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THE GENERAL;
OR,
r -TI -— E  NIGHT-rS
_           m:   N  — G S —
IN
IE    -Ui ES'  C f.-'-'.
A NARRATIVE OF RPEAL LIFE.
ILL UST.A TED BY G. G. WHITE.
"To those who knew my  3ROTriER this book will doubtless bring back his
image in many lights; for those who  knew him  not, I can only hope  that
it will make them wish that they had known him."
SCU1)DF"R.
BOSTON
LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS
CHARLES T. DII,ILLINGHIAM NEW YORK
| 11,\,f   "i               vi.        -;,', i     v'
l,c                   g.' I I',
*     I
. I 
Enterec(, according to Act of Congress in the year 1869, by
LEE AND SIIEPARD,
In the Clerks Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusett
I
II: 
EDITORIAL NOTE.
THIS volume is matter of fact, being the truthful records of the
actual life of a real person. Knowing The General thoroughly,
and the facts and incidents as here related while they were
taking place, I persuaded him to write them out, and for this
reason: There is a passion among the young for a kind of reading that is full of adventure and startling incidents.  This desire
has been gratified and unduly stimulated by overwrought fiction,
and the manifestation of much low and unworthy character. As
The General, in his eventful life, furnished rare and ample
material for a truthful and useful book of adventures, it seemed a
good thing to write it out for the young.
Here is a real case for their study, where one goes up from
boyhood through difficulties and daring exploits and perils to a
ripe manhood of intelligence, and usefulness, and honor. Much
of his life was a real romance and heroism of the noblest kind,
and the record of it must prove a healthful stimulus to every
young reader, who has energy, and daring, and the fixed purpose
to make his life noble. To such I dedicate the book.
The volume was planned on the shores of Swan Lake. The
sketches of that excursion are true, and I was there mainly to
prepare the way for what is now offered. I have taken a
dramatic liberty in making The General tell there a nightly story.
Volumes of stories were told around that memorable camp fire.
He wrote out the twelve soon afterwards, substantially as here
given.
It has been my conceit to vary his continuous narrative by
sketches of each day, and experiences of my own at other times.
(iii)
17        ,.   1 
EDITORIAL NOTE.
I trust I have not marred the picture in the framing. The
frame, as the picture, is rustic, the style being of the wild and
backwoods pattern.
I shall be happily content if my Preludes tempt any of my
pale, Mondayish, clerical friends fromn the cloister, bookish life
in which they are dying, to the grand hotels and promenades of
tent and forest life for a season. For this we have good warrant.
"Comne ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while.
.. And they departed into a desert place privately."
In his discourse on the "Fulfilling of Prophecies," Peter du
Molin well remarks, that when God was about to make any
revelations or give any exalted notions to his prophets, he took
them either into the desert and among mountains, or to the wild
shores of seas and rivers, that hlie might have them alone, and in
the most favorable condition for spiritual ends.
"In such green palaces the first kings reigned,
Slept in their shades, and angels entertained;
With such old counsellors they did advise,
And by frequenting sacred groves grew wise."
And if any do incline to join us in "a desert place" and a
forest life for vacations, let me suggest to them the puritanic
advice of that good Pilgrim, Edward Winslow, in his letter to
English friends, dated "Plimmouth in New-England, this 11 of
I)eceniber, 1621." 
"Build your Cabbins as open as you can; bring euery man a
Musket or fowling Peece. Let your Peece be long in the
barrell, and fear not the waight of it. Our Indian Corne, even
the coursest, maketli as pleasant mneat as Rice.... For hot
waters Anni-seed water is the best, but vse it sparingly....
Let your shott be most for bigge Fowles, and bring store of
Powder and shot.  So I take my leaue, commending you to the
LORD for a safe conduct vnto vs."
WILLIAM BARROWS
READING, MASS.,
IV
I 
CON TENTS.
INTRODUCTORY.
An Encampment. Forest and Water. Swan Lake and its
Surroundings. Our Country nearly spoiled by' Settle ments." Who we are at Swan Lake. Where we came
from, and how. Men and Boats, Dogs and Supplies, go ing aboard. On Deck and in Cabin,. Dock and Rube.
Poor Rube! The General. A Landing. Housing for
the Night.  Leave the Settlement for the Camp Ground.
Tile Land Party and the Boat Party. Under Canvas and
Twilight. Our first Camp Fire. Snoring Men and dying
Brands.
PAGel
9
FIRST NIGHT.
PRELUDE. - A Morning at Swan Lake.  Noisy Ducks and
Geese. Toilet at a Log. Tent Sleep and the Age of Me thuselah. That Breakfast. Guns and Dogs, and away.
The Tramp and Return. Game and Supper. We tell our
Experience. We make a Discovery in The General. He
promises the Story of his Life.  Begins...
23
,HE STORY.- Birthplace.  Face of the Country.  Early
Impressions. The old Coon-hunter. Free Schools. Sons
of New England. Love of Adventure. His Parents.
Farewell to the old Homestead at the Age of ten. Re moval to New Braintree... 27
1 
CONTENTS.
SECOND NIGHT.
PRELUDE. - Morning Scenes under the Hickories.   Off
again. Thomas a Becket. My first Turkey. Evening
Shadows and weary Gunners. WVhat we bagged. How
we ate. Swan Lake Hotel for Dyspeptics and Invalids.
The General again..
TIIE STORY.- The new Home. The old Hemlock Swamp.
Snaring the Partridge and Rabbit. Hunting and Fishing.
Farming. Purchase of the dead Woodpecker. School days. Planting Beans and Pumpkins. Goes to Worces ter to live. Saws wood at Night for Books. Goes to Pom fret, Connecticut. To Thompson. To Briinfield, Mas sachusetts.  WVorks at Farming by the Month. Winter at
Home. At Brimfield again. Night Studies. Trip to
Western New York. Turns Lawyer in a Bear Case.
Home.  Twenty-one.
THIRD NIGHT.
33
38
PRELUDE.- Old Hugh Latimer's good Sermon on Hunting
and Fishing. A Hint to professional Men. The best
Gymnasium. Swimming the River seven Times. What
Jeremy Taylor says. Trouble in Camp. The old Read ing Dog-law............... 49
THE STORY.- He leaves New England to find a Fortune.
New York. Settles in New Jersey. Becomes a Teacher.
Studies a Profession. First Interview with his future
Wife.  Marriage.  Removal to Sussex County.  Goes to
Norfolk, Virginia. Goes to New Orleans. Explores the
Yazoo and Black Rivers in Mississippi.  Morrill's Gang.
Eliot Mission Station. Swimming the Big Black. Re turn to Natchez.  To New Jersey..          53
2 
CONTENTS.
FOURTH NIGHT.
