Читать книгу On the Old Athabaska Trail - Lawrence J. Burpee - Страница 8

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“To understand how David Thompson happened to be up in this part of the mountains——” I said.

“One moment,” interrupted the Warden, as he ran across the meadow and relieved Highbrow from a rather embarrassing situation. Highbrow had been tied to a bush with a long rope, to check his weakness for wandering down the trail. He had grazed completely round the bush several times, and had finally succeeded, in some mysterious way known only to horses, in tangling himself up in what remained of the rope, fettering one leg after another, until finally he collapsed in the midst of the bush, looking the picture of injured innocence.

“As I was saying, to make the story intelligible one must go back a bit and see what brought Thompson up here into the Athabaska country. He had been established for some years at Rocky Mountain House, on the North Saskatchewan, near the mouth of the Clearwater. Here he had traded with the Piegan and other tribes of the Blackfeet confederacy. The Piegan were very haughty and overbearing, but Thompson had got along very well with them, and their War Chief, Kootanæ Appee, was his firm friend.

“The time came, however, when Thompson—who was never satisfied to stay long in one place, and particularly was not content to have an unknown country lying within reach without making an attempt to explore it—had made up his mind to cross the mountains and find out what lay on the other side. Also, as a fur-trader, he intended to get in touch with the Kootenay Indians and other tribes west of the Rockies, and build trading-posts in their country.

“These plans in time became known to the Piegan, and aroused fierce indignation. After all, you could hardly blame them. If Thompson was allowed to cross the mountains, he would trade with the Kootenay, and would certainly supply them with guns and ammunition. The Kootenay and Piegan had been mortal foes for generations, the bone of contention being the right to hunt buffalo in the prairie and foothills east of the Rockies. This region the Piegan considered their own peculiar territory, and the herds of buffalo that roamed about it their own property.

“For many years the Kootenay had been able to hold their own, and defend their right to hunt the buffalo. When the Piegan got firearms from the white traders, the situation immediately changed. The Kootenay, with their bows and arrows, were no match for the Piegan, and the latter finally drove them through the mountains, and kept them there. Now, if the Kootenay were armed by Thompson, the superiority of the Piegan would be wiped out, and they would again have to fight on practically even terms for the monopoly of the buffalo. They made up their minds that the fur-traders must not be allowed to cross the mountains, and from that time kept a close watch on Thompson.

“Being, like all the Blackfeet, fierce and intolerant of opposition, they would probably have taken effective means to check the operations of the fur-traders by wiping out Rocky Mountain House and its inhabitants, but were deterred partly by the fact that they had become dependent upon the traders for many things, and particularly for firearms, and partly by the influence of their War Chief, Kootanæ Appee, who was, as has been said, Thompson's warm friend.

“As it was, they set a watch on Howse Pass, which was then the main thoroughfare through the mountains, and made it known that neither Thompson nor any of his men would be permitted to go up to the pass.

“David Thompson, however, was a patient man and he knew the Piegan like a book. Sooner or later they would grow tired of watching the pass, or would be drawn away by some more urgent business. The latter happened. News came to the Piegan that some of their warriors had been killed by traders on the Missouri. With native fickleness, they forgot Thompson, and turned all their energies to equipping a big war party to avenge the insult.

CROSSING A PASS IN THE ATHABASKA COUNTRY

“While they were away Thompson got his trading goods together, and, with a party of men, slipped through Howse Pass and down to the upper waters of the Columbia. Here, a little below what is to-day known as Lake Windermere, he built the first trading-post on the Columbia—Kootenay House. This was in 1807. The building of this post, which marked the beginning of Thompson's splendid work as an explorer west of the mountains, was commemorated in 1922 with memorial ceremonies and the building on the shores of Lake Windermere of a monument to Thompson in the form of a reproduction of a typical trading-fort of the days of the fur trade.

“Thompson knew that the Piegan would not be content to accept defeat meekly, and therefore spared no pains to make his fort safe against Indian attack. It was built in a commanding situation, of heavy timber fit to resist any weapon the Piegan could bring against it.

“Here Thompson spent the winter comfortably enough. While they were building the fort game had been scarce, and they had been reduced to eating one of their horses. He says, by the way, that the meat was better than that of the wild horse, the fat not being so oily. Throughout the winter they had plenty of game, deer, and antelope, with a few mountain sheep, also some mountain goat.

“He tells a good story in connection with the latter. In the spring he sent some of his men back through the mountains with the skins collected during the winter, and included with them a hundred mountain goat skins, which, with their long, silky hair, he thought might prove a novelty in the London market. Some of the partners of the North West Company, however—the 'ignorant, self-sufficient partners,' as he indignantly calls them—poked fun at him, ridiculing the idea that mountain goat skins would find any sale in England. On his insisting, the skins were sent over to London, and, to the amazement and chagrin of the partners, were snapped up immediately at a guinea a skin, and the company was offered half as much again for another lot. The partners hurriedly wrote Thompson to send a further supply, but the latter, who was not without a certain strain of obstinacy, dryly replied that the hunting of the mountain goat was both dangerous and difficult, and 'for their ignorant ridicule' he would send no more—and he kept his word.

