compass for -the rifle and the knife. - -Like Wayne and Washington, Clark had drilled boy troops when he and -Madison were pupils together under the old Scotch dominie, Donald -Robertson, in Albemarle. - -While still in his teens George and a few others, resolute young men, -crossed the Alleghanies, went over Braddock's route, and examined Fort -Necessity where Washington had been. They floated down the Monongahela -to Fort Pitt. In the angle of the rivers, overlooking the flood, -mouldered the remains of old Fort Du Quesne, blown up by the French -when captured by the English. The mound, the moat, the angles and -bastions yet remained, but overgrown with grass, and cattle grazed -where once an attempt had been made to plant medićval institutions on -the sod of North America. As if born for battles, Clark studied the -ground plans. - -"Two log gates swung on hinges here," explained the Colonel from Fort -Pitt, "one opening on the water and one on the land side with a -medićval drawbridge. Every night they hauled up the ponderous bridge, -leaving only a dim dark pit down deep to the water." - -With comprehensive glance George Rogers Clark took in the mechanism of -intrenchments, noted the convenient interior, with magazine, -bake-house, and well in the middle. - -"So shall I build my forts." Pencil in hand the young surveyor had the -whole scheme instantly sketched. The surprised Colonel took a second -look. Seldom before had he met so intelligent a study of -fortifications. - -"Are you an officer?" - -"I am Major of Virginia militia under Lord Dunmore." - -With a missionary to the Indians, Clark slid down the wild Ohio and -took up a claim beyond the farthest. Here for a year he lived as did -Boone, beating his corn on a hominy block and drying his venison -before his solitary evening fire. Then he journeyed over into the -Scioto. - -So, when the Dunmore war broke out, here was a scout ready at hand for -the Governor. Major Clark knew every inch of the Braddock route and -every trail to the Shawnee towns. When a fort was needed, it was the -skilled hand and fertile brain of George Rogers Clark that planned the -bastioned stockade that became the nucleus of the future city of -Wheeling. - -Then Dunmore came by. Like a war-horse, Clark scented the battle of -Point Pleasant afar off. - -"And I not there to participate!" he groaned. But Dunmore held him at -his own side, with Morgan, Boone, and Kenton, picked scouts of the -border. When back across the Ohio the Mingoes came flying, Clark wild, -eager, restless, was pacing before Dunmore's camp. - -Beaten beyond precedent by the mighty valour of Andrew Lewis, -Cornstalk and his warriors came pleading for peace. - -"Why did you go to war?" asked Dunmore. - -"Long, long ago there was a great battle between the red Indians and -the white ones," said Cornstalk, "and the red Indians won. This nerved -us to try again against the whites." - -But Logan refused to come. - -"Go," said Lord Dunmore, to George Rogers Clark and another, "go to -the camp of the sullen chief and see what he has to say." - -They went. The great Mingo gave a vehement talk. They took it down in -pencil and, rolled in a string of wampum, carried it back to the camp -of Lord Dunmore. - -In the council Clark unrolled and read the message. Like the wail of -an old Roman it rang in the woods of Ohio. - -"I appeal to any white man if ever he entered Logan's cabin and he -gave him not meat; if he ever came cold and naked and he clothed him -not. During the course of the last long and bloody war, Logan remained -idle in his cabin, an advocate for peace. Such was my love for the -whites, that my countrymen pointed as they passed and said, 'Logan is -the friend of the white man.' I had even thought to have lived with -you but for the injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap, last Spring, in -cold blood and unprovoked, murdered all the relations of Logan, not -even sparing my women and children. There runs not a drop of my blood -in the veins of any living creature. This drove me to revenge. I have -sought it; I have killed many; I have fully glutted my vengeance; for -my country I rejoice at the beams of peace. But do not harbour a -thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will -not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for -Logan? Not one." - -One by one, half a dozen of Clark's army comrades had dropped in -around the hickory flame, while the substance of Logan's tale -unfolded. - -"And was Cresap guilty?" - -"No," answered George Rogers Clark, "I perceived he was angry to hear -it read so before the army and I rallied him. I told him he must be a -very great man since the Indians shouldered him with everything that -happened." - -Little William had fallen asleep, sitting in the lap of his elder -brother, but, fixed forever, his earliest memory was of the Dunmore -war. There was a silence as they looked at the sleeping child. A -little negro boy crouched on the rug and slumbered, too. His name was -York. - - - - -III - -_EXIT DUNMORE_ - - -On the last day of that same August in which Meriwether Lewis was born -and Andrew Lewis was leading the Virginia volunteers against the -Shawnees, Patrick Henry and George Washington set out on horseback -together for Philadelphia, threading the bridle-paths of uncut -forests, and fording wide and bridgeless rivers to the Continental -Congress. - -It had been nine years since Patrick Henry, "alone and unadvised," had -thrilled the popular heart with his famous first resolutions against -the Stamp Act. From the lobby of the House of Burgesses, Thomas -Jefferson, a student, looked that morning at the glowing orator and -said in his heart, "He speaks as Homer wrote." It was an alarm bell, a -call to resistance. "Cćsar had his Brutus, Charles the First his -Cromwell, and George the Third"--how the staid, bewigged, beruffled -old Burgesses rose in horror!--"and George the Third may profit by -their example." - -"Most indecent language," muttered the Burgesses as they hurried out -of the Capitol, pounding their canes on the flagstone floor. But the -young men lifted him up, and for a hundred years an aureole has -blazed around the name of Patrick Henry. - -The Congress at Philadelphia adjourned, and the delegates plodded -their weary way homeward through winter mire. From his Indian war Lord -Dunmore came back to Williamsburg to watch the awakening of Virginia. - -Then came that breathless day when Dunmore seized and carried off the -colony's gunpowder. - -The Virginians promptly demanded its restoration. The minute men flew -to arms. - -"By the living God!" cried Dunmore, "if any insult is offered to me or -to those who have obeyed my orders, I will declare freedom to the -slaves and lay the town in ashes." - -Patrick Henry called together the horsemen of Hanover and marched upon -Williamsburg. The terrified Governor sent his wife and daughters on -board a man-of-war and fortified the palace. And on came Patrick -Henry. Word flew beyond the remotest Blue Ridge. Five thousand men -leaped to arms and marched across country to join Patrick Henry. But -at sunrise on the second day a panting messenger from Dunmore paid him -for the gunpowder. Patrick Henry, victorious, turned about and marched -home to Hanover. - -Again Lord Dunmore summoned the House of Burgesses. They came, grim -men in hunting shirts and rifles. Then his Lordship set a trap at the -door of the old Powder Magazine. Some young men opened it for arms and -were shot. Before daylight Lord Dunmore evacuated the palace and fled -from the wrath of the people. On shipboard he sailed up and down for -weeks, laying waste the shores of the Chesapeake, burning Norfolk and -cannonading the fleeing inhabitants. - -Andrew Lewis hastened down with his minute men. His old Scotch ire was -up as he ran along the shore. He pointed his brass cannon at Dunmore's -flagship, touched it off, and Lord Dunmore's best china was shattered -to pieces. - -"Good God, that I should ever come to this!" exclaimed the unhappy -Governor. - -He slipped his cables and sailed away in a raking fire, and with that -tragic exit all the curtains of the past were torn and through the -rent the future dimly glimmered. - -After Dunmore's flight, every individual of the nobler sort felt that -the responsibility of the country depended upon him, and straightway -grew to that stature. Men looked in one another's faces and said, "We -ourselves are Kings." - -Around the great fire little William Clark heard his father and -brothers discuss these events, and vividly remembered in after years -the lightning flash before the storm. He had seen his own brothers go -out to guard Henry from the wrath of Dunmore on his way to the second -Continental Congress. And now Dunmore had fled, and as by the irony of -fate, on the day after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, -Patrick Henry became the first American Governor of Virginia, with -headquarters at the palace. - - - - -IV - -_THE WILDERNESS ROAD_ - - -Daniel Boone threw back his head and laughed silently. - -For a hundred miles in the barrier ridge of the Alleghanies there is -but a single depression, Cumberland Gap, where the Cumberland river -breaks through, with just room enough for the stream and a bridle -path. Through this Gap as through a door Boone passed into the -beautiful Kentucky, and there, by the dark and rushing water of Dick's -River, George Rogers Clark and John Floyd were encamped. - -The young men leaped to their feet and strode toward the tall, gaunt -woodsman, who, axe in hand, had been vigorously hewing right and left -a path for the pioneers. - -"They are coming,--Boone's trace must be ready. Can you help?" Boone -removed his coonskin cap and wiped his perspiring face with a buckskin -handkerchief. His forehead was high, fine-skinned, and white. - -"That is our business,--to settle the country," answered the young -surveyors, and through the timber, straight as the bird flies over -rivers and hills, they helped Boone with the Wilderness Road. - -It was in April of 1775. Kentucky gleamed with the dazzling dogwood as -if snows had fallen on the forests. As their axes rang in the primeval -stillness, another rover stepped out of the sycamore shadows. It was -Simon Kenton, a fair-haired boy of nineteen, with laughing blue eyes -that fascinated every beholder. - -"Any more of ye?" inquired Boone, peering into the distance behind -him. - -"None. I am alone. I come from my corn-patch on the creek. Are you -going to build?" - -"Yes, when I reach a certain spring, and a bee-tree on the Kentucky -River." - -"Let us see," remarked Floyd. "We may meet Indians. I nominate Major -Clark generalissimo of the frontier." - -"And Floyd surveyor-in-chief," returned Clark. - -"An' thee, boy, shall be my chief guard," said Daniel Boone, laying -his kindly hand on the lad's broad shoulder. "An' I--_am the people_." -The Boones were Quakers, the father of Daniel was intimate with Penn; -his uncle James came to America as Penn's private secretary; sometimes -the old hunter dropped into their speech. - -But people were coming. One Richard Henderson, at a treaty in the hill -towns of the Cherokees, had just paid ten thousand pounds for the -privilege of settling Kentucky. Boone left before the treaty was -signed and a kindly old Cherokee chieftain took him by the hand in -farewell. - -"Brother," he said, "we have given you a fine land, but I believe you -will have much trouble in settling it." - -They were at hand. Through the Cumberland Gap, as through a rift in a -Holland dyke, a rivulet of settlers came trickling down the newly cut -Wilderness Road. - -Under the green old trees a mighty drama was unfolding, a Homeric -song, the epic of a nation, as they piled up the bullet-proof cabins -of Boonsboro. This rude fortification could not have withstood the -smallest battery, but so long as the Indians had no cannon this wooden -fort was as impregnable as the walls of a castle. - -In a few weeks other forts, Harrodsburg and Logansport, dotted the -canebrakes, and the startled buffalo stampeded for the salt licks. - -In September Boone brought out his wife and daughters, the first white -women that ever trod Kentucky soil. - -"Ugh! ugh! ugh!" - -A hundred Shawnees from their summer hunt in the southern hills came -trailing home along the Warrior's Path, the Indian highway north and -south, from Cumberland Gap to the Scioto. - -"Ugh! ugh! ugh!" - -They pause and point to the innumerable trackings of men and beasts -into their beloved hunting grounds. Astonishment expands every -feature. They creep along and trace the road. They see the -settlements. It cannot be mistaken, the white man has invaded their -sacred arcanum. - -Amazement gives place to wrath. Every look, every gesture bespeaks the -red man's resolve. - -"We will defend our country to the last; we will give it up only with -our lives." - -Forthwith a runner flies over the hills to Johnson Hall on the Mohawk. -Sir William is dead, dead endeavouring to unravel the perplexities of -the Dunmore war, but his son, Sir Guy, meets the complaining Shawnees. - -"The Cherokees sold Kentucky? That cannot be. Kentucky belongs to the -King. My father bought it for him at Fort Stanwix, of the Iroquois. -The Cherokees have no right to sell Kentucky. Go in and take the -land." And so, around their campfires, and at the lake forts of the -British, the Shawnee-Iroquois planned to recover Kentucky. - - - - -V - -_A BARREL OF GUNPOWDER_ - - -Scarcely was Jefferson home from signing the Declaration when back -from Kentucky came little William's tall strong brother, George Rogers -Clark, elected by those far-away settlers, in June of 1776, to -represent them in the assembly of Virginia. - -Cut by a thousand briars, with ragged clothes and blistered feet, -Clark looked in at the home in Caroline and hurried on to -Williamsburg. - -"The Assembly adjourned? Then I must to the Governor. Before the -Assembly meets again I may effect what I wish." - -Patrick Henry was lying sick at his country-home in Hanover when the -young envoy from Kentucky was ushered to his bedside. Pushing his -reading spectacles up into his brown wig, the Governor listened keenly -as the young man strode up and down his bed-chamber. - -The scintillant brown eyes flashed. "Your cause is good. I will give -you a letter to the Council." - -"Five hundredweight of gunpowder!" The Council lifted their eyebrows -when Clark brought in his request. - -"Virginia is straining every nerve to help Washington; how can she be -expected to waste gunpowder on Kentucky?" - -"Let us move those settlers back to Virginia at the public expense," -suggested one, "and so save the sum that it would take to defend them -in so remote a frontier." - -"Move Boone and Kenton and Logan back?" Clark laughed. Too well he -knew the tenacity of that border germ. "So remote a frontier? It is -your own back door. The people of Kentucky may be exterminated for the -want of this gunpowder which I at such hazard have sought for their -relief. Then what bulwark will you have to shield you from the -savages? The British are employing every means to engage those Indians -in war." - -Clark knew there was powder at Pittsburg. One hundred and thirty-six -kegs had just been brought up by Lieutenant William Linn with infinite -toil from New Orleans, the first cargo ever conveyed by white men up -the Mississippi and Ohio. - -"We will lend you the powder as to friends in distress, but you must -be answerable for it and pay for its transportation." - -Clark shook his head,--"I cannot be answerable, nor can I convey it -through that great distance swarming with foes." - -"We can go no farther," responded the Council, concluding the -interview. "God knows we would help you if we could, but how do we -even know that Kentucky will belong to us? The assistance we have -already offered is a stretch of power." - -"Very well," and Clark turned on his heel. "A country that is not -worth defending is not worth claiming. Since Virginia will not defend -her children, they must look elsewhere. Kentucky will take care of -herself." - -His words, that manner, impressed the Council. "What will Kentucky -do?" - -To his surprise, the next day Clark was recalled and an order was -passed by the Virginia Council for five hundred pounds of gunpowder, -"for the use of said inhabitants of Kentucki," to be delivered to him -at Pittsburg. Hardly a month old was the Declaration of Independence -when the new nation reached out to the west. - -"Did you get the powder?" was the first greeting of young William -Clark as his brother re-entered the home in Caroline. - -"Yes, and I fancy I shall get something more." - -"What is it?" inquired the little diplomat, eager as his brother for -the success of his embassy. - -"Recognition of Kentucky." And he did, for when he started back Major -Clark bore the word that the Assembly of Virginia had made Kentucky a -county. With that fell Henderson's proprietary claim and all the land -was free. - -With buoyant heart Clark and Jones, his colleague, hastened down to -Pittsburg. Seven boatmen were engaged and the precious cargo was -launched on the Ohio. - -But Indians were lurking in every inlet. Scarce were they afloat -before a canoe darted out behind, then another and another. - -With all the tremendous energy of life and duty in their veins, Clark -and his boatmen struck away and away. For five hundred miles the chase -went down the wild Ohio. At last, eluding their pursuers, almost -exhausted, up Limestone Creek they ran, and on Kentucky soil, dumped -out the cargo and set the boat adrift. - -While the Indians chased the empty canoe far down the shore, Clark hid -the powder amid rocks and trees, and struck out overland for help from -the settlements. At dead of night he reached Harrod's Station. Kenton -was there, and with twenty-eight others they set out for the Creek and -returned, each bearing a keg of gunpowder on his shoulder. - - - - -VI - -_THE FEUDAL AGE_ - - -What a summer for the little forts! Dressed in hunting shirt and -moccasins, his rifle on his shoulder, his tomahawk in his belt, now -leading his eager followers on the trail of the red marauders, now -galloping at the head of his horsemen to the relief of some -beleaguered station, Clark guarded Kentucky. - -No life was safe beyond the walls. Armed sentinels were ever on the -watchtowers, armed guards were at the gates. And outside, Indians lay -concealed, watching as only Indians can watch, nights and days, to cut -off the incautious settler who might step beyond the barricades. By -instinct the settlers came to know when a foe was near; the very dogs -told it, the cattle and horses became restless, the jay in the treetop -and the wren in the thorn-hollow chattered it. Even the night-owl -hooted it from the boughs of the ghostly old sycamore. - -In this, the feudal age of North America, every man became a captain -and fought his own battles. Like knights of old, each borderer, from -Ticonderoga to Wheeling and Boonsboro, sharpened his knife, primed his -flintlock, and started. No martial music or gaudy banner, no drum or -bugle, heralded the border foray. Silent as the red man the stark -hunter issued from his wooden fort and slid among the leaves. Silent -as the panther he stole upon his prey. - -But all at once the hill homes of the Cherokees emptied themselves to -scourge Kentucky. Shawnees of the Scioto, Chippewas of the Lakes, -Delawares of the Muskingum hovered on her shores. - -March, April, May, June, July, August,--the days grew hot and stifling -to the people cooped up in the close uncomfortable forts. There had -been no planting, scarce even a knock at the gate to admit some forest -rover, and still the savages sat before Boonsboro. Clark was walled in -at Harrodsburg, Logan at Logansport. - -Ammunition was failing, provisions were short; now and then there was -a sally, a battle, a retreat, then the dressing of wounds and the -burial of the dead. - -Every eye was watching Clark, the leader whose genius consisted -largely in producing confidence. In the height of action he brooded -over these troubles; they knew he had plans; the powder exploit made -them ready to rely upon him to any extent. He would meet those -Indians, somewhere. Men bound with families could not leave,--Clark -was free. Timid men could not act,--Clark was bold. Narrow men could -not see,--Clark was prescient. More than any other he had the -Napoleonic eye. Glancing away to the Lakes and Detroit, the scalp -market of the west, he reasoned in the secrecy of his own heart: - -"These Indians are instigated by the British. Through easily -influenced red men they hope to annihilate our frontier. Never shall -we be safe until we can control the British posts." - -Unknown to any he had already sent scouts to reconnoitre those very -posts. - -"And what have you learned?" he whispered, when on the darkest night -of those tempestuous midsummer days they gave the password at the -gate. - -"What have we learned? That the forts are negligently guarded; that -the French are secretly not hostile; that preparations are on foot for -an invasion of Kentucky with British, Indians, and artillery." - -"I will give them something to do in their own country," was Clark's -inward comment. - -Without a word of his secret intent, Clark buckled on his sword, -primed his rifle, and set out for Virginia. With regret and fear the -people saw him depart, and yet with hope. Putting aside their -detaining hands, "I will surely return," he said. - -With almost superhuman daring the leather-armoured knight from the -beleaguered castle in the wood ran the gauntlet of the sleeping -savages. All the Wilderness Road was lit with bonfires, and woe to the -emigrant that passed that way. Cumberland Gap was closed; fleet-winged -he crossed the very mountain tops, where never foot of man or beast -had trod before. - -Scarce noting the hickories yellow with autumn and the oaks crimson -with Indian summer, the young man passed through Charlottesville, his -birthplace, and reached his father's house in Caroline at ten o'clock -at night. - -In his low trundle-bed little William heard that brother's step and -sprang to unclose the door. Like an apparition George Rogers Clark -appeared before the family, haggard and worn with the summer's siege. -All the news of his brothers gone to the war was quickly heard. - -"And will you join them?" - -"No, my field is Kentucky. To-morrow I must be at Williamsburg." - -The old colonial capital was aflame with hope and thanksgiving as -Clark rode into Duke of Gloucester Street. Burgoyne had surrendered. -Men were weeping and shouting. In the _męlée_ he met Jefferson and -proposed to him a secret expedition. In the exhilaration of the moment -Jefferson grasped his hand,--"Let us to the Governor." - -Crowds of people were walking under the lindens of the Governor's -Palace. Out of their midst came Dorothea, the wife of Patrick Henry, -and did the honours of her station as gracefully as, thirty years -later, Dolly Madison, her niece and namesake, did the honours of the -White House. - -Again Patrick Henry pushed his reading spectacles up into his brown -wig and scanned the envoy from Kentucky. - -"Well, sirrah, did you get the powder?" - -"We got the powder and saved Kentucky. But for it she would have been -wiped out in this summer's siege. All the Indians of the Lakes are -there. I have a plan." - -"Unfold it," said Patrick Henry. - -In a few words Clark set forth his scheme of conquest. - -"Destroy Detroit, Vincennes, Kaskaskia, and you have quelled the -Indians. There they are fed, clothed, armed, and urged to prey upon -us. I have sent spies to reconnoitre, and have received word that -assures me that their capture is feasible." - -The scintillating blue eyes burned with an inward light, emitting -fire, as Patrick Henry leaned to inquire, "What would you do in case -of a repulse?" - -"Cross the Mississippi and seek protection from the Spaniards," -answered the ready chief. With his privy council, Mason, Wythe, and -Jefferson, Patrick Henry discussed the plan, and at their instance the -House of Delegates empowered George Rogers Clark "to aid any -expedition against their western enemies." - -"Everything depends upon secrecy," said the Governor as he gave Clark -his instructions and twelve hundred pounds in Continental paper -currency. "But you must recruit your men west of the Blue Ridge; we -can spare none from here." - -Kindred spirits came to Clark,--Bowman, Helm, Harrod and their -friends, tall riflemen with long buckhorn-handled hunting-knives, -enlisting for the west, but no one guessing their destination. - -Despite remonstrances twenty pioneer families on their flat-boats at -Redstone-Old-Fort joined their small fleet to his. "We, too, are going -to Kentucky." - -Jumping in as the last boat pulled out of Pittsburg, Captain William -Linn handed Clark a letter. He broke the seal. - -"Ye gods, the very stars are for us! The French have joined America!" - -With strange exhilaration the little band felt themselves borne down -the swift-rushing waters to the Falls of the Ohio. - -Before them blossomed a virgin world. Clark paused while the boats -clustered round. "Do you see that high, narrow, rocky island at the -head of the rapids? It is safe from the Indian. While the troops erect -a stockade and blockhouse, let the families clear a field and plant -their corn." - -Axes rang. The odour of hawthorn filled the air. Startled birds swept -over the falls,--eagles, sea gulls, and mammoth cranes turning up -their snowy wings glittering in the sunlight. On the mainland, deer, -bear, and buffalo roamed under the sycamores serene as in Eden. - -"Halloo-oo!" It was the well-known call of Simon Kenton, paddling down -to Corn Island with Captain John Montgomery and thirty Kentuckians. - -"What news of the winter?" - -"Boone and twenty-seven others have been captured by the Indians." - -"Boone? We are laying a trap for those very Indians," and then and -there Major Clark announced the object of the expedition. - -Some cheered the wild adventure, some trembled and deserted in the -night, but one hundred and eighty men embarked with no baggage beyond -a rifle and a wallet of corn for each. - -The snows of the Alleghanies were melting. A million rivulets leaped -to the blue Ohio. It was the June rise, the river was booming. Poling -his little flotilla out into the main channel Clark and his borderers -shot the rapids at the very moment that the sun veiled itself in an -all but total eclipse at nine o'clock in the morning. - -It was a dramatic dash, as on and on he sped down the river, -bank-full, running like a millrace. - - - - -VII - -_KASKASKIA_ - - -Double manned, relays of rowers toiled at the oars by night and by -day. - -"Do you see those hunters?" - -At the mouth of the Tennessee, almost as if prearranged, two white men -emerged from the Illinois swamps as Clark shot by. He paused and -questioned the strangers. - -"We are just from Kaskaskia. Rocheblave is alone with neither troops -nor money. The French believe you Long Knives to be the most fierce, -cruel, and bloodthirsty savages that ever scalped a foe." - -"All the better for our success. Now pilot us." - -Governor Rocheblave, watching St. Louis and dreaming of conquest, was -to be rudely awakened. All along the Mississippi he had posted spies -and was watching the Spaniard, dreaming not of Kentucky. - -Out upon the open, for miles across the treeless prairies, the hostile -Indians might have seen his little handful of one hundred and eighty -men, but Clark of twenty-six, like the Corsican of twenty-six, "with -no provisions, no munitions, no cannon, no shoes, almost without an -army," was about to change the face of three nations. - -Twilight fell as they halted opposite Kaskaskia on the night of July -4, without a grain of corn left in their wallets. - -"Boys, the town must be taken to-night at all hazards." - -Softly they crossed the river,--the postern gate was open. - -"Brigands!" shouted Governor Rocheblave, leaping from his bed at -midnight when Kenton tapped him on the shoulder. It was useless to -struggle; he was bound and secured in the old Jesuit mansion which did -duty as a fort at Kaskaskia. - -"Brigands!" screamed fat Madame Rocheblave in a high falsetto, -tumbling out of bed in her frilled nightcap and gown. Seizing her -husband's papers, plump down upon them she sat. "No gentleman would -ever enter a lady's bed-chamber." - -"Right about, face!" laughed Kenton, marching away the Governor. -"Never let it be said that American soldiers bothered a lady." - -In revenge Madame tore up the papers, public archives, causing much -trouble in future years. - -"Sacred name of God!" cried the French habitants, starting from their -slumbers. From their windows they saw the streets filled with men -taller than any Indians. "What do they say?" - -"Keep in your houses on pain of instant death!" - -"Keep close or you will be shot!" - -In a moment arose a dreadful shriek of men, women, and children,--"The -Long Knives! The Long Knives!" - -The gay little village became silent as death. Before daylight the -houses of Kaskaskia were disarmed. The wild Virginians whooped and -yelled. The timid people quaked and shuddered. - -"Grant but our lives and we will be slaves to save our families." It -was the pleading of Father Gibault, interceding for his people. "Let -us meet once more in the church for a last farewell. Let not our -families be separated. Permit us to take food and clothing, the barest -necessities for present needs." - -"Do you take us for savages?" inquired Clark in amaze. "Do you think -Americans would strip women and children and take the bread out of -their mouths? My countrymen never make war on the innocent. It was to -protect our own wives and children that we have penetrated this -wilderness, to subdue these British posts whence the savages are -supplied with arms and ammunition to murder us. We do not war against -Frenchmen. The King of France is our ally. His ships and soldiers -fight for us. Go, enjoy your religion and worship when you please. -Retain your property. Dismiss alarm. We are your friends come to -deliver you from the British." - -The people trembled; then shouts arose, and wild weeping. The bells of -old Kaskaskia rang a joyous peal. - -"Your rights shall be respected," continued Colonel Clark, "but you -must take the oath of allegiance to Congress." - -From that hour Father Gibault became an American, and all his people -followed. - -"Let us tell the good news to Cahokia," was their next glad cry. Sixty -miles to the north lay Cahokia, opposite the old Spanish town of St. -Louis. The Kaskaskians brought out their stoutest ponies, and on them -Clark sent off Bowman and thirty horsemen. - -"The Big Knives?" Cahokia paled. - -"But they come as friends," explained the Kaskaskians. - -Without a gun the gates were opened, and the delighted Frenchmen -joyfully banqueted the Kentuckians. - -The Indians were amazed. "The Great Chief of the Long Knives has -come," the rumour flew. For five hundred miles the chiefs came to see -the victorious Americans. - -"I will not give them presents. I will not court them. Never will I -seem to fear them. Let them beg for peace." And with martial front -Clark bore himself as if about to exterminate the entire Indian -population. The ruse was successful; the Indians flocked to the -Council of the Great Chief as if drawn by a magnet. - -Eagerly they leaned and listened. - -"Men and warriors: I am a warrior, not a counsellor." - -Holding up before them a green belt and another the colour of blood, -"Take your choice," he cried, "Peace or War." - -So careless that magnificent figure stood, so indifferent to their -choice, that the hearts of the red men leaped in admiration. - -"Peace, Peace, Peace," they cried. - -From all directions the Indians flocked; Clark became apprehensive of -such numbers,--Chippewas, Ottawas, Pottawattamies, Sacs, Foxes, -Maumees. - -"The Big Knives are right," said the chiefs. "The Great King of the -French has come to life." - -Without the firing of a gun or the loss of a life, the great tactician -subjugated red men and white. Clark had no presents to give,--he awed -the Indians. He devoted great care to the drilling of his troops, and -the nations sat by to gaze at the spectacle. The Frenchmen drilled -proudly with the rest. - -While Clark was holding his councils Kenton had gone to Vincennes. -Three days and three nights he lay reconnoitring. He spoke with the -people, then by special messenger sent word, "The Governor has gone to -Detroit. You can take Vincennes." - -Clark was ready. - -"Do not move against Vincennes," pleaded Father Gibault, "I know my -people. Let me mediate for you." - -Clark accepted Gibault's offer, and the patriot priest hastened away -on a lean-backed pony to the Wabash. With his people gathered in the -little log church he told the tale of a new dominion. There under the -black rafters, kissing the crucifix to the United States, the priest -absolved them from their oath of allegiance to the British king. - -"Amen," said Gibault solemnly, "we are new men. We are Americans." - -To the astonishment of the Indians the American flag flew over the -ramparts of Vincennes. - -"What for?" they begged to know. - -"Your old father, the King of France, has come to life again. He is -mad at you for fighting for the English. Make peace with the Long -Knives, they are friends of the Great King." - -The alarmed Indians listened. Word went to all the tribes. From the -Wabash to the Mississippi, Clark, absolute, ruled the country, a -military dictator. - -But the terms of the three-months militia had expired. - -"How many of you can stay with me?" he entreated. - -One hundred re-enlisted; the rest were dispatched to the Falls of the -Ohio under Captain William Linn. - -"Tell the people of Corn Island to remove to the mainland and erect a -stockade fort." Thus was the beginning of Louisville. - -Captain John Montgomery and Levi Todd (the grandfather of the wife of -Abraham Lincoln) were dispatched with reports and Governor Rocheblave -as a prisoner-of-war to Virginia. - -On arrival of the news the Virginia Assembly immediately created the -county of Illinois, and Patrick Henry appointed John Todd of Kentucky -its first American Governor. - - - - -VIII - -_THE SPANISH DONNA_ - - -In the year that Penn camped at Philadelphia the French reared their -first bark huts at Kaskaskia, in the American bottom below the -Missouri mouth. Here for a hundred years around the patriarchal, -mud-walled, grass-roofed cabins had gathered children and -grandchildren, to the fourth and fifth generation. Around the houses -were spacious piazzas, where the genial, social Frenchmen reproduced -the feudal age of Europe. Gardens were cultivated in the common -fields, cattle fed in the common pastures, and lovers walked in the -long and narrow street. The young men went away to hunt furs; their -frail bark canoes had been to the distant Platte, and up the Missouri, -no one knows how far. - -Sixty miles north of Kaskaskia lay Cahokia, and opposite Cahokia lay -St. Louis. - -Now and then a rumour of the struggle of the American Revolution came -to St. Louis, brought by traders over the Detroit trail from Canada. -But the rebellious colonies seemed very far away. - -In the midst of his busy days at Kaskaskia, Colonel Clark was -surprised by an invitation from the Spanish Governor at St. Louis, to -dine with him at the Government House. - -Father Gibault was well acquainted in St. Louis. He dedicated, in -1770, the first church of God west of the Mississippi, and often went -there to marry and baptise the villagers. So, with Father Gibault, -Colonel Clark went over to visit the Governor. - -"L'Americain Colonel Clark, your Excellency." - -The long-haired, bare-headed priest stood _chapeau_ in hand before the -heavy oaken door of the Government House, at St. Louis. Then was shown -the splendid hospitality innate to the Spanish race. - -The Governor of Upper Louisiana, Don Francisco de Leyba, was friendly -even to excess. He extended his hand to Colonel Clark. - -"I feel myself flattered by this visit of de Seńor le Colonel, and -honoured, honoured. De fame of your achievement haf come to my ear and -awakened in me emotions of de highest admiration. De best in my house -is at your service; command me to de extent of your wishes, even to de -horses in my stable, de wines in my basement. My servant shall attend -you." - -Colonel Clark, a man of plain, blunt speech, was abashed by this -profusion of compliment. His cheeks reddened. "You do me too much -honour," he stammered. - -All his life, the truth, the plain truth, and nothing but the truth, -had been Clark's code of conversation. Could it be possible that the -Governor meant all these fine phrases? But every succeeding act and -word seemed to indicate his sincerity. - -"My wife, Madam Marie,--zis ees de great Americain General who haf -taken de Illinoa, who haf terrified de sauvages, and sent de Briton -back to Canada. And my leetle children,--dees ees de great Commandante -who ees de friend of your father. - -"And, my sister,--dees ees de young Americain who haf startled de -world with hees deeds of valour." - -If ever Clark was off his guard, it was when he thus met unexpectedly -the strange and startling beauty of the Donna de Leyba. Each to the -other seemed suddenly clothed with light, as if they two of all the -world were standing there alone. - -What the rest said and did, Clark never knew, although he replied -rationally enough to their questions,--in fact, he carried on a long -conversation with the garrulous Governor and his amiable dark-haired -wife. But the Donna, the Donna-- - -Far beyond the appointed hour Clark lingered at her side. She laughed, -she sang. She could not speak a word of English, Clark could not speak -Spanish. Nevertheless they fell desperately in love. For the first and -only time in his life, George Rogers Clark looked at a woman. How they -made an appointment to meet again no one could say; but they did meet, -and often. - -"The Colonel has a great deal of business in St. Louis," the soldiers -complained. - -"Le great Americain Colonel kiss te Governor's sister," whispered the -Creoles of St. Louis. How that was discovered nobody knows, unless it -was that Sancho, the servant, had peeped behind the door. - -Clark even began to think he would like to settle in Louisiana. And -the Governor favoured his project. - -"De finest land in de world, Seńor, and we can make it worth your -while. You shall have de whole district of New Madrid. Commandants, -bah! we are lacking de material. His Majesty, de King of Spain, will -gladly make you noble." - -"And I, for my part," Clark responded, "can testify to all the -subjects of Spain the high regard and sincere friendship of my -countrymen toward them. I hope it will soon be manifest that we can be -of mutual advantage to one another." - -Indeed, through De Leyba, Clark even dreamed of a possible Spanish -alliance for America, like that with France, and De Leyba encouraged -it. - -Boon companion with the Governor over the wine, and with the -fascinating Donna smiling upon him, Colonel Clark became not -unbalanced as Mark Antony did,--although once in a ball-room he kissed -the Donna before all the people. - -But there was a terrible strain on Clark's nerves at this time. His -resources were exhausted, they had long been exhausted, in fact; like -Napoleon he had "lived on the country." And yet no word came from -Virginia. - -Continental paper was the only money in Clark's military chest. It -took twenty dollars of this to buy a dollar's worth of coffee at -Kaskaskia. Even then the Frenchmen hesitated. They had never known any -money but piastres and peltries; they could not even read the English -on the ragged scrip of the Revolution. - -"We do not make money," said the Creoles, "we use hard silver." But -Francis Vigo, a Spanish trader of St. Louis, said, "Take the money at -its full value. It is good. I will take it myself." - -In matters of credit and finance the word of Vigo was potential. "Ah, -yes, now you can haf supplies," said the cheerful Creoles, "M'sieur -Vigo will take the money, you can haf de meat an' moccasin." - -Colonel Vigo, a St. Louis merchant who had large dealings for the -supply of the Spanish troops, had waited on Colonel Clark at Cahokia -and voluntarily tendered to him such aid as he could furnish. "I offer -you my means and influence to advance the cause of liberty." - -The offer was gratefully accepted. When the biting winds of winter -swept over Kaskaskia, "Here," he said, "come to my store and supply -your necessities." His advances were in goods and silver piastres, for -which Clark gave scrip or a check on the agent of Virginia at New -Orleans. - -Gabriel Cerré in early youth moved to Kaskaskia, where he became a -leading merchant and fur trader. "I am bitterly opposed to _les -Américains_," he said. Then he met Clark; that magician melted him -into friendship, sympathy, and aid. - -"From the hour of my first interview I have been the sworn ally of -George Rogers Clark!" exclaimed Charles Gratiot, a Swiss trader of -Cahokia. "My house, my purse, my credit are at his command." - -Clark could not be insensible to this profusion of hospitality, which -extended, not only to himself, but to his whole little army and to the -cause of his country. - -The Frenchmen dug their potatoes, gathered the fruits of their gnarled -apple-trees, and slew the buffalo and bear around for meat. Winter -came on apace, and yet the new Governor had not arrived. - -Colonel Clark's headquarters at the house of Michel Aubrey, one of the -wealthiest fur traders of Kaskaskia, became a sort of capitol. In -front of it his soldiers constantly drilled with the newly enlisted -Frenchmen. All men came to Clark about their business; the piazzas and -gardens were seldom empty. In short, the American Colonel suddenly -found himself the father and adviser of everybody in the village. - - - - -IX - -_VINCENNES_ - - -"I will dispossess these Americans," said Governor Hamilton at -Detroit. "I will recover Vincennes. I will punish Kentucky. I will -subdue all Virginia west of the mountains." And on the seventh of -October, 1778, he left Detroit with eight hundred men,--regulars, -volunteers, and picked Indians. - -The French habitants of Vincennes were smoking their pipes in their -rude verandas, when afar they saw the gleam of red coats. Vincennes -sank without a blow and its people bowed again to the British king. - -"I will quarter here for the winter," said Governor Hamilton. Then he -sent an express to the Spanish Governor at St. Louis with the threat, -"If any asylum be granted the rebels in your territory, the Spanish -post will be attacked." - -In their scarlet tunics, emblem of Britain, to Chickasaw and Cherokee -his runners flew. At Mackinac the Lake Indians were to "wipe out the -rebels of Illinoi'." Far over to the Sioux went presents and messages, -even to the distant Assiniboine. Thousands of red-handled scalping -knives were placed in their hands. Emissaries watched Kaskaskia. -Picked warriors lingered around the Ohio to intercept any boats that -might venture down with supplies for the little Virginian army. - -New Year's dawned for 1779. Danger hovered over Clark at Kaskaskia. - -"Not for a whole year have I received a scrape of a pen," he wrote to -Patrick Henry. Too small was his force to stand a siege, too far away -to hope for relief. He called his Kentuckians from Cahokia, and day -and night toiled at the defences of Kaskaskia. How could they -withstand the onslaught of Hamilton and his artillery? - -But hark! There is a knocking at the gate, and Francis Vigo enters. -Closeted with Clark he unfolds his errand. - -"I am just from Vincennes. Listen! Hamilton has sent his Indian hordes -in every direction. They are guarding the Ohio, watching the -settlements, stirring up the most distant tribes to sweep the country. -But he has sent out so many that he is weak. At this moment there are -not more than eighty soldiers left in garrison, nor more than three -pieces of cannon and some swivels mounted." - -With inspiration born of genius and desperate courage Clark made his -resolve. "If I don't take Hamilton he'll take me; and, by Heaven! I'll -take Hamilton!" - -But it was midwinter on the bleak prairies of Illinois, where to this -day the unwary traveller may be frozen stark in the icy chill. Clark's -men were almost entirely without clothing, ammunition, provisions. Can -genius surmount destitution? Clark turned to Vigo. - -"I have not a blanket, an ounce of bread, nor a pound of powder. Can -you fit me out in the name of Virginia?" - -Francis Vigo, a Sardinian by birth but Republican at heart, answered, -"I can fit you out. Here is an order for money. Down yonder is a -swivel and a boatload of powder. I will bid the merchants supply -whatever you need. They can look to me for payment." - -In two days Clark's men were fitted out and ready. Clad in skins, they -stepped out like trappers. - -On the shore lay a new bateau. Vigo's swivel was rolled aboard, and -some of the guns of Kaskaskia. - -"Now, Captain John Rogers," said Colonel Clark to his cousin, "with -these forty-eight men and these cannon you go down the Mississippi, up -the Ohio, and enter the Wabash River. Station yourself a few miles -below Vincennes; suffer nothing to pass, and wait for me." - -On the 4th of February the little galley slid out with Rogers and his -men. - -"Now who will go with me?" inquired Clark, turning to his comrades. -"It will be a desperate service. I must call for volunteers." - -Stirred by the daring of the deed, one hundred and thirty young men -swore to follow him to the death. All the remaining inhabitants were -detailed to garrison Kaskaskia and Cahokia. The fickle weather-vanes -of old Kaskaskia veered and whirled, the winds blew hot and cold, then -came fair weather for the starting. - -It was February 5, 1779, when George Rogers Clark set out with his one -hundred and thirty men to cross the Illinois. Vigo pointed out the -fur-trader's trail to Vincennes and Detroit. Father Gibault blessed -them as they marched away. The Creole girls put flags in the hands of -their sweethearts, and begged them to stand by "le Colonel." - -"O Mother of God, sweet Virgin, preserve my beloved," prayed the Donna -de Leyba in the Government House at St. Louis. - -Over all the prairies the snows were melting, the rains were falling, -the rivers were flooding. - -Hamilton sat at Vincennes planning his murders. - -"Next year," he exulted, "there will be the greatest number of savages -on the frontier that has ever been known. The Six Nations have -received war belts from all their allies." - -But Clark and his men were coming in the rain. Eleven days after -leaving Kaskaskia they heard the morning guns of the fort. Deep and -deeper grew the creeks and sloughs as they neared the drowned lands of -the Wabash. Still they waded on, through water three feet deep; -sometimes they were swimming. Between the two Wabashes the water -spread, a solid sheet five miles from shore to shore. The men looked -out, amazed, as on a rolling sea. But Clark, ever ahead, cheering his -men, grasped a handful of gunpowder, and with a whoop, the well-known -peal of border war, blackened his face and dashed into the water. The -men's hearts leaped to meet his daring, and with "death or victory" -humming in their brains, they plunged in after. - -On and on they staggered, buffeting the icy water, stumbling in the -wake of their undaunted leader. Seated on the shoulders of a tall -Shenandoah sergeant, little Isham Floyd, the fourteen-year-old drummer -boy, beat a charge. Deep and deeper grew the tide; waist deep, breast -high, over their shoulders it played; and above, the leaden sky looked -down upon this unparalleled feat of human endeavour. Never had the -world seen such a march. - -Five days they passed in the water,--days of chill and whoops and -songs heroic to cheer their flagging strength. The wallets were empty -of corn, the men were fainting with famine, when lo! an Indian canoe -of squaws hove in sight going to Vincennes. They captured the canoe, -and--most welcome of all things in the world to those famished men--it -contained a quarter of buffalo and corn and kettles! On a little -island they built a fire; with their sharp knives prepared the meat, -and soon the pots were boiling. So exhausted were they that Clark -would not let them have a full meal at once, but gave cups of broth to -the weaker ones. - -On the sixteenth day Clark cheered his men. "Beyond us lies -Vincennes. Cross that plain and you shall see it." - -On February 22, Washington's birthday, fatigued and weary they slept -in a sugar camp. "Heard the evening and morning guns of the fort. No -provisions yet. Lord help us!" is the record of Bowman's journal. - -Still without food, the 23d saw them crossing the Horseshoe -Plain,--four miles of water breast high. Frozen, starved, they -struggled through, and on a little hill captured a Frenchman hunting -ducks. - -"No one dreams of your coming at this time of year," said the -duck-hunter. "There are six hundred people in Vincennes, troops, -Indians, and all. This very day Hamilton completed the walls of his -fort." - -Clark pressed his determined lips. "The situation is all that I can -ask. It is death or victory." And there in the mud, half frozen, -chilled to the marrow, starved, Clark penned on his knee a letter: - - "TO THE INHABITANTS OF POST VINCENNES: - - "GENTLEMEN,--Being now within two miles of your village - with my army, determined to take your fort this night, and - not being willing to surprise you, I take this method to - request such as are true citizens to remain still in your - houses. Those, if any there be, that are friends of the - King, will instantly repair to the fort, join the - hair-buyer general, and fight like men. If any such do not - go and are found afterwards, they may depend on severe - punishment. On the contrary, those who are the friends of - liberty may depend on being well treated, and I once more - request them to keep out of the streets. Every one I find - in arms on my arrival I shall treat as an enemy. - - GEORGE ROGERS CLARK." - -"Take this. Tell the people my quarrel is with the British. We shall -be in Vincennes by the rising of the moon. Prepare dinner." - -The messenger flew ahead; upon the captured horses of other -duck-hunters Clark mounted his officers. It was just at nightfall when -they entered the lower gate. - -"Silence those drunken Indians," roared Hamilton at the sound of -guns. But the Frenchmen themselves turned their rifles on the fort. - -Under the friendly light of the new moon Clark and his men threw up an -intrenchment, and from behind its shelter in fifteen minutes the -skilled volleys of the border rifle had silenced two of the cannon. - -"Surrender!" was Clark's stentorian summons at daylight. - -Hamilton, with the blood of many a borderer on his head,--what had he -to hope? Hot and hotter rained the bullets. - -"Give me three days to consider." - -"Not an hour!" was Clark's reply. - -"Let me fight with you?" said The Tobacco's son, the principal chief -on the Wabash. - -"No," answered Clark, "you sit back and watch us. Americans do not -hire Indians to fight their battles." - -Amazed, the Indians fell back and waited. - -The fort fell, and with it British dominion in the northwest -territory. Then the galley hove in sight and the flag waved above -Vincennes. - -"A convoy up de _rivičre_ on its way with goods, from le Detroit," -whispered a Frenchman. Directly Clark dispatched his boatmen to -capture the flotilla. - -"_Sur la feuille ron--don don don_," the _voyageurs_ were singing. - -Merrily rowing down the river came the British, when suddenly out from -a bend swung three boats. "Surrender!" - -Amid the wild huzzas of Vincennes the Americans returned, bringing the -captive convoy with fifty thousand dollars' worth of food, clothing, -and ammunition, and forty prisoners. - -With a heart full of thanksgiving Clark paid and clothed his men out -of that prize captured on the Wabash. - -"Let the British flag float a few days," he said. "I may entertain -some of the hair-buying General's friends." - -Very soon painted red men came striding in with bloody scalps dangling -at their belts. But as each one entered, red-handed from murder, -Clark's Long Knives shot him down before the face of the guilty -Hamilton. Fifty fell before he lowered the British flag. But from that -day the red men took a second thought before accepting rewards for the -scalps of white men. - -"Now what shall you do with me?" demanded Hamilton. - -"You? I shall dispatch you as a prisoner of war to Virginia." - - - - -X - -_THE CITY OF THE STRAIT_ - - -Clark was not an hour too soon. Indians were already on the march. - -"Hamilton is taken!" - -Wabasha, the Sioux, from the Falls of St. Anthony, heard, and stopped -at Prairie du Chien. - -"Hamilton is taken!" - -Matchekewis, the gray-haired chief of the Chippewas, coming down from -Sheboygan, heard the astounding word and fell back to St. Joseph's. - -The great Hamilton carried away by the rebels! The Indians were indeed -cowed. The capture of Hamilton completed Clark's influence. The great -Red-Coat sent away as a prisoner of war was an object-lesson the -Indians could not speedily forget. - -Out of Hamilton's captured mail, Clark discovered that the French in -the neighbourhood of Detroit were not well-affected toward the -British, and were ready to revolt whenever favourable opportunity -offered. - -"Very well, then, Detroit next!" - -But Clark had more prisoners than he knew what to do with. - -"Here," said he, to the captured Detroiters, "I am anxious to restore -you to your families. I know you are unwilling instruments in this -war, but your great King of France has allied himself with the -Americans. Go home, bear the good news, bid your friends welcome the -coming of their allies, the Americans. And tell Captain Lernoult I am -glad to hear that he is constructing new works at Detroit. It will -save us Americans some expense in building." - -The City of the Strait was lit with bonfires. - -"We have taken an oath not to fight the Virginians," said the paroled -Frenchmen. - -The people rejoiced when they heard of Hamilton's capture; they hated -his tyranny, and, certain of Clark's onward progress, prepared a -welcome reception for "_les Américains_." - -"See," said the mistress of a lodging house to Captain Lernoult. "See -what viands I haf prepared for le Colonel Clark." And the Captain -answered not a word. Baptiste Drouillard handed him a printed -proclamation of the French alliance. - -Everywhere Detroiters were drinking, "Success to the Thirteen United -States!" - -"Success to Congress and the American arms! I hope the Virginians will -soon be at Detroit!" - -"Now Colonel Butler and his scalping crew will meet their deserts. I -know the Colonel for a coward and I'll turn hangman for him!" - -"Don't buy a farm now. When the Virginians come you can get one for -nothing." - -"See how much leather I am tanning for the Virginians. When they come -I shall make a great deal of money." - -"Town and country kept three days in feasting and diversions," wrote -Clark to Jefferson, "and we are informed that the merchants and others -provided many necessaries for us on our arrival." But this the Colonel -did not learn until long after. - -Left alone in command, with only eighty men in the garrison, Lernoult -could do nothing. Bitterly he wrote to his commander-in-chief, "The -Canadians are rebels to a man. In building the fort they aid only on -compulsion." - -Even at Montreal the Frenchmen kept saying, "A French fleet will -certainly arrive and retake the country"; and Haldimand, Governor -General, was constantly refuting these rumours. - -"Now let me help you," again pleaded The Tobacco's son to Clark at -Vincennes. - -"I care not whether you side with me or not," answered the American -Colonel. "If you keep the peace, very well. If not you shall suffer -for your mischief." - -Such a chief! Awed, the Indians retired to their camps and became -spectators. To divert Clark, the British officers urged these Indians -to attack Vincennes. - -The Tobacco's son sent back reply, "If you want to fight the Bostons -at St. Vincent's you must cut your way through them, as we are Big -Knives, too!" Their fame spread to Superior and the distant Missouri. - -"In the vicinity of Chicago the rebels are purchasing horses to mount -their cavalry." - -"The Virginians are building boats to take Michilimackinac." - -"They are sending belts to the Chippewas and Ottawas." - -"The Virginians are at Milwaukee." - -So the rumours flew along the Lakes, terrifying every Briton into -strengthening his stronghold. And this, for the time, kept them well -at home. - -"Had I but three hundred I could take Detroit," said Clark. Every day -now came the word from the French of the city, "Come,--come to our -relief." - -"But Vincennes must be garrisoned. My men are too few." - -Then a messenger arrived with letters from Thomas Jefferson, now -Governor of Virginia, with "thanks from the Assembly for the heroic -service you have rendered," and the promise of troops. - -Now for the first time were the soldiery made aware of the gratitude -of their country. Tumultuous cheers rent the air. The Indians heard, -and thought it was news of another victory. - -"Let us march this day on Detroit," begged the soldiers, few as they -were. Half the population of Vincennes, and all the Indians, would -have followed. - -"Too many are ill," Clark said to himself. "Bowman is dying, the lands -are flooded, the rains are falling. An unsustained march might end in -disaster. For five hundred troops, I would bind myself a slave for -seven years!" - -To the soldiers he explained, "Montgomery is coming with men and -powder. Let us rendezvous here in June and make a dash at Detroit." - -Leaving a garrison in the fort, in answer to imperative call, Clark -set out with six boatloads of troops and prisoners for a flying trip -to Kaskaskia. - -But every step of the way, day and night, "Detroit must be taken, -Detroit must be taken," was the dream of the disturbed commander. "I -cannot rest. Nothing but the fall of Detroit will bring peace to our -frontiers. In case I am not disappointed, Detroit is already my own." - - - - -XI - -_A PRISONER OF WAR_ - - -"A prisoner of war? No, indeed, he is a felon, a murderer!" exclaimed -the Virginians, as weary, wet, and hungry the late Governor of Detroit -sat on his horse in the rain at the door of the governor's palace at -Williamsburg, where Jefferson now resided. The mob gathered to -execrate the "hair-buyer general" and escort him to jail. - -There were twenty-seven prisoners, altogether, brought by a band of -borderers, most of the way on foot. - -Every step of the long journey Captain John Rogers and his men had -guarded the "hair-buyer general" from the imprecations of an outraged -people. - -It was the first news of Vincennes, as the startled cry ran,-- - -"Governor Hamilton, charged with having incited Indians to scalp, -torture, and burn, is at the door,--Hamilton, who gave standing -rewards for scalps but none for prisoners; and Dejean, Chief Justice -of Detroit, the merciless keeper of its jails, a terror to captives -with threats of giving them over to savages to be burnt alive; -Lamothe, a captain of volunteer scalping parties; Major Hay, one of -Hamilton's chief officers, and others." - -"Load them with heavy fetters and immure them in a dungeon," said -Governor Jefferson. "Too many of our boys are rotting in British -prison ships." This from Jefferson, so long the humane friend of -Burgoyne's surrendered troops now quartered at Charlottesville! - -The British commanders blustered and protested, but Jefferson firmly -replied, "I avow my purpose to repay cruelty, hangings, and close -confinement. It is my duty to treat Hamilton and his officers with -severity. Iron will be retaliated with iron, prison ships by prison -ships, and like by like in general." - -Washington advised a mitigation of the extreme severity, but -Jefferson's course had its effect. The British were more merciful -thereafter. - -And with the coming of Hamilton came all the wonderful story of the -capture of Vincennes. And who can tell it? Who has told it? Historians -hesitate. Romancers shrink from the task. Not one has surpassed George -Rogers Clark's own letters, which read like fragments of the gospel of -liberty. - -Before the home fire at Caroline, John Rogers told the tale. A hush -fell. The mother softly wept as she thought of her scattered boys, one -in the west, two with Washington tracking the snows of Valley Forge, -one immured in a prison ship where patriot martyrs groaned their lives -away. - -Little William heard the tale, and his young heart swelled with -emotion. John Clark listened, then spoke but one sentence. - -"If I had as many more sons I would give them all to my country." - -All the way from Kentucky Daniel Boone was sent to the Virginia -legislature. He said to Jefferson: "I doubt these charges against -Governor Hamilton. Last Spring I was captured by the Shawnees and -dragged to Detroit. Governor Hamilton took pity on me and offered the -Indians one hundred dollars for my release. They refused to take it. -But he gave me a horse, and on that horse I eventually made my -escape." - -"Did that prevent Governor Hamilton from sending an armed force of -British and Indians to besiege Boonsboro?" inquired Jefferson. - -Boone had to admit that it did not. But for that timely escape and -warning Boonsboro would have fallen. - -But Boone in gratitude went to the dungeon and offered what -consolation he could to the imprisoned Governor. - -The fact is, that Daniel Boone carried ever on his breast, wrapped in -a piece of buckskin, that old commission of Lord Dunmore's. It saved -him from the Indians; it won Hamilton. - - - - -XII - -_TWO WARS AT ONCE_ - - -The sunbeams glistened on the naked skin of an Indian runner, as, hair -flying in the wind, from miles away he came panting to Clark at -Kaskaskia. - -"There is to be an attack on San Loui'. Wabasha, the Sioux, and -Matchekewis--" - -"How do you know?" - -"I hear at Michilimackinac,--Winnebagoe, Sauk, Fox, Menomonie." - -Clark laughed and gave the messenger a drink of taffia. But the moment -the painted savage slid away the Colonel prepared to inform his -friends at St. Louis. - -"Pouf!" laughed the careless commandant, drinking his wine at the -Government House. "Why need we fear? Are not our relation wit de -Indian friendly? Never haf been attack on San Luis, never will be. Be -seat, haf wine, tak' wine, Seńor le Colonel." - -"Pouf!" echoed the guests at the Governor's table. "Some trader angry -because he lose de peltry stole in de Spanish country. It never go -beyond threat." - -An attack? The very idea seemed to amuse the Governor in his cups. But -Father Gibault looked grave. "I, too, have heard such a rumour." - -"It may be only a belated report of Hamilton's scheming," replied -Clark. "Now he is boxed up it may blow over. But in case the English -attempt to seize the west bank of this river I pledge you all the -assistance in my power." - -"T'anks, t'anks, my good friend, I'll not forget. In de middle of de -night you get my summon." - -But, unknown to them, that very May, Spain declared war against Great -Britain. And Great Britain coveted the Mississippi. - -Madame Marie and the charming Donna had been listeners. Colonel Clark -handed the maiden a bouquet of wild roses as he came in, but spoke not -a word. All the year had she been busy, embroidering finery for "le -Colonel." Such trifles were too dainty for the soldier's life--but he -wore them next his heart. - -While the dinner party overwhelmed the victor with congratulations and -drank to his health, Clark saw only the Donna, child of the convent, -an exotic, strangely out of place in this wild frontier. - -"I am a soldier," he whispered, "and cannot tarry. My men are at the -boats, but I shall _watch_ St. Louis." - -Her eyes followed him, going away so soon, with Father Gibault and De -Leyba down to the river. As he looked back a handkerchief fluttered -from an upper window, and he threw her a kiss. - -"I am not clear but the Spaniards would suffer their settlements to -fall with ours for the sake of having the opportunity of retaking them -both," muttered Clark as he crossed the river, suspicious of De -Leyba's inaction. - -At Kaskaskia forty recruits under Captain Robert George had arrived -by way of New Orleans. Then Montgomery, with another forty, came down -the Ohio. - -They must be fed and clothed directly. In the midst of these -perplexities appeared John Todd, the new Governor. - -"Ah, my friend," Clark grasped his hand. "Now I see myself happily rid -of a piece of trouble I take no delight in. I turn the civil -government over to you. But our greatest trouble is the lack of -money." - -"Money? Why, here are continental bills in abundance." - -"Worth two cents on the dollar. 'Dose British traders,' say the -habitants, 'dey will not take five huntert to one. Dey will have -nought but skins.' This has brought our Virginia paper into disrepute. -They will not even take a coin unless it is stamped with the head of a -king." - -"What have you done?" - -"Done? Purchased supplies on my own credit. Several merchants of this -country have advanced considerable sums and I have given them drafts -on our Virginian agent in New Orleans. They come back, protested for -want of funds. Francis Vigo has already loaned me ten thousand dollars -in silver piastres." - -"But Virginia will pay it,--she is bound to pay it. The service must -not suffer." Thus reassured that his course had been right, Colonel -Clark continued: - -"Four posts must be garrisoned to hold this country,--Kaskaskia, -Cahokia, Vincennes, and the Falls of the Ohio,--not one has sufficient -defence. Colonel Montgomery's force is not half what I expected. But -if I am not deceived in the Kentuckians I shall yet be able to -complete my designs on Detroit. I only want sufficient men to make me -appear respectable in passing among the savages." - -The cautious French settlers were a trial to Clark. Father Gibault -tried to persuade them, parting with his own tithes and horses to set -an example to his parishioners to make equal sacrifices to the -American cause. Altogether, Father Gibault advanced seven thousand -eight hundred livres, French money, equal to fifteen hundred and sixty -dollars,--his little all. - -Governor Todd said, "If the people will not spare willingly, you must -press it." - -"I cannot press it," answered Clark. "We must keep the inhabitants -attached to us by every means in our power. Rather will I sign notes -right and left on my own responsibility to procure absolute -necessities to hold Illinois, trusting to Virginia to make it right." - -Then after a thoughtful pause,--"I cannot think of the consequences of -losing possession of the country without resolving to risk every point -rather than suffer it." - -The bad crops of 1779 and the severity of the winter of 1780 made -distress in Illinois. Nevertheless the cheerful habitants sold their -harvests to Clark and received in payment his paper on New Orleans. - -"You encourage me to attempt Detroit," Clark wrote to Jefferson. "It -has been twice in my power. When I first arrived in this country, or -when I was at Vincennes, could I have secured my prisoners and had -only three hundred men, I should have attempted it, and I since learn -there could have been no doubt of my success. But they are now -completing a new fort, too strong I fear for any force that I shall -ever be able to raise in this country." - -Then he hurried back to Vincennes. Thirty only were there of the three -hundred expected. An Indian army camped ready to march at his call. - -"Never depend upon Injuns," remarked Simon Kenton, reappearing after -an absence of weeks. - -"Kenton? Well, where have you been? You look battered." - -"Battered I am, but better, the scars are almost gone. Captured by -Shawnees, made to run the gauntlet twice, then dragged to St. Dusky to -be burnt at the stake." - -"How did you escape?" - -"One of your Detroit Frenchmen, Pierre Drouillard, late interpreter -for your captured Hamilton, told them the officers at Detroit wanted -to question me about the Big Knife. Ha! Ha! It took a long powwow and -plenty of wampum, and the promise to bring me back." - -"Did he intend to do it?" - -"Lord, no! as soon as we were out of sight he told me, 'Never will I -abandon you to those inhuman wretches,' A trader's wife enabled me to -escape from Detroit." - -"Do you think I can take Detroit?" - -"Take it, man? As easy as you took Vincennes. Only the day of surprise -is past. A cloud of red Injuns watch the approaches. You must have -troops." - -Troops! Troops! None came. None could come. What had happened? - -Taking with him one of Hamilton's light brass cannon to fortify the -Falls of the Ohio, Clark discovered that at the very time of his -capture, Hamilton had appointed a great council of Indians to meet at -the mouth of the Tennessee. - -"The Cherokees have risen on the Tennessee settlements, and the -regiments intended for you have turned south." - -The sword and belt of Hamilton had done their work. America was -fighting two wars at once. - - - - -XIII - -_THE KEY OF THE COUNTRY_ - - -"The Falls is the Key of the Country. It shall be my depot of -supplies. Here will I build a fort. A great city will one day arise on -this spot." And in honour of the King who had helped America, Clark -named it Louisville. - -Axes, hammers, and saws made music while Clark's busy brain was -planning parks and squares to make his city the handsomest in America. -But, ever disturbing this recreation, "Detroit" was in his soul. -"Public interest requires that I reside here until provision can be -made for the coming campaign." - -"Since Clark's feat the world is running mad for Kentucky," said the -neighbours in Caroline. Through all that Autumn, emigrants were -hurrying down to take advantage of the new land laws of Virginia. - -"A fleet of flatboats!" shouted the workmen at the Falls. Down with -others from Pittsburg, when the autumn rains raised the river, came -Clark's old comrade, John Floyd, and his brothers and his bride, Jane -Buchanan. One of those brothers was Isham Floyd, the boy drummer of -Vincennes. - -"I, too, shall build a fort," said John Floyd to his friends, "here on -Bear Grass Creek, close to Louisville." - -Still emigrants were on their way, when a most terrific winter set in. -Stock was frozen, wild beasts and game died. The forests lay deep with -snow, and rivers were solid with ice. - -The cabins of Louisville were crowded, the fort was filled with -emigrants. Food gave out, corn went up to one hundred and fifty -dollars a bushel in depreciated continental currency. Even a cap of -native fur cost five hundred dollars. - -The patient people shivered under their buffalo, bear, and elk-skin -bedquilts, penned in the little huts, living on boiled buffalo beef -and venison hams, with fried bear or a slice of turkey breast for -bread, and dancing on Christmas night with pineknot torches bracketed -on the walls. - -"Did you not say the conquerors of Vincennes waded through the drowned -lands in February?" asked a fair one of her partner at the dance. - -"Yes, but that was an open winter. This, thank God, is cold enough to -deter our enemies from attempting to recover what they have lost." - -"But Colonel Clark said the weather was warm?" - -"Warm, did you say? Who knows what Clark would have called warm -weather in February? The water up to their armpits could not have been -warm at that time of year." - -The spring waters broke; a thousand emigrants went down the Ohio to -Louisville. And carcasses of bear, elk, deer, and lesser game floated -out of the frozen forests. - -During the June rise more than three hundred flatboats arrived at the -Falls loaded with wagons; for months long trains were departing from -Louisville with these people bound for the interior. Floyd's fort on -the Bear Grass became a rendezvous; the little harbour an anchorage -for watercraft. - -"We must establish a claim to the Mississippi," wrote Jefferson to -Clark. "Go down to the mouth of the Ohio and build a fort on Chickasaw -Bluff. It will give us a claim to the river." - -While Clark was preparing, an express arrived from Kaskaskia,-- - -"We are threatened with invasion. Fly to our relief." - -Without money save land warrants, without clothing save skins, -depending on their rifles for food, Clark's little flotilla with two -hundred men set down the Ohio, on the very flood that was bringing the -emigrants, to clinch the hold on Illinois. - -"I have now two thousand warriors on the Lakes. The Wabash Indians -have promised to amuse Mr. Clark at the Falls." De Peyster, the new -commandant at Detroit, was writing to General Haldimand at Quebec. -Even as Clark left, a few daring savages came up and fired on the fort -at Louisville. - -"She is strong enough now to defend herself," said Clark as he pulled -away. - -Colonel Bird, working hard at Detroit, started his Pottawattamies. -They went but a little way. - -"Ugh! Ugh! Ugh! Long Knives coming!" Pell-mell, back they fell, to be -fitted out all over again. - -"These unsteady rogues put me out of all patience!" exclaimed the -angry Colonel Bird. "They are always cooking or counciling. Indians -are most happy when most frequently fitted out." - -"Such is the dependence on Indians without troops to lead them," -sagely remarked De Peyster. "But without them we could not hold the -country." - -"It is distressing," wrote Governor Haldimand, "to reflect that -notwithstanding the vast treasure lavished upon these people, no -dependence can be had on them." - -"Amazing sum!" he exclaimed when the bills came in. "I observe with -great concern the astonishing consumption of rum at Detroit. This -expense cannot be borne." - -However, the Pottawattamies sharpened their hatchets and, newly -outfitted, set out for the rapids of the Ohio. - -"Bring them in alive if possible," was the parting admonition of De -Peyster, warned by the obloquy of Hamilton. Vain remonstrance with -four hundred and seventy-six dozen scalping knives at Bird's command! - -From every unwary emigrant along the Ohio, daily the Delawares and -Shawnees brought their offerings of scalps to Detroit, and throwing -them down at the feet of the commander said, "Father, we have done as -you directed us; we have struck your enemies." - -The bounty was paid; the scalps were counted and flung into a cellar -under the Council House. - -And De Peyster, really a good fellow, like André, a _bon vivant_ and -lover of books and music, went on with his cards, balls, and -assemblies, little feeling the iron that goes to the making of -nations. - -"Kentuckians very bad people! Ought to be scalped as fast as taken," -said the Indians. - - - - -XIV - -_BEHIND THE CURTAIN_ - - -"We must dislodge this American general from his new conquest," said -the British officers, "or tribe after tribe will be gained over and -subdued. Thus will be destroyed the only barrier which protects the -great trading establishments of the Northwest and Hudson's Bay. -Nothing could then prevent the Americans from gaining the source of -the Mississippi, gradually extending themselves by the Red River to -Lake Winnipeg, from whence the descent of Nelson's River to York Fort -would in time be easy." - -Another strong factor in this decision was the dissatisfaction of the -British traders with the new movement that was deflecting the fur -trade down the Mississippi. The French families of Cahokia and -Kaskaskia sent their furs down to New Orleans, greatly to the -displeasure of their late English rulers, who wanted them to go to -Canada, by the St. Louis trail to Detroit. - -"Why should it not continue over the old Detroit trail to Montreal?" -they questioned. "Is our fur trade to be cut off by these beggarly -rebels and Spaniards? It belongs to Canada, Canada shall have it!" So -all North America was fought over for the fur trade. - -"I will use my utmost endeavours to send as many Indians as I can to -attack the Spanish settlements, early in February," said Pat Sinclair, -the British commander at Michilimackinac. - -"I have taken steps to engage the Sioux under their own Chief, -Wabasha, a man of uncommon abilities. Wabasha is allowed to be a very -extraordinary Indian and well attached to His Majesty's interest." - -And Wabasha, king of the buffalo plains above the Falls of St. -Anthony, _was_ an extraordinary Indian. In old days he fought for -Pontiac, but after De Peyster brought the Sioux, the proudest of the -tribes, to espouse the English cause, every year Wabasha made a visit -to his British father at Michilimackinac. - -On such a visit as this he came from Prairie du Chien after hearing -that Hamilton was taken, and was received with songs and cannonading: - - "Hail to great Wabashaw! - Cannonier--fire away, - Hoist the fort-standard, and beat all the drums; - Ottawa and Chippewa, - Whoop! for great Wabashaw! - He comes--beat drums--the Sioux chief comes. - - "Hail to great Wabashaw! - Soldiers your triggers draw, - Guard,--wave the colours, and give him the drum! - Choctaw and Chickasaw, - Whoop for great Wabashaw! - Raise the port-cullis!--the King's friend is come." - -By such demonstrations and enormous gifts, the Indians were held to -the British standard. - -It was Wabasha and his brothers, Red Wing and Little Crow, who in 1767 -gave a deed to Jonathan Carver of all the land around St. Anthony's -Falls, on which now stand the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, but -no government confirmation of the deed has ever been discovered. - -"The reduction of St. Louis will be an easy matter, and of the rebels -at Kaskaskia also," continued Sinclair. "All the traders who will -secure the posts on the Spanish side of the Mississippi have my -promise for the exclusive trade of the Missouri." - -The Northwest red men were gathering,--Menomonies, Sacs, Foxes, -Winnebagoes,--at the portage of the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers, -collecting all the corn and canoes in the country, to set out on the -tenth of March. Again Sinclair writes, "Seven hundred and fifty men -set out down the Mississippi the second of May." - -Another party assembled at Chicago to come by the Illinois,--Indians, -British, and traders. - -"Captain Hesse will remain at St. Louis," continued Governor Sinclair. -"Wabasha will attack Ste. Genevieve and the rebels at Kaskaskia. Two -vessels leave here on the second of June to attend Matchekewis, who -will return by the Illinois River with prisoners." - -Very well De Peyster knew Matchekewis, the puissant chief who - - "At foot-ball sport - With arms concealed, surprised the fort," - -at Michilimackinac in Pontiac's war. It was Matchekewis himself who -kicked the ball over the pickets, and rushing in with his band fell on -the unprepared ranks of the British garrison. On the reoccupation of -Mackinac, Matchekewis had been sent to Quebec and imprisoned, but, -released and dismissed with honours and a buffalo barbecue, now he was -leading his Chippewas for the King. - -All this was part of a wider scheme, devised in London, for the -subjugation of the Mississippi. - - - - -XV - -_THE ATTACK ON ST. LOUIS_ - - -Scarce had Clark time to set his men to work on Fort Jefferson, on the -Chickasaw Bluffs overlooking the Mississippi, before he received two -other expresses, one from Montgomery, one from the Spanish Governor -himself,--"Haste, haste to our relief." - -Not wishing to alarm his men, Clark picked out a strong escort,--"I -shall be gone a few days. Finish the fort. Keep a constant guard." - -They thought he had gone to Kentucky. - -All through the year 1779 the Frenchmen remembered Clark's warning. At -last, so great became the general apprehension, that the people -themselves, directed by Madame Rigauche, the school-mistress, erected -a sort of defence of logs and earth, five or six feet high, and posted -a cannon in each of the three gates. - -"Pouf! Pouf!" laughed the Governor. But he did not interfere. - -But so many days elapsed, so little sign of change appeared in the -accustomed order of things, that the reassured Frenchmen went on as -usual digging in their fields, racing their horses, and clicking their -billiard balls. Night after night they played their fiddles and danced -till dawn on their footworn puncheon floors. - -And all the while the Lake Indians of the North were planning and -counselling. All through the Spring they were gathering at rendezvous, -paddling down Lake Michigan's shore into the Chicago River, and then -by portage into the Illinois, where they set up the cry, "On to St. -Louis!" - -So long had been the fear allayed, so much the rumour discredited, -that when old man Quenelle came back across the river, white with -excitement, the people listened to his tale as of one deranged. - -"What? Do you ask? What?" His teeth chattered. "Ducharme, Ducharme the -absconder, meet me across te river an' say--'Te Injun comin'!' Fifteen -huntert down te river of te Illinois!" - -Terrified was the old man. Hearers gathered round plying him with -questions. The incredulous laughed at his incoherence. "What? What?" -he gasped. "You laugh?" Some believed him. Dismay began to creep over -the more timid ones. - -"What is it?" inquired the burly Governor De Leyba, bustling up. -"What? That same old yarn to frighten the people? Quenelle is an old -dotard. Take him to prison." Thus reassured, again the people went on -with work, games, festivity. - -But now the people of Cahokia became excited. Early in March Colonel -Gratiot sent a boatload of goods for trade to Prairie du Chien. It was -captured by Indians on the Mississippi. Breathless half-breed runners -reported the apparition upon the waters,--"All te waves black with -canoes. A great many sauvages." - -"Clark," was the spoken and unspoken thought of all. "Clark, the -invincible, where is he?" - -Some said, "He is camped with his Long Knives in the American Bottom." - -"No, he is building a fort at the Chickasaw Bluffs." - -Hurriedly the villagers prepared an express for Clark. Charles Gratiot -was sent, the brainiest man in Cahokia, one who could speak English, -and, moreover, a great friend of Clark. - -On the swiftest canoe Charles Gratiot launched amid the prayers of -Cahokia. Down he swept on the Mississippi with the precious papers -calling for succour. Safely he passed a thousand snags, safely reached -the bluffs of Chickasaw, and saw the fort. Toiling up he gave his -message. - -"Colonel Clark? He is gone. We think he left for Louisville." Without -delay a messenger was dispatched to follow his supposed direction. - -Meanwhile, Clark and his soldiers, joining Montgomery by land, had -hurried to Cahokia. Immediately he crossed to St. Louis. It was the -feast of Corpus Christi, May 25. Service in the little log chapel was -over. - -"Come," said the people in holiday attire, "Let us gather strawberries -on the flowery mead." - -From their covert, peeped the Indians. "To-morrow!" they said, -"to-morrow!" - -Out of the picnic throng, with lap full of flowers, the beautiful -Donna ran to greet her lover. - -"So long"--she drew a sigh--"I haf watched and waited!" Love had -taught her English. Never had the Donna appeared so fair, with shining -eyes and black hair waving on her snowy shoulders. - -With tumultuous heart Colonel Clark bent and kissed her. "Vengeance I -swear on any Indian that shall ever mar this lovely head!" Then -crushing her hand with the grip of a giant,--"Wait a little, my dear, -I must see your brother the Governor." - -Outside the maiden waited while Clark entered the Government House. - -At last Don Francisco De Leyba was come to his senses: "I fear, but I -conceal from de people. I sent for Lieutenant Cartabona from de Ste. -Genevieve. He haf arrived with twenty-five soldier. Will you not -command of both side de river? I need you. You promised." - -De Leyba wore a long scarf of crape for his lately deceased wife. -Clark had never seen him look so ill; he was worn out and trembling. -The ruffle at his wrist shook like that of a man with palsy. - -Clark took the nervous hand in his own firm grasp. - -"Certainly, my friend, I will do everything in my power. What are your -defences?" - -"We haf a stockade, you note it? De cannon at gates? I assure de -people no danger, de rumour false; I fear dey scarce will believe -now." Together they went out to review Cartabona's soldiers and the -works of defence. - -"Le Colonel Clark! Le Colonel Clark!" the people cheered as he passed. -"Now we are safe!" - -De Leyba had sent out a hunter to shoot ducks for the Colonel's -dinner. And while the Governor and Clark were in discussion, the -hunter met a spy. - -"Who commands at Cahokia?" inquired the stranger. - -"Colonel Clark; he has arrived with a great force." - -"Colonel Clark! Oh, no," answered the spy in amazement, "that cannot -be! Clark is in Kentucky. We have just killed an express with -dispatches to him there." - -"I don't know about that," answered the hunter, in his turn surprised. -"Colonel Clark is at this moment in St. Louis, and I have been sent to -kill some ducks for his dinner." - -The stranger disappeared. - -Clark was in St. Louis about two hours. "Cartabona is here. I shall be -ready to answer his slightest signal. Be sure I shall answer." He -turned to go. - -"Going? No, no, Seńor Colonel, I cannot permit--" The hands of -Governor De Leyba shook still more. "I expect you to dine,--haf sent a -hunter for ducks." - -But when did George Rogers Clark ever stop to eat when there was -fighting on hand? Hastily recrossing the river, he put Cahokia into -immediate defence. - -The next day dawned clear and bright, but the people, wearied with -all-night dancing, slumbered late. Grandfather Jean Marie Cardinal had -not danced. He was uncommonly industrious that morning. Hastening away -in the dewy dawn, he went to planting corn in his slightly plowed -fields. Gradually others strolled out on the Grand Prairie. It was -high noon when an Indian down by the spring caught the eye of -Grandfather Jean Marie Cardinal. - -"He must not give the alarm," thought the savage, so on the instant he -slew and scalped him where he stood. - -Then all was tumult. The people in the village heard the sound of -firearms. Lieutenant Cartabona and his garrison fired a gunshot from -the tower to warn the scattered villagers in the fields. Erelong they -came stumbling into the north gate half dead with fright and -exhaustion. - -"The Chippewas! The Chippewas!" - -They had crossed the river and murdered the family of François -Bellhome. - -"_Sacre Dieu! le Sauvage! la Tour! la Tour!_" cried the frantic -habitants, but the tower was occupied by Cartabona and his coward -soldiers. - -Every man rushed to the Place des Armes, powder-horn and bullet-pouch -in hand. - -"To arms! To arms!" was the terrified cry. - -"Where is the garrison? Where is the Governor?" - -But they came not forth. Cartabona and his men continued to garrison -the tower. The Governor cowered in the Government House with doors -shut and barricaded. Women and children hid in the houses, telling -their beads. - -It was about noon when the quick ear of Clark, over in Cahokia, heard -the cannonading and small arms in St. Louis. He sent an express. - -"Here, Murray and Jaynes, go over the river and inquire the cause." - -Slipping through the cottonwood trees, the express met an old negro -woman on a keen run for Cahokia. She screamed, "Run, Boston, run! A -great many salvages!" - -All together ran back, just in time to meet Colonel Clark marching out -of the east gate. In the thick woods of Cahokia Creek he caught a view -of the foe. "Boom!" rang his brass six-pounder,--tree-tops and Indians -fell together. - -Amazed at this rear fire the Indians turned in confusion. One -terrified look,--"It is the Long Knife! We have been deceived. We will -not fight the Long Knife!" With one wild whoop they scurried to their -boats. The handful of traders, deserted, raised the siege and retired. - -It was the period of the spring rise of the powerful and turbulent -Mississippi, which, undermining its shores, dumped cottonwood trees -into the river. - -"The whole British army is coming on rafts!" In terror seeing the -supposed foe advancing, Cartabona's soldiers began firing at the -white-glancing trees on the midnight waters. On, on came the ghostly -flotilla. - -"Cease firing!" demanded De Leyba emerging from his retreat. - -"De cowardly, skulking old Goffner! hide heself! abandon de people!" -In wrath they tore toward him, sticks and stones flying. The Governor -fled, and the daft Spaniards, watching the river, spiked the cannon, -preparing to fly the moment the British landed. - -Cahokia trembled all night long. There were noises and howls of -wolves, but no Indians. Clark himself in the darkness made the rounds -of his sentinels. Even through the shadows they guessed who walked at -night. - -"Pass, grand round, keep clear of my arms and all's well," was the -successive cry from post to post in the picket gardens of old Cahokia. - -With the first pale streak of dawn the sleepless habitants looked out. -All was still. The Indians were gone, but over at St. Louis seven men -were found dead, scalped by the retreating foe. Many more were being -carried off prisoners, but Clark's pursuing party rescued thirty. - -The prisoners, dragged away to the north by their captors, suffered -hardships until restored at the end of the war, in 1783. - -When Clark heard of the incompetence of De Leyba he was furious. On -his way to the Government House, he saw the lovely Donna at her -casement. Her hair was dishevelled, her eyes wet with tears. She -extended her hand. Clark took one step toward her, and then pride -triumphed. - -"Never will I become the father of a race of cowards," and turning on -his heel he left St. Louis forever. - -In one month De Leyba was dead, some said by his own hand. He knew -that Auguste Chouteau had gone to complain of him at New Orleans,--the -people believed he had been bribed by Great Britain; he knew that only -disgrace awaited him, and he succumbed to his many disasters and the -universal obloquy in which he was held. He was buried in the little -log chapel, beneath the altar, by the side of his wife, where his tomb -is pointed out to this day. - -And the beautiful Donna De Leyba? She waited and wept but Clark came -not. Then, taking with her the two little orphan nieces, Rita and -Perdita, she went down to New Orleans. Here for a time she lingered -among friends, and at last, giving up all hope, retired to the -Ursuline convent and became a nun. - -Presently Auguste Chouteau returned from New Orleans with the new -Governor, Don Francisco de Cruzat, who pacified fears and fortified -the town with half-a-dozen circular stone turrets, twenty feet high, -connected by a stout stockade of cedar posts pierced with loopholes -for artillery. On the river bank a stone tower called the Half Moon, -and west of it a square log tower called the Bastion, still stood -within the memory of living men. - -"Next year a thousand Sioux will be in the field under Wabasha," wrote -Sinclair to Haldimand, his chief in Canada. - -But the Sioux had no more desire to go back to "the high walled house -of thunder," where the cannon sounded not "Hail to great Wabashaw!" - -Their own losses were considerable, for Clark ordered an immediate -pursuit. Some of the Spaniards, grateful for the succour of the -Americans, crossed the river and joined Montgomery's troops in his -chase after the retreating red men. - -"The Americans are coming," was the scare-word at Prairie du Chien. -"Better get up your furs." - -With Wabasha's help the traders hastily bundled three hundred packs of -their best furs into canoes, and setting fire to the remaining sixty -packs, burned them, together with the fort, while they hurried away to -Michilimackinac. Matchekewis went by the Lakes. "Two hundred Illinois -cavalry arrived at Chicago five days after the vessels left," is the -record of the Haldimand papers. - -The watchfulness and energy of Clark alone saved Illinois; -nevertheless, De Peyster felt satisfied, for he thought that diversion -kept Clark from Detroit. - -After the terror was all over, long in the annals of the fireside, the -French of St. Louis related the feats of "_l'année du coup_." - -"Auguste Chouteau, he led te defence, he and he brother." - -"No, Madame Rigauche, te school-meestress, she herself touch te -cannon." - -"Well, at any rate, we hid in te Chouteau garden, behind te stone -wall." - - - - -XVI - -_OLD CHILLICOTHE_ - - -With a wrench at his hot heart stifled only by wrath and -determination, Clark strode from St. Louis. At Cahokia French -deserters were talking to Montgomery. - -"A tousand British and Indians on te march to Kentucky with cannon." - -"When did they start?" thundered Clark. The Frenchman dodged as if -shot. - -"Dey start same time dis. Colonel Bird to keep Clark busy in Kentucky -so Sinclair get San Loui' an' brak up te fur trade." - -For once in his life Clark showed alarm. "I know the situation of that -country. I shall attempt to get there before Bird does." - -Drawing Montgomery aside, he said, "And you, Colonel, chase these -retreating Indians. Chase them to Michilimackinac if possible. Destroy -their towns and crops, distress them, convince them that we will -retaliate and thus deter them from joining the British again." - -Without pausing to breathe after the fatigue of the last few days, -with a small escort Clark launched a boat and went flying down to -Chickasaw Bluffs. Disguised as Indians, feathered and painted, he and -a few others left Fort Jefferson. - -Clark's army the year before had carried glowing news of Illinois. -Already emigration had set in. On the way now he met forty families -actually starving because they could not kill buffaloes. - -A gun?--it was a part of Clark. He used his rifle-barrelled firelock -as he used his hands, his feet, his eyes, instantly, surely, -involuntarily. He showed them how to strike the buffalo in a vital -part, killed fourteen, and hurried on, thirty miles a day, fording -stream and swamp and tangled forest to save Kentucky. - -Kentucky was watching for her deliverer. Into his ear was poured the -startling tale. With Simon Girty, the renegade, and six hundred -Indians, down the high waters of the Miami and up the Licking, Bird -came to Ruddle's station and fired his cannon. Down went the wooden -palisades like a toy blockhouse before his six-pounders. - -"Surrender!" came the summons from Colonel Bird. - -"Yes, if we can be prisoners to the British and not to the Indians." - -Bird assented. The gates were thrown open. Indians flew like dogs upon -the helpless people. - -"You promised security," cried Captain Ruddle. - -"I cannot stop them," said Bird. "I, too, am in their power." - -Madly the Indians sacked the station and killed the cattle. Loading -the household goods upon the backs of the unfortunate owners, they -drove them forth and gave their cabins to the flames. - -The same scenes were enacted at Martin's Station. The Indians were -wild for more. But Bird would not permit further devastation. He could -easily have taken every fort in Kentucky, not one could have withstood -his artillery; but to his honour be it said, he led his forces out. - -Loaded with plunder, the wretched captives, four hundred and fifty -men, women, and children, were driven away to Detroit. Whoever -faltered was tomahawked. - -Clark immediately called on the militia of Kentucky. Hastening to -Harrodsburg he found the newcomers wild over land entries. - -"Land!" they cried, "you can have all you can hold against the -Indians." - -It was a grewsome joke. The Indians would not even let them survey. -Like a military dictator, Clark closed the land office,--"Nor will it -be opened again until after this expedition." - -Immediately a thousand men enlisted. Logan, Linn, Floyd, Harrod, all -followed the banner of Clark. Boone and Kenton set on ahead as guides, -into the land they knew so well. - -"Is it not dangerous to invade the Shawnee country?" inquired one. - -"I was not born in the woods to be scared by an owl," was Clark's -sententious reply. - -All the provisions they had for twenty-five days was six quarts of -parched corn each, except what they got in the Indian country. - -Canoeing down the Licking, on the first day of August they crossed the -Ohio. Scarce touching shore they heard the scalp halloo. Some fell. -Within fifteen minutes Clark had his axes in the forest building a -blockhouse for his wounded. On that spot now stands Cincinnati. - -On pressed Clark in his retaliatory dash,--before the Shawnees even -suspected, the Kentuckians were at Old Chillicothe. They flew to arms, -but the Long Knives swooped down with such fury that Simon Girty drew -off. - -"It is folly to fight such madmen." - -Chillicothe went down in flames; Piqua followed; fields, gardens, more -than five hundred acres of corn were razed to the level of the sod. - -Piqua was Tecumseh's village; again he learned to dread and hate the -white man. - -"That will keep them at home hunting for a while," remarked Clark, -turning back to the future Cincinnati. - - - - -XVII - -_"DETROIT MUST BE TAKEN"_ - - -Again George Rogers Clark sped through Cumberland Gap, fair as a -Tyrolean vale, to Virginia. And dashing along the same highway, down -the valley of Virginia, came the minute men of the border, in green -hunting shirts, hard-riders and sharp-shooters of Fincastle. - -"Hey and away, and what news?" - -The restless mountaineers of the Appalachians, almost as fierce and -warlike as the Goths and Vandals of an earlier day, answered: - -"We have broken the back of Tarleton's army at King's Mountain, -Cornwallis is facing this way, and cruisers are coming up into the -Chesapeake." - -"Marse Gawge! Marse Gawge!" - -This time it was little York, the negro, who, peeping from the slave -quarters of old York and Rose, detected the stride of George Rogers -Clark out under the mulberry trees. - -The long, low, Virginia farmhouse was wrapped in slumber, an almost -funeral pall hung over the darkened porch, as John Clark stepped out -to grasp the hand of his son. - -"Three of my boys in British prisons, we looked for nothing less for -you, George. William alone is left." - -"Girls do not count, I suppose," laughed the saucy Lucy, peeping out -in her night-curls with a candle in her hand. "Over at Bowling Green -the other day, when all the gallants were smiling on me, one jealous -girl said, 'I do not see what there is so interesting about Lucy -Clark. She is not handsome, and she has red hair.' 