PRELUDE. - Christian Ministers hunting and fishing.  What
Miss Araminta says about it. A splendid Country that can
never be settled. Providential Arrangements for Hunt  ers. Kankakee, Winnebago Marsh, and Alaska, our great
American Game Preserves.  Comfort over depopulated
Towns.  Game in the Holy Land.  David a good Sports  man, as well as Psalmist.  The Country growing too nar  row for quiet Nooks. Sad Experiences. Supper and The
General again..............         61
THiE STORY.- He returns South. First Contract with the
Government as United States Surveyor. Choctaw Pur  chase, what, and Hardships in reaching it.  Roughl Work.
Water leg-deep, and how to sleep there. Provisions
fail. Game scarce. The General starts for a Settlement
and Supplies. Awful Tempest. Lost. A lonely Night.
Refuge  in the  Banrdits' Camp.   Frontier  Courtesies.
Flooded Country. The Settlement, Supplies, and Return.
Bayous and Forests. Teams abandoned. Forward and
backward. Rivers and Ravines. Camp at last, and the
starving Men. The Survey abandoned, and Men driven
out by the Overflow. Steamer to St. Louis. Spring of
1837.
FIFTH NIGHT.
PRELUDE. -A Night beyond the Settlements.  Enjoyment
of a Night per se. A Morning wholly to yourself. An
Illustration among the Schoodic Lakes.  A Storm in the
Forest of Maine.  Enjoyment of wild Nature.  What
Wynkyn de Worde says in his Treatyse of Fysshynge.
On the Falls of the Aroostook. Evening, and Swan Lake
68
81
THE STORY.- Over the Mississippi.  The General leaves
St. Louis for Wisconsin Territory. Stops at Keokuk.
3
once more. 
CONTENTS.
First Interview with the noted Chiefs Black Hawk and
Keokuk.   The Passage up.  Trip into the Interior of
Iowa. Natural Beauties. Rock Island and the Envi
rons. Black Hawk, the Chieftain, the Warrior of 1812
and Friend of Tecumseh. Keokuk his Rival. Black Hawk
War in its Causes and Ending.  Black Hawk the Pris
oner of the Whites. The General sits in an Indian Coun
cil. Indian Habits and Methods in Council. Keokuk in
Dress, Manners, and Speech. Indian Games following
the Council. Rock Island the ancient Resort of the In
dians. Battles for it. An Indian Duel. Arrest of th
Murderer.  His fearful Execution.
SIXTH NIGHT.
. 90
PRELUDE. - Sameness, yet Variety, in our Camp Life. Vis itors in Broadcloth. What Saint Izaak Walton says.
Two Trumpeter Swans bagged. Their Habits, Beauty,
Weight, and Flesh. Old English Laws concerning. Au dubon on the Swan, and The General on the Stand.. 104
THE STORY. - Summer of 1837. Surveying on the Wa bessapinecon. Supplies then from Cincinnati. Studving
the  Indian  Language.   His  Teacher, Nah-me-naske.
Stakes and Bounds destroyed. Trouble. Indian Creed
of the Future State. Corrupted by the Whites. The
General forms a Dictionary of their Language. Becomes
their Friend. Lost at Night on the River. Winter of
1837-8 among Indians.  Return to Davenport in April.
To New Jersey. Back to the Territory with his Family.
Then and now in Iowa.   "The poor Indian."  A sad
SEVENTH NIGHT.
PRELUDE.- Mississippi Bottom Land. Old Forest. The
charms of Solitude. Choate with us. Dinner on the
I
Camp.
. 109 
CONTENTS.
River Bank. The Way it was served, and the Diningroom Pictures. An after-dinner Incident. The solitary
Cabin, and what I saw in it. The General waits for us.. 119
THIE STORY.- Surveys on The Black Hawk Purchase in
1839. Survey of the Islands between Rock River and
Quincy. Difficulties and Hardships in it. IHunting Ex pedition into the  Indian Country.  Neutral Grounds.
Hostile Indians. Wild Honey. Surprised by the Winne bagoes. The Alarm and Escape. The General prepares
for a Map of Iowa Territory in 1841. Winter Quarters.
Studies the Winnebago Language. Indian Boys. Con ference in State with the Chief. The Mission Boy Wa bessa-wawa. Clias-chun-ka forbids The General to make
Observations for his Map. Visits the Indian Agent at
Fort Atkinson. Lost in the Fog. Reaches the Fort in
seven Days. Mission School of Mr. Lowry. Letter to
the Chief from the Agent.  Return.  The Chief made will ing. Trouble. Wabessa-wawa at the right Time. Ex  cursions. Camping in the Snow. An Indian Trader and
his Whiskey. A Tent Scene. The Maine Law enforced.
Return to Davenport. Map and Notes of Iowa finished
and published. The General concludes, and we all talk.. 125
EIGHTH NIGHT.
PRELUDE.- The next Morning.  The WNay to Manhood.
Dr. Nimrod's Water Cure. The Rev. Mr. Antieus. The
Dyspeptic. Methuselah and Tent Life. The next Eve ning, and The General. Loud Laughling and lawful.. 144
THE STORY.- Surveys on the Kickapoo. The Sugar
Loaves of Wisconsin. Provisions fail. The General
starts for Prairie du Chien, fifty Miles. A fearful Torna  do. The Return obstructed. Anxiety for the Men. De  layed by fallen Timber many Days. The Canmp reached.
An appalling Sight. The Bear Dogs killed for Food. On
5 
CONTENTS.
the Way home. Indians rob the Cache. Excitement
about Mineral Lands. The General heads an Exploring
Expedition. A delightfiil Region. St. Paul, and the Falls
of St. Anthony.  "The poor Indian" again.  Cost of
founding a State......
NINTH NIGHT.
PRELUDE. - Extra Cooking, and why. An early Start and
weary Way.  Wild-goose Chase illustrated.  Other wild
Geese. Back again. By the Camp Fire and The Gen eral once more.
149
161
THE STOrY. - Public Surveys of Iowa.  Indians and Game
leave. Immigrants. Dull Times in 1849. California Ex citement. The General has the Fever. Westward ho!
in 1850. Surveys for the Pacific Railroad, the first ever
made and published. Camp at Council Bluffs. Visits
the Omaha Mission.  Explores the Region.  Overland
Company organized. The General receives his Commis sion. Rules and Regulations given. The Sabbath to be
kept. Break Camp April 22. Along the Platte and
Loup. Battle-field of the Sioux and Pawnees. Indian
Hieroglyphics.   Customs  of  Courtship and Marriage.
Different in different Tribes.   Funerals and  Burials.
Strange Modes. Sports. Waiting for the Ferry Boat.. 165
TENTH NIGHT.
PRELUDE. - Sameness in our Camp Life. A Phenomenon
in a Tent. Explained. Sending off Game to Friends.
An exquisite Hunter comes to see us.  The pompous Fish-.
ermnan and the Sculpin. Rifle Shooting. Sharp-shooting
and public Speaking. Deacon Two Guns. A Bishlop's
bad Shot, and the Moral. An idle, jolly Day, winding up
with Tlhec General.....178
6 
CONTENTS. 