“Ross Cox, one of Thompson's contemporaries in the fur trade, tells a somewhat similar story, the particular commodity being bear-skins instead of mountain goat. 'About twenty-five years ago,' he says (that would be about 1805), 'the company had a great number of bear-skins lying in their stores, for which there was no demand. One of the directors, a gentleman well known for the fertility of his expedients as an Indian trader, hit upon a plan for getting off the stock, which succeeded beyond his most sanguine expectations.

“He selected a few of the finest and largest skins in the store, which he had made into a hammer-cloth splendidly ornamented in silver with the royal arms. A deputation of the directors then waited upon one of the Royal Dukes with the hammer-cloth, and respectfully requested that he would be graciously pleased to accept it as a slight testimony of their respect. His Royal Highness returned a polite answer, and condescendingly consented to receive the present.

“A few days afterwards the King held a levee, and his illustrious son proceeded to Court in his State-coach, with its splendid hammer-cloth. It attracted universal attention, and to every enquiry as to where the skins were obtained the answer was, 'from the North West Company.' In three weeks there was not a black, or even a brown, bear-skin in the company's warehouse, and the unfortunate peer who could not sport a hammer-cloth of bear was voted a bore by his more lucky brethren.”

“Talking of bears——” began the Warden.

“Now, look here,” I cried, “I can stand anything in reason in the way of a bear story, but yours are out of reason. A reasonable bear story may be compounded of fact and fiction, but the proportion shouldn't run more than twenty-five per cent. fiction. Yours are about ninety-nine per cent.”

“All right,” retorted the Warden, “go ahead with your alleged facts.”

“If these are not facts,” I said, “the fault is with old Thompson, for I'm quoting his own narrative. He had built his fort solidly, knowing that before long he would have to try conclusions with the Piegan. He learned that, when they discovered how he had slipped through the pass during their absence, they were furious, and, after a stormy council meeting, determined to send an expedition to destroy the trading-post. Knowing nothing of its sturdy proportions, they considered a party of forty men under a secondary chief sufficient.

“The war party in time appeared before Kootenay House, and pitched their tents close to the gate. Thompson had six men with him at the time, with ten guns. He had bored large auger-holes through both the main walls and the bastions, by means of which he could command every approach to the fort, while he and his men remained under cover. He had a stock of dried provisions; not enough, it is true, for a long siege, but he was sufficiently versed in the ways of the Indian to know that that need never be anticipated. The Piegan had hoped to force them to surrender through lack of water, the fort standing on the summit of a high and steep bank above the river. But Thompson was too much for them. 'At night,' he says, 'with a strong cord we quietly and gently let down two brass kettles, each holding four gallons, and drew them up full, which was enough for us.'

“The Piegan were at a loss what to do, for Kootanæ Appee had publicly warned the leader of the war party, which had been formed against his advice, that he must bring back the warriors entrusted to his care, and that he must find means of destroying the enemy without losing his own men. As Thompson was always on the watch, and the walls of the fort were impregnable so far as they were concerned, the Piegan finally raised the siege and decamped, their retreat being hastened by the appearance of a party of Kootenay who were out hunting, and, being too weak to attack them, had hurried away to warn the tribe.

“As Thompson afterwards learned from his friend Kootanæ Appee, the return of the war party to the Piegan village east of the mountains created a sensation. It was clear that the crushing of Thompson was not to be as simple a matter as they had supposed. Sakatow, the Civil Chief of the tribe, immediately summoned the chiefs and warriors in council and harangued them. He hated and feared Thompson, and was jealous of the popularity of Kootanæ Appee. Here was a way of striking at both, a way that might lead to the death of one or both, and in the meantime would, as he thought, turn them from friends into enemies.

“With native cunning he advised that a strong war party must now be formed, and who so capable of leading it as the great War Chief, Kootanæ Appee? We must crush the Kootenay, he cried, and with them the white men who have put firearms into their hands. The Kootenay have been our slaves. Now, if we are not careful, they will learn to be our masters. Let us crush them before they learn to use the firearms of the traders. The War Chief shall lead the warriors against our enemies.

“Kootanæ Appee realised at once the dilemma upon the horns of which Sakatow had thrust him. If he consented he must lead a war party against his friend Thompson. If he refused—he, the great War Chief—he was disgraced, and his influence in the tribe would be a thing of the past. Rising to his feet, he said, 'I shall lead the battle according to the will of the tribe; but remember,' he cried, 'we may not smoke to the Great Spirit for success as we have done in the past. It is now ten winters since we made peace with the Kootenay. They have tented and hunted with us; yet, because they now have guns and iron-headed arrows, we must break our word of peace with them. We are now called to go to war with a people better armed than ourselves. Be it so, let the warriors get ready. In ten nights I will call upon them.'

