The Pioneer Boys of the Columbia

NOTES

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Note 1 (page 5)

When the vast territory then known as Louisiana was purchased from the French Nation for fifteen million dollars, in the nineteenth century, no one knew what its extent was. It took in the country west of the Mississippi, from the Gulf below New Orleans; but what really lay to the far northwest was merely a conjecture.

President Jefferson was determined to know just what was included in this Louisiana Purchase, and it was mainly through his individual efforts that an expedition was organized with the purpose of exploring the country as far as the Pacific; for, of course, it was understood that the ocean bounded the land on the west.

His private secretary, Meriwether Lewis, was put in command of the party, with a military second, Captain Clark. What wonderful things they accomplished history has recorded. It was in the spring of 1804 that the expedition left St. Louis, and two years and a half expired before they returned to that border post, having successfully carried out their undertaking.

Note 2 (page 22)

In those early pioneer days flint and steel were commonly brought into service when a fire was needed. So expert did the settlers and borderers become in the use of these that they thought little more of accomplishing the end they had in view than a Boy Scout of to-day does with the match. All they asked was a handful of dry tinder, and the ready spark quickly had a blaze going.

It was not so easy when the question of firing their guns was concerned. The flint was fastened to the heavy hammer, and, in falling, was supposed to strike the steel plate provided for this purpose, when a spark might be looked for. This, falling into the powder placed in the little cavity known as the “pan,” brought about the explosion. But, frequently, this small amount of powder would be jostled from its receptacle, and this would cause a failure at perhaps a most critical time. Many a settler in those days lost his life by just this accident; and frequent disappointments during a hunt for game could be traced to the same cause.

Note 3 (page 44)

Contact with the natives made the early settlers quite proficient in deciphering Indian picture writing, so they were able to read fairly well many communications passing between parties of those who possibly might be reckoned their deadly enemies. This method of using crude designs to convey the sense of a communication, or even the history of a tribe or family, was often carried out by fanciful pictures decorating the skin of which the teepee was made. In such fashion many of the gallant deeds of the chief or warrior to whom the wigwam belonged were perpetuated.

Really, little common sense alone is needed to decipher most of these picture writings. Once the key had been found, they become as plain as print. Smoke stands for fires; the sun is easily seen on the horizon, or high above it, though toward the west, it may be; horses; deer with antlers; men walking, running, or crawling; and similar designs become plainly decipherable; and in this manner the story that is intended to be conveyed can be traced out.

It is an interesting study, and many who belong to Boy Scout troops have found considerable entertainment in pursuing the fascinating work.

Note 4 (page 50)

Among all the Indian tribes found upon the North American Continent when the pioneers surged toward the setting sun, none has interested the historian so much as the Mandans, sometimes called the “White Indians,” because their skins differed so much from that of other tribes. All sorts of wild theories have been offered as an explanation of the wide difference existing between this tribe and others. It is true that they buried their dead as did the rest of the tribes west of the Mississippi, using scaffolds that the wolves might not get to the bodies; and there were many other habits that stamped them true Indians. At the same time historians, who had lived among them, find a similarity in many of their words and customs to the Welsh people; and it has always been believed by many that, long ago, a boat containing Welsh sailors was wrecked in the Gulf of Mexico after a tropical hurricane, and that, ascending the mighty river, the whites married into some Indian tribe, so that eventually the Mandans came into existence.

There have been other speculations, and it is very interesting to read about these various theories, and try to guess which one of them can be the true explanation; for that there must have been something remarkable about the origin of this tribe no one can deny. They were not as warlike as some of the tribes with whom they came in contact, such as the fierce Sioux; but at the same time it appears that they held their own in the numerous wars which followed an invasion by one tribe upon the hunting grounds of another.

Unfortunately the Mandans were utterly wiped out in later years by the great scourge of smallpox, which possibly may have been one of the unwelcome gifts brought to them by the palefaces.

Note 5 (page 64)

In crossing the great plains that lie between the valley of the Mississippi and the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, it is in these days difficult to realize the tremendous changes that have taken place there during the last fifty or sixty years. Especially is this true with regard to animal life. Where to-day herds of long-horned cattle graze, or vast fields of nodding grain tell of the prosperous farmer, in those times uncounted numbers of great shaggy bison roamed.