. 186
. 199
THE  STORY. - Over the Loup Fork Ferry.  Among  th
Pawnees. Trouble with them. An anxious Evening
"Indians! Indians!"  Confusion in the Camp.  Funn
Scenes and serious Times. A profitable Fright. Judg
ment on the Selfish.  Buffalo.  Buffalo Trail, what it is
Antelopes and their fatal Curiosity. Two hundred Mile
and one Tree.  Saleratus Beds.  The MJirage. The Dus
The Prairie Dog.  Fort Laramnie, and Rest..
ELEVENTH NIGHT.
PRELUDE.- A Novelty at Swan Lake.  The Farmers mak
a Raid.  The various Kinds of Fish.  The horrid Gar
The Spoonbill. Dock and the Fish. Ancient and Bibli
cal Fishermen.  Job "high-line."  Walter Scott, Web
ster, and Dr. John Colet.
THE  STORY. -Looking for a Guide.  Gaspero.  Leave
Laramie. One of Gaspero's Stories. Up the Sweet Wa ter. Independence Rock. Dinner on its Top. Nearer
the Height of the Rocky Mountains. A charming Valley.
Wide Views. A Funeral. The Brooks run West. The
General enjoys the Wish of his Childhood. Robbery of
the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.  The Panorama.  "Mv
Own, niy Native Land." Left on the Rocky Mountains. 208
TWELFTH NIGHT.
PRELUDE. - Last Day in Camp.  Improved Condition. 
special Hunt. Grand Trophies. The General starts u
for the Pacific.
THE STORY.- His Company leave the Summit. Familiar
Peaks. The beautiful Green River. Strange Stories of
it. HIorses fail. Gold falls. Swollen Streams. Root
Digger Indians.  Grasshopper Bread.  Indians stampede
the Horses. American Sahara. Troubles begin. Mule
. 223
7 
CONTENTS.
Meat. Luggage abandoned. Four hundred Miles on
Foot. Bewildered. The General goes in Advance fo
Supplies.  Relieved by Mormons.  Cross the Nevada
San Francisco.
. 227
LAST NIGHT AT SWAN LAKE.- Late Hours and strange Do ings. Morning and a Storm. Tents struck and Teams
off. New Boston and a Steamer. Up Stream. Home. 235
MORE OF THE GENERAL.- Identified with Iowa. Scott
County, and his History of it.  Minnesota  Massacre,
and his Account of it. To Montana and Idaho in 1864
by Carriage. Second Trip, in 1865, by Missouri River.
His Christmas Story from the Mouth of the Yellowstone.
Chin-cha-pee, The Maid of the Assiniboins.. 237
IN MEMORAM......... 267
8 
INTRODUCTORY.
EIGHT tents in a semicircle.  Seven of them are
small, for two or three persons each, and the eighth,
bearing conspicuously the government letters, U. S.,
is large enough to cover the hotel table of the encampment. The furniture of the smnall tents is a good
carpeting of prairie hay, equivalent to mattress, feather
bed, and lounge; then buffalo robes and bed quilts,
overcoats, cavalry boots, and boots not cavalry, valises
and shawls, cigar boxes, and chunky, battered chests,
like an expressman's, marked Magazine, together with
other articles, various and miscellaneous.
These all have that fancy arrangement common to
camp life, and uncommon with good housekeepers; for
every article had dropped into place, of its own accord
where last used.
In the corners of the tents, around the tent poles, o0
by tree and sapling within easy reach, lean securely
light fowling-pieces of six and eight pounds; long:ii(i
heavier ordnance of twelve and sixteen pounds, for
geese and swan;  and triml, snug-built rifles, for the
wary deer and turkey.  I put turkey last, for the watchful things, always on picket guard, are the last to be
taken.  Here and there, on peg and hook within, hang
(9) 
INTRODUCTORY.
pouches, flasks, and hunters' belts, and game bags.
Then some of these, and some other things, do not
hang at all, but help to make the pleasing miscellany,
the sportsman's whatnot, in the universal corner.
The U. S., the dining tent, towering with its snowy
peak, covers provisions and groceries, flanking the loIng
table, of appetizing variety and quieting abundance.
Sacks and buckets, bags and boxes, tubs of butter,
caddies of tea, hams, sardines, and coffee, cans of milk
fresh fiom the nearest cabin, two miles away, flour,
vegetables, and hard tack- these fortify our rear as
we sit at the table. Between these and the table there
is just room enough for standee seats, and extemporaneous chairs, so liable to fail an uiisteady occupant.
These eight tents open inward on their semicircle,
facing a long line of camp fire -a kind of burning
diameter for the cur'ving group.  The extreme tents
are a good gunshot asunder. Surrounding and overhanging the whole are majestic forest trees, oak, black
walnut, hickory, and whitewood.   Clear of undergrowth, and the trees themselves quite firee of lower
limbs, their majestic tops interlock and arch over the
camp, as in some old Gothic church, where, arch springing from arch, nave, and choir, and wings seem struggling and bracing together to hold up the common
roof:
The camp ground itself is a plateau, a kind( of table.
On one side is the low, level forest, where the vast
native growth stretches away for miles, and on the
other sleeps Swan Lake. Just our' locality is a kind of
shoulder hunched out towards the water.  This is a
beautiful sheet, six miles long - if it were stretched out,
10 
INTROIUCTORY.
as fortunately it is not - by two or tbree wide. In
I)l!ces the bottom prailrie comes d(own te(? its very
shores to kiss the sandy beachi, while on other sections
the foiest stands (iguard in thick ranks, aind to thle very
w-ter's edge.
If any one supplloses that the view fiom this camp
into thle forest, or on the lake, whether by sunlight.
moonlight, or starlight, was not enchanting, I would
like to see the encamnpnment again  miade, and then
introduce my doubting reader to it.  It would by no
means be irksome to me  to repeat the two weeks I
spent there in the late autumn of 1863. If I could not
convince my pavement and hotel friend of the beauties
and glories of the scenery, I could console myself under
defeat in enjoyilig themi all over agairin.
The lake lies as nature made it and the red men  left
it.  The shores are not marred by any traces of civilization, and the tall prairie grass comes boldly down
and dips itself in the crvstal waters; and the lofty old
trees throw their long shadows over it in weird silence,
the same as when the runners of Black Hawk beat up
for warriors through all the region against General
Atkinson, an(dl Sainoset, two centuries earlier, welcomed
Englishimen to our eastern shores.  The log cabin of
our milkman, a herdsman, is the nearest evidence of
the inexorable progress of the age, which is so fast
using up and ruining this virgin country.
Even now, the most of us who covet the manly and
invligorating sporit must ride days and hundreds of
nliles to find a wolf, bear, deer, or wil(l turkey.  It is
sadl to think of.  For years I have seldom been able to
findl a quiet nook for rest in the wilderness free from
11 
INTRODUCTORY.
6ettlers, neiglhbors, and travellers.  Someboldy would be
there.  Once I thought I was secure fioom intrusion,
twenty miles into the woods fromin any settlement;  )Lt
at ten o'clock one night two men entered our slhanty,
asking for supper and lodgings.  We gave them veQiison stew and the front room, first floor.  One of them has
since been candidate for governor in the State of Maine.