'Ah,' I replied, 'I -can tell her. They know I have five brothers all officers in the -Revolutionary army!'" - -"What, Edmund gone, too?" exclaimed George. "He is but a lad!" - -"Big enough to don the buff and blue, and shoulder a gun," answered -the father. "He would go,--left school, led all his mates, and six -weeks later was taken prisoner along with Jonathan and the whole -army." - -That was the fall of Charleston, in the very May when Clark was saving -St. Louis. - -"We are all at war," spoke up Elizabeth, the elder sister, sadly. -"Even the boys drill on mimic battlefields; all the girls in Virginia -are spinning and weaving clothes for the soldiers; Mrs. Washington -keeps sixteen spinning-wheels busy at Mount Vernon; mother and all the -ladies have given their jewels to fit out the army. Mrs. Jefferson -herself led the call for contributions, and Mrs. Lewis of Albemarle -collected five thousand dollars in Continental currency. Father has -given up his best horses, and Jefferson impressed his own horses and -waggons at Monticello to carry supplies to General Gates. All the lads -in the country are moulding bullets and making gun-powder. We haven't -a pewter spoon left." - -"An' we niggers air raisin' fodder," ventured the ten-year-old York. - -York had his part, along with his young master, William. Daily they -rode together down the Rappahannock, carrying letters to Fielding -Lewis at Fredericksburg. It was there, at Kenmore House, that they met -Meriwether Lewis, visiting his uncle and aunt Betty, the sister of -Washington. "And when she puts on his _chapeau_ and great coat, she -looks exactly like the General," said William. - -"What has become of my captured Governors?" George asked of his -father. - -"I hear that Hamilton was offered a parole on condition that he would -not use his liberty in any way to speak or influence any one against -the colonies. He indignantly refused to promise that, and so was -returned to close captivity. But I think when Boone came up to the -legislature he used some influence; at any rate Hamilton was paroled -and went with Hay to England. Rocheblave broke his parole and fled to -New York." - -The five fireplaces of the old Clark home roared a welcome that day -up the great central chimney, and candles gleamed at evening from -dormer window to basement when all the neighbours crowded in to hail -"the Washington of the West." - -"Now, Rose, you and Nancy bake the seed cakes and have beat biscuit," -said Mrs. Clark to the fat cook in the kitchen. "York has gone after -the turkeys." - -"Events are in desperate straits," said George at bedtime; "I must -leave at daylight." But earlier yet young William was up to gallop a -mile beside his brother on the road to Richmond, whither the capital -had been removed for greater safety. - -"Is this the young Virginian that is sending home all the western -Governors?" exclaimed the people. An ovation followed him all the way. - -"What is your plan?" asked Governor Jefferson, after the fiery -cavalier had been received with distinction by the Virginia Assembly. - -"My plan is to ascend the Wabash in early Spring and strike before -reinforcements can reach Detroit, or escape be made over the breaking -ice of the Lakes. The rivers open first." - -George Rogers Clark, born within three miles of Monticello, had known -Jefferson all his life, and save Patrick Henry no one better grasped -his plans. In fact, Jefferson had initiative and was not afraid of -untried ventures. - -"My dear Colonel, I have already written to Washington that we could -furnish the men, provisions, and every necessary except powder, had we -the money, for the reduction of Detroit. But there is no money,--not -even rich men have seen a shilling in a year. Washington to the north -is begging aid, Gates in the south is pleading for men and arms, and -not a shilling is in the treasury of Virginia." - -"But Detroit must be taken," said Clark with a solemn emphasis. -"Through my aides I have this discovery: a combination is forming to -the westward,--a confederacy of British and Indians,--to spread dismay -to our frontier this coming Spring. We cannot hesitate. The fountain -head of these irruptions must be cut off, the grand focus of Indian -hostilities from the Mohawk to the Mississippi." - -Even as he spoke, Jefferson, pen in hand, was noting points in another -letter to Washington. - -"We have determined to undertake it," wrote Jefferson, "and commit it -to Clark's direction. Whether the expense of the enterprise shall be -defrayed by the Continent or State we leave to be decided hereafter by -Congress. In the meantime we only ask the loan of such necessaries as, -being already at Fort Pitt, will save time and expense of -transportation. I am, therefore, to solicit Your Excellency's order to -the commandant at Fort Pitt for the articles contained in the annexed -list." - -Clark had the list in hand. "It is our only hope; there is not a -moment to be lost." - -On fleet horses the chain of expresses bore daily news to the camp of -Washington, but before his answer could return, another express reined -up at Richmond. - -"Benedict Arnold, the traitor, has entered the Capes of Virginia with -a force of two thousand men." - -It was New Year's Eve and Richmond was in a tumult. On New Year's day -every legislator was moving his family to a place of safety. The very -winds were blowing Arnold's fleet to Richmond. - -Virginia had laid herself bare of soldiers; every man that could be -spared had been sent south. - -And Arnold? With what rage George Rogers Clark saw him destroy the -very stores that might have taken Detroit,--five brass field-pieces, -arms in the Capitol loft and in waggons on the road, five tons of -powder, tools, quartermaster's supplies. Then the very wind that had -blown Arnold up the river turned and blew him back, and the only blood -shed was by a handful of militia under George Rogers Clark, who killed -and wounded thirty of Arnold's men. - -"I have an enterprise to propose," said the Governor to Clark on -return. "I have confidence in your men from the western side of the -mountains. I want to capture Arnold and hang him. You pick the proper -characters and engage them to seize this greatest of all traitors. I -will undertake, if they are successful, that they shall receive five -thousand guineas reward among them." - -"I cannot, Arnold is gone, I must capture Detroit." - -More determined than ever, Clark and Jefferson went on planning. "Yes, -you must capture Detroit and secure Lake Erie. You shall have two -thousand men, and ammunition and packhorses shall be at the Falls of -the Ohio, March 15, ready for the early break of the ice." - -Washington's consent had come, and orders for artillery. With -Washington and Jefferson at his back, Clark made indefatigable efforts -to raise two thousand men to rendezvous March 15. - -Up the Blue Ridge his agents went and over to the Holston; he wrote to -western Pennsylvania; he visited Redstone-Old-Fort, and hurried down -to Fort Pitt. Fort Pitt itself was in danger. - -The Wabash broke and ran untrammelled, but Clark was not ready. -Cornwallis was destroying Gates at Camden; De Kalb fell, covered with -wounds; Sumter was cut to pieces by Tarleton. The darkest night had -come in a drama that has no counterpart, save in the Napoleonic wars -that shook Europe in the cause of human liberty. - -War, war, raged from the Atlantic to the Mississippi. The land was -covered with forts and blockhouses. Every hamlet had its place of -refuge. Mills were fortified, and private houses. Every outlying -settlement was stockaded. Every log house had its pickets and -portholes. Chains of posts followed the river fords and mountain gaps -from Ticonderoga to the Mohawk, from the Susquehanna to the Delaware, -to the Cumberland, to the Tennessee. Anxious sentinels peered from the -watchtowers of wooden castles. Guns stood on the ramparts. The people -slept in barracks. Moats and drawbridges, chained gates and palisades, -guarded the sacred citadels of America. - -"And what if England wins?" said one to Washington. - -"We can still retire to the Ohio and live in freedom," for, like the -last recesses of the Swiss Alps, it was thought no nation could -conquer the Alleghanies. - -In desperation and unaware of the Virginian crisis behind him, George -Rogers Clark embarked four hundred men, all he could get of the -promised two thousand. Only a line he sent to Jefferson, "I have -relinquished all hope," but Jefferson at that hour was flying from -Tarleton, Cornwallis was coming up into Virginia, and Washington with -his ragged band of veteran Continentals was marching down to Yorktown. -There was no time to glance beyond the mountains. - -All the northwest, in terror of Clark, was watching and fearing. If a -blow was struck anywhere, "Clark did it." Shawnees and Delawares, -Wyandots at the north, Choctaws and Chickasaws and Cherokees at the -south, British and Indians everywhere, were rising against devoted -Kentucky. - -As Clark stepped on his boats at Pittsburg word flew to remotest -tribes,-- - -"The Long Knives are coming!" - -The red man trembled in his wigwam, Detroit redoubled its -fortifications, and Clark's forlorn little garrisons in the prairies -of the west hung on to Illinois. - -In those boats Clark bore provisions, ammunition, artillery, -quartermaster's stores, collected as if from the very earth by his -undying energy,--everything but men, men! Major William Croghan stood -with him on the wharf at Pittsburg, burning, longing to go, but honour -forbade,--he was out on parole from Charleston. - -Peeping, spying, gliding, Indians down the Ohio would have attacked -but for fear of Clark's cannon. The "rear guard of the Continental -army" little knew the young Virginian, the terror of his name. For -him, Canada staid at home to guard Detroit when she might have wrested -Yorktown. - -With shouts of thanksgiving Louisville greeted Clark and his four -hundred; the war had come up to their very doors. Never had the -Indians so hammered away at the border. Across the entire continent -the late intermittent cannon shots became a constant volley. - -Every family had its lost ones,--"My father, my mother, my wife, my -child, they slaughtered, burned, tortured,--_I will hunt the Indian -till I die!_" - -Detroit, Niagara, Michilimackinac--the very names meant horror, for -there let loose, the red bloodhounds of war, the most savage, the most -awful, with glittering knives, pressed close along the Ohio. The -buffalo meat for the expedition rotted while Clark struggled, -anguished in spirit, a lion chained, "Stationed here to repel a few -predatory savages when I would carry war to the Lakes." - -But troops yet behind, "almost naked for want of linen and entirely -without shoes," were trying to join Clark down the wild Ohio. Joseph -Brandt cut them off,--Lochry and Shannon and one hundred -Pennsylvanians,--not one escaped to tell the tale. - -Clark never recovered, never forgot the fate of Lochry. "Had I tarried -but one day I might have saved them!" In the night-time he seemed to -hear those struggling captives dragged away to Detroit,--"Detroit! -lost for the want of a few men!" For the first time the over-wrought -hero gave way to intoxication to drown his grief,--and so had Clark -then died, "Detroit" might have been found written on his heart. - -Despair swept over Westmoreland where Lochry's men were the flower of -the frontier. Only fourteen or fifteen rifles remained in -Hannastown,--the Indians swooped and destroyed it utterly. - - - - -XVIII - -_ON THE RAMPARTS_ - - -In all his anguish about Detroit, with the energy of desperation Clark -now set to work making Louisville stronger than ever. - -"Boys, we must have defences absolutely impregnable; we know not at -what moment cannon may be booming at our gates." - -A new stronghold was founded, and around it a moat eight feet deep and -ten feet wide; surrounding the moat itself, was built a breastwork of -log pens, filled with earth and picketed ten feet high on top of the -breastwork. An acre was thus enclosed, and in that acre was a spring -that bubbles still in the streets of Louisville. Within were mounted a -double six-pounder captured at Vincennes, four cannon, and eight -swivels, and heaped around were shells, balls, and grapeshot brought -for the Detroit campaign. With bakehouse and blockhouse, bastion and -barrack, no enemy ever dared attack Fort Nelson. - -"General Clark is too hard on the militia," the soldier boys -complained, but the hammering and pounding and digging went on until -Louisville was the strongest point beyond the Alleghanies. - -Back and back came the Indians, in battles and forays, and still in -this troublous time settlers were venturing by flatboat and over the -Wilderness Road into the Blue Grass country. They seemed to fancy that -Clark had stilled the West, that here the cannon had ceased to rattle. - -Emigrants on packhorses bound for the land of cane and turkeys saw -bodies of scalped white men every day. Logan and his forest rangers, -like knights of old, guarded the Wilderness Road. Kenton and his -scouts patrolled the Ohio, crossing and recrossing on the track of -marauding savages. Boone watched the Licking; Floyd held the Bear -Grass. - -Fort Nelson was done,--its walls were cannon-proof. Clark's gunboat -lay on the water-front when a messenger passed the sentinel with a -letter. - -In the little square room that Clark called his headquarters, the -envoy waited. The young commandant read and bowed his head,--was it a -moment of irresolution? "Who could have brought this letter?" - -"Any Indian would bring it for a pint of rum," answered a well-known -voice. Pulling off a mask, Connolly stood before him. - -It was as if Lord Dunmore had risen from the floor,--Connolly had been -Lord Dunmore's captain commandant of all the land west of the Blue -Ridge. What was he saying? - -"As much boundary of land on the west bank of the Ohio as you may -wish, and any title under that of a duke, if you will abandon -Louisville. I am sent to you by Hamilton." - -"What!" gasped Clark. "Shall I become an Arnold and give up my -country? Never! Go, sir, before my people discover your identity." - -Resolved to lock the secret in his own heart, Clark spoke to no one. -But that same night a similar offer was made to John Floyd on the Bear -Grass. He mentioned it to Clark. - -"We must never tell the men," they agreed; "starving and discouraged -they might grasp the offer to escape the Indian tomahawk." But years -after Clark told his sister Lucy, and Floyd told his wife, Jane -Buchanan,--and from them the tale came down to us. - -As if enraged at this refusal, British and Indians rallied for a final -onslaught. - -"The white men are taking the fair Kain-tuck-ee, the land of deer and -buffalo. If you beat Clark this time you will certainly recover your -hunting-grounds," said De Peyster at the council fire. - -In unprecedented numbers the redmen crossed the Ohio,--station after -station was invested; then followed the frightful battle of Blue Licks -where sixty white men fell in ten minutes. Kentucky was shrouded in -mourning. - -Again Clark followed swift with a thousand mounted riflemen. - -Among the Indians dividing their spoils and their captives there -sounded a sharp alarm, "The Long Knives! The Long Knives!" - -"A mighty army on its march!" - -Barely had the Shawnees time to fly when Clark's famished Kentuckians -entered Old Chillicothe. Fires were yet burning, corn was on the -roasting sticks, but the foe was gone. - -"The property destroyed was of great amount, and the quantity of -provisions burned surpassed all idea we had of the Indian stores," -Clark said in after years. - -This second destruction of their villages and cornfields chilled the -heart of the Indians. Their power was broken. Never again did a great -army cross the Ohio. - -But standing again on the ruins of Old Chillicothe, "I swear -vengeance!" cried the young Tecumseh. - -And Clark, the Long Knife, mourned in his heart. - -"This might have been avoided! this might have been avoided! Never -shall we have peace on this frontier until Detroit is taken!" - - - - -XIX - -_EXIT CORNWALLIS_ - - -"The boy cannot escape me!" - -Lafayette was all that lay between Cornwallis and the subjugation of -Virginia. The lithe little Frenchman, only twenty-three years old, -danced ever on and on before him, fatiguing the redcoats far into the -heats of June. - -The Virginia Legislature adjourned to Charlottesville. In vain -Cornwallis chased the boy and sent Tarleton on his raid over the -mountains, "to capture the Governor." - -Like a flash he came, the handsome, daring, dashing Colonel Tarleton, -whose name has been execrated for a hundred years. - -Virginia was swept as by a tornado. Never a noise in the night, never -a wind could whistle by, but "Tarleton's troop is coming!" - -"Tarleton's troop!" Little John Randolph, a boy of eight, his mother -then lying in childbed, was gathered up and hurried away ninety miles -up the Appomattox. - -"Tarleton's troop!" Beside the dead body of her husband sat the mother -of four-year-old Henry Clay, with her seven small children shuddering -around her. Standing on a rock in the South Anna River, the great -preacher had addressed his congregation in impassioned oratory for the -last time, and now on a bier he lay lifeless, while the gay trooper -raided the lands of his children. - -Even Tarleton was moved by the widow's pallor as he tossed a handful -of coins on her table. She arose and swept them into the -fireplace,--"Never will I touch the invaders' gold." - -"Tarleton's troop!" Back at Waxhaw, South Carolina, a lad by the name -of Andrew Jackson bore through life the scars of wounds inflicted by -Tarleton's men. At that very hour, alone on foot his mother was -returning from deeds of mercy to the patriots caged in prison pens by -Tarleton. But the streams were cold, the forests dark; losing her way, -overworn and weary, sank and died the mother of Andrew Jackson. - -"Tarleton's troop!" Jack Jouett at the Cuckoo Tavern at Louisa saw -white uniforms faced with green, and fluttering plumes, and shining -helmets riding by. - -The fiery Huguenot blood rose in him. Before daylight Jack's -hard-ridden steed reined up at Monticello. - -"Tarleton's troop, three hours behind me! Fly!" - -There was panic and scramble,--some of the legislators were at -Monticello. There was hasty adjournment and flight to Staunton, across -the Blue Ridge. - -Assisting his wife, the slender, graceful Mrs. Jefferson, into a -carriage, the Governor sent her and the children under the care of -Jupiter, the coachman, to a neighbouring farmhouse, while he gathered -up his State papers. - -"What next, massa?" Martin, the faithful body-servant, watching his -master's glance and anticipating every want, followed from room to -room. - -"The plate, Martin," with a wave of the hand Jefferson strode out from -his beloved Monticello. - -With Cćsar's help Martin pulled up the planks of the portico, and the -last piece of silver went under the floor as a gleaming helmet hove in -sight. Dropping the plank, imprisoning poor Cćsar, Martin faced the -intruder. - -"Where is your master? Name the spot or I'll fire!" - -"Fire away, then," answered the slave. The trooper desisted. - -Tarleton and his men took food and drink, but destroyed nothing. The -fame of Jefferson's kindness to Burgoyne's captured army had reached -even Tarleton, for in that mansion books and music had been free to -the imprisoned British officers. - -"An' now who be ye, an' whar are ye from?" - -An old woman peered from the door of a hut in a gorge of the hills, -late in the afternoon. - -"We are members of the Virginia Legislature fleeing from Tarleton's -raid." - -"Ride on, then, ye cowardly knaves! Here my husband and sons have just -gone to Charlottesville to fight for ye, an' ye a runnin' awa' wi' all -yer might. Clar out; ye get naething here." - -"But, my good woman, it would never do to let the British capture the -Legislature." - -"If Patterick Hennery had been in Albemarle, the British dragoons -would naever ha' passed the Rivanna." - -"But, my good woman, here is Patrick Henry." - -"Patterick Hennery? Patterick Hennery? Well, well, if Patterick -Hennery is here it must be all right. Coom in, coom in to the best I -have." - -But Daniel Boone and three or four others were captured, and carried -away to Cornwallis to be released soon after on parole. - -"Tarleton's troop!" cried little Meriwether Lewis, seven years old. - -Sweeping down the Rivanna came the desperado to the home of Colonel -Nicholas Lewis, away in the Continental army. - -"What a paradise!" exclaimed Tarleton, raising his hands. - -"Why, then, do you interrupt it?" inquired Mrs. Lewis, alone at home -with her small children and slaves. - -The trooper slept that night in his horseman's cloak on the kitchen -floor. At daylight Mrs. Lewis was awakened by a clatter in her -henyard. Ducks, chickens, turkeys, the troopers were wringing their -necks. One decrepit old drake only escaped by skurrying under the -barn. - -Bowing low till his plume swept the horse's mane, Tarleton galloped -away. - -The wrath of Aunt Molly! "Here, Pompey, you just catch that drake. -Ride as fast as you can, and present it to Colonel Tarleton with my -compliments." - -On flying steed, drake squawking and flouncing on his back, the darkey -flew after the troopers. - -"Well, Pompey, did you overtake Colonel Tarleton?" was Aunt Molly's -wrathful inquiry. - -"Yes'm." - -"What did he say?" - -"He put de drake in his wallet, and say he much obleeged!" - -Little Meriwether, sitting on the gate-post, laughed at his aunt's -discomfiture. - -The roll of a drum broke the stillness of Sabbath in the Blue Ridge. - -"Tarleton's troop!" By the bed of her sick husband sat a Spartan -mother at Staunton. Her sons were in the army at the north, but three -young lads, thirteen, fifteen, and seventeen were there. - -Placing their father's old firelock in their hands, "Go forth, my -children," she said, "repel the foot of the invader or see my face no -more." - -But Tarleton did not force the mountain pass,--the boys went on down -to join Lafayette. - -From farm and forest, children and grandsires hurried to Lafayette. -The proud earl retired to the sea and stopped to rest at the little -peninsula of Yorktown, waiting for reinforcements. - -Down suddenly from the north came Washington with his tattered -Continentals and Rochambeau's gay Frenchmen, and the French fleet -sailed into the Chesapeake. Cornwallis was bottled up at Yorktown. - -The boy, Lafayette, had simply put the stopper in the bottle and -waited. - -Seventy cannon rolled in on Yorktown. George Rogers Clark, all the -West, was appealing to Washington, but the great chief unmoved kept -his eye on Lord Cornwallis. - -On the 19th of October, 1781, the aristocratic marquis, who had -commenced his career as aide-de-camp to a king, surrendered to the -rebels of America. - -"'Wallis has surrendered! surrendered! surrendered!" - -Meriwether Lewis and William Clark flung up their caps with other boys -and shouted with the best of them, "'Wallis has surrendered!" - -After the surrender of Cornwallis, Washington and Lafayette and the -officers of the French and American armies went to Fredericksburg to -pay their respects to Mary, the mother of Washington. The entire -surrounding country was watching in gala attire, and among them the -old cavalier, John Clark of Caroline. - -On his white horse Washington passed the mulberry trees. Quick as a -flash little William turned,--"Why, father, he does look like my -brother George! Is that why people call our George the 'Washington of -the West'?" - -A provisional treaty was signed at Paris, November 30, 1782, a few -days after the return of George Rogers Clark from that last -Chillicothe raid. Slowly, by pack-horse and flatboat, the news reached -Kentucky. - -The last of the British army sailed away. Washington made his immortal -farewell, and went back to his farm, arriving on Christmas Eve. -Bonfires and rockets, speeches, thanksgiving and turkey, ended the -year 1782. - -But with his return from the last scene at Yorktown, the father of -Meriwether Lewis lay down and died, a martyr of the Revolution. - - - - -XX - -_THE OLD VIRGINIA HOME_ - - -Back over Boone's trace, the Wilderness Road he had travelled so many -times, went General George Rogers Clark sometime in the early Spring -of 1783, past the thrifty fields of Fincastle and the Shenandoah -Germans, with their fat cattle and huge red barns. Every year the -stout Pennsylvanians were building farther and farther up. Year by -year the fields increased, and rosy girls stacked the hay in defiance -of all Virginian customs across the Ridge. - -But the man who a thousand miles to the west held Illinois by the -prowess of his arm and the terror of his name, sprang not with the -buoyant step of six years before when he had gone to Virginia after -the gunpowder. His thoughts were at Kaskaskia, Vincennes, Louisville, -where his unsustained garrisons were suffering for food and clothing. - -"Peace, peace, peace!" he muttered. "'Tis but a mockery. Must Kentucky -lie still and be scalped?" - -Still the savages raided the border, not in numbers, but in squads, -persistent and elusive. Isham Floyd, the boy drummer of Vincennes, had -been captured by the savages and three days tortured in the woods, and -burnt at the stake. - -"My boy-brother in the hands of those monsters?" exclaimed the -great-hearted John Floyd of the Bear Grass. A word roused the country, -the savages were dispersed, but poor Isham was dead. And beside him -lay his last tormentor, the son of an Indian chief, shot by the -avenging rifle of John Floyd. - -Riding home with a heavy heart on the 12th of April, a ball struck -Colonel Floyd, passed through his arm, and entered his breast. Behind -the trees they caught a glimpse of the smoking rifle of Big Foot, that -chief whose son was slain. Leaping from his own horse to that of his -brother, Charles Floyd sustained the drooping form until they reached -the Bear Grass. - -"Charles," whispered the dying man, "had I been riding Pompey this -would not have happened. Pompey pricks his ears and almost speaks if a -foe is near." - -At the feet of Jane Buchanan her brave young husband was laid, his -black locks already damp with the dew of death. - -"Papa! Papa!" Little two-year-old George Rogers Clark Floyd screamed -with terror. Ten days later the stricken wife, Jane Buchanan, gave -birth to another son, whom they named in honour of his heroic father. - -With such a grief upon him, General George Rogers Clark wended his -lonesome way through the Cumberland Gap to Virginia. Now in the -night-time he heard young Isham cry. Not a heart in Kentucky but -bewailed the fate of the drummer boy. And John Floyd, his loss was a -public calamity. - -"John Floyd, John Floyd," murmured Clark on his lonely way, "the -encourager of my earliest adventures, truest heart of the West!" - -Lochry's men haunted him while he slept. "Had I not written they would -not have come!" - -His debts, dishonoured, weighed like a pall, and deep, deep, down in -his heart he knew at last how much he loved that girl in the convent -at New Orleans. At times an almost ungovernable yearning came over him -to go down and force the gates of her voluntary prison-house. - -In May he was at Richmond. A new Governor sat in the chair of -Jefferson and Patrick Henry. To him Clark addressed an appeal for the -money that was his due. - -But Virginia, bankrupt, impoverished, prostrate, answered only,--"We -have given you land warrants, what more can you ask?" - -With heavy heart Clark travelled again the road to Caroline. - -There was joy in the old Virginia home, and sorrow. Once more the -family were reunited. First came Colonel Jonathan, with his courtly -and elegant army comrade Major William Croghan, an Irish gentleman, -nephew of Sir William Johnson, late Governor of New York, and of the -famous George Croghan, Sir William's Indian Deputy in the West. - -In fact young Croghan crossed the ocean with Sir William as his -private secretary, on the high road to preferment in the British army. -But he looked on the struggling colonists, and mused,-- - -"Their cause is just! I will raise a regiment for Washington." - -While all his relatives fought for the King, he alone froze and -starved at Valley Forge, and in that frightful winter of 1780 marched -with Jonathan Clark's regiment to the relief of Charleston. And -Charleston fell. - -"Restore your loyalty to Great Britain and I will set you free," said -Major General Prevost, another one of Croghan's uncles. - -"I cannot," replied the young rebel. "I have linked my fate with the -colonies." - -Nevertheless General Prevost released him and his Colonel, Jonathan -Clark, on parole. Lieutenant Edmund was held a year longer. - -Directly to the home in Caroline, Colonel Jonathan brought his Irish -Major. And there he met--Lucy. - -Then, with the exchange of prisoners, Edmund came, damaged it is true, -but whole, and John, John from the prison ships, ruined. - -At sight of the emaciated face of her once handsome boy, the mother -turned away and wept. Five long years in the prison ship had done its -work. Five years, where every day at dawn the dead were brought out in -cartloads. Stifled in crowded holds and poisoned with loathsome food, -in one prison ship alone in eighteen months eleven thousand died and -were buried on the Brooklyn shore. And then came the General, George -Rogers, and Captain Richard, from the garrison of Kaskaskia where he -had helped to hold the Illinois. - -In tattered regimentals and worn old shirts they came,--the army of -the Revolution was disbanded without a dollar. - -"And I, worse than without a dollar," said General George Rogers. "My -private property has been sacrificed to pay public debts." - -But from what old treasure stores did those girls bring garments, -homespun and new and woolly and warm, prepared against this day of -reunion? The soldiers were children again around their father's -hearth, with mother's socks upon their feet and sister's arms around -their necks. - -Jonathan, famous for his songs, broke forth in a favourite refrain -from Robin Hood:-- - - "And mony ane sings o' grass, o' grass, - And mony ane sings o' corn, - And mony ane sings o' Robin Hood - Kens little where he was born. - - "It wasna in the ha', the ha', - Nor in the painted bower, - But it was in the gude greenwood - Amang the lily flower." - -"And you call us lily flowers?" cried Fanny, the beauty and the pet. -"The lilies of the field, they toil not, neither do they spin; and -here have we been spinning for weeks and weeks to dress you boys -again." - -"And what has William been doing?" - -"Learning to follow in the footsteps of my brothers," answered the lad -of thirteen. "Another year and I, too, could have gone as a drummer -boy." - -"Thank God, you'll never have to," ejaculated the General solemnly. - -The old house rang with merriment as it had not in years. The negroes, -York and old York and Rose his wife, Jane and Julia and Cupid and -Harry, and Nancy the cook, were jubilantly preparing a feast for -welcome. - -Other guests were there,--Colonel Anderson, aide-de-camp of Lafayette, -who was to wed Elizabeth, the sister next older than William; and -Charles Mynn Thruston, son of the "Fighting Parson," and Dennis -Fitzhugh, daft lovers of the romping Fanny. - -Since before the Revolution Jonathan had been engaged to Sarah Hite, -the daughter of Joist Hite, first settler of the Shenandoah. -Thousands of acres had her father and hundreds of indentured white -servants. Joist Hite's claim overlay that of Lord Fairfax; they fought -each other in the courts for fifty years. Should Hite win, Sarah would -be the greatest heiress in Virginia. - -From the sight of happy courtship George Rogers turned and ever and -anon talked with his parents, "solemn as the judgment," said Fanny. - -A few blissful days and the time for scattering came. Again the old -broad-porticoed farmhouse was filled with farewells,--negro slaves -held horses saddled. - -"But we shall meet in Kentucky," said old John Clark the Cavalier. - -George Rogers bade them good-bye, waved a last kiss back, whipped up -his horse, and entered the forest. - -In October John died. A vast concourse gathered under the mulberry -trees where the young Lieutenant lay wrapped in the flag of his -country, a victim of the prison ship. Great was the indignation of -friends as they laid him away. - -And now preparations were rapidly carried forward for removal to -Kentucky. - - - - -XXI - -_DOWN THE OHIO_ - - -There was truce on the border. The wondering redmen heard that the -great King had withdrawn across the Big Water and that the Long Knives -were victors in the country. - -With wondering minds Shawnee and Delaware, Wyandot and Miami, -discussed around their council fires the changed situation. Very great -had the redcoats appeared in the eyes of the savages, with their -dazzling uniforms, and long, bright, flashing swords. But how terrible -were the Virginians of the Big Knives! - -The continental armies had been dispersed, but now from their old -war-ravaged homes of the Atlantic shore they looked to the new lands -beyond the Alleghanies. Congress would pay them in these lands, and so -the scarred veterans of a hundred battles launched on the emigrant -trail. - -In the Clark home there was busy preparation. Out of attic and cellar -old cedar chests were brought and packed with the precious linen, -fruit of many a day at the loom. Silver and pewter and mahogany -bureaus, high-post bedsteads and carved mirrors, were carefully piled -in the waggons as John Clark, cavalier, turned his face from tidewater -Virginia. - -Neighbours called in to bid them farewell. Mrs. Clark made a last -prayer at the grave of her son, the victim of the prison ship. - -"William, have you brought the mulberry cuttings?" called the motherly -Lucy. - -"William, have you the catalpa seeds?" cried Fanny. - -Leaving the old home with Jonathan to be sold, the train started -out,--horses, cattle, slaves, York riding proudly at the side of his -young master William, old York and Rose, Nancy, Jane, Julia, Cupid and -Harry and their children, a patriarchal caravan like that of Abraham -facing an earlier west two thousand years before. - -Before and behind were other caravans. All Virginia seemed on the move, -some by Rockfish Gap and Staunton, up the great valley of Virginia to -the Wilderness Road, on packhorses; others in waggons, like the -Clarks, following the Braddock route down to Redstone-Old-Fort on the -Monongahela, where boats must be built. - -And here at Redstone was George Rogers Clark, come up to meet them -from the Falls. In short order, under his direction, boatbuilders were -busy. York and old York took a hand, and William, in a first -experience that was yet to find play in the far Idaho. - -The teasing Fanny looked out from her piquant sun-bonnet. Lucy, more -sedate, was accompanied by her betrothed, Major Croghan. - -"My uncle, George Croghan, has lately died in New York and left me his -heir. I shall locate in Louisville," was the Major's explanation to -his friend's inquiry. - -"And what is the news from Virginia?" - -"Your old friend Patrick Henry is Governor again. Jonathan visited him -last week," was William's reply. - -"And Jonathan's wife, Sarah Hite, bids fair to secure her fortune," -added Fanny. "You see, when old Lord Fairfax heard of Cornwallis's -surrender he gave up. 'Put me to bed, Jo,' he said, 'it is time for me -to die,' and die he did. Now his lands are in the courts." - -"Mrs. Jefferson, who was ill, died as a result of the excitement of -the flight from Tarleton," said Lucy. "To get away from his sorrow, -Mr. Jefferson has accepted the appointment of minister to France to -succeed Dr. Franklin, and has taken Martha and Maria with him. They -will go to school in Paris." - -George Rogers Clark was a silent man. He spoke no word of his recent -trip to Philadelphia, in which Dr. Franklin had grasped his hand and -said, "Young man, you have given an empire to the Republic." - -"General Washington has just returned from a horseback journey down -into this country," added Major Croghan. "He has lands on the Ohio." - -"And have _you_ no word of yourself or of Kentucky?" - -General Clark handed his father a notification from the Assembly of -Virginia. He read it aloud. - -"The conclusion of the war, and the distressed situation of the State -with respect to its finances, call on us to adopt the most prudent -economy. You will, therefore, consider yourself out of command." - -"And you are no longer in the army?" - -"No, nor even on a footing with the Continentals. I was simply a -soldier of the Virginia militia, and, as such, have no claim even for -the half pay allotted to all Continental officers." - -"But Virginia has ceded her western territories to Congress with the -distinct stipulation that expenses incurred in subduing any British -posts therein, or in acquiring any part of the territory, shall be -reimbursed by the United States." - -"Is there any hope there? What has Congress? An empty treasury. And -who is to pay the bills incurred in the Illinois conquest? Shall I, a -private individual?" - -"That would be impossible," commented the father. - -"But I am not disheartened," continued George Rogers. "When the -Indians are quiet, my men hope to build a city on the land granted us -opposite the Falls. And here is something from Jefferson, written -before he left for Europe." - -William stood attentive while the letter was read. - - "ANNAPOLIS, December 4, 1783. - - DEAR SIR,--I find they have subscribed a very large sum of - money in England for exploring the country from the - Mississippi to California. They pretend it is only to - promote knowledge. I am afraid they have thought of - colonising into that quarter. Some of us have been talking - here in a feeble way of making an attempt to search that - country, but I doubt whether we have enough of that kind of - spirit to raise the money. How would you like to lead such - a party? Though I am afraid our prospect is not worth the - question. - - Your friend and humble servant, - THOMAS JEFFERSON." - -"Does he want you to lead an exploring party to the Pacific Ocean?" -inquired William with intense interest. - -"That is the substance of it. And I should want you to accompany me." - -Little did either then dream that William Clark would lead that party, -with another. - -The boats were ready. Surmounted by the Stars and Stripes of the "old -thirteen" they started on their journey. Suddenly the Monongahela -closed with ice and locked them at Pittsburg, where flurries of snow -set the sleigh-bells ringing. - -Through deep drifts, under the guns of Fort Pitt, files of -Philadelphia traders were buying up skins and tallow, to carry back -over the mountains in their packsaddles that had come out loaded with -salt and gunpowder. Squaws were exchanging peltries for the white -man's tea and sugar. A great concourse of emigrants was blocked for -the winter. Every cabin was crowded. - -After great exertions George had secured quarters quite unlike the -roomy old Virginian home. - -"I must be gone to make peace with those Indians who have been acting -with the British, and take steps toward securing titles beyond the -Ohio." - -Accompanied by two other commissioners, General Clark set out for Fort -McIntosh. It was January before the Indians gathered with Pierre -Drouillard, interpreter now for the United States. - -"By the treaty of peace with England this land belongs to the Thirteen -Fires," was the basis of argument. "You have been allies of England, -and now by the law of nations the land is ours." - -"No! No!" fiercely cried Buckongahelas. - -"But we will divide with you. You are to release your white captives, -and give up a part of your Ohio lands. The rest you can keep. Detroit -and Michilimackinac belong to the Thirteen Fires." Then boundaries -were drawn. - -"No! No!" cried Buckongahelas. Clark heeded not. - -After deliberation the chiefs signed,--Wyandot, Ottawa, Chippewa,--all -but Buckongahelas. "I am a friend of Great Britain!" roared the -Delaware King. Then to the surprise of all, suddenly striding past the -other commissioners, the swarthy chief took the hand of General Clark. -"I thank the Great Spirit for having this day brought together two -such warriors as Buckongahelas and the Long Knife." Clark smiled and -returned the compliment. - -"Will the gorge break?" every frontiersman was asking when George -returned to Pittsburg. - -Piled back for seventy miles the Alleghany was a range of ice, heaped -floe on floe. Where the muddy Monongahela blends with the crystal -Alleghany the boats lay locked with a hundred others, awaiting the -deluge. - -Suddenly the melting snows of the Alleghanies burst; the ice -loosened, tearing and cutting the branches of trees overhanging the -river; and slowly, with the ice, moved the great fleet of flatboats. - -Ever narrower and deeper and swifter, the Ohio leaped with tremendous -rush down its confined channel. The trees on the uninhabited shores, -never yet cut away, held the embankment firm, and racing down on the -perilous flood came the Clarks to the Falls of the Ohio, in March of -1785. - -Fascinated by the rush of waves, fourteen-year-old William poled like -a man. Could he dream what destruction lay in their course? "_L'année -des grandes eaux_," 1785, is famous in the annals of the West as the -year of great waters. The floods came down and drowned out old Ste. -Genevieve and drove the inhabitants back to the higher terrace on -which that village stands to-day. Above, the whole American Bottom was -a swift running sea, Kaskaskia and Cahokia were submerged by the -simultaneous melting of the snows, and nothing but its high bold shore -of limestone rock saved St. Louis itself. Paddling around in his boat, -Auguste Chouteau ate breakfast on the roofs of Ste. Genevieve. - -At Louisville barely could boats be pulled in to the Bear Grass. -Below, waves foamed and whirled among the rocks, that to-day have been -smoothed by the hand of man into a shallow channel. - -Guided by skilful hands, many a trader's boat that year took the chute -of the Falls like an arrow; over the ledges that dammed the water -back, down, down they slid out of sight into that unknown West, where -William knew not that his brother had paved the way to Louisiana. - -"Have you found us a tract?" inquired the anxious mother. - -"Land, mother? I own a dukedom, my soldiers and I, one hundred and -fifty thousand acres, on the Indian side of the river. We have -incorporated a town there, Clarksville they call it. It will be a -great city,--but Louisville is safer at present." - -That Spring they lived at Fort Nelson, with watchmen on the ramparts. - -"But we saw no Indians in coming down!" - -"True enough, the flood was a surprise so early in the year. Wait a -little, and you will hear more of this terrifying river-route, where -in low water it takes seven weeks to run from Redstone to the Bear -Grass. Then the murderous clutches of the Indians have free play among -the helpless emigrants. Let us be thankful for what you escaped." - -Almost while they were speaking a band of Indians glided out of the -woods not far away, snatched a boy from a fence, and shot his father -in the field. - -"Don't kill me, just take me prisoner," said little Tommy, looking up -into the warrior's face. - -At that instant an elder brother's rifle felled the Indian, and the -boy was saved to become the father of Abraham Lincoln. - - - - -XXII - -_MULBERRY HILL_ - - -On a beautiful eminence three miles south of Louisville, John Clark -built his pioneer Kentucky home. Louisville itself consisted of but a -few log cabins around a fortification built by George Rogers Clark. - -This family home, so far from the centre, was stockaded by itself, a -double log house, two and a half stories high, with hall through the -middle. - -Every night a negro stood sentinel, there were portholes in the -pickets, and Indians hid in the canebrakes. Once while the young -ladies were out walking an Indian shot a little negro girl and they -carried her back wounded, behind the pickets at Mulberry Hill. - -The floor of the long dining-room was of wood, hard as a bone, and -over the seven-foot mantel stag-horns and swords of the Revolution -were lit by the light of the cavernous fireplace. - -Rigid economy and untiring industry had been the rule at the old Clark -home in Caroline, and not less was it here. There were no pianos, but -until midnight the hum of the wheel made music. - -Enchanted the young people listened to tale and song and hum of wheel, -while down the great chimney top calmly smiled the pensive stars. - -Little thought they of bare walls, low rafters, or small windows. -After the boys hauled in the logs on a hand-sled, and built up a great -flame, the whole world seemed illuminated. The pewter basins shone -like mirrors, and while their fingers flew in the light of the fire, -stories were told of Kaskaskia, Vincennes, St. Louis. But the Donna? -Clark never spoke of her. It was a hidden grief that made him ever -lonely. When he saw the lovelight all around him and sometimes left -the room, the mother wondered why sudden silence came upon the group. - -At Mulberry Hill Lucy was married to Major Croghan, who, on a farm -five miles out, built Locust Grove, an English mansion of the olden -style, in its day the handsomest in Louisville. And Fanny? She was the -belle of Kentucky. In powdered wig and ruffles many a grave Virginian -tripped with her the minuet and contra dances of the Revolution. - -More and more young William became enamoured of the Indian dress, and -went about gaily singing the songs of Robin Hood and hacking the meat -with his hunting knife. - -Out over the game-trails of Kentucky, like the beaten streets of -Fredericksburg, the only city he ever knew, young William went with -the Boones, Kenton, and his own famous brother, George Rogers Clark, -in peltry cap and buckskin hunting-shirt girded with a leathern belt. - -Led by them, with what eagerness he shot his first buffalo, deep in -the woods of Kentucky. Not much longer could bears, deer, and buffalo -retreat to the cane. With the coming of the Clarks an emigration set -in that was to last for a hundred years. - -Even amusements partook of sportive adventure. Now it was the hunter's -horn summoning the neighbours to a bear chase in the adjoining hills. -William surpassed the Indian himself in imitating the bark of the -wolf, the hoot of the owl, the whistle of the whippoorwill. - -Daniel Boone came often to Mulberry Hill in leggings and moccasins, -ever hunting, hunting, hunting beaver, bear and coon, wolves and -wild-cats, deer and foxes, and going back to trade their skins in -Maryland for frontier furniture, knives and buttons, scissors, nails, -and tea. - -Upon his shot-pouch strap Boone fastened his moccasin awl with a -buckhorn handle made out of an old clasp-knife, and carried along with -him a roll of buckskin to mend his mocassins. While the grizzled -hunter stitched deftly at his moccasins, William and York sat by, -engaged in the same pastime, for wherever William went, York was his -shadow. - -"Since poor Richard's uncertain fate I can never trust the boy alone," -said his mother. "York, it is your business to guard your young -master." And he did, to the ends of the earth. - -When "Uncle Daniel," rolled in a blanket, threw himself down on a bed -of leaves and slept with his feet to the fire to prevent rheumatism, -York and William lay down too, sleeping by turns and listening for -Indians. - -At daylight, loosely belting their fringed hunting shirts into wallets -for carrying bread, a chunk of jerked beef, or tow for the gun, with -tomahawk on the right side and scalping knife on the left, each in a -leathern case, again they set off under the reddening forest. - -Skilled in the lore of woodcraft, watchful of clouds and stars and -sun, an intimate student of insect life and own brother to the wily -beaver, bear, and buffalo, William Clark was becoming a scientist. - -Returning from the chase with the same sort of game that graced the -Saxon board before the Norman conquest, he sat down to hear the talk -of statesmen. For when Clark's commission was revoked, Kentucky, -unprotected, called a convention to form a State. - -Affairs that in European lands are left to kings and their ministers, -were discussed in the firelight of every cabin. Public safety demanded -action. Exposed on three sides to savage inroads, with their Virginia -capital hundreds of miles beyond forest, mountains, and rivers, no -wonder Kentucky pleaded for statehood. - -In a despotic country the people sleep. Here every nerve was awake. -Discussion, discussion, discussion, made every fireside a school of -politics; even boys in buckskin considered the nation's welfare. - -Before he was seventeen William Clark was made an ensign and proudly -donned the eagle and blue ribbon of the Cincinnati, a society of the -soldiers of the Revolution of which Washington himself was president. -Educated in the backwoods and by the cabin firelight, young William -was already developing the striking bearing and bold unwavering -character of his brother. - -"What can have become of Richard?" Every day the mother heart glanced -down the long avenue of catalpas that were growing in front of -Mulberry Hill. - -Of the whole family, the gentle affectionate Richard was an especial -favourite. He was coming from Kaskaskia to see his mother, but never -arrived. One day his horse and saddlebags were found on the banks of -the Wabash. Was he killed by the Indians, or was he drowned? No one -ever knew. - -Again George Rogers Clark was out making treaties with the Indians to -close up the Revolution, but British emissaries had been whispering in -their ears, "Make the Ohio the boundary." - -At last, after long delays, a few of the tribes came in to the council -at the mouth of the Great Miami, some in friendship, some like the -Shawnees, rudely suggestive of treachery. - -"The war is over," explained General Clark as chairman; "we desire to -live in peace with our red brethren. If such be the will of the -Shawnees, let some of their wise men speak." - -There was silence as they whiffed at the council pipes. Then a tall -chief arose and glanced at the handful of whites and at his own three -hundred along the walls of the council house. - -"We come here to offer you two pieces of wampum. You know what they -mean. Choose." Dropping the beaded emblems upon the table the savage -turned to his seat by the wall. - -Pale, calm as a statue, but with flashing eye, Clark tangled his -slender cane into the belts and--flung them at the chiefs. - -"Ugh!" - -Every Indian was up with knife unsheathed, every white stood with hand -on his sword. Into their very teeth the Long Knife had flung back the -challenge, "Peace, or War." - -Like hounds in leash they strained, ready to leap, when the lordly -Long Knife raised his arm and grinding the wampum beneath his heel -thundered,-- - -"_Dogs, you may go!_" - -One moment they wavered, then broke and fled tumultuously from the -council house. - -All night they debated in the woods near the fort. In the morning, -"Let me sign," said Buckongahelas. - -Smiling, Clark guided the hand of the boastful Delaware, and all the -rest signed with him. - - - - -XXIII - -_MISSISSIPPI TROUBLES_ - - -For the first time in their stormy history, the front and rear gates -of the Kentucky forts lay back on their enormous wooden hinges, and -all day long men and teams passed in and out with waggon loads of -grain from the harvest fields. So hushed and still was the air, it -seemed the old Indian days were gone for ever. At night the animals -came wandering in from the woods, making their customary way to the -night pens. Fields of corn waved undisturbed around the forts. - -But the truce was brief. Already the Cherokees were slaughtering on -the Wilderness Road, and beyond the Ohio, Shawnee and Delaware, wild -at the sight of the white man's cabin, rekindled the fires around the -stake. - -Thousands of emigrants were coming over the mountains from Carolina, -and down the Ohio from Pittsburg social boats lashed together rode in -company, bark canoes, pirogues, flatboats, keelboats, scows, barges, -bateaux and brigades of bateaux, sweeping down with resistless -English, Scotch, Irish, Germans, Huguenots, armed for the battle of -the races. - -Still the powerful fur traders of Quebec and Montreal hung on to -Detroit and Mackinac, still De Peyster opposed giving up the -peninsulas of Michigan. - -"Pen the young republic east of the Alleghanies," said France, Spain, -England, when the Peace Treaty was under consideration. But Clark's -conquest compelled them to grant the Illinois. - -Before the ink was dry on the documents, Kentucky was trading down the -great river of De Soto. - -"The West must trade over the mountains," said the merchants of -Philadelphia and Baltimore. - -"The West will follow its rivers," answered Kentucky. - -"Spain is Mistress of the Mississippi," said the Spanish King to John -Jay, the American minister at Madrid. - -In vain flatboatmen with wheat and corn said, "We are from Kentucky." - -"What Kaintucke?" brayed the commandant at Natchez. "I know no -Kaintucke. Spain own both side de river. I am ordered to seize all -foreign vessel on de way to New Orleong." - -Without the Spaniard the trip was sufficiently hazardous. Indians -watched the shores. Pirates infested the bayous. Head winds made the -frail craft unmanageable,--snags leered up like monsters to pierce and -swallow. But every new settler enlarged the fields, and out of the -virgin soil the log granaries were bursting. - -"Carry away our grain, bring us merchandise," was the cry of expanding -Kentucky. - -But to escape the Indian was to fall into the hands of the Spaniard, -and the Spaniard was little more than a legalised pirate. - -Even the goods of the Frenchmen were seized with the warning, "Try it -again and we'll send you to Brazil." - -The Frenchmen resented this infringement on their immemorial right. -Since the days of the daring and courageous Bienville who founded New -Orleans, no man had said them nay. A tremendous hatred of the Spaniard -grew up in the hearts of the Frenchmen. - -In the midst of these confiscations there was distress and anarchy in -the Illinois. The infant republic had not had time to stretch out -there the strong arm of law. Floods and continental money had ruined -the confiding Frenchmen; the garrisons were in destitution; they were -writing to Clark:-- - -"Our credit is become so weak among the French that one dollar's worth -of provisions cannot be had without prompt payment, were it to save -the whole country." - -"And why has our British Father made no provision for us," bewailed -the Indians, "who at his beck and call have made such deadly enemies -of the Long Knives? Our lands have been ravaged by fire and sword, and -now we are left at their mercy." - -"Let us drive the red rascals out," cried the infuriated settlers. - -"No," said Washington, who understood and pitied the red men. "Forgive -the past. Dispossess them gradually by purchase as the extension of -settlement demands the occupation of their lands." - -But five thousand impoverished Indians in the Ohio country kept thirty -thousand settlers in hot water all the time. No lock on a barn door -could save the horses, no precaution save the outlying emigrant from -scalping or capture. Red banditti haunted the streams and forests, -dragging away their screaming victims like ogres of medićval tragedy. - -Clark grew sick and aged over it. "No commission, no money, no right -to do anything for my suffering country!" - -"Your brother, the General, is very ill," said old John Clark, coming -out of the sick chamber at Mulberry Hill. In days to come there were -generals and generals in the Clark family, but George Rogers was -always "the General." - -Into ten years the youthful commander had compressed the exposure of a -lifetime. Mental anguish and days in the icy Wabash told now on his -robust frame, and inflammatory rheumatism set in from which he never -recovered. - -"The Americans are your enemies," emissaries from Detroit were -whispering at Vincennes. "The Government has forsaken you. They take -your property, they pay nothing." - -"We have nothing to do with the United States," said the French -citizens, weary of a Congress that heeded them not. "We consider -ourselves British subjects and shall obey no other power." - -Even Clark's old friend, The Tobacco's Son, had gone back to his -British father, and as always with Indians, dug up the red tomahawk. - -A committee of American citizens at Vincennes sent a flying express to -Clark. - -"This place that once trembled at your victorious arms, and these -savages overawed by your superior power, is now entirely anarchical -and we shudder at the daily expectation of horrid murder. We beg you -will write us by the earliest opportunity. Knowing you to be a friend -of the distressed we look to you for assistance." - -Such a call could not be ignored. Kentucky was aroused and summoned -her favourite General to the head of her army. From a sick bed he -arose to lead a thousand undisciplined men, and with him went his -brother William. - -The sultry sun scorched, the waters were low, provisions did not -arrive until nine days after the soldiers, and then were spoiled. -Fatigued, hungry, three hundred revolted and left; nevertheless, the -Indians had fled and Vincennes was recovered. - -Just then up the Wabash came a Spaniard with a boatload of valuable -goods. Clark promptly confiscated the cargo, and out of them paid his -destitute troops. - -"It is not alone retaliation," said Clark, "It is a warning. If Spain -will not let us trade down the river, she shall not trade up." - -Kentucky applauded. They even talked of sending Clark against the -Spaniards and of breaking away from a government that refused to aid -them. - -"General Clark seized Spanish goods?" Virginia was alarmed and -promptly repudiated the seizure. "We are not ready to fight Spain." - -Clark's friends were disturbed. "You will be hung." - -Clark laughed. "I will flee to the Indians first." - -"We have as much to fear from the turbulence of our backwoodsmen," -said Washington, "as from the hostility of the Spaniards." - -But at this very time, unknown to Washington, the Spaniards were -arming the savages of the south, to exterminate these reckless -ambitious frontiersmen. - -Louisiana feared these unruly neighbours. Intriguers from New Orleans -were whispering, "Break with the Atlantic States and league yourself -with Spain." - -Then came the rumour, "Jay proposes to shut up the Mississippi for -twenty-five years!" - -Never country was in such a tumult. - -"We are sold! We are vassals of Spain!" cried the men of the West. -"What? Close the Mississippi for twenty-five years as a price of -commercial advantage on the Atlantic coast? Twenty-five years when our -grain is rotting? Twenty-five years must we be cut off when the -Wilderness Road is thronged with packtrains, when the Ohio is black -with flatboats? Where do they think we are going to pen our people? -Where do they think we are going to ship our produce? Better put -twenty thousand men in the field at once and protect our own -interests." - -The bond was brittle; how easily might it be broken! - -Even Spain laughed at the weakness of a Union that could not command -Kentucky to give up its river. And Kentucky looked to Clark. "We must -conquer Spain or unite with her. We must have the Mississippi. Will -you march with us on New Orleans?" - -Then, happily, Virginia spoke out for the West. "We must aid them. -The free navigation of the Mississippi is the gift of nature to the -United States." - -The very next day Madison announced in the Virginia Assembly, "I shall -move the election of delegates to a Constitutional Convention." The -stability of the Union seemed pivoted upon an open river to the Gulf. - -Veterans of the Revolution and of the Continental Congress met to -frame a constitution in 1787. After weeks of deliberation with closed -doors, the immortal Congress adjourned. The Constitution was second -only to the Declaration of Independence. Without kings or princes a -free people had erected a Continental Republic. - -The Constitution was adopted, and all the way into Kentucky wilds were -heard the roaring of cannon and ringing of bells that proclaimed the -Father of his Country the first President of the United States. - -"We must cement the East and the West," said Washington. But that West -was drifting away--with its Mississippi. - -About this time young Daniel Boone said, "Father, I am going west." - -Just eighteen, one year older than William Clark, in the summer of -1787, he concluded to strike out for the Mississippi. - -"Well, Dannie boy, thee take the compass," said his father. - -It was the old guide, as large as a saucer, that Lord Dunmore gave -Boone when he sent him out to call in the surveyors from the Falls of -the Ohio thirteen years before. - -Mounted on his pony, with a wallet of corn and a rifle on his back, -Boone rode straight on westward thirty days without meeting a single -human being. Pausing on the river bank opposite St. Louis he hallooed -for an hour before any one heard him. - -"Dat some person on de oder shore," presently said old René -Kiercereaux, the chorister at the village church. - -A canoe was sent over and brought back Boone. As if a man had dropped -from the moon, French, Spanish, and Indian traders gathered. He spoke -not a word of French, but Auguste Chouteau's slave Petrie could talk -English. - -"Son of Boone, de great hunter? Come to my house!" - -"Come to _my_ house!" - -The hospitable Creoles strove with one another for the honour of -entertaining the son of Daniel Boone. For twelve years he spent his -summers in St. Louis and his winters in western Missouri, hunting and -trapping. - -"The best beaver country on earth," he wrote to his father. "You had -better come out." - -"Eef your father, ze great Colonel Boone, will remove to Louisiana," -said Seńor Zenon Trudeau, the Lieutenant-Governor, "eef he will become -a citizen of Spain, de King will appreciate de act and reward him -handsomely." - - - - -XXIV - -_ST. CLAIR_ - - -"Kentucky! Kentucky! I hear nothing else," exclaimed the Fighting -Parson of the Revolution, who had thrown aside his prayer-book and -gown to follow the armies of Washington. "If this western exodus -continues Virginia bids fair to be depopulated." Even Jack Jouett, who -had ridden to warn Jefferson of Tarleton's raid, had gone to become an -honoured member of Kentucky's first legislature. - -"Father, let me go." - -Charles Mynn Thruston, the son of the Fighting Parson, had long -desired to follow Fanny Clark, but his father held him back. Smiling -now at the ardour of his son, he said, "You may go, my boy. I am -thinking of the western country myself." - -Preparations were immediately made, business affairs settled, and a -farewell dinner brought friends to historic Mount Zion, the famous -Shenandoah seat of the Fighting Parson. - -"A strangah desiahs to know, sah, if he can get dinnah, sah," -announced black Sambo. - -"Certainly, certainly." Parson Thruston was the soul of hospitality. -"Bring him at once to the table, Sambo." - -The stranger seated himself and ate in silence. - -"I perceive," remarked the Parson after the courses had been removed, -"I perceive that you are a traveller. May I inquire whence you come?" - -Every ear was intent. "From Kentucky, sir," answered the stranger. - -"Ah, that is fortunate. I am about to leave for that country myself," -exclaimed young Thruston, "and shall be glad to hear such news as you -may have to communicate." - -The stranger smiled and pondered. "The only interesting incident that -I recall before my departure from Louisville, was the marriage of the -Kentucky belle, Miss Fanny Clark, to Dr. O'Fallon." - -As if struck by a bolt from heaven, Charles Mynn Thruston fell -unconscious to the floor. - -Dr. O'Fallon was a young Irish gentleman of talent and learning. An -intimate friend of the Governor of South Carolina, just before the -Revolution he had come to visit America, but espousing the cause of -the colonists, the Governor promptly clapped him into prison. - -"Imprisoned O'Fallon!" The people of Charleston arose, liberated him, -and drove the Governor to the British fleet in the harbour. - -Dr. O'Fallon enlisted as a private soldier. But surgeons were -needed,--he soon proved himself one of skill unexcelled in America. -General Washington himself ordered him north, and made him -Surgeon-General in his own army. Here he remained until the close of -the war, and was thanked by Congress for his services. - -And now he had visited Kentucky to assist in securing the navigation -of the Mississippi, and met--Fanny. With the charming Fanny as his -wife, Dr. O'Fallon rode many a mile in the woods, the first great -doctor of Louisville. - -Other emigrants were bringing other romances, and other tragedies. -"Ohio! Ohio! We hear nothing but Ohio!" said the people of New -England. - -One rainy April morning the "Mayflower," a flatboat with a second -Plymouth colony, turned into the Muskingum and founded a settlement. - -"Marie, Marie Antoinette,--did she not use her influence in behalf of -Franklin's mission to secure the acknowledgment of American -independence? Let us name our settlement Marietta." - -So were founded the cities of the French king and queen, Louisville -and Marietta. A few months later, Kentuckians went over and started -Cincinnati on the site of George Rogers Clark's old block-house. - -Into the Ohio, people came suddenly and in swarms, "institutional -Englishmen," bearing their household gods and shaping a state. - -"These men come wearing hats," said the Indians. Frenchmen wore -handkerchiefs and never tarried. - -Surveyors came. - -Squatting around their fires, with astonishment and fear the Indians -watched "the white man's devil," squinting over his compass and making -marks in his books. Wherever the magical instrument turned all the -best lands were bound with chains fast to the white man. - -The Indians foresaw their approaching destruction and hung nightly -along the river shore, in the thick brush under the sycamores, -stealing horses and sinking boats. With tomahawk in hand, a leader -among them was young Tecumseh. - -"The Ohio shall be the boundary. No white man shall plant corn in -Ohio!" cried the Indian. - -"Keep the Ohio for a fur preserve," whispered Detroit at his back. - -While wedding bells were ringing at Mulberry Hill, Marietta was -suffering. The gardens were destroyed by Indian marauders, the game -was driven off, and great was the privation within the walled town. - -That was the winter when Governor St. Clair came with his beautiful -daughter Louisa, the fleetest rider in the chase, the swiftest skater -on the ice, and, like all pioneer girls, so skilled with the rifle -that she could bring down the bird on the wing, the squirrel from the -tree. - -Creeping out over the crusty February snow, every family in the -settlement had its kettle in the sugar orchard boiling down the maple -sap. Corn-meal and sap boiled down together formed for many the daily -food. - -But with all the bravado of their hearts, men and women passed -sleepless vigils while the sentinel stood all night long in the lonely -watchtower of the middle blockhouse. At any moment might arise the -cry, "The Indians! The Indians are at the gates!" and with the long -roll of the drum beating alarm every gun was ready at a porthole and -every white face straining through the dark. - -When screaming wild geese steering their northern flight gave token of -returning spring, when the partridge drummed in the wood and the -turkey gobbled, when the red bird made vocal the forest and the -hawthorn and dogwood flung out their perfume, then too came the Indian -from his winter lair. - -"Ah," sighed many a mother, "I prefer the days of gloom and tempest, -for then the red man hugs his winter fire." - -Always among the first in pursuit of marauding Indians, William Clark -as a cadet had already crossed the Ohio with General Scott, "a youth -of solid and promising parts and as brave as Cćsar," said Dr. -O'Fallon. - -Joseph Brant, Thayendanegea, presented a memorial to Congress -insisting upon the Ohio as the Indian boundary. His son came down to -Marietta. - -"Ah, yes," was the whispered rumour at Marietta, "young Brant, the -educated son of the famous Mohawk leader, aspires to the hand of -Louisa St. Clair." But the Revolutionary General spurned his -daughter's dusky suitor. - -The next day after New Year's, 1791, the Indians swept down on -Marietta with the fiendish threat, "Before the trees put forth their -leaves again no white man's cabin shall smoke beyond the Ohio." - -"Capture St. Clair alive," bade the irate Mohawk chieftain. "Shoot his -horse under him but do not kill him." Did he hope yet to win consent -to his marriage with Louisa? - -The next heard of St. Clair was when the last shattered remnant of his -prostrate army fell back on Cincinnati, a defeat darker, more -annihilating, more ominous than Braddock's. - -"My God," exclaimed Washington, "it's all over! St. Clair's -defeated--routed; the officers are nearly all killed, the men by -wholesale; the rout is complete--too shocking to think of--and a -surprise into the bargain." - -No wonder Secretary Lear stood appalled as the great man poured forth -his wrath in the house at Philadelphia. - -Fifteen hundred went out from Cincinnati,--five hundred came back. A -thousand scalps had Thayendanegea. - -The news came to Mulberry Hill like a thunderbolt. Kentucky, even -Pittsburg, looked for an immediate savage inundation,--for was not all -that misty West full of warriors? The old fear leaped anew. Like an -irresistible billow they might roll over the unprotected frontier. - -From his bed of sickness General Clark started up. "Ah, Detroit! -Detroit! Hadst thou been taken my countrymen need not have been so -slaughtered." - -At Marietta, up in the woods and on the side hills, glittered -multitudes of fires, the camps of savages. Hunger added its pangs to -fear. The beleaguered citizens sent all the money they could raise by -two young men to buy salt, meat, and flour at Redstone-Old-Fort on the -Monongahela. Suddenly the river closed with ice; in destitution -Marietta waited. - -"They have run off with the money," said some. - -"They have been killed by Indians," said others. But again, as -suddenly, the ice broke, and early in March the young men joyfully -moored their precious Kentucky ark at the upper gate of the garrison -at Marietta. - - - - -XXV - -_THE SWORD OF "MAD ANTHONY" WAYNE_ - - -"Another defeat will ruin the reputation of the government," said -Washington, as he sent out "Mad Anthony" Wayne, the uproarious Quaker -general, with ruffles, queue, and cocked hat, the stormer of Stony -Point in the Revolution. - -In vain Wayne sent commissioners to treat with the Indians. Elated -with recent victories, "The Ohio shall be the boundary," was the -defiant answer. - -An Indian captured and brought to Wayne said of the British: "All -their speeches to us are red, red as blood. All the wampum and -feathers are painted red. Our war-pipes and hatchets are red. Even the -tobacco is red for war." - -"My mind and heart are upon that river," said Cornplanter, an Indian -chief, pointing to the Ohio. "May that water ever continue to be the -boundary between the Americans and the Indians." - -Commissioned by Washington First Lieutenant of the Fourth Sub-Legion, -on the first of September, 1792, William Clark crossed the Ohio and -spent the winter at Legionville where Wayne was collecting and -drilling his army. - -"I will have no six months men," said Wayne. "Two years will it take -to organise, drill, and harden them before we think of taking the -field." - -"We are certain to be scalped," whispered timorous ones, remembering -St. Clair's slaughter. Hundreds deserted. The very word Indian -inspired terror. - -But horse, foot, and artillery, he drilled them, the tremblers took -courage, and the government, at last awakened, stood firmly behind -with money and supplies. - -"Remember, Stony Point was stormed with unloaded muskets. See! You -must know the use of the broadsword and of the bayonet, a weapon -before which the savages cannot stand." - -At work went "Mad Anthony" teaching his men to load and fire upon the -run, to leap to the charge with loud halloos, anticipating all -possible conditions. - -"Charge in open order. Each man rely on himself, and expect a personal -encounter with the enemy." The men caught his spirit. Wayne's Legion -became a great military school. - -Now he was drilling superb Kentucky cavalry, as perfectly matched as -the armies of Europe, sorrel and bay, chestnut and gray, bush-whacking -and charging, leaping ravines and broken timber, outdoing the Indians -themselves in their desperate riding. - -And with all this drill, Wayne was erecting and garrisoning forts. In -the fall of 1793, Lieutenant Clark was dispatched to Vincennes. - -"It appears that all active and laborious commands fall on me," he -wrote to his brother Jonathan, in Virginia. "Not only labour, but I -like to have starved,--was frozen up in the Wabash twenty days without -provisions. In this agreeable situation had once more to depend on my -rifle." - -After several skirmishes with Indians, Lieutenant Clark returned to -Fort Washington (Cincinnati) in May, to be immediately dispatched with -twenty-one dragoons and sixty cavalry to escort seven hundred -packhorses laden with provisions and clothing to Greenville, a log -fort eighty miles north of Cincinnati. - -The Shawnees were watching. Upon this rich prize fell an ambuscade of -sixty Indians. Eight men were killed, the train began to retreat, when -Clark came dashing up from the rear, put the assailants to flight, and -saved the day. For this he was thanked by General Wayne. - -Washington, Jefferson, the whole country impatiently watched for news -of Wayne on the Ohio. - -Drill, drill, drill,--keeping out a cloud of scouts that no peering -Indian might discover his preparations, Wayne exercised daily now with -rifle, sabre, and bayonet until no grizzly frontiersman surpassed his -men at the target, no fox-hunter could leap more wildly, no swordsman -more surely swing the sharp steel home. At the sight young -Tennesseeans and Kentuckians, Virginians of the border and -Pennsylvanians of lifetime battle, were eager for the fray. - -About midsummer, 1794, Wayne moved out with his Legion, twenty-six -hundred strong, and halted at Fort Greenville for sixteen hundred -Kentucky cavalry. Brigades of choppers were opening roads here and -there to deceive. - -"This General that never sleeps is cutting in every direction," -whispered the watchful Shawnees. "He is the Black Snake." - -For a last time Wayne offered peace. His messengers were wantonly -murdered. - -The issue at Fallen Timbers lasted forty minutes,--the greatest Indian -battle in forty years of battle. Two thousand Indians crouching in the -brush looked to see the Americans dismount and tie their horses as -they did in St. Clair's battle,--but no, bending low on their horses -with gleaming sabres and fixed bayonets, on like a whirlwind came -thundering the American cavalry. - -"What was it that defeated us? It was the Big Wind, the Tornado," said -the Indians. - -Matchekewis was there from Sheboygan with his warriors, the Black -Partridge from Illinois, and Buckongahelas. The Shawnees had their -fill of fighting that day; Tecumseh fell back at the wild onset, -retreating inch by inch. - -William Clark led to the charge a column of Kentuckians and drove the -enemy two miles. But why enumerate in this irresistible legion, where -all were heroes on that 20th of August, 1794. - -Wayne's victory ended the Revolution. Ninety days after, Lord St. -Helens gave up Ohio in his treaty with Jay, and England bound herself -to deliver the northwestern posts that her fur traders had hung on to -so vainly. - -Niagara, Michilimackinac, Detroit, keys to the Lakes, _entrepôts_ to -all the fur trade of the Northwest, were lost to Britain for ever. It -was hardest to give up Detroit,--it broke up their route and added -many a weight to the weary packer's back when the fur trade had to -take a more northern outlet along the Ottawa. - -It was ten o'clock in the morning of July 11, 1796, when the -Detroiters peering through their glasses espied two vessels. "The -Yankees are coming!" - -A thrill went through the garrison, and even through the flag that -fluttered above. The last act in the war of independence was at hand. - -The four gates of Detroit opened to be closed no more, as the -drawbridge fell over the moat and the Americans marched into the -northern stronghold. It was Lernoult's old fort built so strenuously -in that icy winter of 1779-80, when "Clark is coming" was the -watchword of the north. Scarce a picket in the stockade had been -changed since that trying time. Blockhouse, bastion, and battery could -so easily have been taken, that even at this day we cannot suppress a -regret that Clark had not a chance at Detroit! - -Barefooted Frenchmen, dark-eyed French girls, and Indians, Indians -everywhere, came in to witness the transfer of Detroit. At noon, July -11, 1796, the English flag was lowered and the Stars and Stripes went -up where Clark would fain have hung them seventeen years before. - -And the old cellar of the council house! Like a tomb was its -revelation, for there, mouldered with the must of years, lay two -thousand scalps, long tresses of women, children's golden curls, and -the wiry locks of men, thrown into that official cellar in those awful -days that now were ended. - -The merry Frenchmen on their pipestem farms,--for every inhabitant -owned his pathway down to the river,--the merry Frenchmen went on -grinding their corn by their old Dutch windmills, went on pressing -their cider in their gnarled old apple orchards. They could not change -the situation if they would, and they would not if they could. The -lazy windmills of Detroit swung round and round as if it had been ever -thus. Still the Indians slid in and out and still the British traders -lingered, loath to give up the fur trade of the Lakes. - -The next year after Wayne's victory the last buffalo in Ohio was -killed, and in 1796 the first American cabins were built at Cleveland -and Chillicothe. For the first time the Ohio, the great highway, was -safe. Passenger boats no longer had bullet-proof cabins, no longer -trailed cannon on their gunwales. In that year twenty thousand -emigrants passed down the Ohio. Astonished and helpless the red men -saw the tide. By 1800 there were more whites in the Mississippi valley -than there were Indians in all North America. - - - - -XXVI - -_THE SPANIARD_ - - -Early in April of 1793 a company of French merchants sat at a dinner -in New Orleans. Before them magnolias bloomed in the plaza. Out in the -harbour their vessels were flying the Spanish flag. - -"Spain has declared war against France. A French frigate is sailing -for the Gulf." - -Like a bomb the announcement burst in their midst. - -The fine and handsome face of Charles De Pauw was lit with -determination. He had come over with Lafayette, and had invested a -fortune in the new world. - -"My ships are in danger. I will haul down the Spanish colours and -float the American flag. Long enough have the Frenchmen of Missouri -and Illinois endured the Spanish yoke. Long enough have our cargoes -been confiscated and our trade ruined by unnecessary and tyrannical -restrictions." - -"But America will not help us." - -"The Kentuckians will," answered De Pauw. "Already they are begging -George Rogers Clark to march on New Orleans." - -A huzza rang round the table. "We shall be here to help him." - -"Every settlement that borders the Mississippi will join with us. -Spain rules to Pittsburg, dictates prices, opens and closes markets. -Will Americans endure that? From New Orleans to British America, Spain -stretches an invisible cordon, 'thus far and no farther.' All beyond -is the private park of Don Carlos IV." - -"What will Congress do?" - -"Congress?" echoed another. "What does it matter to those people -beyond the Alleghanies? They are very far away. Europe is not so -remote. Our interests lie with Mississippi and the sea." - -"But that would dismember the Union." - -"Will it dismember the Union for the Louisianians to break their -fetter from Spain and thereby give us a market clear of duty? The -Kentuckians, equally with us, are irritated at the Spanish Government. -We have a right to strike Spain." - -Charles De Pauw renamed his schooner the "Maria" and sailed out of the -Gulf under the Stars and Stripes. On the way to New York he met the -frigate returning that brought the French minister, Charles Genet, to -Charleston. - -Acres of flatboats lay freighted on the dimpling Ohio. Corn, wheat, -oats, rye,--the worn-out tobacco lands of Virginia knew nothing like -it. But the Spaniard stood at the gate and locked up the river. - -"A King?" Americans laughed at the fancy. "A King to check or hinder -us in our rights? Who shall refuse us? Are we not Americans?" - -"The Mississippi is ours," cried Kentucky. "By the law of nature, by -the authority of numbers, by the right of necessity. If Congress will -not give it to us, we must take it ourselves." - -And now France-- - -George Rogers Clark was profoundly moved by the French crusade for -liberty. "We owe it to France to help her. Was not France our friend -in the time of trouble?" - -Then he wrote to the French minister, tendering his services to France -in her arduous struggle: - - "I would begin with St. Louis, a rich, large, and populous - town, and by placing two or three frigates within the - Mississippi's mouth (to guard against Spanish succours) I - would engage to subdue New Orleans, and the rest of - Louisiana. If farther aided I would capture Pensacola; and - if Santa Fé and the rest of New Mexico were objects--I know - their strength and every avenue leading to them, for - conquest.--All the routes as well as the defenceless - situation of those places are perfectly known to me and I - possess draughts of all their defences, and estimates of - the greatest force which could oppose me. If France will be - hearty and secret in this business my success borders on - certainty.--The route from St. Louis to Santa Fé is easy, - and the places not very distant.... To save Congress from a - rupture with Spain on our account, we must first expatriate - ourselves and become French citizens. This is our - intention." - -On its errand of good or ill the letter sped to the French minister to -the United States, and lo! that minister was Genet, just landed at -Charleston. - -Genet had come from Revolutionary France, at this moment fighting all -Europe, so frightfully had upblazed the tiny spark of liberty borne -back by the soldiers of Rochambeau. - -André Michaux was instructed to hasten to the Falls of the Ohio with -this message to George Rogers Clark: - -"The French minister has filled out this blank commission from his -Government making you a Marshal of France, Major General and -Commander-in-Chief of the French Legion on the Mississippi." - -Thus had Genet answered the letter. - -New Orleans was watching. "The Americans are threatening us with an -army assembling on the Ohio," wrote Carondelet in alarm to Spain. - -"Ill-disposed and fanatical citizens in this Capital," he added, -"restless and turbulent men infatuated with Liberty and Equality, are -increased with every vessel that comes from the ports of France." - -He begged Spain to send him troops from Cuba. He begged the Captain -General of Cuba to send him troops from Havana. - -Gayoso put his fort at Vicksburg in defence and Carondelet sent up a -division of galleys to New Madrid and St. Louis. - -But Carondelet, the Governor of Louisiana, had his hands full. -Frenchmen of his own city were signing papers to strike a blow for -France. He would build defences,--they opposed and complained of his -measures. Merchants and others whose business suffered by the -uncertainties of commerce took no responsibility as the domineering -little Baron endeavoured to fortify New Orleans with palisaded wall, -towers, and a moat seven feet deep and forty feet wide. - -"It may happen that the enemy will try to surprise the plaza on a dark -night," said the Baron. - -All the artillery was mounted. Haughty Spanish cavaliers with swords -and helmets paced the parapets of the grim pentagonal bastions. -Watchmen with spears and lanterns guarded the gates below. The city -was in terror of assault. At every rise of the river Carondelet looked -for a filibustering army out of the north. By every ship runners were -sent to Spain. - -News of the intended raid penetrated even the Ursuline Convent. Sister -Infelice paled when she heard it, gave a little gasp, and fainted. - -"Clearly she fears, the gentle sister fears these northern -barbarians," remarked the Mother Superior. "Take her to her chamber." - -And St. Louis,--not since 1780 had she been so alarmed. The Governor -constructed a square redoubt flanked by bastions, dug a shallow moat, -and raised a fort on the hill. Seventeen grenadiers with drawn sabres -stood at the drawbridge. - -"Immediately on the approach of the enemy, retreat to New Madrid," was -the order of this puissant Governor. - -George Rogers Clark, who had planned and executed the conquest of -Illinois, burned now for the conquest of Louisiana. And the West -looked to him; she despised and defied the Spaniard as she despised -and defied the Indian. They blocked the way, they must depart. - -Clark's old veteran officers Christy, Logan, Montgomery, sent word -they would serve under his command. The French squadron at -Philadelphia was to set sail for the Gulf. - -Major Fulton and Michaux, Clark's right-hand men, travelled all over -the West enlisting men, provisions, and money. De Pauw engaged to -furnish four hundred barrels of flour and a thousand-weight of bacon, -and to send brass cannon over the mountains. In December Clark's men -were already cutting timber to build boats on the Bear Grass. Five -thousand men were to start in the Spring, provided Congress did not -oppose and Genet could raise a million dollars. - -In despair Carondelet wrote home, saying that if the project planned -was carried into effect, he would have no other alternative but to -surrender. - -"Having no reinforcements to hope for from Havana, I have no further -hope than in the faults the enemy may commit and in accidents which -may perhaps favour us." - -Carondelet gave up. In March he wrote again, "The commandant at Post -Vincennes has offered cannon for the use of the expedition." - -Early in January Clark was writing to De Pauw, "Have your stores at -the Falls by the 20th of February, as in all probability we shall -descend the river at that time." - -Montgomery reported, "arms and ammunition, five hundred bushels of -corn and ten thousand pounds of pork, also twenty thousand weight of -buffalo beef, eleven hundred weight of bear meat, seventy-four pair -venison hams, and some beef tongues." - -With two hundred men Montgomery lay at the mouth of the Ohio ready to -cross over. Not ninety Spaniards of regular troops were there to -defend St. Louis, and two hundred militia, and the Governor had only -too much reason to fear that St. Louis would open her gates and join -the invader. All that was lacking was money. Hundreds of Kentuckians -waited the signal to take down their guns and march on New Orleans. - -But the ministers of Spain and of Great Britain had not been quiet. -They both warned Washington. Could he hold the lawless West? It was a -problem for statesmen. - -Jefferson wrote to Governor Shelby of Kentucky to restrain the -expedition. - -"I have grave doubts," Governor Shelby answered, "whether there is any -legal authority to restrain or to punish them. For, if it is lawful -for any one citizen of the state to leave it, it is equally so for any -number of them to do it. It is also lawful for them to carry any -quantity of provisions, arms, and ammunition.--I shall also feel but -little inclination to take an active part in punishing or retaining -any of my fellow citizens for a supposed intention only, to gratify -the fears of the ministers of a prince who openly withholds from us an -invaluable right, and who secretly instigates against us a most savage -and cruel enemy." - -Washington promptly issued a proclamation of neutrality and requested -the recall of Genet. From the new Minister of France Clark received -formal notice that the conquest of Louisiana was abandoned. But Spain -had had her fright. She at once opened the river, and the mass of -collected produce found its way unimpeded to the sea. - -In June Congress passed a law for ever forbidding such expeditions. - -"I have learned that the Spaniards have built a fort at Chickasaw -Bluff, on this side of the river," said General Wayne, one night in -September, 1795, summoning William Clark to his headquarters. "I -desire you to go down to the commanding officer on the west side and -inquire his intentions." - -Why, of all that army, had Wayne chosen the young lieutenant of the -Fourth Sub-Legion for this errand? Was it because he bore the name of -Clark? Very well; both knew why Spain had advanced to the Chickasaw -Bluff. - -As Washington went forty years before to inquire of the French, "Why -are you building forts on the Ohio?" so now William Clark, on board -the galiot, "La Vigilante," dropped down to New Madrid and asked the -Spaniard, "Why are you building forts on the Mississippi?" - -Down came Charles De Hault De Lassus, the Commandant himself. "I -assure you we have been very far from attempting to usurp the -territory of a nation with whom we desire to remain in friendship," -protested the courtly Commandant with a wave of his sword and a -flutter of his plume. "But the threats of the French republicans -living in the United States,"--he paused for a reply. - -"Calm yourself," replied Lieutenant Clark. "Read here the pacific -intentions of my country." - -None better than William Clark understood the virtues of conciliation -and persuasion. "I assure you that the United States is disposed to -preserve peace with all the powers of Europe, and with Spain -especially." - -With mutual expressions of esteem and cordial parting salvos, -Lieutenant Clark left his Spanish friends with a mollified feeling -toward "those turbulent Americans." - -Nevertheless George Rogers Clark had opened the river, to be closed -again at peril. - -Among the soldiers at Wayne's camp that winter was Lieutenant -Meriwether Lewis, "just from the Whiskey Rebellion," he said. Between -him and William Clark, now Captain Clark, there sprang up the most -intimate friendship. - -"The nature of the Insurrection?" remarked Lewis in his camp talks with -Clark. "Why, the Pennsylvania mountaineers about Redstone-Old-Fort -refused to pay the whiskey tax, stripped, tarred, and feathered the -collectors! 'The people must be taught obedience,' said General -Washington, and, after all peaceable means failed, he marched fifteen -thousand militia into the district. The thought that Washington was -coming at the head of troops made them reconsider. They sent -deputations to make terms about the time of Wayne's battle. We built -log huts and forted for the winter on the Monongahela about fifteen -miles above Pittsburg." - -"And so the Spaniards have come to terms?" queried Lewis as Clark -still remained silent. - -"Yes, they have opened the river." - -"I came near being in the midst of that," continued Lewis. "Michaux -came to Charlottesville. I was eighteen, just out of school and eager -for adventure. Michaux was to explore the West. Mr. Jefferson had a -plan for sending two people across the Rocky Mountains. I begged to -go, and probably should, had not Michaux been recalled when the new -French minister came in." - -"Rest assured," replied Clark solemnly, "no exploration of the West -can ever be made while Spain holds Louisiana." - - - - -XXVII - -_THE BROTHERS_ - - -"My claim is as just as the book we swear by." - -The hero of the heroic age of the Middle West was discussing his debts -for the conquest of Illinois. "I have given the United States half the -territory they possess, and for them to suffer me to remain in poverty -in consequence of it will not redound to their honour. I engaged in -the Revolution with all the ardour that youth could possess. My zeal -and ambition rose with my success, determined to save those countries -which had been the seat of my toil, at the hazard of my life and -fortune. - -"At the most gloomy period of the war when a ration could not be -purchased on public credit, I risked my own credit, gave my bonds, -mortgaged my lands for supplies, paid strict attention to every -department, flattered the friendly and confused the hostile tribes of -Indians, by my emissaries baffled my internal enemies (the most -dangerous of all to public interest), and carried my point. - -"Thus at the end of the war I had the pleasure of seeing my country -secure, but with the loss of my manual activity. Demands of very great -amount were not paid, others with depreciated paper. Now suits are -commenced against me, for those sums in specie. My military and other -lands, earned by my services, are appropriated for the payment of -these debts, and demands yet are remaining, to a considerable amount -more than the remains of a shattered fortune will pay. - -"This is truly my situation. I see no other recourse remaining but to -make application to my country for redress." - -Brooding over his troubles, George Rogers Clark had built himself a -little cabin at the Point of Rock, overlooking the Falls of the Ohio, -and gone into a self-chosen St. Helena. The waves dashed and roared -below and the mist arose, as he looked out on Corn Island, scene of -his earliest exploit. - -A library of handsome books was the principal ornament the house -contained. Reading, hunting, fishing, he passed his days, while the -old negro servants attended to the kitchen and the garden. - -"I have come," answered his brother William, "I have retired from the -army, to devote myself to you. Now what can be done?" - -"Done? Look at these bills. Gratiot's is paid, thank God, or he would -have been a ruined man. Monroe helped him through with that. And -Menard's? That is shelved at Richmond for fifty years." General Clark -turned the leaves of his note-book. - -"And Vigo? But for him I could never have surprised Vincennes. He was -the best friend I had, and the best still, except you, William." - -A singular affection bound these two brothers. It seemed almost as if -William took up the life of George Rogers where it was broken off, and -carried it on to a glorious conclusion. - -"Virginia acknowledges Vigo's debt, certifies that it has never been -paid but she has ceded those lands to the Government. Who then shall -pay it but Congress? The debt was necessary and lawful in contracting -for supplies for the conquest of Illinois. Could I have done with -less? God knows we went with parched corn only in our wallets and -depended on our rifles for the rest. Tell him to keep the draft, -Virginia will pay it, or Congress, some time or other, with interest." - -Again, at William's persuasion, the General came home to Mulberry -Hill. An expert horseman, everybody in Louisville knew Captain Clark, -who, wrapped in his cloak, came spurring home night after night on his -blooded bay, with York at his side, darkness nor swollen fords nor -wildly beating storms stopping his journey as he came bearing news to -his brother. - -"I have ridden for brother George in the course of this year upwards -of three thousand miles," wrote the Captain to his brother Edmund, in -December, 1797, "continually in the saddle, attempting to save him, -and have been serviceable to him in several instances. I have but a -few days returned from Vincennes attending a suit for twenty-four -thousand dollars against him." - -These long journeys included tours to St. Louis, Vincennes, Kaskaskia, -among the General's old debtors, proving that the articles for which -he was sued were for his troops, powder and military stores. - -"The General is very ill again," said father Clark, walking up and -down the entry before the chamber door. The old man's severe -countenance always relaxed when he spoke of "the General." Of all his -children, George Rogers was the one least expected to fall into -dissipation, but now in rheumatic distress, old before his time, -George Rogers sometimes drank. - -"Cover him, shield him, let not the world witness my brother's -weakness," William would say at such times, affectionately detaining -him at Mulberry Hill. - -Glancing into the dining-room, the white-haired cavalier noticed Fanny -and her children and others sitting around the table. Preoccupied, the -old man approached, and leaning over a chair delivered an impressive -grace. - -"Now, my children, you can eat your dinner. Do not wait for me," and -again he took up his walk in the entry outside the chamber door. A -smile wreathed the faces of all; there was no dinner; they were simply -visiting near the table. - -With children and grandchildren around him, the house at Mulberry Hill -was always full. At Christmas or Thanksgiving, when Lucy came with her -boys from Locust Grove, "Well, my children," father Clark would say, -"if I thought we would live, mother and I, five years longer, I would -build a new house." - -But the day before Christmas, 1798, the silky white hair of Ann Rogers -Clark was brushed back for the last time, in the home that her taste -had beautified with the groves and flowers of Mulberry Hill. - -More and more frequently the old cavalier retired to his rustic arbour -in the garden. - -"I must hunt up father, he will take cold," William would say; and -there on a moonlight night, on his knees in prayer, the old man would -be found, among the cedars and honeysuckles of Mulberry Hill. - -"Why do you dislike old John Clark," some one asked of a neighbour -when the venerable man lay on his death-bed. - -"What? I dislike old John Clark? I revere and venerate him. His piety -and virtues may have been a reproach, but I reverence and honour old -John Clark." - -By will the property was divided, and the home at Mulberry Hill went -to William. - -"In case Jonathan comes to Kentucky he may be willing to buy the -place," said William. "If he does I shall take the cash to pay off -these creditors of yours." - -"Will you do that?" exclaimed George Rogers Clark gratefully. "I can -make it good to you when these lands of mine come into value." - -"Never mind that, brother, never mind that. The honour of the family -demands it. And those poor Frenchmen are ruined." - -"Indians are at the Falls!" - -Startled, even now the citizens of Louisville were ready to fly out -with shotguns in memory of old animosities. - -Nothing chills the kindlier impulses like an Indian war. Children -age, young men frost and wrinkle, women turn into maniacs. Every log -hut had its bedridden invalid victim of successive frights and nervous -prostration. Only the stout and sturdy few survived in after days to -tell of those fierce times when George Rogers Clark was the hope and -safety of the border. To these, the Indian was a serpent in the path, -a panther to be hunted. - -"Hist! go slow. 