According to many of the accounts that have come down to us from authentic sources, the sight of such a herd rolling past, as far as the eye could see, and for hour after hour, must have been a most impressive spectacle.

Where have they all gone? Up to then the needs of the Indians and the depredations of wild animals had made no impression on the incredible number of the herds; although the red men often drove hundreds of the big animals over some precipice, and took nothing but the tongues, to be dried as a delicacy.

The first serious inroad among the buffaloes occurred when the railroad was being pushed across the plains, and men like Cody, afterwards known as Buffalo Bill, were employed to slaughter the beasts in order to provide sufficient food for the thousands of workers. Then it began to be the thing for parties to set out and kill for the sake of the slaughter. The robes were also brought into use for sleighing and other purposes. But the advent of the repeating rifle signed the real death warrant for the bison of the plains. Then they rapidly dwindled to almost nothing. In place of the millions that once galloped north and south in the seasons there are to-day but one or two small herds, in the National Yellowstone Park or in private preserves. Like the once numerous wild pigeons called the passenger pigeons which existed in untold numbers, the buffaloes have had their day.

Note 6 (page 194)

In the cabin of every pioneer family could always be seen rows of dried herbs fastened to the rafters. These as a rule were intended for medicinal purposes, most of them being brewed into tea, when sickness invaded the household, which was not often, since the active outdoor life, and the primitive food of the early settlers, made them an exceedingly hardy race.

Most housewives knew how to make ointments for sprains and healing by a clever admixture of these strong decoctions with bear’s fat, or, if they chanced to have it, pork lard, though in most cases pigs were unknown to frontier life, while a bear was always a possibility.

Many of those old remedies were fully as satisfactory as those of the modern druggist. They were pure, to begin with, and calculated not to serve as “cure-alls,” but each intended for a specific purpose. Indeed, it would seem as if in those days they counted on Nature’s taking hold and lending a helping hand. A simple remedy to break a fever was resorted to, and then careful nursing, as well as a good constitution, did the rest.

Before the Armstrong boys set out upon their trip it was only natural for their mothers to see that in their ditty bags they carried a supply of several of these standard remedies.

Note 7 (page 233)

From the accounts that have been handed down to us, written by Captain Lewis himself, it appears that the explorers were awed and inspired by the wonderful scenery that lay before them on their way to the Great Divide. Rugged mountains were there, brown, steep, hemlock-clad. Deep game trails led through the tangled meshes of the forest, and in the sparkling rivulets the trout jumped at the floating gnats and other insects. Gorges and canyons had to be passed, where the howling waters raced in an apparent agony, and flute-like came the sound of the snow-cold water against the pebbly bottoms.

At night the scream of the mountain lion echoed across the silent valleys, while the bleat of the antelope could be heard upon the vast plains near the river-bed. Eagles soared above, peering disdainfully at the black specks of men beneath; and sage hens craned their necks at them, when they tramped from the river in search of game. Over all was the clear, pure air of that vast mountain plateau, which invigorates, stimulates, and makes one feel as if he had the strength of ten. Inspired and stimulated by the thought that they were making history, it is no wonder those men pressed steadily on, determined to view the gray waters of the fog-sheeted Pacific in the end.

Note 8 (page 268)

One of the first things noticed by the members of the expedition, when they began to encounter the tribes living near the Rockies, was the fact that every warrior or chief who was looked up to as a brave man wore a necklace of terrible bears’ claws. This proved that the possessor had by his own individual prowess, and usually in an encounter at close quarters, succeeded in slaying one of those monster denizens of the wilds, afterwards known as grizzly bears.

There can be no doubt that this beast is by all odds the most savage and dreaded wild animal of the Western World. Indeed, there are those who say they would much rather meet a lion or a tiger in its native country than the grizzly bear. When an Indian, with his primitive weapons, and at the risk of his life, was able to take those claws, and string them about his neck, none could dispute his right to the title of a valiant man.