If elected ever, I sha-tll claim of him  a consideration
for that mess of pottage.  The truth is, this new country is already nearly spoiled by "settlements;" and,
if not too late, Congress should reserve a sqtare in our
western interior, six hundred miles on a side, taking in
a slope of the Rocky Mountains, and both banks of the
Missour'i, at the mouth of the Yellowstone, on which
aniy iimprovements beyond tent p)iis shoulhl be forever
irolhilfited.
But my feelings betray me into a wandering.  I was
speaking of Swan Lake, its grassy and wooded slhores,
its witching nooks and bays, and its long reaches of
glassy surface. HIere the wild fowl hold holidays, andl
the timid deer drinks once and looks up, and the glossy
turkey picks up the myriads of little shells.  Two miles
of heavy, deep, original forest on the west, and you
come to tlhe Mississil)pi, over against the mouth of the
Iowa.  Below you is Sturgeon Bay, a large eddy of
miles that tle Mlississil)l)i has wero  iiito the Illinois
shore, and throug,h whlich tlhe overflow of Swan Lake
runs direct to New Orleals.
This whole region, in which our temporary canvas
village is located, is a sauccer-like depression of tlhe
bottom lands on the Illinois shpre, covering a diameter
of ten miles or mae.  In this area are lakes and ponds,
12 
INTIRODUCTORY.
lagoons, creeks, and marshes, upland, lowland, and
woodland, and grassland, all as wild as gtme or huater
can wish.
Who are we in such an out-of-the-way place?  This
is a very proper question for you to ask; and indeed, if
you did not ask it, I could not well go on with my
narrative.  We are seventeen men  strong, with a few
rollicking boys thrown in. WVe stack twenty guns and
more.  WVe are the D        Hunting Club; tlhat is to
say, we are the club regular on its annual excursion,
with a number of guests regular. If you are curious to
know who in particular we are, and whence we came, I
must go back a little in my story, and up streami somewhat from our encampment.
At the levee, somewhere, - I cannot be exact, - lies
a steamer, )ulffilng, pulling, and paddling. Between her
and Front Street are men in squads and single, going
back and forth. They carry guins, and bundles, and
boxes, overcoats, robes, and camp blankets. Store boys
and draymnen are loaded with groceries, vegetables, and
amnmunition chests.  Here a lad holds a pointer in leash,
and there go two or three setters over the gangway of
the steamer.  A couple of men  carry on board a small,
sharp-pointed boat, bow and stern alike, and lay it
carefully on the guards; two more  place a similar
boat on the op)posite guards; and a third and fourth
boat is shipped, and so on, till seven of them  are carefully bestowed and made fast.  Also six hunting dogs
are made fast on the asthmatic and uneasy craft.
NAow the last things are put on board.  There a runner goes for an extra gun, and another for the forgotten
bags of shot, number eight for quail, and number four
13 
INTRODUCTORY.
for mallard.  The lastlies are shipped again, and we are
about to cast off, when Tlhe General, by his inevitable
memorandum, finds out that but one of the two tubs of
butter has come down, and that Inlus has no buckskin
gloves for a fiosty morning  hlunt.  Now the butter
comes and the gloves, after  lmuchl   waiting and shouiiting,
and miscellaneous talking.  So we  all go  on board.
Just as Jack is hauling in the plank, one of our men
rusles back for his howling setter, tied to the wheat
scales, thirty yards up the broad levee.  Then our lass
lies continue, like those of a long and poorly-arranged
sermon.  In a brief lull of them Jack gives the plank
another and desperate pull, and we swing off into the
streiam, just wlhen Mrs. --  selnds down a cold roast of
beef, for the first nigt,lit in camiil).  TlIoe yawl securtes thle
roast for us; iand shouts and salvos f(ollow us, till we are
far downl tlhe majestic river, and beyond hearing.
Fairly afloat, all luggage properly stowed and made
fast, the seven boats lashed, and tihe seven dogs tied,
and we all beginning to feel quiet and at home on the
craft that is to run us sixty miles down stream, it
would be a good time for you, if still anxious to know
who and what we all are, to walk about the boat, and
make inquiries and observations, and notes, too, if you
I)lease.
All counted, you will find just a score of us, though
tle (logs are as worthy to be reckoned in, on the scale
of importance, as many "persons," in taking the census,
and on election days.  The club proper is well rel)resented by the honorable calliings- mehantl tsof d(iy
goods, grocers, manufacturers, and real estate dealers,
bankers, and gentlemen of leisure.
14 
INTRODUCTORY.
It would not be courteous in me, a guest, to be more
peirsonal and particular in speakiing, of the members
tliemiselx es of this honorable association. Of the gentlemen invited to share in the luxuries and excitements
of this ainnual excursion, there is a fulr merchant fioia
Detroit, with hunting boat and dog packed all the way;
a banker and old Rocky Mountain trader fi'om  St.
Louis; also a gentlemian firomn the same city; an Eastern
New Yorker, business unknown, but a good shot and
camp fellow; two gentlemen from GeOrigetown, District
of Columbia, far enough fi'omn the capital to be safe
companions; a young Hlungarian, said to be of noble
blood, a noble hunter at least, which is often better;
an Eastern pilgrim,n with a title that would allow him
-o be converted into a chaplain for this Nimniod regiment, if occasion required; also a little Iulus of twelve
years, following this pilgrimi father.
It would not be patronizing to the rising race in our
land, nor show well for The General of this campaign,
if I should fail to call your attenition to those two
colored boys lounging about the steward's door, and
among the firemen of the boat.  They are Dock and
Rube.  NVWhen we are fortunate enough to pitch our
camp, they are to serve as a pair of dark hyphens to
connect the provisions above mentioned with the tent
above mentioned, that is to serve as our dining hall.
They are to be the sable gods of the camp fire, larder,
and table, converting flesh, fish, and fowl into food, and
hungr,y hunters into story-tellers ali(l jolly idlers.
Dock is a veteran in this service.  You will see at a
glance that he is professional in his chlaracter, an(l a
travelled gentleman. He takes the boat easily, and the
15 
INTRODUCTOPORY.
t,iip, and all on board.  Nothing disturbs him, or surl)yises him, or interests liiii.  IHis tintme lhas not come to
-issuLie the airs of office and responsibility.  Wlhec  he
coines to look after that p)art of thie humana  system
wherle so emany insI'urections  stat and  stop -  the
stomach- he will rise up to due and diginified pIoi-politions.  He knows what a camp kettle is, and has almost
as imany ways to serve up a fowl as Alexander's cook is
reported to have had -a new method for each day in
the year. For Dock has set the tent table for General
!Iainey on almost all the rivers and prairies between
the Mississil)l)i and the Rocky Mountains.  The savory
odors of broile(l bufiftlo lhump, and beaver-tail soup, of
thle Iroasting ribs of the mountain sheep, and of elk, and
venison, and antelope steaks, have gone up  fiom his
camp fires on many a river bank, and bleak prairie, and
mountain glen.  The steam of his hissing kettles of tea
aind coffee have made many an Indian camp follower
wishl he was a white man in the American army, pushing, civilization, with wages at eight dollars a month.