'Tis the Delaware chiefs come down to visit George -Rogers Clark," said Simon Kenton. - -In these days of peace, remembering still their old terror of the Long -Knife, a deputation of chiefs had come to visit Clark. In paint and -blankets, with lank locks flapping in the breeze, they strode up the -catalpa avenue, sniffing the odours of Mulberry Hill. General Clark -looked from the window. Buckongahelas led the train, with Pierre -Drouillard, the interpreter. - -Drouillard had become, for a time, a resident of Kentucky. Simon -Kenton, hearing that the preserver of his life had fallen into -misfortune since the surrender of Detroit, sent for him, gave him a -piece of his farm, and built him a cabin. George Drouillard, a son, -named for George III., was becoming a famous hunter on the -Mississippi. - -"We have come," said Buckongahelas, "to touch the Long Knife." - -Before Clark realised what they were doing, the Indians had snipped -off the tail of his blue military coat with their hunting knives. - -"This talisman will make us great warriors," said Buckongahelas, -carefully depositing a fragment in his bosom. - -Clark laughed, but from that time the Delaware King and his braves -were frequent visitors to the Long Knife, who longed to live in the -past, forgetting misfortune. - -But George Rogers Clark was not alone in financial disaster. St. Clair -had expended a fortune in the cause of his country and at last, -accompanied by his devoted daughter, retired to an old age of penury. - -Boone, too, had his troubles. Never having satisfied the requirements -of law concerning his claim, he was left landless in the Kentucky he -had pioneered for civilisation. Late one November day in 1798 he was -seen wending his way through the streets of Cincinnati, with Rebecca -and all his worldly possessions mounted on packhorses. - -"Where are you going?" queried an old-time acquaintance. - -"Too much crowded, too many people. I am going west where there is -more elbow room." - -"Ze celebrated Colonel Boone ees come to live een Louisiana," said the -Spanish officers of St. Louis. The Stars and Stripes and the yellow -flag of Spain were hung out side by side, and the garrison came down -out of the stone fort on the hill to parade in honour of Daniel Boone. - -No such attentions had ever been paid to Daniel Boone at home. He -dined with the Governor at Government House and was presented with a -thousand arpents of land, to be located wherever he pleased, "in the -district of the Femme Osage." - -Beside a spring on a creek flowing into the Missouri Boone built his -pioneer cabin, beyond the farthest border settlement. - -"Bring a hundred more American families and we will give you ten -thousand arpents of land," said the Governor. - -Back to his old Kentucky stamping ground went Boone, and successfully -piloted out a settlement of neighbours and comrades. Directly, Colonel -Daniel Boone was made Commandant of the Femme Osage District. His word -became law in the settlement, and here he held his court under a -spreading elm that stands to-day, the Judgment Tree of Daniel Boone. - - - - -XXVIII - -_THE MAID OF FINCASTLE_ - - -In the autumn days as the century was closing, William Clark set out -for Virginia, as his brother had done in other years. Kentucky was -filled with old forts, neglected bastions, moats, and blockhouses, -their origin forgotten. Already the builders had passed on westward. - -The Boone trace was lined now with settlements, a beaten bridle-path -thronged with emigrant trains kicking up the dust. Through the -frowning portals of Cumberland Gap, Captain Clark and his man York -galloped into Virginia. - -From the southern border of Virginia to the Potomac passes the old -highway, between the Alleghanies and the Blue Ridge. Cantering -thoughtfully along under the broad-leaved locusts and laurels, a -melody like the laugh of wood-nymphs rippled from the forest. - -"Why don't he go?" cried a musical feminine voice. "Oh, Harriet, -Harriet!" With more laughter came a rustling of green leaves. Parting -the forest curtain to discover the source of this unusual commotion, -Captain Clark descried two girls seated on a small pony, switching -with all their slender energy. - -"His feet are set. He will not move, Judy." - -Leaping at once from his saddle, the Captain bowed low to the maidens -in distress. "Can I be of any assistance?" - -The sudden apparition of a handsome soldier in tri-cornered hat and -long silk hose quite took their breath away. - -"Thank you, sir knight," answered the blonde with a flush of -bewitching colour. "Firefly, my pony, seems to object to carrying two, -but we cannot walk across that ford. My cousin and I have on our satin -slippers." - -The Captain laughed, and taking the horse's bridle easily led them -beyond the mountain rill that dashed across their pathway. - -"And will you not come to my father's house?" inquired the maiden. "It -is here among the trees." - -Clark looked,--the roof and gables of a comfortable Virginian mansion -shone amid the greenery. "I fear not. I must reach Colonel Hancock's -to-night." - -"This is Colonel Hancock's," the girls replied with a smothered laugh. - -At a signal, York lifted the five-barred gate and all passed in to the -long green avenue. - -"The brother of my old friend, General George Rogers Clark!" exclaimed -Colonel Hancock. "Glad to see you, glad to see you. Many a time has he -stopped on this road." - -The Hancocks were among the founders of Virginia. With John Smith the -first one came over "in search of Forrest for his building of Ships," -and was "massacred by ye salvages at Thorp's House, Berkeley Hundred." - -General Hancock, the father of the present Colonel, equipped a -regiment for his son at the breaking out of the Revolution. On -Pulaski's staff, the young Colonel received the body of the -illustrious Pole as he fell at the siege of Savannah. - -From his Sea Island plantations and the sound of war in South -Carolina, General Hancock, old and in gout, set out for Virginia. But -Pulaski had fallen and his son was a prisoner under Cornwallis. -Attended only by his daughter Mary and a faithful slave, the General -died on the way and was buried by Uncle Primus on the top of King's -Mountain some weeks before the famous battle. - -Released on parole and finding his fortune depleted, Colonel George -Hancock read Blackstone and the Virginia laws, took out a license, -married, and settled at Fincastle. Here his children were born, of -whom Judy was the youngest daughter. Later, by the death of that -heroic sister Mary, a niece had come into the family, Harriet -Kennerly. These were the girls that Captain Clark had encountered in -his morning ride among the mountains of Fincastle. - -"Your brother, the General, and I journeyed together to Philadelphia, -when he was Commissioner of Indian affairs. Is he well and enjoying -the fruits of his valour?" continued the Colonel. - -"My brother is disabled, the result of exposure in his campaigns. He -will never recover. I am now visiting Virginia in behalf of his -accounts with the Assembly,--they have never been adjusted. He even -thought you, his old friend, might be able to lend assistance, either -in Virginia or in Congress." - -"I am honoured by the request. You may depend upon me." - -Colonel George Hancock had been a member of the Fourth Congress in -Washington's administration, and with a four-horse family coach -travelled to and from Philadelphia attending the sessions. - -Here the little Judy's earliest recollections had been of the -beautiful Dolly Todd who was about to wed Mr. Madison. Jefferson was -Secretary of State then, and his daughters, Maria and Martha, came -often to visit Judy's older sisters, Mary and Caroline. - -Judy's hair was a fluff of gold then; shading to brown, it was a fluff -of gold still, that Granny Molly found hard to keep within bounds. -Harriet, her cousin, of dark and splendid beauty, a year or two older, -was ever the inseparable companion of Judy Hancock. - -"Just fixing up the place again," explained Colonel Hancock. "It has -suffered from my absence at Philadelphia. A tedious journey, a tedious -journey from Fincastle." - -But to the children that journey had been a liberal education. The -long bell-trains of packhorses, the rumbling Conestogas, the bateaux -and barges, the great rivers and dense forests, the lofty mountains -and wide farmlands, the towns and villages, Philadelphia itself, were -indelibly fixed in their memory and their fancy. - -Several times in the course of the next few years, William Clark had -occasion to visit Virginia in behalf of his brother, and each time -more and more he noted the budding graces of the maids of Fincastle. - - - - -XXIX - -_THE PRESIDENT'S SECRETARY_ - - -The funeral bells of Washington tolled in 1800. President Washington -was dead. Napoleon was first Consul of France. The old social systems -of Europe were tottering. The new social system of America was -building. The experiment of self-government had triumphed, and out of -the storm-tossed seas still grandly rode the Constitution. Out of the -birth of parties and political excitement, Thomas Jefferson came to -the Presidency. - -The stately mansion of Monticello was ablaze with light. Candles lit -up every window. Not only Monticello, but all Charlottesville was -illuminated, with torches, bonfires, tar-barrels. Friends gathered -with congratulations and greeting. - -As Washington had turned with regret from the banks of the Potomac to -fill the first presidency, and as Patrick Henry, the gifted, chafed in -Congressional halls, so now Jefferson with equal regret left the -shades of Monticello. - -"No pageant shall give the lie to my democratic principles," he said, -as in plain citizen clothes with a few of his friends he repaired to -the Capital and took the oath of office. And by his side, with -luminous eyes and powdered hair, sat Aaron Burr, the Vice-President. - -Jefferson, in the simplicity of his past, had penned everything for -himself. Now he began to feel the need of a secretary. There were many -applicants, but the President's eye turned toward the lad who nine -years before had begged to go with Michaux to the West. - -"The appointment to the Presidency of the United States has rendered -it necessary for me to have a private secretary," he wrote to -Meriwether Lewis. "Your knowledge of the western country, of the army -and of all its interests, has rendered it desirable that you should -be engaged in that office. In point of profit it has little to offer, -the salary being only five hundred dollars, but it would make you know -and be known to characters of influence in the affairs of our -country." - -Meriwether was down on the Ohio. In two weeks his reply came back from -Pittsburg. "I most cordially acquiesce, and with pleasure accept the -office, nor were further motives necessary to induce my compliance -than that you, sir, should conceive that in the discharge of the -duties, I could be serviceable to my country as well as useful to -yourself." - -As soon as he could wind up his affairs, Captain Lewis, one of the -handsomest men in the army, appeared in queue and cocked hat, silk -stockings and knee buckles, at the President's house in wide and windy -Washington to take up his duties as private secretary. - -From his earliest recollection, Meriwether Lewis had known Thomas -Jefferson, as Governor in the days of Tarleton's raid, and as a -private farmer and neighbour at Monticello. After Meriwether's mother -married Captain Marks and moved to Georgia, Jefferson went to France, -and his uncle, Colonel Nicholas Lewis, looked after the finances of -the great estate at Monticello. - -Under the guardianship of that uncle, Meriwether attended the school -of Parson Maury, the same school where Jefferson had been fitted for -college. - -He remembered, too, that day when Jefferson came back from France and -all the slaves at Monticello rushed out and drew the carriage up by -hand, crowding around, kissing his hands and feet, blubbering, -laughing, crying. How the slaves fell back to admire the young ladies -that had left as mere children! Martha, a stately girl of seventeen, -and little Maria, in her eleventh year, a dazzling vision of beauty. -Ahead of everybody ran the gay and sunny Jack Eppes to escort his -little sweetheart. - -Both daughters were married now, and with families of their own, so -more than ever Jefferson depended on Meriwether Lewis. They occupied -the same chamber and lived in a degree of intimacy that perhaps has -subsisted between no other president and his private secretary. - -With his favourite Chickasaw horses, Arcturus and Wildair, the -President rode two hours every day, Meriwether often with him, -directing the workmen on the new Capitol, unfinished still amid stone -and masonry tools. - -Washington himself chose the site, within an amphitheatre of hills -overlooking the lordly Potomac where he camped as a youth on -Braddock's expedition. Washington, Jefferson, Madison, riding ever to -and from Mount Vernon, Monticello, and Montpelier, discussed the plans -and set the architects to work. Now it fell to Jefferson to carry on -what Washington had so well begun. - -Thomas Jefferson was a social man, and loved a throng about him. The -vast and vacant halls of the White House would have been dreary but -for the retinue of guests. Eleven servants had been brought from -Monticello, and half-a-dozen from Paris,--Petit, the butler, M. -Julien, the cook, a French _chef_, Noel, the kitchen boy, and Joseph -Rapin, the steward. Every morning Rapin went to the Georgetown market, -and Meriwether Lewis gave him his orders. - -"For I need you, Meriwether, not only for the public, but as well for -the private concerns of the household," said the President -affectionately. "And I depend on you to assist in entertaining." - -"At the head of the table, please," said the President, handing in -Mrs. Madison. "I shall have to request you to act as mistress of the -White House." - -In his own youth Jefferson had cherished an affection for Dolly -Madison's mother, the beautiful Mary Coles, so it became not difficult -to place her daughter in the seat of honour. - -There were old-style Virginia dinners, with the art of Paris, for ever -after his foreign experience Jefferson insisted on training his own -servants in the French fashion. At four they dined, and sat and talked -till night, Congressmen, foreigners, and all sorts of people, with the -ever-present cabinet. - -James Madison, Secretary of State, was a small man, easy, dignified, -and fond of conversation, with pale student face like a young -theologian just out of the cloister. Dolly herself powdered his hair, -tied up his queue, and fastened his stock; very likely, too, -prescribed his elegant knee breeches and buckles and black silk -stockings, swans' down buff vest, long coat, and lace ruffles. "A very -tasty old-school gentleman," said the guests of the White House. - -Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury, born and bred a scholar, -was younger than either Madison or Jefferson, well read, with a -slightly Genevan accent, and a prominent nose that marked him a man of -affairs. - -But everything revolved about Jefferson, in the village of Washington -and in the country at large. Next to General Washington he filled the -largest space in public esteem. - -Slim, tall, and bony, in blue coat faced with yellow, green velveteen -breeches, red plush waist-coat and elaborate shirt frill, long -stockings and slippers with silver buckles,--just so had he been ever -since his Parisian days, picturesquely brilliant in dress and speech, -talking, talking, ever genially at the White House. - -Before the "Mayflower" brought the first Puritans to New England the -Jeffersons had settled in Virginia. The President's mother was a -Randolph of patrician blood. A hundred servants attended in Isham -Randolph's, her father's house. Peter Jefferson, his father, was a -democrat of democrats, a man of the people. Perhaps Thomas had felt -the sting of Randolph pride that a daughter had married a homely -rawboned Jefferson, but all the man in him rose up for that Jefferson -from whom he was sprung. Thomas Jefferson, the son, was just such a -thin homely rawboned youth as his father had been. Middle age brought -him good looks, old age made him venerable, an object of adoration to -a people. - -Always up before sunrise, he routed out Meriwether. There were -messages to send, or letters to write, or orders for Rapin before the -round disk of day reddened the Potomac. - -No woman ever brushed his gray neglected hair tied so loosely in a -club behind; it was Jeffersonian to have it neglected and tumbled all -over his head. Everybody went to the White House for instruction, -entertainment; and Jefferson--was Jefferson. - -Of course he had his enemies, even there. Twice a month Colonel Burr, -the Vice-President, the great anti-Virginian, dined at the White -House. Attractive in person, distinguished in manner, all looked upon -Colonel Burr as next in the line of Presidential succession. He came -riding back and forth between Washington and his New York residence at -Richmond Hill, and with him the lovely Theodosia, the intimate friend -of Dolly Madison and Mrs. Gallatin. - -Lewis understood some of the bitter and deadly political controversies -that were smothered now under the ever genial conversation of the -President, for Jefferson, the great apostle of popular sovereignty, -could no more conceal his principles than he could conceal his -personality. Everything he discussed,--science, politics, philosophy, -art, music. None there were more widely read, none more travelled than -the President. - -But he dearly loved politics. Greater, perhaps, was Jefferson in -theory than in execution. His eye would light with genius, as he -propounded his views. - -"Science, did you say? The main object of all science is the freedom -and happiness of man, and these are the sole objects of all legitimate -government. Why, Washington himself hardly believed that so liberal a -government as this could succeed, but he was resolved to give the -experiment a trial. And now, our people are throwing aside the -monarchical and taking up the republican form, with as much ease as -would have attended their throwing off an old and putting on a new -suit of clothes. I am persuaded that no Constitution was ever before -so well calculated as ours for extensive empire." - -To Jefferson it had fallen to overthrow church establishment and -entail and primogeniture in Virginia, innovations that were followed -by all the rest of the States. - -"At least," pleaded an opponent, "if the eldest may no longer inherit -all the lands and all the slaves of his father, let him take a double -share." - -"No," said Jefferson, "not until he can eat a double allowance of -food and do a double allowance of work. Instead of an aristocracy of -wealth, I would make an opening for an aristocracy of virtue and -talent." - -"But see to what Mr. Jefferson and his levelling system has brought -us," cried even John Randolph of Roanoke, as one after another of the -estates of thousands of acres slid into the hands of the people. - -He prohibited the importation of slaves, and, if he could have done -it, would have abolished slavery itself before it became the despair -of a people. - -"Franklin a great orator? Why, no, he never spoke in Congress more -than five minutes at a time, and then he related some anecdote which -applied to the subject before the House. I have heard all the -celebrated orators of the National Assembly of France, but there was -not one equal to Patrick Henry." - -And then, confidentially, sometimes he told a tale of the Declaration -of Independence. "I shall never cease to be grateful to John Adams, -the colossus of that debate. While the discussion was going on, -fatherly old Ben Franklin, seventy years old, leaning on his cane, sat -by my side, and comforted me with his jokes whenever the criticisms -were unusually bitter. The Congress held its meetings near a livery -stable. The members wore short breeches and thin silk stockings, and -with handkerchief in hand they were diligently employed in lashing the -flies from their legs. So very vexatious was the annoyance, and to so -great impatience did it arouse the sufferers, that they were only too -glad to sign the Declaration and fly from the scene." - -Two visits every year Jefferson made to his little principality of two -hundred inhabitants at Monticello, a short one early in the Spring and -a longer one in the latter part of Summer, when he always took his -daughter Martha and family from Edge Hill with him, for it would not -seem home without Martha to superintend. - -Here Jefferson had organised his slaves into a great industrial -school, had his own carpenters, cabinet-makers, shoe-makers, tailors, -weavers, had a nail forge and made nails for his own and neighbouring -estates,--his black mechanics were the best in Virginia. Even the -family coach was made at Monticello, and the painting and the masonry -of the mansion were all executed by slaves on the place. - -On the Rivanna Jefferson had a mill, where his wheat was manufactured -into flour and sent down to Richmond on bateaux to be sold for a good -price, and cotton brought home to be made into cloth on the -plantation. No wonder, when the master was gone, so extensive an -industrial plant ceased to be remunerative. - -Jefferson was always sending home shrubbery and trees from -Washington,--he knew every green thing on every spot of his farm; and -Bacon, the manager, seldom failed to send the cart back laden with -fruit from Monticello for the White House. - -While the President at Monticello was giving orders to Goliah, the -gardener, to Jupiter, the hostler, to Bacon and all the head men of -the shops, Lewis would gallop home to visit his mother at Locust Hill -just out of Charlottesville. - -Before the Revolution, Meriwether's father, William Lewis, had -received from George III. a patent for three thousand acres of choice -Ivy Creek land in Albemarle, commanding an uninterrupted view of the -Blue Ridge for one hundred and fifty miles. Here Meriwether was born, -and Reuben and Jane. - -"If Captain John Marks courts you I advise you to marry him," said -Colonel William Lewis to his wife, on his death-bed after the -surrender of Cornwallis. In a few years she did marry Captain Marks, -and in Georgia were born Meriwether's half brother and sister, John -and Mary Marks. - -Another spot almost as dear to Meriwether Lewis was the plantation of -his uncle Nicholas Lewis, "The Farm," adjoining Monticello. It was -here he saw Hamilton borne by, a prisoner of war, on the way to -Williamsburg, and here it was that Tarleton made his raid and stole -the ducks from Aunt Molly's chicken yard. - -A strict disciplinarian, rather severe in her methods, and very -industrious was Aunt Molly, "Captain Molly" they called her. "Even -Colonel 'Nick,' although he can whip the British, stands in wholesome -awe of Captain Molly, his superior in the home guards," said the -gossiping neighbours of Charlottesville. - -As a boy on this place, Meriwether visited the negro cabins, followed -the overseer, or darted on inquiry bent through stables, coach-house, -hen-house, smoke-house, dove cote, and milk-room, the ever-attending -lesser satellites of every mansion-house of old Virginia. - -"Bless your heart, my boy," was Aunt Molly's habitual greeting, "to be -a good boy is the surest way to be a great man." - -A tender heart had Aunt Molly, doctress of half the countryside, who -came to her for remedies and advice. Her home was ever open to -charity. As friends she nursed and cared for Burgoyne's men, the -Saratoga prisoners. - -"Bury me under the tulip tree on top of the hill overlooking the -Rivanna," begged one of the sick British officers. True to her word, -Aunt Molly had him laid under the tulip tree. Many generations of -Lewises and Meriwethers lie now on that hill overlooking the red -Rivanna, but the first grave ever made there was that of the British -prisoner so kindly cared for by Meriwether Lewis's Aunt Molly. - -"Meriwether and Lewis are old and honoured names in Virginia. I really -believe the boy will be a credit to the family," said Aunt Molly when -the President's secretary reined up on Wildair at the gate. The -Captain's light hair rippled into a graceful queue tied with a ribbon, -and his laughing blue eyes flashed as Maria Wood ran out to greet her -old playfellow. Aunt Molly was Maria's grandmother. - -"Very grand is my cousin Meriwether now," began the mischievous Maria. -"Long past are those days when as a Virginia ranger he prided himself -on rifle shirts faced with fringe, wild-cat's paws for epaulettes, and -leathern belts heavy as a horse's surcingle." Lifting her hands in -mock admiration Maria smiled entrancingly, "Indeed, gay as Jefferson -himself is our sublime dandy, in blue coat, red velvet waistcoat, -buff knee breeches, and brilliant buckles!" and Meriwether answered -with a kiss. - -Maria Wood was, perhaps, the dearest of Meriwether's friends, although -rumour said he had been engaged to Milly Maury, the daughter of the -learned Parson. But how could that be when Milly married while -Meriwether was away soldiering on the Ohio? At any rate, now he rode -with Maria Wood, danced with her, and took her out to see his mother -at Locust Hill. - -The whole family relied on Meriwether at Locust Hill. While only a boy -he took charge of the farm, and of his own motion built a carriage and -drove to Georgia after his mother and the children upon the death of -Captain Marks. - -Back through the Cherokee-haunted woods they came, with other -travellers journeying the Georgia route. One night campfires were -blazing for the evening meal, when "Whoop!" came the hostile message -and a discharge of arms. - -"Indians! Indians!" - -All was confusion. Paralysed mothers hugged their infants and children -screamed, when a boy in the crowd threw a bucket of water on the fire -extinguishing the light. In a moment all was still, as the men rushed -to arms repelling the attack. That boy was Meriwether Lewis. - -"No brother like mine," said little Mary Marks. "Every noble trait is -his,--he is a father to us children, a counsellor to our mother, and -more anxious about our education than even for his own!" - -Charles de St. Memin, a French artist, was in Washington, engraving on -copper. - -"May I have your portrait as a typical handsome American?" he said to -the President's secretary. - -Meriwether laughed and gave him a sitting. The same hand that had so -lately limned Paul Revere, Theodosia Burr, and the last profile of -Washington himself, sketched the typical youth of 1801. Lewis sent the -drawing to his mother, the head done in fired chalk and crayon, with -that curious pink background so peculiar to the St. Memin pictures. - - - - -XXX - -_THE PRESIDENT TALKS WITH MERIWETHER_ - - -Hours by themselves Jefferson sat talking to Lewis. With face sunny, -lit with enthusiasm, he spoke rapidly, even brilliantly, a dreamer, a -seer, a prophet, believing in the future of America. - -"I have never given it up, Meriwether. Before the peace treaty was -signed, after the Revolution, I was scheming for a western -exploration. We discussed it at Annapolis; I even went so far as to -write to George Rogers Clark on the subject. Then Congress sent me to -France. - -"In France a frequent guest at my table was John Ledyard, of -Connecticut. He had accompanied Captain Cook on his voyage to the -Pacific Ocean, and now panted for some new enterprise. He had -endeavoured to engage the merchants of Boston in the Northwest fur -trade, but the times were too unsettled. 'Why, Mr. Jefferson,' he was -wont to say, 'that northwest land belongs to us. I felt I breathed the -air of home the day we touched at Nootka Sound. The very Indians are -just like ours. And furs,--that coast is rich in beaver, bear, and -otter. Depend upon it,' he used to say, 'untold fortunes lie untouched -at the back of the United States.'" - -"I then proposed to him to go by land to Kamtchatka, cross in some -Russian vessel to Nootka Sound, fall down into the latitude of the -Missouri, and penetrate to and through that to the United States. -Ledyard eagerly seized the idea. I obtained him a permit from the -Empress Catherine, and he set out; went to St. Petersburg, crossed the -Russian possessions to within two hundred miles of Kamtchatka. Here he -was arrested by order of the Empress, who by this time had changed her -mind, and forbidden his proceeding. He was put in a close carriage, -and conveyed day and night, without ever stopping, till they reached -Poland; where he was set down and left to himself. The fatigue of this -journey broke down his constitution, and when he returned to me at -Paris his bodily strength was much impaired. His mind, however, -remained firm and he set out for Egypt to find the sources of the -Nile, but died suddenly at Cairo. Thus failed the first attempt to -explore the western part of our northern continent. - -"Imagine my interest, later, to learn that after reading of Captain -Cook's voyages the Boston merchants had taken up Ledyard's idea and in -1787 sent two little ships, the 'Columbia Rediviva' and the 'Lady -Washington' into the Pacific Ocean. - -"Barely was I back and seated in Washington's cabinet as Secretary of -State, before those Boston merchants begged my intercession with the -Court of Spain, for one Don Blas Gonzalez, Governor of Juan Fernandez. -Passing near that island, one of the ships was damaged by a storm, her -rudder broken, her masts disabled, and herself separated from her -companion. She put into the island to refit, and at the same time to -wood and water. Don Blas Gonzalez, after examining her, and finding -she had nothing on board but provisions and charts, and that her -distress was real, permitted her to stay a few days, to refit and take -in fresh supplies of wood and water. For this act of common -hospitality, he was immediately deprived of his government, unheard, -by superior order, and placed under disgrace. Nor was I ever able to -obtain a hearing at the Court of Spain, and the reinstatement of this -benevolent Governor. - -"The little ships went on, however, and on May 11, 1792, Captain -Robert Gray, a tar of the Revolution, discovered the great river of -the west and named it for his gallant ship, the 'Columbia.' - -"In that very year, 1792, not yet having news of this discovery, I -proposed to the American Philosophical Society that we should set on -foot a subscription to engage some competent person to explore that -region, by ascending the Missouri and crossing the Stony Mountains, -and descending the nearest river to the Pacific. The sum of five -thousand dollars was raised for that purpose, and André Michaux, a -French botanist, was engaged as scientist, but when about to start he -was sent by the French minister on political business to Kentucky." - -Meriwether Lewis laughed. "I remember. I was then at Charlottesville -on the recruiting service, and warmly solicited you to obtain for me -the appointment to execute that adventure. But Mr. André Michaux -offering his services, they were accepted." - -Both were silent for a time. Michaux had gone on his journey as far as -Kentucky, become the confidential agent between Genet and George -Rogers Clark for the French expedition, and been recalled by request -of Washington. - -"Meriwether," continued the President, "I see now some chance of -accomplishing that northwest expedition. The act establishing trading -posts among the Indians is about to expire. My plan is to induce the -Indians to abandon hunting and become agriculturists. As this may -deprive our traders of a source of profit, I would direct their -attention to the fur trade of the Missouri. In a few weeks I shall -make a confidential communication to Congress requesting an -appropriation for the exploration of the northwest. We shall undertake -it as a literary and commercial pursuit." - -"And, sir, may I lead that exploration?" - -"You certainly shall," answered the President. "How much money do you -think it would take?" - -Secretary Lewis spent the next few days in making an estimate. - -"Mathematical instruments, arms and accoutrements, camp equipage, -medicine and packing, means for transportation, Indian presents, -provisions, pay for hunters, guides, interpreters, and contingencies,-- -twenty-five hundred dollars will cover it all, I think." - -Then followed that secret message of January 18, 1803, dictated by -Jefferson, penned by Lewis, in which the President requested an -appropriation of twenty-five hundred dollars, "for the purpose of -extending the external commerce of the United States." - -Congress granted the request, and busy days of preparation followed. - -The cabinet were in the secret, and the ladies, particularly Mrs. -Madison and Mrs. Gallatin, were most interested and sympathetic, -providing everything that could possibly be needed in such a perilous -journey, fearing that Lewis might never return from that distant land -of savages. The President's daughters, Mrs. Randolph and Mrs. Eppes, -were there, handsome, accomplished, delicate women, who rode about in -silk pelisses purchasing at the shops the necessaries for -"housewives," pins, needles, darning yarn, and the thousand and one -little items that women always give to soldier boys. - -Dolly Madison, in mulberry-coloured satin, a tulle kerchief on her -neck and dainty cap on her head, stitched, stitched; and in the -streets, almost impassable for mud, she and Martha, the President's -daughter, were often mistaken for each other as they went to and fro -guided by Dolly's cousin, Edward Coles, a youth destined to win renown -himself one day, as the "anti-slavery governor" of Illinois. - -In his green knee pants and red waistcoat, long stockings and -slippers, the genial President looked in on the busy ladies at the -White House, but his anxiety was on matters of far more moment than -the stitchery of the cabinet ladies. - -Alexander Mackenzie's journal of his wonderful transcontinental -journey in 1793 was just out, the book of the day. It thrilled -Lewis,--he devoured it. - -Before starting on his tour Alexander Mackenzie went to London and -studied mathematics and astronomy. "It is my own dream," exclaimed -Lewis, as the President came upon him with the volumes in hand. "But -the scientific features, to take observations, to be sure of my -botany, to map longitude--" - -"That must come by study," said Jefferson. "I would have you go to -Philadelphia to prosecute your studies in the sciences. I think you -had better go at once to Dr. Barton,--I will write to him to-day." - -And again in the letter to Dr. Barton, Meriwether's hand penned the -prosecution of his fortune. - -"I must ask the favour of you to prepare for him a note of those lines -of botany, zoölogy, or of Indian history which you think most worthy -of study or observation. He will be with you in Philadelphia in two or -three weeks and will wait on you and receive thankfully on paper any -communications you may make to him." - -Jefferson had ever been a father to Meriwether Lewis, had himself -watched and taught him. And Lewis in his soul revered the great man's -learning, as never before he regretted the wasted hours at Parson -Maury's when often he left his books to go hunting on Peter's Mount. -But proudly lifting his head from these meditations: - -"I am a born woodsman, Mr. Jefferson. You know that." - -"Know it!" Jefferson laughed. "Does not the fame of your youthful -achievements linger yet around the woods of Monticello? I have not -forgotten, Meriwether, that when you were not more than eight years -old you were accustomed to go out into the forest at night alone in -the depth of winter with your dogs and gun to hunt the raccoon and -opossum. Nor have I forgotten when the Cherokees attacked your camp in -Georgia." The young man flushed. - -"Your mother has often told it. It was when you were bringing them -home to Albemarle. How old were you then? About eighteen? The Indians -whooped and you put out the fire, the only cool head among them. A boy -that could do that can as a man lead a great exploration like this. - -"Nor need you fret about your lack of science,--the very study of -Latin you did with Parson Maury fits you to prepare for me those -Indian vocabularies. I am fortunate to have one so trained. Latin -gives an insight into the structure of all languages. For years, now, -I have been collecting and studying the Indian tongues. Fortune now -permits you to become my most valued coadjutor." - -And so Lewis noted in his book of memorandum, "Vocabularies of Indian -languages." - -"You ought to have a companion, a military man like George Rogers -Clark. I have always wished to bring him forward in Indian affairs; no -man better understands the savage." - -"But Clark has a brother," quickly spoke Lewis, "a brave fellow, -absolutely unflinching in the face of danger. If I could have my -choice, Captain William Clark should be my companion and the sharer of -my command." - -Two years Lewis had been Jefferson's private secretary, when, -appointed to this work, he went to Philadelphia to study natural -science and make astronomical observations for the geography of the -route. This youth, who had inherited a fortune and every inducement to -a life of ease, now spent three months in severest toil, under the -instruction of able professors, learning scientific terms and -calculating latitude and longitude. - -Early in June he was back at Washington. Already the President had -secured letters of passport from the British, French, and Spanish -ministers, for this expedition through foreign territory. - -"The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri River, and such -principal streams of it, as, by its course and communication with the -waters of the Pacific Ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado, -or any other river, may offer the most direct and practicable -water-communication across the continent, for the purpose of -commerce." - -Far into the June night Jefferson discussed his instructions, and -signed the historic document. - -"I have no doubt you will use every possible exertion to get off, as -the delay of a month now may lose a year in the end." - -Lewis felt the pressure; he was packing his instruments, writing to -military posts for men to be ready when he came down the river, and -hurrying up orders at Harper's Ferry, when a strange and startling -event occurred, beyond the vision of dreamers. - - - - -Book II - -_INTO THE WEST_ - - - - -Book II - -_INTO THE WEST_ - - - - -I - -_THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE_ - - -"Spain, knowing she cannot hold Louisiana, has ceded it to France!" -The winds of ocean bore the message to America. - -"Napoleon? Is he to control us also?" - -Never so vast a shadow overawed the world. Afar they had read of his -battles, had dreaded his name. Instantly colossal Napoleon loomed -across the prairies of the West. - -Napoleon had fifty-four ships and fifty thousand troops, the flower of -his army, sailing to re-establish slavery in Hayti. But a step and he -would be at the Mississippi. He was sending Laussat, a French prefect, -to take over New Orleans and wait for the army. - -"Shall we submit? And is this to be the end of all our fought-for -liberty, that Napoleon should rule America?" - -The fear of France was now as great as had been the admiration. - -Gaily the flatboats were floating down, laden with flour and bacon, -hams and tobacco, seeking egress to Cuba and Atlantic seaports, when -suddenly, in October, 1802, the Spanish Intendant at New Orleans -closed the Mississippi. Crowding back, for twenty thousand miles -inland, were the products of the Autumn. - -The western country blazed; only by strenuous effort could Congress -keep a backwoods army from marching on New Orleans. A powerful -minority at Washington contended for instant seizure. - -Pittsburg, with shore lined with shipping, roared all the way to the -gulf, "No grain can be sold down the river on account of those -piratical Spaniards!" - -Appeal after appeal went up to Jefferson, "Let us sweep them into the -sea!" - -What hope with a foreign nation at our gates? Spain might be got rid -of, but France--Monroe was dispatched to France to interview Napoleon. - -"The French must not have New Orleans," was the lightning thought of -Jefferson. "No one but ourselves must own our own front door." - -And Jefferson penned a letter to Livingstone, the American minister at -Paris: - - "There is on the globe but one single spot, the possessor - of which is our natural and habitual enemy. It is New - Orleans, through which the produce of three-eighths of our - territory must pass to market. France placing herself in - that door assumes to us the attitude of defiance. Spain - might have retained it quietly for years. Not so France. - The impetuosity of her temper, the energy and restlessness - of her character, render it impossible that France and the - United States can continue friends when they meet in so - irritating a position. The day that France takes possession - of New Orleans--from that moment we must marry ourselves to - the British fleet and nation." - -As Jefferson placed that letter in the hands of Monroe he added: - -"In Europe nothing but Europe is seen. But this little event, of -France's possessing herself of Louisiana,--this speck which now -appears an invisible point on the horizon,--is the embryo of a -tornado. - -"I must secure the port of New Orleans and the mastery of the -navigation of the Mississippi. - -"We must have peace. The use of the Mississippi is indispensable. We -must purchase New Orleans." - -"You are aware of the sensibility of our Western citizens," Madison -was writing to Madrid. "To them the Mississippi is everything. It is -the Hudson, the Delaware, the Potomac, and all the navigable rivers of -the Atlantic States, formed into one." - -But Napoleon's soldiers were dying at San Domingo, the men with whom -he would have colonised Louisiana. At that moment the flint and steel -of France and England struck, and the spark meant--war. England stood -ready to seize the mouth of the Mississippi. - -After the solemnities of Easter Sunday at St. Cloud, April 10, 1803, -Napoleon summoned two of his ministers. - -"I _know_ the full value of Louisiana!" he began with vehement -passion, walking up and down the marble parlour. "A few lines of -treaty have restored it to me, and I have scarcely recovered it when I -must expect to lose it. But if it escapes from me," the First Consul -shook his finger menacingly, "it shall one day cost dearer to those -who oblige me to strip myself of it, than to those to whom I wish to -deliver it. The English have successively taken from France, Canada, -Cape Breton, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and the richest portions of -Asia. They _shall not have_ the Mississippi which they covet. They -have twenty ships of war in the Gulf of Mexico, they sail over those -seas as sovereigns. The conquest of Louisiana would be easy. I have -not a moment to lose in putting it out of their reach. I know not -whether they are not already there. I think of ceding it to the United -States. They only ask one town of me in Louisiana but I already -consider the colony as entirely lost, and it appears to me that in the -hands of this growing power it will be more useful to the policy and -even to the commerce of France, than if I should attempt to keep it." - -He turned to Barbé-Marbois, who had served as Secretary of the French -Legation at Philadelphia during the whole war of the American -Revolution. - -"We should not hesitate to make a sacrifice of that which is about -slipping from us," said Barbé-Marbois. "War with England is -inevitable; shall we be able to defend Louisiana? Can we restore -fortifications that are in ruins? If, Citizen Consul, you, who have by -one of the first acts of your government made sufficiently apparent -your intention of giving this country to France, now abandon the idea -of keeping it, there is no person that will not admit that you yield -to necessity." - -Far into the night they talked, so late that the ministers slept at -St. Cloud. - -At daybreak Napoleon summoned Barbé-Marbois. "Read me the dispatches -from London." - -"Sire," returned the Secretary, looking over the papers, "naval and -military preparations of every kind are making with extraordinary -rapidity." - -Napoleon leaped to his feet and strode again the marble floor. - -"Irresolution and deliberation are no longer in season. I _renounce_ -Louisiana. It is not only New Orleans that I will cede, but the whole -colony without reservation. I _know_ the price of what I abandon. I -renounce it with regret. To attempt to retain it would be folly. I -direct you to negotiate this affair with the United States. Do not -even await the arrival of Mr. Monroe; have an interview this very day -with Mr. Livingstone; but I require a great deal of money for this -war, and I would not like to commence it with new contributions. I -want fifty millions, and for less than that sum I will not treat. -To-morrow you shall have your full powers." - -The minister waited. - -"Mr. Monroe is on the point of arriving," continued Napoleon. "Neither -this minister, nor his colleague, is prepared for a decision which -goes infinitely beyond anything they are about to ask of us. Begin by -making them overtures, without any subterfuge. Acquaint me, hour by -hour, of your progress." - -"What will you pay for all Louisiana?" bluntly asked Barbé-Marbois -that day of the astonished Livingstone. - -"_All Louisiana!_ New Orleans is all I ask for," answered Livingstone. -So long had Talleyrand trifled and deceived, the American found -himself distrustful of these French diplomatists. - -"But I offer the province," said Barbé-Marbois. - -Surprised, doubtful, Livingstone listened. "I have not the necessary -powers." - -The next day Monroe arrived. - -"There must be haste or the English will be at New Orleans," said -Barbé-Marbois. "How much will you pay for the whole province?" - -"The English? Fifteen millions," answered the Americans. - -"Incorporate Louisiana as soon as possible into your Union," said -Napoleon, "give to its inhabitants the same rights, privileges, and -immunities as to other citizens of the United States. - -"And let them know that we separate ourselves from them with regret; -let them retain for us sentiments of affection; and may their common -origin, descent, language, and customs perpetuate the friendship." - -The papers were drawn up and signed in French and in English. - -"We have lived long, but this is the noblest work of our lives!" -exclaimed Livingstone, as he and Barbé-Marbois and Monroe arose and -shook hands across the document. - -"This accession of territory strengthens for ever the power of the -United States," said Napoleon, coming in to look at the treaty. And as -he affixed that signature, "NAPOLEON," he smiled,--"I have just given -to England a maritime rival, that sooner or later will humble her -pride." - -And on that day the Mississippi was opened, to be closed by a foreign -power no more for ever. - -But no sooner had Napoleon parted with Louisiana than he began to -repent. "Hasten," the ministers warned Jefferson, "the slightest delay -may lose us the country." - -The word reached America. - -"Jefferson--bought New Orleans? bought the Mississippi? bought the -entire boundless West?" - -Men gasped, then cheered. Tumultuous excitement swept the land. On -July 3, 1803, an infant Republic hugging the Atlantic, on July 4, a -world power grasping the Pacific! - -"A bargain!" cried the Republicans. - -"Unconstitutional!" answered the Federalists. - -"The East will become depopulated." - -"Fifteen millions! Fifteen millions for that wilderness! Why, that -would be tons of money! Waggon loads of silver five miles long. We -have not so much coin in the whole country!" - - - - -II - -_THE KNIGHT OF THE WHITE HOUSE_ - - -And Meriwether Lewis was ready to start. The night before the Fourth -of July he wrote his mother: - - "The day after to-morrow I shall set out for the western - country. I had calculated on the pleasure of visiting you, - but circumstances have rendered it impossible. My absence - will probably be equal to fifteen or eighteen months. The - nature of this expedition is by no means dangerous. My - route will be altogether through tribes of Indians friendly - to the United States, therefore I consider the chances of - life just as much in my favour as I should conceive them - were I to remain at home. The charge of this expedition is - honourable to myself, as it is important to my country. For - its fatigues I feel myself perfectly prepared, nor do I - doubt my health and strength of constitution to bear me - through it. I go with the most perfect pre-conviction in my - own mind of returning safe, and hope therefore that you - will not suffer yourself to indulge any anxiety for my - safety,--I will write again on my arrival at Pittsburg. - Adieu, and believe me your affectionate son, - - MERIWETHER LEWIS." - -The Jefferson girls had returned to their homes. Dolly Madison and -Mrs. Gallatin supervised the needle department, having made -"housewives" enough to fit out a regiment. Joseph Rapin, the steward, -helped Lewis pack his belongings, Secretary Gallatin contributed a map -of Vancouver's sketch of the Columbia mouth, and Madison rendered his -parting benediction. - -Out of the iron gate in the high rock wall in front of the White House -Meriwether went,--fit emblem of the young Republic, slim and lithe, -immaculate in new uniform and three-cornered _chapeau_, his sunny -thick-braided queue falling over the high-collared coat,--to meet the -Potomac packet for Harper's Ferry. All around were uncut forests, save -the little clearing of Washington, and up the umbrageous hills -stretched an endless ocean of tree-tops. - -The wind blew up the Potomac, fluttering the President's gray locks. -"If a superior force should be arrayed against your passage, return, -Meriwether," was the anxious parting word. "To your own discretion -must be left the degree of danger you may risk." - -But Meriwether had no fears. - -"Should you reach the Pacific Ocean,--endeavour to learn if there be -any port within your reach frequented by sea-vessels of any nation, -and to send two of your trusted people back by sea, with a copy of -your notes. Should you be of opinion that the return of your party by -the way they went will be dangerous, then ship the whole, and return -by way of Cape Horn or the Cape of Good Hope. As you will be without -money, clothes or provisions, I give you this open letter of credit -authorising you to draw on the Executive of the United States or any -of its officers in any part of the world. Our consuls at Batavia in -Java, at the Isles of France and Bourbon, and at the Cape of Good Hope -will be able to supply you necessities by drafts on us." - -For where in the world the Missouri led, no man then knew! - -"I have sometimes thought of sending a ship around to you," said -Jefferson, "but the Spaniards would be certain to gobble it, and we -are in trouble enough with them already over this Louisiana Purchase." - -Too well Lewis knew the delicacy of the situation. Spain was on fire -over the treachery of Napoleon. "France has no right to alienate -Louisiana!" was the cry from Madrid. But what could she do? Nothing -but fume, delay, threaten,--Napoleon was master. - -"Under present circumstances," continued the President, "I consider -futile all effort to get a ship to your succour on those shores. Spain -would be only too glad to strike a blow. But there must be trade, -there is trade,--all through Adams's administration the Russians were -complaining of Yankee skippers on that northwest coast. - -"Russia has aided us, I may call the Emperor my personal friend." With -pardonable pride the President thought of the bust of Alexander over -his study door at Monticello. "Though Catherine did send poor Ledyard -back, Alexander has proved himself true, and in case any Russian ship -touches those shores you are safe, or English, or American. This -letter of credit will carry you through. - -"And above all, express my philanthropic regard for the Indians. -Humanity enjoins us to teach them agriculture and the domestic arts." - -And after Lewis was fairly started, the President sent on as a great -secret, "I have received word from Paris that Mr. Broughton, one of -the companions of Captain Vancouver, went up Columbia River one -hundred miles in December, 1792. He stopped at a point he named -Vancouver. Here the river Columbia is still a quarter of a mile wide. -From this point Mt. Hood is seen twenty leagues distant, which is -probably a dependency of the Stony Mountains. Accept my affectionate -salutations." - -On the Fourth of July the same hand that drew up the Declaration of -Independence had drawn for Meriwether Lewis a Letter of Credit, -authorising him to purchase anything he needed on the credit of the -United States in any part of the world. Was Jefferson thinking of -those days when George Rogers Clark gave drafts on New Orleans for the -conquest of Illinois? This again was another venture into a dark -unwritten West. - -The next day Lewis "shot all his guns" at Harper's Ferry, examined -extra locks, knives, tomahawks, accoutrements that had been -manufactured at his special direction. The waggoner from Philadelphia -came jolting by with Indian presents, astronomical apparatus, and -tents on the way to Pittsburg. - -Pittsburg? A cloud of smoke hung even then over the embryotic city. -Two thousand miles inland, it already had a flourishing ship-yard. -Several large vessels lay on the stocks and builders were hammering -day and night. - -"The 'Louisiana,' three hundred tons, is waiting for the next rise of -the river," said a strapping tar. "In May a fleet of schooners went -out to the Caribbees. You are too late for this summer's freshet." - - "Come, gentlemen, gentlemen all, - Ginral Sincleer shall remem-ber-ed be, - For he lost thirteen hundred me-en all - In the Western Tari-to-ree." - -Captain Lewis took a second look at the singer,--it was George Shannon -standing on the dock. - -"Why, Captain Lewis! Where are you going?" - -George was an old friend of Meriwether's, and yet but a lad of -seventeen. His father, one of those "ragged Continentals" that marched -on Yorktown, had emigrated to the far Ohio. - -Jane Shannon was a typical pioneer mother. She spun, wove, knit, made -leggings of skins, and caps and moccasins, but through multitudinous -duties found time to teach her children. "To prepare them for -college," she said, "that is my dream. I'd live on hoe-cake for ever -to give them a chance." Every one of her six boys inherited that -mother's spirit, every one attained distinction. - -At fourteen George was sent to his mother's relatives on the -Monongahela to school. Here he met Lewis, forted in that winter camp. -The gallant Virginian captured the boy's fancy,--he became his model, -his ideal. - -"And can you go?" asked Captain Lewis. - -"Go? I will accompany you to the end of the world, Captain Lewis," -answered George Shannon. "There is no time for mails,--I know I have -my parent's consent. And the pay, that will take me to college!" -Shannon enlisted on the spot, and was Lewis's greatest comfort in -those trying days at Pittsburg. - -The boat-builders were drunkards. "I spent most of my time with the -workmen," wrote Lewis to the President, "but neither threats nor -persuasion were sufficient to procure the completion before the 31st -of August." Loading the boat the instant it was done, they set out at -four o'clock in the morning, with John Collins of Maryland, and George -Gibson, Hugh McNeal, John Potts, and Peter Wiser, of Pennsylvania, -recruits that had been ordered from Carlisle. Peter Wiser is believed -to have been a descendant of that famous Conrad Weiser who gave his -life to pacifying the Indian. - -By this time the water was low. "On board my boat opposite Marietta, -Sept. 13," Lewis writes,--"horses or oxen--I find the most efficient -sailors in the present state of navigation," dragging the bateaux over -shallows of drift and sandbars. - -And yet that same Spring, when the water was high, Marietta had sent -out the schooners "Dorcas and Sally," and the "Mary Avery," one -hundred and thirty tons, with cheers and firing of cannon. When Lewis -passed, a three-mast brig of two hundred and fifty tons and a smaller -one of ninety tons were on the point of being finished to launch the -following Spring, with produce for Philadelphia. - -George Shannon was a handsome boy, already full grown but with the -beardless pink and white of youth. His cap would not fit down over his -curls, but lifted like his own hopes. Nothing would start the boats at -daylight like his jolly, rollicking - - "Blow, ye winds of morning, - Blow, blow, blow," - -rolling across the tints of sunrise. His cheeks glowed, his blue eyes -shone to meet the wishes of his captain. - -Past the fairy isle of Blennerhassett with its stately mansion -half-hid behind avenues of Lombardy poplar and tasteful shrubbery, -Captain Lewis came on down to Fort Washington, Cincinnati, where brigs -had lately taken on cargoes and sailed to the West Indies. - -Bones? Of course Lewis wanted to look at bones and send some to the -learned President. Dr. Goforth of Cincinnati was sinking a pit at the -Big Bone Lick for remains of the mammoth, and might not mammoths be -stalking abroad in all that great land of the West? Mystery, -mystery,--the very air was filled with mystery. - - - - -III - -_RECRUITING FOR OREGON_ - - -"Now that I have accepted President Jefferson's proposal to be -associated with Captain Lewis in this expedition, it will oblige me to -accept brother Jonathan's offer of ten thousand dollars cash for -Mulberry Hill," William Clark was saying at Louisville. "That will -help out brother George on his military debts, satisfy his claimants, -and save him from ruin." - -At the time of sale the old home was occupied by General Clark and -William Clark, and their sister Fanny and her children. The departure -of William for the Pacific broke up and dispersed the happy family. - -The General went back to the Point of Rock, fifty feet above the -dashing Ohio. That water was the lowest ever known now, men could walk -across on the rocks. Three or four locust trees shaded the cabin, now -painted white, and an orchard of peach and cherry blossomed below. -Negro Ben and his wife Venus, and Carson and Cupid, lived back of the -house and cultivated a few acres of grain and garden. - -All of Clark's old soldiers remained loyal and visited the Point of -Rock, and every year an encampment of braves, Indian chiefs whom he -had subdued, came for advice and to partake of his hospitality. - -Grand and lonely, prematurely aged at fifty-one when he should have -been in his prime, General Clark sat overlooking the Falls when -Captain Lewis pulled his bateaux into the Bear Grass. - -Captain Clark and nine young men of Kentucky were waiting for the -boat,--William Bratton, a blacksmith, formerly of Virginia, and John -Shields, gunsmith, the Tubal Cain of the expedition, John Coalter, who -had been a ranger with Kenton, the famous Shields brothers, Reuben and -James, William Warner and Joseph Whitehouse, all experts with the -rifle, Charles Floyd, son of that Charles Floyd that rode with his -brother from the death-stroke of Big Foot, and Nathaniel Pryor, his -cousin. - -Twenty years had passed since that fatal April morning when John Floyd -was laid a corpse at the feet of Jane Buchanan. That posthumous child, -ushered so sadly into the world, John Floyd the younger, now a -handsome youth, was eager to go with his cousins--but an unexpected -illness held him back--to become a member of Congress and Governor of -Virginia. - -And York, of course York. Had he not from childhood obeyed John -Clark's command, "Look after your young master"? With highest elation -York assisted in the preparation, furbished up his gun, and prepared -to "slay dem buffaloes." - -"An interpreter is my problem now," said Captain Lewis, "a man -familiar with Indians, trustworthy, and skilled in tongues." - -"I think my brother will know the man,--he has had wide experience in -that line," said William; and so down to the Point of Rock the -Captains betook themselves to visit George Rogers Clark. - -"Dignity sat still upon his countenance and the commanding look of -Washington," wrote a chronicler of that day. - -"An interpreter?" mused General Clark. Then turning to his brother, -"Do you remember Pierre Drouillard, the Frenchman that saved Kenton? -He was a man of tact and influence with the Indians, and, although he -wore the red coat, a man of humanity. He interpreted for me at Fort -McIntosh and at the Great Miami. He comes with Buckongahelas." - -William Clark remembered. - -"That old Frenchman has a son, George, chip of the old block, brought -up with the Indians and educated at a mission. He is your man,--at St. -Louis, I think." - -"Always demand of the Indians what you want, William, that is the -secret. Never let them think you fear them. Great things have been -effected by a few men well conducted. Who knows what fortune may do -for you?" It was the self-same saying with which twenty-four years -before he had started to Vincennes. "Here are letters to some of my -old friends at St. Louis and Kaskaskia," added the General. - -All the negroes were out to weep over York, whom they feared to see no -more,--old York and Rose, Nancy and Julia, Jane, Cupid and Harry, from -the scattered home at Mulberry Hill. - -General Jonathan Clark and Major Croghan were there, the richest men -in Kentucky, and General Jonathan's daughters who stitched their -samplers now at Mulberry Hill; and Lucy, from Locust Grove, the image -of William, "with face almost too strong for a woman," some said. All -the city knew her, a miracle of benevolence and duty, and by her side -the little son, George Croghan, destined to hand on the renown of his -fathers. - -William Clark's last word was for Fanny, a widow with children. "It is -my desire that she should stay with Lucy at Locust Grove until my -return," said the paternal brother, kissing her pale cheek. - -"And I want Johnny with me at the Point of Rock," added the lonely -General, who, if he loved any one, it was little John O'Fallon, the -son of his sister Fanny. - -"Bring on your plunder!" - -The Kentuckians could be recognised by their call as they helped the -bateaux over the rapids and launched them below. George Rogers Clark -stood on the Point of Rock, waving a last farewell, watching them down -the river. - -While Captain Clark went on down the Ohio, and engaged a few men at -Fort Massac, Captain Lewis followed the old Vincennes "trace" to -Kaskaskia. - -In that very September, Sergeant John Ordway, in Russell Bissell's -company, was writing home to New Hampshire: - -"Kaskaskia is a very old town of about two hundred houses and ruins of -many more. We lie on the hill in sight of the town, and have built a -garrison here.--If Betty Crosby will wait for my return I may perhaps -join hands with her yet. We have a company of troops from Portsmouth, -New Hampshire, here." - -Captain Lewis came up to the garrison. Out of twenty volunteers only -three possessed the requisite qualifications. But Sergeant Ordway was -one, Robert Frazer of Vermont, another, and Thomas P. Howard, of -Massachusetts, the third. - -Oppressed and anxious in mind over the difficulty of finding suitable -men, Captain Lewis was one morning riding along when into the high -road there ran out a short, strong, compact, broad-chested and -heavy-limbed man, lean, sprightly, and quick of motion, in the dress -of a soldier. His lively eye instantly caught that of Captain Lewis. -Perceiving that the soldier was evidently bent on seeing him, Lewis -checked his horse and paused. - -With military salute the man began: "Me name is Patrick Gass, sorr, -and I want to go with you to the Stony Mountings, but my Commander, -sorr, here at the barracks, will not consint. He siz, siz he, 'You are -too good a carpenter, Pat, and I need you here.'" - -His build, his manner, and the fact that Pat was a soldier and a -carpenter, was enough. Men must be had, and here was a droll one, the -predestined wit of the expedition. - -"I knew you, sorr, when I saw your horse ferninst the trees. I -recognised a gintleman and an officer. I saw you whin I met Gineral -Washington at Carlisle out with throops to suppriss the Whiskey -Rebillion. I met Gineral Washington that day, and I sid, siz I, -'Gineral, I'm a pathriot mesilf and I'll niver risist me gover'm'nt, -but I love ould Bourbon too well to inlist agin the whiskey byes.'" - -"And have you never served in the field?" roared Lewis, almost -impatient. - -"Ah, yis; whin Adams was Prisident, I threw down me jackplane and -inlisted under Gineral Alexander Hamilton, but there was no war, so -thin I inlisted under Major Cass." - -Patrick glanced back and saw his Captain. "Hist ye! shoulder-sthraps -are comin'!" - -Lewis laughed. "Go and get ready, Patrick; I'll settle with your -Captain." And Patrick, bent on a new "inlistment" and new adventures, -hied him away to pack his belongings. For days in dreams he was -already navigating the Missouri, already he saw the blue Pacific. As -he told the boys afterward, "And I, siz I to mesilf, 'Patrick, let us -to the Pecific!' Me Captain objicted, but I found out where Captain -Lewis was sthopping and sthole away and inlisted annyhow." - -Captain Lewis had made no mistake. Patrick Gass, cheerful, ever brave, -was a typical frontiersman. His had been a life of constant roving. -Starting from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, when he was five years old, -the family crossed the Alleghanies on packhorses. On the first horse -was the mother, with the baby and all the table furniture and cooking -utensils; on another were packed the provisions, the plough-irons and -farming utensils; the third was rigged with a packsaddle and two large -cradles of hickory withes. In the centre of these sat little Pat on -one side and his sister on the other, well laced in with bed-clothes -so that only their heads stuck out. - -Along the edges of precipices they went,--if a horse stumbled he would -have thrown them hundreds of feet below. On these horses they forded -mountain streams, swollen with melting snows and spring rains. Daily -were hairbreadth escapes, the horses falling, or carried down with the -current and the family barely snatched from drowning. - -The journey was made in April when the nights were cold and the mother -could not sleep. There was so much to do for the children. As the -tireless father kept guard under the glow of the campfire, little -Patrick's unfailing good-night was, "Hist, child! the Injuns will come -and take you to Detroit!" - -There were several of these moves in his childhood. Here and there he -caught glimpses of well-housed, well-fed hirelings of the British army -watching like eagles the land of the patriot army. At last they turned -up at what is now Wellsburg in West Virginia. While yet a boy Gass was -apprenticed to a carpenter and worked on a house for a man by the name -of Buchanan, while around him played "little Jimmy," the -president-to-be. "Little Jimmy was like his mother," said Gass. - -In December Lewis and Clark dropped down before the white-washed walls -and gray stone parapets of the old French town of St. Louis. With -fierce consequential air a Spanish soldier flourished his sword -indicating the place to land. - -"We will spend the winter at Charette, the farthest point of -settlement." That was the town of Daniel Boone. - -But the Governor, Don Carlos De Hault De Lassus, barred the way. - -"By the general policy of my government I am obliged to prevent -strangers from passing through Spanish territory until I have received -official notice of its transfer." - -Nothing could be done but to go into winter camp opposite the mouth of -the Missouri, just outside of his jurisdiction, and discipline the -men, making ready for an early spring start. - -Beyond the big river was foreign land. Did the Spaniard still hope to -stay? - - - - -IV - -_THE FEUD IS ENDED_ - - -Hark! Is that the boom of distant cannon? The American troops are -falling into line outside the walls of New Orleans on this 20th day of -December, 1803. The tri-colour of France floats on the flagstaff; the -sky shines irradiant, like the "suns of Napoleon." - -It is high noon; another salute shakes the city. "Ho, warder, lower -the drawbridge!" - -With chain-pulleys rattling down goes the bridge, never to be lifted -again. The fortress bell strikes its last peal under the flag of -France, or Spain. With thundering tread American dragoons file under -the portcullis of the Tchoupitoulas gate, followed by cannoneers and -infantry in coonskin caps and leathern hunting shirts. - -Curiously these sons of the forest look upon the old world forts and -donjons of masonry. The moat is filled with stagnant water. The -ramparts of New Orleans are filled with soldiers from Havre and -Madrid. The windows and balconies are filled with beautiful women -weeping, weeping to see the barbarians. - -Laussat was looking for Napoleon's soldiers, not a sale. Pale as death -he hands over the keys. Slowly the tri-coloured flag of France at the -summit of the flagstaff in the plaza descends. Slowly the -star-spangled banner uplifts; half-way the two linger in one another's -folds. - -As the flags embrace, another boom, and answering guns reply from ship -and fort and battery around the crescent of New Orleans. The flags are -parting,--it is a thrilling moment; up, up, steadily mounts the emblem -of America and bursts on the breeze. - -The band breaks into "Hail, Columbia," amid the roar of artillery and -shouting of backwoodsmen. The map of France in the new world has -become the map of the United States. - -"The flag! the flag!" Veterans of the French army receive the -descending tri-colour, and followed by a procession of uncovered heads -bear it with funereal tread to Laussat. - -"We have wished to give to France a last proof of the affection which -we will always retain for her," with trembling lip speaks the -flag-bearer. "Into your hands we deposit this symbol of the tie which -has again transiently connected us with her." - -And Laussat with answering tears replies, "May the prosperity of -Louisiana be eternal." - -But of all in New Orleans on this historic day, none fear, none -tremble like Sister Infelice, in the cloister of the Ursulines. She -seems to hear the very sabres beat on the convent wall. When a tropic -hurricane sweeps up the gulf at night she falls on the cold stone -floor and covers her head, as if the very lightning might reveal that -form she loved so well, the great Virginia colonel. To Infelice he was -ever young, ever the heroic saviour of St. Louis. That time could have -changed him had never occurred to her,--he was a type of immortal -youth. - -Infelice never speaks of these things, not even to her father -confessor; it is something too deep, too sacred, a last touch of the -world hid closer even than her heart. And yet she believes he is -coming,--that is the cause of all this tumult and cannonading. Her -hero, her warrior wants _her_, and none can stay him. - -And when the cession is fairly over and he comes not, the -disappointment prostrates her utterly. "He cares, he cares no more! -The Virginians? Did you say the Virginians had come?" - -From that bed of delirium the Mother Superior of the Ursuline house -sent for the Mayor. - -"I beg to be allowed to retire with my sisterhood to some point under -the protection of His Catholic Majesty of Spain." - -"Going!" exclaimed Monsieur le Mayor of New Orleans. "For why? You -shall not be disturbed, you shall have full protection." - -"Do you stand for France, revolution and infidelity?" gasped the aged -mother, denouncing the Mayor. - -The people pled, the Mayor went down on his knees. "Do not abandon our -schools and our children!" But the Mother Superior was firm. - -Twenty-two years had the Donna De Leyba been a nun. The old official -records are lost, but out of twenty-five nuns in the establishment we -know the sixteen of Spain went away. - -All New Orleans gathered to see them depart. When the gun sounded on -Whitsunday Eve, sixteen women in black came forth, heavily veiled. The -convent gardens were thronged with pupils, slaves knelt by the -wayside, the Mayor and populace followed until they embarked on the -ship and sailed to Havana. - -The old Ursuline convent of New Orleans is now the archbishop's -palace. Sister Infelice is gone, but near some old cloister of Cuba we -know her ashes must now be reposing. Henceforth the gates were open. -The wall decayed, the moat was filled, and over it to-day winds the -handsomest boulevard in America. - -The flatboatmen came home with romantic tales of the land of the -palmetto and orange, luxuries unknown in the rigorous north. The tide -of emigration so long held in check burst its bounds and deluged -Louisiana. - -Among other Americans that settled at New Orleans was the Fighting -Parson. His son Charles Mynn Thruston had married Fanny. - - - - -V - -_THE CESSION OF ST. LOUIS_ - - -"Glass we must have, and quicksilver. Wife, let me have the mirror." - -The Madame threw up her hands. "The precious pier glass my dead mother -brought over from France? What shall we have left?" - -"But Rosalie, this is an emergency for the government. The men must -have thermometers, and barometers, and I have no glass." - -"The President will pay for the glass, Madame; he would consider it -the highest use to which it could be put," said Captain Lewis. - -"And you shall have a better one by the next ship that sails around -from France." - -So as usual to everything the Doctor wished, the good woman consented. -None had more unbounded faith in Dr. Saugrain's gift of miracles than -his own wife. - -The huge glass, that had reflected Parisian scenes for a generation -before coming to the wilds of America, was now lifted from its gilt -frame and every particle of quicksilver carefully scraped from the -back. Then the pier plate was shattered and the fragments gathered, -bit by bit, into the Doctor's mysterious crucible, making the country -people watch and wonder. - -So long had Meriwether Lewis been with Jefferson, that he had imbibed -the same eager desire to know, to understand. When he met with Doctor -Saugrain it was like a union of kindred spirits. Saugrain, the pupil, -friend, and disciple of the great Franklin, was often with the -American scientist when he experimented with his kites, and drew down -lightning to charge his Leyden jars. Three times Dr. Saugrain came to -America, twice as guest of Dr. Franklin, before he settled down as -physician to the Spanish garrison at St. Louis in 1800. With him he -brought all his scientific lore, the latest of the most advanced city -in the world. When all the world depended on flint and steel, Paris -and Dr. Saugrain made matches. He made matches for Lewis and Clark -that were struck on the Columbia a generation before Boston or London -made use of the secret. - -Bitterly the cheerful, sprightly little Royalist in curls lamented the -French Revolution. "Oh, the guillotine! the guillotine! My own uncle, -Dr. Guillotine, invented that instrument to save pain, not to waste -life. But when he saw his own friends led up to the knife, distressed -at its abuse he died in despair!" - -Sufficient reason had Dr. Saugrain to be loyal to Louis XVI. For more -than two hundred years his people had been librarians, book-binders, -and printers for the King. Litterateurs and authors were the Saugrains -for six continuous generations, and out of their scientific and -historical publications came the bent of Dr. Antoine François Saugrain -of St. Louis. But when the Bastile was stormed, Saugrain left France -for ever. An _emigré_, a royalist, with others of the King's friends -he came to the land that honoured Louis XVI. - -Between the Rue de l'Église and the Rue des Granges, at the extreme -southwestern limit of the old village of St. Louis, stood Dr. -Saugrain's modest residence of cement with a six-foot stone wall -around it and extensive gardens. In his "arboretum" Dr. Saugrain was -making a collection of the most attractive native trees he found -around St. Louis, and some there, imported from Paris, cast their -green shadows on the swans of his swimming pond, an old French fancy -for his park. - -In this happy home with its great library, Captain Lewis became a -welcome guest in that winter of 1803-4 while waiting for the cession. -Under the Doctor he pursued his scientific studies, medicine, surgery, -electricity, for not even Dr. Barton in Philadelphia could surpass the -bright little Frenchman so strangely transplanted here in this -uttermost border. - -The Doctor's taper fingers were always stained with acids and sulphur; -busy ever with blowpipe and crucible, he fashioned tubes, filled in -quicksilver, graduated cases, and handed out barometers and -thermometers that amazed the frontier. - -"Great Medicine!" cried the Indians when he gave them a shock of -electricity. How Dr. Saugrain loved to turn his battery and electrify -the door-knobs when those bothersome Indians tried to enter! Or, -"Here, White Hair, is a shilling. You can have it if you will take it -out." The Osage chieftain plunges his arm into a crock of electrified -water to dash off howling with affright. - -With intense interest Captain Lewis stood by while the -chemist-physician dipped sulphur-tipped splints of wood into -phosphorus, and lo! his little matches glowed like Lucifer's own. "You -can make the sticks yourself," he said. "I will seal the phosphorus in -these small tin boxes for safety." - -"And have you any kine-pox? You must surely carry kine-pox, for I hear -those Omahas have died like cattle in a plague." - -"President Jefferson particularly directed me to carry some kine-pox -virus," replied Captain Lewis, "but really, what he gave me seems to -have lost its virtue. I wrote him so from Cincinnati, but fear it -will be too late to supply the deficiency." - -Out of his medicine chest in the corner, the little Doctor brought the -tiny vials. "Sent me from Paris. Carry it, explain it to the Indians, -use it whenever you can,--it will save the life of hundreds." And -other medicines, simple remedies, the good savant prescribed, making -up a chest that became invaluable in after days. - -Other friends were Gratiot and the Chouteaus, Auguste and Pierre. It -was Auguste that had planned the fortifications of St. Louis, towers -and bastions, palisades, demilunes, scarps, counter-scarps, and sally -ports, only finished in part when the city was handed over. - -Long since had Carondelet offered rewards to the traders of St. Louis -to penetrate to the Pacific. Already the Chouteau boats had reached -the Mandan towns, but freely they gave every information to the -American Captain. - -"I send you herewith enclosed," wrote Lewis to the President, "some -slips of the Osage plum and apple. Mr. Charles Gratiot, a gentleman of -this place, has promised that he would with pleasure attend to the -orders of yourself, or any of my acquaintances who may think proper to -write him on the subject. I obtained the cuttings now sent you from -the gardens of Mr. Peter Chouteau, who resided the greater portion of -his time for many years with the Osage nation. - -"The Osage might with a little attention be made to form an ornamental -and useful hedge. The fruit is a large oval plum, of a pale yellow -colour and exquisite flavour. An opinion prevails among the Osages -that the fruit is poisonous, though they acknowledge they have never -tasted it." - -The leaders of all the French colonies on the Mississippi were -gentlemen of education and talent. They saw what the cession meant, -and hailed it with welcome. But the masses, peaceable, illiterate, -with little property and less enterprise, contented, unambitious, saw -not the future of that great valley where their fathers had camped in -the days of La Salle. Frank, open, joyous, unsuspecting, wrapped in -the pleasures of the passing hour, they cared little for wealth and -less for government provided they were not worried with its cares. -Their children, their fruits and flowers, the dance--happy always were -the Creole habitants provided only they heard the fiddle string. -Retaining all the suavity of his race, the roughest hunter could grace -a ballroom with the carriage and manners of a gentleman. - -Meanwhile Captain Clark was drilling the men at camp after the fashion -of Wayne. Other soldiers had been engaged at Fort Massac and -elsewhere,--Silas Goodrich, Richard Windsor, Hugh Hall, Alexander -Willard, and John B. Thompson, a surveyor of Vincennes. - -Never had St. Louis such days! Hurry, hurry and bustle in the staid -and quiet town that had never before known any greater excitement than -a church festival or a wedding,--never, that is, since those days of -war when George Rogers Clark saved and when he threatened. - -But now Lewis and Clark made a deep impression on the villagers of the -power and dignity of the United States Government. Out of their -purchases every merchant hoped to make a fortune; the eager Frenchmen -displayed their wares,--coffee, gunpowder, and blankets, tea at prices -fabulous in deerskin currency and sugar two dollars a pound. - -But Lewis already had made up his outfit,--richly laced coats, medals -and flags from Jefferson himself, knives, tomahawks, and ornaments for -chiefs, barrels of beads, paints and looking-glasses, bright-coloured -three-point Mackinaw blankets, a vision to dazzle a child or an -Indian, who is also a child. - -George Drouillard was found, the skilled hunter. There was a trace of -Indian in Drouillard; his French fathers and grandfathers had trapped -along the streams of Ohio and Canada since before the days of Pontiac, -in fact, with Cadillac they had helped to build Detroit. - -Every part of America was represented in that first exploring -expedition,--Lewis, the kinsman of Washington, and Clark from the -tidewater cavaliers of old Virginia, foremost of the fighting stock -that won Kentucky and Illinois, Puritan Yankees from New England, -Quaker Pennsylvanians from Carlisle, descendants of landholders in the -days of Penn, French interpreters and adventurers whose barkentines -had flashed along our inland lakes and streams for a hundred years, -and finally, York, the negro, forerunner of his people. - -Cruzatte and Labiche, canoemen, were of old Kaskaskia. Pierre Cruzatte -was near-sighted and one-eyed, but what of that? A trusted trader of -the Chouteaus, he had camped with the Omahas, and knew their tongue -and their country. Could such a prize be foregone for any defect of -eyesight? - -Accustomed to roving with their long rifles and well-filled bullet -pouches, nowhere in the world could more suitable heroes have been -found for this Homeric journey. - -News of the sale had reached St. Louis while Captain Lewis was -struggling with those builders at Pittsburg. - -"_Sacre! Diable!_" exclaimed the French. Some loved France, some clung -to Spain, some shook their heads. "De country? We never discuss its -affaires. Dat ees de business of de Commandante." - -The winter of 1803-4 was very severe. In November the ice began -running and no one could cross until February. Then Captain Amos -Stoddard, at Kaskaskia with his troops, sent a letter to Don Carlos De -Hault De Lassus by a sergeant going on business to Captain Lewis. - -On top of the hill a double stockade of logs set vertically, the space -between filled with dirt, a two-story log building with small windows -and a round stone tower with a pointed cap of stone,--that was the -fort where the Spanish soldiers waited. - -Down below, inhabitants in blue blanket capotes and blue kerchiefs on -their heads, now and then in red toque or a red scarf to tie up their -trousers, wandered in the three narrow lanes that were the streets of -St. Louis, waiting. Before them flowed the yellow-stained, -eddy-spotted Mississippi, behind waved a sea of prairie grass -uninterrupted by farm or village to the Rockies. - -Spring blossomed. Thickets of wild plum, cherry, wild crab-apples, -covered the prairie. Vanilla-scented locust blooms were shaking -honey-dew on the wide verandas of the old St. Louis houses, when early -in the morning of May 9, American troops crossed the river from -Cahokia, and Clark's men from the camp formed in line with fife and -drum, and colours flying. At their head Major Amos Stoddard of Boston -and Captain Meriwether Lewis of Virginia led up to the Government -House. - -Black Hawk was there to see his Spanish Father. He looked out. - -"Here comes your American Father," said the Commandant De Lassus. - -"I do not want _two_ Fathers!" responded Black Hawk. - -Dubiously shaking his head as the Americans approached, Black Hawk and -his retinue flapped their blankets out of one door as Stoddard and -Captain Lewis entered the other. - -Away to his boats Black Hawk sped, pulling for dear life up stream to -his village at Rock Island. And with him went Singing Bird, the bride -of Black Hawk. - -"Strange people have taken St. Louis," said the Hawk to his Sacs. "We -shall never see our Spanish Father again." - -A flotilla of Frenchmen came up from Kaskaskia,--Menard, Edgar, -Francis Vigo, and their friends. Villagers left their work in the -fields; all St. Louis flocked to La Place d'Armes in front of the -Government House to see the transfer. - -In splendid, showy uniforms, every officer of the Spanish garrison -stood at arms, intently watching the parade winding up the limestone -footway from the boats below. - -With its public archives and the property of a vast demesne, Don -Carlos De Hault De Lassus handed over to Major Stoddard the keys of -the Government House in behalf of France. A salvo of cannonry shook -St. Louis. - -"People of Upper Louisiana," began De Lassus in a choked and broken -voice, "_by order of the King_, I am now about to surrender this post -and its dependencies. The flag which has protected you during nearly -thirty-six years will no longer be seen. The oath you took now ceases -to bind. Your faithfulness and courage in upholding it will be -remembered for ever. From the bottom of my heart I wish you all -prosperity." - -De Lassus, Stoddard, Lewis, Clark, and the soldiers filed up the -yellow path, past the log church, to the fort on the hill. The Spanish -flag was lowered; De Lassus wept as he took the fallen banner in his -hand, but as the Lilies of France flashed in the sun the Creoles burst -into tumultuous cheers. Not for forty years had they seen that flag, -the emblem of their native land. Cannon roared, swords waved, and -shouts were heard, but not in combat. - -The gates were thrown open; out came the Spanish troops with knapsacks -on their backs, ready to sail away to New Orleans. The old brass -cannon and munitions of war were transported down the hill, while the -American soldiers in sombre uniforms filed into the dingy old fort of -Spain. - -Major Stoddard sent for the French flag to be taken down at sunset. - -"No, no, let it fly! Let it fly all night!" begged the Creoles, and a -guard of honour went up to watch the flickering emblem of their -country's brief possession. - -All night long that French flag kissed the sky, all night the guard of -honour watched, and the little log church of St. Louis was filled with -worshippers. All the romance of Brittany and Normandy rose to memory. -René Kiercereau the singer led in ballads of La Belle France, and the -glories of fields where their fathers fought were rehearsed with -swelling hearts. Not the real France but an ideal was in their hearts, -the tradition of Louis XIV. - -That was the last day of France in North America. As the beloved -banner sank the drums gave a long funeral roll, but when, instead, the -red, white, and blue burst on the breeze, the fifes struck into lively -music and the drums rained a cataract. - -"Three cheers for the American flag!" cried Charles Gratiot in the -spirit of the Swiss republic, but there were no cheers. The Creoles -were weeping. Sobs, lamentations arose, but the grief was mostly from -old Frenchmen and their wives who so long had prayed that the Fleur de -Lis might wave above San Loui'. Their sons and daughters, truly, as -Lucien Bonaparte had warned Napoleon, "went to bed good Frenchmen, to -awake and find themselves Americans." - -The huge iron cock in the belfry of the old log church spun round and -round, as if it knew not which way the wind was blowing. In three days -three flags over St. Louis! No wonder the iron cock lost its head and -spun and spun like any fickle weather vane. - -In the same square with the Government House stood one of the Chouteau -mansions. Auguste Chouteau had been there from the beginning, when as -a fearless youth with Laclede he had penetrated to the site of the -future San Loui' in 1764. He was a diplomat who met Indians and made -alliances. He had seen the territory pass under Spain's flag, and in -spite of that had made it more and more a place of Gallic refuge for -his scattered countrymen. He had welcomed Saugrain, Cerré, Gratiot, in -fact,--he and his brother Pierre remembered the day when there was no -San Loui'. - -A band of Osage chiefs had come in to see their great Spanish father. -With wondering eyes they watched the cession, and were handed over to -Captain Lewis to deal with in behalf of the United States. A French -messenger was sent ahead with a letter to the tribe. - -"The Americans taken San Loui'?" - -Manuel Lisa, the Spaniard, was disgusted,--it broke up his monopoly of -the Osage trade. "We will not haf the Americans!" - -The Osages burnt the letter. - - - - -VI - -_SERGEANT ORDWAY WRITES A LETTER_ - - -The winter of 1802-3 had been uncommonly severe. Unknown to George -Shannon, that winter his father hunting in the dense woods of Ohio -lost his way in a snow-storm and was frozen to death. Unaware of the -tragedy at home, unaware also of his own inherited facility for -getting lost, the boy set out up the winding staircase of the wild -Missouri. - -An older brother, John, nineteen years of age, became the stay of that -widowed mother with her seven small children, the least a baby, Wilson -Shannon, twice the future Governor of Ohio and once the Governor of -Kansas. - -With a pad on his knee every soldier boy wrote home from the camp on -River Dubois opposite the mouth of the Missouri. Down through the -years Sergeant Ordway's letter has come to us. - - "CAMP RIVER DUBOIS, April the 8th, 1804. - - "HONOURED PARENTS,--I now embrace this opportunity of - writeing to you once more to let you know where I am and - where I am going. I am well thank God and in high Spirits. - I am now on an expedition to the westward, with Capt. Lewis - and Capt. Clark, who are appointed by the President of the - United States to go on an Expedition through the interior - parts of North America. We are to ascend the Missouri River - with a boat as far as it is navigable and then to go by - land to the western ocean, if nothing prevents. This party - consists of twenty-five picked men of the armey and country - likewise and I am so happy as to be one of them picked from - the armey and I and all the party are if we live to return - to receive our discharge whenever we return again to the - United States if we choose it. This place is on the - Mississippi River opposite to the mouth of the Missouri - River and we are to start in ten days up the Missouri - River, this has been our winterquarters. We expect to be - gone 18 months or two years, we are to receive a great - reward for this expedition when we return. I am to receive - 15 dollars a month and at least 400 ackers of first rate - land and if we make great discoveries as we expect the - United States has promised to make us great rewards, more - than we are promised, for fear of accidents I wish to - inform you that [personal matters]. - - I have received no letters since Betseys yet but will write - next winter if I have a chance. - - "Yours, etc., - "JOHN ORDWAY, _Segt._ - - "TO STEPHEN ORDWAY, - Dumbarton, N.H." - - - - -VII - -_INTO THE LAND OF ANARCHY_ - - -The boats were ready, the red pirogue and the white, from St. Louis, -fresh painted, trim and slim upon the water, and the big bateau, -fifty-five feet from stem to stern, with setting poles, sweeps, a -square sail to catch the breeze, and twenty-two oars at the rowlocks. - -Down under the decks and in the cabins, had been packed the precious -freightage, government arms, rifles made at Harper's Ferry under -Lewis's own superintendence, tents, ammunition, bales and boxes of -Indian presents, provisions, tools. Into the securest lockers went -Lewis's astronomical instruments for ascertaining the geography of the -country, and the surgical instruments that did good service in the -hands of Clark. - -Nothing was forgotten, even small conveniences, candles, ink, mosquito -bars. It took half a million to send Stanley to Africa. For -twenty-five hundred dollars Lewis and Clark made as great a journey. - -To assist in carrying stores and repelling Indian attacks, Corporal -Warfington and six soldiers had been engaged at St. Louis and nine -French boys of Cahokia, inured to the paddle and the camp. -Feather-decked and beaded they came, singing the songs of old Cahokia -to start the little squadron. - -The Americans had knives in their belts, pistols in their holsters, -knapsacks on their backs, powder horns and pouches of ammunition, ink -horns and quills, ready to face the wilderness and report. Lewis -encouraged every one to keep a journal. - -"I niver wint to school but nineteen days in me boyhood and that was -whin I was a man," said Patrick Gass. But what Pat lacked in books he -made up in observation and shrewd reasoning; hence it fell out that -Patrick Gass's journal was the first published account of the Lewis -and Clark expedition. All honour to Patrick Gass. Of such are our -heroes. - -The cession was on Wednesday, May 9, 1804, and all the men were there -but a few who guarded camp. At three o'clock the following Monday, May -14, Captain Clark announced, "All aboard!" The heavy-laden bateau and -two pirogues swung out, to the voyageurs' _chanson_, thrilling like a -brass band as their bright new paddles cut the water: - - "A frigate went a-sailing, - _Mon joli coeur de rose_, - Far o'er the seas away, - _Joli coeur d'un rosier, - Joli coeur d'un rosier_." - -And hill and hollow echoed, - - "_Mon joli coeur de rose_" - -"San Chawle!" cried Cruzatte the bowsman at two o'clock, Wednesday, -when the first Creole village hove in sight. At a gun, the signal of -traders, all St. Charles rushed to see the first Americans that had -ever come up the Missouri. And straggling behind the Frenchmen came -their friends, the Kickapoos of Kaskaskia, now on a hunt in the -Missouri. - -"Meet us up the river with a good fat deer," said Captain Clark. The -delighted Kickapoos scattered for the hunt. - -Five days the boats lay at St. Charles, waiting for Captain Lewis who -was detained fixing off the Osage chiefs at St. Louis. - -Patrick Gass wrote in his journal, "It rained." Sergeant Floyd adds, -"Verry much Rain." Captain Clark chronicles, "Rain, thunder, and -lightning for several days." But never on account of a flurry of rain -did the sociable French of St. Charles fail in polite attentions to -their guests on the river bank. - -On Sunday, boats were descried toiling up from St. Louis with a dozen -gentlemen, who had come to escort Captain Lewis and bid "God speed!" -to the expedition. Captain Stoddard was there, and Auguste Chouteau, -availing himself of every opportunity to forward the enterprise. -Monsieur Labbadie had advice and Gratiot and Dr. Saugrain, little and -learned, with the medicine chest. - -With throbbing hearts the captains stole a moment for a last home -letter to be sent by the returning guests. - -"My route is uncertain," wrote Clark to Major Croghan at Locust Grove. -"I think it more than probable that Captain Lewis or myself will -return by sea." - -"_Bon voyage! bon voyage, mes voyageurs!_" cried all the French -habitants of St. Charles, waving caps and kerchiefs to answering -cheers from the crew and the guns. "_Bonsoir et bon voyage_--tak' care -for you--_prenez garde pour les sauvages_." With a laugh the voyageurs -struck up a boat song. - -The boats slid away into the west, that West where France had -stretched her shadowy hand, and Spain, and England. The reign of -France fell with Montcalm on the Heights of Abraham, flickering up -again only in that last act when Napoleon gave us Louisiana. - -"The Kickapoos! The Kickapoos!" Through bush and brier above St. -Charles, the bedraggled Indians came tugging down to the shore four -fine fat deer. Bacon fare and hardtack were relegated to the hold. -From that hour Lewis and Clark threaded the gameland of the world. - -"Joost wait onteel dey get ento de boofalo!" commented those wise -young voyageurs, Cruzatte and Drouillard, nodding at one another as -the cooks served out the savoury meat on the grass, and every man drew -forth his long hunting-knife and little sack of salt. - -"Where is my old friend, Daniel Boone?" inquired Captain Clark, three -days later at Charette, the last settlement on the Missouri border. -This, but for Spanish interference, would have been their camping -station the previous winter. Colonel Boone, six miles from the -Missouri, was holding court beneath his Judgment Tree. - -The June rise of the Missouri was at hand. Days of rain and melting -snows had set the mad streams whirling. The muddy Missouri, frothing, -foaming, tore at its ragged banks that, yawning, heavily undermined, -leaped suddenly into the water. Safety lay alone in mid-stream, where -the swift current, bank-full and running like a millrace, bore down -toward the Mississippi. - -To stem it was terrific. In spite of oars and sails and busy poling, -the bateau would turn, raked ever and anon with drifts of fallen -trees. And free a moment, some new danger arose. Down out of sight, -water-soaked logs scraped the keel with vicious grating. And above, -formidable battering-rams of snags sawed their black heads up and down -defiantly, as if Nature herself had blockaded the way with a _chevaux -de frise_. - -Poles broke, oars splintered, masts went headlong, the boat itself -careened almost into the depths. It was a desperate undertaking to -stem the mad Missouri in the midst of her wild June rise. - -But that very rise, so difficult to oppose upstream, was a sliding -incline the other way. May 27, two canoes loaded with furs came -plunging full tilt out of the north. - -"Where from? What news?" - -"Two months from the Omaha nation, seven hundred miles up the river," -sang out the swiftly passing Frenchmen bound for St. Louis. - -Behind them a huge raft,-- - -"From the Pawnees on the Platte!" - -And yet behind three other rafts, piled, heaped, and laden to the -water's edge,-- - -"From the Grand Osage!" - -Such alone was greeting and farewell, as the barks, unable to be -checked, went spinning down the water. - -What a gala for the winter-bound trapper! Home again! home again! -flying down the wild Missouri in the mad June rise! They stopped not -to camp or to hunt, but skimming the wave, fairly flew to St. Louis. -They came, those swift-gliding boats, like visions of another world, -the world Lewis and Clark were about to enter. - -June 5, two more canoes flashed by with beaver,-- - -"From eighty leagues up the Kansas river!" - -June 8, boats with beaver and otter slid by, and rafts of furs and -buffalo tallow,-- - -"From the Sioux nation!" - -Dorion, an old Frenchman on a Sioux raft, engaged to go back with -Lewis and Clark to interpret for them the language of his wife's -relations. - -A thousand miles against the current! Now and then a southwest wind -would fill out the big square-cut sail and send the heavy barge -ploughing steadily up. Again, contrary winds kept them on the walking -boards all day long, with heads bent low over the setting-pole. - -Warm and warmer grew the days. Some of the men were sunstruck. The -glitter of sun on the water inflamed their eyes. Some broke out with -painful boils, and mosquitoes made night a torture. - -Now and then they struck a sand-bar, and leaping into the water the -voyageurs ran along shore with the _cordelle_ on their shoulders, -literally dragging the great boat into safety. - -"_Mon cher_ Captinne! de win' she blow lak' hurricane!" cried the -voyageurs. - -Down came the prairie gale, almost a tornado, snapping the timber on -the river-banks, and lashing the water to waves that surged up, over, -and into the boats. The sky bent black above them, the fierce wind -howled, and the almost exhausted men strained every nerve to hold the -rocking craft. - -"I strong lak' moose, not 'fraid no t'ing," remarked Cruzatte, -clambering back into the boat wet as a drowned kitten. - -Hot and tired, June 26 they tied up at the mouth of Kansas River. "Eat -somet'ing, tak' leetle drink also," said the voyageurs. On the present -site of Kansas City they pitched their tents, and stretched their -limbs from the weariness of canoe cramp. - -"The most signs of game I iver saw," said Patrick Gass, wandering out -with his gun to find a bear. "Imince Hurds of Deer," bears in the -bottoms, beaver, turkeys, geese, and a "Grat nomber of Goslins," say -the journals, but not an Indian. - -"Alas!" sighed the old voyageurs with friendly pity. "De Kansas were -plaintee brave people, but de Sac and de Sioux, dey drive 'em up de -Kansas River." - -Cćsar conquered Gaul, but the mercatores were there before him. Lewis -and Clark ascended the Missouri, but everywhere the adventurous -Frenchmen had gone before them, peddlers of the prairie, out with -Indian goods buying skins. - -But now Americans had come. The whippoorwill sang them to sleep, the -wolf howled them awake. The owl inquired, "Who? Who? Who?" in the dark -treetops at the mouth of the Kansas River. - -On, on crept the boats, past grand old groves of oak and hickory, of -walnut, ash, and buckeye, that had stood undisturbed for ages. Swift -fawn flitted by, and strange and splendid birds that the great Audubon -should come one day to study. On, on past the River-which-Cries, the -Weeping Water, the home of the elk. Tall cottonwoods arose like -Corinthian columns wreathed with ivy, and festoons of wild grape -dipped over and into the wave. - -The River-which-Cries marked the boundary of two nations, the Otoes -and Omahas. Almost annually its waters were reddened with slaughter. -Then came the old men and women and children from the Otoe villages -on the south and from the Omahas on the north and wept and wept there, -until it came to be known as Nehawka, the Weeping Water. - -July came and the waters were falling. With a fair wind, on the 21st -they sailed past the mouth of the great river Platte. In the summer -evening Lewis and Clark in their pirogue paddled up the Platte. - -"Here I spen' two winter wit' de Otoe," said Drouillard the hunter. -"De Otoe were great nation, but de Sioux an' de 'Maha drove dem back -on de Pawnee." - -"And the Pawnees?" - -"Dey built villages an' plant corn an' wage war wid de Osage." - -Ten days later preparations were made to meet the Otoes at Council -Bluffs. On a cottonwood pole the flag was flying. A great feast was -ready, when afar off, Drouillard and Cruzatte were seen approaching -with their friends. - -"Boom," went the blunderbuss, and the council smoke arose under an -awning made of the mainsail of the bateau. Every man of the -expedition, forty-five in all, paraded in his best uniform. - -Lewis talked. Clark talked. All the six chiefs expressed satisfaction -in the change of government. They begged to be remembered to their -Great Father, the President, and asked for mediation between them and -the Omahas. - -"What is the cause of your war?" - -"We have no horses," answered the childlike Otoes. "We borrow their -horses. Then they scalp us. We fear the Pawnees also. We very hungry, -come to their village when they are hunting, take a little corn!" - -The Captains could scarce repress a smile, nor yet a tear. Thefts, -reprisals, midnight burnings and slaughter, this was the reign -immemorial in this land of anarchy. In vain the tribes might -plant,--never could they reap. "We poor Indian," was the universal -lament. - -Severely solemn, Lewis and Clark hung medals on the neck of each -chief, and gave him a paper with greetings from Thomas Jefferson with -the seals of Lewis and Clark impressed with red wax and attached with -a blue ribbon. - -"When you look at these, remember your Great Father. You are his -children. He bids you stop war and make peace with one another." In -1860, the Otoe Indians exhibited at Nebraska City those identical -papers, borne for more than half a century in all their homeless -wanderings, between flat pieces of bark and tied with buckskin thongs. - -Then gifts were distributed and chiefs' dresses. With more -handshakings and booming of cannon, the flotilla sailed away that -sultry afternoon one hundred years ago. The chiefs stood still on the -shore and wonderingly gazed at one another. - -"These are the peacemakers!" - -A week later Lewis and Clark entered the Omaha country and raised a -flag on the grave of Blackbird. Encamping on a sandbar opposite the -village, Sergeant Ordway and Cruzatte were dispatched to summon the -chiefs. Here Cruzatte had traded two winters. Up from the river he -found the old trails overgrown. Breaking through sunflowers, grass, -and thistles high above their heads, they came upon the spot where -once had stood a village. Naught remained but graves. - -The Omahas had been a military people, feared even by the Sioux, the -Kansas, and the far-away Crows. Strange mystery clung to Blackbird. -Never had one so powerful ruled the Missouri. At his word his enemy -perished. Stricken by sudden illness, whoever crossed the will of -Blackbird died, immediately, mysteriously. - -Then came the smallpox in 1800. Blackbird himself died and half his -people. In frenzy the agonised Omahas burnt their village, slew their -wives and children, and fled the fatal spot,--but not until they had -buried Blackbird. In accord with his last wish, they took the corpse -of the Omaha King to the top of the highest hill and there entombed -him, sitting upright on his horse that he might watch the traders come -and go. - -And one of those traders bore in his guilty heart the secret of -Blackbird's power. He had given to him a package of arsenic. -Blackbird and Big Elk's father went to St. Louis in the days of the -French and made a treaty. A portrait of the chief was then painted -that is said to hang now in the Louvre at Paris. - -A delegation of Otoes had been persuaded to come up and smoke the -peace-pipe with the Omahas. But not an Omaha appeared. And the Otoes, -released from overwhelming fear, Big Horse and Little Thief, Big Ox -and Iron Eyes, smoked and danced on the old council ground of their -enemies, whose scalps they had vowed to hang at their saddle bow. - -Sergeant Floyd danced with the rest that hot August night, and became -overheated. He went on guard duty immediately afterward, and lay down -on a sandbar to cool. In a few moments he was seized with frightful -pains. - -Nathaniel Pryor awakened the Captains. - -"My cousin is very ill." - -All night Lewis and Clark used every endeavour to relieve the -suffering soldier. At sunrise the boats set sail, bearing poor Floyd, -pale and scarce breathing. There was a movement of the sick boy's -lips,-- - -"I am going away. I want you to write me a letter." - -And there, on the borders of Iowa, he dispatched his last message to -the old Kentucky home. When they landed for dinner Floyd died. - -With streaming tears Patrick Gass, the warm-hearted, made a strong -coffin of oak slabs. A detail of brother soldiers bore the body to the -top of the bluff and laid it there with the honours of war, the first -United States soldier to be buried beyond the Mississippi, and on a -cedar post they carved his name. - -With measured tread and slow the soldiers came down and camped on -Floyd's River below, in the light of the setting sun. - -Years passed. Around that lovely height, Floyd's Bluff, Sioux City -grew. Travellers passed that way and said, "Yonder lies Charles Floyd -on the bluff." Relic hunters chipped away the cedar post. Finally, the -Missouri undermined the height, and the oakwood coffin came near -falling into the river, but it was rescued and buried farther back in -1857. Recently a magnificent monument was dedicated there, to -commemorate his name and his mission for ever,--the first light-bearer -to perish in the West. - -A few days later a vote was cast for a new sergeant in the place of -Floyd, and Patrick Gass received the honour. Every day Floyd had -written in his journal, and now it was given into the hand of Captain -Clark to be forwarded, on the first opportunity, to his people. - - - - -VIII - -_"THE SIOUX! THE SIOUX!"