“On the ninth night the War Chief made a short speech to his warriors. Each man was to take with him ten days' provisions, for they would soon be out of the buffalo country and in the land of their enemies, where not a shot must be fired lest they be discovered. On the tenth night Kootanæ Appee made his final speech, exhorting the warriors and their chiefs to have their arms in good order and not to forget the provisions. He named a rendezvous. 'There,' he said, 'I shall be the morrow evening and those who now march with me. There I shall await you five nights, and then march to cross the mountains.'

“At the end of the period about three hundred warriors, under three chiefs, had assembled. They made their way through one of the passes of the Rockies, and came to the banks of the Columbia about twenty miles from Kootenay House. As was their custom, Kootanæ Appee sent a couple of men by another route to approach the fort and report in what condition it was for defence. The spies came to Kootenay House under the guise of hunters. Thompson, however, was not deceived. He knew what the men were there for, and, while apparently playing into their hands, laid his plans to use them to serve his own purposes.

“He showed them around the fort, in such a way as to emphasise its natural strength and the facilities for defence. 'I plainly saw,' says Thompson, 'that a war party was again formed, to be better conducted than the last, and I made my preparations to avert it.' The following morning two of the Kootenay arrived. They glared at the Piegan like tigers. This fitted in perfectly with Thompson's plans. Telling the Kootenay to sit down and smoke, he called the Piegan outside and asked them which way they intended to return. They pointed to the north. Thompson told them to go to Kootanæ Appee and his war party, and gave them a message to the War Chief that he would understand. He also sent presents: six feet of tobacco to the chief, to be smoked among them, with three feet and a fine pipe of red porphyry and an ornamented pipe-stem for himself and eighteen inches of tobacco for each of the subsidiary chiefs. In the fur trade, in Thompson's day, tobacco, known as Brazil tobacco, was made up in long twists and sold by the foot or inch.

“Giving each of the spies a small piece of tobacco for himself, to ensure his fidelity and perhaps protect the presents, Thompson told them to be off quickly, as he could not protect them from the Kootenay. 'Remember,' he said, 'you are here on their lands as an enemy.'

“'I was afterwards informed,' says Thompson, 'that the two Piegan went direct to the camp of the War Chief,' who was in council with the other chiefs and the principal warriors. The scouts delivered Thompson's message, laid the presents at the feet of Kootanæ Appee, and sat down.

“Thereupon the War Chief—that wily old savage—proceeded to play the hand that Thompson had dealt to him. 'What,' he exclaimed, 'can we do with this man? He is too wise for us. He knows everything that we do. Our women cannot mend a pair of shoes but he sees them with his magic.' Then he thoughtfully picked up the pipe and stem and the tobacco, looked at them, and laid them down again where all the warriors could see them. 'What is to be done with these?' he asked. 'If we attack the fort, nothing of what is before us can be accepted.' Alluding, of course, to the Indian code which would not permit the acceptance of a gift from an enemy, or conversely, hostilities after a gift had been accepted.

“To appreciate the humour of the situation, it must be understood that the war party had come away with an insufficient supply of tobacco, and that this precious commodity was now exhausted. Thompson had drawn this interesting fact from the spies, and was quite aware, as was also Kootanæ Appee, of the peculiar potency of the bribe offered in the interests of peace.

“The eldest of the minor chiefs eyed the tobacco wistfully. 'You all know me,' he cried, 'who I am and what I am. I fear no man. I have attacked tents—my knife could cut through them; our enemies had no defence against us, and I am ready to do so again. But to fight against logs of wood, that a ball cannot go through, to fight against people that we cannot see, to fight against people with whom we have been at peace—that is what I am averse to. I go no farther.' He then cut a piece off the end of the tobacco, filled the red pipe, fitted the stem, and handed it to Kootanæ Appee, saying, 'It was not you that brought us here, but the foolish Sakatow, who himself never goes to war.' Kootanæ Appee solemnly lighted the pipe and took a puff or two, then passed it around the circle. They all smoked the pipe of peace, and, having done so, picked up their belongings, not forgetting the precious tobacco, and turned their faces homeward, 'very much,' says Thompson, 'to the satisfaction of Kootanæ Appee, my steady friend.' And he adds, with quite genuine and characteristic piety, 'thus by the mercy of good Providence I averted this danger.'

“It would have been interesting to witness the meeting between Kootanæ Appee and Sakatow, when the war party returned to the Piegan village, with the honours nicely divided between the War Chief and the white trader, and both still alive to annoy the Civil Chief and interfere with his plans.”

“That's all very fine,” said the Warden, “but I don't see what it has to do with Athabaska Pass.”

“You will presently,” I said. “It was the direct result of the building of Kootenay House, and the hostility of the Piegan, that Thompson was finally forced to abandon Howse Pass—which lay in Piegan territory—and find another route farther north, from the eastern plains to the valley of the Columbia. That is how Athabaska Pass came to be for many years the main thoroughfare of the fur-traders through the Rockies.”