Smoke and sunshine, sleet and drizzle, never spoiled for
us, I will here say in advance, one of his good dinners.
Blessings be on that African for the bioils and roasts,
thle gravies and pastries, that he gave us hungry fellows in great abundance and at all hours. May his
shadow never be less, or his shade darker.
Of ebony Rube I cannot say so much.  He does not
date back in his origin to the first family of anybody.
He has no reputation to sustain, his own or a master's.
Hle is a gentleman of ease, wishing to see the world,
and willing to work his own way in doing it. He
attached himself to our expedition because we showed
16 
INTRODUCTORY.
signs of good living, good company, and a lively time,
lIe takes naturally to genitlemnen ill easy ciircumLst,an,ice
and  to a(lventlitirois, out-of the-way excursions.  rJl'i
l)ortly bearl'ing,'  lnd(  tlhe genial., hlearity  fitce of Tlhe
(General spe)ecilly led hi n to offer his imil)ortaiit services
on this occasion.
Not to conefuse my readers with too many characters
or be obliged, nmidway in the narrative, to dispose of
any dramatically, after the manner of the sensational
novelist, let me here, in advance of time, cldeclaie the
end of poor Rube.   When we came into camp hle did
not see the world as widely, or as fast, as lie expecte(d
ILfaving an undue ambition to rise too rapidly, he could
not see that keeping  camp fires ablaze, and  Iickiiig
geese, teal, and sni-)e, was the true line for his success
l)ock could not nmake the unlettered fellow realize that
hie was in the very best of society, enlarging his knowledge of men and things, and rising in the world, by
scaling bass and p)ike, and skilining deer, catfish, and
coons.  The simple one did not know when'he was
well off, and so struck out into the cold woild of the
settlements again.  Aimibitious for city life, lihe left our
select society, and started for the mixed multitude of
New Boston.
Rlidiing into caimp, one afternoon, froril the distant
rilges of corn and wheat, The Gelneral and myself met
I- libe, with boots by his side, just after fording a creek.
Hle was washing his ebony  bfeet, to  begin again  his
travels in search  of society, sighlts, and adventures.
So he was lost to fame -  a sad warning to an excessive
ambitionI that is impatient of the slow, sure steps of
rising that come:with being inl the best society.
2
11 
INTRODUCTORY.
I have said that I caninot speak particularly of tlhe
membeis of this lunting Club.  An exception  ltmus be
iiiade of one, vlwhom  I lhave called The General, since he
is tlhe body and soul of this narirative.  The piresident
of the organiza.tioni foi  this yeai, he is its animnatini
centle.  All the  ICmemIbers aie iintelligeLnt, active busi ness mieti, and in civil, social, and religious affairs they
expend  their enerigies.  They  choose  this mode of
taking a few days' reprieve fiom the pressure of daily
cares running through the year.  Neighbors, and ol0(
fiiends of long and tried fellowship, they have now
tlrown off work, and put their hearts together for rest
and enijoyiment.  The General hlas given hiinself, soul
aund body, to t-he excursion.  Full of life andl goo(l
ltllhumor, of xwhiclh you cali see his whole face is tell-tale,
hle is glad withi everybody, and makes everybo(ly g'ad.
Ie hlas an eye, as chlief, to the business in lhand, and
sees that luggage, stores, and guns al,e in safe packing
and keeping.  Hle knows the oflicers of the packet ancd
thle river interests, and talks with every one.
Follow him on deck and( you will notice tllat lhec
gives the histor'y of every town we pass, for he hlas seen
it start firoom its first rude cabins.  I-e scans the shores
of every island with the eye of an old acquaintance, for
he meandered aind plotted all of themi for the governmenet of the United States, fiom the mouth of Rock
RItiver to Quincy, when  more canoes than steamers
p)layed around these shores and among these echannels.
A stiff breeze up stream - almost a gale - compels
us to struggle in a zigzag down  stream.  Now  the
win,l shoots us into the woody shores, and now up aind
across. We wearv of it. Let us go into the saloon.
t8 
INTRODUCTORY.
The stories of The General make us forget head winds.
Some reminiscence of California in 1850, the cainebrakes and bears of the Yazoo in 1836, interviews
with IKeokuk and Black IIawk, the keenjokle, the cool,
smooth repartee, and goodcl-natured argument, fill the
cabin with life, and all of us with good humor. The
General leads us off because he cannot help it, and we
do not care to.  I may say here that we all call him
The General, just as he has been called for years. He
took the title, withont a commission, from leading a
company over the plains to California in 1850.  The
title was confirmed to biun for heading expeditions to
iand from Montana and Idaho, by the common land
route and by the  Missouri.  Little care we which way
the wind blows, so merry a company are we.  Oln dleck
or below no sorry face is seen.
And so, curious reader, your proper questions, who
we are and whence we came, are answered.
The steamer lands us in the deep twilight. A house
of one story and four rooms, fortunately emnpty, and
rented for us by The General for the enmergency, re ceives us.  Stores, armament, cold provisions, a tem I)orary stove, and the steam of hot coffee fill one room
in twenty minutes. The dogs are made fast, each in a
cotr-er, in the rear rooms.  Robes, blankets, and snoring
hunters soon cover the floor of the remaining one.
Energetic fleas, old enough, apparently, to have known
La Salle and Marquette, and the howling dogs divided
the hours for us between sleeping and waking. So
passed the night, while we wished for the day, and our
destination.
The day came in easier than we came into camp at
19 
INTPODUCTORY.
tlhe close of it.   Tle fleas, tlle ll)owliigs, and  tlic dark,
ness leave us ili tlt(ir o\-1w I1rooki\i,Igly loistil'ely way.
"A urora, now, fa ir dIa ughlte(r of tlie (ltwn,
Sp)rinlek1is withi rosy lighlt the dewvy ltwn."
Only it slhould be said that in those two lines IIomer
does not iefer to New  Boston, whose lawni is sand
ankle d(eep around our temporary abode.
We divide our forces in proceeding to the hunting glounds.  A part of the boats are manned, and attemI)l)t
tile -)assage thiriough Sturgeon Bay, and( up the outlet of
Swaii L'tke.  Tie remainder of tlle comnl)any, with tlhe
otlher boats and the ftiei,ght, load two doubl)le teams, and
proceed to the same rendezvous by a ten miles' land
ioute.  Ilow the boats went the last few miles by land
tl) a dry creek, with imud bottozn, and how the teanms
went by water tlhrouglh muck an(l bog,, over what in
Illinois tlhey have a fashion of call.ingc, a roa(l, I will not
delay the reader to tell.  Each party wislhed they had
gone the other way, specially  when  midway  they
seemed unable to go  back or forward, and were in
grvtue doubts whether they belong,e(l to the land or
water division.