_ - - -"What river is this, Dorion?" Captain Lewis had thrown open his -infantry uniform to catch the cooling gust down a silver rift in the -shore. - -"_Petite Rivičre des Sioux._ Go to Des Moines country. Pass tro te -Lake of te Spirit, full of islands. Lead to Dog Plain, Prairie du -Chien, four days from te Omaha country. Des Sioux--" - -Dorion drew his forefinger across his throat and lapsed into silence. -They were his people, he would not traduce them. But his listeners -understood,--the Sioux were "cut-throats," this was their name among -the tribes. - -The voyageurs trembled, "_Bon Dieu! le Sioux sauvage_, he keel de -voyageur an' steal deir hair!" - -The Sioux, the terrible Sioux, were dog Indians, ever on the move, -raiding back and forth, restless and unsleeping. Almost to Athabasca -their _travoises_ kicked up the summer dust, their dog trains dragged -across the plains of Manitoba. On the Saskatchewan they pitched their -leather tents and chased the buffalo; around Lake Winnipeg they -scalped the Chippeways. At the Falls of St. Anthony they spread their -fishing nets, and at Niagara Falls the old French Jesuits found them. - -Now they were stealing horses. For horses, down the Mississippi they -murdered the Illinois. For horses, the Mandan on the upper Missouri -heard and trembled. "The Sioux! the Sioux!" The Ponca paled in his mud -hut on the Niobrara, the Omaha retreated up the Platte, the Cheyenne -hid in the cedar-curtained recesses of the Black Hills. - -More puissant than the Six Nations of the Iroquois, the Sioux -Confederacy dominated from the Red River of the North to the Red River -of Texas. Wilder than the Comanches they rode, more cunning in theft -than the Crows, more bloodthirsty than the Blackfeet. On the red man's -triple plea for war,--horses, scalps, and wives,--the Sioux were -pirates of the streams and despots of the prairie. - -Mettlesome with the bow, fiery in battle, strong, brave, wild, kings -of the hills and monarchs of the trails, they ruled the earth in -splendid savagery. The buffalo was theirs, the beaver and the deer, -and woe betide the rival that poached on their preserves. Did the poor -Shoshone venture beyond the Rockies, he was flayed and burned alive. -No lake, no stream, no river between the Mississippi and the Rockies -remained unstained by their red hatchet. - -And what a chapter when the traders came! Unwritten yet are those days -of fierce and constant battle. - -Even Dorion himself dreaded the daring freebooters into whose tribe he -had married. His own offspring partook of the wild fierce spirit of -their people. Like eaglets or young panthers, they clutched at him -with claws and talons,--with difficulty the little Frenchman held them -back as the lion-tamer holds the whelps. - -Of Dorion's possessions the Sioux took what they pleased. For the -privilege of trading he smiled and gave them all, then in generosity -he was heaped with skins. Dorion knew the Sioux, knew their best and -worst. Somewhere in this Sioux country his faithful spouse was -waiting; he was looking for her now,--a model squaw, a tireless slave -who dug his roots and made his garments, brought his wood and water, -and, neglected, bore his children. - -"Pilicans! pilicans!" - -It was the voice of Patrick Gass, beyond the Little Sioux. A low sand -island was covered with huge, white, web-footed beauties fishing in -the chocolate Missouri. - -When the scrimmage was over two handsome birds lay in the bateau, one, -the queen of the flock, brought down by Lewis himself. She was a -splendid specimen, six feet from tip to tip, pure white with a tinge -of rose, and an enormous pouch full of fish under her bill. - -"Out with the fish. Let us measure that pouch." - -Lewis's enthusiasm was contagious. All hands gathered while he poured -in water, five gallons. - -"The average capacity is but two," said Captain Clark. "We must -preserve this trophy." - -To-day that beautiful bird, of strong maternal instincts, is the -emblem of the State of Louisiana. - -Again Lewis put the question, "What stream, Dorion?" - -"Te Great Sioux! Two hundret mile to te Sioux Fall, an' beyont--almost -to St. Peters." - -A smile relaxed old Dorion's leathern face,-- - -"Below te Fall, a creek from te cliffs of red rock. All Indian get te -peace-pipe. No battle dere, no war." - -Of the famous red pipestone quarry old Dorion spoke, the beautiful -variegated rock out of which resplendent Dakota cities should be built -in the future. - -"Te rock ees soft, cut it wit te knife, then hard and shining." - -All tribes, even those at war, could claim asylum at the red -pipestone. The Sioux came, and the Pawnee, to camp on its banks and -fashion their calumets. The soft clay pipes, hardened into things of -beauty, were traded from tribe to tribe, emblems and signals of peace. -Captain Lewis himself had one, bought in St. Louis, brought down from -that quarry by some enterprising French trader. - -"Buffalo! buffalo! buffalo!" A grand shout arose at sight of the -surging herds. "Plaintee boofalo now," said the voyageurs. Upon the -led horses along shore, Clark and Joseph Fields dashed away for a -first shot. - -Again rejoicing cooks went hunting up the kettles, and the whole -expedition paused a day for a grand hunt. - -"Te Yankton Sioux!" joyfully announced old Dorion, as they neared the -familiar chalk bluffs of "des rivičre Jaques, tat go almost to te Red -Rivičre of te Winnipeg." All over these streams old Dorion had trapped -the beaver. - -With Sergeant Pryor and another, Dorion set out for the Indian camp. -The Yankton Sioux saw the white men approaching and ran with robes to -carry them in state to camp. - -"No," answered the Sergeant, "we are not the commanders. They are at -the boats." - -Dorion led the way to his wigwam. His polite old squaw immediately -spread a bearskin for them to sit on. Another woman killed a dog, cut -it up, and boiled it and gave it to them to eat, a token of -friendship. - -Forty clean and well-kept lodges were in this Yankton village, of -dressed buffalo and elk skin, painted red and white and very handsome. -And each lodge had a cooking apartment attached. - -Under the Calumet bluffs the flag was flying when the Yankton Sioux -came down in state and crossed the river to the council. The Yankton -Sioux were reputed to be the best of their nation, and brave as any, -with their necklaces of bear's claws, paints, and feathers. They were -kingly savages, dignified and solemn, with heads shaved to the eagle -plume, and arrayed in robes wrought with porcupine quills. - -With Dorion as interpreter Captain Lewis delivered the usual speech, -and presented flags, medals, and a chief's dress, a richly laced coat, -cocked hat, and red feather. The ceremonious Indians withdrew to -consider a suitable answer. - -The next morning again the chiefs assembled, solemnly seated in a row -with enormous peace-pipes of red stone and stems a yard long, all -pointing toward the seats intended for Lewis and Clark. - -But the great Indian diplomats did not hasten. - -"Ha!" - -Even the stoic Sioux could not refrain from an ejaculation of -admiration as they half rose, pipe in hand, to gaze in awe and wonder -as the white chiefs entered the council. No such traders ever came up -the Missouri, no such splendid apparitions as the Red Head Chief and -his brother, pink and white as the roses on the river Jaques. - -Captain Lewis habitually wore his sunny hair in a queue; to-day it was -loosened into a waving cataract, and Clark, slipping off his eelskin -bag, let his red locks fall, a strange and wondrous symbol. No such -red and gold had ever been seen in the Indian country. With pale -berries they stained their porcupine quills, with ochre painted the -buffalo lodges, with vermilion rouged their faces, but none like these -growing on the heads of men! - -Seating themselves with all due dignity, Lewis and Clark scarce lifted -their eyes from the ground as the Grand Chief, Weucha, extended his -decorated pipe in silence. A full hour elapsed before Weucha, slipping -his robe to give full play to his arm, arose before them. - -"I see before me my Great Father's two sons. We very poor. We no -powder, ball, knives. Our women and children at the village no -clothes. I wish my brothers would give something to those poor people. - -"I went to the English, they gave me a medal and clothes. I went to -the Spanish, they gave me a medal. Now you give me a medal and -clothes. Still we are poor. I wish you would give something for our -squaws." - -Then other chiefs spoke. "Very poor. Have pity on us. Send us traders. -We want powder and ball." - -Deadly as were the Sioux arrows,--one twang of their bowstring could -pierce a buffalo,--yet a better weapon had crossed their vision. -Firearms, powder, ball, fabulous prices, these problems changed Indian -history. - -Congratulating themselves on this favourable encounter with the -dreaded Sioux, and promising everything, Lewis and Clark went forward -with renewed courage. - -More and more buffaloes dotted the hills, and herds of antelope, -strange and new to science. - -"I must have an antelope," said Lewis. - -At that moment he saw seven on a hilltop. Creeping carefully near, -they scented him on the wind. The wild beauties were gone, and a -similar flock of seven appeared on a neighbouring height. - -"Can they have spanned the ravine in this brief time?" - -He looked, and lo! on a third height and then a fourth they skimmed -the hills like cloud shadows, or winged griffins of the fabled time, -half quadruped and half bird. - -"A cur'ous lill animal here, Captain," said one of the hunters, -handing him a limp little body. Its head was like a squirrel's. Lewis -stroked the long fine hair. - -"What is it?" - -Cruzatte, the bowman, paddle in hand, leaned over, peering with his -one near-sighted but intelligent eye. - -"Ha! ha! ha! _le petit chien!_" he laughed. "Live in te hole een te -prairie. Leetle dog. Bark, yelp, yelp, yelp, like te squirrel. All -over te countree, whole towns," spreading his brown hands -expressively. - -After this lucid explanation the Captains, Lewis and Clark, set out -for a prairie-dog town. A few yelps, heels in air, the town was -deserted save for the tiny mounds that told where each had hidden. - -"Let us drown one out." - -Forthwith, every man came puffing up with big brass kettles full of -water. - -"Five barrels," says Clark in his journal, "were poured into the holes -but not a dog came out," and Patrick Gass adds, "Though they worked at -the business until night they only caught one of them." - -More and more the hills were thronged with buffalo. Even York, Captain -Clark's black servant, went out and killed two at one ride. - -On the top of a high bluff the men had found the skeleton of a huge -fish, forty-five feet long and petrified. - - "Blow, ye winds of morning, - Blow, blow, blow--" - -George Shannon, the boy of the expedition, had enlivened many a -sunrise with his jolly, rollicking Irish songs. But Shannon was lost! -On the 28th of August he had gone out to look for the strayed horses. -It was now September. Captain Lewis was wild, for at his request -George had joined the expedition and at his order he had gone after -the horses. Hunters had sought in every direction, guns had been fired -and the blunderbuss, and smokes had been kindled from point to point. - -"Shannon!" A great shout went up as the forlorn boy, emaciated and -weary, came dragging into camp on the 11th of September. - -It was a short story, soon told. He found the horses and followed by -mistake the trail of recent Indians, which he mistook for footprints -of the party. For days he followed the trail, exhausted his bullets, -and lived on wild grapes and a rabbit he killed with a stick. But he -heard no guns, saw no smoke. - -In despair at last he came down to the river, to discover that all -this time he had been travelling ahead of the boats! The fatted -buffalo-calf was killed and great was the rejoicing, and at daylight -next morning, Shannon's - - "Blow, ye winds of morning, - Blow, blow, blow," - -rang again joyously over the Missouri. - -"Danger! Quick! The bank is caving!" - -At one o'clock in the night the guard gave the startled cry. Barely -was there time to loosen the boats and push into midstream before the -whole escarpment dropped like an avalanche over the recent anchorage. -Thus in one instant might have been blotted out the entire expedition, -to remain for all time a mystery and conjecture. - -On the evening of September 24 the cooks and a guard went ashore to -get supper at the mouth of the river Teton, the present site of -Pierre, South Dakota. Five Indians, who had followed for some time, -slept with the guard on shore. - -Early next morning sixty Indians came down from a Sioux camp and the -Captains prepared for a council. Under the flag and an awning, at -twelve o'clock the company paraded under arms. Dorion had remained -behind at the Yankton village, so with difficulty, by the aid of -Drouillard and much sign language, a brief speech was delivered. Black -Buffalo, head chief, was decorated with a medal, flag, laced coat, -cocked hat, and red feather, nor were the rest forgotten with smaller -gifts, medals, and tobacco. - -The Captains would have gone on, but, "No! No!" insisted Black -Buffalo, seizing the cable of Clark's departing pirogue. - -Finally Clark and several of the men rowed them ashore. But no sooner -had they landed than one seized the cable and held the boat fast. -Another flung his arms around the mast and stood immovable. - -"Release me," demanded Clark, reddening at evidence of so much -treachery. - -Black Buffalo advanced to seize Clark. The Captain drew his sword. At -this motion Captain Lewis, watching from the bateau, instantly -prepared for action. - -The Indians had drawn their arrows and were bending their great bows, -when the black mouth of the blunderbuss wheeled toward them. - -At this Black Buffalo ordered his men to desist, and they sullenly -fell away, but never was forgotten that time when the Teton Sioux -attempted to carry off Captain Clark. - -"We wished to see the boat more," said the Indians, by way of excuse. -"We wished to show it to our wives and children." - -To conciliate and to depart without irritation, Captain Clark offered -his hand. The chiefs refused to take it. Turning, Clark stepped into -the boat and shoved off. Immediately three warriors waded in after -him, and he brought them on board. That night the whole expedition -slept under arms, with the Indians as guests. At daylight crowds of -Indian men, women, and children waited on shore in the most friendly -manner. - -Ten well-dressed young men took Lewis and Clark up on a highly -decorated robe and carried them up to the council tent. Dressed like -dandies, seventy Indians sat in this roomy council hall, the tail -feathers of the golden eagle scarce quivering in their topknots. -Impressively in the centre on two forked sticks lay the long -peace-pipe above a bed of swan's down. - -Outside, the redmen were roasting a barbecue. All day they sat and -smoked, and ate of buffalo beef and pemmican. After sunset a huge -council fire illuminated the interior of the great lodge, and the -dance began. Wild Indian girls came shuffling with the reeking scalps -of Omahas, from a recent raid. Outside twenty-five Omaha women -prisoners and their children moaned in the chill of an icy autumn -night. It was their trail that Shannon had followed for sixteen days. - -About midnight, fatigued by the constant strain of watchful anxiety, -the Captains returned to the boats. But not yet were they safely away. -"To oars! to oars! the cable's parted!" - -The Indians heard the call. - -"The Omahas! the Omahas!" rang the cry up from the Teton camp, that on -every wind anticipated the whoop of retaliating Omahas in search of -their stolen wives and children. - -Then followed pandemonium of rushing Indians and frightened calls. All -night, with strained eyes, every man held his rifle ready as they lay -unanchored on the water. - -At daylight the wily Indians held the ropes and still detained the -boats. Resort to force seemed inevitable. Flinging a carat of tobacco, -"Black Buffalo," said Lewis, "you say you are a great chief. Prove it -by handing me that rope." Flattered, Black Buffalo gave the rope, and -thankfully the boats pulled out with no more desire to cultivate the -Sioux. - - - - -IX - -_THE ROMANCE OF THE MANDANS_ - - -"What will they find?" asked the people of the United States, -discussing the journey of Lewis and Clark. - -"Numerous powerful and warlike nations of savages, of gigantic -stature, fierce, treacherous, and cruel, and particularly hostile to -white men." - -"The mammoth of prehistoric time feeding from the loftiest forests, -shaking the earth with its tread of thunder." - -"They will find a mountain of solid salt glistening in the sun with -streams of brine issuing from its caverns." - -"They will find blue-eyed Indians, white-haired, fairer than other -tribes, planting gardens, making pottery, and dwelling in houses." - -"Oh, yes," said the Federalists, "Jefferson has invented these stories -to aggrandise the merit of his purchase. They never can cross the -mountains. Human enterprise and exertion will attempt them in vain." - -"It was folly! folly to send those men to perish miserably in the -wilderness! It was a bold and wicked scheme of Jefferson. They will -never return alive to this country." - -Had not Jefferson himself in his anxiety directed Lewis and Clark to -have recourse to our consuls in Java, the Isles of France and Bourbon, -and the Cape of Good Hope? Heaven alone knew whither the -Missouri--Columbia might lead them! - -But the white Indians-- - -In the history of Wales there is a story that on account of wars in -Wales a Welsh Prince in 1170 "prepared certain shipps, with men and -munition, and sought adventures by seas, sailing west, and leaving the -coast of Ireland so farre north, that he came to land unknowne, where -he saw many strange things.... This Madoc arriving in the countrey, in -the which he came in the year 1170, left most of his people there, and -returning back for more of his nation, went thither again with ten -sails," and was never again heard of. - -Six hundred years later Welshmen in America imagined that they could -talk with some tribes, who said "they came from white people but were -now Indians," and the legend was related that white people had once -lived on the Atlantic coast, but had so many wars they crossed the -mountains and made boats and went down the Ohio and up the Missouri, -"where to this day live the fair-haired, blue-eyed Mandans." - -Our grandfathers believed this story, believed these whites might have -been cut off at the Falls of the Ohio and some escaped. This is the -excuse that Cornstalk gave to Lord Dunmore for the attack at Point -Pleasant: - -"Long ago our fathers destroyed the whites in a great battle at the -Falls of the Ohio. We thought it might be done again." - -As if in proof of this statement, George Rogers Clark and other first -explorers at the Falls found Sand Island at low water a mass of hacked -and mutilated human bones, whether of Indians or whites, no man could -tell. - -And here now were Lewis and Clark, in the Autumn of 1804, among the -fabled Mandans, and here before them was a Mr. Hugh McCracken, an -Irishman, and René Jussaume, a Frenchman, independent traders, who for -a dozen winters had drawn their goods on dog sleds over from the -British fort on the Assiniboine to trade with the Mandans for buffalo -robes and horses. Thirty dogs they owned between them, great Huskies -of the Eskimo breed. - -Jussaume was immediately engaged as interpreter, and the first Sunday -was spent in conversation with Black Cat, head chief of the Mandans. -All day the hospitable blue-eyed, brown-haired Mandan women, fairer -than other Indians, kept coming in with gifts of corn, boiled hominy, -and garden stuffs, raised by their own rude implements. Girls of ten -years old with silver-gray hair hanging down to their knees stood -around and listened. - -Yes, they had earthen pots and gardens, even extensive fields of corn, -beans, squashes, and sunflowers, and houses--mud huts. They lived in -little forted towns that had been moved successively up, up, up the -Missouri. - -"I believe what you have told us," said one of the chiefs in the great -council on Monday. "We shall now have peace with the Ricaras. My -people will be glad. Then our women may lie down at night without -their moccasins on. They can work in the fields without looking every -moment for the enemy." - -"We have killed the Ricaras like birds," said another, "until we are -tired of killing them. Now we will send a chief and some warriors to -smoke with them." - -Thus was the first effort for peace in the Mandan country. - -The high chill wind almost blew down the awning over the great -council. The men paraded up from the boats, the blunderbuss was fired -from the bow of the big bateau, the long reed-stemmed stone-bowled -pipes were smoked in amity. - -"Here are suits of clothes for your chiefs," said Lewis, handing out -of a wooden chest the handsome laced uniforms, cocked hats, and -feathers. "To your women I present this iron corn-mill to grind their -hominy." - -The solemn, sad-faced chiefs took the clothes and put them on. The -women flew at the corn-mill. All day long they ground and ground and -wondered at "the great medicine" that could make meal with so little -trouble. Mortars and pestles were thrown behind the lodges, discarded. - -The next day Mr. McCracken set out on his return to Fort Assiniboine, -one hundred and fifty miles away, with a friendly letter to the Chief -Factor, Chaboillez, enclosing the passport of Lewis and Clark from the -British minister at Washington. - -Yes, a passport,--so uncertain was that boundary--never yet defined. -Where lay that line? To the sources of the Mississippi? But those -sources were as hidden as the fountain of the Nile. No white man yet -had seen Itasca. - -Since before the Revolution the Chaboillez family had traded at -Michilimackinac. They were there in the days when Wabasha descended on -St. Louis, and had a hand in all the border story. - -While Lewis was negotiating with the Indians, Captain Clark set out -with Black Cat to select a point where timber was plenty to build a -winter camp. - -"Hey, there! are ye going to run aff and leave me all to mesilf?" -exclaimed Patrick Gass, head carpenter, busy selecting his tools and -equipments. "Niver moind, I can outwalk the bist o' thim." - -Strong, compact, broad-chested, heavy-limbed, but lean, sprightly, and -quick of motion, Pat was soon at the side of his Captain. "I can show -ye a pint or two about cabins, I'm thinkin'." - -Clark smiled. He knew something about cabins himself. - -The day was fine and crowds of Indians came to watch proceedings as -Clark's men began to cut the tall cottonwoods and roll up the cabins. - -Every day the Indians came in crowds to watch the wonderful building -of the white men's fort, the deer-skin windows and mud-plastered -chimneys. Turning loose their horses, all day long the red men lay on -the grass watching the details of this curious architecture. At night, -gathering an armful of cottonwood boughs stripped from the fort -timber, each fed his horse and meandered thoughtfully homeward in the -red sunset. - -One day two squaws came, a leathery old dame and a captive Indian girl -from the Rocky Mountains,--the handsome young Sacajawea, the -Bird-Woman. - -"She my slave," said Charboneau, a Frenchman in blanket capote and -kerchief around his head. "I buy her from de Rock Mountain. I make her -my wife." Charboneau lived with the Minnetarees, friends and -neighbours of the Mandans. - -Shahaka, the Big White Head Chief, came, too, with his squaw packing -on her back "one hundred pounds of very fine meat." Whenever Shahaka -crossed the river his squaw picked up the buffalo-skin canoe and -carried it off on her back. Those canoes were made exactly like a -Welsh coracle. - -The days grew colder, the frost harder. Ice began to run in the river -and the last boats in from the hunt brought thirty-two deer, eleven -elk, and buffalo that were jerked and hung in the winter smoke-house. - -By November 20 the triangular fort was ready,--two rows of cabins of -four rooms each, with lofts above where, snug and warm under the roof -next to the chimneys, the men slept through the long cold winter -nights on beds of grass, rolled up in their blankets and fuzzy robes -of buffalo. - -In the frosty weather there came over the prairies from Fort -Assiniboine seven Northwest traders, led by François Antoine Larocque -and Charles Mackenzie, with stores of merchandise to trade among the -Mandans. They immediately waited upon Lewis and Clark. - -"We are not traders," said the Americans, "but explorers on our way to -the Pacific." - -Through Larocque's mind flashed the journey of Sir Alexander Mackenzie -and its outcome. That might mean more than a rival trader. "He is -distributing flags and medals among the Mandans," came the rumour. - -"In the name of the United States I forbid you from giving flags and -medals to the Indians, as our Government looks upon those things as -sacred emblems of the attachment of the Indians to our country," said -Captain Lewis to Monsieur Larocque when next he called at Fort Mandan. - -"As I have neither flags nor medals, I run no risk of disobeying those -orders, I assure you," answered the easy Frenchman. - -"You and all persons are at liberty to come into our territories to -trade or for any other purpose, and will never be molested unless your -behaviour is such as would subject an American citizen himself to -punishment," continued Lewis. - -"And will the Americans not trade?" - -"We may and shall probably have a public store well assorted of all -kinds of Indian goods. No liquors are to be sold." - -"A very grand plan they have schemed," muttered Larocque, as he went -away, "but its being realised is more than I can tell." - -While talking with the Captains, Larocque had an eye on a Hudson's Bay -trader who had appeared on the scene. - -"Beg pardon. I must be off," said Larocque, slipping out with -Charboneau to outwit if possible the Hudson's Bay man and reach the -Indians first. But before he got off a letter arrived from Chaboillez -that altered all plans. - -Unknown to Lewis and Clark, though they gradually came to discover it, -hot war was waging in the north. For the sake of furs, rival traders -cut and carved and shot and imprisoned each other. For the sake of -furs those same traders had held Detroit thirteen years beyond the -Revolution. Furs came near changing the balance of power in North -America. - -The old established Hudson's Bay Company claimed British America. The -ambitious, energetic Northwesters of Montreal disputed the right. And -now that Sir Alexander Mackenzie, a Canadian _bourgeois_, had become a -famous explorer, knighted by the King, jealousies broke out in the -Northwest company itself. - -Simon McTavish, lord of the Northwesters, who had done all he could to -hold the Lakes for Britain, would rule or ruin. But the Northwesters -swore by Mackenzie. So the two factions fought each other, and both -fought the Hudson's Bay Company. - -"The Northwesters are no better than they ought to be," said the men -of Hudson's Bay. "They sent an embassy to Congress in 1776." In fact a -little change in the balance might have thrown the Northwesters over -to the American side and altered the history of a continent. - -"The quarrelling traders of the North are almost as bad as the -Indians," said Lewis,--"they demoralise and inflame the Indians." - -"Trade with me," said Hudson's Bay. "The Northwesters will cheat you." - -"Trade with me," said the Northwester. "Hudson's Bay are bad men." - -With troubled eyes the Indians listened, then scalped them both. Some -bloody tales that North could tell, around the plains of lovely -Winnipeg, out on the lone Saskatchewan, and over to Athabasca. - -But now the Americans,--this was a new force in the West. - -December 1, the Americans began to cut and carry pickets to complete -the high stockade and gate across the front of Fort Mandan. December 6 -it was too cold to work, and that night the river froze over in front -of the fort with solid ice an inch and a half thick. - -At nine o'clock next morning Chief Shahaka, Big White, came puffing in -with news. - -"De boofalo! de boofalo!" interpreted Jussaume, listening intently to -the long harangue of the chief who was making all sorts of sign -language and excitedly pointing up the river. - -"De boofalo, on de prairie, comin' eento de bottom." - -In short order Lewis, Clark, and fifteen men were out with the Indians -mounted on horseback. Then came the din and chase of battle, a sight -to fire the blood and thrill the calmest heart. - -Riding among the herd, each Indian chose his victim, then, drawing his -arrow to the last notch of the bowstring, let it fly. Another and -another whizzed from the same string until the quiver was exhausted. -The wounded beast, blinded by its mane, sometimes charged the hunter. -But the swift steed, trained for the contest, wheeled and was gone. -The buffalo staggered for a little, then, struck in a mortal part, -fell headlong, pawing up the dust and snow in frantic efforts to rise -and fly. - -Into the midst came the Captains and their men, and every man brought -down his buffalo. At twelve degrees below zero and in a northwest -wind, Lewis and his men started out again the next morning to chase -the herds that darkened the prairie. The air was filled with frosty -flakes, the snow was deep and clinging, but all day and until after -dark the exciting hunt held them to the saddle, and only when they -came to the fire did the participants realise that their hands and -feet were frostbitten. - -Cold and colder grew the days. Two suns shone in the sky, -prognosticator of still deeper frost. Brilliant northern lights glowed -along the Arctic, but still they chased the buffalo until the morning -of December 13, when Dr. Saugrain's thermometer stood twenty degrees -below zero at sunrise. In fur caps, coats, mittens, and double -moccasins they brought home horseload after horseload of juicy beef to -hang in the winter storehouse. And fortunately, too, for one day they -awoke to find the buffalo gone. - -Some winters there was great suffering for food among the Mandans, but -this was destined to be a year of plenty. Out of their abundance the -chiefs, also, came to the fort with their dog sleds loaded with meat -for their friends at the garrison. - - - - -X - -_THE FIRST DAKOTA CHRISTMAS_ - - -On Christmas eve the stockade was finished and the gate was shut. With -forty-five men and a blunderbuss Fort Mandan stood impregnable to any -force the northern savages could bring against it. - -But there was no hostility,--far from it. From curiosity or for trade -the Indians came in throngs, until on Christmas eve Captain Lewis sent -out the announcement: "Let no one visit us to-morrow. It is our great -medicine day." - -Before daylight the wondering redmen were aroused from their buffalo -couches by three volleys fired from the fort. Awe-struck they sat up -and whispered: "White men making medicine." At sunrise a flag was -floating above the palisade, but no Indian ventured to approach the -mysterious newly closed walls of Fort Mandan. - -For his Christmas stocking every man received an allowance of flour, -dried apples, and pepper, which together with corn, beans, squash, and -unlimited buffalo meat and marrow bones made out a Christmas feast. - -At one o'clock the gun was fired for dinner. At two came the signal -for the dance. - -"Play up ole fashion reel. Everybody he mus' dance," said Cruzatte, -tuning his fiddle. "We'll do our possible." - -Cruzatte and Gibson played, Gass and Shannon led, Clark called the -changes; and with crackling fires, and a stamping like horses, away up -there under the Northern stars the first American Christmas was -celebrated on the upper Missouri. - -Three wide-eyed spectators sat ranged around the walls. These were the -squaws of the interpreters, Madame René Jussaume, and the two wives of -Charboneau, Madame the old dame, and Sacajawea, the beautiful Indian -captive stolen beyond the Rockies. - -The Indians, in their cheerless winter villages, found much to attract -them at the fort of the white men. Soon after Christmas, William -Bratton and John Shields set up their forge as blacksmiths, gunsmiths, -and armourers. Day after day, with the thermometer forty degrees below -zero, a constant procession of Indians came wending in on the -well-beaten snow-track, with axes to grind and kettles to mend. It -seemed as if all the broken old kettles that had ever drifted into the -country, from Hudson's Bay or Fort William or up from St. Louis, were -carried to Fort Mandan filled with corn to pay for mending. - -Especially the Indians wanted battle-axes, with long thin blades like -the halberds of ancient warfare. Some wanted pikes and spears fixed on -the pointed ends of their long dog-poles. A burnt-out old sheet-iron -cooking stove became worth its weight in gold. For every scrap of it, -four inches square, the Indians would give seven or eight gallons of -corn, and were delighted with the exchange. These bits of square sheet -iron were invaluable for scrapers for hides, and every shred of -cutting that fell to the ground was eagerly bought up to fashion into -arrow tips. Metal, metal, metal,--the _sine qua non_ of civilisation -had come at last to the Mandans. - -While Bratton was busy over his forge, and Shields at the guns, some -of the men were out hunting, some were cutting wood to keep the great -fires roaring, and some were making charcoal for the smithy. - -So the days went on. New Year's, 1805, was ushered in with the -blunderbuss. By way of recreation the captains permitted the men to -visit the Indian villages where crowds gathered to see the white men -dance, "heeling it and toeing it" to the music of the fiddles. The -white men in turn were equally diverted by the grotesque figures of -the Indians leaping in the buffalo dances. - -Captain Clark noted an old man in one of the Mandan villages and gave -him a knife. - -"How old are you?" - -"More than one hundred winters," was the answer. "Give me something -for the pain in my back." - -But a grandson rebuked the old man. "It isn't worth while. You have -lived long enough. It is time for you to go to your relations who can -take better care of you than we can." - -The old man settled back in his robes by the fire and said no more. - -"What accident has happened to your hand?" inquired Lewis of a chief's -son. - -"Grief for my relatives," answered the boy. - -It was a Mandan custom to mutilate the body, as a mark of sorrow for -the dead, until some had lost not only all their fingers, but their -ears and hair. Sacred ceremonies of flagellations, knife thrusts into -the flesh, piercing with thorns and barbaric crucifixions,--thirty -years later George Catlin found these still among the Mandans, and -ascribed them to an effort to perpetuate some Christian ceremonial of -a remote ancestry. - -Could it have been a corrupted tradition of the crucifixion of Christ? -Who can tell? The Welsh of 1170 were Catholic Christians who believed -in self-inflicted penance to save the soul. Degraded, misguided, -interblent with Indian superstition through generations, it might have -come to this. - -But everywhere, at feast or council, one walked as conqueror,--Clark's -negro servant, York. Of fine physical presence and remarkable stature, -very black and very woolly, York was viewed as superhuman. - -"Where you come from?" whispered the awe-struck savages. - -Grinning until every ivory tooth glistened, and rolling up the whites -of his eyes, he would answer, "I was running wild in the wood, and was -caught and tamed by my mastah." Then assuming an air of ferocity, York -would exhibit feats of strength that to the Indians seemed really -terrible. - -"If you kill white men we make you chief," the Arikaras whispered in -his ear. York withstood great temptation,--he fought more battles than -Clark. - -"Delay! delay! delay!" was the Indian plea at every village. "Let our -wives see you. Let our children see, especially the black man." - -From Council Bluffs to Clatsop, children followed York constantly. If -he chanced to turn, with piercing shrieks they ran in terror. - -"Mighty warrior. Born black. Great medicine!" sagely commented the -wise old men, watching him narrowly and shaking their heads at the -unheard-of phenomenon. Even his jerks, contortions, and grimaces -seemed a natural part of such a monstrosity. York was a perpetual -exhibit, a menagerie in himself. - -In these holiday visits to the Mandan towns a glimpse was caught of -domestic life. Wasteful profusion when the buffalo came, when the -buffalo left, days of famine. Then they opened their cellar-holes of -corn and vegetables, hidden away as a last resource in protracted -siege when the Sioux drove off the game and shut them up in their -picketed villages. - -So often were the horses of the Mandans stolen, that it had become a -habitual custom every night to take them into the family lodge where -they were fed on boughs and bark of the cottonwood. All day long in -the iciest weather, the wrinkled, prematurely aged squaws were busy in -the hollows, cutting the horse-feed with their dull and almost useless -knives. On New Year's day Black Cat came down with a load of meat on -his wife's back. A happy woman was she to receive a sharp new knife to -cut her meat and cottonwood. - -It was easy to buy a Mandan wife. A horse, a gun, powder and ball for -a year, five or six pounds of beads, a handful of awls, the trade was -made, and the new spouse was set to digging laboriously with the -shoulder-blade of an elk or buffalo, preparing to plant her corn. - -The Indian woman followed up the hunt, skinned and dressed the -buffalo, and carried home the meat. Indian women built the lodges and -took them down again, dragging the poles whenever there were not -horses enough for a summer ramble. - -When not at the hunt or the council, the warrior sat cross-legged at -his door, carving a bow, pointing an arrow, or smoking, waited upon by -his squaw, who never ate until the braves were done, and then came in -at the last with the children and the dogs. Wrinkled and old at -thirty, such was the fate of the Indian girl. - -Sunday, January 13, Charboneau came back from a visit to the -Minnetarees at Turtle Mountain with his face frozen. It was fortunate -he returned with his life. Many a Frenchman was slain on that road, -many an imprecation went up against the Assiniboine Sioux,--"_Les Gens -des Grands Diables du Nord_," said Charboneau. - -Touissant Charboneau, one of the old Canadian French Charboneaus, with -his brothers had tramped with Alexander Henry far to the north under -sub-arctic forests, wintered on the Assiniboine, and paddled to -Winnipeg. Seven years now he had lived among the Minnetarees, an -independent trader like McCracken and Jussaume, and interpreter for -other traders. - -Moreover, Charboneau was a polygamist with several wives to cook his -food and carry his wood and water. But he had been kind to the captive -Indian girl, and her heart clung to the easy-going Frenchman as her -best friend. The worst white man was better than an Indian husband. - -Captured in battle as a child five years before, Sacajawea had been -brought to the land of the Dakotas and sold to Charboneau. Now barely -sixteen, in that February at the Mandan fort she became a mother. Most -of the men were away on a great hunting trip; when they came back a -lusty little red-faced pappoose was screaming beside the kitchen fire. - -The men had walked thirty miles that day on the ice and in snow to -their knees, but utterly fatigued as they were, the sight of that -little Indian baby cuddled in a deerskin robe brought back memories of -home. - -Clark came in with frosty beard, and moccasins all worn out. - -"Sacajawea has a fine boy," said Lewis. - -No wonder the Captains watched her recovery with interest. All winter -they had sought an interpreter for those far-away tongues beyond the -mountains, and no one could be found but Sacajawea, the wife of -Charboneau. Clark directed York to wait on her, stew her fruit, and -serve her tea, to the great jealousy of Jussaume's wife, who packed up -her pappooses in high dudgeon and left the fort. Sacajawea was only a -slave. She, Madame Jussaume, was the daughter of a chief! - -Poor little Sacajawea! She was really very ill. If she died who would -unlock the Gates of the Mountains? - -Charboneau was a cook. He set himself to preparing the daintiest soups -and steaks, and soon the "Bird Woman" was herself again, packing and -planning for the journey. - -Busy every day now were Lewis and Clark making up their reports and -drawing a map of the country. Shahaka, Big White, came and helped -them. Kagohami of the Minnetarees came, and with a coal on a robe made -a sketch of the Missouri that Clark re-drew. - -But in the midst of the map-making all the Indian talk was of "war, -war, war." - -"I am going to war against the Snakes in the Spring," said Kagohami. - -"No," said Lewis, "that will displease the President. He wants you to -live at peace." - -"Suffer me to go to war against the Sioux," begged another chief. - -"No," answered Lewis. "These wars are the cause of all your troubles. -If you do not stop it the Great Father will withdraw his protection -from you. He will come over here and make you stop it." - -"Look on the many nations whom war has destroyed," continued Lewis. -"Think of your poverty and misfortunes. If you wish to be happy, -cultivate peace and friendship. Then you will have horses. Then you -will grow strong." - -"Have you spoken thus to all the tribes?" inquired Kagohami. - -"We have." - -"And did they open their ears?" - -"They did." - -"I have horses enough," reflected Kagohami, "I will not go to war. I -will advise my nation to remain at home until we see whether the Snake -Indians desire peace." - -One night the hunters came in with the report, "A troop of whooping -Sioux have captured our horses and taken our knives." - -It was midnight, but Lewis immediately routed up the men and set out -with twenty volunteers on the track of the marauding Sioux. In vain. -The boasting freebooters had escaped with the horses beyond recovery. - -"We are sorry we did not kill the white men," was the word sent back -by an Arikara. "They are bad medicine. We shall scalp the whole camp -in the Spring." - - - - -XI - -_THE BRITISH FUR TRADERS_ - - -The movements of Lewis and Clark were watched by the Northwest -Company, who already had planned a house at the Mandans. Jefferson was -not an hour too soon. - -"Yes," said Larocque, "I will pass the winter there and watch those -Americans." - -In the midst of the frightful cold, twenty-two degrees below zero, on -December 16, 1804, Larocque and Mackenzie came over again from Fort -Assiniboine and with them came Alexander Henry. - -"Strangers are among us," said the Indians, "Big Knives from below. -Had they been kind they would have loaded their Great Boat with goods. -As it is they prefer throwing away their ammunition to sparing a shot -to the poor Mandans. There are only two sensible men among them, the -worker of iron and the mender of guns." - -"Amazing long pickets," remarked Larocque, as they came in sight of -the new stockade of Fort Mandan. - -The triangular fort, two sides formed of houses and the front of -pickets, presented a formidable appearance in the wild. - -"Cannon-ball proof," remarked Larocque, taking a good squint at the -high round bastion in the corner between the houses, defending two -sides of the fort. On the top was a sentry all night, and below a -sentry walked all day within the fort. - -"Well guarded against surprise," remarked Alexander Henry, as he -tapped at the gate with the ramrod of his gun. - -As the party knocked at the gates of Fort Mandan, in their winter -coats of leather lined with flannel, edged with fur, and -double-breasted, the lively eye of Patrick Gass peeped out. - -"Some more av thim Britishers to ascertain our motives fur visitin' -this countery, and to gain infurmation with rispict to th' change o' -gov'm't," was the shrewd guess of Pat. - -The hospitable Captains were more than glad to entertain visitors. -They were there to cultivate international amity. - -In their hearts Lewis and Clark never dreamed what a commotion that -friendly letter to Chaboillez had stirred up. It had gone far and -awakened many. Immediately upon its receipt Chaboillez sent out a -runner. - -"Lewis and Clark with one hundred and eighty soldiers have arrived at -the Mandan village," so the story flew. "On their arrival they hoisted -the American flag and informed the natives that their object was not -to trade, but merely to explore the country; and that as soon as -navigation shall open they design to continue their route across the -Rocky Mountains to the Pacific. They have made the natives a few small -presents and repaired their guns and axes free. They have behaved -honourably toward my people, who are there to trade with the natives." - -Such a message as this was enough to bring Alexander Henry down to -investigate. The cottonwood fires at Fort Mandan roared up the -chimneys with unwonted splendour that winter night. The thermometer -suddenly fell to forty-five degrees below zero; but warm and -comfortable beside the blaze they talked, American and British, in -this border of the nations. - -Charles Mackenzie had been a clerk of the Northwest Company for a -year. Of the same rank as himself was Larocque, and both were popular -with the redmen. In fact, Mackenzie, a Scot from the Highlands, was -already married to an Indian girl, and Larocque was a Frenchman. That -was enough. No nation fraternized with the redmen as the Frenchmen -did. - -Alexander Henry, fur trader among the American Indians and one of the -famous Northwesters, bore a great name in the north. There were two -Alexander Henrys; the younger was a nephew of the other, and he it -was that had now come to visit Lewis and Clark. He knew more of the -country than, perhaps, any other man in the northwest. In fact, his -uncle, the elder Henry, was at Michilimackinac in the days of Pontiac, -and had penetrated to the Saskatchewan before ever there was a -Northwest Company. - -Henry, Jr., wintered on the Red River the very year that Alexander -Mackenzie crossed the continent,--1793. As a _bourgeois_ of the -Northwesters, with a fleet of canoes and twenty-one men he had led the -Red River brigade of 1800 up into the Winnipeg country. - -The scarlet belts, breeches of smoked buckskin, and blue cloth -leggings of Alexander Henry's old _coureur des bois_ were known for -hundreds of miles. - -Yes, he knew the Sioux. Their pillaging bands sometimes plundered his -traders. "They are not to be trusted," he declared in positive tone. - -"A very sensible, intelligent man," said Lewis and Clark to themselves -as the great Northwester talked of the country and the tribes. - -But time seemed pressing. Questions of cold or of comfort weighed not -with these dauntless Northwesters when the interests of their company -were at stake. They had come on horseback. To return that way was out -of the question; and so sleds were fitted up with Jussaume's Eskimo -dogs, the "Huskies" of the fur traders. - -"They seem happy to see us," remarked Mackenzie from under his -muffler, as they rode away. "They treat us with civility and kindness, -but Captain Lewis cannot make himself agreeable. He speaks fluently, -even learnedly, but to me his inveterate prejudice against the British -stains all his eloquence." - -"Captain Clark is more cordial," rejoined Larocque. "He seems to -dislike giving offence unnecessarily. Do you recall his thoughtfulness -in sending for our horses when we feared they might be stolen? He let -his men guard them with his own." - -With the thermometer thirty-two degrees below zero, the dogsleds flew -swift across the snow, bearing news not alone to Assiniboine, but to -Fort William on the northern shore of Lake Superior where the -Northwesters had built their trading centre. - -Fort William, built in 1803 and named in honour of William -McGillivray, was the great distributing point, where "the lords of the -lakes and the forests" came to hold their rendezvous. In front rolled -Superior, the great Canadian Sea. Schooners, laden with merchandise, -peltries, and provisions, plied between Fort William and Sault Ste. -Marie. - -One of the honoured names of the Northwest Company was Philip de -Rocheblave. Captured by George Rogers Clark at Kaskaskia, sent to -Virginia and there let out on parole, he broke faith and fled to New -York, to turn up at Montreal in the winter of 1783-4 along with -McTavish, McGillivray, the Frobishers and Frasers, founders of the -Northwest Fur Company. Pierre de Rocheblave had now succeeded to his -uncle's honours. Would he be apt to let the United States get ahead of -him? And by means of a _Clark_ at that? - -"I must go down to the American fort to get my compass put in order," -said Larocque again, in January. "The glass is broken and the needle -does not point due north." - -He found Captain Clark sketching charts of the country, Lewis making -vocabularies; Jussaume and Charboneau, the Frenchmen, interpreting and -disputing on the meaning of words. - -"They write down our words," whispered the suspicious Indians. "What -wicked design have they on our country?" - -Captain Lewis spent a whole day fixing Larocque's compass. - -"I hardly get a skin when the Hudson's Bay trader is with me," said -Larocque. "He is known by all the Indians, and understands and talks -their language. I must get Charboneau." And the two went away -together. - -"Of what use are beaver?" inquired the Indians. "Do you make gunpowder -of them? Do they preserve you from sickness? Do they serve you beyond -the grave?" - -Alexander Henry went to Fort William. - -"A new rival has arisen," said the Northwest traders at their hurried -conference. "We must anticipate these United States explorers and -traders. They may advance northward and establish a claim to ownership -by prior right of discovery or occupation. We must build a chain of -posts and hold the country." - -"But whom can we send on such a monumental enterprise?" - -There seemed but one man,--Simon Fraser. - -Simon Fraser was the son of a Scottish Tory who had been captured by -the Americans at Burgoyne's surrender and had died in prison. His -wife, with Simon a babe in arms, removed to Canada, to rear her son -beneath the banner of her King. At sixteen, young Fraser became a -clerk of the Northwest Company and a _bourgeois_. But the Frasers were -great-brained people; young Simon was soon promoted; and now at the -age of twenty-nine he was put in charge of the greatest enterprise -since the incomparable feat of Alexander Mackenzie. - -"You, Simon Fraser, are to establish trading-posts in the unknown -territory, and in this way take possession for Great Britain." - -Over at Sault Ste. Marie a young doctor by the name of John McLoughlin -would gladly have accompanied his uncle Simon on that perilous -undertaking. But his day was to come later. Both of their names are -now linked with the Old Oregon. - -Young men of the two most progressive modern nations were to be pitted -in this race for Empire,--Lewis and Clark, and Simon Fraser. - - - - -XII - -_FAREWELL TO FORT MANDAN_ - - -On the first day of March preparations began on the building of new -boats. The old ones were pried out of the ice, and the whole party was -busy making elk-skin ropes and pirogues, in burning coal, and in -making battle-axes to trade for corn. Ducks began to pass up the -river; swans and wild geese were flying north. - -Old Chief Le Borgne of the Minnetarees, a giant in stature, a brute at -heart, had held aloof all winter in his tepee. - -"Foolish people! Stay at home!" he cried. - -But strange rumours crept within the walls of the sulky Cyclops. -Overcome at last by curiosity Le Borgne came down to the fort. - -"Some foolish young men of my nation tell me there is a man among you -who is black. Is that true?" - -"It is," answered Clark. "York, come here." - -With his one fierce eye, Le Borgne examined York closely. He wet his -finger and rubbed the skin to see if the black would come off. Not -until the negro uncovered his head and showed his woolly hair could -the chief be persuaded that York was not a painted white man. - -Convinced against his will, and amazed, Le Borgne arose with a snort, -his black hair flying over his brawny shoulders, and stalked out. As -he passed along, the Indians shrank back. Over the hill came the wail -of a demented mother. Many a fair Indian girl had left her scalp at -the door of this Indian Blue-Beard because she preferred some other -lover. - -The ice was already honeycombed. Larocque came over for a farewell. - -"McTavish is dead," he said. - -Lewis and Clark scarcely comprehended the full import of that -announcement. - -At the foot of the mountain in Montreal the great Northwester was -building a palace, fit abode for "the lord of the lakes and the -forest," when the summons came in 1804. Up the rivers and lakes the -word was carried into the uttermost wilds,--"McTavish is dead." Thus -it came to Lewis and Clark, this last news from the outer world. - -The meeting at Fort William had been held without him,--McTavish was -dead. - -He was the head and front of the Northwest Company. Under the King, -Simon McTavish ruled Canada, ruled half of British America, making -Hudson's Bay tremble on her northern sea. - -The quick wit of the American born of Irish parents belonged to -Patrick Gass. While others were struggling toward an idea, Pat had -already seized it. Brave, observant, of good sense, and hating the -British, he kept an eye on Larocque. - -"Do not trust that Frinchman." - -Larocque had a stock of goods to trade. He lingered around Fort -Mandan, and offered to go over the mountains with Lewis and Clark, but -they politely declined. Already Larocque knew of the order at Fort -William. His own brother-in-law, Quesnel, was to be the companion of -Fraser's voyage, and was to leave, like Fraser, his name on the rivers -of British Columbia. - -Then there was trouble with Charboneau. He became independent and -impudent and demanded higher wages. Somebody was tampering with -Charboneau. Suddenly flaming with new raiment, gay vests, and yards of -blue and scarlet cloth, he announced: - -"I weel not work. I weel not stand guard. I eenterpreteur,--do as I -pleese, return wheen I pleese." - -"We can dispense with your services," coolly answered the Captains. -Charboneau stepped back, surprised. - -Ignoring his presence, preparations were hurried on. The boats, the -troublesome, cracking, warping cottonwood boats, were hauled to the -fort and pitched and calked and tinned, until at last they were ready -to try the water. No one spoke to the Frenchman, no one noticed him as -he lingered expectantly by. - -All the Indian goods were brought out and hung in the open air. Even -at the busiest moments, with every man on the jump, no one asked -Charboneau to help. Finding he was about to lose his position, the -Frenchman came to Captain Lewis, apologised, and was restored to -service. In a trice Charboneau was back at the skillets, dishing up -the dinner. - -The occupants of Fort Mandan had been snow-bound five months when ice -began running in the river. All day long now the busy Indians were -catching buffalo floating by on the high water. The foolish animals, -trying to cross the thin ice, broke through. Others floated away on -big cakes that were certain, sooner or later, to launch them into -eternity. - -The patient, devoted women, too, were in evidence. Slipping out of -their leather smocks, they plunged naked into the icy current to -secure the floating driftwood for fuel. Across the snow long lines of -squaws came dragging home the drift. - -The hammers of Shields and Bratton rang merrily at the anvils. Boxes -were made and hooped and ironed, to go down in the big bateau that was -too unwieldy to carry further. - -In those stout boxes were horns of the mountain ram, unknown as yet to -science, horns of elk and deer, rare skins, robes and Indian dresses; -bow, arrows, and a shield for the President, on which Old Black Cat -had spent months of patient carving; samples of the red Arikara corn; -sixty-seven specimens of earths, salts, and minerals, and sixty -specimens of plants, all carefully labelled; seeds, insects, the -skeleton of the big fish from the hilltop, stuffed antelopes and -Lewis's pelican, a live prairie dog in a wicker cage, a live prairie -hen and four magpies. A new geography was there, a map of the Missouri -extending out to the mystic mountains, drawn from Indian description, -to be presented by Jefferson to Congress. - -In these boxes, too, went letters. There was one of several thousand -words from Lewis to his mother. Captain Clark's first and best letter -was to his brother at the Point of Rock; with it he enclosed a map -and sketches of Indians. Another was to Major Croghan at Locust -Grove, with seeds of several kinds of grapes for his sister Lucy. - -With the bateau went also the famous Mandan report of Lewis to -Jefferson, and Clark's letter to his soldier friend, William Henry -Harrison, then Governor of the Indian Territory at Vincennes. Other -missives went to Ohio, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, -Pennsylvania,--wherever a man had a mother at the hearthstone waiting -to hear of her distant boy. Saddest of all was the news to Mill Creek, -the home of Sergeant Floyd. Part of Clark's journal was transmitted by -letter to the President and part was enclosed in a separate tin box, -"to multiply the chances of saving something." - -The Mandan treasures, with dispatches and presents from the Indians, -went down by water to the Gulf and thence by sea to Washington. - -"I have little doubt but they will be fired on by the Sioux," says -Lewis in his letter, "but they have pledged themselves to us that they -will not yield while there is one of them living." - -At five o'clock on Sunday afternoon, April 7, 1805, the barge left -Fort Mandan for St. Louis with ten men. With it went also Brave Raven -of the Arikaras, to visit his Great Father, the President. - -At the same moment that the barge left the fort, six small canoes and -the two pirogues shot up river, carrying thirty-one men and Sacajawea -with her child. - -"This little fleet, although not quite so respectable as those of -Columbus or Captain Cook, is still viewed by us with as much pleasure -as those famed adventurers ever beheld theirs," said Lewis, "and I -dare say with quite as much anxiety for their safety and preservation. -We are now about to penetrate a country at least two thousand miles in -width, on which the foot of civilised man has never trodden. - -"Entertaining as I do the most confident hope of succeeding in a -voyage which has formed a darling project of mine for ten years, I can -but esteem this moment of our departure as among the happiest of my -life." - - - - -XIII - -_TOWARD THE SUNSET_ - - -The Spring days were squally and chill. The air was sharp, and the -water froze on the oars as the little party rowed along. Now and then -a flurry of snow whitened the April green. Sometimes the sails were -spread, and the boats scurried before the wind. Often, however, the -sails proved too large, and over the boats lurched, wetting the -baggage and powder. - -Most of the powder had been sealed in leaden canisters. When the -powder was emptied the canister itself was melted into bullets. That -was a nightly task,--the moulding of bullets. - -"Hio! hio!" The hunters ahead picked a camping spot, beside a spring -or by a clump of trees. In short order brass kettles were swung across -the gipsy poles. Twisting a bunch of buffalo grass into a nest, in a -moment Dr. Saugrain's magical matches had kindled a roaring flame. - -Swinging axes made music where axes had never swung before. Baby -Touissant rolled his big eyes and kicked and crowed in his mother's -lap, while Charboneau, head cook, stuffed his trapper's sausage with -strips of tenderloin and hung it in links around the blaze. - -Stacks of buffalo meat lay near by, where they had been piled by the -industrious hunters. Odours of boiling meat issued from the kettles. -Juicy brown ribs snapped and crackled over the flames. - -Captain Lewis, accustomed to the _cuisine_ of Jefferson at the White -House, laughed. - -"How did you dress this sausage so quick, Charboneau? Two bobs and a -flirt in the dirty Missouri?" - -Sometimes Lewis himself turned cook, and made a suet dumpling for -every man. More frequently he was off to the hills with Clark, taking -a look at the country. - -Nor was Sacajawea idle. With her baby on her back, she opened the -nests of prairie mice, and brought home artichokes. Sometimes she -brought sprouts of wild onion for the broth, or the _pomme -blanche_,--the peppery Indian turnip. York, too, at his master's -direction often gathered cresses and greens for the dinner. But York -was becoming a hunter. As well as the best, he "slew dem buffaloes." - -Lewis had bought Charboneau's big family tent. Under its leather -shelter slept the Captains, with Drouillard and Charboneau and his -little family. - -Around the twilight fires the men wrote their journals,--Lewis, Clark, -Pryor, Ordway, Gass, Fraser, all busy with their stub quill pens and -inkhorns, recording the day's adventure. - -They were not scholars, any of them, but men of action, pioneers and -explorers, heralds of the nation. In their strenuous boyhood they had -defended the frontier. Men at sixteen, they took up a man's -employment. Lewis, more favoured, prolonged his schooldays until the -age of eighteen, then broke away to march with armies. - -At last these first civilised sounds that ever broke the silence -primeval were hushed. Rolled up like cocoons in their mackinaw -blankets, the men were soon snoring in rows with feet to the fires, -while a solitary sergeant peered into the lonely night. The high -Dakota wind roared among the cottonwoods. Mother Nature, too, kept -guard, lighting her distant beacons in the blue above the soldier -boys. - -In a land of wolves, no wolves molested, though they yelped and barked -in the prairie grass. On all sides lay deserted camps of Assiniboine -Sioux. Once the expedition crossed the trail of a war party only -twenty-four hours old. A dog left behind came to the camp of the -explorers and became the pet of Captain Lewis. - -"Kip so quiet lak' one leetle mouse," whispered Cruzatte, cautioning -silence. - -No one cared to meet the Assiniboine Sioux, the "_Gens des Grands -Diables_." Once the smoke of their campfires clouded the north; but -the boats sped on undiscovered. - -"The river reminds me of the Ohio at this time of year," said Clark. - -"The drumming of that sharp-tailed grouse is like that of the -pheasants of old Virginia," responded Lewis. - -"And the croaking of the frogs exactly resimbles that of frogs in th' -Yaunited States," added Patrick Gass. - -For days they noted veins of coal burning along the river banks, -kindled perhaps by Indian fires. Alkali dust began to rise, blown into -clouds, and sifting into their tight double-cased watches until the -wheels refused to move more than a few minutes at a time. - -Toward the last of April Lewis went ahead to the mouth of the -Rochejaune, the Yellow Rock, or Yellowstone River, passing through -herds of elk, antelope, and buffalo, so tame they would scarce move -out of his way. Beautiful dun deer snorted and pawed the leaves, then -half trusting, half timorous, slipped into the thicket. No one but -Sacajawea had ever before been over this road. - -In May they reached the land where even the beaver were gentle, for -they had never been hunted. No white man, so far as they knew, had -ever trodden these wilds. They had not heard of the gallant Sieur -Verendrye, two of whose intrepid sons reached the "Shining Mountains" -on New Year's Day, 1743. Washington was a boy then; George Rogers -Clark was not born. - -But the Snakes and the Sioux were at war, fierce battles were raging, -and they were forced to turn back. The noble Verendrye spent all his -fortune, and forty thousand livres besides, in trying to find the -River of the West. - -Then Jonathan Carver of Connecticut set out about the time Boone went -to Kentucky. At the Falls of St. Anthony, he, too, heard of the -Shining Mountains. - -"The four most capital rivers of North America take their rise about -the centre of this continent," said Carver. "The River Bourbon, which -empties into Hudson's Bay; the Waters of St. Lawrence; the -Mississippi; and the River Oregon, or the River of the West, that -falls into the Pacific Ocean at the Straits of Anian." - -What little bird whispered "Oregon" in Carver's ear? No such word is -known in any Indian tongue. Had some Spanish sailor told of a shore -"like his own green Arragon"? - -And now Lewis and Clark are on the sunset path. Will _they_ find the -Shining Mountains and the River of the West? - -At the first large branch beyond the Yellowstone, Captain Lewis went -on shore with Drouillard the hunter. Out of a copse suddenly appeared -two grizzlies. - -Lewis remembered well the awe and absolute terror with which the -Mandans had described this king of Western beasts. Never did they go -out to meet him without war-paint and all the solemn rites of battle. -As with the cave bear of ancient song and saga, no weapon of theirs -was adequate to meet this dreaded monster. In parties of six or eight -they went, with bows and arrows, or, in recent years, the bad guns of -the trader. - -With these things in mind, Lewis and the hunter faced the bears. Each -fired, and each wounded his beast. One of the bears ran away; the -other turned and pursued Captain Lewis, but a lucky third shot from -Drouillard laid him low. - -And what a brute was he! Only a cub and yet larger than any bear of -the Atlantic States, the grizzly, known now to be identical with the -awful cave bear of prehistoric time. No wonder the Indian that slew -him was a brave and in the line of chieftainship! No wonder the claws -became a badge of honour! No man, no foe so fierce to meet as one -enraged and famished grizzly. His skin was a king's robe, his tusk an -emblem of unflinching valour. - -A wind from the east now filled the sails and blew them west! west! -More and more tame grew the elk and buffalo, until the men were -obliged to drive them out of their way with sticks and stones. - -Before them unrolled the great wild garden of Eden. Abounding -everywhere were meadows,--beaver meadows and clover meadows, wild rice -and rye and timothy, and buffalo grazing on a thousand hills. Prairie -fowl scurried in the under-brush, beautiful white geese gazed calmly -at them, ducks quacked around ponds and streams alive with trout. - -Wild gardens were radiant with roses and honeysuckles, morning-glories -and wild hops. Whole fields of lilies perfumed the sunrise, -strawberries carpeted the uplands, and tangles of blackberries and -raspberries interwove a verdant wall along the buffalo trails, the -highways of the wilderness. - -Mountain sheep sported on the cliffs, the wild cat purred in her -forest lair. The yellow cougar, the mountain lion, growled and slunk -away. The coyote, the Indian dog, snapped and snarled. But man, man -was not there. For four months no Indian appeared through all the -Great Lone Land of the Tay-a-be-shock-up, the country of the -mountains. - -William Bratton, who had been walking along the shore, presently came -running to the boats with cries of terror. - -"Take me on board, quick!" - -It was some moments before Bratton could speak. - -"A bear! a bear!" he gasped at last. - -A mile and a half back Bratton had wounded a grizzly that turned and -chased him. Captain Lewis and seven men immediately started. For a -mile they tracked the trail of blood to a hole where the enraged -animal was frantically tearing up the earth with teeth and claws. Two -shots through the skull finished the grizzly, whose fleece and skin -made a load which two men could scarcely carry back to camp. - -"More bear-butter to fry me sassage," remarked unsentimental -Charboneau. - -But now had begun in earnest the days of wild adventure. One evening -after another grizzly battle, the men came triumphantly into camp to -find disaster there. Charboneau had been steersman that night, and -Cruzatte was at the bow. A sudden squall struck the foremost pirogue, -Charboneau let go the tiller, the wind bellied the sail, and over they -turned. - -"De rudder! de rudder!" shouted Cruzatte. - -Charboneau, the most timid waterman in the party, clinging to the -gunwales, heard only his own voice in the wind, crying aloud to -heaven, "_Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu!_" - -"De rudder!" roared Cruzatte. "Seize de rudder instanter and do de -duty, or I _shoot_ you!" - -Fear of Cruzatte's gun overcame fear of drowning. Charboneau, pallid -and trembling, reached for the flying rope. Half a minute the boat lay -on the wave, then turned up full of water. - -At last, holding the brace of the square sail, Charboneau pulled the -boat round, while all hands fell to bailing out the water. But all the -papers, medicine, and instruments were wet. - -Cruzatte alone was calm, and Sacajawea, who, with her baby and herself -to save, still managed to catch and preserve most of the light -articles that were floating overboard. - -Captain Lewis, watching the disaster from afar, had almost leaped into -the water to save his precious papers, but was restrained by the -reflection that by such rashness he might forfeit his life. - -Two days were lost in unpacking and drying the stores. - -At midnight a buffalo ran into the sleeping camp. - -"Hey! hey! hey!" shouted the guard, firing on the run and waving his -arms. But the distracted beast, plunging close to the heads of the -sleeping men, headed directly toward the leather tent. - -Suddenly up before his nose danced the little Indian dog, and the -buffalo was turned back into the night just as the whole camp jumped -to arms in expectation of an attack of the Sioux. - -"Fire! Fire!" was the next alarm. - -In the high wind of the night one of the fires had communicated itself -to a dead cottonwood overhanging the camp. Fanned by the gale the -flames shot up the trunk, and burning limbs and twigs flew in a shower -upon the leather tent. - -"Fire! fire! fire!" again came the quick, sharp cry. - -Every man rolled out of his mackinaw. The occupants of the lodge were -soon aroused. Strong hands had scarcely removed the lodge and -quenched the burning leather before the tree itself fell directly over -the spot where a moment before the Captains were sleeping soundly. - -And so that stream was named the Burnt Lodge Creek. - - - - -XIV - -_THE SHINING MOUNTAINS_ - - -Ascending the highest summit of the hills on the north side of the -river, on Sunday, the 26th of May, Captain Lewis first caught a -distant view of "the Rock mountains--the object of all our hopes, and -the reward of all our ambition." - -"When I viewed--I felt a secret pleasure,--but when I reflected on the -difficulties which this snowy barrier would most probably throw in my -way to the Pacific, and the sufferings and hardships of myself and -party in them, it in some measure counterbalanced the joy." - -Bold and bolder grew the river shores. The current now became too -rapid for oars, too deep for poles. Nothing but the tow-line could -draw the boats against the swift flow of the mountain torrent. -Struggling along shore with the rope on their shoulders, the men lost -their moccasins in the clinging clay and went barefoot. Sometimes -knee-deep, they waded, sometimes waist-deep, shoulders-deep, in the -icy water, or rising on higher benches walked on flinty rocks that cut -their naked feet. - -Leaping out of the mountains, came down a laughing sparkling river, -the clearest they had yet seen. Its valley seemed a paradise of ash -and willow, honeysuckles and wild roses. Standing on its bank Clark -mused, "I know but one other spot so beautiful. I will name this river -for my little mountain maid of Fincastle, the Judith." - -Could he then foresee that Judith would become his wife, or that the -verdant Judith Basin would be the last retreat of the buffalo? - -Big horned mountain sheep were sporting on the cliffs, beaver built -their dams along its shores, and up the Judith Gap the buffalo had his -mountain home. The Indian, too, had left there the scattered embers of -a hundred fires. - -Lewis picked up a moccasin. - -"Here, Sacajawea, does this belong to your people?" - -The Bird Woman shook her head. "No Shoshone." She pointed to the north -where the terrible Blackfeet came swooping down to shoot and scalp. It -was time to hasten on. - -Valley succeeded valley for miles on miles, and between valleys arose -hills of sandstone, worn by suns and storms into temples of desolated -magnificence; ruins of columns and towers, pedestals and capitals, -parapets of statuary, sculptured alcoves and mysterious galleries. -Sheer up from the river's side they lifted their heads like old -Venetian palaces abandoned to the bats. - -June 3 the river forked. - -"Which is the true Missouri?" - -"De nort'ern branch. See it boil and roll?" said Cruzatte. "See de -colour? Dat de true Meessouri. De ot'er ees but one leetle stream from -de mountain." - -But the Captains remembered the advice of the Minnetarees. - -"The Ah-mateah-za becomes clear, and has a navigable current into the -mountains." - -Parties were sent up both branches to reconnoitre. Lewis and Clark -ascended the high ground in the fork and looked toward the sunset. -Innumerable herds of buffalo, elk, and antelope were browsing as far -as the eye could reach, until the rivers were lost in the plain. - -Back came the canoes undecided. Then the Captains set out. Clark took -the crystal pebbly southern route. Lewis went up the turbid northern -branch fifty-nine miles. - -"This leads too far north, almost to the Saskatchewan," he concluded, -and turned back. In the summer sunshine robins sang, turtle doves, -linnets, the brown thrush, the goldfinch, and the wren, filled the -air with melody. - -"I will call it Maria's River, for my beautiful and amiable cousin, -Maria Wood of Charlottesville," thought Lewis, with a memory of other -Junes in old Virginia. - -When Lewis drew up at camp, Clark was already there, anxious for his -safety. The main party, occupied in dressing skins and resting their -lame and swollen feet, looked eagerly for the decision. To their -surprise both Captains agreed on the southern route. - -"But Cruzatte," exclaimed the men, "he thinks the north stream is the -true river, and Cruzatte is an experienced waterman. We may be lost in -the mountains far from the Columbia." - -"True. Everything depends on a right decision. Captain Clark, if you -will stay here and direct the deposit of whatever we can spare, I will -go ahead until I know absolutely." - -At dawn Lewis set out with Drouillard, Gibson, Goodrich, and Joe -Fields. - -Under Captain Clark's direction, Bratton, the blacksmith, set up his -forge at the mouth of Maria's River and Shields mended all the broken -guns. The rest dug a _cache_, a kettle-shaped cellar, on a dry spot -safe from water. The floor was covered with dry sticks and a robe. -Then in went the blacksmith's heavy tools, canisters of powder, bags -of flour and baggage,--whatever could be spared. On top was thrown -another robe, and then the earth packed in tight and the sod refitted -so that no eye could detect the spot. - -The red pirogue was drawn up into the middle of a small island at the -mouth of Maria's River and secured in a copse. - -"Boys, I am very ill," said Captain Lewis, when they camped for dinner -on the first day out. Attacked with violent pains and a high fever, -unable to proceed, he lay under some willow boughs. - -No medicine had been brought. Drouillard was much concerned. "I well -remember," he said, "when a flux was epidemic at Chillicothe among de -white settlers, my fader, Pierre Drouillard, administer on de sick -wit' great success." - -"What did he use?" - -"A tea of de choke-cherry." - -"Prepare me some," said the rapidly sinking Captain. - -With deft fingers Drouillard stripped off the leaves of a choke-cherry -bough, and cut up the twigs. Black and bitter, the tea was brought to -Lewis at sunset. He drank a pint, and another pint an hour afterward. -By ten o'clock the pain was gone, a gentle perspiration ensued, the -fever abated, and by morning he was able to proceed. - -The next day, June 12, the mountains loomed as never before, rising -range on range until the distant peaks commingled with the clouds. -Twenty-four hours later Lewis heard the roaring of a cataract, seven -miles away, and saw its spray, a column of cloud lifted by the -southwest wind. Like Hiawatha he had-- - - "Journeyed westward, westward, - Left the fleetest deer behind him, - Left the antelope and bison, - Passed the mountains of the Prairie, - Passed the land of Crows and Foxes, - Passed the dwellings of the Blackfeet, - Came unto the Rocky Mountains, - To the kingdom of the West-Wind." - -Hastening on with impatient step he came upon the stupendous -waterfall, one of the glories of our continent, that hidden here in -the wilderness had for ages leaped adown the rocky way. Overwhelmed -with the spectacle Lewis sat down "to gaze and wonder and adore." "Oh, -for the pencil of Salvator Rosa or the pen of Thompson, that I might -give to the world some idea of this magnificent object, which from the -commencement of time has been concealed from the view of civilised -man." - -Joe Fields was immediately dispatched to notify Clark of the discovery -of the Falls. Lewis and the other men went on up ten miles, gazing at -cataract after cataract where the mighty Missouri bent and paused, and -gathering its full volume leaped from rock to rock, sometimes wild -and irregularly sublime, again smooth and elegant as a painter's -dream. - -Lewis, impatient to see and know, hurried on past the rest until night -overtook him alone near the head of the series of cataracts. On the -high plain along the bank a thousand buffalo were feeding on the short -curly grass. Lewis shot one for supper, and leaning upon his unloaded -rifle watched to see it fall. - -A slight rustle attracted his attention. He turned. A bear was -stealing upon him, not twenty steps away. There was no time for -reloading, flight alone remained. Not a bush, not a tree, not a rock -was near, nothing but the water. With a wild bound Lewis cleared the -intervening space and leaped into the river. Turning, he presented his -_espontoon_. The bear, already at the bank, was about to spring, but -that defiant _espontoon_ in his face filled him with terror. He turned -and ran, looking back now and then as if fearing pursuit, and -disappeared. - -Clambering out of the water, Lewis started for camp, when, sixty paces -in front of him, a strange animal crouched as if to spring. Lewis -fired and a mountain lion fled. Within three hundred yards of the -spot, three enraged buffalo bulls left the herd, and shaking their -shaggy manes, ran pawing and bellowing, full speed upon him. Eluding -the bulls, Lewis hurried to camp. Worn out, he fell asleep, only to -awaken and find a huge rattlesnake coiled around the tree above his -head! Such was earth primeval! - -The Great Falls of the Missouri was the rendezvous for all wild life -in the country. Thousands of impatient buffaloes pushed each other -along the steep rocky paths to the water. Hundreds went over the -cataract to feed the bears and wolves below. - -Captain Clark soon arrived with the main body and went into camp at a -sulphur spring, a favourite resort of buffaloes. - -"This is precisely like Bowyer's sulphur spring of Virginia,--it will -be good for Sacajawea," said Lewis, bringing her a cup of the -transparent water that tumbled in a cascade into the Missouri. - -Sacajawea was sick, very sick, delirious at times as she lay on her -couch of skins. The journey had been difficult. The hungry little baby -was a great burden, and Sacajawea was only sixteen, younger even than -Shannon, the boy of the party. - -Clark directed his negro servant, York, to be her constant attendant. -Charboneau was cautioned on no account to leave her. Several other -semi-invalids guarded the tent to keep the buffaloes away. Every day, -and twice a day, the Captains came to see her and prescribe as best -they could. - -Now came the tedious days of portaging the boats and baggage around -the Falls. A cottonwood tree, nearly two feet in diameter, was sawed -into wheels. The white pirogue was hidden in a copse and its mast was -taken for an axletree. - -Opposite the spot where the waggons were made was an island full of -bears of enormous size. Their growling and stealthy movements went on -day and night. All night the watchful little dog kept up incessant -barking. The men, disturbed in their slumbers, lay half-awake with -their arms in hand, while the guard patrolled with an eye on the -island. Bolder and bolder grew the bears. One night they came to the -very edge of the camp and ran off with the meat hung out for -breakfast. - -At last the rude waggons were done. The canoes were mounted and filled -with baggage. Slowly they creaked away, tugged and pushed and pulled -up hills that were rocky and rough with hummocks where the buffaloes -trod. Prickly-pears, like little scythes, cut and lacerated, even -through double-soled moccasins. At every halt, over-wearied and worn -out by night watching, the toilers dropped to the ground and fell -asleep instantly. - -A whole month was spent in making the carriages and transporting the -baggage the eighteen miles around the Falls. In another _cache_ at the -sulphur spring, they buried Lewis's writing desk, specimens of plants -and minerals, provisions, the grindstone brought from Harper's Ferry, -books and a map of the Missouri River. The blunderbuss was hid under -rocks at the foot of the Falls. - -Sacajawea, recovered from her illness, began to look for familiar -landmarks. One day Clark took her, together with Charboneau and York, -to look at the Falls. He had surveyed and measured the Black Eagle, -Crooked Rainbow, and Great Falls. "Come," he said, "Charboneau, bring -Sacajawea. Let us go up and look at the Black Eagle." High above the -cataract the bird had built its nest in the top of a cottonwood tree. - -A dark cloud was rising. Under a shelving rock they took refuge in a -ravine, Captain Clark still figuring at his notes. - -A few drops of rain fell,--in an instant a torrent, a cloud-burst, -rolled down the ravine. - -Clark saw it coming. Snatching his gun and shot-pouch, he pushed -Sacajawea and the baby up the cliff, while Charboneau above was -pulling her by the hand. Up to Clark's waist the water came. Fifteen -feet it rose behind him as he climbed to safety. - -Compass and umbrella were lost in the scramble. Charboneau had left -his gun, tomahawk, and shot-pouch. Sacajawea had just snatched her -baby before its cradle went into the flood. After the storm they came -down into the plain, to find York in affright lest they had been swept -into the river. - -On account of the great heat, the men at the waggons had laid aside -their leather hunting shirts, when down upon their bare backs came a -shower of huge hailstones. Bruised, battered, and bleeding as from a -battle, they straggled into camp. Kind-hearted Lewis set to work with -linens and medicine, bandaging up their wounds. - -The next morning Captain Clark sent two men to look for the articles -lost at the Falls. They found the ravine filled with rock, but -happily, half-hid in mud and sand, the precious compass was recovered. - -Within view of the camp that day Clark estimated not less than ten -thousand buffalo. And beyond, rimmed on the far horizon, ran the white -line of the mountain crest that is to-day the western boundary of -Montana. - -The 4th of July dawned, the second since they had left the States. In -the hills they heard strange booming, as of a distant cannonade. It -almost seemed as if the Rocky Mountains were reverberating back the -joyous guns of Baltimore and Boston. The men listened in amaze. - -"What can it be?" - -"Een de mountain," answered Cruzatte. "De vein of silver burst. De -Pawnee and de Rickara hear eet een de Black Hill." - -"Ah, yes, the Minnetarees talked of a noise in the mountains. We -thought it was superstition." - -Again through long silence came the great cannonade. Unconsciously -Lewis and Clark trod on closed treasure houses, future mines of -unwashed tons of gold and silver. Had they brought back gold then what -might have been the effect upon the restless, heaving East? But, no, -the land must wait and grow. Other wars must be fought with the -Englishman and the Indian, armies of trappers must decimate the bears -and wolves, and easier methods of transportation must aid in opening -up the great Montana-land. - - - - -XV - -_A WOMAN PILOT_ - - -Monday, July 15, 1805, the boats were launched above the Great Falls -of the Missouri. Clark followed by land along an old Indian trail, -worn deep by the lodge-poles of ages. - -Little did he realise that nuggets lay scattered all over that land, -where yet the gold hunters should dot the hills with shafts and -mounds; that near here a beautiful city, named for Helen of Troy, -should arise to become a golden capital. - -"My people! My people!" Sacajawea excitedly pointed to deserted -wickiups and traces of fires. She read their story at a glance. - -"It was winter. They were hungry. There were no buffalo. See!" She -pointed to the pines stripped of bark and the tender inner wood, the -last resort of famishing Shoshones. - -With flags hoisted to notify the Indians that they were friends, the -canoes passed within the Gates of the Mountains, where the mighty -Missouri breaks through the Belt Range of western Montana. Nothing in -Alleghany lands compares with this tremendous water-gap. Through the -dark cavern the river ran narrow and rapid and clear. Down through -tributary canyons on either side came rifts of light, odours of pine, -and the roar of waterfalls. - -With unmoved countenance Sacajawea looked upon the weird overhanging -grayish granite walls through which she had been hurried in terror by -her Minnetaree captors, five years ago. - -"We are coming to a country where the river has three forks," said -Sacajawea. - -Exhilaration seized the men, as they sent the boats up the heavy -current that rolled well-deep below. That night they camped in a -canyon that is to-day a pleasure resort for the people of Helena. - -Again following the Indian trail, on the 25th of July Clark arrived at -the three forks of the Missouri, near the present site of Gallatin. -From the forks of the far eastern rivers where Pittsburg rises, they -had come to the forks of the great river of the West. - -For days the swift current had required the utmost exertion. The men -complained of fatigue and excessive heat. - -"You push a tolerable good pole," said the Kentuckians, when Lewis -took a hand. - -Captain Clark was worn out. With the thermometer at ninety, for days -he had pushed ahead, determined to find the Shoshones. - -"Let us rest a day or two," said Captain Lewis. "Here, boys, build a -bower for Captain Clark. I'll take a tramp myself in a few days to -find these yellow gentlemen if possible." - -Camping at the three forks, every man became a leather dresser and -tailor, fixing up his buckskin clothes. Leggings and moccasins had -been sliced to pieces by the prickly pear. - -"What a spot for a trading post!" the Captains agreed. - -"Look," said Lewis, "see the rushes in the bottom, high as a man's -breast and thick as wheat. This will be much in favour of an -establishment here,--the cane is one of the best winter pastures for -cows and horses." - -From the heights at the three forks, Lewis and Clark looked out upon -valleys of perennial green. Birds of beautiful plumage and thrilling -song appeared on every hand. Beaver, otter, muskrat, sported in this -trapper's paradise. Buffalo-clover, sunflowers and wild rye, -buffalo-peas and buffalo-beans blossomed everywhere. - -All the Indian trails in the country seemed to converge at this point. -Here passed the deadly Blackfoot on his raids against the Shoshones, -the Bannocks, and the Crows. Here stole back and forth the timid -Shoshone to his annual hunt on the Yellowstone and the Snake River -plains. Hither from time immemorial had the Flatheads and Nez Percés -resorted for their supplies of robes and meat. Even from the far -Saskatchewan came the Piegans and Gros Ventres to this favoured and -disputed spot. - -The Blackfeet claimed the three forks of the Missouri, no tribe dwelt -there permanently. The roads were deep, like trenches, worn by the -trailing lodgepoles of many tribes upon this common hunting ground. - -The naming of the rivers,--that was an epic by itself. - -The gay Cabinet ladies who had fitted him out at Washington flitted -through the mind of Meriwether Lewis,--Maria Jefferson, companion of -his earliest recollection, Dolly Madison, whose interest never failed -in his adventures, Mrs. Gallatin, the queenly dark-haired wife of the -scholarly Secretary of the Treasury. With what pleasure had they -gathered at the White House to fashion "housewives," full of pins and -needles and skeins of thread, for these wanderers of the West. Not a -man in the party but bore some souvenir of their thoughtful -handiwork. - -Clark's earliest memory was of Jefferson, the friend of his father, of -his older brothers, and then of himself. "Jimmy" Madison and George -Rogers Clark had been schoolmates in the "old field school" of Donald -Robertson. - -So then and there the Captains agreed that three great statesmen and -their wives should be commemorated here by the Madison, the Jefferson, -and the Gallatin forks of the Missouri. - -"On this very spot my people camped five years ago. Here were their -tents," said Sacajawea, pointing out the embers of blackened fires. -"The Minnetarees peered over the hills. We ran up this fork and hid in -the thick woods." - -The boats were reloaded and the party began to ascend the Jefferson on -July 30, to its head in the Bitter Root Mountains. At noon they camped -for dinner. - -"And here was I captured!" cried Sacajawea. "I was made a prisoner. We -were too few to fight the Minnetarees. They pursued us. Our men -mounted their horses and fled to the mountains. The women and children -hid. I ran. I was crossing this river. They caught me and carried me -away." - -What a realistic glimpse of daily terror! Fighting, hunting, -wandering, famishing, in the land of anarchy. Formerly the Shoshones -were Indians of the plains. Now they had been driven by their enemies -into almost inaccessible fastnesses. - -"The Beaver Head! The Beaver Head!" - -Sacajawea pointed to a steep, rocky cliff shaped like a beaver's head, -one hundred and fifty feet above the water, an Indian landmark from -time immemorial. - -"This is not far from the summer retreat of my countrymen. We shall -meet them soon, on a river beyond the mountains running to the west." - -"We must meet those Indians," said Lewis, "it is our only hope for -horses to cross the mountains." - -Lewis and Clark camped August 7, 1805, at Beaverhead Rock. There, -fifty-seven years later, chased by bears, robbed by Indians, -unsheltered, unshod, and almost starving, the gold hunter stumbled -upon the auriferous bed of an ancient river that made Montana. Gold -was discovered at Alder Gulch in 1863, ten miles south of Beaverhead -Rock, and the next year mining began in the streets of the present -city of Helena. The pick and the shovel in the miner's hand became the -lamp and the ring in the grasp of Aladdin. - -The next morning after passing Beaverhead Rock, Captain Lewis and -three of the men slung their knapsacks over their shoulders and set -out for the mountains, determined not to return until they met some -nation of Indians. - -Two days later, August 11, Lewis with his spyglass espied a lone -horseman on the hills. The wild-eyed Shoshone, accustomed to scan the -horizon, saw him also. - -"He is of a different nation from any we have met," remarked Lewis, -watching intently through his glass. "He has a bow and a quiver of -arrows, and an elegant horse without a saddle." - -Like a lookout on the hills, the Indian stood and waited. - -"He is undoubtedly a Shoshone. Much of our success depends on the -friendly offices of that nation." - -Slowly Lewis advanced. Slowly the Indian came forward, until, within a -mile of each other the Indian suddenly stopped. Captain Lewis also -stopped, and drawing a three-point blanket from his knapsack held it -by the corners above his head, and unfolding brought it to the ground -as in the act of spreading. Three times he repeated the Indian signal -of hospitality--"Come and sit on the robe with me." - -Still the Indian kept his position, viewing with an air of suspicion -the hunters with Lewis. - -"_Tabba bone, tabba bone_," said Lewis, stripping up the sleeve of his -shirt to show the colour of his skin,--"white man, white man," a term -learned of Sacajawea. - -Paralysed the Indian looked, then fled like a frightened deer. No -calls could bring him back. - -He said to his people, "I have seen men with faces pale as ashes, who -are makers of thunder and lightning." - -"He is a dreamer!" exclaimed the incredulous Shoshones. "He makes up -tales. He must show us these white men or be put to death," and -trembling he started back with a body of warriors. - -Lewis, disappointed at the flight of the Shoshone, pressed on. -Narrower and narrower grew the river. - -"Thank God, I have lived to bestride the Missouri!" exclaimed Hugh -McNeil, planting a foot on either side of the mountain rivulet. - -Two miles farther up they drank from the ice-cold spring at the -river's source, and stood on the summit of the Great Divide. A little -creek flowed down the ridge toward the west. Stooping, they drank,--of -the waters of the Columbia, and slept that night in Idaho. The next -morning, following a well-worn Indian trail, Lewis came upon two women -and a child. One fled, the other, an old dame encumbered by the child, -sat down and bowed her head as if expecting instant death. - -Captain Lewis advanced, lifted her, loaded her with gifts. - -"_Tabba bone, tabba bone._" Stripping up his sleeve he showed to the -amazed woman the first white skin she had ever seen. - -"Call your companion," motioned Lewis toward the fleeing woman. - -The old dame raised her voice. As fast as she ran away the young woman -came running back, almost out of breath. She, too, was loaded with -trinkets, and the cheeks of all were painted with vermilion, the -Shoshone emblem of peace. - -Without fear now she led him toward sixty mounted warriors, who were -advancing at a gallop as to battle. - -"_Tabba bone! tabba bone!