Those who have hunted big game under every sun are frank enough to say that if a grizzly bear could climb a tree like a panther, and get over ground as fast as a lion, he would stand without a peer as the most feared game to be found. In these modern days of the repeating rifle of large bore, and the exploding bullet, it is not very difficult to kill the monster; but every one who has seen a grizzly bear in his native haunts is willing to hold in honor those red hunters of the early times, who, armed only with hatchet and knife, deliberately sought an encounter, bent on proving their right to the name of warrior.

Note 9 (page 300)

The Indians took toll of the big silver-sided salmon as they made their way up the Columbia to spawn. They used as a rule a primitive fish spear with which they were very expert.

There were always salmon to be found at the foot of the fall, or in shallow creeks that emptied into the big river, but, when the spring finally came, the fish would pass in from the sea in multitudes beyond reckoning, all eager to get up to the shallow waters where they could spawn.

Eye witnesses of undoubted veracity have described the scene where, in places, the multitude of these big fish was so great that they filled the stream with a solid mass.

Of course those days are past. In these times, when numerous canneries are operating along the river, and millions of tins of fish are put up every season, it could hardly be expected that the supply would continue in unlimited quantities. Though as yet there has been no serious inroad made, thanks to the action of the Federal Government, and the work of the active Fish Commissioners, who see to it that the fish wheels, by means of which catches are made, are regulated according to law. Still the sight of the untold numbers that greeted the eyes of the explorers on that early spring of 1806 has passed forever.

Note 10 (page 305)

The fear sometimes felt by the explorers that the Indians were using poisoned arrows was not unfounded, since it was well known that some of the tribes resorted to this fiendish practice, with the flint-tipped weapons intended for war purposes.

Their usual way of making the arrows deadly was to find a healthy looking rattlesnake, and provoke him by thrusts from a long stick. When the reptile had become sufficiently furious, and was lunging madly, a piece of raw meat would be fastened to the end of the pole, and this he was coaxed to strike again and again, until it was well saturated with the green virus from his fangs.

When this infected meat had become a mass of poison, arrows were dipped in it, and allowed to dry. Once these entered the flesh of an enemy, as a rule his death was certain. Of course an entirely different lot of arrows would be used for hunting purposes, the deadly sort being kept only for war.

History however does not record many deaths from this source, so it must be taken for granted that, as a rule, the Indians disliked resorting to such a severe measure of defense. Possibly it did not appeal to them as exactly fair, and they were more than ready to measure their tomahawks and knives and spears, as well as their ordinary arrows, against the guns owned by the white men. Certainly no one of the Lewis and Clark party suffered from poisoned arrows during the long journey across the western country.

FOOTNOTES:

back endpapers: Indian family camp on shore of river; braves speafishing

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Notes in this chapter

Note 1 · The notes will be found at the end of the book.Note 2 · No white man had as yet crossed the vast stretches of country that lay west of the rolling Mississippi, and it was the boldest undertaking e Note 3 · Boys who lived in those pioneer days always carried flint and steel along with them, in order to kindle a blaze when necessary. Had these be Note 4 · Dick and his cousin had seen samples of this queer picture writing before that time, and understood how the Indians depend on the natural sa Note 5 · In due time they came in sight of the camp where the expedition had passed the preceding winter. Rude cabins had sheltered them from the col Note 6 · The buffaloes, however, were not so easily alarmed. Unless they saw an enemy for themselves, or scented something that caused them uneasines Note 7 · “I wonder whether he’s more surprised at seeing us have this soothing ointment mother made along with us, or that ‘palefaces’ should go to s Note 8 · When men had gazed upon such remarkable wonders as the spouting hot water geysers of the Yellowstone, they could be easily pardoned for beli Note 9 · “It may be they belong to the Nez Perces tribe, and the man is a brave, because he wears the bear claws about his neck,” (Note 8) suggested Note 10 · They soon learned that this spot was a favorite fishing place for the Indians. Indeed, there did not seem to be a minute of the day that one Note 11 · For a short time it was feared the shaft might have had a poisoned tip, and every expedient to neutralize the venom was immediately applied.