In the sunny afternoon of that hazy October day we
all st raggle in, muddy, jaded, ali(l jolly, wondering
tog,ether whethler that part of Illinois was  listening
whien it was said, " Let the wateirs be gathered togetlier
unto one place, and let the dry land appear."  But
D)ock is ready for us with a cold lunlch and hot coffee,
as we come on the ground, single iand in squads, like a
reuiment very recently fromn Bull Pun.
W1e hang up a fair show of game, that we hlave
00 
INTPOODIUCTORY.
picked up in our rambling. landcl-and-water journey, and
fEill readily to loiunging in  our fieshly-spread  tents.
Eveniing creeps over forest and like, while the rumbling of the returniing wagons dies away in the distince.  The fires give our white tenits a beautifuil settin(g against the dark background of night, and light
up the tall old  trees over us.  The dlogs, now well fed,
crouch about thie burning logs, and stietch themselves
to sleep among our feet.  The boys pile on the light
wood, and the men smoke and gossip over the comic
and serious incidents of our amphibious life for the day.
The General issues the field orders for the miorrow, to
wit: Breakfast at siiniise, a miscellaneous hunt between
sun and sun, each going where hle pleases and bringing
in what game hle can, and dinner at the ol1l -onferieneemeeting time -" early candle lighting."
One by one we leave the cheerful brands fbr blanket
and buffaloes; the fires grow paler, and the compmny
tlininer, till the last voice dies away and the last tent
candle goes out.  The drowsy blazes nod away into
smoke, the coals creep in between the whira sheets of
feathery embers, and the verly caml  /hi it,self fall
asleep.
21  
THE GENERAL;
OR,
wtrtR Bighto'u thr uutro' (tamp.
FIRST NIGHIT.
ERSONS  familiar with wilderness life have no    ticed that morning follows night there with ne.irly
the same  regularity as in old and settled  regions,
where things have got into a kind of system.   We
notice this in the first morning of our life at Swan
Lake. The dawn comes in on time, firesh and ftlil
thlouigh the tree-tops, and mingles its golden flashes
with the silver ripi)les of the lake.  The  squirrels,
gray, and red, and fox, arie chattering and running
firoi  tree to tree over our heads, disturbed  by tlhe
novel entrance of our canvas village and camp fires;
thle ducks are calling to eachl other across the lake and(
dowvn the creek, and the noisy geese are annoluncilig
their departure for the grain fields, twenty mniles away.
The delightful odors of Dock's cuisine come  temnpt
ingly along our semicirculm' street, lhurrying up our
brief toilet. But we pay fair attention to the outer
man.
(23)
1.. 
THE GENERkL, OR
Some semicivilized fisherman once gave me a good
lesson on this, while boarding at a log, shanty at the
3Iiddle Dam, on the Andrloscoggi,iti.  The  rude  fbl  lows, with alder poles and  cod-hlooks, were essaying
the noble art of trout-fishing.  They slept in their day
gear, and with the first blush and stir of  morning
rushed, unwashed and unkempt, to the choicest fishi  ing localities.  They went as hens from the roost,
their undress being also full dress. Shade of St. Izaak
the angler! that a man should presume to show an
unwashed face at a mountain stream, or touch a tirout
with an unclean hand!  Sportsmenl should not soil wild
nature with their untidiness.
Our toilet is finislhedl, and we step out. The man
who has not slept in a hunter's tent does not know
what it means to wake up in the morning feeling all
right.  Languor, headache, an embittered mouth, and
indifferent stomach belong to first-class hotels.  It has
been a problem, with naturalists and theologians, why
the antediluvians lived to so great an age.  Let the
puzzled commentators spend a few vacations in camp,
and dream under canvas, and the hard facts subjected
to tent dreams will come clear.  Those old men of irmmense age lived in tents all their days.  Methusel-li
never heard of a French roof, Gothic cottage, or saw
a fiame house.  As  men began to forsake tents for
houses, human life began to be shortened.  ]Ve corne.
mfend this fact to the careful consideration of  the
next editors of De Wette and Bleek, and Keil and
Delitzsch, ancd Liange, Pustku(chew, and Staehelin.
While the sun is turning the first half hour on the
dial we take our breakfast.   Then come the rattling,
24 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAIP.   25
and clicking, and snapping, and flisllihng of guns; the
barking, and fi'olickig,, and whining of dogss; the dip)ing of oars, and the tramnping of hunters this way and
that, as we start out for the day.
Of course mny readers (always comnfoitably presuming that I have some) do not care to have me tell them
in particular lwhere we  went, each, and  all we did.
3Iy naiirative would( thus become as long as the Babylon)ian Talnind and  Xeiiophion's R'etreat of the Ten
Thousand ulnited.  Let it suffice, then, that I start your
filncy after us by mentioning deep forests, lLke shores,
bottonm prairie, shrivelled creeks here and t-erce, the
delig,ht of inallar'd and te.l, ponds six iniles off, oak
ol)iningrs, the resort of turkeys, and the banks of tlhe
.iississil)pi at two or three points.  Youri fincy may
f(ollow us over all tlhis wild and wide  region till high
noon and the near nightfall; and you may follow our
diverging and  intei,ecting paths by our frequent reports echoing far and near.
The lengtllen)ing shadows of the declining sun turn
us tent-wardl, and f;'om our nmany and wayward courses
of the morninglill we all converge again, with the twili,ht,
under the grand old trees.  Flushed with the sucecess
of the first (day's huit, we look with no little satisftction on the tr(-))lhies brolughlt in.  Tiere it hang,s in tlhe
light glare of the crnp1) fires, weiglhing dowin man:ly a
lusty iiull) alid sapling.  The variety would do lhoi)or
to Quliney -AIarket.
And ii ow begin the tales of thle d.ay's exploits. Each
must tell whlat he did(l, a.1(1 how, and what lie fitled to
do, speak of the game that escaped lhim, and show
what he bagged.  Stlk)per does not break off the cross 
THIE GENERAL, OR
ing and somewhat tangled threads of discourse.  With
new vigor we start off again in our narratives on the
logs and caimp chairs along the blazing pile.
"'Tis blithe at eve to tell the tale,
Hlow we succeed, and hiow we fail."
By degrees other times and hunts come up in re-.
view, and each is left to declare his  own wonderful
experiences in forest and firontier life.  Buck, and bear,
and huge fish come into the foregriound of story, with
now and then an antelope, or grizzly, or buff.lo, briought
in by our Rocky Mountain member.  The General has
some rare bits of personal adventure in Mississippi canebrakes, the North-West Tel'ritory, Indians on the Plains,
and( California in its second sunmmer, a bear's paw lawstit in Central New York, and coons in the Oldl Bay
State thirty and forty years ago.   An experience so
rich, and varied, and exciting, all agree should not renmain untold. The General is, therefore, compelled to
promise a chapter of personal adventures for each night
in camp.  Securing so much in promise, all become
earnest for a beginning on this first night of our first
hunt.  The old pioneer, finding himself cornered, and
withlal not unwil'ling to tell a good story, and fully able
to the task, gli(ed off into his theme, as a birch canoe
into the current, and feeling equally at home in the
element.