_" explained the women, introducing the -stranger and exhibiting their gifts. - -"_Ah hi e! Ah hi e!_"--"I am much pleased! I am much pleased!" -exclaimed the warriors, leaping from their horses and embracing Lewis -with great cordiality. - -Lewis drew forth his imposing calumet of red pipestone and lighted it. -This was a sign language of all tribes. - -Putting off their moccasins as if to say, "May I walk the forest -barefoot forever if I break this pledge of friendship," they sat down -and smoked. - -The chief, too, brought out a pipe, of the dense transparent green -stone of the Bannock Mountains, highly polished. Another led him to a -lodge and presented a piece of salmon,--then Lewis no longer doubted -that he was on waters flowing to the Pacific. - -Slowly, Clark, ill with chills and fever, had been coming forward, -urging the canoes up the difficult and narrowing stream. - -Sacajawea, the little Bird-woman, could not wait. In her anxiety she -begged to walk ahead along shore, and with her husband went dancing up -the rivulet of her childhood. She flew ahead. She turned, pirouetting -lightly on her beaded moccasins, waving her arms and kissing her -fingers. Her long hair flew in the wind and her beaded necklace -sparkled. - -Yes, there were the Indians, and Lewis among them, dressed like an -Indian too. The white men had given everything they had to the -Indians, even their cocked hats and red feathers, and taken Indian -clothes in exchange, robes of the mountain sheep and goat. - -An Indian girl leaned to look at Sacajawea. They flew into each -other's arms. They had been children together, had been captured in -the same battle, had shared the same captivity. One had escaped to her -own people; the other had been sold as a slave in the Land of the -Dakotahs. As girls will, with arms around each other they wandered off -and talked and talked of the wonderful fortune that had come to -Sacajawea, the wife of a white man. - -A council was immediately called. The Shoshones spread white robes and -hung wampum shells of pearl in the hair of the white men. - -"Sacajawea. Bring her hither," called Lewis. - -Tripping lightly into the willow lodge, Sacajawea was beginning to -interpret, when lifting her eyes to the chief, she recognised her own -brother, Cameahwait. She ran to his side, threw her blanket over his -head, and wept upon his bosom. - -Sacajawea, too, was a Princess, come home now to her Mountain Kingdom. - - - - -XVI - -_IDAHO_ - - -"We are going through your country to the far ocean," said Captain -Lewis. "We are making a trail for the traders who will bring you -guns." - -"This delights me," answered Cameahwait, with his fierce eyes, and his -lank jaws grown meagre for want of food. "We are driven into the -mountains, when if we had guns we could meet our enemies in the -plains." - -All the Shoshone talk was of war, war, war. Their great terror was the -roving Indians of the Saskatchewan, who, with guns from the British -traders, came down like wolves on the fold. Only flight and wonderful -skill with the bow and arrow saved the Shoshones from destruction. - -Horses were their wealth. "Most of them would make a figure on the -south side of James River," said Lewis, "in the land of fine horses. I -saw several with Spanish brands upon them." - -Brother to the Comanche, the Shoshone rode his horse over rocks and -ravines, up declivitous ways and almost impossible passes. Every -warrior had one or two tied to a stake near his willow hut, night and -day, ready for action. - -"My horse is my friend. He knows my voice. He hears me speak. He warns -me of the enemy." Little children played with them, squaws fed them, -braves painted them and decorated their manes and tails with -eagle-plumes, insignia of the Rocky Mountain Indian. Such horses were -a boon to Lewis and Clark, for they were tractable, sure-footed, -inured to the saddle and the pack. - -A Shoshone found a tomahawk that Lewis had lost in the grass, and -returned it,--now a tomahawk was worth a hundred dollars to a -Shoshone. They had no knives or hatchets,--all their wood was split -with a wedge of elkhorn and a mallet of stone. They started their -fires by twirling two dry sticks together. - -Through all the valleys the Shoshones sent for their best horses, to -trade for knives and tomahawks. Delighted they watched the fall of -deer before the guns of white men. The age of stone had met the age of -steel. - -How to get over the mountains was the daily consultation. Cameahwait -pointed out an old man that knew the rivers. Clark engaged him for a -guide: - -"You shall be called Toby. Be ready to-morrow morning." - -Proud of his new name, old Toby packed up his moccasins. - -The Indians drew maps: "Seven days over sheer mountains. No game, no -fish, nothing but roots." - -Captain Clark set out to reconnoitre the Salmon River route. - -"A river of high rocks," said Cameahwait, "all a river of foam. No man -or horse can cross. No man can walk along the shore. We never travel -that way." Nevertheless Clark went on. - -For seventy miles, "through mountains almost inaccessible, and -subsisting on berries the greater part of the route," as Clark -afterward told his brother, they pushed their way, then--"troubles -just begun," remarked old Toby. - -Checking their horses on the edge of a precipice, Clark and his -companions looked down on the foaming Snake, roaring and fretting and -lashing the walls of its inky canyon a hundred feet below, savage, -tremendous, frightful. - -As Cameahwait had said, the way was utterly impracticable. - -"I name this great branch of the Columbia for my comrade, Captain -Lewis," said Clark. - -Back from the Snake River, Clark found Lewis buying horses. The -Shoshone women were mending the men's moccasins. The explorers were -making pack-saddles of rawhide. For boards they broke up boxes and -used the handles of their oars. - -"I have ever held this expedition in equal estimation with my own -existence," said Lewis, urging on the preparations. "If Indians can -pass these mountains, we can." - -Haunched around the fires, the forlorn Indians looked and listened and -shook their unkempt heads. - -"Me know better route," said the friendly old Shoshone guide. "To the -north, another great water to the Columbia." - -"No! no! no!" shouted all the Shoshones. "No trail that way." - -But Clark believed the faithful old Toby. Evidently the Shoshones -wished to detain them all winter. - -Unseen by the Indians, at night a _cache_ was dug at the head of the -Jefferson, for the last of the heavy luggage, leaving out only Indian -gifts and absolute necessities to carry on the pack-horses. The canoes -were filled with rocks and sunk to the bottom of the river. - -August 30, the expedition was ready. Before setting out the violins -were brought and the men danced, to the great diversion of the -Indians. Then, when they turned their faces to the Bitter Root, with -the old guide and his four sons, the Shoshones set out east for their -annual hunt on the Missouri. - -From May to September the Shoshones lived on salmon that came up the -mountain streams. Now that the salmon were gone, necessity compelled -them forth. With swift dashes down the Missouri they were wont to kill -and dry what buffalo they could, and retreat to consume it in their -mountain fastnesses. The whites had surprised them in their very -citadel--led by Sacajawea. - -Along the difficult Bitter Root Mountains Lewis and Clark journeyed, -meeting now and then Indian women digging yamp and pounding sunflower -seeds into meal. Food grew scarce and scarcer, now and then a deer, a -grouse, or a belated salmon stranded in some mountain pool. Sometimes -they had but a bit of parched corn in their wallets, like the -Immortals that marched to the conquest of Illinois. - -But those snowy peaks that from a distance seemed so vast,--that like -the Alps defied approach to any but a Hannibal or a Napoleon--now, as -if to meet their conquerors, bent low in many a grassy glade. - -In a pocket of the mountains now called Ross Hole, they came upon a -camp of Flatheads, with five hundred horses, on their way to the -Missouri for the Fall hunt of buffalo. - -Unknown to them the Flatheads had been watching from the timber and -had reported: "Strangers. Two chiefs riding ahead, looking at the -country. One warrior painted black. The rest leading packhorses. Keep -quiet. Wait. They are coming." - -York's feet had become lame and he was riding with the Captains. - -When the white men came in view the Flatheads looked on their faces. -They were shocked at the whiteness. Compassion was in every Indian -heart. - -"These men have no blankets. They have been robbed. See how cold their -cheeks are. They are chilled. Bring robes. Build fires." - -All the Indians ran for their beautiful white robes, and wrapped them -around the shoulders of the white men. Before the blazing fires the -white men's cheeks grew red. Perspiration burst from every pore. The -robes slipped off, but the solicitous red men kept putting them back -and stirring up the fire. - -Then the Captains, touched to the heart, spoke to the kind-hearted -Flatheads of a great people toward the rising sun, strong and brave -and rich. - -"Have they wigwams and much buffalo?" inquired the Flatheads. - -"Yes. We have been sent by the Great Father, the President, to bring -these presents to his children the Flatheads." - -The childlike Flatheads were much impressed. Never did they forget the -visit of those first white men. Traditions enough to fill a book have -been handed down, and to this day they boast, "the Flathead never -killed a white man." - -The whites listened in amaze to the low guttural clucking of the -Flatheads, resembling that of a chicken or parrot. Voice there was -none, only a soft crooning to their gentle chatter, interpreted by -Sacajawea and the old Shoshone guide. - -The women crowded around Sacajawea and untied her baby from its -elkskin cradle. They fed it and gave it little garments. That baby was -an open sesame touching the hearts of all. Sacajawea, riding on her -horse to the Columbia, found friends with every tribe. Others might -pay; she, never. The Indian mother-heart opened to Sacajawea. Her very -presence was an assurance of pacific intention. - -The women brought food, roots, and berries. To a late hour the white -men continued smoking and conversing with the chiefs, when more robes -were brought, and the weary ones slept with their feet to the fire. - -"Those hongry Injin dorgs ate up me moccasins lasht noight," -complained Pat in the morning. "But they're the whoitest Injins I iver -saw." - -More horses were brought and the lame ones exchanged, so now with -forty horses and three colts the Captains and their devoted followers -struggled on, "Over the warst road I iver saw," said Pat. "Faith! 'tis -warse nor the Alleghanies where I rid whin a bye." - -One horse loaded with a desk and small trunk rolled down a steep -declivity until it was stopped by a tree. The desk was broken. That -night they camped at the snow line and more snow began to fall. Wet, -cold, hungry, they killed a colt for supper and slept under the stars. - -The horses were failing. Some had to be abandoned. One rolled down a -mountain into a creek at the bottom. Some strayed or lost their packs, -and the worn-out men, ever on the jump, came toiling through the -brush, bearing on their own backs the unwieldy pack-saddles. Up here -in the Bitter Root Mountains, the last of Dr. Saugrain's thermometers -was broken, which accounts for the fact that from this point on they -kept no record of temperature. - -September 9 the expedition journeyed down the main Bitter Root valley, -named Clark's River, and crossing it came to a large creek and camped -a day to rest their horses. - -"Traveller's Rist, is it?" said Pat. "Me fa-a-ther's inn at Wellsburg -was the fir-r-st 'Traveller's Rist' in all Wistern Varginny," and -Traveller's Rest it remained until some later explorer renamed it the -Lolo fork of the Bitter Root River. - -Here the boys mended their garments torn and tattered in the -mountains, and the hunters went out for game. They returned with three -Flatheads. - -"Ay! Ay!" clucked the gentle Flatheads, "the river goes to the great -lake. Our relations were there and bought handkerchiefs like these of -an old white man that lives by himself." - -Lame and weary, straight across Idaho they struggled, over seams and -streaks of precious metal that they saw not, the gold of Ophir -concealed in the rocky chambers of the Idaho Alps,--struggled into the -Lolo trail used by the Indians for ages before any whites ever came -into the country. - -Over the Lolo trail went the Nez Percés to battle and to hunt buffalo -in the Montana country. Down over this trail once came a war party and -captured Wat-ku-ese, a Nez Percé girl, and carried her away to the -distant land of white men,--_so-yap-po_, "the crowned ones," she -called them, because they wore hats. - -Still ever Wat-ku-ese dreamed of her Nez Percé home and one day -escaped with her infant on her back. Along the way white traders were -kind to her. On and on, footsore and weary she journeyed alone. In the -Flathead country her baby died and was buried there. One day some Nez -Percés came down over the Lolo trail bringing home Wat-ku-ese, weak, -sick, dying. - -She was with her people at their camas ground, Weippe, when Lewis and -Clark came down over the Lolo trail. - -"Let us kill them," whispered the frightened Nez Percés. - -Wat-ku-ese lay dying in her tent when she heard it. "White men, did -you say? No, no, do not harm them. They are the crowned ones who were -so good to me. Do not be afraid of them. Go near to them." - -Cautiously the Nez Percés approached. The explorers shook their hands. -This was to the Indians a new form of greeting. - -Everywhere Indian women were digging the camas root, round like an -onion, and little heaps lay piled here and there. They paused in their -work to watch the strangers. Some screamed and ran and hid. Little -girls hid their baby brothers in the brush. Others brought food. - -So starved and famished were the men that they ate inordinately of the -sweet camas and the kouse, the biscuit root. The sudden change to a -warmer climate and laxative roots resulted in sickness, when the -expedition might have been easily attacked but for those words of -Wat-ku-ese, who now lay dead in her tent. - -To this day the Nez Percés rehearse the story of Wat-ku-ese. It was -the beginning of a lifelong friendship with the whites, broken only -when Chief Joseph fled over the Lolo trail. But even Chief Joseph -found he must give up the vast areas over which he was wont to roam, -and come under the laws of civilised life. - -As fast as their weakness permitted councils were held, when the -Captains told the Nez Percés of the Great Father at Washington, who -had sent them to visit his children. - -Twisted Hair, the Nez Percé Tewat, a great medicine man, dreamer and -wizard and wise one, drew on a white elkskin a chart of the rivers. -Admiring redmen put their hands over their mouths in amazement. - -No one but Twisted Hair could do such things. He was a learned Indian, -knew all the trails, even to the Falls of the Columbia. - -"White men," said he, "live at the Tim-tim [falls]." - -Thus into Idaho had penetrated the story of Ko-na-pe, the wrecked -Spaniard, who with his son Soto had set out up the great river to find -white people and tarried there until he died. Seven years later -Astor's people met Soto, an old man dark as his Indian mother, but -still the Indians called him white. Twenty years later Soto's daughter -was still living on the Columbia in the days of the Hudson's Bay -Company. - -To save time and trouble, canoes were burnt out of logs. Leaving their -horses with the Nez Percés, on October 4 the explorers were glad to -get into their boats with their baggage and float down the clear -Kooskooske, into the yellow-green Snake, and on into the blue -Columbia. - -At the confluence of the rivers medals were given and councils held on -the present site of Lewiston. Day by day through wild, romantic scenes -where white man's foot had never trod, the exultant young men were -gliding to the sea. - -Ahead of the boats on horseback galloped We-ark-koompt, an Indian -express. Word flew. The tribes were watching. At the dinner camp, -October 16, five Indians came up the river on foot in great haste, -took a look and started back, running as fast as they could. - -That night Lewis and Clark were met at the Columbia by a procession of -two hundred Indians with drums, singing, "Ke-hai, ke-hai," the -redmen's signal of friendship. - - - - -XVII - -_DOWN THE COLUMBIA_ - - -The arrival at the Columbia was followed by days of councils, with -gifts and speeches and smoking. Two Nez Percé chiefs, Twisted Hair the -Tewat and Tetoh, introduced the explorers from tribe to tribe, bearing -on and on the good words of Wat-ku-ese: "They are crowned ones. Do not -be afraid. Go near to them." - -All the Indian world seemed camped on the Columbia. Everywhere and -everywhere were "inconceivable multitudes of salmon." They could be -seen twenty feet deep in the water, they lay on the surface, and -floated ashore. Hundreds of Indians were splitting and spreading them -on scaffolds to dry. The inhabitants ate salmon, slept on salmon, -burnt dried salmon to cook salmon. - -With a coal a Yakima chief drew on a robe a map of the river so -valuable that Clark afterwards transferred it to paper. That map on -the robe was carried home to Jefferson and hung up by him in -Monticello. Every trail was marked by moccasin tracks, every village -by a cluster of teepees. - -In the "high countrey" of the Walla Walla they caught sight of "the -Mt. Hood of Vancouver," and were eager to reach it. - -"Tarry with us," begged Yellept, the Walla Walla chief. - -"When we return," replied the eager men. Then Clark climbed a cliff -two hundred feet above the water and spied St. Helens. Very well Clark -remembered Lord St. Helens from whom this peak was named. The very -name to him was linked with those old days when "Detroit must be -taken," for Lord St. Helens and John Jay drew up the treaty that -evacuated Detroit. - -Captain Clark and a few of the men still continued in advance walking -along the shore. - -Near the beautiful Umatilla a white crane rose over the Columbia. -Clark fired. A village of Indians heard the report and marvelled at -the sudden descent of the bird. As with outspread, fluttering wings it -touched the ground the white men came into view. - -One moment of transfixed horror, and the Indians fled. Captain Clark -promptly followed, opened the mat doors of their huts and entered. -With bowed heads, weeping and wringing their hands, a crowd of men, -women, and children awaited the blow of death. - -Lifting their chins, Clark smiled upon them and offered gifts. -Evidently they had not met the Indian express. - -"All tribes know the peace-pipe," he remarked, and drawing forth his -pipestone calumet lit it, as was his wont, with a sunglass. - -As the fire kindled from the rays through the open roof, again the -people shrieked. In vain Drouillard tried to pacify them. Not one -would touch the pipe lit by the sun. Clark went out and sat on a rock -and smoked until the boats arrived. - -"Do not be afraid. Go to them," began the Nez Percé chiefs. - -"They are not men," hurriedly whispered the frightened Indians. "We -saw them fall from heaven with great thunder. They bring fire from the -sky." - -Not until Sacajawea landed with her baby was tranquillity restored. - -"No squaw travels with a war party," that must be admitted, and soon -they were smoking with great unanimity. - -"Tim-m-m-m;--tim-m-m-m!" hummed the Indians at the Falls, at Celilo, -poetically imitating the sound of falling waters. - -There was salmon at the Falls of the Columbia, stacks of salmon dried, -pounded, packed in baskets, salmon heaped in bales, stored in huts and -cached in cellars in the sand. Making a portage around the Falls, the -boats slid down. - -"De rapide! de rapide! before we spik some prayer we come on de beeg -rock!" screamed Cruzatte, the bowman. - -Apparently a black wall stretched across the river, but as they -neared, a rift appeared where the mighty channel of the Columbia -narrows to forty-five yards at the Dalles. Crowds of Indians gathered -as Clark and Cruzatte stopped to examine the pass. - -"By good steering!" said Cruzatte. Shaping up his canoe, it darted -through the hissing and curling waters like a racehorse. - -Close behind, the other boats shot the boiling caldron, to the great -astonishment of Indian villagers watching from above. - -At the Warm Springs Reservation there are Indians yet who remember the -old dip-net fishing days and the stories of "Billy Chinook," who then -saw York, the black man. "I was a boy of twelve. When the black man -turned and looked at us, we children fled behind the rocks." - -Here at the Dalles were wooden houses, the first that Lewis and Clark -had seen since leaving the Illinois country, with roofs, doors, and -gables like frontier cabins,--and still more stacks of salmon. "Ten -thousand pounds," said Clark, "dried, baled, and bound for traffic -down the river." - -The ancient Indian village of Wishram stands on that spot still, with -the same strong smell of salmon. The houses are much the same, and -among their treasures may be found a coin of 1801, bartered, no doubt, -by Lewis and Clark for a bale of salmon. - -On sped the boats, through mighty mountains, past ancient burial -places of the savage dead, to the wild-rushing Cascades. Past these -Cascades, five miles of continuous rapids, white with sheets of foam. -"We mak' portage," said Cruzatte, his bow grating on the narrow shelf -of shore. - -On either side, rocky palisades, "green-mossed and dripping," reached -the skies. Tiny waterfalls, leaping from the clouds, fell in rainbow -mist a thousand feet below. "Mt. Hood stood white and vast." - -Below the Cascades great numbers of hair-seals slept on the rocks. -Swarms of swans, geese, ducks, cranes, storks, white gulls, -cormorants, plover swept screaming by. The hills were green, the soft -west wind was warm with rain. - - "What a wild delight - Of space! of room! What a sense of seas!" - -They had come into a new world,--the valley of the lower Columbia, the -home of the Chinook wind. - -At Hood River alarmed Indians, dressed in skins of the mountain goat, -the Oregon mazama, peered after the passing white men. At every house, -and among mouldering remains of ancient tombs, lay scattered -innumerable images of wood and stone or of burnt clay, household gods -of the Columbian Indian. - -Flat and flatter grew the heads. Up in the Bitter Root, women alone -wore this badge of distinction. Here, every infant lay strapped like a -mummy with a padded board across its forehead. - -A new sort of boats now glided alongside the flotilla, great sea -canoes manned with Chinook paddles. They were long and light, tapering -at the ends, wide in the middle and lifting stern and prow into beaks -like a Roman galley. And every canoe was laden with salmon, going down -river to trade for beads and wapato. - -Traces of white men began to appear,--blue and scarlet blankets, brass -tea-kettles, and beads. One Indian, with a round hat and a -sailor-jacket, wore his hair in a queue in imitation of the "Bostons." - -"I trade with Mr. Haley," said one in good English, showing the bow of -iron and other goods that Mr. Haley had given him. "And this is his -squaw in the canoe." - -More and more fertile and delightful grew the country, shaded by thick -groves of tall timber and watered by streams, fair as lay unpeopled -Kentucky thirty years before. Scarce could Clark repress the -recollection of the tales his brother brought home of that first trip -to Boonsboro in 1775. - -Nothing surprised them more than the tropic luxuriance of vegetation. -The moist Japan wind nurtured the trees to mammoths, six, eight, and -ten feet through. Shrubbery like the hazel grew to be trees. The maple -spread its leaves like palm fans; dogwood of magnolian beauty, wild -cherry, crab-apple, interlaced with Oregon grape, blackberries, wild -roses, vines of every sort and description, and ferns, ferns, ferns -filled the canyons like the jungles of Orinoco. - -On November 4, nearly opposite the present Vancouver, they landed at a -village on the left side of the river where a fleet of over fifty -canoes was drawn up on shore, gathering wapato. - -"Wapato? Wapato?" An Indian treated them to the queen root of the -Columbia, round and white, about the size of a small Irish potato. -This, baked, was the bread of the Chinook Indian. - -"In two days," said Indians in sailor jackets and trousers, shirts, -and hats, "in two days, two ships, white people in them." - -"Village there," said an Indian in a magnificent canoe, pointing -beyond some islands at the mouth of the Willamette. He was finely -dressed and wore a round hat. - -Yes, it might be, villages, villages everywhere, but ships--ships -below! They had no time for villages now. Long into the darkness of -night the boats sped on, on, past dim forests bending to the wave, -past shadowy heights receding into sunset, past campfires on the hills -where naked Indians walked between them and the light. - -At a late hour they camped. November rains were setting in, the night -was noisy with wild fowl coming up the Columbia to escape the storms -of ocean. Trumpeter swans blew their shrill clarions, and whistling -swans, geese, and other birds in flights of hundreds swept past in -noisy serenade, dropping from their wings the spray of the sea. - -None slept. Toward morning the rain began. - -In a wet morning and a rushing wind they bent to the oar, past St. -Helens, past Mt. Coffin, past Cathlamet where Queen Sally in scant -garments watched from a rock and told the tale in after years. - -"We had been watching for days," she said. "News had come by Indian -post of the strangers from the east. They came in the afternoon and -were met by our canoes and brought to the village." "There," Clark -says in his journals, "we dined on November 26." - -But Lewis and Clark were tired of Indians by this time, and moreover, -ships were waiting below! It was a moment of intense excitement. Even -at Cathlamet they heard the surge of ocean rolling on the rocks forty -miles away. Before night the fog lifted and they beheld "the -ocean!--that ocean, the object of all our labours, the reward of all -our anxieties. Ocean in view! O! the joy." - -Struggling with their unwieldy canoes the landsmen grew seasick in -the rising swells of the up-river tide. For miles they could not find -a place to camp, so wild and rocky were the shores. - -At last, exhausted, they threw their mats on the beautiful pebbly -beach and slept in the rain. - -Everything was wet, soaked through, bedding, stores, clothing. And all -the salt was spoiled. There was nothing to eat but raw dried salmon, -wet with sea water, and many of the men began to be ill from exposure -and improper food. - -"'T is the divil's own weather," said Pat, coming in from a -reconnoitre with his wet hunting shirt glued fast to his skin. Pat -could see the "waves loike small mountains rolling out in the ocean," -but just now he, like all the rest, preferred a dry corner by a -chimney fire. - - "Une Grande Piqnique!" exclaimed Cruzatte. - "Lak' tonder de ocean roar! - Blow lak' not'ing I never see, - Blow lak' le diable makin' grande tour! - Hear de win' on de beeg pine tree!" - -And all were hungry. Even Clark, who claimed to be indifferent as to -what he ate, caught himself pondering on bread and buns. With the -peculiar half laugh of the squaw, Sacajawea brought a morsel that she -had saved for the child all the way from the Mandan towns, but now it -was wet and beginning to sour. Clark took it and remarked in his -journal, "This bread I ate with great satisfaction, it being the only -mouthful I had tasted for several months." - -Chinook Indians pilfered around the camp. "If any one of your nation -steals anything from us, I will have you shot," said Captain -Clark,--"which they understand very well," he remarked to the camp as -the troublers slunk away. A sentinel stood on constant watch. - -Captain Lewis and eleven of the men went around the bay and found -where white people had been camped all summer, but naught remained -save the cold white beach and the Indians camping there. The ships had -sailed. - -Down there near the Chinook town, facing the ocean, Captain Lewis -branded a tree with his name and the date, and a few days later -Captain Clark says, "I marked my name on a large pine tree immediately -on the isthmus, at Clatsop." - -It was two hundred years since Captain John Smith sailed up the -Chickahominy in Virginia in search of the South Sea. At last, far -beyond the Chickahominy, Lewis and Clark sailed up the Missouri and -down the Columbia in search of the same South Sea. And here at the -mouth of the Oregon they found it, stretching away to China. - -Balboa, Magellan, Cortez, Mackenzie,--Lewis and Clark had joined the -immortals. - - - - -XVIII - -_FORT CLATSOP BY THE SEA_ - - -December had now arrived, and southwest storms broke upon the coast -with tremendous force. Off Cape Disappointment, the surges dashed to -the height of the masthead of a ship, with most terrific roaring. A -winter encampment could no longer be delayed. - -"Deer, elk, good skin, good meat," said the Chinook Indians, in -pantomime, pointing across the bay to the south. - -Accordingly, thither the eggshell boats were guided, across the -tempestuous Columbia, to the little river Netul, now the Lewis and -Clark, ten miles from the ocean. - -Beside a spring branch, in a thick grove of lofty firs about two -hundred yards from the water, the leather tent was set up and big -fires built, while all hands fell to clearing a space for the winter -cabins. - -In four days the logs were rolled up, Boonsboro fashion, into shelters -for the winter. "The foinest puncheons I iver saw," said Patrick Gass, -head carpenter, as he set to splitting boards out of the surrounding -firs. - -By Christmas seven cabins were covered and the floors laid. The chinks -were filled with clay, and fir-log fires were set roaring in the -capacious chimneys that filled an entire end of each cabin. On -Christmas day they moved in, wet blankets and all, with rounds of -firearms and Christmas salutes. - -The leather tent, soaked for days, fell to pieces. The heavy canisters -of powder, every one of which had been under the water in many a -recent capsize, were consigned in safety to the powder-house. - -On New Year's Eve the palisades were done, and the gates were closed -at sunset. - -The first winter-home of civilised people on the Columbia has an -abiding charm, not unlike that of Plymouth or Jamestown. - -Back through the mists of one hundred years we see gangs of elk, -chased by hunters through cranberry bogs, "that shook for the space of -half an acre." - -Their soundless footfalls were lost in beds of brown pine needles and -cushions of moss. The firing of guns reverberated through the dim -gloom like a piece of ordnance. - -It was from such a trip as this that the hunters returned on the 16th -of December, reporting elk. All hands set to work carrying up the meat -from the loaded boats, skinning and cutting and hanging it up in small -pieces in the meathouse, to be smoked by a slow bark fire. But in -spite of every precaution, the meat began to spoil. - -"We must have salt," said Captain Lewis. - -In a few days, five men were dispatched with five kettles to build a -cairn for the manufacture of salt from seawater. - -Already Clark had examined the coast with this in view, and the -salt-makers' camp was established near Tillamook Head, about fifteen -miles southwest of the fort where the old cairn stands to this day. -Here the men built "a neat, close camp, convenient to wood, salt -water and the fresh waters of the Clatsop River, within a hundred -paces of the ocean," and kept the kettles boiling day and night. - -On that trip to the coast, while the cabins were building, Captain -Clark visited the Clatsops, and purchased some rude household -furniture, cranberries, mats, and the skin of a panther, seven feet -from tip to tip, to cover their puncheon floor. - -Other utensils were easily fashioned. Seated on puncheon stools, -before the log-fire of the winter night, the men carved cedar cups, -spoons, plates, and dreamed of homes across the continent. - -In just such a little log cabin as this, Shannon saw his mother in -Ohio woods; Patrick Gass pictured his father, with his pipe, at -Wellsburg, West Virginia; Sergeant Ordway crossed again the familiar -threshold at Hebron, New Hampshire. Clark recalled Mulberry Hill, and -Lewis,--his mind was fixed on Charlottesville, or the walls expanded -into Monticello and the White House. - -"Mak' some pleasurement now," begged the Frenchmen, "w'en Bonhomme -Cruzatte tune up hees fidelle for de dance." - -Tales were told and plans were made. Toward midnight these Sinbads of -the forest fell asleep, on their beds of fir boughs, lulled by the -brook, the whispering of the pines, and the falling of the winter -rain. - -This was not like winter rain in eastern climates, but soft and warm -as April. The grass grew green, Spring flowers opened in December. The -moist Japan wind gives Oregon the temperature of England. - -"I most sincerely regret the loss of my thermometer," said Lewis. "I -am confident this climate is much milder than the same latitude on the -Atlantic. I never experienced so warm a winter." - -But about the last of January there came a snow at Clatsop, four -inches thick, and icicles hung from the houses during the day. - -"A real touch of winter," said Lewis. "The breath is perceptible in -our room by the fire." Like all Oregon snow it disappeared in a -week--and then it was Spring. - -In the centre of the officer's cabin, a fir stump, sawed off smooth and -flat for a table, was covered with maps and papers. Books were written -in that winter of 1805-6, voluminous records of Oregon plants and -trees, birds, beasts, and fishes. They had named rivers and measured -mountains, and after wandering more than Homer's heroes, the explorers -were ready now to carry a new geography to the States. And here, as -everywhere, Lewis was busy with his vocabularies, learning the Chinook -jargon. - -As never before, all the men became scientists. Even Captain Clark's -black man took an interest and reported some fabulous finds. - -The houses were dry and comfortable, and within, they had a plentiful -supply of elk and salt, "excellent, white, and fine, but not so strong -as the rock salt, or that made in Kentucky." - -Meal time was always interesting. Very often the Captains caught -themselves asking: "Charboneau, when will dinner be ready?" - -All day the firelight flickered on Sacajawea's hair, as she sat making -moccasins, crooning a song in her soft Indian monotone. This was, -perhaps, the happiest winter Sacajawea ever knew, with baby Touissant -toddling around her on the puncheon floor, pulling her shawl around -his chubby face, or tumbling over his own cradle. The modest Shoshone -princess never dreamed how the presence of her child and herself gave -a touch of domesticity to that Oregon winter. - -Now and then Indian women came to see Sacajawea, sitting all day -without a word, watching her every motion. - -Sometimes Sacajawea helped Charboneau, with his spits, turning slowly -before the fire, or with his elk's tongues or sausage or beaver's -tails. Sometimes she made trapper's butter, boiling up the marrow of -the shank bones with a sprinkle of salt. - -In the short days darkness came on at four o'clock, and the last of -the candles were soon exhausted. Then the moulds were brought and -candles were made of elk tallow, until a heap, shining and white, were -ready for the winter evenings. - -"We have had trouble enough with those thieving Chinooks," said -Captain Lewis. "Without a special permit, they are to be excluded from -the fort." - -The Indians heard it. Did a knock resound at the gate, "No Chinook!" -was the quick accompaniment. - -"Who, then?" demanded the sentinel, gun in hand. - -"Clatsop," answered Coboway's people entering with roots and -cranberries. - -Or, "Cathlamets," answered an up-river tribe with rush bags of wapato -on their backs. Roots of the edible thistle--white and crisp as a -carrot, sweet as sugar, the roasted root of the fern, resembling the -dough of wheat, and roots of licorice, varied the monotonous fare. - -These supplies were very welcome, but the purchase money, that was the -problem. - -President Jefferson had given to Captain Lewis an unlimited letter of -credit on the United States, but such a letter would not buy from -these Indians even a bushel of wapato. - -The Cathlamets would trade for fishhooks. The Clatsops preferred -beads, knives, or an old file. - -No wonder they valued an old file: the finest work of their beautiful -canoes was often done with a chisel fashioned from an old file. Lewis -and Clark had frequent occasion to admire their skill in managing -these little boats, often out-riding the waves in the most tumultuous -seas. - -Ashore, these canoe-Indians waddled and rolled like tipsy sailors. -Afloat, straight and trim as horse-Indians of the prairie, each deft -Chinook glided to his seat along the unrocking boats, and striking up -the paddlers' "Ho-ha-ho-ha-ho-ha-" went rowing all their lives, until -their arms grew long and strong, their legs shrunk short and crooked, -and their heads became abnormally intelligent. - -Nor were these coast Indians lacking in courage,--they sometimes -ventured into the sea in their wonderful canoes, and harpooned the -great whale and towed him in. - -When it came to prices for their beautiful skins of sea-otter, almost -nothing would do. Clark offered a watch, a handkerchief, an American -dollar, and a bunch of red beads for a single skin. - -"No! No!" in stentorian tone--"_Tyee ka-mo-suck,--chief beads_,"--the -most common sort of large blue glass beads, the precious money of that -country. Chiefs hung them on their bosoms, squaws bound them on their -ankles, pretty maidens hung them in their hair. But Lewis and Clark -had only a few and must reserve them for most pressing necessity. - -Since that May morning when Captain Robert Gray discovered the -Columbia River, fourteen years before, the Chinook Indians had learned -the value of furs. Once they handed over their skins, and took without -a murmur what the Boston skippers chose to give. Now, a hundred ships -upon that shore had taught them craft. - -One of old King Comcomly's people had a robe of sea-otter, "the fur of -which was the most beautiful we had ever seen." In vain Lewis offered -everything he had, nothing would purchase the treasured cloak but the -belt of blue beads worn by Sacajawea. - -On every hand among these coast tribes were blankets, sailor-clothes, -guns,--old Revolutionary muskets mended for this trade,--powder and -ball, the powder in little japanned tin flasks in which the traders -sold it. - -In what Clark calls "a guggling kind of language spoken mostly through -the throat," with much pantomime and some English, conversation was -carried on. - -"Who are these traders?" asked Captain Lewis. - -Old Comcomly, King of the Chinooks, on the north side, and Tyee -Coboway, Chief of the Clatsops, on the south bank of the Columbia, -tried to remember, and counted on their fingers,-- - -"Haley, three masts, stays some time," "Tallamon not a trader," -"Callalamet has a wooden leg," "Davidson, no trader, hunts elk," -"Skelley, long time ago, only one eye." - -And then there were "Youens, Swipton, Mackey, Washington, Mesship, -Jackson, Balch," all traders with three-masted ships whose names are -not identified by any Atlantic list. - -The one translated Washington by Lewis and Clark may have been -Ockington of the _Belle Savage_, 1801, or Tawnington, both of whom are -known to have been on the coast in those years. - -In fact, no complete record was ever kept of the ships that swarmed -around the Horn and up the Pacific, in those infant years of our -republic, 1787 to 1820. While Europe clustered around the theatre of -Napoleonic wars, every harbour of New England had its fur ships and -whalers out, flying the Stars and Stripes around the world. - -"What do they say?" inquired Lewis, still pressing investigation. -Proud of their acquirements, every Chinook and Clatsop in the nation -could recall some word or phrase. - -"Musket, powder, shot, knife, file, heave the lead, damned rascal!" - -No wonder Lewis and Clark laughed, these mother words on the savage -tongue were like voices out of the very deep, calling from the ships. - -"One hyas tyee ship--great chief ship--Moore, four masts, three cows -on board." - -"Which way did he go?" - -The Indians pantomimed along the northwest coast. - -"From which," says Lewis, "I infer there must be settlements in that -direction." - -The great desire, almost necessity, now, seemed to be to wait until -some ship appeared upon the shore from which to replenish their almost -exhausted stores. - -Whenever the boats went in and out of Meriwether Bay they passed the -Memeloose Illahee, the dead country of the Clatsops. Before 1800, as -near as Lewis and Clark could ascertain, several hundred of the -Clatsops died suddenly of a disease that appeared to be smallpox, the -same undoubtedly that cut down Black Bird and his Omahas, rolling on -west and north where the Hudson's Bay traders traced it to the borders -of the Arctic. - -In Haley's Bay one hundred canoes in one place bespoke the decimation -of the Chinooks, all slumbering now in that almost priceless carved -coffin, the Chinook canoe, with gifts around them and feet to the -sunset, ready to drift on an unknown voyage. - -There was a time when Indian campfires stretched from Walla Walla to -the sea, when fortifications were erected, and when Indian flint -factories supplied the weapons of countless warriors. But they are -gone. The first settlers found sloughs and bayous lined with burial -canoes, until the dead were more than the living. No Indians knew -whose bones they were, "those old, old, old people." Red children and -white tumbled them out of the cedar coffins and carried away the dead -men's treasures. - -"There was mourning along the rivers. A quietness came over the land." -Stone hammers, flint chips, and arrows lie under the forests, and -embers of fires two centuries old. - -The native tribes were disappearing before the white man came, and the -destruction of property with the dead kept the survivors always -impoverished. - - - - -XIX - -_A WHALE ASHORE_ - - -"A whale! a whale ashore!" - -When Chief Coboway brought word there was great excitement at Fort -Clatsop. Everybody wanted to see the whale, but few could go. Captain -Clark appointed twelve men to be ready at daylight. - -Sacajawea, in the privacy of her own room that Sunday evening, spoke -to Charboneau. Now Charboneau wanted her to stay and attend to the -"l'Apalois"--roasting meats on a stick,--and knowing that the child -would have to be looked after, slipped over to the Captains, -discussing by the fire. - -"Sacajawea t'ink she want to see de whale. She ought not go." - -"Very well," answered the Captains, scarce heeding. "She better stay -at the fort. It would be a hard jaunt for a woman to go over Tillamook -Head." - -Charboneau went back. "De Captinne say you cannot go!" - -This was a staggering blow to Sacajawea, but her woman's determination -had become aroused and she took the rostrum, so to speak. Leaving the -baby Touissant with his father, she in turn slipped over to the -Captains. - -Sacajawea was a born linguist. "Captinne, you remember w'en we reach -de rivers and you knew not which to follow? I show de country an' -point de stream. Again w'en my husband could not spik, I spik for you. - -"Now, Captinne, I travel great way to see de Beeg Water. I climb de -mountain an' help de boat on de rapide. An' now dis monstous fish haf -come"--Sacajawea could scarce restrain her tears. Sacajawea was only a -woman, and a brave little woman at that. - -Captain Lewis was moved. "Sacajawea, you are one of those who are born -not to die. Of course you can go. Go and be getting ready, and," he -added, "if Charboneau wants to go too, he will have to carry the -baby!" - -They breakfasted by candle-light. Everybody was ready next morning, -but Sacajawea was ahead of them all. Charboneau looked at her out of -the corner of his eye, but said nothing. More than once the Captains -had reminded him of his duty. - -The sun rose clear and cloudless on a land of springtime, and yet it -was only January. Robins sang around the stockade, bluebirds whizzed -by, silver in the sunlight. Two canoes proceeded down the Netul into -Meriwether Bay, on the way to the Clatsop town. - -After a day's adventure, they camped near a herd of elk in the -beautiful moonlight. At noon, next day, they reached the salt-makers. -Here Jo Fields, Bratton, and Gibson had their brass kettles under a -rock arch, boiling and boiling seawater into a gallon of salt a day. - -Hiring Twiltch, a young Indian, for guide, they climbed Tillamook -Head, about thirty miles south of Cape Disappointment. Upon this -promontory, Clark's Point of View, they paused before the boisterous -Pacific, breaking with fury and flinging its waves above the Rock of -Tillamook. - -On one side the blue Columbia widened into bays studded with Chinook -and Clatsop villages; on the other stretched rich prairies, enlivened -by beautiful streams and lakes at the foot of the hills. Behind, in -serried rank, the Douglas spruce--"the tree of Turner's dreams," the -king of conifers,--stood monarch of the hills. Two hundred, three -hundred feet in air they towered, a hundred feet without a limb, so -dense that not a ray of sun could reach the ground beneath. - -Sacajawea, save Pocahontas the most travelled Indian Princess in our -history, spoke not a word, but looked with calm and shining eye upon -the fruition of her hopes. Now she could go back to the Mandan towns -and speak of things that Madame Jussaume had never seen, and of the -Big Water beyond the Shining Mountains. - -Down the steep and ragged rocks that overhung the sea, they clambered -to a Tillamook village, where lay the great whale, stranded on the -shore. Nothing was left but a skeleton, for from every Indian village -within travelling distance, men and women were working like bees upon -the huge carcass. Then home they went, trailing over the mountains, -every squaw with a load of whale blubber on her back, to be for many a -month the dainty of an Indian lodge. - -These Indian lodges or houses were a source of great interest to Lewis -and Clark. Sunk four feet into the ground and rising well above, like -an out-door cellar, they were covered with ridgepoles and low sloping -roofs. The sides were boarded with puncheons of cedar, laboriously -split with elkhorn wedges and stone hammers. - -A door in the gable admitted to this half-underground home by means of -a ladder. Around the inner walls, beds of mats were raised on -scaffolds two or three feet high, and under the beds were deposited -winter stores of dried berries, roots, nuts, and fish. - -In the centre of each house a fireplace, six or eight feet long, was -sunk in the floor, and surrounded by a cedar fender and mats for the -family to sit on. The walls, lined with mats and cedar bark, formed a -very effective shelter. - -Did some poor stranded mariner teach the savage this semi-civilised -architecture, or was it evolved by his own genius? However this may -be, these houses were found from Yaquina Bay to Yakutat. - -In such a house as this Captain Clark visited Coboway, chief of the -Clatsops, in his village on the sunny side of a hill. As soon as he -entered, clean mats were spread. Coboway's wife, Tse-salks, a -Tillamook Princess, brought berries and roots and fish on neat -platters of rushes. Syrup of sallal berries was served in bowls of -horn and meat in wooden trenchers. - -Naturally, Sacajawea was interested in domestic utensils, wooden -bowls, spoons of horn, skewers and spits for roasting meat, and -beautifully woven water-tight baskets. - -Every squaw habitually carried a knife, fastened to the thumb by a -loop of twine, to be hid under the robe when visitors came. These -knives, bought of the traders, were invaluable to the Indian mother. -With it she dug roots, cut wood, meat, or fish, split rushes for her -flag mats and baskets, and fashioned skins for dresses and moccasins. -Ever busy they were, the most patient, devoted women in the world. - -Sacajawea, with her beautiful dress and a husband who sometimes -carried the baby, was a new sort of mortal on this Pacific coast. - -While they were conversing, a flock of ducks lit on the water. Clark -took his rifle and shot the head off one. The astonished Indians -brought the bird and marvelled. Their own poor flintlocks, loaded with -bits of gravel when shot failed, often would not go off in cold -weather, but here was "very great medicine." They examined the duck, -the musket, and the small bullets, a hundred to the pound. - -"Kloshe musquet! wake! kum-tux musquet! A very good musquet! No! do -not understand this kind of musquet!" - -Thus early is it a historical fact that the Chinook jargon was already -established on the Pacific coast. This jargon, a polyglot of traders' -tongues, like the old Lingua Franca of the Mediterranean, is used by -the coast Indians to this day from the Columbia River to Point Barrow -on the Arctic. And for its birth we may thank the Boston traders. - -Chinooks, Clatsops, Tillamooks faced that stormy beach and lived on -winter stores of roots, berries, fish, and dried meat. Their beautiful -elastic bows of white cedar were seldom adequate to kill the great -elk, so when the rush bags under the beds were empty, they watched for -fish thrown up by the waves. - -"Sturgeon is very good," said a Clatsop in English, peering and prying -along the hollows of the beach. But the great whale, Ecola, that was a -godsend to the poor people. Upon it now they might live until the -salmon came, flooding the country with plenty. - -Old Chief Coboway of the Clatsops watched those shores for sixty -years. He did not tell this story to Lewis and Clark, but he told it -to his children, and so it belongs here. - -"An old woman came crying to the Clatsop village: 'Something on the -shore! Behold, it is no whale! Two spruce trees stand upright on it. -Ropes are tied to those spruce trees. Behold bears came out of it!' -Then all the people ran. Behold the bears had built a fire of -driftwood on the shore. They were popping corn. They held copper -kettles in their hands. They had lids. The bears pointed inland and -asked for water. Then two people took the kettles and ran inland. They -hid. Some climbed up into the thing. They went down into the ship. It -was full of boxes. They found brass buttons in a string half a fathom -long. They went out. They set fire. The ship burned. It burned like -fat. Then the Clatsops gathered the iron, the copper, and the brass. -Then were the Clatsops rich." - -One of these men was Ko-na-pe. He and his companion were held as -slaves. Ko-na-pe was a worker in iron and could fashion knives and -hatchets. From that time the Clatsops had knives. He was too great to -be held as a slave, so the Clatsops gave him and his friend their -liberty. They built a cabin at a place now known as New Astoria, but -the Indians called it "Ko-na-pe," and it was known by that name long -after the country was settled by the whites. - -February had now arrived. For weeks every man not a hunter stood over -the kettles with his deer-skin sleeves rolled up, working away at -elkskins, rubbing, dipping, and wringing. Then again they went back -into the suds for another rubbing and working, and then the beautiful -skin, hung up to smoke and dry, came out soft and pliable. - -Shields, the skilful, cut out the garments with a butcher knife, and -all set to work with awls for needles and deer sinews for thread. - -For weeks this leather-dressing and sewing had been going on, some -using the handy little "housewives" given by Dolly Madison and the -ladies of the White House, until Captain Lewis records, "the men are -better fitted with clothing and moccasins than they have been since -starting on this voyage." - -Captain Lewis and Captain Clark had each a large coat finished of the -skin of the "tiger cat," of which it "took seven robes to make a -coat." - -With beads and old razors, Captain Lewis bought high-crowned Chinook -hats, of white cedar-bark and bear-grass, woven European fashion by -the nimble fingers of the Clatsop girls, fine as Leghorn and -water-tight. - -Patrick Gass counted up the moccasins and found three hundred and -fifty-eight pairs, besides a good stock of dressed elkskins for tents -and bedding. "And I compute 131 elk and 20 deer shot in this -neighbourhood during the winter," he added. - -But now the elk were going to the mountains, game was practically -unobtainable. Now and then Drouillard snared a fine fat beaver or an -otter in his traps; sometimes the Indians came over with sturgeon, -fresh anchovies, or a bag of wapato, but even this supply was -precarious and uncertain. - -February 11, Captain Clark completed a map of the country, including -rivers and mountains from Fort Mandan to Clatsop, dotting in -cross-cuts for the home journey, the feat of a born geographer. - -February 21 the saltmakers returned, with twelve gallons of salt -sealed up to last to the _cache_ on the Jefferson. - -While Shields refitted the guns, others opened and examined the -precious powder. Thirty-five canisters remained, and yet, banged as -they had been over many a mountain pass, and sunk in many a stream, -all but five were found intact as when they were sealed at Pittsburg. -Three were bruised and cracked, one had been pierced by a nail, one -had not been properly sealed, but by care the men could dry them out -and save the whole. - -The greatest necessity now was a boat. A long, slim Chinook canoe made -out of a single tree of fir or cedar was beyond price. Preliminary -dickers were tried with Chinooks and Clatsops. Finally Drouillard went -up to Cathlamet. - -Of all the trinkets that Drouillard could muster, nothing short of -Captain Lewis's laced uniform coat could induce Queen Sally's people -to part with a treasured canoe. And here it was. Misfortune had become -a joke. - -"Well, now, the United States owes me a coat," laughed Lewis, as he -found his last civilised garment gone to the savages. - -"Six blue robes, one of scarlet, five made out of the old United -States' flag that had floated over many a council, a few old clothes, -Clark's uniform coat and hat and a few little trinkets that might be -tied in a couple of handkerchiefs," this was the reserve fund to carry -them two thousand miles to St. Louis. - -But each stout-hearted explorer had his gun and plenty of powder--that -was wealth. - -"Now, in case we never reach the United States," said Lewis, "what -then?" - -"We must leave a Memorial," answered Clark. And so the Captains -prepared this document: - - _"The object of this list is, that through the medium of - some civilised person, who may see the same, it may be made - known to the world, that the party consisting of the - persons whose names are hereunto annexed, and who were sent - out by the Government of the United States to explore the - interior of the continent of North America, did penetrate - the same by the way of the Missouri and Columbia rivers, to - the discharge of the latter into the Pacific ocean, where - they arrived on the 14th day of November, 1805, and - departed the 23d day of March, 1806, on their return to the - United States by the same route by which they had come - out."_ - -To this document every man signed his name, and copies were given to -the various chiefs. One was posted at Fort Clatsop to be given to any -trader that might arrive in the river, and thus, in case of their -death, some account of their exploration might be saved to the world. -On the back of some of the papers Clark sketched the route. - -At last only one day's food remained. Necessity compelled removal. In -vain their eyes were strained toward the sea. Never were Lewis and -Clark destined to see a summer day on the Columbia, when sails of -ships flapped listlessly against the masts, and vessels heaved -reluctantly on the sluggish waters, rolling in long swells on Clatsop -beach. - -On Sunday, March 23, 1806, the boats were loaded and all was ready. -Chief Coboway came over at noon to bid them good bye. - -In gratitude for many favours during the past winter, Lewis and Clark -presented their houses and furniture to the kind-hearted old chief. - -Chief Coboway made Fort Clatsop his winter home during the remainder -of his life. Years passed. The stockade fell down, young trees grew up -through the cabins, but the spring is there still, gushing forth its -waters, cool as in the adventurous days of one hundred years ago. - - - - -XX - -_A RACE FOR EMPIRE_ - - -In this very December of 1805 while Lewis and Clark were struggling -with the storms of ocean at the mouth of the Columbia, a thousand -miles to the north of them the indefatigable and indomitable Simon -Fraser was also building a fort, among the lochs and bens of New -Caledonia, the British Columbia of to-day. - -On the very day that Lewis and Clark left Fort Mandan, Simon Fraser -and his men had faced toward the Rockies. While Lewis and Clark were -exploring the Missouri, Fraser and his voyageurs were pulling for dear -life up the Saskatchewan and over to Athabasca. On the very day that -Lewis and Clark moved into Fort Clatsop, Simon Fraser, at the Rocky -Mountain Portage, had men busily gathering stones "to get a chimney -built for his bedroom." The icy northern winter came down, but in -January mortar was made to plaster his trading fort, the Rocky -Mountain Portage at the Peace River Pass. - -All that Arctic winter he traded with the natives, killed deer and -moose, and made pemmican for an expedition still farther to the west. - -All through the stormy, icy April, building his boats and pounding his -pemmican, Fraser stamped and stormed and swore because the snows -refused to melt--because the rivers yet were blocked with ice. - -The boats were at the door, the bales of goods were tied, when the ice -began to break in May. - -The moment the river was clear all hands were roused at daybreak. -Simon Fraser turned the Rocky Mountain Portage over to McGillivray, -who had arrived on snow shoes, and pressed on west, discovering McLeod -Lake and building Fort McLeod upon its shores. Then he portaged over -to the Fraser, which he believed to be the Columbia, and going up the -Stuart branch built Fort St. James on Stuart Lake. During the winter -and summer, after Lewis and Clark reached home, he built Fort Fraser -on Fraser Lake, and Fort George upon the Fraser River, still thinking -it was the Columbia. - -"Now will I reach the mouth of this Columbia," said Fraser in the -Spring of 1808, launching his boat, the _Perseverance_, upon the -wildest water of the North. - -"You cannot pass," said the Indians, and they waved and whirled their -arms to indicate the mad tumultuous swirling of the waters. - -"Whatever the obstacle," said Simon Fraser, "I shall follow this river -to the end," and down he went for days and days through turbulent -gulfs and whirlpools, past rocks and rapids and eddies, under -frowning, overhanging precipices in the high water of May. - -The Indians spoke of white people. - -"It must be Lewis and Clark," groaned Fraser, redoubling his effort to -win another empire for his king. - -Daily, hourly, risking their lives, at every step in the Mountains the -Indians said, "You can go no further." - -But the sturdy Scotchmen gripped their oars and set their teeth, -turning, doubling, twisting, shooting past rocky points that menaced -death, portaging, lifting canoes by sheer grit and resolution up -almost impassable rockways, over cliffs almost without a foothold and -down into the wave again. So ran the Northwesters down the wild river -to the sea, and camped near the present site of New Westminster. And -lo! it was _not_ the Columbia. - -Back came Simon Fraser to Fort William on Lake Superior to report what -he had done, and they crowned his brow with the name of his own great -river, the Fraser. - -Travellers look down the frowning Fraser gorge to-day, and little -realise why Simon Fraser made that daring journey. - - - - -XXI - -_"A SHIP! A SHIP!"_ - - -While Lewis and Clark were making preparations to leave Fort Clatsop, -all unknown to them a ship was trying to cross the bar into the -Columbia River. And what a tale had she to tell,--of hunger, misery, -despair, and death at Sitka. - -Since 1787 the Boston ships had been trading along these shores. In -that year 1792, when Captain Robert Gray discovered the Columbia -River, there were already twenty-one American ships in the Pacific -northwest. - -In May, 1799, the Boston brig _Caroline_, Captain Cleveland, was -buying furs in Sitka Sound, when coasting along over from the north -came the greatest of all the Russians, Alexander von Baranof, with two -ships and a fleet of bidarkas. - -"What now will you have?" demanded the Sitka chief, as the expedition -entered the basin of Sitka Sound. - -"A place to build a fort and establish a settlement for trade," -answered Baranof. - -"A Boston ship is anchored below and buying many skins," answered the -chief. But presents were distributed, a trade was made, and Russian -axes began felling the virgin forest on the sides of Verstova. - -The next day Captain Cleveland visited Baranof at his fort building. - -"Savages!" echoed Captain Cleveland to Baranof's comment on the -natives. "I should say so. I have but ten men before the mast, but on -account of the fierce character of these Indians I have placed a -screen of hides around the ship, that they may not see the deck nor -know how few men I have. Two pieces of cannon are in position and a -pair of blunderbusses on the taffrail." - -But the land was rich in furs. It was this that brought Baranof over -from Kadiak. - -In three years Sitka was a strong fort, but in June, 1802, in the -absence of Baranof, it was attacked one day by a thousand Indians -armed with muskets bought of the Boston traders. - -In a few hours the fort, a new ship in the harbour, warehouses, cattle -sheds, and a bathhouse were burnt to ashes. The poor dumb cattle were -stuck full of lances. - -A terrible massacre accompanied the burning. To escape suffocation the -Russians leaped from the flaming windows only to be caught on the -uplifted lances of the savage Sitkas. Some escaped to the woods, when -an English vessel providentially appeared and carried the few -remaining survivors to Kadiak. - -That autumn two new ships arrived from Russia with hunters, labourers, -provisions, and news of Baranof's promotion by the czar. - -Tears coursed down the great man's weather-beaten cheeks. "I am a -nobleman; but Sitka is lost! I do not care to live; I will go and -either die or restore the possessions of my august benefactor." - -Then back came Baranof to Sitka on his errand of vengeance, with three -hundred bidarkas and six small Russian ships, to be almost wrecked in -Sitka Sound. Here he was joined by the _Neva_ just out from Kronstadt, -the first to carry the Russian flag around the world. - -Upon the hill where Sitka stands to-day, the Indians had built a fort -of logs piled around with tangled brush. On this the Russians opened -fire. But no reply came. With one hundred and fifty men and several -guns, Baranof landed in the dense woods to take the fort by storm. -Then burst the sheeted flame. Ten Russians were killed and twenty-six -wounded. But for the fleet, Baranof's career would have ended on that -day. - -But in time ships with cannon were more than a match for savages armed -with Boston muskets. Far into the night a savage chant was wafted into -the air--the Alaskans had surrendered. At daylight all was still. No -sound came from the shore, and when the Russians visited the Indian -hill, the fort was filled with slaughtered bodies of infant children, -slain by their own parents who felt themselves unable to carry them -and escape. The Indian fort was immediately burned to the ground and -on its site arose the Russian stronghold of Sitka Castle. - -That new fort at Sitka was just finished and mounted with cannon the -summer that Lewis and Clark came down the Columbia. Kitchen gardens -were under cultivation and live stock thriving. - -At Sitka that same autumn the _Elizaveta_ arrived, with the Russian -Imperial Inspector of Alaska on board, the Baron von Rezanof, -"Chamberlain of the Russian Court and Commander of all America," he -called himself. - -"What is this I hear of those Bostonians?" inquired the great Baron, -unrolling long portraits of the Imperial family to be hung in Sitka -Castle. "Those Bostonians, are they undermining our trade in furs with -China?" - -"Ah, yes," answered Count Baranof, "the American republic is greatly -in need of Chinese goods, Chinese teas and silks, which formerly had -to be purchased in coin. But since these shores have been discovered -with their abundance of furs, they are no longer obliged to take coin -with them, but load their vessels with products of their own country." - -"All too numerous have become these Boston skippers on this northwest -coast," continued Von Rezanof in a decisive tone. "Frequent complaints -have been made to the American President that his people are selling -firearms to our Indians, but all to no purpose. It is an outrage. We -are justified in using force. I recommend an armed brig to patrol -these waters." - -Food supplies were low at Sitka that winter. No ship came. The -_Elizaveta_ dispatched to Kadiak for supplies returned no more. No -flour, no fish, not even seal blubber for the garrisons, could be -caught or purchased. They were eating crows and eagles and devil-fish. -Just then, when a hundred cannon were loaded to sweep the Yankee -skippers from the sea, a little Rhode Island ship came sailing into -Sitka harbour. - -"Shall we expel these American traders from the North Pacific?" -demanded Von Rezanof. - -"For the love of God, no!" cried Baranof. "That little ship is our -saviour!" - -Into the starving garrison the Yankee Captain De Wolf brought bread -and beef, and raised the famine siege of Sitka Castle. Baranof bought -the little ship, the _Juno_, with all her cargo, for eight thousand -dollars in furs and drafts on St. Petersburg. In addition Rezanof gave -De Wolf a sloop, the _Ermak_, to carry his men and furs to the -Hawaiian Islands. - -"God grant that they may not have paid dear for their rashness in -trusting their lives to such a craft!" exclaimed Von Rezanof, as the -gallant Yankee Captain spread sail and disappeared from Sitka harbour. - -The _Juno_, a staunch, copper-bottomed fast vessel of two hundred six -tons, built at Bristol, Rhode Island, in 1799, was now fitted out for -the Russian trade and dispatched to Kadiak. - -The storms that Lewis and Clark heard booming on the Oregon coast that -winter, devastated Alaskan shores as well. When the breakers came -thundering up the rocks and the winds shook Sitka Castle, Count -Baranof in his stronghold could not sleep for thinking, "Oh, the -ships!--the ships out on this stormy deep, laden with what I need so -much!" - -The little _Juno_ returned from Kadiak with dried fish and oil, and -news of disaster: "The _Elizaveta_ has been wrecked in a heavy gale. -Six large bidarkas laden with furs on the way to you went down. Two -hundred hunters have perished at sea. Our settlement at Yakutat has -been destroyed by an Indian massacre." - -"My God! My God!" Baranof cried, "how can we repair all these -disasters!" - -But ever and ever the gray sea boomed upon the shore where the -wretched inmates of Sitka Castle were dying. The relief from the -_Juno_ was only temporary. By February not a pound of bread a day -dared they distribute to the men. - -Long since Rezanof had declared they must have an agricultural -settlement. Now he fixed his eye on the Columbia River. Sitting there -in the dreary castle he was writing to the czar, little dreaming that -in a hundred years his very inmost thought would be read in America. - -Starvation at Sitka was imminent,--it was impossible to delay longer. -Into the stormy sea Rezanof himself set the _Juno's_ sail on his way -to the Columbia. - -While Lewis and Clark were writing out the muster roll to nail to the -wall at Fort Clatsop for any passing ship, Rezanof was striving to -cross the Columbia bar. None could see beyond the mists. Contrary -winds blew, it rained, it hailed. - -Rezanof sighted the Columbia March 14, 1806, but the current drove him -back. Again on the 20th he tried to enter, and on the 21st, but the -stormy river, like a thing of life, beat him back and beat him back, -until the Russian gave it up, and four days later ran into the harbour -of San Francisco. - -In June he returned with wheat, oats, pease, beans, flour, tallow, and -salt to the famished traders at Sitka. - -But notwithstanding all these troubles, in 1805-6 Baranof dispatched -to St. Petersburg furs valued at more than five hundred thousand -roubles. - -More and more the Boston traders came back to Alaskan waters. Baranof -often found it easier to buy supplies from Boston than from Okhotsk. - -"Furnish me with Aleutian hunters and bidarkas and I will hunt on -shares for you," proposed a Boston Captain. - -"Agreed," said Baranof, and for years fleets of bidarkas under Boston -Captains hunted and trapped and traded for sea otter southward along -Pacific shores. - -"These Boston smugglers and robbers!" muttered the Spaniards of -California. "Where do they hide themselves all winter? We know they -are on our shores but never a glimpse can we get of their fleet." -Meanwhile the Boston traders on the coasts of California raked in the -skins and furs, and sailing around by Hawaii reached Sitka in time for -Spring sealing in the north. - -Some hints of this reached the Russian Directory at St. Petersburg, -but no one dared to interfere with Baranof. - -Shipload after shipload of furs he sent home that sold for fabulous -sums in the markets of Russia. The czar himself took shares and the -Imperial navy guarded the Russias of North America. - -All honour to Baranof, Viking of Sitka, and builder of ships! For -forty years he ruled the Northwest, the greatest man in the North -Pacific. His name was known on the coast of Mexico, even to Brazil and -Havana. The Boston merchants consulted him in making up their cargoes. -In 1810 he went into partnership with John Jacob Astor to exchange -supplies for furs. - -Above all disaster he rose, though ship after ship was lost. But it -must be admitted the Russians were not such seamen as the gallant -Boston skippers. - -Never again will this land see more hardy sailors than the American -tars that travelled the seas at the close of our Revolution. Our -little Yankee brigs were creeping down and down the coast and around -the Horn, until every village had its skippers in the far Pacific. -Some went for furs and some for whales, and all for bold adventure. - -In July, 1806, the _Lydia_, having just rescued two American sailors -from the savages at Vancouver Island, came into the Columbia River for -a load of spars, the beginning of a mighty commerce. Here they heard -of Lewis and Clark, and ten miles up, faithful old Chief Coboway gave -Captain Hill the muster roll left at Fort Clatsop. This, sent by way -of China, reached the United States in 1807, to find the great -explorers safe at home. - -With the death of Baranof in 1819 ended the vast plan of Russia to -make the northern half of the Pacific its own. Baranof was small and -wrinkled and bald, but his eye had life. He would have made a czar -like Peter the Great. To him and him alone was due the Russia of -America, that for seven million dollars was sold to us in 1870, an -empire in itself. - - - - -XXII - -_BACK TO CIVILISATION_ - - -The canoes were loaded, and at one o'clock in the afternoon of Sunday, -the 23d day of March, 1806, Lewis and Clark took final leave of Fort -Clatsop. - -Back past Cathlamet they came, where Queen Sally still watched by her -totem posts; past Oak Point on Fanny's Island, named by Clark, where -two Springs later a Boston ship made the first white settlement in -Oregon. Slowly the little flotilla paddled up, past Coffin Rock, -immemorial deposit of Indian dead, past snowy St. Helens, a landmark -at sea for the ship that would enter the harbour. - -Flowers were everywhere, the hillsides aglow with red flowering -currants that made March as gay as the roses of June. The grass was -high, and the robins were singing. - -At sunset, March 30, they camped on a beautiful prairie, the future -site of historic Vancouver. Before them the Columbia was a shimmer of -silver. Behind, rose the dim, dark Oregon forest. The sharp cry of the -sea-gull rang over the waters, and the dusky pelican and the splendid -brown albatross were sailing back to the sea. - -Herds of elk and deer roamed on the uplands and in woody green islands -below, where flocks of ducks, geese, and swans were digging up the -lily-like wapato with their bills. - -With laboured breath, still bending to the oar, on the first of April -they encountered a throng of Indians crowding down from above, gaunt, -hollow-eyed, almost starved, greedily tarrying to pick up the bones -and refuse meat thrown from the camp of the whites. - -"_Katah mesika chaco?_" inquired Captain Lewis. - -"_Halo muck-a-muck_," answered the forlorn Indians. "Dried fish all -gone. No deer. No elk. No antelope to the Nez Percé country." -Hundreds were coming down for food at Wapato. "_Elip salmon chaco._" - -"Until the salmon come!" That had been the cry of the Clatsops. The -Chinooks were practising incantations to bring the longed-for salmon. -The Cathlamets were spreading their nets. The Wahkiakums kept their -boats afloat. Even the Multnomahs were wistfully waiting. And now here -came plunging down all the upper country for wapato,--"Until the -salmon come." - -"And pray, when will that be?" - -"Not until the next full moon,"--at least the second of May, and in -May the Americans had hoped to cross the mountains. All the camp -deliberated,--and still the Cascade Indians came flocking down into -the lower valley. - -"We must remain here until we can collect meat enough to last us to -the Nez Percé nation," said the Captains, and so, running the gauntlet -of starvation, it happened that Lewis and Clark camped for ten days -near the base of Mt. Hood at the river Sandy. In order to collect as -much meat as possible a dozen hunters were sent out; the rest were -employed in cutting and hanging the meat to dry. - -Two young Indians came into the camp at the Sandy. - -"_Kah mesika Illahee?_--Where is your country?" was asked them, in the -Chinook jargon caught at Clatsop. - -"At the Falls of a great river that flows into the Columbia from the -south." - -"From the south? We saw no such river." - -With a coal on a mat one of the Indians drew it. The Captains looked. - -"Ah! behind those islands!" It was where the Multnomah chieftain in -his war canoe had said, "Village there!" on their downward journey to -the sea. Clark gave one of the men a burning glass to conduct him to -the spot, and set out with seven men in a canoe. - -Along the south side of the Columbia, back they paddled to the -mysterious inlet hidden behind that emerald curtain. And along with -them paddled canoe-loads of men, women, and children in search of -food. - -Clark now perceived that what they had called "Imagecanoe Island" -consisted of three islands, the one in the middle concealing the -opening between the other two. - -Here great numbers of canoes were drawn up. Lifting their long, slim -boats to their backs, the Indian women crossed inland to the sloughs -and ponds, where, frightening up the ducks, they plunged to the breast -into the icy cold water. There they stood for hours, loosening wapato -with their feet. The bulbs, rising to the surface, were picked up and -tossed into the boats to feed the hungry children. - -Clark entered an Indian house to buy wapato. - -"Not, not!" with sullen look they shook their heads. No gift of his -could buy the precious wapato. - -Deliberately then the captain took out one of Dr. Saugrain's -phosphorus matches and tossed it in the fire. Instantly it spit and -flamed. - -"_Me-sah-chie! Me-sah-chie!_"--the Indians shrieked, and piled the -cherished wapato at his feet. The screaming children fled behind the -beds and hid behind the men. An old man began to speak with great -vehemence, imploring his god for protection. - -The match burned out and quiet was restored. Clark paid for the -wapato, smoked, and went on, behind the islands. - -As if lifting a veil the boat swept around the willows and the Indian -waved his hand. - -"Multnomah!" - -Before them, vast and deep, a river rolled its smooth volume -into the Columbia. At the same moment five snow peaks burst into -view,--Rainier, Hood, St. Helens, Adams, and to the southeast another -snowy cone which Clark at once saluted, "Mount Jefferson!" - -For the first recorded time a white man gazed on the river Willamette. - -This sudden vision of emerald hills, blue waters, and snowy peaks -forced the involuntary exclamation, "The only spot west of the Rocky -Mountains suitable for a settlement!" The very air of domestic -occupation gleamed on the meadows flecked with deer and waterfall. -Amid the scattered groves of oak and dogwood, bursting now into -magnolian bloom, Clark half expected to see some stately mansion rise, -as in the park of some old English nobleman. The ever-prevailing -flowering currant lit the landscape with a hue of roses. - -A dozen miles or more Clark pressed on, up the great inland river, and -slept one night near the site of the present Portland. He examined the -soil, looked at the timber, and measured a fallen fir three hundred -and eighteen feet as it lay. - -Watching the current rolling its uniform flow from some unknown -distant source, the Captain began taking soundings. - -"This river appears to possess water enough for the largest ship. Nor -is it rash to believe that it may water the country as far as -California." For at least two-thirds of the width he could find no -bottom with his five-fathom line. - -Along that wide deep estuary, the grainships of the world to-day ride -up to the wharves of Portland. The same snow peaks are there, the same -emerald hills, and the bounteous smile of Nature blushing in a -thousand orchards. - -All along the shores were deserted solitary houses of broad boards -roofed with cedar bark, with household furniture, stone mortars, -pestles, canoes, mats, bladders of train oil, baskets, bowls, -trenchers--all left. The fireplaces were filled with dead embers, the -bunk-line tiers of beds were empty. All had just gone or were going to -the fisheries. - -"And where?" - -"To Clackamas nation. _Hyas tyee Tumwater._ Great Falls. Salmon." - -Had Clark but passed a few miles further up, he would have found -hundreds of Indians at the fishing rendezvous, Clackamas Rapids and -Willamette Falls. - -"How many of the Clackamas nation?" - -"Eleven villages, to the snow peak." - -"And beyond?" - -"Forty villages, the Callapooias." With outstretched hand the Indian -closed his eyes and shook his head,--evidently he had never been so -far to the south. - -Back around Warrior's Point Clark came, whence the Multnomahs were -wont to issue to battle in their huge war canoes. An old Indian trail -led up into the interior, where for ages the lordly Multnomahs had -held their councils. Many houses had fallen entirely to ruin. - -Clark inquired the cause of decay. An aged Indian pointed to a woman -deeply pitted with the smallpox. - -"All died of that. _Ahn-cutty!_ Long time ago!" - -The Multnomahs lived on Wapato Island. A dozen nations gave fealty to -Multnomah. All had symbolic totems, carved and painted on door and -bedstead, and at every bedhead hung a war club and a Moorish scimitar -of iron, thin and sharp, rude relic of Ko-na-pe's workshop. - -Having now dried sufficient meat to last to the Nez Percés, Lewis and -Clark set out for the Dalles, that tragical valley, racked and -battered, where the devils held their tourneys when the world was -shaped by flood and flame. - -Through the sheeny brown basaltic rock, three rifts let through the -river, where, in fishing time, salmon leaped in prodigious numbers, -filling the Indians' baskets, tons and tons a day. But the salmon had -not yet come. - -At this season the upper tribes came down to the Dalles to traffic -robes and silk grass for sea-shells and wapato. Fish was money. After -the traders came, beads, beads, became the Indian's one ambition. For -beads he would sacrifice his only garment and his last morsel of food. - -In this annual traffic of east and west, the Dalles Indians had become -traders, robbers, pirates. No canoe passed that way without toll. -Dressed in deerskin, elk, bighorn, wolf, and buffalo, these savages -lay now in wait for Lewis and Clark, portaging up the long narrows. - -Tugging, sweating, paddling, poling, pulling by cords, it was -difficult work hauling canoes up the narrow way. - -Crowds of Indians pressed in. - -"Six tomahawks and a knife are gone!" - -"Another tomahawk gone!" - -"Out of the road," commanded Lewis. "Whoever steals shall be shot -instantly." - -The crowds fell back. Every man toiled on with gun in hand. But from -village to village, dishes, blankets, and whatever the Indians could -get their hands on, disappeared. Soon there would be no baggage. - -It seemed impossible to detect a thief. "Nothing but numbers protects -us," said the white men. - -Worse even than the pirates of the Sioux, it came almost to pitched -battle. Again and again Lewis harangued the chiefs for the restoration -of stolen property. Once he struck an Indian. Finally he set out to -burn a village, but the missing property came to light, hidden in an -Indian hut. - -So long did it take to make these portages that food supplies failed. -In the heart of a thickly populated and savage country the expedition -was bankrupt. - -With what gratitude, then, they met Yellept, chief of the Walla -Wallas, waiting upon his hills. - -"Come to my village. You shall have food. You shall have horses." - -Gladly they accompanied him to his village at the mouth of the Walla -Walla river. Immediately he called in not only his own but the -neighbouring nations, urging them to hospitality. Then Chief Yellept, -the most notable man in all that country, himself brought an armful of -wood for their fires and a platter of roasted mullets. - -At once all the Walla Wallas followed with armloads of fuel; the -campfires blazed and crackled. Footsore, weary, half-starved, Lewis -and Clark and their men supped and then slept. - -Fortunately there was among the Walla Wallas a captive Shoshone boy -who spoke the tongue of Sacajawea. In council the Captains explained -themselves and the object of their journey. - -"Opposite our village a shorter route leads to the Kooskooskee," said -Yellept. "A road of grass and water, with deer and antelope." - -Clark computed that this cut-off would save eighty miles. - -In vain the Captains desired to press on. - -"Wait," begged Yellept. "Wait." Already he had sent invitations to the -Eyakimas, his friends the Black Bears, and to the Cayuses. - -Possibly Sacajawea had hinted something; at any rate with a cry of -"Very Great Medicine," the lame, the halt, the blind pressed around -the camp. The number of unfortunates, products of Indian battle, -neglect, and exposure, was prodigious. - -Opening the medicine chest, while Lewis bought horses, Clark turned -physician, distributing eye-water, splinting broken bones, dealing out -pills and sulphur. One Indian with a contracted knee came limping in. - -"My own father, Walla Walla chief," says old Se-cho-wa, an aged Indian -woman on the Umatilla to-day. "Lots of children, lots of horses. I, -very little girl, follow them." - -With volatile liniments and rubbing the chief was relieved. - -In gratitude Yellept presented Clark with a beautiful white horse; -Clark in turn gave all he had--his sword. - -Bidding the chief adieu, the Captains recorded: "We may, indeed, -justly affirm, that of all the Indians whom we have met since leaving -the United States the Walla Wallas were the most hospitable and -sincere." - -Poor old Yellept! One hundred years later his medal was found in the -sand at the mouth of the Walla Walla. All his sons were slain in -battle or died of disease. When the last one lay stretched in the -grave, the old chief stepped in upon the corpse and commanded his -people to bury them in one grave together. - -"On account of his great sorrow," says old Se-cho-wa. - -And so he was buried. - - - - -XXIII - -_CAMP CHOPUNNISH_ - - -As Lewis and Clark with twenty-three horses set out over the camas -meadows that April morning a hundred years ago, the world seemed -brighter for the kindness of the Walla Wallas. - -At the Dalles the forest had ended. Now they were on the great -Columbian plains that stretch to the Rockies, the northwest granary of -to-day. The dry exhilarating air billowed the verdure like a sea. - -Meadow larks sang and flitted. Dove-coloured sage hens, the cock of -the plains, two-thirds the size of a turkey, cackled like domestic -fowl before the advancing cavalcade. Spotted black-and-white pheasants -pecked in the grass like the little topknot "Dominicks" the men had -known around their boyhood homes. - -And everywhere were horses. - -"More hor-r-ses between th' Gr-reat Falls av th' Columby and th' Nez -Percés than I iver saw in th' same space uv countery in me loife -before," said Patrick Gass. "They are not th' lar-r-gest soize but -very good an' active." - -"Of an excellent race, lofty, elegantly formed, and durable," those -Cayuse horses are described by Lewis and Clark. "Many of them appear -like fine English coursers, and resemble in fleetness and bottom, as -well as in form and colour, the best blooded horses of Virginia." - -A hundred years ago, the Cayuse of the Columbian plains was a recent -importation from the bluest blooded Arabian stock of Spain. -White-starred, white-footed, he was of noble pedigree. Traded or -stolen from tribe to tribe, these Spanish horses found a home on the -Columbia. All winter these wild horses fattened on the plain; madly -their Indian owners rode them; and when they grew old, stiff, and -blind, they went, so the Indians said, to Horse Heaven on the Des -Chutes to die. - -Following the old Nez Percés trail, that became a stage road in the -days of gold, and then a railroad, Lewis and Clark came to the land of -the Nez Percés,--Chopunnish. - -Thirty-one years later the missionary Spalding planted an apple-tree -where Lewis and Clark reached the Snake at the mouth of Alpowa creek, -May 4, 1806. - -We-ark-koompt, the Indian express, came out to meet them. Over the -camp of Black Eagle the American flag was flying. Chiefs vied with one -another to do them honour. Tunnachemootoolt, Black Eagle, spread his -leather tent and laid a parcel of wood at the door. "Make this your -lodge while you remain with me." Hohastilpilp, Red Wolf, came riding -over the hills with fifty people. - -The Captains had a fire lighted, and all night in the leather tent on -the banks of the Kooskooske the chiefs smoked and pondered on the -journey of the white men. - -Lewis and Clark drew maps and pointed out the far-away land of the -President. Sacajawea and the Shoshone boy interpreted until worn out, -and then fell asleep. And ever within Black Eagle's village was heard -the dull "thud, thud, thud," of Nez Percé women pounding the camas and -the kouse, "with noise like a nail-factory," said Lewis. All night -long their outdoor ovens were baking the bread of kouse, and the -kettles of camas mush, flavoured with yamp, simmered and sweetened -over the dull red Indian fires. The hungry men were not disposed to -criticise the cuisine of the savage, not even when they were offered -the dainty flesh of dried rattlesnake! - -Labiche killed a bear. In amazement the redmen gathered round. - -"These bears are tremendous animals to the Indians,--kill all you -can," said Captain Lewis. Elated, every hunter went bear-hunting. - -"Wonderful men that live on bears!" exclaimed the Indians. - -Again the council was renewed, and they talked of wars. Bloody Chief, -fond of war, showed wounds received in battle with the Snakes. - -"It is not good," said Clark. "It is better to be at peace. Here is a -white flag. When you hold it up it means peace. We have given such -flags to your enemies, the Shoshones. They will not fight you now." - -Fifty years later, that chief, tottering to his grave, said, "I held -that flag. I held it up high. We met and talked, but never fought -again." - -"We have confided in the white men. We shall follow their advice," -Black Eagle went proclaiming through the village. - -All the kettles of soup were boiling. From kettle to kettle Black -Eagle sprinkled in the flour of kouse. "We have confided in the white -men. Those who are to ratify this council, come and eat. All others -stay away." - -The mush was done, the feast was served; a new dawn had arisen on the -Nez Percés. - -Finding it impossible to cross the mountains, a camp was established -at Kamiah Creek, on a part of the present Nez Percé reservation in -Idaho county, Idaho, where for a month they studied this amiable and -gentle people. Games were played and races run, Coalter outspeeding -all. Frazer, who had been a fencing master in Rutland, back in -Vermont, taught tricks, and the music of the fiddles delighted them. - -Stout, portly, good-looking men were the Nez Percés, and better -dressed than most savages, in their whitened tunics and leggings of -deerskin and buffalo, moccasins and robes and breastplates of otter, -and bandeaus of fox-skins like a turban on the brow. The women were -small, of good features and generally handsome, in neatly woven -tight-fitting grass caps and long buckskin skirts whitened with clay. - -Upon the Missouri the eagle was domesticated. Here, too, the Nez Percé -had his wicker coop of young eaglets to raise for their tail feathers. -Any Rocky Mountain Indian would give a good horse for the -black-and-white tail feather of a golden eagle. They fluttered from -the calumet and hung in cascades from head to foot on the sacred war -bonnet. - -A May snowstorm whitened the camas meadows and melted again. Thick -black loam invited the plough, but thirty Springs should pass before -Spalding established his mission and gave ploughs to the redmen. -Twisted Hair saw the advent of civilisation. Red Wolf planted an -orchard. Black Eagle went to see Clark at St. Louis and died there. - -Captain Lewis held councils, instructing, educating, enlightening the -Kamiahs, so that to this day they are among the most advanced of -Indian tribes. - -Captain Clark, with simple remedies and some knowledge of medicine, -became a mighty "tomanowos" among the ailing. With basilicons of pitch -and oil, wax and resins, a sovereign remedy for skin eruptions, with -horse-mint teas and doses of sulphur and cream-of-tartar, with -eye-water, laudanum, and liniment, he treated all sorts of ills. Fifty -patients a day crowded to the tent of the Red Head. Women suffering -from rheumatism, the result of toil and exposure in the damp camas -fields, came dejected and hysterical. They went back shouting, "The -Red Head chief has made me well." - -The wife of a chief had an abscess. Clark lanced it, and she slept for -the first time in days. The grateful chief brought him a horse that -was immediately slaughtered for supper. A father gave a horse in -exchange for remedies for his little crippled daughter. - -With exposure to winds, alkali sand, and the smoke of chimneyless -fires, few Indians survived to old age without blindness. - -"Eye-water! Eye-water!" They reached for it as for a gift from the -gods. Clark understood such eyes, for the smoke of the pioneer cabin -had made affections of the eye a curse of the frontier. - -But affairs were now at their lowest. Even the medicines were -exhausted, and the last awl, needle, and skein of thread had gone. Off -their shabby old United States uniforms the soldiers cut the last -buttons to trade for bread. But instead of trinkets the sensible Nez -Percés desired knives, buttons, awls for making moccasins, blankets, -kettles. Shields the gunsmith ingeniously hammered links of -Drouillard's trap into awls to exchange for bread. - -The tireless hunters scoured the country. Farther and farther had -scattered the game. Even the bears had departed. Thirty-three people -ate a deer and an elk, or four deer a day. There was no commissariat -for this little army but its own rifles. And yet, supplies must be -laid in for crossing the mountains. - -Every day Captain Lewis looked at the rising river and the melting -snows of the Idaho Alps. - -"That icy barrier, which separates me from my friends and my country, -from all which makes life estimable--patience--patience--" - -"The snow is yet deep on the mountains. You will not be able to pass -them until the next full moon, or about the first of June," said the -Indians. - -"Unwelcome intelligence to men confined to a diet of horse meat and -roots!" exclaimed Captain Lewis. - -Finally even horse-flesh failed. Suspecting the situation, Chief Red -Wolf came and said, "The horses on these hills are ours. Take what you -need." - -He wore a tippet of human scalps, but, says Lewis, "we have, indeed, -on more than one occasion, had to admire the generosity of this -Indian, whose conduct presents a model of what is due to strangers in -distress." - -Gradually the snows melted, and the high water subsided. - -"The doves are cooing. The salmon will come," said the Indians. Blue -flowers of the blooming camas covered the prairies like a lake of -silver. With sixty-five horses and all the dried horse meat they could -carry, on June 16, 1806, Lewis and Clark started back over the Bitter -Root Range on the Lolo trail by which they had entered. - - - - -XXIV - -_OVER THE BITTER ROOT RANGE_ - - -Dog-tooth violets, roses, and strawberry blossoms covered the plain of -Weippe without end, but the Lolo trail was deep with snow. Deep and -deeper grew the drifts, twelve and fifteen feet. The air was keen and -cold with winter rigours. To go on in those grassless valleys meant -certain death to all their horses, and so, for the first time, they -fell back to wait yet other days for the snows to melt upon the -mountains. - -"We must have experienced guides." Drouillard and Shannon were -dispatched once more to the old camp, and lo! the salmon had come, in -schools and shoals, reddening the Kooskooskee with their flickering -fins. - -Again they faced the snowy barrier with guides who traversed the -trackless region with instinctive sureness. - -"They never hesitate," said Lewis. "They are never embarrassed. So -undeviating is their step that whenever the snow has disappeared, even -for a hundred paces, we find the summer road." - -Up in the Bitter Root peaks, like the chamois of the Alps, the Oregon -mazama, the mountain goat, frolicked amid inaccessible rocks. And -there, in the snows of the mountain pass, most significant of all, -were found the tracks of barefooted Indians, supposed to have been -Flatheads, fleeing in distress from pursuing Blackfeet. Such was the -battle of primitive man. - -The Indians regarded the journey of the white men into the country of -their hereditary foes as a venture to certain death. - -"Danger!" whispered the guides, significantly rapping on their heads, -drawing their knives across their throats, and pointing far ahead. - -Every year the Nez Percés followed the Lolo trail, stony and steep and -ridgy with rocks and crossed with fallen trees, into the Buffalo -Illahee, the buffalo country of the Missouri. And for this the -Blackfeet fought them. - -The Blackfeet, too, had been from time immemorial the deadly foe of -the Flatheads, their bone of contention for ever the buffalo. The -Blackfeet claimed as their own all the country lying east of the main -range, and looked upon the Flatheads who went there to hunt as -intruders. - -The Flathead country was west and at the base of the main Rockies, -along the Missoula and Clark's Fork and northward to the Fraser. With -their sole weapon, the arrow, and their own undaunted audacity, twice -a year occurred the buffalo chase, once in Summer and once in Winter. -But "the ungodly Blackfeet," scourge of the mountains, lay in wait to -trap and destroy the Flatheads as they would a herd of buffalo. - -And so it had been war, bitter war, for ages. But a new force had -given to the Blackfeet at the west and the Sioux at the east supremacy -over the rest of the tribes,--that was the white man's gun from the -British forts on the Saskatchewan. - -For spoils and scalps the Blackfeet, Arabs of the North, raided from -the Saskatchewan to Mexico. They besieged Fort Edmonton at the north, -and left their tomahawk mark on the Digger Indian's grave at the -south. The Shoshone-Snakes, too, were immemorial and implacable -enemies of both the Blackfeet and the Columbia tribes. They fought to -the Dalles and Walla Walla and up through the Nez Percés to Spokane. -Their mad raiders threw up the dust of the Utah desert, and chased the -lone Aztec to his last refuge in Arizona cliffs. - -The Blackfeet fought the Shoshones, the Crows, by superior cunning, -fought the Blackfeet, the Assiniboines fought the Crows, and the -Sioux, the lordly Sioux, fought all. - -It was time for the white man's hand to stay the diabolical dance of -death. - - - - -XXV - -_BEWARE THE BLACKFEET!_ - - -On the third of July, at the mouth of Lolo creek, the expedition -separated, Lewis to cross to the Falls of the Missouri and explore -Marias River, Clark to come to the three forks and cross to the -Yellowstone. - -With nine men and five Indians Captain Lewis crossed the Missoula on a -raft, and following the Nez Percé trail along the River-of-the-Road --to-Buffalo, the Big Blackfoot of to-day, came out July 7, the first -of white men, on the opening through the main range of the Rockies now -known as the Lewis and Clark Pass. A Blackfoot road led down to the -churning waters of the Great Falls. - -Pawing, fighting, ten thousand buffaloes were bellowing in one -continuous roar that terrified the horses. The plain was black with a -vast and angry army, bearing away to the southwest, flinging the dust -like a simoom, through which deep-mouthed clangor rolled like thunder -far away. And at their immediate feet, Drouillard noted fresh tracks -of Indians dotting the soil; grizzly bears, grim guardians of the -cataract, emitted hollow growls, and great gray wolves hung in packs -and droves along the skirts of the buffalo herds, glancing now and -then toward the little group of horsemen. - -In very defiance of danger, again Lewis pitched his camp beside the -Falls, green and foamy as Niagara. Again buffalo meat, marrow bones, -ribs, steaks, juicy and rich, sizzled around the blaze, and the hungry -men ate, ate, ate. They had found the two extremes--want on one side -of the mountains and abundance on the other. - -While Lewis tried to write in his journal, huge brown mosquitoes, -savage as the bears, bit and buzzed. Lewis's dog howled with the -torture, the same little Assiniboine dog that had followed all their -footsteps, had guarded and hunted as well as the best, had slept by -the fire at Clatsop and been stolen at the Dalles. - -Hurrying to their _cache_ at the Bear Islands, it was discovered that -high water had flooded their skins and the precious specimens of -plants were soaked and ruined. A bottle of laudanum had spoiled a -chestful of medicine. But the charts of the Missouri remained -uninjured, and trunks, boxes, carriage wheels, and blunderbuss were -all right. - -"Transport the baggage around the Falls and wait for me at the mouth -of Maria's River to the first of September," said Captain Lewis, -setting out with Drouillard and the Fields boys. "If by that time I am -not there, go on and join Captain Clark and return home. But if my -life and health are spared, I shall meet you on the 5th of August." - -It was not without misgivings that Sergeant Gass and his comrades saw -the gallant Captain depart into the hostile Blackfoot country. With -only three men at his back it was a daring venture. Already the five -Nez Percés, fearful of their foes, had dropped off to seek their -friends the Flatheads. In vain Lewis had promised to intercede and -make peace between the tribes. Their terror of the Blackfeet surpassed -their confidence in white men. - -"Look!" - -On the second day out Drouillard suddenly pointed, and leaning far -over on his horse, examined a trail that would have escaped an eye -less keen than his. "Blackfeet!" the vicious and profligate rovers -that of all it was most desirable not to meet! - -Hastily crossing the Teton into a thick wood, the party camped that -night unmolested. - -On the eighth day Captain Lewis suddenly spied several Indians on a -hilltop intently watching Drouillard in the valley. Thirty horses, -some led, some saddled, stood like silhouettes against the sky. -Kneeling they scanned the movements of the unconscious hunter below. - -"Escape is impossible. We must make the most of our situation. If they -attempt to rob us, we will resist to the last extremity. I would -rather die than lose my papers and instruments." - -Boldly advancing with a flag in his hand, followed by the two Fields -brothers, Lewis drew quite near before the Indians perceived these -other white men. Terrified, they ran about in confusion. Evidently -with them a stranger meant a foe. - -Captain Lewis dismounted, and held out his hand. - -Slowly the chief Blackfoot approached, then wheeled in flight. At -last, with extreme caution, the two parties met and shook hands. Lewis -gave to one a flag, to another a medal, to a third a handkerchief. The -tumultuous beating of the Indians' hearts could almost be heard. There -proved to be but eight of them, armed with two guns, bows, arrows, and -eye-daggs, a sort of war-hatchet. - -"I am glad to see you," said Lewis. "I have much to say. Let us camp -together." - -The Indians assented and set up their semi-circular tent by the -willows of the river. Here Drouillard, the hunter, skilled in the sign -language of redmen, drew out their story. - -Yes, they knew white men. They traded on the Saskatchewan six days' -march away. - -Yes, there were more of them, two large bands, on the forks of this -river, a day above. - -What did they trade at the Saskatchewan? Skins, wolves, and beaver, -for guns and ammunition. - -Then Lewis talked. He came from the rising sun. He had been to the -great lake at the west. He had seen many nations at war and had made -peace. He had stopped to make peace between the Blackfeet and the -Flatheads. - -"We are anxious for peace with the Flatheads. But those people have -lately killed a number of our relatives and we are in mourning." - -Yes, they would come down and trade with Lewis if he built a fort at -Maria's River. - -Until a late hour they smoked, then slept. Lewis and Drouillard lay -down and slept with the Indians, while the two Fields boys kept guard -by the fire at the door of the tent. - -"Let go my gun." - -It was the voice of Drouillard in the half-light of the tent at -sunrise struggling with a Blackfoot. With a start Lewis awoke and -reached for his gun. It was gone. The deft thieves had all but -disarmed the entire party. - -Chase followed. In the scuffle for his gun, Reuben Fields stabbed a -Blackfoot to the heart. - -No sooner were the guns recovered than the horses were gone. "Leave -the horses or I will shoot," shouted Lewis, chasing out of breath to a -steep notch in the river bluffs. Madly the Indians were tearing away -with the horses. Lewis fired and killed a Blackfoot. Bareheaded, the -Captain felt a returning bullet whistle through his hair, but the -Indians dropped the horses, and away went swimming across the Marias. - -Delay meant death. Quickly saddling their horses, Lewis and his men -made for the Missouri as fast as possible, hearing at every step in -imagination the pursuing "hoo-oh! whoop-ah-hooh!" that was destined to -make Marias River the scene of many a bloody massacre by the vengeful -Blackfeet. - -Expecting interception at the mouth of Marias River, the white men -rode with desperation to form a junction with their friends. All day, -all night they galloped, until, exhausted, they halted at two o'clock -in the morning to rest their flagging horses. - -That forenoon, having ridden one hundred and twenty miles since the -skirmish, they reached the mouth of Marias River, just in time to see -Sergeant Gass, the fleet of canoes, and all, descending from above. -Leaping from their horses, they took to the boats, and soon left the -spot, seventy, eighty, a hundred miles a day, down the swift Missouri. - - - - -XXVI - -_DOWN THE YELLOWSTONE_ - - -As Lewis turned north toward Marias River, Clark with the rest of the -party and fifty horses set his face along the Bitter Root Valley -toward the south. Every step he trod became historic ground in the -romance of settlement, wars, and gold. Into this Bitter Root Valley -were to come the first white settlers of Montana, and upon them, -through the Hell Gate Pass of the Rockies, above the present Missoula, -were to sweep again and again the bloodthirsty Blackfeet. - -"It is as safe to enter the gates of hell as to enter that pass," said -the old trappers and traders. - -More and more beautiful became the valley, pink as a rose with the -delicate bloom of the bitter-root, the Mayflower of Montana. Here for -ages the patient Flatheads had dug and dried their favourite root -until the whole valley was a garden. - -As Clark's cavalcade wound through this vale, deer flitted before the -riders, multitudinous mountain streams leaped across their way, herds -of bighorns played around the snowbanks on the heights. Across an -intervening ridge the train descended into Ross Hole, where first they -met the Flatheads. There were signs of recent occupation; a fire was -still burning; but the Flatheads were gone. - -Out of Ross Hole Sacajawea pointed the way by Clark's Pass, over the -Continental Divide, to the Big Hole River where the trail disappeared -or scattered. But Sacajawea knew the spot. "Here my people gather the -kouse and the camas; here we take the beaver; and yonder, see, a door -in the mountains." - -On her little pony, with her baby on her back, the placid Indian girl -led the way into the labyrinthine Rockies. - -Clark followed, descending into the beautiful Big Hole prairie, where -in 1877 a great battle was to be fought with Chief Joseph, exactly one -hundred years after the 1777 troubles, when George Rogers Clark laid -before Patrick Henry his plan for the capture of Illinois. Out of the -Big Hole, Chief Joseph was to escape with his women, his children, and -his dead, to be chased a thousand miles over the very summit of the -Rockies! - -Standing there on the field of future battle, "Onward!" still urged -Sacajawea, "the gap there leads to your canoes!" The Bird Woman knew -these highlands,--they were her native hills. As Sacajawea fell back, -the men turned their horses at a gallop. - -Almost could they count the milestones now, down Willard creek, where -first paying gold was discovered in Montana, past Shoshone cove, over -the future site of Bannock to the Jefferson. - -Scarcely taking the saddles from their steeds, the eager men ran to -open the _cache_ hid from the Shoshones. To those who so long had -practised self-denial it meant food, clothing, merchandise--an Indian -ship in the wild. Everything was safe, goods, canoes, tobacco. In a -trice the long-unused pipes were smoking with the weed of old -Virginia. - -"Better than any Injun red-willer k'nick-er-k'nick!" said Coalter, the -hunter. - -Leaving Sergeant Pryor with six men to bring on the horses, Captain -Clark and the rest embarked in the canoes, and were soon gliding down -the emerald Jefferson, along whose banks for sixty years no change -should come. - -Impetuous mountain streams, calmed to the placid pool of the beaver -dam, widened into lakes and marshes. Beaver, otter, musk-rats -innumerable basked along the shore. Around the boats all night the -disturbed denizens flapped the water with their tails,--angry at the -invasion of their solitude. - -At the Three Forks, Clark's pony train remounted for the Yellowstone, -prancing and curveting along the beaver-populated dells of the -Gallatin. - -Before them arose, bewildering, peak on peak, but again the Bird -Woman, Sacajawea, pointed out the Yellowstone Gap, the Bozeman Pass of -to-day, on the great Shoshone highway. Many a summer had Sacajawea, -child of elfin locks, ridden on the trailing travoises through this -familiar gateway into the buffalo haunts of Yellowstone Park. - -Slowly Clark and his expectant cavalcade mounted the Pass, where for -ages the buffalo and the Indian alone had trod. As they reached the -summit, the glorious Yellowstone Alps burst on their view. At their -feet a rivulet, born on the mountain top, leaped away, bright and -clear, over its gravelly bed to the Yellowstone in the plains below. - -It was the brother of George Rogers Clark that stood there, one to the -manner born of riding great rivers or breaking through mountain -chains. But thirty years had elapsed since that elder brother and -Daniel Boone had threaded the Cumberland Gap of the Alleghanies. The -highways of the buffalo became the highways of the nation. - -"It is no more than eighteen miles," said Clark, glancing back from -the high snowy gap, half piercing, half surmounting the dividing ridge -between the Missouri and the Yellowstone, so nearly do their -headwaters interlock. In coming up this pass, Clark's party went -through the present city limits of Bozeman, the county seat of -Gallatin, and over the route of future Indians, trappers, miners, road -builders, and last and greatest of all, armies of permanent occupation -that are marching still to the valleys of fertile Montana. Up the -shining Yellowstone, over the Belt range, through the tunnel to -Bozeman, the iron horse flits to-day, on, westerly one hundred miles -to Helena, almost in the exact footsteps trodden by the heroic youth -of one hundred years ago. - -Among the cottonwood groves of the Yellowstone, Clark's men quickly -fashioned a pair of dugouts, lashed together with rawhide; and in -these frail barks, twenty-eight feet long, the Captain and party -embarked, leaving Sergeant Pryor, Shannon, Windsor, and Hall to bring -on the horses. All manner of trouble Pryor had with those horses. Lame -from continual travel, he made moccasins for their feet. They were -buffalo runners, trained for the hunt. At sight of the Yellowstone -herds away they flew, to chase in the old wild Indian fashion of their -red masters. No sooner had Pryor rounded them up and brought them back -than they disappeared utterly,--stolen by the Crows. Not one of the -entire fifty horses was ever recovered. - -Here was a serious predicament. Down the impetuous Yellowstone Clark's -boats had already gone. Alone in the heart of the buffalo country -these four men were left, thousands of miles from the haunts of -civilised man. - -"We must join Captain Clark at all hazards. We must improvise boats," -said Shannon. - -Sergeant Pryor recalled the Welsh coracles of the Mandans. "Can we -make one?" - -Long slim saplings were bent to form a hoop for the rim, another hoop -held by cross-sticks served for the bottom. Over this rude basket -green buffalo hides were tightly drawn, and in these frail craft they -took to the water, close in the wake of their unconscious Captain. - -And meanwhile Clark was gliding down the Yellowstone. On either bank -buffaloes dotted the landscape, under the shade of trees and standing -in the water like cattle, or browsing on a thousand hills. Gangs of -stately elk, light troops of sprightly antelopes, fleet and graceful -as the gazelle of Oriental song, deer of slim elastic beauty, and even -bighorns that could be shot from the boat. Sometimes were heard the -booming subterranean geysers hidden in the hollows of the mountains, -but none in the party yet conceived of the wonders of Yellowstone Park -that Coalter came back to discover that same Autumn. - -One day Clark landed to examine a remarkable rock. Its sides were -carved with Indian figures, and a cairn was heaped upon the summit. -Stirred by he knew not what impulse, Clark named it Pompey's Pillar, -and carved his name upon the yielding sandstone, where his bold -lettering is visible yet to-day. - -More and more distant each day grew the Rockies, etched fainter each -night on the dim horizon of the west. More and more numerous grew the -buffaloes, delaying the boats with their countless herds stampeding -across the Yellowstone. For an hour one day the boats waited, the wide -river blackened by their backs, and before night two other herds, as -numerous as the first, came beating across the yellow-brown tide. - -But more than buffaloes held sway on the magic Yellowstone. Wrapped in -their worn-out blankets the men could not sleep for the scourge of -mosquitoes; they could not sight their rifles for the clouds of -moving, whizzing, buzzing, biting insects. Even the buffalo were -stifled by them in their nostrils. - -Nine hundred miles now had they come down the Yellowstone, to its -junction with the Missouri half a mile east of the Montana border, but -no sign yet had they found of Lewis. Clark wrote on the sand, "W. C. A -few miles further down on the right hand side." - -August 8, Sergeant Pryor and his companions appeared in their little -skin tubs. Four days later, there was a shout and waving of caps,--the -boats of Captain Lewis came in sight at noon. But a moment later every -cheek blanched with alarm. - -"Where is Captain Lewis?" demanded Clark, running forward. - -There in the bottom of a canoe, Lewis lay as one dead, pale but -smiling. He had been shot. With the gentleness of a brother Clark -lifted him up, and they carried him to camp. - -"A mistake,--an accident,--'tis nothing," he whispered. - -And then the story leaked out. Cruzatte, one-eyed, near-sighted, -mistaking Lewis in his dress of brown leather for an elk, had shot him -through the thigh. With the assistance of Patrick Gass, Lewis had -dressed the wound himself. On account of great pain and high fever he -slept that night in the boat. And now the party were happily reunited. - - - - -XXVII - -_THE HOME STRETCH_ - - -In the distance there was a gleam of coloured blankets where the -beehive huts of the Mandan village lay. A firing of guns and the -blunderbuss brought Black Cat to the boats. - -"Come and eat." And with the dignity of an old Roman, the chief -extended his hand. - -"Come and eat," was the watchword of every chieftain on the Missouri. -Even the Sioux said, "Come and eat!" - -Hospitable as Arabs, they spread the buffalo robe and brought the -pipe. While the officers talked with the master of the lodge, the -silent painstaking squaws put the kettles on the fire, and slaughtered -the fatted dog for the honoured guests. - -"How many chiefs will accompany us to Washington?" That was the first -inquiry of the business-pushing white men. Through Jussaume the -Indians answered. - -"I would go," said the Black Cat, "but de Sioux--" - -"De Sioux will certainly kill us," said Le Borgne of the Minnetarees. -"Dey are waiting now to intercept you on de river. Dey will cut you -off." - -"We stay at home. We listen to your counsel," piped up Little Cherry. -"But dey haf stolen our horses. Dey haf scalp our people." - -"We must fight to protect ourselves," added the Black Cat. "We live in -peace wit' all nation--'cept de Sioux!" - -In vain Captain Clark endeavoured to quiet their apprehensions. "We -shall not suffer the Sioux to injure one of our red children." - -"I pledge my government that a company of armed men shall guard you on -your return," added Lewis. - -At this point Jussaume reported that Shahaka, or Big White, in his -wish to see the President, had overcome his fears. He would go to -Washington. - -Six feet tall, of magnificent presence, with hair white and coarse as -a horse's mane, Shahaka, of all the chiefs, was the one to carry to -the States the tradition of a white admixture in the Mandan blood. -"The handsomest Injun I iver saw," said Patrick Gass. - -Arrangements for departure were now made as rapidly as possible. -Presents of corn, beans, and squashes, more than all the boats could -carry, were piled around the white men's camp. - -The blacksmith's tools were intrusted to Charboneau for the use of the -Mandans. The blunderbuss, given to the Minnetarees, was rolled away to -their village with great exultation. - -"Now let the Sioux come!" It was a challenge and a refuge. - -The iron corn mill was nowhere to be seen. For scarcely had Lewis and -Clark turned their backs for the upper Missouri before it had been -broken into bits to barb the Indian arrows. - -Sacajawea looked wistfully. She, too, would like to visit the white -man's country. - -"We will take you and your wife down if you choose to go," said -Captain Clark to Charboneau. - -"I haf no acquaintance, no prospect to mak' a leeving dere," answered -the interpreter. "I mus' leeve as I haf done." - -"I will take your son and have him educated as a white child should -be," continued the Captain. - -Charboneau and Sacajawea looked at one another and at their beautiful -boy now nineteen months old, prattling in their midst. - -"We would be weeling eef de child were weaned," slowly spake -Charboneau. "Een wan year, he be ole enough to leaf he moder. I den -tak' eem to you eef you be so friendly to raise eem as you t'ink -proper." - -"Bring him to me in one year. I will take the child," said Captain -Clark. - -Captain Lewis paid Charboneau five hundred dollars, loaded Sacajawea -with what gifts he could, and left them in the Mandan country. - -All was now ready for the descent to St. Louis. The boats, lashed -together in pairs, were at the shore. Big White was surrounded by his -friends, seated in a circle, solemnly smoking. The women wept aloud; -the little children trembled and hid behind their mothers. - -More courageous than any, Shahaka immediately sent his wife and son -with their baggage on board. The interpreter, Jussaume, with his wife -and two children, accompanied them. Yes, Madame Jussaume was going to -Washington! - -Sacajawea, modest princess of the Shoshones, heroine of the great -expedition, stood with her babe in arms and smiled upon them from the -shore. So had she stood in the Rocky Mountains pointing out the gates. -So had she followed the great rivers, navigating the continent. - -Sacajawea's hair was neatly braided, her nose was fine and straight, -and her skin pure copper like the statue in some old Florentine -gallery. Madonna of her race, she had led the way to a new time. To -the hands of this girl, not yet eighteen, had been intrusted the key -that unlocked the road to Asia. - -Some day upon the Bozeman Pass, Sacajawea's statue will stand beside -that of Clark. Some day, where the rivers part, her laurels will vie -with those of Lewis. Across North America a Shoshone Indian Princess -touched hands with Jefferson, opening her country. - -All the chiefs had gathered to see the boats start. "Stay but one -moment," they said. - -Clark stepped back. Black Cat handed him a pipe, as if for -benediction. The solemn smoke-wreaths soon rolled upward. - -"Tell our Great Fader de young men will remain at home and not mak' -war on any people, except in self-defence." - -"Tell de Rickara to come and visit. We mean no harm." - -"Tak' good care dis chief. He will bring word from de Great Fader." - -It was a promise and a prayer. Strong chiefs turned away with -misgiving and trepidation as they saw Shahaka depart with the white -men. - -Dropping below their old winter quarters at Fort Mandan, Lewis and -Clark saw but a row of pickets left. The houses lay in ashes, -destroyed by an accidental fire. All were there for the homeward pull -but Coalter. He had gone back with Hancock and Dickson, two -adventurers from Boone's settlement, to discover the Yellowstone Park. - -On the fourth day out three Frenchmen were met approaching the Mandan -nation with the message,-- - -"Seven hundert Sioux haf pass de Rickara to mak' war on de Mandan an' -Minnetaree." Fortunately, Shahaka did not understand, and no one told -him. - -The Arikara village greeted the passing boats. Lewis, still lame, -requested Clark to go up to the village. Like children confessing -their misdeeds the Arikaras began: - -"We cannot keep the peace! Our young men follow the Sioux!" - -The wild Cheyennes, with their dogs and horses and handsome leathern -lodges, were here on a trading visit, to exchange with the Arikaras -meat and robes for corn and beans. They were a noble race, of straight -limbs and Roman noses, unaccustomed to the whites, shy and cautious. - -"We war against none but the Sioux, with whom we have battled for -ever," they said. - -Everywhere there was weeping and mourning. "My son, my son, he has -been slain by the Sioux!" - -Between the lands of the warring nations surged seas of buffalo, where -to-day are the waving bonanza wheat fields of North Dakota. - -From an eminence Clark looked over the prairies. "More buffalo than -ever I have seen before at one time,"--and he had seen many. "If it be -not impossible to calculate the moving multitude that darkens the -plains, twenty thousand would be no exaggerated estimate." - -They were now well into the country of the great Sioux Indian -Confederacy. Arms and ammunition were inspected. - -The sharp air thrilled and filled them with new vigour. No wonder the -Sioux were never still. The ozone of the Arctic was in their veins, -the sweeping winds drove them, the balsamic prairie was their bed, the -sky their canopy. They never shut themselves up in stuffy mud huts, as -did the Mandans; they lived in tents. Unrestrained, unregenerate, -there was in them the fire of the Six Nations, of King Philip and of -Pontiac. Tall, handsome, finely formed, agile, revengeful, -intelligent, capable,--they loved their country and they hated -strangers. So did the Greeks. An effeminate nation would have fallen -before them as did the Roman before the Goth, but in the Anglo-Saxon -they met their master. - -"Whoop-ah-ho-o-oh!" - -As anticipated, Black Buffalo and his pirate band were on the hills. -Whether that fierce cry meant defiance or greeting no man could tell. - -"Whoop-ah-ho-o-oh!" - -The whole band rushed down to the shore, and even out into the water, -shouting invitations to land, and waving from the sand-banks. - -But too fresh in memory was the attempt to carry off Captain Clark. -Jubilant, hopeful, and full of the fire of battle as the white men -were, yet no one wished to test the prowess of the Sioux. - -Unwilling to venture an interview, the boats continued on their way. -Black Buffalo shook his war bonnet defiantly, and returning to the -hill smote the earth three times with the butt of his rifle, the -registration of a mighty oath against the whites. - -Leaving behind them a wild brandishing of bows, arrows, and tomahawks, -and an atmosphere filled with taunts, insults, and imprecations, the -boats passed out of sight. - -Wafted on the wind followed that direful "Whoop-ah-ho-o-oh!" ending -with the piercing shrill Indian yell that for sixty years froze the -earliest life blood of Minnesota and Dakota. - -Here in the land of the Teton Sioux was to be planted the future Fort -Rice, where exactly sixty years after Lewis and Clark, there crossed -the Missouri one of the most powerful, costly, and best equipped -expeditions ever sent out against hostile Indians,--four thousand -cavalry, eight hundred mounted infantry, twelve pieces of artillery, -three hundred government teams, three hundred beef steers, and fifteen -steamboats to carry supplies,--to be joined here on the Fourth of -July, 1864, by an emigrant train of one hundred and sixty teams and -two hundred and fifty people,--the van guard of Montana settlement. -The Sioux were defeated in the Bad Lands, and the emigrants were -carried safely through to Helena, where they and their descendants -live to-day. - -Already sweeping up the Missouri, Lewis and Clark met advancing -empire. Near Vermilion River, James Aird was camping with a license to -trade among the Sioux. - -"What is the news from St. Louis?" - -There on the borders of a future great State, Lewis and Clark first -heard that Burr and Hamilton had fought a duel and Hamilton was -killed; that three hundred American troops were cantoned at -Bellefontaine, a new log fort on the Missouri; that Spain had taken a -United States frigate on the Mediterranean; that two British ships of -war had fired on an American ship in the port of New York, killing the -Captain's brother. - -Great was the indignation in the United States against Jefferson and -the impressment of American seamen. - -"The money spent for Louisiana would have been much better used in -building fighting ships." - -"The President had much better be protecting our rights than cutting -up animals and stuffing the skins of dead raccoons." - -"Where is our national honour? Gone, abandoned on the Mississippi." - -And these _coureurs_ on the Mississippi heard that the conflict -foreseen by Napoleon, when he gave us Louisiana, was raging now in all -its fury, interdicting the commerce of the world. - -To their excited ears the river rushed and rocked, the earth rumbled, -with the roar of cannon. To themselves Lewis and Clark seemed a very -small part of the forces that make and unmake nations,--and yet that -expedition meant more to the world than the field of Waterloo! - -The next noon, on ascending the hill of Floyd's Bluff they found the -Indians had opened the grave of their comrade. Reverently it was -filled again. - -Home from the buffalo hunt in the plains of the Nebraska, the Omahas -were firing guns to signal their return to gather in their harvest of -corn, beans, and pumpkins. Keel boats, barges, and bateaux came -glistening into view,--Auguste Chouteau with merchandise to trade with -the Yanktons, another Chouteau to the Platte, a trader with two men to -the Pawnee Loupes, and Joseph La Croix with seven men bound for the -Omahas. - -Through the lessening distance Clark recognised on one of the barges -his old comrade, Robert McClellan, the wonderful scout of Wayne's -army, who had ridden on many an errand of death. Since Wayne's victory -McClellan had been a ranger still, but now the Indians were quieting -down,--all except Tecumseh. - -"The country has long since given you up," he told the Captain. "We -have word from Jefferson to seek for news of Lewis and Clark. The -general opinion in the United States is that you are lost in the -unfathomable depths of the continent. But President Jefferson has -hopes. The last heard of you was at the Mandan villages." - -With a laugh they listened to their own obituaries. On the same barge -with McClellan was Gravelines with orders from Jefferson to instruct -the Arikaras in agriculture, and Dorion to help make way through the -Sioux. - -"Brave Raven, the Arikara chief, died in Washington," said Gravelines. -"I am on my way to them with a speech from the President and the -presents which have been made to the chief." - -How home now tugged at their heart strings! Eager to be on the way, -they bade farewell to McClellan. - -Down, down they shot along, wind, current, and paddle in their favour, -past shores where the freebooting Kansas Indians robbed the traders, -past increasing forests of walnut, elm, oak, hickory. - -The men were now reduced to a biscuit apiece. Wild turkeys gobbled on -shore, but the party paused not a moment to hunt. - -On the twentieth a mighty shout went up. They heard the clank of cow -bells, and saw tame cattle feeding on the hills of Charette, the home -of Daniel Boone. With cheers and firing of guns they landed at the -village. - -"We are indeet astonished," exclaimed the joyful habitants, grasping -their hands. "You haf been given up for det long tam since." The men -were scattered among the families for the night, honoured guests of -Charette. - -"Plaintee tam we wish ourself back on ole San Loui'," said Cruzatte to -his admiring countrymen. - -To their surprise Lewis and Clark found new settlements all the way -down from Charette. September 21, firing a tremendous salute from the -old stone tower behind the huts, all St. Charles paid tribute to the -Homeric heroes who had wandered farther than Ulysses and slain more -monsters than Hercules. - -Just above the junction of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers loomed -the fresh mud chimneys of the new log Fort Bellefontaine, Colonel -Thomas Hunt in command, and Dr. Saugrain, surgeon, appointed by -Jefferson. - -The Colonel's pretty little daughter, Abby Hunt, looked up in -admiration at Lewis and Clark, and followed all day these "Indian -white men" from the north. Forty years after she told the story of -that arrival. "They wore dresses of deerskin, fringed and worked with -porcupine quills, something between a military undress frock coat and -an Indian shirt, with leggings and moccasins, three-cornered cocked -hats and long beards." - -Standing between the centuries in that log fort on the Missouri, -pretty little Abby Hunt herself was destined to become historic, as -the wife of Colonel Snelling and the mother of the first white child -born in Minnesota. - -After an early breakfast with Colonel Hunt, the expedition set out for -the last stretch homeward. They rounded out of the Missouri into the -Mississippi, and pulled up to St. Louis at noon, Tuesday, September -23, 1806, after an absence of nearly two years and a half. - - - - -XXVIII - -_THE OLD STONE FORTS OF ST. LOUIS_ - - -It was noon when Lewis and Clark sighted the old stone forts of the -Spanish time. Never had that frontier site appeared so noble, rising -on a vast terrace from the rock-bound river. - -As the white walls burst on their view, with simultaneous movement -every man levelled his rifle. The Captains smiled and gave the -signal,--the roar of thirty rifles awoke the echoes from the rocks. - -Running down the stony path to the river came the whole of St. -Louis,--eager, meagre, little Frenchmen, tanned and sallow and quick -of gait, smaller than the Americans, but graceful and gay, with a -heartfelt welcome; black-eyed French women in camasaks and kerchiefs, -dropping their trowels in their neat little gardens where they had -been delving among the hollyhocks; gay little French children in red -petticoats; and here and there a Kentuckian, lank and lean, -eager,--all tripping and skipping down to the water's edge. - -Elbowing his way among them came Monsieur Auguste Chouteau, the most -noted man in St. Louis. Pierre, his brother, courtly, well-dressed, -eminently social, came also; and even Madame, their mother, did not -disdain to come down to welcome her friends, _Les Américains_. - -It was like the return of a fur brigade, with shouts of laughter and -genuine rejoicing. - -"_Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu!_ eet ees Leewes an' Clark whom ve haf mournt as -det in dose Rock Mountain. What good word mought dey bring from te fur -countree." - -With characteristic abandon the emotional little Frenchmen flung their -arms around the stately forms of Lewis and Clark, and more than one -pretty girl that day printed a kiss on their bearded lips. - -"Major Christy,--well, I declare!" An old Wayne's army comrade grasped -Captain Clark by the hand. What memories that grasp aroused! William -Christy, one of his brother officers, ready not more than a dozen -years ago to aid in capturing this same San Luis de Ilinoa! - -"I have moved to this town. I have a tavern. Send your baggage right -up!" And forthwith a creaking charette came lumbering down the rocky -way. - -"Take a room at my house." Pierre Chouteau grasped the hands of both -Captains at once. And to Chouteau's they went. - -"But first we must send word of our safe arrival to the President," -said Lewis, feeling unconsciously for certain papers that had slept -next his heart for many a day. - -"Te post haf departed from San Loui'," remarked a bystander. - -"Departed? It must be delayed. Here, Drouillard, hurry with this note -to Mr. Hay at Cahokia and bid him hold the mail until to-morrow noon." - -Drouillard, with his old friend Pascal Cerré, the son of Gabriel, set -off at once across the Mississippi. The wharf was lined with flatboats -loaded with salt for 'Kasky and furs for New Orleans. - -Once a month a one-horse mail arrived at Cahokia. Formerly St. Louis -went over there for mail,--St. Louis was only a village near Cahokia -then; but already _Les Américains_ were turning things upside down. - -"We haf a post office now. San Loui' haf grown." - -Every one said that. To eyes that had seen nothing more stately than -Fort Mandan or Clatsop, St. Louis had taken on metropolitan airs. In -the old fort where lately lounged the Spanish governor, peering -anxiously across the dividing waters, and whence had lately marched -the Spanish garrison, American courts of justice were in session. Out -of the old Spanish martello tower on the hill, a few Indian prisoners -looked down on the animated street below. - -With the post office and the court house had come the American school, -and already vivacious French children were claiming as their own, -Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington. - -Just opposite the Chouteau mansion was the old Spanish Government -House, the house where George Rogers Clark had met and loved the -dazzling Donna. - -Aaron Burr had lately been there, feted by the people, plotting -treason with Wilkinson in the Government House itself; and now his -disorganised followers, young men of birth and education from Atlantic -cities, stranded in St. Louis, were to become the pioneer -schoolmasters of Upper Louisiana. - -New houses were rising on every hand. In the good old French days, -goods at fabulous prices were kept in boxes. Did Madame or -Mademoiselle wish anything, it must be unpacked as from a trunk. Once -a year goods arrived. Sugar, gunpowder, blankets, spices, knives, -hatchets, and kitchen-ware, pell-mell, all together, were coming out -now onto shelves erected by the thrifty Americans. Already new stores -stood side by side with the old French mansions. - -"Alas! te good old quiet times are gone," sighed the French habitants, -wiping a tear with the blue bandana. - -And while they looked askance at the tall Americans, elephantine -horses, and Conestoga waggons, that kept crossing the river, the -prices of the little two-acre farms of the Frenchmen went up, until in -a few years the old French settlers were the nabobs of the land. - -Already two ferry lines were transporting a never-ending line through -this new gateway to the wider West. Land-mad settlers were flocking -into "Jefferson's Purchase," grubbing out hazel roots, splitting -rails, making fences, building barns and bridges. Men whose sole -wealth consisted in an auger, a handsaw, and a gun, were pushing into -the prairies and the forests. Long-bearded, dressed in buckskin, with -a knife at his belt and a rifle at his back, the forest-ranging -backwoodsman was over-running Louisiana. - -"Why do you live so isolated?" the stranger would ask. - -"I never wish to hear the bark of a neighbour's dog. When you hear -the sound of a neighbour's gun it is time to move away." - -Thus, solitary and apart, the American frontiersman took up Missouri. - -Strolling along the Rue Royale, followed by admiring crowds, Lewis and -Clark found themselves already at the Pierre Chouteau mansion, rising -like an old-world chateau amid the lesser St. Louis. Up the stone -steps, within the demi-fortress, there were glimpses of fur -warehouses, stables, slaves' quarters, occupying a block,--practically -a fort within the city. - -Other guests were there before them,--Charles Gratiot, who had visited -the Clarks in Virginia, and John P. Cabanné, who was to wed Gratiot's -daughter, Julia. On one of those flatboats crowding the wharf that -morning came happy Pierre Menard, the most illustrious citizen of -Kaskaskia, with his bride of a day, Angelique Saucier. Pierre Menard's -nephew, Michel Menard, was shortly to leave for Texas, to become an -Indian trader and founder of the city of Galveston. - -At the board, too, sat Pierre Chouteau, the younger, just returned -from a trip up the Mississippi with Julien Dubuque, where he had -helped to start Dubuque and open the lead mines. - -Out of the wild summer grape the old inhabitants of St. Louis had long -fabricated their choicest Burgundy. But of late the Chouteaus had -begun to import their wine from France, along with ebony chairs, -claw-footed tables, and other luxuries, the first in this Mississippi -wild. For never had the fur-trade been so prosperous. - -There was laughter and clinking of glasses, and questions of lands -beyond the Yellowstone. Out of that hour arose schemes for a trapper's -conquest along the trail on which ten future States were strung. - -"The mouth of the Yellowstone commands the rich fur-trade of the Rocky -mountains," said Captain Clark. Captain Lewis dwelt on the Three Forks -as a strategic point for a fort. No one there listened with more -breathless intent than the dark-haired boy, the young Chouteau, who -was destined to become the greatest financier of the West, a king of -the fur trade, first rival and then partner of John Jacob Astor. - -No wonder the home-coming of Lewis and Clark was the signal for -enterprises such as this country had never yet seen. They had -penetrated a realm whose monarch was the grizzly bear, whose queen was -the beaver, whose armies were Indian tribes and the buffalo. - -Gallic love of gaiety and amusement found in this return ample -opportunity for the indulgence of hospitable dancing and feasting. -Every door was open. Every house, from Chouteau's down, had its guest -out of the gallant thirty-one. - -Hero-worship was at its height. Hero-worship is characteristic of -youthful, progressive peoples. Whole nations strive to emulate ideals. -The moment that ceases, ossification begins. - -Here the ideals were Lewis and Clark. They had been west; their men -had been west. They, who had traced the Missouri to its cradle in the -mountains, who had smoked the calumet with remotest tribes, who had -carried the flag to the distant Pacific, became the lions of St. -Louis. - -Such spontaneous welcome made a delightful impression upon the hearts -of the young Captains, and they felt a strong inclination to make the -city their permanent home. - -The galleries of the little inns of St. Louis were filled with -Frenchmen, smoking and telling stories all day long. Nothing hurried, -nothing worried them; the rise of the river, the return of a brigade, -alone broke the long summer day of content. - -But here was something new. - -Even York, addicted to romance, told Munchausen tales of thrilling -incidents that never failed of an appreciative audience. Trappers, -flat-boatmen, frontiersmen, and Frenchmen loved to spin long yarns at -the Green Tree Inn, but York could outdo them all. He had been to the -ocean, had seen the great whale and sturgeon that put all inland fish -stories far into the shade. - -Petrie, Auguste Chouteau's old negro, who came with him as a boy and -grew old and thought he owned Auguste Chouteau,--Petrie, who always -said, "Me and the Colonel," met in York for the first time one greater -than himself. - -Immediately upon their return Lewis and Clark had repaired to the -barber and tailor, and soon bore little resemblance to the tawny -frontiersmen in fringed hunting-shirts and beards that had so lately -issued from the wilderness. - -In the upper story of the Chouteau mansion, the Captains regarded with -awe the high four-poster with its cushiony, billowy feather-bed. - -"This is too luxurious! York, bring my robe and bear-skin." - -Lewis and Clark could not sleep in beds that night. They heard the -watch call and saw the glimmer of campfires in their dreams. The -grandeur of the mountains was upon them, cold and white and crowned -with stars, the vastness of the prairie and the dashing of ocean, the -roar of waterfalls, the hum of insects, and the bellowing of buffalo. - -They knew now the Missouri like the face of a friend; they had stemmed -its muddy mouth, had evaded its shifting sandbanks, had watched its -impetuous falls that should one day whirl a thousand wheels. Up -windings green as paradise they had drunk of its crystal sources in -the mountains. - -They had seen it when the mountains cast their shadows around the -campfires, and in the blaze of noon when the quick tempest beat it -into ink. They had seen it white in Mandan winter, the icy trail of -brave and buffalo; and they had seen it crimson, when far-off peaks -were tipped with amethystine gold. - -In the vast and populous solitude of nature they had followed the same -Missouri spreading away into the beaver-meadows of the Madison, the -Jefferson, and the Gallatin, and had written their journals on -hillsides where the windflower and the larkspur grew wild on Montana -hills. - -An instinct, a relic, an inheritance of long ago was upon them, when -their ancestors roved the earth untrammelled by cities and -civilisation, when the rock was man's pillow and the cave his home, -when the arrow in his strong hand brought the fruits of the chase, -when garments of skin clad his limbs, and God spoke to the white -savage under the old Phoenician stars. - -In their dreams they felt the rain and wind beat on their leather -tent. Sacajawea's baby cried, Spring nodded with the rosy clarkia, -screamed with Clark's crow, and tapped with Lewis's woodpecker. - -"Rat-tat-tat!" Was that the woodpecker? No, some one was knocking at -the door of their bed chamber. And no one else than Pierre Chouteau -himself. - -"Drouillard is back from Cahokia ready to carry your post. The rider -waits." - -This was the world again. It was morning. Throwing off robes and -bear-skins, and rising from the hardwood floor where they had -voluntarily camped that night, both Captains looked at the tables -strewn with letters, where until past midnight they had sat the night -before. - -There lay Clark's letter to his brother, George Rogers, and there, -also, was the first rough draft of Lewis's letter to the President, in -a hand as fine and even as copperplate, but interlined, and blotted -with erasures. - -In the soft, warm St. Louis morning, with Mississippi breezes rustling -the curtain, after a hurried breakfast both set to work to complete -the letters. - -For a time nothing was heard but the scratching of quill pens, as each -made clean copies of their letters for transmission to the far-off -centuries. But no centuries troubled then; to-day,--_to-day_, was -uppermost. - -York stuck in his head, hat in hand. "Massah Clahk, Drewyer say he hab -jus' time, sah." - -"Well, sir, tell Drouillard the whole United States mail service can -wait on us to-day. We are writing to the President." - -Before ten o'clock Drouillard was off to Cahokia with messages that -gave to the nation at large its first intimation that the Pacific -expedition was a consummated fact. - - - - -XXIX - -_TO WASHINGTON_ - - -There were hurried days at St. Louis, a village that knew not haste -before. The skins were sunned and stored in the rooms of Cadet -Chouteau. Boxes of specimens were packed for the Government. Captain -Lewis opened his trunk and found his papers all wet. The hermetically -sealed tin cases that held the precious journals alone had saved these -from destruction. - -The Captains had their hands full. The restless men must be paid and -discharged. Nine of the adventurers within a week after the return to -St. Louis sold their prospective land claims for a pittance. Seven of -these claims were bought by their fellow soldiers; Sergeant John -Ordway took several of the men and settled on the site of the present -city of New Madrid. - -Robert Frazer received two hundred and fifty dollars for his claim, -and prepared to publish his travels,--a volume that never saw the -light. In addition to land grants, the men received double pay -amounting altogether to eleven thousand dollars. - -A grand dinner, given by St. Louis, a ball and farewell, and the -Captains were on the way with their Mandan chief, Big White, and his -Indians, and Gass, Shannon, Ordway, Pryor, and Bratton. - -"The route by which I propose travelling to Washington is by way of -Cahokia, Vincennes, Louisville, the Crab Orchard, Fincastle, Staunton, -and Charlottesville," Captain Lewis had written in that letter to -Jefferson. "Any letters directed to me at Louisville will most -probably meet me at that place." - -With well-filled saddle-bags, the returning heroes crossed to Cahokia -and set out across Illinois in the Indian summer of 1806. - -Governor Harrison was at Vincennes, and Vigo, and a hundred others to -welcome. - -"Hurrah for old Kentucky!" cried Clark, as he caught sight of its -limestone shores. On many a smiling hilltop, the log cabin had -expanded into a baronial country seat, with waxed floors and pianos. -Already the stables were full of horses, the halls were full of music. - -Clark, Lewis, and Big White climbed the cliff to the Point of Rock. -Who but chiefs should visit there? - -With newspapers around him, sat George Rogers Clark, following the -career of Napoleon. That calm and splendid eye kindled at sight of his -brother. His locks had grown longer, his eye a deeper black under the -shaggy brows, but the Revolutionary hero shone in every lineament as -he took the hands of the two explorers. - -With the dashing waters at their feet, upon the lonely Point of Rock, -above the Falls of the Ohio, William Clark stopped first to greet his -brother from the great expedition. Painters may find a theme here, and -future romancers a page in drama. - -Without delay, taking his rusty three-cornered _chapeau_ from its peg, -and donning his faded uniform, the conqueror of Illinois accompanied -the explorers to Locust Grove, ablaze that night with welcome. - -Lucy, Fanny, Edmund were there; and Jonathan from Mulberry Hill; Major -Croghan, the courtly host of old; and the lad, George Croghan, now in -his fifteenth year. All too quickly fled the hours; the hickory flamed -and the brass andirons shone not brighter than the happy faces. - -Spread around for exhibition were Mandan robes, fleeces of the -mountain goat, Clatsop hats, buffalo horns, and Indian baskets, -Captain Clark's "tiger-cat coat," Indian curios, and skins of grizzly -bears,--each article suggestive of adventure surpassing Marco Polo or -the Arabian nights. Another huge box, filled with bones for the -President, had been left with George Rogers Clark at the Point of -Rock. - -Louisville received the explorers with bonfires and cannonry. A grand -ball was given in their honour, in which the Indians, especially, -shone in medals and plumage. - -The next day there was a sad visit to Mill Creek, where lamenting -parents received the last token and listened to the final word -concerning their beloved son, Sergeant Charles Floyd. - -A cold wind and a light fall of snow warned them no time must be lost -in crossing the Kentucky mountains; but encumbered with the Indian -retinue they made slow progress along that atrocious road, on which -the followers of Boone had "sometimes paused to pray and sometimes -stopped to swear." - -A few days beyond Cumberland Gap, Clark's heart beat a tattoo; they -had come to Fincastle! Among its overhanging vines and trees, the -Hancock mansion was in holiday attire,--Harriet Kennerly had just been -married to Dr. Radford of Fincastle. - -Colonel Hancock had been proud to entertain George Rogers Clark, still -more was he now delighted with the visit of the famous explorers. - -"La!" exclaimed Black Granny at the announcement of Captain Clark. -"Miss Judy?" Black Granny had nursed Miss Judy from the cradle. - -Sedately Miss Judy came down the long staircase,--not the child that -Clark remembered, but a woman, petite, serious. The chestnut brown -curls with a glint of gold were caught with a high back comb, and a -sweeping gown had replaced the short petticoats that lately tripped -over the foothills of the Blue Ridge. - -"My pretty cousin going to marry that ugly man?" exclaimed Harriet, -when she heard of the early engagement. - -There was nothing effeminate about Clark, nor artificial. His features -were rugged almost to plainness; his head was high from the ear to the -top, a large brain chamber. - -"Absolutely beautiful," said Judy to herself, associating those -bronzed features with endless winds that blew on far-off mountains. - -Behind the respectable old Hancock silver, Judy's mother turned the -tea and talked. Turning up his laced sleeves to carve the mutton, -Colonel Hancock asked a thousand questions regarding that wonderful -journey. - -"We passed the winter on the Pacific, then crossed the mountains, and -my division came down the Yellowstone," Clark was saying. "By the way, -Judy, I have named a river for you,--the Judith." - -A peal of laughter rang through the dining-room. - -"Judith! Judith, did you say? Why, Captain Clark, my name is Julia." - -Clark was confounded. He almost feared Judy was making fun of him. - -"Is it, really, now? I always supposed Judy stood for Judith." - -Again rang out the infectious peal, in which Clark himself joined; but -to this day rolls the river Judith in Montana, named for Clark's -mountain maid of Fincastle. - -"That I should live to see you back from the Pacific!" was Aunt -Molly's greeting at "The Farm," at Charlottesville. "I reckoned the -cannibal savages would eat you. We looked for nothing less than the -fate of Captain Cook." - -But Maria, whose eyes had haunted Lewis in many a long Montana day, -seemed strangely shy and silent. In fact, she had another lover, -perhaps a dearer one. - -Uncle Nicholas was sick. He was growing old, but still directed the -negroes of a plantation that extended from Charlottesville to the -Fluvanna. - -It was sunset when Captain Lewis reached the home at Locust Hill, and -was folded to his mother's bosom. With daily prayer had Lucy -Meriwether followed her boy across the Rocky Mountains. - -Meriwether's little pet sister, Mary Marks, had blossomed into a -bewitching rose. - -"Here is a letter from the President." - -Captain Lewis read his first message from Jefferson in more than two -years and a half. - -Turning to Big White, the chief, who at every step had gazed with -amazement at the white man's country,-- - -"The President says 'Tell my friend of Mandan that I have already -opened my arms to receive him." - -"Ugh! Ugh!" commented Big White, with visions of barbaric splendour in -his untutored brain. - -That afternoon the entire party rode over to Monticello to show the -chief the President's Indian hall, where all their gifts and tokens -had been arranged for display. The next day, by Richmond, -Fredericksburg, and Alexandria, the party set out for the national -capital. Every step of the way was a triumphal progress. - - - - -XXX - -_THE PLAUDITS OF A NATION_ - - -It was well into January before both Captains reached Washington. -Workmen were still building at the Capitol, rearing a home for -Congress. Tools of carpentry and masonry covered the windy lawn where -Jefferson rode daily, superintending as on his own Virginia -plantation. - -Never had Captain Lewis seen his old friend, the President, so moved -as when black Ben, the valet, with stentorian call announced, -"Captains Mehwether Lewis and William Clahk!" - -In silk stockings and pumps they stood in the Blue Room. At sight of -that well-known figure in blue coat faced with yellow, red plush -waistcoat, and green velveteen breeches, Meriwether Lewis bounded as a -boy toward his old friend. - -The gray-haired president visibly trembled as he strained the two sons -of his country to his heart. Tears gushed from his eyes, "The suspense -has been awful." Then pausing, with difficulty he controlled his -emotion. "But the hopes, the dreams, the ambitions of twenty years are -now vindicated, and you are safe, boys, you are safe. I felt that if -you were lost the country would hold me responsible." - -If others had asked questions about the route, Jefferson now -overwhelmed them with an avalanche, put with the keenness of a scholar -and the penetration of a scientist. For with the possible exception of -Franklin, Thomas Jefferson was the most learned man of his time. - -Into the President's hands Lewis placed the precious journals, -obtained at such a cost in toil and travel. Each pocket volume, -morocco-bound, had as soon as filled been cemented in a separate tin -case to prevent injury by wetting. But now Lewis had slipped the cases -off and displayed them neat and fresh as on the day of writing. - -On rocking boats, on saddle pommels, and after dark by the flickering -campfire, had the writing been done. T's were not always crossed, nor -i's dotted, as hurriedly each event was jotted down to be read and -criticised after a hundred years. Written under such circumstances, -and in such haste, it is not remarkable that words are misspelled and -some omitted. A considerable collection of later letters gives ample -evidence that both the Captains were graceful correspondents. - -And the vocabularies, the precious vocabularies gathered from Council -Bluffs to Clatsop, were taken by Jefferson and carefully laid away for -future study. - -Big White and his Indians were entertained by Jefferson and the -cabinet. Dolly Madison, Mrs. Gallatin, and other ladies of the White -House, manifested the liveliest interest as the tall Shahaka, six feet -and ten inches, stood up before them in his best necklace of bear's -claws, admiring the pretty squaws that talked to them. - -"And was your father a chief, and your father's father?" Mrs. Madison -inquired of Shahaka. She was always interested in families and -lineage. "And what makes your hair so white?" But Shahaka had never -heard of Prince Madoc. - -Never had the village-capital been so gay. Dinners and balls followed -in rapid succession, eulogies and poems were recited in honour of the -explorers. There was even talk of changing the name of the Columbia to -Lewis River. - -In those days everybody went to the Capitol to hear the debates. The -report of Lewis and Clark created a lively sensation. Complaints of -the Louisiana Purchase ceased. From the Mississippi to the sea, the -United States had virtually taken possession of the continent. -Members of Congress looked at one another with dilated eyes. With -lifted brow and prophetic vision the young republic pierced the -future. The Mississippi, once her utmost border, was now but an inland -river. Beyond it, the Great West hove in sight, with peaks of snow and -the blue South Sea. The problem of the ages had been solved; Lewis and -Clark had found the road to Asia. - -The news fell upon Europe and America as not less than a revelation. - -Congress immediately gave sixteen hundred acres of land each to the -Captains, and double pay in gold and three hundred and twenty acres to -each of their men, to be laid out on the west side of the Mississippi. -On the third day of March, 1807, Captain Lewis was appointed Governor -of Louisiana; and on March 12, Captain Clark was made Brigadier -General, and Indian Agent for Louisiana. - -Tall, slender, but twenty-nine, Henry Clay was in the Senate, -advocating roads,--roads and canals to the West. He was planning, -pleading, persuading for a canal around the Falls of the Ohio, he was -appealing for the improvement of the Wilderness Road through which -Boone had broken a bridle trace. His prolific imagination grasped the -Chesapeake and Ohio canal and an interior connection with the Lakes. - -Henry Clay--"Harry Clay" as Kentucky fondly called him--had a faculty -for remembering names, faces, places. As yesterday, he recalled -William Clark at Lexington. - -And Clark remembered Clay, standing in an ox-waggon, with flashing -eyes, hair wildly waving, and features aglow, addressing an entranced -throng. The same look flashed over him now as he stepped toward the -heroes of the Pacific. - -"Congratulations, Governor." - -"Congratulations, General." - -The young men smiled at their new titles. - -Another was there, not to be forgotten, strong featured, cordial, -cheerful, of manly beauty and large dark eyes, endeavouring to -interest Congress in his inventions,--Robert Fulton of the steamboat. - -Wherever they went, a certain halo seemed to hang around these men of -adventure. They were soldiers and hunters, and more. Through heat and -cold, and mount and plain, four thousand miles by canoe, on foot and -horseback, through forests of gigantic pines and along the banks of -unknown rivers, among unheard-of tribes who had never seen a white -man, they had carried the message of the President and brought back a -report on the new land that is authority to this day. - -"What did you find?" Eager inquirers crowded on every side to hear the -traveller's tale. At Louisville, men drove in from distant -plantations; at Fincastle their steps were thronged along the village -walks; in Washington they were never alone. - -"What did we find? Gigantic sycamores for canoes, the maple for sugar, -the wild cherry and walnut for joiner's work, red and white elm for -cartwrights, the osage orange for hedges impenetrable, white and black -oak for ship and carpenter work, pine for countless uses, and durable -cedar. - -"What did we find? All sorts of plants and herbs for foods, dyes, and -medicines, and pasturage unending. Boone's settlers on the Missouri -frontier have farms of wheat, maize, potatoes, and little cotton -fields, two acres sufficient for a family. Hemp is indigenous to the -soil. Even in the Mandan land, the Indians, with implements that -barely scratch the earth, have immense gardens of corn, beans, -pumpkins, and squashes. - -"What did we find? Oceans of beaver and seas of buffalo, clay fit for -bricks and white clay for pottery, salt springs, saltpetre, and -plaster, pipestone, and quarries of marble red and white, mines of -iron, lead and coal, horses to be bought for a song, cedar, and fir -trees six and eight feet in diameter, enormous salmon that block the -streams." - -No wonder the land was excited at the report of Lewis and Clark. All -at once the unknown mysterious West stood revealed as the home of -natural resources. Their travels became the Robinson Crusoe of many a -boy who lived to see for himself the marvels of that trans-Mississippi. - - * * * * * - -Sergeant Gass received his pay in gold and went home to Wellsburg, -West Virginia, to find his old father smoking still beside the fire. -With the help of a Scotch schoolmaster Patrick published his book the -next year, immortalising the name of the gallant Irish Sergeant. Then -he "inlisted" again, and fought the Creeks, and in 1812 lost an eye at -Lundy's Lane. Presently he married the daughter of a Judge, and lived -to become a great student in his old age, and an authority on Indians -and early times. - -John Ordway went home to New Hampshire and married, and returned to -live on his farm near New Madrid. - -William Bratton tarried for a time in Kentucky, served in the War of -1812 under Harrison, and was at Tippecanoe and the Thames. He married -and lived at Terre Haute, Indiana, and is buried at Waynetown. - -George Gibson settled at St. Louis, and lived and died there. -Nathaniel Pryor and William Werner became Indian agents under William -Clark; Pryor died in 1831 among the Osages. George Drouillard went -into the fur trade and was killed by the Blackfeet at the Three Forks -of the Missouri. John Coalter, after adventures that will be related, -settled at the town of Daniel Boone, married a squaw and died there. -John Potts was killed by the Blackfeet on the river Jefferson. -Sacajawea and Charboneau lived for many years among the Mandans, and -their descendants are found in Dakota to this day. - -Of the voyageurs who went as far as the Mandan town, Lajaunnesse -accompanied Fremont across the mountains; and two others, Francis -Rivet and Philip Degie, were the earliest settlers of Oregon, where -they lived to a great old age, proud of the fact that they had -"belonged to Lewis and Clark." - - - - -Book III - -_THE RED HEAD CHIEF_ - - - - -Book III - -_THE RED HEAD CHIEF_ - - - - -I - -_THE SHADOW OF NAPOLEON_ - - -"Thank God for the safety of our country!" ejaculated Jefferson, in -one of his long talks with Lewis regarding the upheaval across the -sea. - -In 1802 Napoleon had been declared Consul for life; May 18, 1804, four -days after Lewis and Clark started, he had been saluted Emperor of -France. Then came Jena. When Lewis and Clark reached the Mandan towns, -Napoleon was entering Berlin with the Prussian monarchy at his feet. - -While they camped at Clatsop in those December days of 1805, and while -Baranof prayed for ships in his lonely Sitkan outpost, across seas -"the sun of Austerlitz" had risen. Against Russian and Austrian, -Napoleon had closed a war with a clap of thunder. - -Every breeze bore news that overawed the world. - -"Napoleon has taken Italy." - -"Napoleon has conquered Austria." - -"Napoleon has defeated Russia." - -"Napoleon has ruined Prussia." - -"Napoleon has taken Spain." - -While Lewis and Clark were at Washington came the battles of Eylau and -Dantzic. In December Napoleon annexed Portugal, and the Court of -Lisbon fled to Brazil, to escape his arms and to rear anew the House -of Braganza. - -How much more remained to conquer? How soon might the theatre of -action come over the sea? Still there was England. - -For a time the Napoleonic wars had thrown the carrying trade of the -ocean into American hands. American farmers could not reach the coast -fast enough with their fleets of grain, the food for armies. Cotton -went up to a fabulous price. Enterprise fired the young republic. -Ships were building two thousand miles inland to carry her products to -the ocean. She grew, she throve, and an ever-increasing inland fleet -carried to and fro the red life of a growing nation. - -On the other hand, the torch of liberty, lit in America and burning -there still with calm and splendid lustre, carried by French soldiers -to France had kindled a continent, sweeping like a firebrand through a -conflagration of abuses. All tradition was overturning. America alone -was quiet, the refuge of the world. Every ship that touched our shores -brought fugitives fleeing from battle-scarred fields where Europe -groaned in sobs and blood. - -Napoleon was now master of almost the entire coast of Europe. Did he -cast regretful eyes this way? America feared it. Nothing but fear of -England ever made Napoleon give us Louisiana. - -In May, 1806, England blockaded the French coast. Napoleon retaliated -by the Berlin Decrees, shutting up all England, interdicting the -commerce of the world. - -And so, when Lewis and Clark returned, the giants were locked in -struggle, like Titans of old, tearing up kingdoms, palatinates, and -whole empires to hurl at each other. - -And we had Louisiana. - -When Captain Lewis went to Washington he was the bearer of a mass of -papers on land claims sent by Auguste Chouteau. - -"I have had some disturbing news from Louisiana," said Jefferson. "In -the first place, Monsieur Auguste Chouteau writes requesting -self-government, and that Louisiana remain for ever undivided. Now the -day may come when we shall desire to cut Louisiana up into sovereign -states,--not now, I grant, but in time, in time. - -"Then the French people of New Orleans protest against American rule. -Such is the dissatisfaction, it is said, that the people of Louisiana -are only waiting for Bonaparte's victory in his war with the allies to -return to their allegiance with France. - -"St. Louis asks for a Governor 'who must reside in the territory,' -hence I propose to put you there." - -So it came about that Meriwether Lewis wrote back in February, "I -shall probably come on to St. Louis for the purpose of residing among -you." - -There was trouble with Spain. In July, 1806, everybody thought there -would be a war with her. But Napoleon was Spain's protector. It would -never do to declare war against Napoleon. Napoleon!--the very word -meant subjugation. - -"Why are we safe from Bonaparte?" exclaimed Jefferson. "Only because -he has not the British fleet at his command." - -Even while Congress was at its busiest, devising a government for New -Orleans, not at all was Jefferson sure of the loyalty of the French of -Louisiana. - -"If they are not making overtures to Napoleon, they are implicated in -the treason of Aaron Burr." - -All Washington was aflame over Aaron Burr. Only two years before -Captain Lewis had left him in the seat of honour at Washington. The -greatest lawyers in the country now were prosecuting his trial at -Richmond, Randolph of Roanoke foreman of the jury and John Marshall -presiding. - -Borne with the throng, Lewis went over to Richmond. Washington Irving -was there, Winfield Scott, and Andrew Jackson, "stamping up and down, -damning Jefferson and extolling Burr." - -Burr's friends, outcrying against Jefferson, caught sight of -Meriwether Lewis; his popularity in a degree counteracted their -vituperation. William Wirt of Maryland came down after making his -great speech, to present a gold watch to his friend Meriwether Lewis. - -With saddened heart Captain Lewis left Richmond. The beautiful -Theodosia had come to stay with her father at the penitentiary. Lewis -always liked Aaron Burr. What was he trying to do? The Mississippi was -ours and Louisiana. But even the Ursuline nuns welcomed Burr to New -Orleans, and the Creoles quite lost their heads over his winning -address. All seemed to confirm the suspicions of Jefferson, who -nightly tossed on his couch of worry. - -It was necessary for Captain, now Governor, Lewis, to go to -Philadelphia, to place his zoölogical and botanical collections in the -hands of Dr. Barton. Scarce had the now famous explorer reached the -city before he was beset by artists. Charles Willson Peale, who had -painted the portraits of the most prominent officers of the -Revolution, who had followed Washington and painted him as a Virginia -colonel, as commander-in-chief, and as president, who had sat with him -at Valley Forge and limned his features, cocked hat and all, on a -piece of bed-ticking,--Peale now wanted to paint Lewis and Clark. - -Of course such a flattering invitation was not to be resisted, and so, -while Peale's assistants were mounting Lewis's antelopes, the first -known to naturalists, and preparing for Jefferson the head and horns -of a Rocky Mountain ram, Governor Lewis was sitting daily for his -portrait. - -This detained him in Philadelphia, when suddenly, on the 27th of June, -the great upheaval of Europe cast breakers on our shores that made the -country rock. - -It seemed as if in spite of herself the United States would be drawn -into the Napoleonic wars. England needed sailors, she must have -sailors, she claimed and demanded them from American ships on the high -seas. - -"You _shall not search_ my ship," said the Captain of the American -frigate _Chesapeake_ off the Virginian capes. Instantly and -unexpectedly, the British frigate _Leopard_ rounded to and poured -broadsides into the unprepared _Chesapeake_. - -"Never," said Jefferson, "has this country been in such a state of -excitement since Lexington." - -"Fired on our ship!" The land was aflame. By such white heat are -nations welded. - -It was a bold thing for England to disavow. But no apologies could now -conceal the fact, that not Napoleon, but England, was destined to be -our foe, England, who claimed the commerce of the world. - -Meriwether Lewis came home to hear Virginia ringing for war; not yet -had she forgotten Yorktown. - -The mountains of Albemarle were clothed in all the brilliancy of -summer beauty when Lewis kissed his mother good-bye, and set out to -assume the governorship of Louisiana. - - - - -II - -_AMERICAN RULE IN ST. LOUIS_ - - -Immediately after his appointment in charge of Indian affairs, Clark -left Washington, with Pryor and Shannon, Big White and Jussaume and -their Indian families. The Ohio, swollen to the highest notch, bore -them racing into the Mississippi. - -"Manuel Lisa haf gone up de Meessouri," was the news at St. Louis. All -winter Manuel Lisa had been flying around St. Louis with Pierre Menard -and George Drouillard, preparing for an early ascent into the fur -country. So also had been the Chouteaus, intending to escort Big White -back to the Mandans. - -At any time an Indian trader was a great man in St. Louis. He could -command fabulous prices for his skill, and still more now could -Drouillard, fresh from the unexploited land beyond the Mandans. All -his money Drouillard put into the business, and with the earliest -opening of 1807, Lisa, Menard and Drouillard set out for the upper -Missouri with an outfit of sixteen thousand dollars. - -"Wait for the Mandan chief," said Frederick Bates, the new Territorial -Secretary. - -Manuel Lisa was not a man to wait. "While others consider whether they -will start, I am on my way," he answered. - -Dark, secret, unfathomable, restless, enterprising, a very Spaniard -for pride, distrusted and trusted, a judge of men, Manuel Lisa had in -him the spirit of De Soto and Coronado. - -For twenty years Lisa had traded with Indians. Of late the Spanish -government had given him exclusive rights on the Osage, a privilege -once held by the Chouteaus, but alas for Lisa! a right now tumbled by -the cession. For the United States gave no exclusive privileges. - -He reached the ear of Drouillard; they went away together. No one -better than Lisa saw the meaning of that great exploration. - -Coincidently with the arrival of Clark and Big White out of the Ohio, -came down a deputation of Yankton Sioux with old Dorion from the -Missouri. With that encampment of Indians, around, behind, before the -Government House, began the reign of the Red Head chief over the -nations of the West that was to last for thirty years. St. Louis -became the Red Head's town, and the Red Head's signature came to be -known to the utmost border of Louisiana. - -"We want arms and traders," said the Yankton Sioux. - -Both were granted, and laden with presents, before the close of May -they were dispatched again to their own country. And with them went -Big White in charge of Ensign Pryor, Sergeant George Shannon, and -Pierre Chouteau, with thirty-two men for the Mandan trade. - -Even the Kansas knew that Big White had gone down the river, and were -waiting to see him go by. - -"The whites are as the grasses of the prairie," said Big White. - -In July the new Governor, Meriwether Lewis, arrived and assumed the -Government. With difficulty the officers had endeavoured to harmonise -the old and the new. All was in feud, faction, disorder. - -St. Louis was a foreign village before the cession. Nor was this -changed in a day. - -"Deed not de great Napoleon guarantee our leebertee?" said the French. -"We want self-government." - -But Lewis and Clark, these two had met the French ideal of chivalry in -facing the Shining Mountains and the Ocean. Pretty girls sat in the -verandas to see them pass. Fur magnates set out their choicest viands. -The conquest of St. Louis was largely social. With less tact and less -winning personalities we might have had discord. - -Whatever Lewis wanted, Clark seconded as a sort of Lieutenant -Governor. It seemed as if the two might go on forever as they had done -in the great expedition. Ever busy, carving districts that became -future States, laying out roads, dispensing justice and treating with -Indians, all went well until the 16th of October, when a wave of -sensation swept over St. Louis. - -"Big White, the Mandan chief, is back. The American flag at the bow of -his boat has been fired on and he is compelled to fall back on St. -Louis." - -All summer the vengeful Arikaras had been watching. - -"They killed our chief, the Brave Raven." - -The Teton Sioux plotted. "They will give the Mandans arms and make our -enemies stronger than we are." So in great bands, Sioux and Arikaras -had camped along the river to intercept the returning brave. - -"These are the machinations of the British," said Americans in St. -Louis. - -"This is a trick of Manuel Lisa," said the fur traders. "His boats -passed in safety, why not ours?" - -In fact, there had been a battle. Not with impunity should trade be -carried into the land of anarchy. Three men were killed and several -wounded, including Shannon and René Jussaume. And they in turn had -killed Black Buffalo, the Teton chief that led the onslaught. - -All the way down the Missouri George Shannon had writhed with his -wounded knee. Blood poisoning set in. They left him at Bellefontaine. - -"Dees leg must come off," said Dr. Saugrain, the army surgeon. - -He sent for Dr. Farrar, a young American physician who had lately -located in St. Louis. Together, without anesthetics, they performed -the first operation in thigh amputation ever known in that region. - -"Woonderful! woonderful!" exclaimed the Creoles. "Dees Dogtors can cut -une man all up." Great already was the reputation of Dr. Saugrain; to -young Farrar it gave a prestige that made him the Father of St. Louis -surgery. - -Shannon lay at the point of death for eighteen months, but youth -rallied, and he regained sufficient strength to journey to Lexington, -where he took up the study of law. He lived to become an eminent -jurist and judge, and the honoured progenitor of many distinguished -bearers of his name. - - - - -III - -_FAREWELL TO FINCASTLE_ - - -General Clark had had a busy summer, travelling up and down the river, -assisting the Governor at St. Louis in reducing his tumultuous domain -to order, treating with Indians, conferring with Governor Harrison in -his brick palace at Old Vincennes, consulting with his brothers, -General Jonathan and General George Rogers Clark at the Point of Rock. -Now, in mid-autumn, he was again on his way to Fincastle. - -Never through the tropic summer had Julia been absent from his -thoughts. A little house in St. Louis had been selected that should -shelter his bride; and now, as fast as hoof and horse could speed him, -he was hastening back to fix the day for his wedding. - -October shed glory on the burnished forests. Here and there along the -way shone primitive farmhouses, the homes of people. The explorer's -heart beat high. He had come to that time in his life when he, too, -should have a home. Those old Virginia farmhouses, steep of roof and -sloping at the eaves, four rooms below and two in the attic, with -great chimneys smoking at either end, seemed to speak of other fond -and happy hearts. - -The valley of Virginia extends from the Potomac to the Carolina line. -The Blue Ridge bounds it on one side, the Kittatinnys on the other, -and in the trough-like valley between flows the historic Shenandoah. - -From the north, by Winchester, scene of many a border fray and -destined for action more heroic yet, Clark sped on his way to -Fincastle. Some changes had taken place since that eventful morning -when Governor Spotswood looked over the Blue Ridge. A dozen miles from -Winchester stood Lord Fairfax's Greenway Court, overshadowed by -ancient locusts, slowly mouldering to its fall. Here George Washington -came in his boyhood, surveying for the gaunt, raw-boned, near-sighted -old nobleman who led him hard chases at the fox hunt. - -From the head spring of the Rappahannock to the head spring of the -Potomac, twenty-one counties of old Virginia once belonged to the -Fairfax manor, now broken and subdivided into a thousand homes. Hither -had come tides of Quakers, and Scotch-Presbyterians, penetrating -farther and farther its green recesses, cutting up the fruitful acres -into colonial plantations. - -"The Shenandoah, it is the very centre of the United States," said the -emigrants. - -The valley was said to be greener than any other, its waters were more -transparent, its soil more fruitful. At any rate German-Pennsylvanians -pushed up here, rearing barns as big as fortresses, flanked round with -haystacks and granaries. Now and then Clark met them, in loose leather -galligaskins and pointed hats, sunning in wide porches, smoking pipes -three feet long, while their stout little children tumbled among the -white clover. - -Here and there negroes were whistling with notes as clear as a fife, -and huge Conestoga waggons loaded with produce rumbled along to -Philadelphia, Baltimore, Richmond. Every year thousands of waggons -went to market, camping at night and making the morning ring with -Robin Hood songs and jingling bells. - -Yonder lived Patrick Henry in his last years, at picturesque Red Hill -on the Staunton. Here in his old age he might have been seen under the -trees in his lawn, buried in revery, or on the floor, with -grandchildren clambering over him or dancing to his violin. - -But Clark was not thinking of Patrick Henry, or Fairfax,--in fact he -scarcely remembered their existence, so intent was his thought on his -maid of the mountains, Julia Hancock. - -The leaves were falling from elm and maple, strewing the path with -gold and crimson. The pines grew taller in the twilight, until he -could scarcely see the bypaths chipped and blazed by settlers' -tomahawks. - -Sunset was gilding the Peaks of Otter as Clark drew rein at the little -tavern near Fincastle. - -"I was rented to the King of England by my Prince of Hesse Cassel," -the Hessian proprietor was saying. "I was rented out to cut the -throats of people who had never done me any harm. Four pence three -farthings a day I got, and one penny farthing went to His Royal -Highness, the Prince. I fought you, then I fell in love with you, and -when the war was over I stayed in America." - -Clark listened. It was a voice out of the Revolution. - -After a hurried luncheon the tireless traveller was again in his -saddle; and late that night in the moonlight he opened the gate at -Colonel Hancock's. - -York had followed silently through all the journey,--York, no longer a -slave, for in consideration of his services on the expedition the -General had given him his freedom. But as a voluntary body-guard he -would not be parted from his master. - -"For sho'! who cud tek cah o' Mars Clahk so well as old Yawk?" - -"What if love-lorn swains from a dozen plantations have tried to woo -and win my pretty cousin! The bronzed face of Lochinvar is bleaching," -said the teasing Harriet when she heard that the wedding date was -really set. "One day, who knows, his skin may be white as yours." - -Sudden as a flood in the Roanoke came Julia's tears. Relenting, the -lively, light-hearted Harriet covered her cousin's curls with kisses. - -"The carriage and horses are at your service. Hunt, fish, lounge as -you please," said Colonel Hancock, "for I must be at the courthouse to -try an important case." - -With thousands of acres and hundreds of negroes, it was the dream of -Colonel Hancock to one day drop these official cares and retire -altogether into the privacy of his plantation. Already, forty miles -away, at the very head spring of the Roanoke river, he was building a -country seat to be called "Fotheringay," after Fotheringay Castle. - -Back and forth in the gorgeous October weather rode Clark and Julia, -watching the workmen at Fotheringay. - -Now and then the carriage stopped at an orchard. Passers were always -at liberty to help themselves to the fruit. Peaches so abundant that -they fed the hogs with them, apples rosy and mellow, grapes for the -vintage, were in the first flush of abundance. What a contrast to that -autumn in the Bitter Root Mountains! - -Then late in November to Fincastle came Governor Lewis and his brother -Reuben, on their way to the west. He, too, had been to Washington on -business concerning St. Louis. - -"The great success of York among the Mandans has decided Reuben to -take Tom along," laughed Lewis, as Reuben's black driver dismounted -from the carriage--the same family chariot in which Meriwether had -brought his mother from Georgia, now on the way to become the state -coach of Louisiana. - -Black Tom beamed, expansively happy, on York who had been "tuh th' -Injun country" where black men were "Great Medicine." - -"Ha, Your Excellency," laughed the teasing Harriet, "the beauty of -Fincastle dines with us to-night,--Miss Letitia Breckenridge." - -"Wait and the Governor will court you," some one whispered to the -charming Letitia. - -"I have contemplated accompanying my father to Richmond for some -time," replied Letitia. "If I stay now it will look like a challenge, -therefore I determine to go." - -Governor Lewis underwent not a little chafing when two days after his -arrival the lovely Letitia was gone,--to become the wife of the -Secretary of War in John Quincy Adams's cabinet. - -"Miss Breckenridge is a very sweet-looking girl," wrote Reuben to his -sister, "and I should like to have her for a sister. General Clark's -intended is a charming woman. When I tell you that she is much like my -sweetheart you will believe I think so." - -"What are you doing?" Clark asked of Julia, as she sat industriously -stitching beside the hickory fire in the great parlour at Fincastle. - -"Working a little screen to keep the fire from burning my face," -answered the maiden, rosy as the glow itself. Much more beautiful than -the little Sacajawea, stitching moccasins beside the fire at Clatsop, -she seemed to Clark; and yet the feminine intuition was the same, to -sew, to stitch, to be an artist with the needle. - - "The mistletoe hung in Fincastle hall, - The holly branch shone on the old oak wall, - And the planter's retainers were blithe and gay, - A-keeping their Christmas holiday." - -There was sleighing at Fincastle when the wedding day came, just after -New Year's, 1808. The guests came in sleighs from as far away as -Greenway Court, for all the country-side knew and loved Judy Hancock. - -Weeping, soft-hearted Black Granny tied again the sunny curls and -looped the satin ribbons of her beloved "Miss Judy." The slaves vied -with one another, strewing the snow with winter greens that no foot -might touch the chill. - -The wainscoted and panelled walls glowed with greenery. Holly hung -over the carved oaken chimneys, and around the fowling pieces and -antlers of the chase that betokened the hunting habits of Colonel -Hancock. Silver tankards marked with the family arms sparkled on the -damask table cloth, and silver candlesticks and snuffers and silver -plate. Myrtleberry wax candles gave out an incense that mingled with -the odour of hickory snapping in the fireplace. - -"Exactly as her mother looked," whispered the grandmother when Judy -came down,--grandmother, a brisk little white-capped old lady in -quilted satin, who remembered very well the mother of Washington. - -The stars hung blazing on the rim of the Blue Ridge and the snow -glistened, when out of the great house came the sound of music and -dancing. There were wedding gifts after the old Virginia fashion, and -when all had been inspected Clark handed his bride a small jewel case -marked with her name. - -The cover flew open, revealing a set of topaz and pearls, "A gift from -the President." - -Out into the snow went these wedding guests of a hundred years ago, to -scatter and be forgotten. - - - - -IV - -_THE BOAT HORN_ - - -All the romance of the old boating time was in Clark's wedding trip -down the Ohio. It was on a May morning when, stepping on board a -flatboat at Louisville, he contrasted the daintiness of Julia with -that of any other travelling companion he had ever known. - -The river, foaming over its rocky bed, the boatmen blowing their long -conical bugles from shore to shore, the keelboats, flat-bottoms, and -arks loaded with emigrants all intent on "picking guineas from -gooseberry bushes," spoke of youth, life, action. Again the boatman -blew his bugle, echoes of other trumpets answered, "Farewell, -farewell, fare--we-ll." Soon they were into the full sweep of the -pellucid Ohio, mirroring skies and shores dressed in the livery of -Robin Hood. - -Frowning precipices and green islets arose, and projecting headlands -indenting the Ohio with promontories like a chain of shining lakes. -Hills clothed in ancient timber, hoary whitened sycamores draped in -green clusters of mistletoe, and magnificent groves of the dark green -sugar tree reflected from the water below. Shut in to the water's -edge, a woody wilderness still, the river glided between its -umbrageous shores. - -Now and then the crowing of cocks announced a clearing where the axe -of the settler had made headway, or some old Indian mound blossomed -with a peach orchard. Flocks of screaming paroquets alighted in the -treetops, humming birds whizzed into the honeysuckle vines and flashed -away with dewdrops on their jewelled throats. - -On the water with them, now near, now far, were other boats,--ferry -flats and Alleghany skiffs, pirogues hollowed from prodigious -sycamores, dug-outs and canoes, stately barges with masts and sails -and lifted decks like schooners, keel boats, slim and trim for low -waters, Kentucky arks, broadhorns, roomy and comfortable, filled up -with chairs, beds, stoves, tables, bound for the Sangamon, Cape -Girardeau, Arkansas. - -Floating caravans of men, women, children, servants, cattle, hogs, -horses, sheep, and fowl were travelling down the great river. Some -boats fitted up for stores dropped off at the settlements, blowing the -bugle, calling the inhabitants down to trade. - -Here a tinner with his tinshop, with tools and iron, a floating -factory, there a blacksmith shop with bellows and anvil, dry-goods -boats with shelves for cutlery and cottons, produce boats with -Kentucky flour and hemp, Ohio apples, cider, maple sugar, nuts, -cheese, and fruit, and farther down, Tennessee cotton, Illinois corn, -and cattle, Missouri lead and furs, all bound for New Orleans, a -panorama of endless interest to Julia. Here white-winged schooners -were laden entirely with turkeys, tobacco, hogs, horses, potatoes, or -lumber. Nature pouring forth perennial produce from a hundred -tributary streams. - -A bateau could descend from the mouth of the Ohio to New Orleans in -three weeks; three months of toil could barely bring it back. How -could boats be made to go against the current? Everywhere and everywhere -inventive minds were puzzling over motors, paddles--duck-foot, -goose-foot, and elliptical,--wings and sails, side-wheels, -stern-wheels, and screws,--and steam was in the air. - -As the sun went down in lengthening shadows a purple haze suffused the -waters. Adown La Belle Rivičre, "the loveliest stream that ever -glistened to the moon," arose the evening cadence of the boatmen,-- - - "Some row up, but we row down, - All the way to Shawnee Town, - Pull away! Pull away! - Pull away to Shawnee Town." - -The crescent moon shone brightly on crag and stream and floating -forest, the air was mild and moist, the boat glided as in a dream, and -the mocking bird enchanted the listening silence. - -To Clark no Spring had ever seemed so beautiful. Sitting on deck with -Julia he could not forget that turbulent time when as a boy he first -plunged down these waters. Symbolic of his whole life it seemed, until -now the storm and stress of youth had calmed into the placid current -of to-day. The past,--the rough toil-hardened past of William -Clark,--fell away, and as under a lifted silken curtain he floated -into repose. The rough old life of camps and forts was gone forever. - -And to Julia, everything was new and strange,--La Belle Rivičre itself -whispered of Louisiana. Like an Alpine horn the bugle echoed the -dreamlife of the waters. - -The fiddles scraping, boatmen dancing, the smooth stream rolling -calmly through the forest, the girls who gathered on shore to see the -pageant pass, the river itself, momentarily lost to view, then leaping -again in Hogarth's line of beauty,--all murmured perpetual music. - -Then slumber fell upon the dancers, but still Clark and Julia sat -watching. From clouds of owls arose voices of the night, cries of -wolves reverberated on shore, the plaintive whippoorwill in the -foliage lamented to the moon, meteors rose from the horizon to sweep -majestically aloft and burst in a showering spray of gems below. - -The very heavens were unfamiliar. Awed, impressed, by the mysteries -around them, they slept. - -Before sun-up the mocking-bird called from the highest treetop and -continued singing until after breakfast, imitating the jay, the -cardinal, and the lapwing, then sailing away into a strain of his own -wild music. - -At the mouth of the Wabash arks were turning in to old Vincennes. -Below, broader grew the Ohio, unbroken forests still and twinkling -stars. Here and there arose the graceful catalpa in full flower, and -groves of cottonwoods so tall that at a distance one could fancy some -planter's mansion hidden in their depths. Amid these Eden scenes -appeared here and there the deserted cabin of some murdered woodman -whose secret only the Shawnee knew. - -Wild deer, crossing the Ohio, heard the bugle call, and throwing their -long branching antlers on their shoulders sank out of sight, swimming -under the water until the shore opened into the sheltering forest. - -At times the heavens were darkened with the flights of pigeons; there -was a song of the thrush and the echoing bellow of the big horned owl. -Wild turkeys crossed their path and wild geese screamed on their -journey to the lakes. - -One day the boats stopped, and before her Julia beheld the Mississippi -sweeping with irresistible pomp and wrath, tearing at the shores, -bearing upon its tawny bosom the huge drift of mount and meadow, whole -herds of drowned buffalo, trunks of forest trees and caved-in banks of -silt, leaping, sweeping seaward in the sun. Without a pause the -bridegroom river reached forth his brawny arm, and gathered in the -starry-eyed Ohio. Over his Herculean shoulders waved her silver -tresses, deep into his bosom passed her gentle transparency as the -twain made one swept to the honeymoon. - -All night Clark's bateau lay in a bend while York and the men kept off -the drift that seemed to set toward them in their little cove as -toward a magnet. - -On the 26th of May Governor Lewis received a letter from Clark asking -for help up the river. Without delay the Governor engaged a barge to -take their things to Bellefontaine and another barge to accommodate -the General, his family and baggage. - -Dispatching a courier over the Bellefontaine road, Governor Lewis sent -to Colonel Hunt a message, asking him to send Ensign Pryor to meet the -party. - -With what delight Clark and his bride saw the barges with Ensign Pryor -in charge, coming down from St. Louis. Then came the struggle up the -turbulent river. Clark was used to such things, but never before had -he looked on them with a bride at his side. With sails and oars and -cordelles all at once, skilled hands paddled and poled and stemmed the -torrent, up, up to the rock of the new levee. - -Thus the great explorer brought home his bride to St. Louis in that -never-to-be-forgotten May-time one hundred years ago. - - - - -V - -_A BRIDE IN ST. LOUIS_ - - -"An _Américaine_ bride, General Clark haf brought! She haf beeutiful -eyes! She haf golden hair!" The Creole ladies were in a flutter. - -"_Merci!_ She haf a carriage!" they cried, peeping from their -lattices. Governor Lewis himself had met the party at the shore, and -now in the first state coach St. Louis had ever seen, was driving -along the Rue de l'Église to Auguste Chouteau's. - -"_Merci!