26 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  27
THE AcORN.
"An old land surveyor, like me, must have a stake to
start fiom in running his lines; and in chasing a deer,
or fox, or prairie wolf, you must begin somewhere. I
have no tact in beginning a story in the middle and
spinning it out both ways.  So, if you want to know
how this old oak got its tough limbs and portly trunk,
you must go back with me to the acorn. Another
big armful of that light wood, Rube.  My early days
were bright and cheerful, and I cannot tell them over
here in the dark.  I want a cheerfill camp fire to set
tlheml off well.
"Amiong the green hills of New England, not far
fi'om the eastern boundary of the old town of Monson,
Mass., I was born.   I do not distinctly recall the
fact, but I am told it was on the 25th of September,
1806. My father was a native of Thompson, Conn.,
and my mother of Sudbury, Mass.  By industry and
perseverance they saved enough from the hard toil of
their own hands to purchase a small ftrm  there in
Afonson. This my father tilled for the support of his
family, of which I was the third child.
"Of the early struggles of my parents for a living
namong the rocks and barrens of this portion of the
state I have but little knowledge, and can judge only
fi'om my early impressions and the history of those
youthfil dclays, as told over by members of the family
long aftcrwards.  A  part of the old farmi where I was 
THE GENERA.L, OR
born is now included in the grounds of the State
Almshouse. I hope the poor inmates get a better
living than the land would furnish.  Somebody lhas
found a place to wedge in two very pretty lines of
poetry between those Yankee acres of rock:
'But man's the nobler growth our realmni supplies,
And souls are nurtured in these northern skies.'
"I cannot tell about the poetry.  I found it a good
place to leave.  By hard labor, prudence, and economy,
my parents made the fharm porduce the necessaries of
life, and with these there camne contentment and happiness.  The week was spent in earnest, honest laboi,
and every return of the Sabbath found them, with tlheir
children, in their accustomed pew, in Dr. Ely's chlurlch,
about two miles away.
"The region was wild and picturesque, and in the
immediate vicinity of my home were barren alll rocky
hills, or mountains, as the people there called them,
unfit for cultivation, and visited only by hunters.  At
no great distance was the brook, where I learned to
catch the speckled trout, and in the deep glens, and
among the alders, I often started up the partlidg]e and
rabbit from their secluded haunts.  IIere, in this retired and romantic spot, I received my frst impressions
of the beauty and grandeur of mountAins, and v-alleys,
and streams, and meadows.
"From an old coon-huniter by the name of AIoulten
I first listened to the exciting stories of the chase, of a
winter evening, while every now and then he would stop
to replace the brands between the great andirons of his
kitchen fire. Although then quite young, I often went
28 
TWVELVE NIGHTS IN THE IIUNTERS' CAMP.   29
wNith! him in his hunting rambles over the mountains.
So, early in life the fondness for huniting, and the love
of wild scenes ill nature, were impi'essed on my  miln(d,
and did much to shape my  filture course, as will be
seen, if you d(lo not weary of my stories, and turn in
before I am dlone.
"It was here that I first took my seat in the public
school-house, thlat nursery  for youth everywlere  in
New Engl.and.  This system of common education for
all has led many a poor boy from the p)aths of ignIora.nce and vice, to gather the laurels of statesmen, and
heroes, a.nl seliolais.
"The  piure moral and  religious principles of my
parents, and their exemplary life, laid the fouindatio-,
very early for my future course, and they have been a
guide and comfoit to me in all the years since.  Wle-en
storm and tempest have overtaken me on the mountains, and hunger, and  thlirst, and  weariness  have
brouglht me to aln empty tenit at nighlt on the dreary
lilains, and I have lain down  only to think of  i, 
morriiow with s'dness and anxiety, their teachings alnd
example have kel-)t me in good heart.
"But I must not tell then middle of my story at the
beginning.  The stoirm, and  the deseirt, and  hunger,
and the Indian,,and hthe wild beast will come in soon
and often enoughl, unless you can enjoy them more
than I did.
"I was a true son of New England, and I think I
inherited in my  Nvery  blood  the earnest, seiarching,
adventurous sp)iit tli,.t is so native to her ciildliel.
Eaily trained to self-reli.ln(e and hardihood, and moved
by the love of gain and adventure, they acquire hlabits 
THE GENERAL, OR
of industry; and being fond of travel, research, and
incidents, they are found in every clime, on the land
and on the sea, speaking all languages, adopting the
manners of all nations, and taking up the business of
all peoples.   Their  indomitable  courage and perseverance in the prosecution of any undertaking carry
them  thioughl every enterprise, however difficult or
hazardous. These are the characteristics of the chilcdren of that icy, rocky region, and these are the causes
that make men out of her boys.  My father was one of
those self-made, self-reliant men, full of energy and
ambition, with only the common-school education of a
few weeks.  He was kind, obliging, always ready to
deny himself to do another a favor.  The  exhibition
of' his daily Christian character, his pure principles and
instructions, were a constant restraint on any idleness
or waywa(rdness in his children.  So it was with my
mothler.  Her Christian character and usefitlness were
)rominent, and though her ardtuous duties in a fam-ily
finally of ten children pressed heavily on her, her faithftilness in properly briinging them up never wearied.
They both lived to a good old age, and died in comfort
and peace,'like as a shock of corn cometh in iii his
season.' *
"Mly father purchased a farm in New Braintree, and
removed and settled en it, when I was about ten years
of age. Of course mny recollections of the place of my
birth can be of but little interest to any one of you. I
* The father died in Templeton, Mass., March 12, 1856, wanting but sixteen days of eighlty-three years, and the mother at
Foxboro', Mass., July 17, 1858, in her eighty-second year. -
Editor.
30 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HIIUNTERS' CAMP.   31
had entered the district school, but tradition thelre tells
notliing wonderful about Ime, as it does about great
men. I have noticed that when one does become renowned, the memories of those who tried to beat dulness
out of his little head are wonderfully quickened.
"Mly wandering propensities gave my  mother no
little anxiety and watching. At that early age I was
intent on discovering some new place or thing.  The
garden, that was enclosed by a stone wall, and fulil of
shrubbery, was, in my imagination, a place of beauty
and pleasure unsurpassed.  My conception of the Garden of Eden, as I had heard it described by my father
in his reading of the sacred volume, was exactly like ours
at the homestead. When, later in life, I revisited the
place of my birth, after ai absence of almost forty
years, I found the garden there still walled in, and in
all its primeval beauty. There were still the stone
steps, and the stone curb to the well, withl the'old
oaken bucket;' and it seemed to me but as yesterday
when it hung there.  The roots of the old grape-vine,
that grew and ran in the corner of the oelrchard, were
still there.  I led the way, without a mistake, to some
of the applle-trees that bore choice fruit, and friom which
I had gathered the same when only six years old.  I
also pointed out to those with me the very place in the
garden, where, in those young years, I went, early one
morning, in search of the tracks of the Lord, whiere I
supposed he must have' walked in the garden, in the
cool of the day,' as I had heard my father read in
Iholy Writ.