_ She haf maids enough!" whispered the gazers, as Rachel, -Rhody, Chloe, Sarah, brought up the rear with their mistress's -belongings. Then followed York, looking neither to the right nor the -left. He knew St. Louis was watching, and he delighted in the stir. - -The fame of the beauty of General Clark's American bride spread like -wild-fire. For months wherever she rode or walked admiring crowds -followed, eager to catch a glimpse of her face. Thickly swathed in -veils, Julia concealed her features from the public gaze, but that -only increased the interest. - -"She shall haf a party, une grande réception," said Pierre Chouteau, -and the demi-fortress was opened to a greater banquet than even at the -return of Lewis and Clark. - -Social St. Louis abandoned itself to gaiety. Dancing slippers were at -a premium, and all the gay silks that ever came up from New Orleans -were refurbished with lace and jewels. - -"They are beautiful women," said Julia that night. "I thought you told -me there were only Indians here." - -Clark laughed. "Wait until you walk in the streets." - -And sure enough, with the arrival of the beautiful Julia came also -certain Sacs and Iowas who had been scalping settlers within their -borders. With bolted handcuffs and leg shackles they were shut up in -the old Spanish martello tower. From the Chouteau house Julia could -see their cell windows covered with iron gratings and the guard pacing -to and fro. - -At the trial in the old Spanish garrison house on the hill the streets -swarmed with red warriors. - -"How far away St. Louis is from civilisation," remarked Julia. "We -seem in the very heart of the Indian country." - -"The Governor has organised the militia, and our good friend Auguste -Chouteau is their colonel," answered her husband, reassuringly. - -"Why these fortifications, these bastions and stone towers?" inquired -Julia, as they walked along the Rue. - -"They were built a long time ago for defences against the Indians. In -fact my brother defended St. Louis once against an Indian raid." - -"Tell me the story," cried Julia. And walking along the narrow streets -under the honey-scented locusts, Clark told Julia of the fight and -fright of 1780. - -"And was that when the Spanish lady was here?" - -"Yes." - -"And what became of her finally?" - -"She fled with the nuns to Cuba at the cession of New Orleans." - -Trilliums red and white, anemones holding up their shell-pink cups, -and in damp spots adder's tongues and delicate Dutchman's breeches, -were thick around them as they walked down by the old Chouteau Pond. -Primeval forests surrounded it, white-armed sycamores and thickets of -crab-apple. - -"This is the mill that makes bread for St. Louis. Everybody comes down -to Chouteau's mill for flour. It is so small I am not surprised that -they call St. Louis 'Pain Court'--'short of bread.' To-morrow the -washerwomen will be at the pond, boiling clothes in iron pots and -drying them on the hazel bushes." - -As they came back in the flush of evening all St. Louis had moved out -of doors. The wide galleries were filled with settees and tables and -chairs, and the neighbourly Creoles were visiting one another, and -greeting the passers-by. - -Sometimes the walk led over the hill to the Grand Prairie west of -town. The greensward waved in the breezes like a wheatfield in May. -Cabanné's wind-mill could be seen in the distance across the prairie -near the timber with its great wings fifty and sixty feet long flying -in the air like things of life. - -Cabanné the Swiss had married Gratiot's daughter. - -St. Louis weddings generally took place at Easter, so other brides and -grooms were walking there in those May days a hundred years ago. Night -and morning, as in Acadia, the rural population still went to and from -the fields with their cattle and carts and old-style wheel ploughs. - -In November Clark and his bride moved into the René Kiersereau cottage -on the Rue Royale. The old French House of René Kiersereau dated back -to the beginning of St. Louis. Built of heavy timbers and plastered -with rubble and mortar, it bade fair still to withstand the wear and -tear of generations. With a long low porch in front and rear, and a -fence of cedar pickets like a miniature stockade, it differed in no -respect from the other modest cottages of St. Louis. Back of the house -rushed the river; before it, locusts and lightning bugs flitted in the -summer garden. Beside the Kiersereau house Clark had his Indian office -in the small stone store of Alexis Marie. - -Into this little house almost daily came Meriwether Lewis, and every -moment that could be spared from pressing duties was engrossed in work -on the journals of the expedition. Sometimes Julia brought her harp -and sang. But into this home quiet were coming constant echoes of the -Indian world. - -"Settlers are encroaching on the Osage lands. We shall have trouble," -said Governor Lewis. Under an escort of a troop of cavalry Clark rode -out into the Indian country to make a treaty with the Osages. The -Shawnees and Delawares had been invited to settle near St. Louis to -act as a shield against the barbarous Osages. The Shawnees and -Delawares were opening little farms and gardens near Cape Girardeau, -building houses and trying to become civilised. But settlers had gone -on around them into the Osage wilderness. - -"I will establish a fort to regulate these difficulties," said the -General, and on his return Fort Osage was built. - -"Settlers are encroaching on our lands," came the cry from Sacs, -Foxes, and Iowas. Governor Lewis himself held a council with the -discontented tribes and established Fort Madison, the first United -States post up the Mississippi. - -But there were still Big White and his people not yet returned to the -Mandan country, and this was the most perplexing problem of all. - - - - -VI - -_THE FIRST FORT IN MONTANA_ - - -Manuel Lisa had enemies and ambition. These always go together. - -Scarcely had Clark and his bride settled at St. Louis before down from -the north came Manuel Lisa's boats, piled, heaped, and laden to the -gunwale edge with furs out of the Yellowstone. His triumphant guns -saluted Charette, St. Charles, St. Louis. He had run the gauntlet of -Sioux, Arikara, and Assiniboine. He had penetrated the Yellowstone and -established Fort Lisa at the mouth of the Bighorn in the very heart of -the Crow-land,--the first building in what is now Montana. - -"Dey say you cause de attack on Big White," buzzed a Frenchman in his -ear. Angry at such an imputation, the Spaniard hastened to Governor -Lewis. - -"I disclaim all responsibility for that disaster. The Arikaras fired -across my bow. I stopped. But I had my men-at-arms, my swivels ready. -I understood presents. I smoked the pipe of peace, with a musket in my -hand. Of course I passed. Even the Mandans fired on me, and the -Assiniboines. Should that dismay a trader?" - -Manuel Lisa, the successful, was now monarch of the fur trade. Even -his enemies capitulated. - -"If he is stern in discipline, the service demands it. He has gone -farther, dared more, accomplished more, and brought home more, than -any other. What a future for St. Louis! We must unite our forces." - -And so the city on the border reached out toward her destiny. Pierre -and Auguste Chouteau, William Clark and Reuben Lewis, locked fortunes -with the daring, indomitable Manuel Lisa. Pierre Menard, Andrew Henry, -and others, a dozen altogether, put in forty thousand dollars, -incorporating the Missouri Fur Company. Into the very heart of the -Rocky Mountains it was resolved to push, into those primeval beaver -meadows whither Lewis and Clark had led the way. - -"Abandon the timid methods of former trade,--plunge at once deep into -the wilderness," said Lisa; "ascend the Missouri to its utmost -navigable waters, and by establishing posts monopolise the trade of -the entire region." - -Already had Lisa dreamed of the Santa Fé,--now he looked toward the -Pacific. - -And now, too, was the time to send Big White back to the Mandans. -Under the convoy of two hundred and fifty people,--enlisted soldiers -and _engagés_, American hunters, Creoles, and Canadian voyageurs,--the -fur flotilla set sail with tons of traps and merchandise. - -As the flotilla pulled out, a tall gaunt frontiersman with two white -men and an Indian came pulling into St. Louis. Clark turned a second -time,--"Why, Daniel Boone!" - -"First rate! first rate!" Furrowed as a sage and tanned as a hunter, -with a firm hand-grasp, the old man stepped ashore. Two summers now -had Daniel Boone and his two sons brought down to St. Louis a cargo of -salt, manufactured by themselves at Boone's Lick, a discovery of the -old pioneer. - -"Any settlers comin'? We air prepared to tote 'em up." - -Ever a welcome guest to the home of General Clark, Daniel Boone strode -along to the cottage on the Rue. At sight of Julia he closed his eyes, -dazzled. - -"'Pears to me she looks like Rebecca." - -Never, since that day when young Boone went hunting deer in the Yadkin -forest and found Rebecca Bryan, a ruddy, flax-haired girl, had he -ceased to be her lover. And though years had passed and Rebecca had -faded, to him she was ever the gold-haired girl of the Yadkin. Poor -Rebecca! Hers had been a hard life in camp and cabin, with pigs and -chickens in the front yard and rain dripping through the roof. - -"Daniel!" she sometimes said, severely. - -"Wa-al, now Rebecca, thee knows I didn't have time to mend that air -leak in the ruff last summer; I war gone too long at the beaver. But -thee shall have a new house." And again the faithful Rebecca stuffed a -rag in the ceiling with her mop-handle and meekly went on baking -hoe-cake before the blazing forelog. - -Daniel had long promised a new house, but now, at last, he was really -going to build. For this he was studying St. Louis. - -A day looking at houses and disposing of his salt and beaver-skins, -and back he went, with a boatload of emigrants and a cargo of -school-books. Mere trappers came and went,--Boone brought settlers. -Pathfinder, judge, statesman, physician to the border, he now carried -equipments for the first school up the Missouri. - - - - -VII - -_A MYSTERY_ - - -Furs were piled everywhere, the furs that had been wont to go to -Europe,--otter, beaver, deer, and bear and buffalo. American ships, -that had sped like eagles on every sea, were threatened now by England -if they sailed to France, by France if they sailed to England. - -"If our ships, our sailors, our goods are to be seized, it is better -to keep them at home," said Jefferson. - -"War itself would be better than that," pled Gallatin. - -The whole world was taking sides in the cataclysm over the sea. -Napoleon recognised no neutrals. England recognised none. Denmark -tried it, and the British fleet burned Copenhagen. Ominously the -conflagration glimmered,--such might be the fate of any American -seaport. - -"If we must fight let us go with France," said some. "Napoleon will -guarantee us the cession of Canada and Nova Scotia." - -But Jefferson, carrying all before him, on Tuesday, December 22, -1807, signed an embargo act, shutting up our ships in our own -harbours. In six months commercial life-blood ceased to flow. Ships -rotted at the wharfs. Grass grew in the streets of Baltimore and -Boston. - -St. Louis traders tried to go over to Canada, but were stopped at -Detroit--"by that evil embargo." - -St. Louis withered. "De Meeseppi ees closed. Tees worse dan de -Spaniard!" - -This unpopularity of Jefferson cast Governor Lewis into deepest gloom. -The benevolent President's system of peaceable coercion was bringing -the country to the verge of rebellion. England cared not nor France, -and America was stifling with wheat, corn, and cattle, without a -market. - -Fur, fur,--the currency and standard of value in St. Louis was -valueless. Taxes even could no longer be paid in shaved deerskins. -Peltry bonds, once worth their weight in gold, had dropped to nothing. -Moths and mildew crept into the Chouteau warehouses. A few weeks more -and the fruits of Lisa's adventure would perish. - -Into the Clark home there had come an infant boy, "named Meriwether -Lewis," said the General, when the Governor came to look at the child. -Every day now he came to the cradle, for, weary with cares, the quiet -domestic atmosphere rested him. He moved his books and clothes, and -the modest little home on the Rue became the home of the Governor. -Beside the fire Julia stitched, stitched at dainty garments while the -General and the Governor worked on their journals. Now and then their -eyes strayed toward the sleeping infant. - -"This child is fairer than Sacajawea's at Clatsop," remarked Lewis. -"But it cries the same, and is liable to the same ills." - -"And did you name a river for Sacajawea, too?" laughed Julia. - -"Certainly, certainly, but the Governor's favourite river was named -Maria," slyly interposed Clark. - -A quick flush passed over the Governor's cheek. He had lately -purchased a three-and-a-half arpent piece of land north of St. Louis -for a home for his mother,--or was it for Maria? However, in June -Clark took Julia and the baby with him on a trip to Louisville, and -the same month Maria was married to somebody else. - -But on the Ohio the joyous activity had ceased. No longer the -boatman's horn rang over cliff and scar. Jefferson's embargo had -stagnated the waters. - -When General Clark returned to St. Louis in July he found his friend -still more embarrassed and depressed. - -"My bills are protested," said the Governor. "Here is one for eighteen -dollars rejected by the Secretary of the Treasury. This has given me -infinite concern, as the fate of others drawn for similar purposes -cannot be in doubt. Their rejection cannot fail to impress the public -mind unfavourably with respect to me." - -"And what are these bills for?" inquired Clark. - -"Expenses incurred in governing the territory," answered Lewis. - -General Clark did not have to look back many years to recall the wreck -of his brother on this same snag of protested bills, and exactly as -with George Rogers Clark the proud and sensitive heart of Meriwether -Lewis was cut to the core. - -"More painful than the rejection, is the displeasure which must arise -in the mind of the executive from my having drawn for public moneys -without authority. A third and not less embarrassing circumstance is -that my private funds are entirely incompetent to meet these bills if -protested." - -With the generosity of his nature Clark gave Lewis one hundred -dollars, and Lewis arranged as soon as possible to go to Washington -with his vouchers to see the President. - -With the courage of upright convictions, Governor Lewis contended with -the difficulties of his office, and in due course received the rest of -his protested bills. If he raged at heart he said little. If he spent -sleepless nights tossing, and communing with himself, he spoke no word -to those around him. Though the dagger pierced he made no sign. -Borrowing money of his friends as George Rogers Clark had done, he -met his bills as best he might. But his haggard face and evident -illness alarmed his friends. - -"You had better take a trip to the east," they urged. "You have -malarial fever." - -He decided to act on this suggestion, and with the journals of the -western expedition and his vouchers the Governor bade his friends -farewell and dropped down the river, intending to take a coasting -vessel to New Orleans and pass around to Washington by sea. - -But at the Chickasaw Bluffs, now Memphis, Lewis was ill. Moreover, -rumours of war were in the air. - -"These precious manuscripts that I have carried now for so many miles, -must not be lost," thought Lewis, "nor the vouchers of my public -accounts on which my honour rests. I will go by land through the -Chickasaw country." - -The United States agent with the Chickasaw Indians, Major Neely, -arriving there two days later, found Lewis still detained by illness. -"I must accompany and watch over him," he said, when he found that the -Governor was resolved to press on at all hazards. "He is very ill." - -One hundred years ago the Natchez trace was a new military road that -had been cut through the wilderness of Tennessee to the Spanish -country. Over this road the pony express galloped day and night and -pioneer caravans paused at nightfall at lonely wayside inns. Brigands -infested the forest, hard on the trail of the trader returning from -New Orleans with a pouch of Spanish silver in his saddlebags. - -Over that road Aaron Burr had travelled on his visit to Andrew Jackson -at Nashville, and on it Tecumseh was even now journeying to the tribes -of the south. - -"Two of the horses have strayed," was the servant's report at the end -of one day's journey. But even that could not delay the Governor. - -"I will wait for you at the house of the first white inhabitant on the -road," said Lewis, as Neely turned back for the lost roadsters. - -It was evening when the Governor arrived at Grinder's stand, the last -cabin on the borders of the Chickasaw country. - -"May I stay for the night?" he inquired of the woman at the door. - -"Come you alone?" she asked. - -"My servants are behind. Bring me some wine." - -Alighting and bringing in his saddle, the Governor touched the wine -and turned away. Pulling off his loose white blue-striped travelling -gown, he waited for his servants. - -The woman scanned her guest,--of elegant manners and courtly bearing, -he was evidently a gentleman. But a troubled look on his face, an -impatient walk to and fro, denoted something wrong. She listened,--he -was talking to himself. His sudden wheels and turns and strides -startled her. - -"Where is my powder? I am sure there was some powder in my canister," -he said to the servants at the door. - -After a mouthful of supper, he suddenly started up, speaking in a -violent manner, flushed and excited. Then, lighting his pipe, he sat -down by the cabin door. - -"Madame, this is a very pleasant evening." - -Mrs. Grinder noted the kindly tone, the handsome, haggard face, the -air of abstraction. Quietly he smoked for a time, then again he -flushed, arose excitedly, and stepped into the yard. There he began -pacing angrily to and fro. - -But again he sat down to his pipe, and again seemed composed. He cast -his eyes toward the west, that West, the scene of his toils and -triumphs. - -"What a sweet evening it is!" He had seen that same sun silvering the -northern rivers, gilding the peaks of the Rockies, and sinking into -the Pacific. It all came over him now, like a soothing dream, calming -the fevered soul and stilling its tumult. - -The woman was preparing the usual feather-bed for her guest. - -"I beg you, Madame, do not trouble yourself. Pernia, bring my -bearskins and buffalo robe." - -The skins and robe were spread on the floor and the woman went away to -her kitchen. The house was a double log cabin with a covered way -between. Such houses abound still in the Cumberland Mountains. - -"I am afraid of that man," said the woman in the kitchen, putting her -children in their beds. "Something is wrong. I cannot sleep." - -The servants slept in the barn. Neely had not come. Night came down -with its mysterious veil upon the frontier cabin. - -But still that heavy pace was heard in the other cabin. Now and then a -voice spoke rapidly and incoherently. - -"He must be a lawyer," said the woman in the kitchen. Suddenly she -heard the report of a pistol, and something dropped heavily to the -floor. There was a voice,--"O Lord!" - -Excited, peering into the night, the trembling woman listened. Another -pistol, and then a voice at her door,--"Oh, madame, give me some water -and heal my wounds!" - -Peering into the moonlight between the open unplastered logs, she saw -her guest stagger and fall. Presently he crawled back into the room. -Then again he came to the kitchen door, but did not speak. An empty -pail stood there with a gourd,--he was searching for water. Cowering, -terrified, there in the kitchen with her children the woman waited for -the light. - -At the first break of day she sent two of the children to the barn to -arouse the servants. And there, on his bearskins on the cabin floor, -they found the shattered frame of Meriwether Lewis, a bullet in his -side, a shot under his chin, and a ghastly wound in his forehead. - -"Take my rifle and kill me!" he begged. "I will give you all the money -in my trunk. I am no coward, but I am so strong,--so hard to die! Do -not be afraid of me, Pernia, I will not hurt you." - -And as the sun rose over the Tennessee trees, Meriwether Lewis was -dead, on the 11th of October, 1809. - - - - -VIII - -_A LONELY GRAVE IN TENNESSEE_ - - -A hero of his country was dead, the Governor of its largest -Territory,--dead, on his way to Washington, where fresh honours -awaited him,--dead, far from friends and kindred in a wild and -boundless forest. - -Did he commit suicide in a moment of aberration, or was he foully -murdered by an unknown hand on that 11th of October, 1809? President -Jefferson, who had observed signs of melancholy in him in early life, -favoured the idea of suicide, but in the immediate neighbourhood the -theory of murder took instant shape. Where was Joshua Grinder? Where -were those servants? Where was Neely himself? - -"I never for a moment entertained the thought of suicide," said his -mother, when she heard the news. "His last letter was full of hope. I -was to live with him in St. Louis." - -Of all men in the world why should Meriwether Lewis commit suicide? -The question has been argued for a hundred years and is to-day no -nearer solution than ever. - -"Old Grinder killed him and got his money," said the neighbours. "He -saw he was well dressed and evidently a person of distinction and -wealth." Grinder was arrested and tried but no proof could be secured. - -"Alarmed by his groans the robbers hid his pouch of gold coins in the -earth, with the intention of securing it later," said others. "They -never ventured to return,--it lies there, buried, to this day." And -the superstitions of the neighbourhood have invested the spot with the -weird fascination of Captain Kidd's treasure, or the buried box of -gold on Neacarney. - -"He was killed by his French servant," said the Lewis family. Later, -when Pernia visited Charlottesville and sent word to Locust Hill, -Meriwether's mother refused to see him. - -John Marks, half-brother of Meriwether Lewis, went immediately to the -scene of tragedy, but nothing more could be done or learned. -Proceeding to St. Louis, the estate was settled. - -When at last the trunks arrived at Washington they were found to -contain the journals, papers on the protested bills, and the -well-known spy-glass used by Lewis on the expedition. But there were -no valuables or money. - -Years after, Meriwether's sister and her husband unexpectedly met -Pernia on the streets of Mobile, and Mary recognised in his possession -the William Wirt watch and the gun of her brother. On demand they were -promptly surrendered. - -In the lonely heart of Lewis county, Tennessee, stands to-day a -crumbling gray stone monument with a broken shaft of limestone erected -by the State on the spot where, in the thirty-fifth year of his age, -Meriwether Lewis met his death. In solitude and desolation, moss -overlies his tomb, but his name lives on, brightening with the years. - - - - -IX - -_TRADE FOLLOWS THE FLAG_ - - -"_Bon jour_, Ms'ieu, you want to know where dat Captinne?" The polite -Creole lifted his cap. - -"'Pears now, maybe I heerd he wuz Guv'ner," said the keen-eyed trapper -thoughtfully. - -"Guff'ner Lewees ees det,--kilt heeself. Generale Clark leeves on de -Rue Royale, next de Injun office." - -In unkempt beard, hair shaggy as a horse's mane, and clothing all of -leather, the stranger climbed the rocky path, using the stock of his -gun for a staff. - -It did not take long to find the Indian office. With a dozen lounging -braves outside and a council within, sat William Clark, the Red Head -Chief. - -General Clark noted the shadow in the door that bright May morning. -Not in vain had these men faced the West together. - -"Bless me, it's Coalter! Where have you been? How did you come?" - -From the mountains, three thousand miles in thirty days, in a small -canoe, Coalter had come flying down the melting head-snows of the -Rockies. He was haggard with hunger and loss of sleep. - -Leading his old companion to the cottage, Clark soon had him -surrounded with the comforts of a civilised meal. Refreshed, gradually -the trapper unfolded his tale. - -When John Coalter left Lewis and Clark at the Mandan towns and went -back with Hancock and Dickson, in that Summer of 1806, they, the first -of white men, entered the Yellowstone Park of to-day. In the Spring, -separating from his companions, Coalter set out for St. Louis in a -solitary canoe. At the mouth of the Platte he met Manuel Lisa and -Drouillard coming up. And with them, John Potts, another of the Lewis -and Clark soldiers. On the spot Coalter re-enlisted and returned a -third time to the wilderness. - -Such a man was invaluable to that first venture in the north. After -Lisa had stockaded his fort at the mouth of the Bighorn, he sent -Coalter to bring the Indians. Alone he set out with gun and knapsack, -travelled five hundred miles, and brought in his friends the Crows. -That laid the foundation of Lisa's fortune. - -When Lisa came down with his furs in the Spring, Coalter and Potts -with traps on their backs set out for the beaver-meadows of the Three -Forks, the Madison, the Jefferson, and the Gallatin. - -"We knew those Blackfoot sarpints would spare no chance to skelp us," -said Coalter, "so we sot our traps by night an' tuk 'em afore -daylight. Goin' up a creek six miles from the Jefferson, examinin' our -traps one mornin', on a suddent we heerd a great noise. But the banks -wuz high an' we cudn't see. - -"'Blackfeet, Potts. Let's retreat,' sez I. - -"'Blackfut nuthin'. Ye must be a coward. Thet's buffaloes,' sez Potts. -An' we kep' on. - -"In a few minutes five or six hunderd Injuns appeared on both sides uv -the creek, beckonin' us ashore. I saw 't warnt no use an' turned the -canoe head in. - -"Ez we touched, an Injun seized Potts' rifle. I jumped an' grabbed an' -handed it back to Potts in the canoe. He tuk it an' pushed off. - -"An' Injun let fly an arrer. Jest ez I heard it whizz, Potts cried, -'Coalter, I'm wounded.' - -"'Don't try to get off, Potts, come ashore,' I urged. But no, he -levelled his rifle and shot a Blackfoot dead on the spot. Instanter -they riddled Potts,--dead, he floated down stream. - -"Then they seized and stripped me. I seed 'em consultin'. - -"'Set 'im up fer a target,' said some. I knew ther lingo, lernt it -'mongst the Crows, raound Lisa's fort, at the Bighorn. But the chief -asked me, 'Can ye run fast?' - -"'No, very bad runner,' I answered." - -Clark smiled. Well he remembered Coalter as the winner in many a -racing bout. - -"The chief led me aout on the prairie, 'Save yerself ef ye can.' - -"Et thet instant I heerd, 'Whoop-ahahahahah-hooh!' like ten thousand -divils, an' I _flew_. - -"It wuz six miles to the Jefferson; the graound wuz stuck like a -pinquishen with prickly-pear an' sand burrs, cuttin' my bare feet, but -I wuz half acrosst before I ventured to look over the shoulder. The -sarpints ware pantin' an' fallin' behind an' scatterin'. But one with -a spear not more'n a hunderd yeards behind was gainin'. - -"I made another bound,--blood gushed from my nostrils. Nearer, nearer -I heerd his breath and steps, expectin' every minute to feel thet -spear in my back. - -"Agin I looked. Not twenty yeards behind he ran. On a suddint I -stopped, turned, and spread my arms. The Blackfoot, astonished at the -blood all over my front, perhaps, tried to stop but stumbled an' fell -and broke his spear. I ran back, snatched the point, and pinned him to -the earth. - -"The rest set up a hidjus yell. While they stopped beside ther fallen -comrade, almost faintin' I ran inter the cottonwoods on the borders uv -the shore an' plunged ento the river. - -"Diving under a raft of drift-timber agin the upper point of a little -island, I held my head up in a little opening amongst the trunks of -trees covered with limbs and brushwood. - -"Screechin', yellin' like so many divils, they come onto the island. -Thro' the chinks I seed 'em huntin', huntin', huntin', all day long. I -only feared they might set the raft on fire. - -"But at night they gave it up; the voices grew faint and fer away; I -swam cautiously daown an' acrost, an' landin' travelled all night. - -"But I wuz naked. The broilin' sun scorched my skin, my feet were -filled with prickly-pears, an' I wuz hungry. Game, game plenty on the -hills, but I hed no gun. It was seven days to Lisa's fort on the -Bighorn. - -"I remembered the Injun turnip that Sacajawea found in there, an' -lived on it an' sheep sorrel until I reached Lisa's fort, blistered -from head to heel." - -As in a vision the General saw it all. Judy's eyes were filled with -tears. Through the Gallatin, the Indian Valley of Flowers, where -Bozeman stands to-day, the lonely trapper had toiled in the July sun -and over the Bozeman Pass, whither Clark's cavalcade had ridden two -summers before. - -Six years now had Coalter been gone from civilisation, but he had -discovered the Yellowstone Park. No one in St. Louis would believe his -stories of hot water spouting in fountains, "Coalter's Hell," but -William Clark traced his route on the map that he sent for -publication. - -John Coalter now received his delayed reward for the -expedition,--double pay and three hundred acres of land,--and went up -to find Boone at Charette. - -"What! Pierre Menard!" Another boat had come out of the north. -General Clark grasped the horny hand of the fur trader. "What luck?" - -"Bad, bad," gloomily answered the trader with a shake of his flowing -mane. "Drouillard is dead, and the rest are likely soon to be." - -"What do you mean?" - -"Blackfeet!" - -Clark guessed all, even before he heard the full details behind locked -doors of the Missouri Fur Company at the warehouse of Pierre Chouteau. - -"As you knew," began Menard, "we spent last winter at Fort Lisa on the -Bighorn. When Lisa started down here in March we packed our traps on -horses, crossed to the Three Forks, and built a double stockade of -logs at the confluence of the rivers. Every night the men came in with -beaver, beaver, beaver. We confidently expected to bring down not less -than three hundred packs this fall but that hope is shattered. On the -12th of April our men were ambuscaded by Blackfeet. Five were killed. -All their furs, traps, horses, guns, and equipments are without doubt -by this time at Fort Edmonton on the Saskatchewan." - -"But you expected to visit the Snakes and Flatheads," suggested one to -rouse the despondent trader from his revery. - -"I did. And the object was to obtain a Blackfoot prisoner if possible -in order to open communication with his tribe. They are the most -unapproachable Indians we have known. They refuse all overtures. - -"Just outside the fort Drouillard was killed. A high wind was blowing -at the time, so he was not heard, but the scene of the conflict -indicated a desperate defence. - -"Despair seized our hunters. They refused to go out. Indeed, it was -impossible to go except in numbers, so Henry and I concluded it was -best to report. I set out by night, and here I am, with these men and -thirty packs of beaver. God pity poor Henry at the Three Forks!" - -Thus at one blow were shattered the high hopes of the Missouri Fur -Company. All thought of Andrew Henry, tall, slender, blue-eyed, -dark-haired, a man that spoke seldom, but of great deeds. Would he -survive a winter among the Blackfeet? - -But there was another cause of disquiet to the Missouri Fur Company. - -"Have you heard of John Jacob Astor?" - -"What?" - -"He has gone with Wilson Price Hunt to Montreal to engage men for an -expedition to the Columbia." - -"What, Hunt who kept an Indian shop here on the Rue?" They all knew -him. He had come to St. Louis in 1804 and become an adept in -outfitting. - -Two or three times Astor had offered to buy stock in the Missouri Fur -Company but had been refused. Jefferson himself had recommended him to -Lewis. Now he was carrying trade into the fur country over their -heads. Already he had a great trade on the lakes, and to the -headwaters of the Mississippi. He had profited by the surrender of -Detroit and Mackinaw. Another stride took him to the Falls of St. -Anthony; and now, along the trail of Lewis and Clark he planned to be -first on the Pacific. With ships by sea and caravans by land, he could -at last accomplish the wished-for trade to China. - -"But I, too, planned the Pacific trade," said Manuel Lisa, coming down -in the Autumn. There was some jealousy that a New York man should be -first to follow the trail to the sea. - -The winter was one of anxiety, for Astor's men had arrived in St. -Louis and had gone up the Missouri to camp until Spring. Anxiety, too, -for Andrew Henry, out there alone in the Blackfoot country. - -Could they have been gifted with sufficient sight, the partners in St. -Louis might even then have seen the brave Andrew Henry fighting for -his life on that little tongue of land between the Madison and the -Jefferson. No trapping could be done. It was dangerous to go any -distance from the fort except in large parties. Fearing the entire -destruction of his little band, Henry moved across the mountains into -the Oregon country, and wintered on what is now Henry's Fork of the -river Snake, the first American stronghold on the Columbia. - -"We must exterminate Hunt's party," said Manuel Lisa. - -"No," said Pierre Chouteau. "Next year he will send again and again, -and in time will exterminate us. Your duty will be to protect his men -on the water, and may God Almighty have mercy on them in the -mountains, for they will never reach their destination." - -From his new home at Charette John Coalter saw Astor's people going -by, bound for the Columbia. To his surprise they inquired for him. - -"General Clark told us you were the best informed man in the country." - -Coalter told them of the hostility of the Blackfeet and the story of -his escape. He longed to return with them to the mountains, but he had -just married a squaw and he decided to stay. Moreover, a twinge in his -limbs warned him that that plunge in the Jefferson had given him -rheumatism for life. - -Daniel Boone, standing on the bank at Charette when Hunt went by, came -down and examined their outfit. "Jist returned from my traps on the -Creek," he said, pointing to sixty beaver skins. - -Tame beavers and otters, caught on an island opposite Charette Creek, -were playing around his cabin. And his neighbours had elk and deer and -buffalo, broken to the yoke. - -Several seasons had Boone with his old friend Calloway trapped on the -Kansas; now he longed for the mountains. - -"Another year and I, too, will go to the Yellowstone," said Daniel -Boone. - -"Andrew Henry must be rescued. His situation is desperate. He may be -dead," said General Clark, President of the Missouri Fur Company at -St. Louis. - -Three weeks behind Hunt, Lisa set out in a swift barge propelled by -twenty oars, with a swivel on the bow and two blunderbusses in the -cabin. Lisa had been a sea-captain,--he rigged his boat with a good -mast, mainsail and topsail, and led his men with a ringing boat-song. - -Then followed a keelboat race of a thousand miles up the Missouri. -June 2 Lisa caught up with Hunt near the present Bismarck, and met -Andrew Henry coming down with forty packs of beaver. - -To avoid the hostile Blackfeet, Hunt bought horses and crossed through -the Yellowstone-Crow country to the abandoned fort of Henry on the -Snake, and on to the Columbia. - -Aboard that barge with Lisa went Sacajawea. True to her word, she had -brought the little Touissant down to St. Louis, where Clark placed him -with the Catholic sisters to be trained for an interpreter. Sacajawea -was dressed as a white woman; she had quickly adopted their manners -and language; but, in the words of a chronicler who saw her there, -"she had become sickly, and longed to revisit her native country. Her -husband also had become wearied of civilised life." - -So back they went to the Minnetarees, bearing pipes from Clark to the -chiefs. Five hundred dollars a year Charboneau now received as Indian -agent for the United States. For more than thirty years he held his -post, and to this day his name may be traced in the land of Dakota. - -We can see Sacajawea now, startled and expectant, her heart beating -like a trip-hammer under her bodice, looking at Julia! No dreams of -her mountains had ever shown such sunny hair, such fluffs of curls, -like moonrise on the water. And that diaphanous cloud,--was it a -dress? No Shoshone girl ever saw such buckskin, finer than blossom of -the bitter-root. - -"I am come," said Sacajawea. - -A whole year she had tarried among the whites, quickly accommodating -herself to their ways. But in the level St. Louis she dreamed of her -northland, and now she was going home! - - - - -X - -_TECUMSEH_ - - -"It is madness to contend against the whites," said Black Hoof, chief -of the Shawnees. "The more we fight the more they come." - -He had led raids against Boonsboro, watched the Ohio, and sold scalps -at Detroit. Three times his town was burnt behind him, twice by Clark -and once by Wayne. Then he gave up, signed the treaty at Greenville, -and for ever after kept the peace. Now he was living with a band of -Shawnees at Cape Girardeau, and made frequent visits to his old -friend, Daniel Boone. - -Indian Phillips was with those who besieged Boonsboro. Phillips was a -white man stolen as a child who had always lived with the Shawnees. To -him Daniel Boone was the closest of friends. They hunted together and -slept together. Boone took Phillips' bearskins and sold them with his -own in St. Louis. - -"If I should die while I am out with you, Phillips, you must mark my -grave and tell the folks so they can carry me home." - -Long after those Indians in the West had welcomed Boone's sons, an old -squaw said, "I was an adopted sister during his captivity with the -Ohio Indians." - -Sometimes Boone went over to Cape Girardeau, and sat with his friends -talking over old times. - -"Do you remember, Dan," Phillips would say, "when we had you prisoner -at Detroit? You remember the British traders gave you a horse and -saddle and Black Fish adopted you, and you and he made an agreement -you would lead him to Boonsboro and make them surrender and bury the -tomahawk, and live like brothers and sisters?" - -"Yes, I remember," said Boone, smiling at the recollection of those -arts of subterfuge. - -"Do you remember one warm day when Black Fish said, 'Dan, the corn is -in good roasting ears. I would like to have your horse and mine in -good condition before we start to Boonsboro. We need a trough to feed -them in. I will show you a big log that you can dig out.' Black Fish -led you to a big walnut log. You worked a while and then lay down. -Black Fish came and said, 'Well, Dan, you haven't done much.' - -"'No,' you answered, 'you and your squaw call me your son, but you -don't love me much. When I am at home I don't work this way,--I have -negroes to work for me.' - -"'Well,' said Black Fish, 'come to camp and stay with your brothers.'" - -Quietly the two old men chuckled together. Boone always called Black -Fish, father, and when he went hunting brought the choicest bit to the -chief. - -But now Boone's visits to Girardeau were made with a purpose. - -"What is Tecumseh doing?" - -"Tecumseh? He says no tribe can sell our lands. He refuses to move out -of Ohio." - -Old Black Hoof had pulled away from Tecumseh. The Shooting Star -refused to attend Wayne's treaty at Greenville. In 1805 he styled -himself a chief, and organised the young blood of the Shawnees into a -personal band. - -About this time Tecumseh met Rebecca Galloway, whose father, James -Galloway, had moved over from Kentucky to settle near Old Chillicothe. -At the Galloway hearth Tecumseh was ever a welcome guest. - -"Teach me to read the white man's book," said Tecumseh to the fair -Rebecca. - -With wonderful speed the young chief picked up the English alphabet. -Hungry for knowledge, he read and read and Rebecca read to him. -Thereafter in his wonderful war and peace orations, Tecumseh used the -language of his beloved Rebecca. For, human-like, the young chief lost -his heart to the white girl. Days went by, dangerous days, while -Rebecca was correcting Tecumseh's speech, enlarging his English -vocabulary, and reading to him from the Bible. - -"Promise me, Tecumseh, never, never will you permit the massacre of -helpless women and children after capture." Tecumseh promised. - -"And be kind to the poor surrendered prisoner." - -"I will be kind," said Tecumseh. - -But time was fleeting,--game was disappearing,--Tecumseh was an -Indian. His lands were slipping from under his feet. - -It was useless to speak to the fair Rebecca. Terrified at the fire she -had kindled, she saw him no more. Enraged, wrathful, he returned to -his band. Tecumseh never loved any Indian woman. A wife or two he -tried, then bade them "Begone!" - -When Lewis and Clark returned from the West, Tecumseh and his brother, -the Prophet, were already planning a vast confederation to wipe out -the whites. - -Jefferson heard of these things. - -"He is visionary," said the President, and let him go on unmolested. - -"The Seventeen Fires are cheating us!" exclaimed Tecumseh. "The -Delawares, Miamis, and Pottawattamies have sold their lands! The Great -Spirit gave the land to all the Indians. No tribe can sell without the -consent of all. The whites have driven us from the sea-coast,--they -will shortly push us into the Lakes." - -The Governor-General of Canada encouraged him. Then came rumours of -Indian activity. Like the Hermit of old, Tecumseh went out to rouse -the redmen in a crusade against the whites. Still Jefferson paid no -heed. - -About the time that Clark and his bride came down the Ohio, the -distracted Indians were swarming on Tippecanoe Creek, a hundred miles -from Fort Dearborn, the future Chicago. All Summer, whisperings came -into St. Louis, "Tecumseh is persuading the Sacs, Foxes, and Osages to -war." - -"I will meet the Sacs and Foxes," said Lewis. - -Clark went out and quieted the Osages. Boone's son and Auguste -Chouteau went with him. - -"The Great Spirit bids you destroy Vincennes and sweep the Ohio to the -mouth," was the Prophet's reported advice to the Chippewas. - -"Give up our land and buy no more, and I will ally with the United -States," said Tecumseh to General Harrison at Vincennes, in August of -1809. - -"It cannot be," said Harrison. - -"Then I will make war and ally with England," retorted the defiant -chieftain. - -The frontier had much to fear from an Indian war. More and more -vagrant red men hovered around St. Louis,--Sacs, Foxes, Osages, who -had seen Tecumseh. The Illinois country opposite swarmed with them, -making raids on the farmers, killing stock, stealing horses. Massacres -and depredations began. - -"'Tis time to fortify," said Daniel Boone to his sons and neighbours. - -In a little while nine forts had been erected in St. Charles county -alone, and every cabin was stockaded. The five stockades at Boone's -Lick met frequent assaults. Black Hawk was there, the trusted -lieutenant of Tecumseh. The whole frontier became alarmed. - -Then Manuel Lisa came down the river. - -"The British are sending wampum to the Sioux. All the Missouri nations -are urged to join the confederacy." - -In fact, the Prophet with his mystery fire was visiting all the -northwest tribes, even the Blackfeet. Ten thousand Indians promised to -follow him back. Dressed in white buckskin, with eagle feathers in his -hair, Tecumseh, on a spirited black pony, came to Gomo and Black -Partridge on Peoria Lake in the summer of 1810. - -"I cannot join you," said Black Partridge, the Pottawattamie, holding -up a silver medal. "This token was given to me at Greenville by the -great chief [Wayne]. On it you see the face of our father at -Washington. As long as this hangs on my neck I can never raise my -tomahawk against the whites." - -Gomo refused. "Long ago the Big Knife [George Rogers Clark] came to -Kaskaskia and sent for the chiefs of this river. We went. He desired -us to remain still in our own villages, saying that the Americans -were able, of themselves, to fight the British." - -"Will anything short of the complete conquest of the Canadas enable us -to prevent their influence on our Indians?" asked Governor Edwards of -Illinois. Edwards and Clark planned together for the protection of the -frontier. - -In July, 1811, Tecumseh went to Vincennes and held a last stormy -interview with Harrison without avail. Immediately he turned south to -the Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Seminoles. They watched him with -kindling eyes. - -"Brothers, you do not mean to fight!" thundered Tecumseh to the -hesitating Creeks. "You do not believe the Great Spirit has sent me. -You shall know. From here I go straight to Detroit. When I arrive -there I shall stamp on the ground, and shake down every house in this -village." - -As Tecumseh strode into the forest the terrified Creeks watched. They -counted the days. Then came the awful quaking and shaking of the New -Madrid earthquake. - -"Tecumseh has reached Detroit! Tecumseh has reached Detroit!" cried -the frantic Creeks, as their wigwams tumbled about them. - -Tecumseh was coming leisurely up among the tribes of Missouri, -haranguing Black Hoof at Cape Girardeau, Osages, and Kickapoos, and -Iowas at Des Moines. - -But Tippecanoe had been fought and lost. - -"There is to be an attack," said George Rogers Clark Floyd, tapping at -the door of Harrison's tent at three o'clock in the morning of -November 7, 1811. Harrison sprang to his horse and with him George -Croghan and John O'Fallon. - -It was a battle for possession. Every Indian trained by Tecumseh knew -his country depended upon it. Every white knew he must win or the log -cabin must go. In the darkness and rain the combatants locked in the -death struggle of savagery against civilisation. Tecumseh reached the -Wabash to find the wreck of Tippecanoe. - -"Wretch!" he cried to his brother, "you have ruined all!" Seizing the -Prophet by the hair, Tecumseh shook him and beat him and cuffed him -and almost killed him, then dashed away to Canada and offered his -tomahawk to Great Britain. - -"The danger is not over," said Clark after Harrison's battle. - -To save as many Indians as possible from the machinations of Tecumseh, -immediately after Tippecanoe Clark summoned the neighbouring tribes to -a council at St. Louis. Over the winter snows the runners sped, -calling them in for a trip to Washington. - -It was May of 1812 when Clark got together his chiefs of the Great and -Little Osages, Sacs, Foxes, Shawnees, and Delawares. - -"Ahaha! Great Medicine!" whispered the Indians, when General Clark -discovered their wily plans. - -Nothing could be hid from the Red Head Chief. Feared and beloved, none -other could better have handled the inflammable tribes at that moment. -Old chiefs among them remembered his brother of the Long Knives, and -looked upon this Clark as his natural successor. And the General took -care not to dispel this fancy, but on every occasion strengthened and -deepened it. - -Never before in St. Louis had Indians been watched so strenuously. -Moody, taciturn, repelling familiarity, they bore the faces of men who -knew secrets. Tecumseh had whispered in their ear. "Shall we listen to -Tecumseh?" They were wavering. - -Cold, impassively stoic, they heeded no question when citizens -impelled by curiosity or friendly feeling endeavoured to draw them -into conversation. If pressed too closely, the straight forms lifted -still more loftily, and wrapping their blankets closer about them the -council chiefs strode contemptuously away. - -But if Clark spoke, every eye was attention. - -"Before we go," said Clark, "I advise you to make peace with one -another and bury the hatchet." - -They did, and for the most part kept it for ever. - -It was May 5 when Clark started with his embassy of ninety chiefs to -see their "Great God, the President," as they called Madison, -following the old trail to Vincennes, Louisville, and Pittsburg. Along -with them went a body-guard of soldiers, and also Mrs. Clark, her -maids, and the two little boys, on the way to Fincastle. Mrs. Clark's -especial escort was John O'Fallon, nineteen years of age, aide to -Harrison at Tippecanoe, who had come to his uncle at St. Louis -immediately after the battle. - -In their best necklaces of bears' claws the chiefs arrived at -Washington. War had been declared against Great Britain. There was a -consultation with the President. - -"We, too, have declared war," announced the redmen, as they strode -with Clark from the White House. But Black Hawk of the Rock River Sacs -was not there. He had followed Tecumseh. - -About the same time, on the eastern bank of the Detroit river Tecumseh -was met by anxious Ohio chiefs who remembered Wayne. - -"Let us remain neutral," they pleaded. "This is the white man's war." - -Tecumseh shook his tomahawk above the Detroit. "My bones shall bleach -on this shore before I will join in any council of neutrality." - -"The Great Father over the Big Water will never bury his war-club -until he quiets these troublers of the earth," said General Brock to -Tecumseh's redmen. Then came larger gifts than ever from "their -British Father." - -"War is declared! Go," said Tecumseh, "cut off Fort Dearborn before -they hear the news!" Two emissaries from Tecumseh came flying into the -Illinois. - -That night the Indians started for Chicago on her lonely lake. Black -Partridge mounted his pony and tried to dissuade them. He could not. -Then spurring he reached Fort Dearborn first. With tears he threw down -his medal before the astonished commander. - -"My young men have gone on the warpath. Here is your medal. I will not -wear an emblem of friendship when I am compelled to act as an enemy." - -Before the sun went down the shores of Lake Michigan were red with the -blood of men, women, and children. Like the Rhine of old France, the -lakes were still the fighting border. - -President Madison felt grateful to Clark for the step he had taken -with the Indians. - -"Will you command the army at Detroit?" - -"I can do more for my country by attending to the Indians," was the -General's modest reply. - -The country waited to hear that Hull had taken Upper Canada. Instead -the shocked nation heard, "_Hull has surrendered_!" - -"Hull has surrendered!" - -Runners flew among the Indians to the remotest border,--the Creeks -heard it before their white neighbours. Little Crow and his Sioux -snatched up the war hatchet. Detroit had fallen with Tecumseh and -Brock at the head of the Anglo-Indian army. - -"We shall drive these Americans back across the Ohio," said General -Brock. - -At this, the old and popular wish of the Lake Indians, large numbers -threw aside their scruples and joined in the war that followed. - -In December General Clark was appointed Governor of the newly -organised territory of Missouri. - -Meanwhile in the buff and blue stage coach, a huge box mounted on -springs, Julia and her children were swinging toward Fotheringay. The -air was hot and dusty, the leather curtains were rolled up to catch -the slightest breeze, and the happy though weary occupants looked out -on the Valley of Virginia. - -Forty miles a day the coach horses travelled, leaving them each -evening a little nearer their destination. The small wayside inns -lacked comforts, but such as they were our travellers accepted -thankfully. Now and then the post-rider blew his horn and dashed by -them, or in the heat of the day rode leisurely in the shade of poplars -along the road, furtively reading the letters of his pack as he paced -in the dust. - -And still over the mountains were pouring white-topped Conestoga -waggons, careening down like boats at sea, laden with cargoes of -colonial ware, pewter, and mahogany. The golden age of coaching times -had come, and magnificent horses, dappled grays and bays in -scarlet-fringed housings and jingling bells, seemed bearing away the -world on wheels. - -To the new home Julia was coming, at Fotheringay. - -Before the coach stopped Julia perceived through enshrining trees -Black Granny standing in the wide hallway. Throwing up her apron over -her woolly head to hide the tears of joy,-- - -"Laws a-honey! Miss Judy done come hum!" - -"Fotheringay!" sang out the dusty driver with an unusual flourish of -whip-lash and echo-waking blast of the postillion's horn. In a trice -the steps were down, and surrounded by babies and bandboxes, brass -nail-studded hair trunks and portmanteaus of pigskin, "Miss Judy" was -greeted by the entire sable population of Fotheringay. Light-footed as -a girl she ran forward to greet her father, Colonel Hancock. The -Colonel hastened to his daughter,-- - -"Hull has surrendered," he said. - - - - -XI - -_CLARK GUARDS THE FRONTIER_ - - -The Indian hunt was over; they were done making their sugar; the women -were planting corn. The warriors hid in the thick foliage of the river -borders, preparing for war. - -"Madison has declared war against England!" - -The news was hailed with delight. Now would end this frightful -suspense. In Illinois alone, fifteen hundred savages under foreign -machinations held in terror forty thousand white people,--officers and -soldiers of George Rogers Clark and others who had settled on the -undefended prairies. - -"Detroit has fallen!" - -"Mackinac is gone!" - -"The savages have massacred the garrison at Fort Dearborn!" - -"They are planning to attack the settlements on the Mississippi. If -the Sioux join the confederacy--" cheeks paled at the possibility. - -The greatest body of Indians in America resided on the Mississippi. -Who could say at what hour the waters would resound with their whoops? -Thousands of them could reach St. Louis or Cahokia from their homes in -five or six days. Immense quantities of British gifts were coming from -the Lakes to the Indians at Peoria, Rock Island, Des Moines. - -"Yes, we shall attack when the corn is ripe," said the Indians at Fort -Madison. - -"Unless I hear shortly of more assistance than a few rangers I shall -bury my papers in the ground, send my family off, and fight as long as -possible," said Edwards, the Governor of Illinois. - -In Missouri, surrounded by Pottawattamies, champion horsethieves of -the frontier, and warlike Foxes, Iowas, and Kickapoos, the settlers -ploughed their fields with sentinels on guard. Horns hung at their -belts to blow as a signal of danger. In the quiet hour by the -fireside, an Indian would steal into the postern gate and shoot the -father at the hearth, the mother at her evening task. - -Presently the settlers withdrew into the forts, unable to raise crops. -With corn in the cabin loft, the bear hunt in the fall, the turkey -hunt at Christmas, and venison hams kept over from last year, still -there was plenty. - -Daniel Boone, the patriarch of about forty families, ever on the -lookout with his long thin eagle face, ruled by advice and example. -The once light flaxen hair was gray, but even yet Boone's step was -springy as the Indian's, as gun in hand he watched around the forts. - -Maine, Montana, each has known it all, the same running fights of -Kentucky and Oregon. Woe to the little children playing outside the -forted village,--woe to the lad driving home the cows,--woe to the -maid at milking time. - -The alarm was swelled by Quas-qua-ma, a chief of the Sacs, a very -pacific Indian and friend of the whites, who came by night to bring -warning and consult Clark. In his search Quas-qua-ma tip-toed from -porch to porch. Frightened habitants peered through the shutters. - -"What ees wanted?" - -"The Red Head Chief." - -But Clark had not arrived. - -"We must take this matter into our own hands," said the people. -"British and Indians came once from Mackinac. They may again." - -"Mackinac? They are at Fort Madison now, murdering our regulars and -rangers. How long since they burned our boats and cargoes at Fort -Bellevue? Any day they may drop down on St. Louis." - -"We must fortify." - -"The old bastions may be made available for service." - -"The old Spanish garrison tower must be refitted for the women and -children." - -Such were the universal conclusions. Men went up the river to the -islands to bring down logs. Another party set to work to dig a wide, -deep ditch for a regular stockade. - -When Clark arrived to begin his duties as Territorial Governor he -found St. Louis bordering on a state of panic. There was the -cloud-shadow of the north. Below, one thousand Indians, Cherokees, -Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Catawbas on a branch of the Arkansas -within three days' journey of Saint Genevieve were crossing the river -at Chickasaw Bluffs. Tecumseh's belts of wampum were flying -everywhere. - -In their best necklaces of bears' claws Clark's ninety chiefs came -home, laden with tokens of esteem. Civilised military dress had -succeeded the blanket; the wild fierce air was gone. - -"We have declared war against Kinchotch [King George]," said the proud -chiefs, taking boat to keep their tribes quiet along the west. - -A sense of security returned to St. Louis. Would they not act as a -barrier to tribes more remote? The plan for local fortification was -abandoned, but a cordon of family blockhouses was built from -Bellefontaine to Kaskaskia, a line seventy-five miles in length, along -which the rangers rode daily, watching the red marauders of Illinois. -The Mississippi was picketed with gunboats. - -"Whoever holds Prairie du Chien holds the Upper Mississippi," said -Governor Clark. "I will go there and break up that rendezvous of -British and Indians." - -Who better than Clark knew the border and the Indian? He could ply the -oar, or level the rifle, or sleep at night on gravel stones. - -"It requires time and a little smoking with Indians if you wish to -have peace with them." - -As soon as possible a gunboat, the _Governor Clark_, and several -smaller boats, manned with one hundred and fifty volunteers and sixty -regular troops, went up into the hostile country. Fierce Sacs glared -from Rock Island, Foxes paused in their lead digging at Dubuque's -mines,--lead for British cannon. - -Although on Missouri territory, Prairie du Chien was still occupied by -Indians and traders to the exclusion of Americans. Six hundred, seven -hundred miles above St. Louis, a little red bird whispered up the -Mississippi, "Long Knives coming!" The traders retired. - -"Whoever enjoys the trade of the Indians will have control of their -affections and power," said Clark. "Too long have we left this point -unfortified." - -A great impression had been made on the savages by the liberality of -the British traders. Their brilliant red coats--"Eenah! eenah! -eenamah!" exclaimed the Sioux. - -But now the Long Knives! Wabasha, son of Wabasha of the Revolution, -remembered the Long Knives. When Clark arrived at Prairie du Chien -Wabasha refused to fight him. Red Wing came down to the council. Upon -his bosom Rising Moose proudly exhibited a medal given him by Captain -Pike in 1805. The Indians nicknamed him "Tammaha, the Pike." - -Twenty-five leagues above Tammaha's village lived Wabasha, and -twenty-five above Wabasha, the Red Wing, all great chiefs of the -Sioux, all very friendly now to the Long Knife who had come up in his -gunboat. - -Since time immemorial Wabasha had been a friend of the British, twice -had he, the son of Wabasha I., been to Quebec and received flags and -medals. But now he remembered Captain Pike who visited their northern -waters while Lewis and Clark were away at the west. Grasping the hand -of Clark,-- - -"We have the greatest friendship for the United States," said the -chiefs,--all except Little Crow. He was leading a war party to the -Lakes. - -Leaving troops to erect a fort and maintain a garrison at the old -French Prairie du Chien, Governor Clark returned to his necessary -duties at St. Louis. Behind on the river remained the gunboat to guard -the builders. - -"A fort at the Prairie?" cried the British traders at Mackinac. "That -cuts off our Dakota trade." And forthwith an expedition was raised to -capture the garrison. - -Barely was the rude fortification completed before a force of British -and Chippewas were marching upon it. - -"I will not fight the Big Knives any more," said Red Wing. - -"Why?" asked the traders. - -"The lion and the eagle fight. Then the lion will go home and leave us -to the eagle." Red Wing was famed for foretelling events at Prairie du -Chien. - -In June Manuel Lisa came down the Missouri. - -"De Arrapahoe, Arikara, Gros Ventre, and Crow are at war wit' de -American. De British Nort'west traders embroil our people wit' de -sauvages to cut dem off!" - -"We must extend the posts of St. Louis to the British border," -cautioned Clark to Lisa. "And if necessary arm the Yanktons and Omahas -against the Sacs and Iowas. I herewith commission you, Lisa, my -especial sub-agent among the nations of the Missouri to keep them at -peace." - -Very well Clark knew whom he was trusting. Now that war had crippled -the Missouri Fur Company, Lisa alone represented them in the field. -Familiar with the fashions of Indians, the size and colour of the -favourite blanket, the shape and length of tomahawks, no trader was -more a favourite than Manuel Lisa. Besides, he still maintained the -company's posts,--Council Bluffs with the Omahas, six hundred miles up -the Missouri, and another at the Sioux, six hundred miles further -still, with two hundred hunters in his employ. Here was a force not to -be despised. - -Ten months in the year Lisa was buried in the wilderness, hid in the -forest and the prairie, far from his wife in St. Louis. Wily, winning, -and strategic, no trader knew Indians better. - -"And," continued the Governor, "I offer you five hundred dollars for -sub-agent's salary." - -"A poor five hundred tollar!" laughed Lisa. "Eet will not buy te -tobacco which I give annually to dose who call me Fader. But Lisa will -go. His interests and dose of de Government are one." - -Then after a moment's frowning reflection,--"I haf suffered enough," -almost wailed Lisa, "I haf suffered enough in person and in property -under a different government, to know how to appreciate de one under -w'ich I now live." - -Even while they were consulting, "Here is your friend, de Rising -Moose!" announced old Antoine Le Claire. - -"Rising Moose?" Governor Clark started to his feet as one of the -Prairie du Chien chiefs came striding through the door. - -"The fort is taken, but I will not fight the Long Knife. Tammaha is an -American." - -All the way down on the gunboat riddled with bullets, Tammaha had come -with the fleeing soldiers to offer his tomahawk to Governor Clark. The -guns were not yet in when the enemy swept down on the fort at Prairie -du Chien. - -"Prairie du Chien lost? It shall be recovered. Wait until Spring." - -And the British, too, said, "Wait until Spring and we will take St. -Louis." But they feared the gunboats. - -Governor Clark accepted Tammaha's service, commissioning him a chief -of the Red Wing band of Sioux. "Wait and go up with Lisa. Tell your -people the Long Knife counsels them to remain quiet." - -When Lisa set out for the north as agent of both the fur business and -that of the Government, he carried with him mementoes and friendly -reminders to all the principal chiefs of the northern tribes. - -Big Elk of the Omahas, Black Cat and Big White of the Mandans, Le -Borgne of the Minnetarees, even the chiefs of the dreaded Teton Sioux -were not forgotten. The Red Head had been there, had visited their -country. He was the son of their Great Father,--they would listen to -the Red Head Chief. - -At this particular juncture of our national history, Clark the Red -Head and Manuel Lisa the trader formed a fortunate combination for the -interests of the United States. Their words to the northern chiefs -were weighty. Their gifts were continued pledges of sacred friendship. -While the eyes of the nation were rivetted on the conflict in the East -and on the ocean, Clark held the trans-Mississippi with even a -stronger grip than his illustrious brother had held the -trans-Alleghany thirty years before. - -Along with Lisa up the Missouri to the Dakotas went Tammaha, the -Rising Moose, and crossed to Prairie du Chien. - -"Where do you come from and what business have you here?" cried the -British commander, rudely jerking Tammaha's bundle from his back and -examining it for letters. - -"I come from St. Louis," answered the Moose. "I promised the Long -Knife I would come to Prairie du Chien and here I am." - -"Lock him in the guard house. He ought to be shot!" roared the -officer. - -"I am ready for death if you choose to kill me," answered Rising -Moose. - -At last in the depth of winter they sent him away. - -Determined now, the old chief set out in the snows to turn all his -energy against the British. - -"The Old Priest," said some of the Indians, "Tammaha talks too much!" - -All along the Missouri, from St. Louis to the Mandans, Lisa held -councils with the Indians with wonderful success. But the Mississippi -tribes, nearer to Canada, were for the most part won over to Great -Britain. - -In other directions Governor Clark sent out for reports from the -tribes. The answer was appalling. As if all were at war, a cordon of -foes stretched from the St. Lawrence to the Arkansas and Alabama. - -Even Black Partridge,--at the Fort Dearborn massacre he had snatched -Mrs. Helm from the tomahawk and held her in the lake to save her life. -Late that night at an Indian camp a friendly squaw-mother dressed her -wounds. Black Partridge loved that girl. - -"Lieutenant Helm is a prisoner among the Indians," said agent Forsythe -at Peoria. "Here are presents, Black Partridge. Go ransom him. Here is -a written order on General Clark for one hundred dollars when you -bring him to the Red Head Chief." - -Black Partridge rode to the Kankakee village and spread out his -presents. "And you shall have one huntret tollars when you bring him -to te Red Head Chief." - -"Not enough! Not enough!" cried the Indians. - -"Here, then, take my pony, my rifle, my ring," said the Partridge, -unhooking the hoop of gold from his nose. The bargain was made. The -man was ransomed, and mounted on ponies all started for St. Louis. -Lieutenant Helm was saved. - -Late at night, tired and hungry, the rain falling in torrents, without -pony or gun, Black Partridge arrived at his village on Peoria Lake. -His village? It was gone. Black embers smouldered there. - -Wrapped in his blanket, Black Partridge sat on the ground to await the -revelation of dawn. Wolves howled a mournful wail in his superstitious -ear. Day dawned. There lay the carnage of slaughter,--his daughter, -his grandchild, his neighbours, dead. The rangers had burnt his town. - -Breathing vengeance, "I will go on the war path," said Black -Partridge, the Pottawattamie. - -Two hundred warriors went from the wigwams of Illinois under Black -Partridge, Shequenebec sent a hundred from his stronghold at the head -of Peoria Lake, Mittitass led a hundred from his village at the -portage on the Rivičre des Plaines. Painted black they came, -inveterate since Tippecanoe. - -"Look out for squalls," wrote John O'Fallon from St. Louis to his -mother at Louisville. "An express arrived from Fort Madison yesterday -informing that the sentinels had been obliged to fire upon the Indians -almost every night to keep them at their distance. Indians are -discovered some nights within several feet of the pickets." - -Black Hawk was there. Very angry was Black Hawk at the building of -Fort Madison at the foot of Des Moines rapids. - -While Lewis and Clark were gone in 1804, William Henry Harrison, -directed by Jefferson, made a treaty with the Sacs and Foxes by which -they gave up fifty millions of acres. Gratiot, Vigo, the Chouteaus, -and officers of the state and army, Quasquama and four other chiefs, -attached their names to that treaty in the presence of Major Stoddard. - -"I deny its validity!" cried Black Hawk. "I never gave up my land." - -Now Black Hawk was plotting and planning and attacking Fort Madison, -until early in September a panting express arrived at St. Louis. - -"Fort Madison is burned, Your Excellency." - -"How did it happen?" inquired the Governor. - -"Besieged until the garrison was reduced to potatoes alone, we decided -to evacuate. Digging a tunnel from the southeast blockhouse to the -river, boats were made ready. Slipping out at night, crowding through -the tunnel on hands and knees, our last man set fire to Fort Madison. -Like tinder the stockade blazed, kissing the heavens. Indians leaped -and yelled with tomahawks, expecting our exit. At their backs, under -cover of darkness, we escaped down the Mississippi." - - - - -XII - -_THE STORY OF A SWORD_ - - -"Show me what kind of country we have to march through," said the -British General to Tecumseh, after Detroit had fallen. - -Taking a roll of elm-bark Tecumseh drew his scalping knife and etched -upon it the rivers, hills, and woods he knew so well. And the march -began,--to be checked at Fort Stephenson by a boy of twenty-one. - -It was the dream and hope of the British Fur Companies to extend their -territory as far within the American border as possible. The whole War -of 1812 was a traders' war. Commerce, commerce, for which the world is -battling still, was the motive power on land and sea. - -At the Lakes now, the British fur traders waved their flags again -above the ramparts of Detroit. "We must hold this post,--its loss too -seriously deranges our plans." - -Smouldering, the old Revolutionary fires had burst anew. Did George -III. still hope to conquer America? - -"Hull surrendered?" America groaned at the stain, the stigma, the -national disgrace! In a day regiments leaped to fill the breach. -"Detroit must be re-taken!" - -Along the Lakes battle succeeded battle in swift succession. - -At Louisville two mothers, Lucy and Fanny, were anxious for their -boys. Both George Croghan and John O'Fallon had been with Harrison at -Tippecanoe. Both had been promoted. Then came the call for swords. - -"Get me a sword in Philadelphia," wrote O'Fallon to his mother. - -"Send me a sword to Cincinnati," begged Croghan. - -Sitting under the trees at Locust Grove the sisters were discussing -the fall of Detroit. Fanny had John O'Fallon's letter announcing the -burning of Fort Madison. Lucy was devouring the last impatient scrawl -from her fiery, ambitious son, George Croghan, now caged in an obscure -fort on Sandusky River near Lake Erie. - -"The General little knows me," wrote Croghan. "To assist his cause, to -promote in any way his welfare, I would bravely sacrifice my best and -fondest hopes. I am resolved on quitting the army as soon as I am -relieved of the command of this post." - -Scarcely had the two mothers finished reading when a shout rang -through the streets of Louisville. - -"Hurrah for Croghan! Croghan! Croghan!" - -"Why, what is the matter?" - -Pale with anxiety Lucy ran to the gate. The whole street was filled -with people coming that way. In a few hurried words she heard the -story from several lips at once. - -"Why, you see, Madam, General Harrison was afraid Tecumseh would make -a flank attack on Fort Stephenson, in charge of George Croghan, and so -ordered him to abandon and burn it. But no,--he sent the General word, -'We are determined to hold this place, and by heaven we will!' - -"That night George hastily cut a ditch and raised a stockade. Then -along came Proctor and Tecumseh with a thousand British and Indians, -and summoned him to surrender. - -"The boy had only one hundred and sixty inexperienced men and a single -six-pounder, but he sent back answer: 'The fort will be defended to -the last extremity. No force, however great, can induce us to -surrender. We are resolved to hold this post or bury ourselves in its -ruins.'" - -Tears ran down Lucy's cheeks as she listened,--she caught at the gate -to keep from falling. Before her arose the picture of that son with -red hair flying, and fine thin face like a blooded warhorse,--she knew -that look. - -"Again Proctor sent his flag demanding surrender to avoid a terrible -massacre. - -"'When this fort is taken there will be none to massacre,' answered -the boy, 'for it will not be given up while a man is left to resist!' - -"The enemy advanced, and when close at hand, Croghan unmasked his -solitary cannon and swept them down. Again Proctor advanced, and again -the rifle of every man and the masked cannon met them. Falling back, -Proctor and Tecumseh retreated, abandoning a boatload of military -stores on the bank." - -"Hurrah for Croghan! Croghan! Croghan!" again rang down the streets of -Louisville. The bells rang out a peal as the Stars and Stripes ran up -the flag-staff. - -"The little game cock, he shall have my sword," said George Rogers -Clark, living again his own great days. - -And with that sword there was a story. - -When Tippecanoe was won and the world was ringing with "Harrison!" men -recalled another hero who "with no provisions, no munitions, no -cannon, no shoes, almost without an army," had held these same redmen -at bay. - -"And does he yet live?" - -"He lives, an exile and a hermit on a Point of Rock on the Indiana -shore above the Falls of the Ohio." - -"Has he no recognition?" - -Men whispered the story of the sword. - -When John Rogers went back from victorious Vincennes with Hamilton a -prisoner-of-war, the grateful Virginian Assembly voted George Rogers -Clark a sword. - -"And you, Captain Rogers, may present it." - -The sword was ready, time passed, difficulties multiplied. Clark -presented his bill to the Virginia Legislature. To his amazement and -mortification the House of Delegates refused to allow his claim. - -Clark went home, sold his bounty lands, and ruined himself to pay for -the bread and meat of his army. - -And then it was rumoured, "To-day a sword will be presented to George -Rogers Clark." - -All the countryside gathered, pioneers and veterans, with the civic -and military display of that rude age to see their hero honoured. The -commissioner for Virginia appeared, and in formal and complimentary -address delivered the sword. The General received it; then drawing -the long blade from its scabbard, plunged it into the earth and broke -it off at the hilt. Turning to the commissioner, he said, "Captain -Rogers, return to your State and tell her for me first to be just -before she is generous." - -For years those old veterans had related to their children and -grandchildren the story of that tragic day when Clark, the hero, broke -the sword Virginia gave him. - -But a new time had come and new appreciation. While the smoke of -Tippecanoe was rolling away a member of the Virginia Legislature -related anew the story of that earlier Vincennes and of the sword that -Clark, "with haughty sense of wounded pride and feeling had broken and -cast away." With unanimous voice Virginia voted a new sword and the -half-pay of a colonel for the remainder of his life. - -The commissioners found the old hero partially paralysed. Lucy had -gone to him at the Point of Rock. "Brother, you are failing, you need -care, I will look after you," and tenderly she bore him to her home at -Locust Grove, where now, all day long, in his invalid chair, George -Rogers Clark studied the long reach of the blue Ohio or followed -Napoleon and the boys of 1812. - -Nothing had touched him like this deed of his nephew,--"Yes, yes, he -shall have my sword!" - -The next morning after the battle General Harrison wrote to the -Secretary of War: "I am sorry I cannot submit to you Major Croghan's -official report. He was to have sent it to me this morning, but I have -just heard that he was so much exhausted by thirty-six hours of -constant exertion as to be unable to make it. It will not be among the -least of General Proctor's mortifications to find that he has been -baffled by a youth who has just passed his twenty-first year. He is, -however, a hero worthy of his gallant uncle, General George Rogers -Clark." - -The cannon, "Old Betsy," stands yet in Fort Stephenson at Fremont, -Ohio, where every passing year they celebrate the victory of that -second day of August, 1813,--the first check to the British advance in -the War of 1812. - -A few days later, Perry's victory on Lake Erie opened the road to -Canada and Detroit was re-taken. - -"Britannia, Columbia, both had set their heels upon Detroit, and young -Columbia threw Britannia back across the Lakes," says the chronicler. - -Then followed the battle of the Thames and the death of Tecumseh. A -Canadian historian says, "But for Tecumseh, it is probable we should -not now have a Canada." - -What if he had won Rebecca? Would Canada now be a peaceful sister of -the States? - -Tecumseh fought with the fur traders,--their interests were his,--to -keep the land a wild, a game preserve for wild beasts and wilder men. -Civilisation had no part or place in Tecumseh's plan. - -With the medal of George III. upon his breast, Tecumseh fell, on -Canadian soil, battle-axe in hand, hero and patriot of his race, the -last of the great Shawnees. Tecumseh's belt and shot pouch were sent -to Jefferson and hung on the walls of Monticello. Tecumseh's son -passed with his people beyond the Mississippi. - -From his invalid chair at Locust Grove George Rogers Clark was writing -to his brother: - - "Your embarkation from St. Louis on your late hazardous - expedition [to Prairie du Chien] was a considerable source - of anxiety to your friends and relatives. They were pleased - to hear of your safe return.... - - "As to Napoleon ... the news of his having abdicated the - throne--" - -"Napoleon abdicated?" Governor Clark scarce finished the letter. -Having crushed him, what armies might not England hurl hitherward! New -danger menaced America. - -"Napoleon abdicated!" New Orleans wept. - -Then followed the word, "England is sailing into the Gulf,--Sir Edward -Pakenham, brother-in-law of the Duke of Wellington, with a part of -Wellington's victorious army, fifty ships, a thousand guns and twenty -thousand men!" - -Never had Great Britain lost sight of the Mississippi. This was a part -of the fleet that burned Washington and had driven Dolly Madison and -the President into ignominious flight. - -Terrified, New Orleans, the beautiful Creole maiden, beset in her -orange bower, flung out her arms appealing to the West! And that West -answered, "Never, while the Mississippi rolls to the Gulf, will we -leave you unprotected." And out of that West came Andrew Jackson and -tall Tennesseeans, Kentuckians, Mississippians, in coonskin caps and -leathern hunting shirts, to seal for ever our right to Louisiana. - -The hottest part of the battle was fought at Chalmette, above the -grave of the Fighting Parson. Immortal Eighth of January, 1815! -Discontented Creoles of 1806 proved loyal Americans, vindicating their -right to honour. - -Napoleon laughed when he heard it at Elba,--"I told them I had given -England a rival that one day would humble her pride." - -Even the Ursuline nuns greeted their deliverers with joy, and the dim -old cloistered halls were thrown open for a hospital. - -"I expect at this moment," said Lord Castlereagh in Europe, "that most -of the large seaport towns of America are laid in ashes, that we are -in possession of New Orleans, and have command of all the rivers of -the Mississippi Valley and the Lakes." - -But he counted without our ships at sea. The War of 1812 was fought -upon the ocean, "the golden age of naval fighting." Bone of her bone, -flesh of her flesh, under the "Gridiron Flag," tars of the American -Revolution, sailor boys who under impressment had fought at Trafalgar, -led in a splendid spectacular drama, the like of which England or the -world had never seen. She had trained up her own child. A thousand sail -had Britain--America a dozen sloops and frigates altogether,--but -the little tubs had learned from their mother. - -"The territory between the Lakes and the Ohio shall be for ever set -apart as an Indian territory," said England at the opening of the -peace negotiations. "The United States shall remove her armed vessels -from the lakes and give England the right of navigating the -Mississippi." - -Clay, Gallatin, Adams packed up their grips preparatory to starting -home, when England bethought herself and came to better terms. - -The next year America passed a law excluding foreigners from our -trade, and the British fur traders reluctantly crossed the border. But -they held Oregon by "Joint Occupation." - -"All posts captured by either power shall be restored," said the -treaty. "There shall be joint occupancy of the Oregon Country for ten -years." - -"A great mistake! a great mistake!" cried out Thomas Hart Benton, a -young lawyer who had settled in St. Louis. "In ten years that little -nest egg of 'Joint Occupation' will hatch out a lively fighting -chicken." - -Benton was a Western man to the core,--he felt a responsibility for -all that sunset country. And why should he not? Missouri and Oregon -touched borders on the summit of the Rockies. Were they not next-door -neighbours, hobnobbing over the fence as it were? Every day at -Governor Clark's at St. Louis, he and Benton discussed that Oregon -"Joint Occupancy" clause. - -"As if two nations ever peacefully occupied the same territory! I tell -you it is a physical impossibility," exclaimed Benton, jamming down -his wine-glass with a crash. - -The War of 1812,--how Astor hated it! "But for that war," he used to -say, "I should have been the richest man that ever lived." As it was, -the British fur companies came in and gained a foothold from which -they were not ousted until American ox-teams crossed the plains and -American frontiersmen took the country. A million a year England -trapped from Oregon waters. - - - - -XIII - -_PORTAGE DES SIOUX_ - - -"Come and make treaties of friendship." - -As his brother had done at the close of the Revolution, so now William -Clark sent to the tribes to make peace after the War of 1812. - -"No person ought to be lazy to be de bearer of such good news," said -old Antoine Le Claire, the interpreter. - -Up the rivers and toward the Lakes, runners carried the word of the -Red Head Chief, "Come, come to St. Louis!" - -To the clay huts of the sable Pawnees of the Platte, to the reed -wigwams of the giant Osages, to the painted lodges of the Omahas, and -to the bark tents of the Chippewas, went "peace talks" and gifts and -invitations. - -"De Iowas are haughty an' insolent!" St. Vrain, first back, laid their -answer on the table. - -"De Kickapoo are glad of de peace, but de Sauk an' Winnebago insist on -war! De Sauk haf murdered deir messenger!" - -That was Black Hawk. With a war party from Prairie du Chien he was met -by the news of peace. - -"Peace?" Black Hawk wept when he heard it. He had been at the battle -of the Thames. - -"De messenger to de Sioux are held at Rock River!" - -One by one came runners into the Council Hall, and, cap in hand, stood -waiting. Outside, their horses pawed on the Rue, their boats were tied -at the river. - -"Some one must pass Rock River, to the Sioux, Chippewas, and -Menomonees," said Clark. Not an interpreter stirred. - -"We dare not go into dose hostile countrie," said Antoine Le Claire, -spokesman for the rest. - -"What? With an armed boat?" - -The silence was painful as the Governor looked over the council room. - -"I will go." - -Every eye was turned toward the speaker, James Kennerly, the -Governor's private secretary, the cousin of Julia and brother of -Harriet of Fincastle. The same spirit was there that led a whole -generation of his people to perish in the Revolution. His father had -been dragged from the field of Cowpens wrapped in the flag he had -rescued. - -At the risk of his life, when no one else would venture, the faithful -secretary went up the Mississippi to bring in the absent tribes. -Black-eyed Elise, the daughter of Dr. Saugrain, wept all night to -think of it. Governor Clark himself had introduced Elise to his -secretary. How she counted the days! - -"The Chippewas would have murdered me but for the timely arrival of -the Sioux," said Kennerly, on his safe return with the band of Rising -Moose. - -"The Red Coats are gone!" said Rising Moose. "I rush in. I put out the -fire. I save the fort." - -Without waiting for troops from St. Louis, forty-eight hours after the -news of peace the British had evacuated Prairie du Chien. A day or two -later they returned, took the cannon, and set fire to the fort with -the American flag flying. - -Into the burning fort went Rising Moose, secured the flag and an -American medal, and brought them down to St. Louis. - -While interpreters were speeding by horse and boat over half a hundred -trails, Manuel Lisa, sleepless warden of the plains, arrived with -forty-three chiefs and head men of the Missouri Sioux. Wild Indians -who never before had tasted bread, brought down in barges camped on -the margin of the Mississippi, the great council chiefs of their -tribes, moody, unjoyous, from the Stony Mountains. For weeks other -deputations followed, to the number of two thousand, to make treaties -and settle troubles arising out of the War of 1812. - -Whether even yet a council could be held was a query in Governor -Clark's mind. Across the neighbouring Mississippi, Sacs, Foxes, Iowas -were raiding still, capturing horses and attacking people. That was -Black Hawk. - -The eyes of the Missouri Sioux flashed. "Let us go and fight those -Sacs and Iowas. They shall trouble us no more." With difficulty were -they held to the council. - -There was a steady and unalterable gloom of countenance, a melancholy, -sullen musing among the gathered tribes, as they camped on the council -ground at Portage des Sioux on the neck of land between the two rivers -at St. Charles. Over this neck crossed Sioux war parties in times -past, avoiding a long detour, bringing home their scalps. - -Resplendent with oriental colour were the bluffs and the prairies. -Chiefs and warriors had brought their squaws and children,--Sioux from -the Lakes and the high points of the Mississippi in canoes of white -birch, light and bounding as cork upon the water; Sioux of the -Missouri in clumsy pirogues; Mandans in skin coracles, barges, -dug-outs, and cinnamon-brown fleets of last year's bark. - -The panorama of forest and prairie was there,--Sioux of the Leaf, -Sioux of the Broad Leaf, and Sioux Who Shoot in the Pine Tops, in -hoods of feathers, Chinese featured Sioux, of smooth skins and Roman -noses, the ideal Indian stalking to and fro with forehead banded in -green and scarlet and eagle plumes. - -For Wabasha, Little Crow, and Red Wing had come, great sachems of the -Sioux nation. The British officers at Drummond's Island in Lake Huron -had sent for Little Crow and Wabasha. - -"I would thank you in the name of George III. for your services in the -war." - -"My father," said Wabasha, "what is this I see on the floor before me? -A few knives and blankets! Is this all you promised at the beginning -of the war? Where are those promises you made? You told us you would -never let fall the hatchet until the Americans were driven beyond the -mountains. Will these presents pay for the men we lost? I have always -been able to make a living and can do so still." - -"After we have fought for you," cried Little Crow, "endured many -hardships, lost some of our people, and awakened the vengeance of our -powerful neighbours, you make a peace and leave us to obtain such -terms as we can! You no longer need us and offer these goods for -having deserted us. We will not take them." - -Kicking the presents contemptuously with his foot, Little Crow turned -away. - -"Arise, let us go down to the Red Head Parshasha!" In handsome bark -canoes propelled by sails alone, the Sioux came down to St. Louis. - -Walking among their elliptical tents, lounging on panther skins at -their wigwam doors, waited the redmen, watching, lynx-eyed, losing -nothing of the scene before them. Beaded buckskin glittered in the -sun, tiny bells tinkled from elbow to ankle, and sashes outrivalled -Louisiana sunsets. - -Half-naked Osages with helmet-crests and eagle-quills, full-dressed in -breech-clouts and leggings fringed with scalp-locks, the tallest men -in North America, from their warm south hills, mingled with -Pottawattamies of the Illinois, makers of fire, Shawnees with -vermilion around their eyes, Sacs, of the red badge, and Foxes, -adroitest of thieves, all drumming on their tambourines. Winnebagoes, -fish eaters, had left their nets on the northern lakes, Omahas their -gardens on the Platte, and Ojibway arrow makers sat chipping, chipping -as the curious crowds walked by. For all the neighbouring country had -gathered to view the Indian camp of 1815. - -Oblivious, contemptuous perhaps, of staring crowds, the industrious -women skinned and roasted dogs on sticks, the warriors gambled with -one another, staking their tents, skins, rifles, dogs, and squaws. -Here and there sachems were mending rifles, princesses carrying water, -children playing ball. - -About the first of July, Governor Clark of Missouri, Governor Ninian -Edwards of Illinois, and Auguste Chouteau of St. Louis, opened the -council,--one of the greatest ever held in the Mississippi Valley. - -Auguste Chouteau, prime vizier of all the old Spanish commandants, -now naturally slipped into the same office with Clark, and Governor -Edwards of Illinois, who as a father had guarded the frontier against -the wiles of Tecumseh, and had risked his entire fortune to arm the -militia,--all in queues, high collared coats, and ruffled shirts, -faced each other and the chiefs. - -In front of their neatly arranged tents sat the tawny warriors in -imposing array, with dignified attention to the interpretation of each -sentence. - -"The long and bloody war is over. The British have gone back over the -Big Water," said Governor Clark, "and now we have sent for you, my -brothers, to conclude a treaty of peace." - -"Heigh!" cried all the Indians in deep-toned resonance that rolled -like a Greek chorus to the bluffs beyond. The sky smiled down as on -the old Areopagus, the leaves of the forest rustled, the river swept -laughing by. - -"Every injury or act of hostility by one or either of us against the -other, shall be mutually forgiven and forgot." - -"Heigh! heigh! heig-h!" - -"There shall be perpetual peace and friendship between us." - -"Heigh!" - -"You will acknowledge yourselves under the protection of the United -States, and of no other nation, power, or sovereign whatsoever." - -"Heigh!" - -A Teton Sioux who had come down with Lisa struggled to his feet, -approached, shook hands with the commissioners, then retreated and -fixed his keen eye on the Governor. His voice rang clear over the -assembled thousands,-- - -"We have come down expressly to notify you, our father, that we will -assist in chastising those nations hostile to our government." - -The two factions faced each other. Scowls of lightning hate flashed -over the council. But the wisdom and tact of Clark were equal to -regiments. "The fighting has ended," he said. "The peace has come." - -"Heigh!" shouted all the Indians. "Heig-h!" - -Partisan was there, the Teton chief, who with Black Buffalo had made -an attempt to capture Clark on the way to the Pacific. And now -Partisan was bristling to fight for Clark. - -Wabasha arose, like a figure out of one of Catlin's pictures, in a -chief's costume, with bullock horns and eagle feathers. There was a -stir. With a profile like the great Condé, followed by his pipe -bearers with much ceremony, the hereditary chief from the Falls of St. -Anthony walked up to Governor Clark. - -"I shake hands," he said. - -Every neck was craned. When before had Wabasha stood? In their -northern councils he spoke sitting. "I am called upon to stand only in -the presence of my Great Father at Washington or Governor Clark at St. -Louis. But I am not a warrior," said Wabasha. "My people can prosper -only at peace with one another and the whites. Against my advice some -of my young men went into the war." - -The fiery eyes of Little Crow flashed, the aquiline curve of his nose -lifted, like the beak of an eagle. He had come down from his -bark-covered cabin near St. Paul. - -"I am a _war chief_!" said Little Crow. "But I am willing to conclude -a peace." - -"I alone was an American," said Rising Moose, "when all my people -fought with the British." All the rest of his life Tammaha, Rising -Moose, wore a tall silk hat and carried Governor Clark's commission in -his bosom. - -Big Elk, the Omaha, successor of Blackbird, spoke with action -energetic and graceful. - -"Last Winter when you sent your word by Captain Manuel Lisa, in the -night one of the whites wanted my young men to rise. He told them if -they wanted good presents, to cross to the British. This man was -Baptiste Dorion. When I was at the Pawnees I wanted to bring some of -them down, but the whites who live among them told them not to go, -that no good came from the Americans, that good only came from the -British. I have told Captain Manuel to keep those men away from us. -Take care of the Sioux. Take care. They will fly from under your -wing." - -Sacs who had been hostile engaged in the debate. Noble looking chiefs, -with blanket thrown around the body in graceful folds, the right arm, -muscular and brawny, bare to the shoulder, spoke as Cato might have -spoken to the Roman Senate. - -"My father, it is the request of my people to keep the British traders -among us." As he went on eloquently enumerating their advantages in -pleading tone and voice and glance and gesture,--hah! the wild -rhetoric of the savage! how it thrilled the assembled concourse of -Indians and Americans! - -Clark shook his head. "It cannot be. We can administer law, order, and -justice ourselves. Come to us for goods,--the British traders belong -beyond the border." - -The Indians gave a grunt of anger. - -"It has been promised already," cried another chief. "The Americans -have double tongues!" - -"Heigh!" ran among the Indians. Many a one touched his tongue and held -up two fingers, "You lie!" - -With stern and awful look Clark immediately dismissed the council. The -astonished chiefs covered their mouths with their hands as they saw -the commissioners turn their backs to go out. - -That afternoon a detachment of United States artillery arrived and -camped in full view of the Indians. They had been ordered to the Sac -country. Colonel Dodge's regiment of dragoons, each company of a solid -colour, blacks and bays, whites, sorrels, grays and creams, went -through the manoeuvres of battle, charge and repulse, in splendid -precision. It was enough. The Sac chiefs, cowed, requested the renewal -of the council. - -"My father," observed the offending chief of the day before, "you -misunderstood me. I only meant to say we have always understood from -our fathers that the Americans used two languages, the French and the -English!" - -Clark smiled and the council proceeded. - -But by night, July 11, the Sacs, Foxes, and Kickapoos secretly left -the council. At the same time came reports of great commotion at -Prairie du Chien where the northern tribes were divided by the British -traders. - -Head bent, linked arm in arm with Paul Louise, his little interpreter, -the giant Osage chief, White Hair, gave strict attention. White Hair -had been in St. Clair's defeat, and in seeking to scalp a victim had -grasped--his wig! This he ever after wore upon his own head, a crown -of white hair. He said, "I felt a fire within me,--it drove me to the -fight of St. Clair. His army scattered. I returned to my own people. -But the fire still burned, and I went over the mountains toward the -western sea." - -Every morning the Osages set up their matutinal wail, dolefully -lamenting, weeping as if their hearts would break. - -"What is the matter?" inquired Governor Clark, riding out in concern. - -"We are mourning for our ancestors," answered the chief, shedding -copious tears and sobbing anew, for ages the custom of his people. - -"They are dead long ago,--let them rest!" said the Governor. - -Brightening up, White Hair slipped on his wig and followed him to the -council. - -Houseless now and impoverished Black Partridge and his people clung to -Colonel George Davenport as to a father. Poor helpless Pottawattamies! - -"Come with me," said Davenport, "I will take you to St. Louis." - -So down in a flotilla of canoes had come Davenport with thirteen -chiefs, all wreathed in turkey feathers, emblems of the -Pottawattamies. No more they narrated their heroic exploits in -fighting with Tecumseh. - -Grave, morose, brooding over his wrongs, Black Partridge was seventy -now, his long coarse unkempt hair in matted clusters on his shoulders, -but figure still erect and firm. "I would be a friend to the whites," -he said. "I was compelled to go with my tribe." The silver medallion -of George Washington was gone from his breast. Many and sad had been -the vicissitudes since that day, when, in a flood of tears, he had -thrown it down at the feet of the commander at Fort Dearborn. Tall, -slim, with a high forehead, large nose and piercing black eyes, with -hoops of gold in his ears, Black Partridge was a typical -savage,--asking for civilisation. But it rolled over him. Here and -there a missionary tarried to talk, but commerce, commerce, the great -civiliser, arose like a flood, drowning the redmen. - -"The settlements are crowding our border," Black Partridge spoke for -his people on their fairy lake, Peoria. "And whom shall we call -Father, the British at Malden or the Americans at St. Louis? Who shall -relieve our distresses?" - -"Put it in your mind," said Auguste Chouteau, the shrewd old French -founder of St. Louis, "put it in your mind, that when de British made -peace with us, dey left you in de middle of de prairie without a shade -against sun or rain. Left you in de middle of de prairie, a sight to -pity. We Americans have a large umbrella; keeps off de sun and rain. -You come under our umbrella." - -And they did. - -The Indian has a fine sense of justice. The situation was evident. -Abandoned by the British who had led him into the war, he stood ready -at last to return to the friends on whom he was most dependent. - -One by one the chiefs came forward and put their mark to the treaty of -peace and friendship. Clark brought the peace pipes,--every neck was -craned to scan them. - -Sioux pipes sometimes cost as much as forty horses,--finely wrought -pipes of variegated red and white from the Minnesota quarries, -Shoshone pipes of green, and pipes of purple from Queen Charlottes, -were sold for skins and slaves,--but these, Clark's pipes of silver -bowls and decorated stems, these were worth a hundred horses! - -Puffing its fragrant aroma, the fierce wild eye of the savage -softened. Twenty thousand dollars' worth of goods was distributed in -presents, flags, blankets, and rifles, ornaments and clothing. - -"Ah, ha! Great Medicine!" whispered the Indians as the beautiful gifts -came one by one into their hands. - -"We need traders," said Red Wing, sliding his hand along the soft nap -of the blankets. "That made us go into the war. Without traders we -have to clothe ourselves in grass and eat the earth." - -"You shall have traders," answered Clark. "I shall not let you travel -five or six hundred miles to a British post." - -Every September thereafter he sent them up a few presents to begin -their fall hunting, and counselled his agents to listen to their -complaints and render them justice. - -"We must depend on policy rather than arms," said the Governor. "For -they are our children, the wards of the nation." - -The Indians were dined in St. Louis and entertained with music and -dancing. By their dignity, moderation, and untiring forbearance, the -Commissioners of Portage des Sioux exemplified the paternal -benevolence of the Government. - -At the end of the council Lisa started back with his chiefs, on a -three months' voyage to their northern home, and on the last day of -September Clark dismissed the rest. - -Thus making history, the summer had stolen away. All next summer and -the next were spent in making treaties, until at last there was peace -along the border. - -"Did you sign?" finally asked some one of Black Hawk of the British -band. - -"I touched the goose quill," answered the haughty chief. - -So ended the War of 1812. - - - - -XIV - -_"FOR OUR CHILDREN, OUR CHILDREN!"_ - - -As soon as the Indian scare was silenced, all the world seemed rushing -to Missouri. Ferries ran by day and night. Patriarchal planters of -Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia passed ever west in long, -unending caravans of flocks, servants, herds, into the new land of the -Louisianas. New Englanders and Pennsylvanians, six, eight, and ten -horses to a waggon, and cattle with their hundred bells, tinkled -through the streets of St. Louis. - -"Where are you going, now?" inquired the citizens. - -"To Boone's Lick, to be sure." - -"Go no further," said Clark, ever enthusiastic about St. Louis. "Buy -here. This will be the city." - -"But ah!" exclaimed the emigrant. "If land is so good here what must -Boone's Lick be!" - -Perennial childhood of the human heart, ever looking for Canaan just -beyond! - -The Frenchmen shrugged their shoulders at the strange energy of these -progressive "Bostonnais." It annoyed them to have their land titles -looked into. "A process! a lawsuit!" they clasped their hands in -despair. But ever the people of St. Louis put up their lands to a -better figure, and watched out of their little square lattices for the -coming of _les Américains_. - -All the talk was of land, land, land! The very wealth of ancient -estates lay unclaimed for the first heir to enter, the gift of God. - -In waggons, on foot and horseback, with packhorses, handcarts, and -wheelbarrows, with blankets on their backs and children by the hand, -the oppressed of the old world fled across the new. - -"Why do you go into the wilderness?" - -"For my children, my children," answered the pioneer. - -More and more came people in a mighty flood, peasants, artisans, sons -of the old crusaders, children of feudal knights of chivalry and -romance, descendants of the hardy Norsemen who captured Europe five -hundred years before, scions of Europe's most titled names, thronging -to our West. - -Frosts and crop failures in the Atlantic States and a financial panic -uprooted old Revolutionary centres. "A better country, a better -country!" was the watchword of the mobile nation. - -"Let's go over to the Territory," said the soldiers of 1812. "Let us -go to Arkansas, where corn can be had for sixpence a bushel and pork -for a penny a pound. Two days' work in Texas is equal to the labour of -a week in the North." And on they pressed into No Man's Land, a land -of undeveloped orchards, maple syrup and honey, fields of cotton and -wool and corn. - -Conestoga waggons crowded on the Alleghanies, teams fell down -precipices and perished, but the tide pushed madly on. Colonies of -hundreds were pouring into Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois. New towns -were named for their founders, new counties, lakes, rivers, streams, -and hills,--the settlers wrote their names upon the geography of the -nation. - -In the midst of the war Daniel Boone had come down to Clark at St. -Louis. - -"I have spoken to Henry Clay about your claim," said the Governor. "He -says Congress will do something for you." - -"Now Rebecca, thee shall hev a house!" - -That house, the joint product of Nathan, the Colonel, and his slaves, -was a work of years. Not far from the old cabin by the spring it -stood, convenient to the Judgment Tree. For Boone still held his court -beneath the spreading elm. - -The stones were quarried and chiselled, two feet thick, and laid so -solidly that to-day the walls of the old Boone mansion are as good as -new. The plaster was mixed and buried in the ground over winter to -ripen. Roomy and comfortable, two stories and an attic it was built, -with double verandas and chimneys at either end, the finest mansion on -the border. - -But in March Rebecca died. Boone buried her where he could watch the -mound. - -The house was finished. The Colonel bought a coffin and put it under -the bed to be ready. Sometimes he tried his coffin, to see how it -would seem when he slept beside Rebecca. - -In December came the land, a thousand arpents in his Spanish grant. -"If I only cud hev told Rebecca," sobbed Daniel, kneeling at her -grave. "She war a good woman, and the faithful companion of all my -wanderings." - -In the Spring Boone sold his land, and set out for Kentucky. - -"Daniel Boone has come! Daniel Boone has come!" Old hunters, -Revolutionary heroes, came for miles to see their leader who had -opened Kentucky. There was a reception at Maysville. Parties were -given in his honour wherever he went. Once more he embraced his old -friend, Simon Kenton. - -"How much do I owe ye?" he said to one and another. - -Whatever amount they named, that he paid, and departed. One day the -dusty old hunter re-entered his son's house on the Femme Osage with -fifty cents in his pocket. - -"Now I am ready and willing to die. I have paid all my debts and -nobody can say, 'Boone was a dishonest man.'" - -Then came the climax of his life. - -"Nate, I am goin' to the Yellowstone." - -While Clark was holding his peace treaties, Daniel Boone, eighty-two -years old, with a dozen others set out in boats for the Upper -Missouri. - -Autumn came. Somewhere in the present Montana, they threw up a winter -camp and were besieged by Indians. A heavy snow-storm drove the -Indians off. In early Spring, coming down the Missouri on the return, -again they were attacked by Indians and landed in a thicket of the -opposite shore. Under cover of a storm in the night Boone ordered them -into the boat, and silently in the pelting rain they escaped. - -Boone himself brought the furs to St. Louis, and went back with a bag -full of money and a boat full of emigrants. - -Farther and farther into his district emigrants began setting up their -four-post sassafras bedsteads and scouring their pewter platters. -Women walked thirty miles to hear the first piano that came into the -Boone settlement. - -In the last year of the war Boone's favourite grandson was killed at -Charette. - -"The history of the settlement of the western country is my history," -said the old Colonel in his grief. "Two darling sons, a grandson, and -a brother have I lost by savage hands, besides valuable horses and -abundance of cattle. Many sleepless nights have I spent, separated -from the society of men, an instrument ordained of God to settle the -wilderness." - -"You must paint Daniel Boone," said Governor Clark to Chester Harding, -a young American artist fresh from Paris in the summer of 1819. The -Governor was Harding's first sitter. He invited the Indians into his -studio. - -"Ugh! ugh! ugh!" grunted the Osage chiefs, putting their noses close -and rubbing their fingers across the Governor's portrait. - -In June Harding set out up the Missouri to paint Boone. In an old -blockhouse of the War of 1812, he found him lying on a bunk, roasting -a strip of venison wound around his ramrod, turning it before the -fire. - -"What? Paint my pictur'?" - -"Yes, on canvas. Make a portrait, you know." - -The old man consented. With amazement the frontiersman saw the picture -grow,--still more amazed, his grandchildren watched the likeness of -"granddad" growing on the canvas. - -Ruddy and fair, with silvered locks, always humming a tune, he sat in -his buckskin hunting-shirt trimmed with otter's fur, and the knife in -his belt he had carried on his first expedition to Kentucky. - -Every day now, in his leisure hours, the old pioneer was busily -scraping with a piece of glass. "Making a powder-horn," he said. -"Goin' to hunt on the Fork in the Fall." - -A hundred miles up the Kansas he had often set his traps, but Boone's -legs were getting shaky, his eyes were growing dim. Every day now he -tried his coffin,--it was shining and polished and fair, of the wood -he loved best, the cherry. People came for miles to look at Boone's -coffin. - - - - -XV - -_TOO GOOD TO THE INDIANS_ - - -Manuel Lisa had out-distanced all his competitors in the fur trade. -But the voice of envy whispered, "Manuel must cheat the Government, -and Manuel must cheat the Indians, otherwise Manuel could not bring -down every summer so many boats loaded with rich furs." - -"Good!" exclaimed Lisa to Governor Clark, when the fleets were tying -up at St. Louis in 1817. "My accounts with the Government will show -whether I receive anything out of which to cheat it." - -"I have not blamed you, Manuel," explained the Governor. "On the -contrary I have conveyed to the Government my high appreciation of -your very great services in quieting the Indians of the Missouri. It -is not necessary to worry yourself with the talk of babblers who do -not understand." - -"Cheat the Indians!" The Spaniard stamped the floor. "The respect and -friendship which they have for me, the security of my possessions in -the heart of their country, respond to this charge, and declare with -voices louder than the tongues of men that it cannot be true. - -"'But Manuel gets so much rich fur.'" Lisa ground out the words with -scorn. - -"Well, I will explain how I get it. First I put into my operations -great activity,--I go a great distance, while some are considering -whether they will start to-day or to-morrow. I impose upon myself -great privations,--ten months in a year I am buried in the forest, at -a vast distance from my own house. I appear as the benefactor, and not -as the pillager, of the Indians. I carried among them the seed of the -large pumpkin, from which I have seen in their possession the fruit -weighing one hundred and sixty pounds. Also the large bean, the -potato, the turnip, and these vegetables now make a great part of -their subsistence. This year I have promised to carry the plough. -Besides, my blacksmiths work incessantly for them, charging nothing. I -lend them traps, only demanding preference in their trade. My -establishments are the refuge of the weak and of the old men no longer -able to follow their lodges; and by these means I have acquired the -confidence and friendship of these nations, and the consequent choice -of their trade. These things I have done, and I propose to do more." - -In short, Manuel Lisa laid down his commission as sub-agent to embark -yet more deeply in the fur trade. - -"What is that noise at the river?" - -Ten thousand shrieking eagles and puffs of smoke arose from the -yellow-brown Mississippi below. The entire population of St. Louis was -flocking to the river brink to greet the _General Pike_, the first -steamboat that ever came up to St. Louis. People rushed to the landing -but the Indians drew back in terror lest the monster should climb the -bank and pursue them inland. Pell-mell into Clark's Council House they -tumbled imploring protection. - -Never had St. Louis appeared so beautiful as when Julia and the -children came into their new home in 1819. Clark, the Governor, had -built a mansion, one of the finest in St. Louis. Wide verandas gave a -view of the river, gardens of fruit and flowers bloomed. - -But Julia was ill. - -"Take her back to the Virginia mountains," said Dr. Farrar, the family -physician. "St. Louis heats are too much for her." - -In dress suit, silk hat, and sword cane, Farrar was a notable figure -in old St. Louis, riding night and day as far out as Boone's Lick, -establishing a reputation that remains proverbial yet. He had married -Anne Thruston, the daughter of Fanny. - -"Let her try a trip on the new steamboat," said the Doctor. - -So after her picture was painted by Chester Harding in that Spring of -1819, Clark and Julia and the little boys, Meriwether Lewis, William -Preston, and George Rogers Hancock, set out for New Orleans in the -"new-fangled steamboat." - -It was a long and dangerous trip; the river was encumbered with snags; -every night they tied up to a tree. - -"Travel by night? Couldn't think of it! We'd be aground before -morning!" said the Captain. - -Around by sea the Governor and his wife sailed by ship to Washington. - -"I will join you at the Sweet Springs," said President Monroe to the -Governor and his wife in Washington. - -"The Sweet Springs cure all my ills," said Dolly Madison at -Montpelier. - -"She will recover at the Sweet Springs," said Jefferson at Monticello. - -But at the Sweet Springs Julia grew so ill they had to carry her on a -bed to Fotheringay. - -"Miss Judy done come home sick!" The servants wept. - -Something of a physician himself, Clark began the use of fumes of tar -through a tube, and to the surprise of all "Miss Judy" rallied again. - -"As soon as I can leave her in safety I shall return to St. Louis," -wrote the Governor to friends at the Missouri capital. - -"If I should die," said Julia sweetly one day, "and you ever think of -marrying again, consider my cousin Harriet." - -"Ah, but you will be well, my darling, when Spring comes." - -And she was better in the Spring, thinking of the new house at St. -Louis. Julia was a very neat and careful housekeeper. Everything was -kept under lock and key, she directed the servants herself, and was -the light of a houseful of company. For the Governor's house was the -centre of hospitality,--never a noted man came that way, but, "I must -pay my respects to the Governor." Savants from over the sea came to -look at his Indian museum. General Clark had made the greatest -collection in the world, and had become an authority on Indian -archćology. - -Governor Clark, too, was worried about affairs in St. Louis. Missouri -was just coming in as a State, and a new executive must be elected -under the Constitution. - -"Go," said Julia, "I shall be recovered soon now." Indeed, deceptive -roses were blooming in her cheeks. - -With many regrets and promises of a speedy return, Clark hastened back -to his official duties. He found Missouri in the midst of a heated -campaign, coming in as a State and electing a Governor. For seven -years he had held the territorial office with honour. - -But a new candidate was before the people. - -"Governor Clark is too good to the Indians!" That was the chief -argument of the opposing faction. "He looks after their interests to -the disadvantage of the whites." - -"To the disadvantage of the whites? How can that be?" inquired his -friends. "Did he not in the late war deal severely with the hostile -tribes? And what do you say of the Osage lands? When hostilities began -President Madison ordered the settlers out of the Boone's Lick country -as invaders of Indian lands. What did the Governor do? He -remonstrated, he delayed the execution of those orders until they were -rescinded, and the settlers were allowed to remain." - -"How could he do that?" - -"How? Why, he simply told the Indians those lands were included in the -Osage treaty of 1808. He made that treaty, and he knew. No Indian -objected. They trusted Clark; his explanation was sufficient. And his -maps proved it." - -"Too good to the Indians! Too good to the Indians!" What Governor -before ever lost his head on such a charge? - -At that moment, flying down the Ohio, came a swift messenger,--"Mrs. -Clark is dead at Fotheringay." - -With the shock upon him, General Clark sent a card to the papers, -notifying his fellow citizens of his loss, and of his necessary -absence until the election was over. And with mingled dignity and -sorrow he went back to Fotheringay to bury the beloved dead. - -Granny Molly, "Black Granny," who had laced "Miss Judy's" shoes and -tied up her curls with a ribbon in the old Philadelphia days, never -left her beloved mistress. - -A few days before "Miss Judy" went away, little Meriwether Lewis, then -eleven years of age, came to her bedside with his curly hair -dishevelled and his broad shirt collar tumbled. - -"Aunt Molly," said the mother, "watch my boy and keep him neat. He is -so beautiful, Granny!" - -After her body was placed on two of the parlour chairs, Granny Molly -noticed a little dust on the waxed floor. "Miss Judy would be -'stressed if she could see it." Away she ran, brought a mop, and had -it all right by the time the coffin came. - -Down on her knees scrubbing, scrubbing for the last time the floor for -"Miss Judy," tears trickled down the ebony cheeks. - -"Po', po' Miss Judy. You's done gwine wid de angels." - -They laid her in the family tomb, overlooking the green valley of the -Roanoke. Two weeks after her death, Colonel Hancock himself also -succumbed. - -To a double funeral the Governor came back. High on the hillside they -laid them, in a mausoleum excavated out of the solid rock. - -"De Cunnel, he done watch us out ob dat iron window up dah," said the -darkies. "He sits up dah in a stone chair so he can look down de -valley and see his slaves at deir work." - -To this day the superstitious darkies will not pass his tomb. - -On his way to Washington, Governor Clark stopped again at Monticello. - -"Ah, the joyous activity of my grandfather!" exclaimed Thomas -Jefferson Randolph. "He mounts his horse early in the morning, canters -down the mountain and across country to the site of the university. -All day long he assists at the work. He has planned it, engaged -workmen, selected timber, bought bricks. He has sent to Italy for -carvers of stone." - -Out of those students flocking to consult Jefferson had grown the -University of Virginia. Books and professors were brought from -England, and the institution opened in 1825. - -Martha Jefferson's husband, Thomas Mann Randolph, was Governor of -Virginia now, but the sage of Monticello paid little attention. All -his talk was of schools,--schools and colleges for Virginia. - -"Slavery in Missouri?" Clark broached the discussion that was raging -at the West. - -Instantly the sage of Monticello was attentive. - -"This momentous question, like a firebell in the night, awakened and -filled me with terror. It is the knell of the Union. Since Bunker Hill -we have never had so ominous a question." He who had said, "Pensacola -and Florida will come in good time," and, "I have ever looked on Cuba -as the most interesting addition which could be made to our system of -States," had corresponded with the Spanish minister concerning a canal -through the isthmus, and sent Lewis and Clark to open up a road to -Asia,--Jefferson, more than any other, had the vision of to-day. - -Governor Clark went on to Washington. - -Ramsay Crooks and Russell Farnham of the Astor expedition were -quartered at the same hotel with Floyd of Virginia and Benton of -Missouri. - -Beside their whale-oil lamps they talked of Oregon. Benton was writing -for Oregon,--he made a noise in all the papers. John Floyd framed a -bill, the first for Oregon occupancy. - -Missouri was just coming in as a State. The moment Benton, her first -Senator, was seated, he flew to Floyd's support. - -"We must occupy the Columbia," said Benton. "Mere adventurers may -enter upon it as Ćneas entered upon the Tiber, and as our forefathers -came upon the Potomac, the Delaware, and the Hudson, and renew the -phenomenon of individuals laying the foundation of future empire. Upon -the people of eastern Asia the establishment of a civilised power upon -the opposite coast of America cannot fail to produce great and -wonderful results. Science, liberal principles, government, and the -true religion, may cast their lights across the intervening sea. The -valley of the Columbia may become the granary of China and Japan, and -an outlet for their imprisoned and exuberant population." - -Staid Senators smiled and called Benton a dreamer, but he and Floyd -were the prophets of to-day. - -For thirty years after Astor had been driven out, England and her fur -companies enriched themselves in Oregon waters. For thirty years -Benton stood in his place and fought to save us Oregon. From the -bedside of the dying Jefferson, and from the lips of the living Clark, -he took up the great enterprise of an overland highway to India. - -When Governor Clark came sorrowing back to St. Louis with the little -boys, Missouri was a State and a new Governor sat in the chair, but -though governors came and governors went, the officer that had held -the position through all the territorial days was always called -"Governor" Clark. As United States superintendent of Indian affairs -for the West, Governor Clark now became practically autocrat of the -redmen for life. - -"If you ever think of marrying again, consider my cousin Harriet." - -More than a year Governor Clark "considered," and then the most noted -citizen of St. Louis married the handsome widow Radford. - -"From Philadelphia she haf a wedding trousseau," said the vivacious -Creole girls, drinking tea in their wide verandas. "She haf de majesty -look, like one queen." - -From the home of her brother, James Kennerly, the fun-loving Harriet -of other years went to become the grave and dignified hostess in the -home of the ex-governor. - - - - -XVI - -_THE RED HEAD CHIEF_ - - -"Hasten, Ruskosky, rebraid my queue. Kings and half kings are in there -as plenty as blackberries in the woods, and I must see what is the -matter." - -Hurriedly the Polish valet, who dressed Clark in his later years, -knelt to button the knees of his small clothes and fasten on a big -silk bow in place of a buckle. Directly the tall figure wrapped in a -cloak entered the council chamber connected with his study. - -The walls of the council chamber were covered with portraits of -distinguished chiefs, and with Indian arms and dresses, the handsomest -the West afforded. Nothing pleased the redmen better than to be -honoured by the acceptance of some treasure for this museum. - -Against this wall the Indians sat, and the little gray-haired -interpreter, Antony Le Claire, lit the tomahawk pipe. As the fumes -rolled upward the Red Head Chief took his seat at the table before -him. The Indians lifted their heads. Justice would now be done. - -It was a sultry day and the council doors were open. But sultrier -still was the debate within. - -"Our Father," said the Great and Little Osages, "we have come to meet -our enemies, the Delawares and Shawnees and Kickapoos and Peorias, in -your Council Hall. We ourselves can effect a peace." - -And so the Red Head listened. "Make your peace." - -Six days they argued, Paul Louise interpreter. Hot and hotter grew the -debate, and mutual recriminations. - -"White Hair's warriors shot at one of my young men." - -"But you, Delawares, robbed our relations," cried the Osage chiefs. - -"You stole our otter-skins," retorted the Delawares. - -"And you hunted on our lands." - -"Last Summer when we were absent, you bad-hearted Osages destroyed our -fields of corn and cut up our gardens," cried the angry Shawnees, who -always sided with the Delawares. - -"You speak with double tongues--" - -Clark stepped in and hushed the controversy. - -"Who gave you leave to hunt on Osage lands?" - -"White Hair and his principal braves," answered the Delawares. - -"When did they shoot at your man?" - -"At the Big Bend of the Arkansas." - -"Who owned the peltries the Osages took?" - -"All of us." - -"Very well then, restitution must be made." - -Soothing as a summer breeze was his gentle voice, "My children, I -cannot have you injured. The Delawares are my children, and the -Osages, the Shawnees, the Kickapoos, and the Peorias. I cannot permit -any one to injure my children. Whoever does that is no longer child of -mine. You must bury the sharp hatchet underground." - -He calmed the heated tribes and effected peace. Like little children -they gave each other strings of beads, pipes, and tobacco, and -departed reconciled. - -"Bring all your difficulties to me or to Paul Louise and we will judge -for you," said the Red Head Chief, as one by one they filed in plumed -array down the steps of the Council House. - -Scarce had the reconciled tribes departed before officers of the law -brought in seven chiefs, hostages of the Iowas,--"Accused by the Sacs, -Your Honour, of killing cattle; accused by the whites of killing -settlers." - -"My father." The mournful appealing tone of the Indian speaker always -affected Clark. He was singularly fitted to be their judge and -friend. "My son." There was an air of sympathy and paternal kindness -as the Red Head Chief listened. His heart was stirred by their wrongs, -and his face would redden with indignation as he listened to the -pitiful tales of his children. - -With bodies uncovered to the waist, with blanket on the left arm and -the right arm and breast bare, a chief stepped forth to be examined -concerning a border fray with the backwoodsmen. - -Drawing himself to his full height, and extending his arm toward -Clark, the Iowa began: - -"Red Head, if I had done that of which my white brother accuses me, I -would not stand here now. The words of my red head father have passed -through both my ears and I have remembered them. I am accused. I am -not guilty. - -"I thought I would come down to see my red head father to hold a talk -with him. - -"I come across the line. I see the cattle of my white brother dead. I -see the Sauk kill them in great numbers. I said there would be -trouble. I thought to go to my village. I find I have no provisions. I -say, 'Let us go down to our white brother and trade for a little.' I -do not turn on my track to my village." - -Then turning to the Sacs and pointing,-- - -"The Sauk who tells lies of me goes to my white brother and says, 'The -Ioway has killed your cattle.' - -"When the lie has talked thus to my white brother, he comes up to my -village. We hear our white brother coming. We are glad and leave our -cabins to tell him he is welcome. While I shake hands with my white -brother, my white brother shoots my best chief through the -head,--shoots three my young men, a squaw, and her children. - -"My young men hear, they rush out, they fire,--four of my white -brothers fall. My people fly to the woods, and die of cold and -hunger." - -Dropping his head and his arm, in tragic attitude he stands, the -picture of despair. The lip of the savage quivers. He lifts his -eyes,-- - -"While I shake hands my white brother shoots my chief, my son, my only -son." - -Only by consummate tact can Clark handle these distressing conflicts -of the border. Who is right and who is wrong? The settlers hate the -Indians, the Indians dread and fear the settlers. - -"Governor Clark," said the Shawnees and Delawares, "since three or -four years we are crowded by the whites who steal our horses. We -moved. You recommended us to raise stock and cultivate our ground. -That advice we have followed, but again white men have come." - -The Cherokees complained, "White people settle without our consent. -They destroy our game and produce discord and confusion." - -Clark could see the heaving of their naked breasts and their lithe -bodies, the tigers of their kind, shaken by irrepressible emotion. - -And again in the Autumn,-- - -"What is it?" inquired the stranger as pennons came glittering down -the Missouri. - -"Oh, nothing, only another lot of Indians coming down to see their -red-headed daddy," was the irreverent response, as the solemn, -calm-featured braves glided into view, gazing as only savages can gaze -at the wonders of civilisation. - -"What! going to war?" cried Clark, in a tone of thunder, as they made -known their errand at the Council House. "Your Great Father, the -President, forbids it. He counsels his children to live in peace. If -you insist on listening to bad men I shall come out there and make you -desist." - -The stormy excitement subsided. They shrank from his reproofs, and -felt and feared his power. - -"Go home. Take these gifts to my children, and tell them they were -sent by the Red Head Chief." - -Viewed with admiration, the presents were carefully wrapped in skins -to be laid away and treasured on many a weary march and through many a -sad vicissitude. A few days in St. Louis, then away go the willowy -copper-skin paddlers to dissuade their braves from incurring the -awful displeasure of the Red Head Chief. The West of that day was sown -with his medals that disappeared only with the tribes. - -In time they came to know Clark's signature, and preserved it as a -sacred talisman. Could the influence of one man have availed against -armies of westward pressing trappers, traders, and pioneers, the -tribes would have been civilised. - -"Shall we accept the missionaries? Shall we hearken to their -teaching?" - -"Yes," he said to the Osages. "Yes," to the Pawnees, to the Shawnees, -and "Yes," to a delegation that came from the far-off Nez Percés -beyond the Rocky Mountains. - -In days of friction and excitement Clark did more than regiments to -preserve peace on the frontier. He was a buffer, a perpetual -break-water between the conflicting races. - -As United States superintendent of Indian affairs the Red Head Chief -grew venerable. The stately old officer lived in style in St. Louis, -and as in the colonial time Sir William Johnson ruled from the -Atlantic to the Mississippi, so now Clark's word was Indian law from -the Mississippi to the Pacific. His voice was raised in continual -advantage to the Indian. While civilisation was pushing west and west, -and crowding them out of their old domains, he was softening as much -as possible the rigour of their contact with whites. - -"Our position with regard to the Indians has entirely changed," he -used to say. "Before Wayne's campaigns in 1794 and events of 1818, the -tribes nearest our settlements were a formidable and terrible enemy. -Since then their power has been broken, their warlike spirit subdued, -and themselves sunk into objects of pity and commiseration. While -strong and hostile, it has been our obvious duty to weaken them; now -that they are weak and harmless, and most of their lands fallen into -our hands, justice and humanity require us to cherish and befriend -them. To teach them to live in houses, to raise grain and stock, to -plant orchards, to set up landmarks, to divide their possessions, to -establish laws for their government, to get the rudiments of common -learning, such as reading, writing, and ciphering, are the first steps -toward improving their condition." - -This was the policy of Jefferson, reaffirmed by Clark. It was the key -to all Clark's endeavours. - -At Washington City he discussed the question with President Monroe. - -"But to take these steps with effect the Indians should be removed -west of the Mississippi and north of the Missouri." - -"Let them move singly or in families as they please," said Clark. -"Place agents where the Indians cross the Mississippi, to supply them -with provisions and ammunition. A constant tide is now going on from -Ohio, Indiana, Illinois. They cross at St. Louis and St. Genevieve, -and my accounts show the aid which is given them. Many leading chiefs -are zealous in this work, and are labouring hard to collect their -dispersed and broken tribes at their new and permanent homes." - -"And the land?" inquired the President. - -"It is well watered with numerous streams and some large rivers, -abounds with grass, contains prairies, land for farms, and affords a -temporary supply of game. - -"It is in vain for us to talk about learning and religion; these -Indians want food. The Sioux, the Osages, are powerful tribes,--they -are near our border, and my official station enables me to know the -exact truth. They are distressed by famine; many die for want of food; -the living child is buried with the dead mother because no one can -spare it food through its helpless infancy. - -"Grain, stock, fences are the first things. Property alone can keep up -the pride of the Indian and make him ashamed of drunkenness, lying, -and stealing. - -"The period of danger with an Indian is when he ceases to be a hunter -and before he gets the means of living from flocks and agriculture. In -the transit from a hunter to a farmer, he degenerates from a proud and -independent savage to a beggar, drunkard, thief. To counteract the -danger, property in horses, hogs, and cattle is indispensable. They -should be assisted in making fences and planting orchards, and be -instructed in raising cotton and making cloth. Small mills should be -erected to save the women the labour of pounding corn, and mechanics -should be employed to teach the young Indians how to make ploughs, -carts, wheels, hoes, and axes." - -Benton and other great men argued in the Senate. "In contact with the -white race the Indians degenerate. They are a dangerous neighbour -within our borders. They prevent the expansion of the white race, and -the States will not be satisfied until all their soil is open to -settlement." - -And so, to remove the Indians to a home of their own became the great -work of Clark's life. - -"A home where the whites shall never come!" the Indians were -delighted. "We will look at these lands." - -"I recommend that the government send special agents to collect the -scattered bands and families and pay their expenses to the lands -assigned them," said Clark, estimating the cost at one hundred -thousand dollars. But not all of the tribes would listen. - -In November, 1826, Clark drove from St. Louis in his carriage to the -Choctaw nation in Alabama, to persuade them to move west of the -Mississippi. - -"After many years spent in reflection," said the Commissioners, "your -Great Father, the President, has determined upon a plan for your -happiness. The United States has a large unsettled country on the west -side of the great river Mississippi into which they do not intend -their white settlements shall enter. This is the country in which our -Great Father intends to settle his red children. - -"Many of the tribes are now preparing to remove and are making -application for land. The Cherokees and Muscogees have procured lands, -and your people can have five times as much land in that fine country -as they are now living on in this." - -Never before in the conquest of nations had the weaker race been -offered such advantageous terms. Two days passed while the Indians -considered and argued among themselves. - -"What shall we give to you?" asked the Commissioners. "These lands and -titles to them, provisions and clothing, a cow and corn and farming -implements to each family, and blacksmiths and ploughmakers and -annuities." - -"Friends and brothers of the Choctaw nation," said Clark in the -council, "I have spent half the period of an accustomed life among -you. Thirty-six years ago I passed through your country and saw your -distressed condition. Now I see part of your nation much improved in -prosperity and civilisation. This affords me much happiness. But I am -informed that a very large majority of the Choctaw nation are seeking -food among the swamps by picking cotton for white planters. - -"Cannot provision be made to better their condition? - -"Let me recommend that the poorer and less enlightened be moved -without delay to their lands west of the Mississippi. There will I -take pleasure in advancing their interests. In my declining years it -would be a great consolation to me to see them prosper in agriculture. - -"Come to my country where I can have it in my power to act as your -father and your friend. You shall be protected and peaceful and -happy." - -The Choctaws were touched, but they answered,-- - -"We cannot part with our country. It is the land of our birth,--the -hills and streams of our youth." - - - - -XVII - -_THE GREAT COUNCIL AT PRAIRIE DU CHIEN_ - - -St. Louis was a cold place in those prairie years; a great deal of -snow fell, and sleighbells rang beside the Great River. No Indians -came during the cold weather, but with the springing grass and -blossoming trees, each year the Indians camped around the twin lakes -at Maracasta, Clark's farm west of St. Louis. - -There were wigwams all over Maracasta. James Kennerly, Clark's Indian -deputy, busy ever with the ruddy aborigines, dealing out annuities, -arranging for treaties and instructing the tribes, kept open house for -the chiefs at _Côte Plaquemine_, the Persimmon Hill. Clark's boys shot -bows and arrows with the little Indians, Kennerly's little girls made -them presents of "kinnikinick," dried leaves of the sumac and red -osier dogwood, to smoke in their long pipes. - -Every delegation came down laden with gifts for the Red Head,--costly -furs, buffalo robes, bows, arrows, pipes, moccasins. - -Tragedies of the plains came daily to the ears of General Clark, far, -far beyond the reach of government in the wild battle-ground of the -West. - -In 1822 the Sioux and Cheyennes combined against the Crows and fell -upon their villages. In the slaughter of that day five thousand -defenceless men, women, and children were butchered on the prairie. -All their lodges and herds of horses and hundreds of captive girls -were carried away. As a people the Crows never recovered. - -Drunk with victory the triumphant Sioux rolled back on the Chippewas, -Sacs, Foxes, and Iowas. - -"If continued, these wars will embroil all the tribes of the West," -said Clark. "We must do something more to promote peace. They must -become civilised." - -President Monroe was working up a new Indian policy, with Clark as a -chief adviser. - -"Go, Paul Louise, take this talk to my Osages. I am coming up to their -country. Tell them to meet me on the first of June." - -In his canoe, with his squaw and his babies, the wizened little -Frenchman set out. He could not read, he could not write, he could -only make his mark, but the Indians loved and trusted Paul Louise. - -"And you, Baronet Vasquez, take this to the Kansas nation." - -Vasquez belonged to the old Spanish _régime_. As a youth he had gone -out with the Spanish garrison at the cession of St. Louis, to return a -fur trader. - -Then came Lafayette from the memories of Monticello. Escorted by a -troop of horse, he had ascended that historic mountain. The alert -lithe figure of the little Marquis leaped from the carriage; at the -same moment the door opened, revealing the tall, bent, wasted figure -of Jefferson in the pillared portico. The music ceased, and every head -uncovered. Slowly the aged Jefferson descended the steps, slowly the -little Marquis approached his friend, then crying, with outstretched -arms, "Ah, Jefferson!" "Ah, Lafayette!" each fell upon the other's -bosom. The gentlemen of the cavalcade turned away with tears, and the -two were left to solitude and recollection. - -Long and often had Jefferson and Lafayette laboured together in -anxious and critical periods of the past. It was in chasing "the boy" -Lafayette that the British came to Charlottesville. When Jefferson was -minister in Paris, the young and popular nobleman assisted the -unaccustomed American at the Court of France. Together they had seen -the opening of the French Revolution. What memories came back as they -sat in the parlour at Monticello, discussing the momentous events of -two continents in which they had been actors! - -"What would I have done with the Queen?" asked the aged Jefferson. "I -should have shut her up in a convent, putting harm out of her power. I -have ever believed if there had been no Queen there would have been no -French Revolution." - -Lafayette went to Montpelier to see Madison, and then to Yorktown, -over the same road which he himself had opened in 1781 in the retreat -before Cornwallis. One long ovation followed his route. Even old -ladies who had seen him in their youth pressed forward with the plea, -"Let me see the young Marquis again!" forgetful of the flight of -years. Echoes of his triumphal tour had reached the border. St. Louis, -a city and a State not dreamed of in Revolutionary days, begged the -honour of entertaining Lafayette. - -Far down the river they saw the smoke of his steamer, coming up from -New Orleans. - -"Welcome!" the hills echoed. "_Vive_ Lafayette!" - -The Marquis lifted his eyes,--white stone houses gay with gardens and -clusters of verdure arose before him in a town of five thousand -inhabitants. Below stood the massive stone forts of the Spanish time, -and on the brow of the bluff frowned the old round tower, the last -fading relic of feudalism in North America. - -Every eye was fixed upon the honoured guest. A few were there who -could recall the pride of Lafayette in his American troops, with their -helmets and flowing crests and the sabres he himself had brought from -France. The banquet, the toasts, the ball, all these have passed into -tradition. - -The Marquis visited Clark's cabinet of Indian curios. - -"I present you this historic cloak of an Indian chief," said the -General, offering a robe like a Russian great coat. - -In turn, Lafayette presented his mess chest, carried through the -Revolution, and placed on the Governor's finger a ring of his hair. -Later Clark sent him the live cub of a grizzly bear, that grew to be a -wonder in the Jardin des Plantes of Paris. - -"And your great brother, George Rogers Clark?" inquired the Marquis. - -"He died seven years ago at Louisville," answered the Governor. - -"In securing the liberties of this country I esteem him second only to -Washington," said Lafayette. - -"Those thieving Osages have taken six more of my horses," complained -Chouteau the next morning at the office of Governor Clark. - -"And four blankets and three axes of me," added Baptiste Dardenne. - -"Worse yet, they have stolen my great-coat and razor case," said -Manuel Roderique. - -Two thousand dollars' worth of claims were paid in that summer of -1825. - -"We must get them out of the way," persisted the exasperated whites. - -"Acts and acts of Congress regulating trade and intercourse with the -tribes are of no avail. They must be removed, and as far as possible. -They are banditti, robbers!" said Benton. - -In spite of all proclamations clothes disappeared from the line, silk -stockings and bed-quilts and ladies' hats mysteriously went into the -wigwams of the vagrants. - -"This state of affairs is intolerable!" exclaimed Benton. "Governor -Clark, if you will conclude a treaty removing those tribes to the West -I will stake my honour on putting a ratification through Congress. -I'll present the case!" - -Again the great senator ground out the words between his teeth, "_I'll -present the case_. It will be a kindness to both parties. The poor -Indians have lost all,--we must reimburse them, we must take care of -them, they must have a home,--but far away, _far away_!" shaking his -fingers and closing his eyes with the significant shrug so well known -to the friends of Colonel Benton. - -"Not so bad as eet once was," urged the kind-hearted Creoles. "Not so -bad by far. In de old Spanish days dey once left St. Genevieve wit'out -a horse to turn a mill. Dey came in to de village in de night and -carried away everyt'ing dey could find. Nobody ever pursue dem. But -_les Américains_, dey chase dem. But den," commented the tolerant -Creoles, "de Osage do not _kill_, like de Kickapoo and de Cherokee. -Dey take de goods, steal de furs, beat with ramrods, drive him -off,--but dey don't _kill_!" - -So in May, after the departure of Lafayette, Governor Clark steamed up -the Missouri, met the Kansas and Osage Indians, and made treaties for -the cession of all their lands within the present boundary of -Missouri. - -"You shall have lands, hogs, fowls, cattle, carts, and farming tools -to settle farther west." - -This was wealth to the poor Osages, whose hunting fields had become -exhausted. - -"Go to the earth and till it, it will give you bread and meat and -clothes and comfort and happiness. You may talk about your poverty -always, and it will never make you better off. You must be -industrious," said Clark. "And your old friend, Boone, shall be your -farmer." - -For almost forty years now they had known Daniel M. Boone, the son of -the great pioneer,--since, indeed, those days when as a boy of -eighteen he trapped on the Kansas. Two springs later the removal was -made, and Boone, as "farmer for the Kansas Indians," took up his -residence in the Kaw Valley where his chimney stacks may yet be seen -near the present Lecompton. The next year was born Napoleon Boone, the -first white child in Kansas. - -All this time the northern clans were gathering at Prairie du Chien, a -work of months. June 30 Governor Clark's barge started north from St. -Louis, laden with presents, provisions, interpreters. - -"We are afraid to come," said the Omahas. "We are afraid to cross the -hostile territory." - -William Preston Clark, in looks and dress the blonde double of the -poet Byron, said, "Let me bring them, father." - -So young Clark, intimate with Indians, went after the Omahas and -brought them safely in. But Big Elk left his medal with his son, "I -never expect to reach home alive," he said. "We cross the country of -the Sacs!" - -The Yanktons refused. "Shall we be butchered by the Sacs?" But later -they came to St. Louis, smoked with the Sacs and shook hands. Even the -Sioux feared the Sacs, the warriors of the central valley. - -Mahaska, head chief of the Iowas, with his braves went up with Clark, -and Rant-che-wai-me, the Flying Pigeon. Rant-che-wai-me had been to -Washington. A year ago, when her husband left her alone at the wigwam -on the Des Moines, she set out for St. Louis. The steamer was at the -shore, the chief was about to embark, when he felt a blow upon his -back. Shaking his plumes in wrath, Mahaska turned,--to behold the -Flying Pigeon, with uplifted tomahawk in her hand. - -"Am I your wife?" she cried. - -"You are my wife," answered the surprised chief. - -"Are you my husband?" - -"I am your husband." - -"Then will I, too, go with you to shake the Great Father by the hand." - -Mahaska smiled,--"You are my pretty wife, Flying Pigeon; you shall go -to Washington." Clark, too, smiled,--"Yes, she can go." - -The pretty Rant-che-wai-me was feted at the White House, and had her -picture painted by a great artist as a typical Iowa Princess. And now -she was going to Prairie du Chien. - -Not for ten years had Clark visited his northern territory. Few -changes had come on the Mississippi. Twice a year Colonel George -Davenport brought a hundred thousand dollars' worth of goods to his -trading post at Rock Island. - -Beyond, Julien Dubuque lay in perpetual state on his hills, wrapped -only in a winding sheet in his tomb, exposed to the view of every -traveller that cared to climb the grassy height to gaze through the -grated windows of his lonely mausoleum. - -"The Great Chief, the Red Head is coming," whispered all the Indians, -as Clark's barges hove in sight. - -Prairie du Chien was alive with excitement. Governor Cass of Michigan -was already there. Not only the village, but the entire banks of the -river for miles above and below were covered with high-pointed buffalo -tents. Horses browsed upon the bluffs in Arabian abandon. Below, tall -and warlike, Chippewas and Winnebagoes from Superior and the valley of -St. Croix jostled Menomonees, Pottawattamies, and Ottawas from Lake -Michigan and Green Bay. - -"Whoop-oh-hoo-oh!" - -Major Taliferro from the Falls of St. Anthony made the grand entry -with his Sioux and Chippewas, four hundred strong, drums beating, -flags flying. Taliferro was very popular with the Sioux,--even the -squaws said he was "_Weechashtah Washtay_,"--a handsome man. - -Over from Sault Ste. Marie the learned agent Schoolcraft had brought -one hundred and fifty Chippewas, brothers of Hiawatha. - -Keokuk, the Watchful Fox, with his Sacs and Iowas, was the last to -arrive. Leagued against the Sioux, they had camped on an island below -to paint and dress, and came up the Mississippi attired in full war -costume singing their battle-song. It was a thrilling sight when they -came upon the scene with spears, battle-lances, and crested locks like -Roman helmets, casting bitter glances at their ancient foe, the Sioux. -Nearly nude, with feather war-flags flying, and beating tambourines, -the Sacs landed in compact ranks, breathing defiance. From his -earliest youth Keokuk had fought the Sioux. - -"Bold, martial, flushed with success, Keokuk landed, majestic and -frowning," said Schoolcraft, "and as another Coriolanus spoke in the -council and shook his war lance at the Sioux." - -At the signal of a gun, every day at ten o'clock, the chiefs -assembled. - -"Children," said Governor Clark to the assembled savages, "your Great -Father has not sent us here to ask anything from you--we want -nothing--not the smallest piece of your land. We have come a great way -to meet for your own good. Your Great Father the President has been -informed that war is carried on among his red children,--the Sacs, -Foxes, and Chippewas on one side and the Sioux on the other,--and that -the wars of some of you began before any of you were born." - -"Heigh! heigh!" broke forth the silent smokers. "Heigh! heigh!" -exclaimed the warriors. "Heigh! heigh!" echoed the vast and impatient -concourse around the council. - -"Your father thinks there is no cause for continuation of war between -you. There is land enough for you to live and hunt on and animals -enough. Why, instead of peaceably following the game and providing for -your families, do you send out war parties to destroy each other? The -Great Spirit made you all of one colour and placed you upon the land. -You ought to live in peace as brothers of one great family. Your Great -Father has heard of your war songs and war parties,--they do not -please him. He desires that his red children should bury the -tomahawk." - -"Heigh! heigh!" - -"Children! look around you. See the result of wars between nations who -were once powerful and are now reduced to a few wandering families. -You have examples enough before you. - -"Children, your wars have resulted from your having no definite -boundaries. You do not know what belongs to you, and your people -follow the game into lands claimed by other tribes." - -"Heigh! heigh!" - -"Children, you have all assembled under your Father's flag. You are -under his protection. Blood must not be spilt here. Whoever injures -one of you injures us, and we will punish him as we would punish one -of our own people." - -"Heigh! heigh! heigh!" cried all the Indians. - -"Children," said General Cass, "your Great Father does not want your -land. He wants to establish boundaries and peace among you. Your Great -Father has strong limbs and a piercing eye, and an arm that extends -from the sea to Red River. - -"Children, you are hungry. We will adjourn for two hours." - -"Heigh! heigh! heigh-h!" rolled the chorus across the Prairie. - -As to an army, rations were distributed, beef, bread, corn, salt, -sugar, tobacco. Each ate, ate, ate,--till not a scrap was left to feed -a humming-bird. - -Revered of his people, Wabasha and his pipe-bearers were the observed -of all. - -"I never yet was present at so great a council as this," said Wabasha. -Three thousand were at Prairie du Chien. - -The Sioux? Far from the northwest they said their fathers came,--the -Tartar cheek was theirs. Wabasha and his chiefs alone had the -Caucasian countenance. - -Three mighty brothers ruled the Sioux in the days of -Pontiac,--Wabasha, Red Wing, and Little Crow. Their sons, Wabasha, Red -Wing, and Little Crow ruled still. - -"Boundaries?" they knew not the meaning of the word. Restless, -anxious, sharp-featured Little Crow fixed his piercing hazel eye upon -the Red Head,-- - -"_Taku-wakan!_--that is incomprehensible!" - -"Heigh! What does this mean?" exclaimed the Chippewas. - -"We are all one people," sagely observed Mahaska, the Iowa. "My -father, I claim no lands in particular." - -"I never yet heard that any one had any exclusive right to the soil," -said Chambler, the Ottawa. - -"I have a tract of country. It is where I was born and now live," said -Red Bird, the Winnebago. "But the Foxes claim it and the Sacs, the -Menomonees, and Omahas. We use it in common." - -Red Bird was a handsome Indian, dressed Yankton fashion in white -unsoiled deerskin and scarlet, and glove-fitting moccasins,--the dandy -of his tribe. - -The debate grew animated. "Our tract is so small," cried the -Menomonees, "that we cannot turn around without touching our -neighbours." Then every Indian began to describe his boundaries, -crossing and recrossing each other. - -"These are the causes of all your troubles," said Clark. "It is better -for each of you to give up some disputed claim than to be fighting for -ever about it." - -That night the parties two by two discussed their lines, the first -step towards civilisation. They drew maps on the ground,--"my hunting -ground," and "mine," and "mine." After days of study the boundary -rivers were acknowledged, the belt of wampum was passed, and the pipe -of peace. - -Wabasha, acknowledged by every chief to be first of the Seven Fires of -the Sioux, was treated by all with marked distinction and deference. -And yet Wabasha, dignified and of superior understanding, when asked, -"Wabasha? What arrangement did you make with the Foxes about -boundaries?" replied, "I never made any arrangement about the line. -The only arrangement I made was about peace!" - -"When I heard the voice of my Great Father," said Mongazid, the Loon's -Foot, from Fond du Lac, "when I heard the voice of my Father coming up -the Mississippi, calling to this treaty, it seemed as a murmuring -wind. I got up from my mat where I sat musing, and hastened to obey. -My pathway has been clear and bright. Truly it is a pleasant sky above -our heads this day. There is not a cloud to darken it. I hear nothing -but pleasant words. The raven is not waiting for his prey. I hear no -eagle cry, 'Come, let us go,--the feast is ready,--the Indian has -killed his brother.'" - -Shingaba Wassin of Sault Ste. Marie, head chief of the Chippewas, had -fought with Britain in the War of 1812 and lost a brother at the -battle of the Thames. He and a hundred other chiefs with their pipe -bearers signed the treaty. Everybody signed. And all sang, even the -girls, the Witcheannas of the Sioux. - -"We have buried our bad thoughts in the ashes of the pipe," said -Little Crow. - -"I always had good counsel from Governor Clark," observed Red Wing. - -"You put this medal on my neck in 1812," said Decorah, the Winnebago, -"and when I returned I gave good advice to the young men of our -village." - -After a fierce controversy and the rankling of a hundred wrongs, the -warring tribes laid down their lances and buried the tomahawk. Sacs -and Sioux shook hands; the dividing lines were fixed; all the chiefs -signed, and the tribes were at peace for the first time in a thousand -years. - -"Pray God it may last," said Clark, as his boat went away homeward -along with the Sacs down the Mississippi. - -The great Council at Prairie du Chien was over. - - - - -XVIII - -_THE LORDS OF THE RIVERS_ - - -For thirty years after the cession, St. Louis was a great military -centre. Sixty thousand dollars a year went into the village from -Bellefontaine, and still more after the opening of Jefferson Barracks -in 1826. Nor can it be denied that the expenditure of large sums of -money in Indian annuities through the office of Governor Clark did -much for the prosperity of the frontier city. - -And ever the centre of hospitality was the home of Governor Clark. -Both the Governor and his wife enjoyed life, took things leisurely, -both had the magnetic faculty of winning people, and they set a -splendid table. - -"I like to see my house full," said the Governor. There were no modern -hotels in those days, and his house became a stopping place for all -noted visitors to St. Louis. - -Their old-fashioned coach, with the footman up behind in a tall silk -hat, met at the levee many a distinguished stranger,--travellers, -generals, dukes, and lords from Europe who came with letters to the -Indian autocrat of the West. All had to get a pass from Clark, and all -agents and sub-agents were under and answerable to him. - -But unspoiled in the midst of it passed the plain, unaristocratic Red -Head Chief and friend of the oppressed. For years he corresponded with -Lafayette, and yet Clark was not a scholar. He was a man of affairs, -of which this country has abounded in rich examples. - -Prince Paul of Wurtemberg came, the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, and -Maximilian, Prince of Wied, all seeking passports for the Indian -country, all coming back with curios for their palaces and castles. - -Very politely Mrs. Clark listened to their broken English and -patiently conversed with them when the Governor was away. - -One of the first pianos came to the Clark parlours, and on special -occasions the Indian council room was cleared and decorated for grand -balls. Many a young "milletoer," as the Creoles called them, dashed up -from Jefferson Barracks to win a bride among the girls of St. Louis. - -For the preservation of peace and the facilitation of Indian removals, -Fort Des Moines was built among the Iowas, Fort Atkinson near the -present Omaha, Fort Snelling at the Falls of St. Anthony, and Fort -Leavenworth on the borders of Kansas. - -Half the area of the United States lay out there, with no law, no -courts, but those of battle. As quietly as possible, step by step, the -savage land was taken into custody. And the pretty girls of St. Louis -did their share to reconcile the "milletoers" to life at the frontier -posts. - -"Ho for Santa Fé!" One May morning in 1824 a caravan of waggons passed -through the streets of St. Louis. - -Penned in the far-off Mexican mountains a little colony of white -people were shut from the world. Twice before a few adventurous -pack-trains had penetrated their mountain solitudes, as Phoenicians -of old went over to Egypt, India, Arabia. - -"_Los Americanos! Los Americanos!_" shouted the eager mountain -dwellers, rushing out to embrace the traders and welcome them to their -lonely settlement. Silks, cottons, velvets, hardware, were bought up -in a trice, and the fortunate traders returned to St. Louis with -horseload after horseload of gold and silver bullion. - -"Those people want us. But the Spanish authorities are angry and tax -us as they used to tax the traders at New Orleans. The people beg us -to disregard their tyrannous rulers,--they must have goods." - -In 1817 young Auguste Chouteau tried it, and was cast into prison and -his goods confiscated. - -"What wish you?" demanded the Spanish Governor, in answer to repeated -solicitations from the captive. - -"_Mi libertad Gobernador._" - -Wrathfully they locked him closer than ever in the old donjon of Santa -Fé. - -"My neighbour's son imprisoned there without cause!" exclaimed -Governor Clark. All the old Spanish animosity roiled in his veins. He -appealed to Congress. There was a rattling among the dry bones, and -Chouteau and his friends were released. - -And now, on the 15th of May, 1824, eighty men set out in the first -waggon train, with twenty thousand dollars' worth of merchandise for -the isolated Mexican capital. In September the caravan returned with -their capital increased a hundred-fold in sacks of gold and silver and -ten thousand dollars' worth of furs. - -The Santa Fé trade was established never to be shaken, though Indian -battles, like conflicts with Arab sheiks of the desert, grew wilder -than any Crusader's tale. Young men of the Mississippi dreamed of that -"farther west" of Santa Fé and Los Angeles. - -"We must have a safe road," said the traders. "We may wander off into -the desert and perish." - -In the same year Senator Benton secured an appropriation of ten -thousand dollars for staking the plains to Santa Fé. - -"We must have protection," said the traders to Governor Clark at the -Council House. At Council Grove, a buffalo haunt in a thickly wooded -bottom at the headwaters of the Neosho in the present Kansas, Clark's -agents met the Osage Indians and secured permission for the caravans -to pass through their country. But the dreaded Pawnees and Comanches -were as yet unapproachable. - -In spite of the inhumanity of Spaniards, in spite of murderous -Pawnees, in spite of desert dust and red-brown grass and cacti, year -by year the caravans grew, the people became more friendly and -solicitous of each other's trade, until one day New Mexico was ready -to step over into the ranks of the States. - -And one day Kit Carson, whose mother was a Boone, only sixteen and -small of his age, ran away from a hard task-master to join the Santa -Fé caravan and grow up on the plains. - -Daniel Boone was dead, at eighty-six, just as Missouri came in as a -State. Jesse, the youngest of the Boone boys to come out from -Kentucky, was in the Constitutional Convention that adjourned in his -honour, and Jesse's son, Albert Gallatin Boone, in 1825, joined as -private secretary that wonderful Ashley expedition that keel-boated up -the Platte, crossed from its head-waters over to Green River, kept on -west, discovered the Great South Pass of the Rockies, the overland -route of future emigration, and set up its tents on the borders of -Utah Lake. - -Overwhelmed with debt Ashley set out,--he came back a millionaire with -the greatest collection of furs ever known up to that time. Everything -was Ashley then, "Ashley boats" and "Ashley beaver,"--he was the -greatest man in St. Louis, and was sent to Congress. - -Sixty years ago the Lords of the Rivers ruled St. Louis. - -The Rocky Mountain Fur Company went out and camped on the site of a -dozen future capitals. From the Green River Valley under the Wind -River Mountains of Wyoming, from the Tetons of Colorado, the Uintahs -of Utah, and the Bitter Roots of Idaho, from the shining Absarokas and -the Bighorn Alps, they came home with mink and otter, beaver, bear, -and buffalo. - -The American Fur Company came to St. Louis, and the Chouteaus, at -first the rivals, became the partners of John Jacob Astor. Born in the -atmosphere of furs, for forty years Pierre Chouteau the younger had no -rival in the Valley except Clark. The two stood side by side, one -representing commerce, the other the Government. - -Pierre Chouteau, the largest fur trader west of the Alleghanies, sent -his boats to Itasca, the headwaters of the Mississippi, the Missouri, -the Yellowstone, the Osage, the Kansas, and the Platte, employing a -thousand men and paying skilled pilots five thousand dollars for a -single expedition. With Chouteau's convoys came down Clark's chiefs, -going back in the same vessels. To their untutored minds the trader's -capital and the Red Head Town were synonymous. - -If there was a necessary conflict between the policy of the government -and that of the fur trade, no one could have softened it more than the -Red Head diplomat. With infinite tact and unfailing good sense, he -harmonised, reconciled, and pushed for the best interest of the -Indian. - -"Give up the chase and settle into agricultural life," said Clark's -agents to the Indians. - -"Go to the chase," said the trader. - -Clark sent up hoes to supersede the shoulder-blade of the buffalo. The -trader sent up fusils and ammunition. The two combined in the -evolution of the savage. The squaw took the hoe, the brave the gun. - -Winter expresses came down to St. Louis from the far-off Powder and -the Wind River Mountains. "Send us merchandise." With the first -breaking ice of Spring the boats were launched, the caravans ready. - -Deck-piled, swan-like upon the water the Missouri steamboat started. -Pierre Chouteau was there to see her off, Governor Clark was there to -bid farewell to his chiefs. _Engagés_ of the Company, fiercely -picturesque, with leg knives in their garters, jumped to store away -the cargo. - -Up as far as St. Charles Clark and the Chouteaus sometimes went with -the ladies of their families to escort the up-bound steamer, and with -a last departing, "_Bon voyage! bon voyage, mes voyageurs!_" -disembarked to return to St. Louis. - -On, on steamed the messenger of commerce and civilisation, touching -later at Fort Pierre Chouteau in the centre of the great Sioux -country, the capital of South Dakota to-day, at Fort Union at the -Yellowstone, where McKenzie lived in state like the Hudson's Bay -magnates at the north, at Fort Benton at the foot of the Great Falls -of the Missouri. Traders from St. Louis laid the foundations of Kansas -City and Topeka, built the first forts at Council Bluffs and Omaha, -pre-empted the future sites of Yankton and Bismarck. - -"A boat! a boat!" - -For a hundred miles Indian runners brought word. - -Barely had the steamer touched the wharf before the solitude became -populous with colour and with sound. Night and day went on the loading -and unloading of furs and merchandise. A touch of the hand, a -farewell,--before the June rise falls, back a hundred miles a day she -snorts to St. Louis with tens of thousands of buffalo robes, buffalo -tongues, and buffalo hides, and carefully wrapped bales of the -choicest furs. The cargoes opened, weighed, recounted, repacked, down -the river the smokestacks go in endless procession on the way to New -York. - -Overland on horseback rode Pierre Chouteau to Philadelphia or New -York, to arrange shipments to France and England, and to confer with -John Jacob Astor. Back up from New Orleans came boatloads of furniture -to beautify the homes of St. Louis, bales on bales of copper and -sheet-iron kettles, axes and beaver traps, finger rings, beads, -blankets, bracelets, steel wire and ribbons, the indispensables of the -frontier fur trade. - -Sometimes fierce battles were fought up the river, and troops were -dispatched,--for commerce, the civiliser, stops not. The sight of -troops paraded in uniforms, the glare of skyrockets at night, the -explosion of shells and the colours of bunting and banners, the blare -of brass bands and the thunder of artillery, won many a bloodless -victory along the prairies of the West. - -But blood flowed, fast and faster, when trapping gave way to Days of -Gold and the pressure of advancing settlement. - -The trapper saw no gold. Otter, beaver, mink, and fox filled his -horizon. Into every lonely glen where the beaver built his house, the -trapper came. A million dollars a year was the annual St. Louis trade. - -Rival fur companies kept bubbling a tempest in a teapot. They fought -each other, fought the Hudson's Bay Company. West and west passed the -fighting border,--St. Lawrence, Detroit, Mackinaw, Mandan, Montana, -Oregon. - -Astor, driven out by the War of 1812, had been superseded on the -Columbia by Dr. John McLoughlin, a Hudson's Bay magnate who combined -in himself the functions of a Chouteau and a Clark. But the story of -McLoughlin is a story by itself. - - - - -XIX - -_FOUR INDIAN AMBASSADORS_ - - -As the years went by Clark's plant of the Indian Department extended. -In his back row were found the office and Council House, rooms for -visiting Indians, an armory for repairs of Indian guns and -blacksmiths' shops for Indian work, extending from Main Street to the -river. - -Daily he sat in his office reading reports from his agents of Indian -occurrences. - -Four muskrats or two raccoon skins the Indians paid for a quart of -whiskey. - -"Whiskey!" Clark stamped his foot. "A drunken Indian is more to be -dreaded than a tiger in the jungle! An Indian cannot be found among a -thousand who would not, after a first drink, sell his horse, his gun, -or his last blanket for another drink, or even commit a murder to -gratify his passion for spirits. There should be total prohibition." -And the Government made that the law. - -"I hear that you have sent liquor into the Indian country," he said to -the officers of the American Fur Company. "Can you refute the charge?" - -And the great Company, with Chouteau and Astor at its head, hastened -to explain and extenuate. - -There was trouble with Indian agents who insisted on leaving their -posts and coming to St. Louis, troubles with Indians who wanted to see -the President, enough of them to have kept the President for ever busy -with Indian affairs. - -The Sacs and the Sioux were fighting again. - -"Why not let us fight?" said Black Hawk. "White men fight,--they are -fighting now." - -Twice in the month of May, 1830, Sacs and Foxes came down to tell of -their war with the Sioux. "We might sell our Illinois lands and move -west," hinted the Sacs and Foxes. Instantly Clark approved and wrote -to Washington. - -"I shall have to go up there and quiet those tribes," said Clark. In -July, 1830, again he set out for Prairie du Chien. Indian runners went -ahead announcing, "The Red Head Chief! the Red Head Chief!" - -Seventy-eight Sacs and Foxes crowded into his boats and went up. This -time in earnest, Clark began buying lands, giving thousands of dollars -in annuities, provisions, clothing, lands, stock, agricultural -implements. Many of these Indians came on with him down to St. Louis -to get their presents and pay. - -There came a wailing from the Indians of Illinois. "The game is gone. -Naked and hungry, we need help." - -"Poor, misguided, and unreflecting savages!" exclaimed the Governor. -"The selfish policy of the traders would keep them in the hunter's -state. The Government would have them settled and self-supporting." - -Funds ran out, but Clark on his own credit again and again went ahead -with his work of humanity, moving families, tribes, nations. -Assistance in provisions and stock was constantly called for. The -great western migration of tribes from Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, was -sweeping on, the movement of a race. The Peorias were crossing, the -Weas, Piankeshaws, and others forgotten to-day. - -"Those miserable bands of Illinois rovers, those wretched nations in -want of clothes and blankets!" Clark wrote to Washington, begging the -Department for help. Their annuities, a thousand dollars a year for -twelve years, had expired. - -"Exchange your lands for those in the West," he urged the Indians. To -the Government he recommended an additional annuity to be used in -breaking up, fencing, and preparing those lands for cultivation. - -Horses were stolen from the settlers by tens and twenties and fifties, -and cattle killed. The farmers were exasperated. - -"Banditti, robbers, thieves, they must get out! The Indians hunt on -our lands, and kill our tame stock. They are a great annoyance." - -For two years Governor Edwards had been asking for help. - -"The General Government has been applied to long enough to have freed -us from so serious a grievance. If it declines acting with effect, it -will soon learn that these Indians _will_ be removed, and that very -promptly." - -Clark himself was personally using every exertion to prevail on the -Indians to move as the best means of preserving tranquillity, and did -all he could without actual coercion. The Indians continued to promise -to go, but they still remained. - -"More time," said the Indians. "Another year." - -The combustible train was laid,--only a spark was needed, only a move -of hostility, to fire the country. Will Black Hawk apply that spark? - -"We cannot go," said the Pottawattamies. "The sale of our lands was -made by a few young men without our consent." - -Five hundred Indians determined to hold all the northern part of -Illinois for ever. - -Sacs, Foxes, Pottawattamies, sent daily letters and complaints. "Our -Father! our Father! our Father!"--it was a plea and a prayer, and -trouble, trouble, trouble. Black Partridge's letters make one weep. -"Some of my people will be dead before Spring." - -Meanwhile agents were ahead surveying lands in that magic West. The -Indians were becoming as interested in migration as the whites had -been; the same causes were pushing them on. - -Clark was busily making contracts for saw-mills and corn-mills on the -Platte and Kansas, arranging for means of transportation, for -provisions for use on the way and after they settled, for oxen and -carts and stock,--when one day four strange Indians, worn and -bewildered, arrived at St. Louis, out of that West. Some kind hand -guided them to the Indian office. - -That tunic, that bandeau of fox skins,--Clark recalled it as the -tribal dress of a nation beyond the Rocky Mountains. With an -expression of exquisite joy, old Tunnachemootoolt, for it was he, the -Black Eagle, recognised the Red Head of a quarter of a century before. -Clark could scarcely believe that those Indians had travelled on foot -nearly two thousand miles to see him at St. Louis. - -As but yesterday came back the memory of Camp Chopunnish among the Nez -Percés of Oregon. Over Tunnachemootoolt's camp the American flag was -flying when they arrived from the Walla Walla. - -It did not take long to discover their story. Some winters before an -American trapper (in Oregon tradition reputed to have been Jedediah -Smith), watched the Nez Percés dance around the sun-pole on the -present site of Walla Walla. - -"It is not good," said the trapper, "such worship is not acceptable to -the Great Spirit. You should get the white man's Book of Heaven." - -Voyageurs and Iroquois trappers from the Jesuit schools of Canada said -the same. Then Ellice, a chief's son, came back from the Red River -country whither the Hudson's Bay Company had sent him to be educated. -From several sources at once they learned that the white men had a -Book that taught of God. - -"If this be true it is certainly high time that we had the Book." The -chiefs called a national council. "If our mode of worship is wrong we -must lay it aside. We must know about this. It cannot be put off." - -"If we could only find the trail of Lewis and Clark they would tell us -the truth." - -"Yes, Lewis and Clark always pointed upward. They must have been -trying to tell us." - -So, benighted, bewildered, the Nez Percés talked around their council -fires. Over in the buffalo country Black Eagle's band met the white -traders. - -"They come from the land of Lewis and Clark," said the Eagle. "Let us -follow them." - -And so, four chiefs were deputed for that wonderful journey, two old -men who had known Lewis and Clark,--Black Eagle and the -Man-of-the-Morning, whose mother was a Flathead,--and two young -men,--Rabbit-Skin-Leggings of the White Bird band on Salmon River, -Black Eagle's brother's son, and No-Horns-On-His-Head, a young brave -of twenty, who was a doubter of the old beliefs. - -"They went out by the Lolo trail into the buffalo country of Montana," -say their descendants still living in Idaho. - -One day they reached St. Louis and inquired for the Red Head Chief. - -Very well Governor Clark remembered his Nez Percé-Flathead friends. -His silver locks were shaken by roars of laughter at their reminders -of his youth, the bear hunts, the sale of buttons for camas and for -kouse. The hospitality of those chiefs who said, "The horses on these -hills are ours, take what you need," should now be rewarded. - -With gratitude and with the winsomeness for which he was noted, he -invited them into his own house and to his own table. Mrs. Clark -devoted herself to their entertainment. - -Black Eagle insisted on an early council. "We have heard of the Book. -We have come for the Book." - -"What you have heard is true," answered Clark, puzzled and sensible of -his responsibility. Then in simple language, that they might -understand, he related the Bible stories of the Creation, of the -commandments, of the advent of Christ and his crucifixion. - -"Yes," answered Clark to their interrogatories, "a teacher shall be -sent with the Book." - -Just as change of diet and climate had prostrated Lewis and Clark with -sickness among the Nez Percés twenty-five years before, so now the Nez -Percés fell sick in St. Louis. The Summer was hotter than any they had -known in their cool northland. Dr. Farrar was called. Mrs. Clark herself -brought them water and medicine as they lay burning with fever in the -Council House. They were very grateful for her attentions,--"the -beautiful squaw of the Red Head Chief." - -But neither medicine nor nursing could save the aged Black Eagle. - -"The most mournful procession I ever saw," said a young woman of that -day, "was when those three Indians followed their dead companion to -the grave." - -His name is recorded at the St. Louis cathedral as "Keepeelele, buried -October 31, 1831," a "ne Percé de la tribu des Choponeek, nation -appellée Tęte Plate." "Keepeelele," the Nez Percés of to-day say "was -the old man, the Black Eagle." Sometimes they called him the "Speaking -Eagle," as the orator on occasions. - -Still the other Indians remained ill. - -"I have been sent by my nation to examine lands for removal to the -West," said William Walker, chief of the Wyandots. - -William Walker was the son of a white man, stolen as a child from -Kentucky and brought up by the Indians. His mother was also the -descendant of a stolen white girl. Young William, educated at the -Upper Sandusky mission, became a chief. - -The semi-Christian Wyandots desired to follow their friends to the -West. Sitting there in the office, transacting business, Governor -Clark spoke of the Flathead Nez Percés. - -"I have never seen a Flathead, but have often heard of them," answered -William Walker. Curiosity prompted him to step into the next room. -Small in size, delicately formed, and of exact symmetry except the -flattened head, they lay there parched with fever. - -"Their diet at home consists chiefly of vegetables and fish," said the -Governor. "As a nation they have the fewest vices of any tribe on the -continent of America." - -November 10, ten days after the burial of Black Eagle, Colonel Audrain -of St. Charles, a member of the Legislature, died also at Governor -Clark's house. His body was conveyed to St. Charles in the first -hearse ever seen there. On December 25, Christmas Day, 1831, Mrs. -Clark herself died after a brief illness. - -There was sickness all over St. Louis. Was it a beginning of that -strange new malady that by the next Spring had grown into a devouring -plague,--the dreaded Asiatic cholera? - -At the bedside of his dead wife, Governor Clark sat, holding her waxen -hand, with their little six-year-old son, Jefferson, in his lap. "My -child, you have no mother now," said the father with streaming tears. -After the funeral, nothing was recorded in Clark's letter-books for -some days, and when he began again, the handwriting was that of an -aged man. - -None mourned this sad event more than the tender-hearted Nez Percés, -who remained until Spring. - -When the new steamer _Yellowstone_ of the American Fur Company, set -out for its first great trip up the Missouri, Governor Clark made -arrangements to send the chiefs home to their country. A day later, -the other old Indian, The-Man-of-the-Morning, died and was buried near -St. Charles. - -Among other passengers on that steamer were Pierre Chouteau the -younger and George Catlin, the Indian artist, who was setting out to -visit the Mandans. - -"You will find the Mandans a strange people and half white," said -Governor Clark to his friend the artist, as he gave him his passport -into the Indian country. - -On the way up the river Catlin noticed the two young Nez Percés, and -painted their pictures. - -As if pursued by a strange fatality, at the mouth of the Yellowstone -No-Horns-On-His-Head died,--Rabbit-Skin-Leggings alone was left to -carry the word from St. Louis. - -Earlier than ever that year the Nez Percés had crossed the snowy -trails of the Bitter Root to the buffalo country in the Yellowstone -and Judith Basin. - -"For are not our messengers coming?" - -And there, camped with their horses and their lodges, watching, -Rabbit-Skin-Leggings met them and shouted afar off,--"A man shall be -sent with the Book." - -Back over the hills and the mountains the message flew,--"A man shall -be sent with the Book." - -Every year after that the Nez Percés went over to the east, looking -for the man with the Book. - -Nearly a year elapsed before William Walker got back from his -explorations and wrote a public letter giving an account of the Nez -Percés in their search for the Book. His account of meeting them in -General Clark's office, and of the object of their errand, created a -tremendous sensation. - -Religious committees called upon General Clark, letters were written, -and to one and all he said, "That was the sole object of their -journey,--to obtain the white man's Book of Heaven." - -The call rang like a trumpet summons through the churches. The next -year, 1834, the Methodists sent Jason Lee and three others to Oregon. -Two years later followed Whitman and Spalding and their brides, the -first white women to cross the Rocky Mountains. - -"A famine threatens the Upper Missouri," was the news brought back by -that steamer _Yellowstone_ in 1832. "The buffaloes have disappeared!" - -The herds, chased so relentlessly on the Missouri, were struggling -through the Bitter Root Mountains, to appear in vast throngs on the -plains of Idaho. - -Even Europe read and commented on that wonderful first journey of a -steamer up the Missouri, as later the world hailed the ascent of the -Nile and the Yukon. - -It was a great journey. Amazed Indians everywhere had watched the -monster, puffing and snorting, with steam and whistles, and a -continued roar of cannon for half an hour at every fur fort and every -Indian village. - -"The thunder canoe!" Redmen fell on the ground and cried to the Great -Spirit. Some shot their dogs and horses as sacrifices. - -At last, even the Blackfeet were reached. The British tried to woo -them back to the Saskatchewan at Fort Edmonton, but eventually they -tumbled over one another to trade with the Fire Boat that annually -climbed the Missouri staircase. - - - - -XX - -_BLACK HAWK_ - - -The Roman faces of Black Hawk and Keokuk were often seen in St. Louis, -where the chiefs came to consult Clark in regard to their country. - -"Keokuk signed away my lands," said Black Hawk. He had never been -satisfied with that earliest treaty made while Lewis and Clark were -absent beyond the mountains. - -For thirty years Black Hawk had paid friendly visits to Chouteau and -sold him furs. More often he was at Malden consulting his "British -Father." Schooled by Tecumseh, the disloyal Black Hawk was wholly -British. - -Fort Armstrong had been built at Rock Island for the protection of the -border. Those whitewashed walls and that tower perched on a high cliff -over the Mississippi reminded the traveller up the Father of Waters -seventy years ago of some romantic castle on the Rhine. And it was -erected for the same reason that were the castles of the Rhine. Not -safe were the traders who went up and down the great river, not safe -were the emigrants seeking entrance to Rock River,--for Black Hawk -watched the land. - -The white settlements had already come up to the edge of Black Hawk's -field. - -"No power is vested in me to stop the progress of settlements on ceded -lands, and I have no means of inducing the Indians to move but -persuasion, which has little weight with those chiefs who have always -been under British influence," said Clark in 1829. - -Again and again Clark wrote to the Secretary of War on this subject. -The policy of moving the tribes westward stirred the wrath of Black -Hawk. - -"The Sacs never sold their country!" - -But the leader of the "British band" had lost his voice in the -council. - -"Who is Black Hawk?" asked General Gaines at Rock Island. "Is he a -chief? By what right does he speak?" - -"My father, you ask who is Black Hawk. I will tell you who I am. I am -a Sac. My father was a Sac. I am a warrior. So was my father. Ask -those young men who have followed me to battle and they will tell you -who Black Hawk is. Provoke our people to war and you will learn who -Black Hawk is." - -Haughtily gathering up his robes, the chief and his followers stalked -over to Canada for advice. In his absence Keokuk made the final -cession to the United States and prepared to move beyond the -Mississippi. Back like a whirlwind came the Hawk,-- - -"Sold the Sac village, sold your country!" - -"Keokuk," he whispered fiercely in his ear, "give mines, give -everything, but keep our cornfields and our dead." - -"Cross the Mississippi," begged Keokuk. - -"I will stay by the graves of my fathers," reiterated the stubborn and -romantic Black Hawk. - -The Indians left the silver rivers of Illinois, their sugar groves, -and bee trees with regret. No wonder the chief's heart clung to his -native village, among dim old woods of oak and walnut, and orchards of -plum and crab. For generations there had they tilled their Indian -gardens. - -From his watchtower on Rock River the old chief scanned the country. -Early in the Spring of 1832 he discovered a scattering train of whites -moving into the beloved retreat. - -"Quick, let us plant once more our cornfields." - -In a body Black Hawk and his British band with their women and -children came pulling up Rock River in their canoes. The whites were -terrified. - -"Black Hawk has invaded Illinois," was the word sent by Governor -Reynolds to Clark at St. Louis. Troops moved out from Jefferson -Barracks. - -"Go," said Governor Clark to Felix St. Vrain, his Sac interpreter. -"Warn Black Hawk to withdraw across the Mississippi." - -St. Vrain sped away,--to be shot delivering his message. Then -followed the war, the flight and chase and battle of Bad Axe, and the -capture of Black Hawk. Wabasha's Sioux fell upon the last fleeing -remnant, so that few of Black Hawk's band were left to tell the tale. - -"Farewell, my nation!" the old chief cried. "Black Hawk tried to save -you and avenge your wrongs. He drank the blood of some of the whites. -He has been taken prisoner and his plans are stopped. He can do no -more. He is near his end. His sun is setting and he will rise no more. -Farewell to Black Hawk." - -In chains Black Hawk and his prophet, Wabokeskiek, were brought by -Jefferson Davis to St. Louis. As his steamboat passed Rock Island, his -old home, Black Hawk wept like a child. - -"It was our garden," he said, "such as the white people have near -their villages. I spent many happy days on this island. A good spirit -dwelt in a cave of rocks where your fort now stands. The noise of the -guns has driven him away." - -It hurt Clark to see his old friend dragging a ball and chain at -Jefferson Barracks. He seldom went there. But the little Kennerly -children carried him presents and kinnikinick for his pipe. - -There were guests at the house of Clark,--Maximilian, Prince of Wied, -and his artist,--when early in April of 1833 a deputation of Sacs and -Foxes headed by Keokuk came down in long double canoes to intercede -for Black Hawk, and with them, haggard and worn from long wanderings, -came Singing Bird, the wife of Black Hawk. - -With scientific interest Maximilian looked at them, dressed in red, -white, and green blankets, with shaven heads except a tuft behind, -long and straight and black with a braided deer's tail at the end. -They were typical savages with prominent noses and eagle plumes, -wampum shells like tassels in their ears, and lances of sword-blades -fastened to poles in their hands. - -"This is a great Chief from over the Big Water, come to see you," said -Clark introducing the Prince. - -"Hah!" said the Indians, giving the Prince the right hand of -friendship and scanning him steadily. - -Bodmer, the artist, brought out his palette. Keokuk in green blanket, -with a medal on his heart and a long calumet ornamented with eagle -feathers in his hand, was ready to pose. - -"Hah!" laughed the Indians as stroke by stroke they saw their chief -stand forth on canvas, even to the brass necklace and bracelets on -throat and wrists. "Great Medicine!" - -"I have chartered the _Warrior_ to go down to Jefferson Barracks," -said Clark. - -Striking their hands to their mouths, the Indians gave the war whoop, -and stepped on board the "big fire canoe." Intent, each animated, -fiery, dark-brown eye watched the engine hissing and roaring down to -the Barracks. - -"If you will keep a watchful eye on Black Hawk I will intercede for -him," said Clark. - -"I will watch him," promised Keokuk. - -Clark left them for a moment, and then led in a little old man of -seventy years, with gray hair, light yellow face, and a curved Roman -nose. - -It was an affecting sight when Keokuk stepped forward to embrace Black -Hawk. Keokuk, subtle, dignified, in splendid array of deer-skin and -bear-claws, grasped the hand of his fallen rival. Poor dethroned old -Black Hawk! In a plain suit of buckskin and a string of wampum in his -ears, he stood alone, fanning himself with the tail of a black hawk. - -Keokuk tried to get him released. Often had he visited Clark on that -errand, but no,--Black Hawk was summoned to Washington and went. -Antoine Le Claire, son of old Antoine, was his interpreter. - -Released, presently, he made a triumphal tour home, applauded by -thousands along the route, even as Lafayette had been a few years -before. Not so the Roman conquerors treated their captives! But Black -Hawk came home to Keokuk to die. - -The defeat of Black Hawk opened Iowa to settlement, and a day later -prairie schooners overran the Black Hawk Purchase. - -On the staff of General Atkinson when he marched out of Jefferson -Barracks for the Black Hawk War, was Meriwether Lewis Clark, now a -graduate of West Point, and his cousin Robert Anderson, grandson of -Clark's sister Eliza. - -In the hurry and the heat of the march one day, Lieutenant Clark, -riding from the rear back to the General, became enclosed by the -troops of cavalry and had to ride slowly. By his side on a small horse -he noticed a long-legged, dark-skinned soldier, with black hair -hanging in clusters around his neck, a volunteer private. Admiringly -the private gazed at Clark's fine new uniform and splendidly accoutred -horse, a noble animal provided by his father at St. Louis. - -Young Clark spoke to the soldier of awkward and unprepossessing -appearance, whose witticisms and gift for stories kept his comrades in -a state of merriment. He proved very inquisitive. - -"The son of Governor Clark of the Lewis and Clark expedition, did you -say?" - -"Yes." - -"And related to all those great people?" - -"Yes," with a laugh. - -They chatted until the ranks began to thin. - -"I must ride on," but feeling an interest in the lank, long-haired -soldier, Lieutenant Clark turned again,-- - -"Where are you from and to what troop do you belong?" - -"I am an Illinois volunteer." - -"Well, now, tell me your name, and I will bid you good bye." - -"My name is Abraham Lincoln, and I have not a relation in the world." - -The next time they met, Meriwether Lewis Clark was marching through -the streets of Washington City with other prisoners in Lee's -surrendered army. And the President on the White House steps was -Abraham Lincoln. The cousin of Meriwether Lewis Clark, Robert -Anderson, hero of Fort Sumter, stood by Lincoln's side, with tears in -his eyes. - -Weeks before, when the land was ringing with his valour, the -President had congratulated him and asked, "Do you remember me?" - -"No, I never met you before." - -"Yes," answered the President, "you are the officer that swore me in -as a volunteer private in the Black Hawk War." - -The next day the assassin's bullet laid low the martyred Lincoln; none -mourned him more than Meriwether Lewis Clark, for in that President he -had known a friend. - - - - -XXI - -_A GREAT LIFE ENDS_ - - -"Ruskosky, man, you tie my queue so tight I cannot shut my eyes!" - -With both hands up to his head Governor Clark rallied his Polish -attendant, who of all things was particular about his friend's -appearance. For Ruskosky never considered himself a servant, nor did -Clark. Ruskosky was an old soldier of Pulaski, a great swordsman, a -gentleman, of courtly address and well educated, the constant -companion of Governor Clark after the death of York. - -"Come, let us walk, Ruskosky." - -A narrow black ribbon was tied to the queue, the long black cloth -cloak was brushed and the high broad-brim hat adjusted, the sword cane -with buckhorn handle and rapier blade was grasped, and out they -started. - -Children stared at the ancient queue and small clothes. The oldest -American in St. Louis, Governor Clark had come to be regarded as a -"gentleman of the old school." A sort of halo hung around his -adventures. Beloved, honoured, trusted, revered, his prominent nose -and firm-set lips, his thin complexion in which the colour came and -went, seemed somehow to belong to the Revolution. He was locally -regarded as a great literary man, for had not the journals of his -expedition been given to the world? - -And now, too, delvers in historic lore began to realise what George -Rogers Clark had done. Eighteen different authors desired to write his -life, among them Madison, Chief Justice Marshall, and Washington -Irving. But the facts could not be found. Irving sent his nephew to -inquire of Governor Clark at St. Louis. But the papers were scattered, -to be collected only by the industry of historical students later. - -"Governor Clark is a fine soldier-like looking man, tall and thin," -Irving's nephew reported to his uncle. "His hair is white, but he -seems to be as hardy and vigorous as ever, and speaks of his exposures -and hardships with a zest that shows that the spirit of the old -explorer is not quenched." - -Children danced on an old carriage in the orchard. - -"Uncle Clark, when did you first have this carriage? When was it new?" - -The chivalrous and romantic friendship of his youth came back to the -Governor, and his eyes filled with tears. - -"Children, that carriage belonged to Meriwether Lewis. In the -settlement of his estate, I bought it. Many a time have we ridden in -it together. That is the carriage that met Judy Hancock when she -landed at St. Louis, the first American bride, a quarter of a century -ago. Many a vicissitude has it encountered since, in journeyings -through woods and prairies. It is old now, but it has a history." - -In his later years Governor Clark travelled, made a tour of the Lakes, -and visited New York, Boston, Buffalo, Cleveland, Sandusky, and -Detroit. - -"Hull?" said Clark at Detroit. "He was not a coward, but afraid for -the people's sake of the cruelty of the Indians." - -One day Governor Clark came ashore from a steamer on the Ohio and -stood at the mouth of the Hockhocking where Dunmore had his camp in -1774. The battle of Point Pleasant? that was ancient history. Most of -the residents in that region had never heard of it, and looked upon -the old gentleman in a queue as a relic of the mound-builders. - -With wide-eyed wonder they listened again to the story of that day -when civilisation set its first milestone beyond the Alleghanies. - -When the thundering cannon in 1837 announced the return of a fur -convoy from the Yellowstone, Governor Clark expected a messenger. - -"They haf put the sand over him," explained a Frenchman. "Yes, he is -dead and buried." - -"And my Mandan?" - -"There are no more Mandans." - -Clark looked at the trader in surprise. - -"Small-pox." - -The cheek of the Red Head paled. - -Small-pox! In 1800 it swept from Omaha to Clatsop leaving a trail of -bones. Thirty years later ten thousand Pawnees, Otoes, and Missouris -perished. And now, despite all precautions, it had broken out on the -upper Missouri. - -In six weeks the wigwams of the Mandans were desolate. Out of sixteen -hundred souls but thirty-one remained. Arikara, Minnetaree, Ponca, -Assiniboine, sank before the contagion. The Sioux survived only -because they lived not in fixed villages and were roaming -uncontaminated. - -Blackfeet along the Marias left their lodges standing with the dead in -them, and never returned. The Crows abandoned their stricken ones, and -fled to the mountains. Across the border beseeching Indians carried -the havoc to Hudson's Bay, to Athabasca, and the Yukon. Over half a -continent terrified tribes burnt their towns, slaughtered their -families, pierced their own hearts or flung themselves from -precipices. - -Redmen yet unstricken poured into St. Louis imploring the white man's -magic. Clark engaged physicians. Day after day vaccinating, -vaccinating, they sat in their offices, saving the life of hundreds. -He sent out agents with vaccine to visit the tribes, but the -superstitious savages gathered up their baggage and scattered,---- - -"White men have come with small-pox in a bottle." - -With this last great shock, the decimation of the tribes, upon him, -Clark visibly declined. - -"My children," he said to his sons, "I want to sleep in sight and -sound of the Mississippi." - -When the summons came, September 1, 1838, in the sixty-eighth year of -his age, Meriwether Lewis Clark and his wife were with him, the -deputy, James Kennerly and his wife, Elise, and old Ruskosky, -inconsolable. - -With great pomp and solemnity his funeral was celebrated, as had been -that of his brother at Louisville twenty years before. Both were -buried as soldiers, with minute guns and honours of war. In sight of -the Ohio, George Rogers Clark sleeps, and below the grave of William -Clark sweeps the Mississippi, roaring, swirling, bearing the -life-blood of the land they were the first to explore. - -The Sacs, with Keokuk at their head, marched in the long funeral train -of their Red Head Father and wept genuine tears of desolation. No -more, dressed in their best, did the Indians sing and dance through -the streets of St. Louis, receiving gifts from door to door. The -friend of the redmen was dead. St. Louis ceased to be the Mecca of -their pilgrimages; no more their gala costumes enlivened the market; -they disappeared. - -For more than forty years William Clark had been identified with St. -Louis,--had become a part of its history and of the West. - -October 3, 1838, a few days after Clark, Black Hawk, too, breathed his -last in his lodge, and was buried like the Sac chieftains of old, -sitting upright, in the uniform given him by President Jackson, with -his hand resting on the cane presented by Henry Clay. - -He, too, said, "I like to look upon the Mississippi. I have looked -upon it from a child. I love that beautiful river. My home has always -been upon its banks." And there they buried him. Every day at sunset -travellers along that road heard the weird heart-broken wail of -Singing Bird, the widow of Black Hawk. - - - - -XXII - -_THE NEW WEST_ - - -Four years after the death of Governor Clark began the rush to Oregon. -Dr. Lewis F. Linn, Senator from Missouri, and grandson of William -Linn, the trusted lieutenant of George Rogers Clark, introduced a bill -in Congress offering six hundred and forty acres of land to every -family that would emigrate to Oregon. The Linns came to Missouri with -Daniel Boone, and with the Boones they looked ever west! west! - -"Six hundred and forty acres of land! A solid square mile of God's -earth, clear down to the centre!" men exclaimed in amaze. While Ohio -was still new, and the Mississippi Valley billowed her carpets of -untrodden bloom, an eagle's flight beyond, civilisation leaped to -Oregon. - -From ferries where Kansas City and Omaha now stand they started, -crossing the Platte by fords, by waggon-beds lashed together, and on -rafts, darkening the stream for days. Before their buffalo hunters, -innumerable herds made the earth tremble where Kansas-Nebraska cities -are to-day. In 1843 Marcus Whitman piloted the first waggon train -through to the Columbia. - -"A thousand people? Starving did you say? Lord! Lord! They must have -help to-night," exclaimed Dr. McLoughlin, the old white-haired -Hudson's Bay trader at Fort Vancouver. - -"Man the boats! People are starving at the Dalles!" and the -noble-hearted representative of a rival government sent out his -provision-laden bateaux to rescue the perishing Americans, who in -spite of storms and tempests were gliding down the great Columbia as -sixty years before their fathers floated down the Indian-haunted -Ohio. - -And Indians were here, with tomahawks ready. - -"Let us kill these Bostons!" - -McLoughlin heard the word, and shook the speaker as a terrier shakes a -rat. - -"Dogs, you shall be punished!" - -In his anxiety lest harm should come to the approaching Americans, all -night long, his white hair wet in the rain, Dr. McLoughlin stood -watching the boats coming down the Columbia, and building great -bonfires where Lewis and Clark had camped in 1806. Women and little -children and new-born babes slept in the British fur-trader's fort. -Anglo-Saxon greeted Anglo-Saxon in the conquest of the world, to march -henceforward hand in hand for ever. - -Among the emigrants on the plains in 1846, was Alphonso Boone, the son -of Jesse, the son of Daniel. Several grown-up Boone boys were there, -and the beautiful Chloe and her younger sisters. - -Chloe Boone rode a thorough-bred mare, a descendant of the choicest -Boone stock, from the old Kentucky blue-grass region. Mounted upon her -high-stepping mare, Chloe and her sisters and other young people of -the train rode on ahead of the slow-going line of waggons and oxen. -Gay was the laughter, and merry the songs, that rang out on the bright -morning air. - -Francis Parkman, the great historian, then a young man just out of -college, was on the plains that year, collecting material for his -books. Now and then they met parties of soldiers going to the Mexican -War, and many a boy in blue turned to catch a glimpse of the sweet -girl faces in Chloe's train. - -Happily they rode in the Spring on the plains; more slowly when the -heats of Summer came and the sides of the Rocky Mountains grew steep -and rough; and slower still in the parched lands beyond, when the -woodwork of the waggons began to shrink, and the worn-out animals to -faint and fall. - -"So long a journey!" said Chloe. Six months it took. Clothes wore out, -babes were born, and people died. - -They came into Oregon by the southern route, guided by Daniel Boone's -old compass, the one given him by Dunmore to bring in the surveyors -from the Falls of the Ohio seventy-two years before. - -The Fall rains had set in. The Umpqua River was swollen,--eighteen -times from bank to bank Chloe forded, in getting down Umpqua canyon. - -"We shall have to leave the waggons and heavy baggage with a guard," -said Colonel Boone, "and hurry on to the settlements." - -They reached the Willamette Valley, pitched their tents where -Corvallis now stands, and that Winter, in a little log cabin, Chloe -Boone taught the first school ever conducted by a woman outside of the -missions in Oregon. - -Leaving the girls, Colonel Boone went back after the waggons. Alas! -the guard was killed, the camp was looted, and Daniel Boone's old -compass was gone for ever. Its work was done. - -Alphonso Boone built a mansion near the present capital city of Salem -and here Chloe married the Governor, George L. Curry, and for years -beside the old Boone fireside the Governor's wife extended the -hospitalities of the rising State. Albert Gallatin Boone camped on the -site of Denver twenty years before Denver was, and negotiated the sale -of Colorado from the Indians to the United States. John C. Boone, son -of Nathan Boone, explored a new cut-off and became a pioneer of -California. James Madison Boone drove stakes in Texas. - -What years had passed since the expedition of Lewis and Clark! It -seemed like a bygone event, but one who had shared its fortunes still -lived on and on,--our old friend, Patrick Gass. In the War of 1812, -above the roaring Falls of Niagara, Sergeant Gass spiked the enemy's -cannon at the battle of Lundy's Lane. Years went on. A plain -unpretentious citizen, Patrick worked at his trade in Wellsburg and -raised his family. - -In 1856 Patrick Gass headed a delegation of gray-haired veterans of -the War of 1812 to Washington, and was everywhere lionised as the last -of the men of Lewis and Clark. - -On July 4, 1861, the land was aflame over the firing on Fort Sumter. -All Wellsburg with her newly enlisted regiments for the war was -gathered at Apple Pie Ridge to celebrate the day. - -"Where is Patrick Gass?" - -A grand carriage was sent for him, and on the shoulders of the boys in -blue he was brought in triumph to the platform. - -"Speech! speech!" - -And the speech of his life Patrick Gass made that day, for his country -and the Union. The simple, honest old hero brought tears to every eye, -with a glimpse of the splendid drama of Lewis and Clark. Again they -saw those early soldier-boys bearing the flag across the Rockies, -suffering starvation and danger and almost death, to carry their -country to the sea. - -"But me byes, it's not a picnic ye're goin' to,--oh, far from it! No! -no! 'T will be hard fur ye when ye come marchin' back lavin' yer -comrades lyin' far from home and friends, but there is One to look to, -who has made and kept our country." - -It seemed the applause would never cease, with cheering and firing of -cannon. - -"Stay! stay!" cried the people. "Sit up on the table and let us have -our banquet around you with the big flag floating over your head." In -an instant Pat was down. - -"Far enough is far enough!" he cried, "and be the divil, will yez try -to make sport of mesilf?" Excitedly the modest old soldier slipped -away. - -The war ended. A railroad crossed the plains. Oregon and California -were States. Alaska was bought. Still Pat lived on, until 1870, when -he fell asleep, at the age of ninety-nine, the last of the heroic band -of Lewis and Clark. - -William Walker, who gave to the world the story of the Nez Percés, led -his Wyandots into Kansas, and, with the first white settlers, -organising a Provisional Government after the plan of Oregon, became -himself the first Governor of Kansas-Nebraska. - -Oh, Little Crow! Little Crow! what crimes were committed in thy name! -In the midst of the war, 1862, Little Crow the third arose against the -white settlers of Minnesota in one of the most frightful massacres -recorded in history. Then came Sibley's expedition sweeping on west, -opening the Dakotas and Montana. - -The Indian? He fought and was vanquished. How we are beginning to love -our Indians, now that we fear them no longer! No wild man ever so -captured the imagination of the world. With inherent nobility, courage -to the border of destruction, patriotism to the death, absolutely -refusing to be enslaved, he stands out the most perfect picture of -primeval man. We might have tamed him but we had not time. The -movement was too swift, the pressure behind made the white men drivers -as the Indians had driven before. Civilisation demands repose, safety. -And until repose and safety came we could do no effective work for the -Indian. We of to-day have lived the longest lives, for we have seen a -continent transformed. - -We have forgotten that a hundred years ago Briton and Spaniard and -Frenchman were hammering at our gates; forgotten that the Indian -beleaguered our wooden castles; forgotten that wolves drummed with -their paws on our cabin doors, snapping their teeth like steel traps, -while the mother hushed the wheel within and children crouched beneath -the floor. - -O mothers of a mighty past, thy sons are with us yet, fighting new -battles, planning new conquests, for law, order, and justice. - -Where rolls the Columbia and where the snow-peaks of Hood, Adams, -Jefferson, Rainier, and St. Helens look down, a metropolis has arisen -in the very Multnomah where Clark took his last soundings. Northward, -Seattle sits on her Puget sea, southward San Francisco smiles from her -golden gate, Spanish no more. Over the route where Lewis and Clark -toiled slowly a hundred years ago, lo! in three days the traveller -sits beside the sunset. Five transcontinental lines bear the rushing -armies westward, ever westward into the sea. Bewildered a moment they -pause, then turn--to the Conquest of the Poles and the Tropics. The -frontiersman? He is building Nome City under the Arctic: he is hewing -the forests of the Philippines. - - - - - * * * * * - - - - -Transcriber's note: - - Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have - been preserved. - - Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CONQUEST*** - - -******* This file should be named 42925-8.txt or 42925-8.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/4/2/9/2/42925 - - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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