"But I think you have seen enough of the acorn.
Let us turn in for a good sleep against a rousing hunt 
THE GENERAL, OR
to-mIIorrow.  Those  turkeys must not give  youl the
slip agin."
This last remark The General iade with a turn of
the head towards thle chap)lain, and so the company
bro)ke up for the nig(lt.
I have called this the First Night, because the one
in the                                      vacant house was not in     camp, and the other
m e           re l y                       marked our ari-iival,  with none of the incidents
a      n       d accompaniments prolpere of ou r excursion. Really
the                     stories of The General becam e our clhronometer.
AVe  dlated our hunt from th        e  begiinning of his nai,Tative, nnd, as will be seen, closed it and broke camp
when he was done.
Quiet settled over our grounds.  Only the feeble
snapping of the d(lyiing filres could be heard near us. To
one who has never indulged the luxury I cannot give
a full idea of the comfort, the ki(nd of soveireign easiness and peace, with which  a hunter falls asleep for
the night in his tent.  No keys and bolts click, sug'
gestive of robbery; no carriages clatter by, making
ni,ghit hideous; no sounds of any fiarm-house or village.
Nature is not annoyed by any of these impertinences.
You may be sure the only noise, nigh or far, is made
by game of some kind.  It may be the sharp bark of
the fox, or the half snarl and yelp of the prairie wolf,
or the flap and dash into the water of those geese returning late from the cornfields, or muskrat and ottcr
may be t-aking their nightly bathls and firolics.   But
yotu and wild nature are alone, and yout glide off into
sleep ns thlose who hear pleasantest music, or drop away
into the dream land of the lotos-eater.
32 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.
SECOND NIGHIIT.
OCK and Rube, the seven dogs, the young da,wn,
a,,n awkward sprinkle of damp snow, and a dozen,
mnore or less, of washing, combing, and( dressing hunters
were jtumbled together about the morning fires.  But
plenty of wood at nothing a cord soon left the cooks
ntsters of the situation, as the flamnes mounted higher
and the beds of glowing coals spread themselves. Broils,
roasts, and fiies ill due tilme smoked in the U. S., with
thle hissing an(l aroma of ol(l Java an(l young Hyson.
It has always been a mystery to me tl.hat a mani in the
woods could malke suchl gravies so early in tle morning.
Ouir appetites came in tlhe same mysteiouis way3, and
hot biscuit, halves of geese, whole tecl, and crispy
-ike went in the samie manner.  Doclk smiled( aloud
over empty l)lates to see that we appreciated lhis services.  The dogs shared heartily in the carnival, while
we girdedc on pouches and flasks, gamne belts and bags.
Then how  thlley frisked, and raced, and  whined to
be off!
Thlus in motion  and coinfusion, about to talke our
lines outward-boundI for a long day, we w(ere as goodly
a sighlt to look upon as the French thought the company of Thomas a Becket to be, when, as ambassador
of Henry II., he went firom city to city, escorted by hiS
hounds and falconers, wvith hawks on their wrists, and
3
33 
THR GENERPAL, OR
a mutitude of bowmen.  If a chancellor, and about to
be archbislop, coul(l d(lo all that in a foreign land, vlily
not we, native sovceleigns in our own wilds.
A  gang of lo(rdly turkeys llad eltuded me the dlay
before, thle first I lhad ever attenimpted to stalk.  The
impertinent spit of snow, therefore, that welcomed us
at our tent-fly that morning, pleased me, foir I knew I
could strike thei  trail.  Giving my purpose to no one,
I made a detour foi the opposite sihoie of the l.tke, and
came  warily to their old grounds.  What  was mly
vexation then, as I lhastened over a narrow tonguie of
prairie, with oak opening on eithler side of me, to see a
str.ianger rifleman  on  my  rig,ht, threading out their
tracks in the fast disappearing snow.  In my warimtli
I made a savage shot on a woodcock, and with turkey
shot, too, as it foolislily rose  fi-omn  the open  gra.ss.
While driving home nmy lead witlh a vexed energy, the
sharp crack of a rifle on nmy left brought my eye roun(d,
and my gun into readiness.  In a moment  a turkey
under easy sail came bearingr towards me.   It was the
woik of an instant, and the noble bird feel forty yards
away, with head and neck cut tihroughi and through.
It was my first turkey.  No New York stallman ever
hung up a fowl so noble in my eye.  The glossy, black
wings, the tail with dark bronze bands, and the royal
and rich neck  pluimage  up  to  the very wattles! I
actually felt like a boy of ten with his first liheasant.
It graced the table of MIadame AI., at St. Louis, a few
days afterwards.  MIore of the same flock came into our
dining tent before we quitted the encampment, and
their flavor is not yet forgotten.
But, patient reader, you will not care to follow fifteen
34 
TWVELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.   35
hunters  all day over that saucer of bottom land ten
miles across. Let us sullppose the day past, go back to
camp, and simply make note of what they bring in. If
you are with me you will be saved soneic travel in the
return, for I hail a boat fiom the shore opposite our
rendezvous, and am  spared a long tramnp around an
arm of the lake.  One by one they coime in with the
twiight shlades, and throw down their game at the root
of the monarch hickory. Now a dog returns, running(
lup familiarly to Rube for a lunchl.  We know what
man will report next, and soon the crackling limbs announce that dog's master.  Then you hear far out on
the lake the lip of oars and the chuck in the rowlocks,
and the little craft by and by glides easily up on the
grassy shore, and we all go down to see what freight.
One or two linger longer than the twilight.  By and
by two shots in quick succession tell that some poor
fellow is studying our geography in the dark, and
wants to know which way the camp lies.  We answer
instantly by two shots, and a half hour brings him in.
The best hunters come in last, for they bag game
as long as they can see it, and think of camp afterwards.
But they are all in now: so, while supper goes on the
table, let us count up the game. Turkey leads to-night,
and the chaplain is cheered for his maiden shot on the
noblest feathered game that ranges in our western
forests.  Geese follow, with brant close behind; then
come mallards and teal, always togethlier in pond or
camp. Sawbills and fish ducks we do not count, nor
would we the crested wood duck, only that it is the 
THE GENERAL, OR
most beautiful of floating game in America.  Two or
three ph)leasants, andl as many woodcock -  )both rare
birds in that regioni, an(l the dleli,gl,t of sportsmen - and
partridclges by the dozen - we call them quail in the
east.  Jack snipe and a bunch of yellow legs, by one
man who went dclown the creek wlhere our boats came
up) by land through the mu(I.  Five prairie chickens they had no rights in the low land, an(l were served as
wanderers deserved.  Shall we count thle squirrels and
tlhat comic-looking coon?  Yes; all that can be eaten
can be counted.  We go well up to a hundred and
twenty pieces. Next we assort and hang tlhem together.
Ilow they grace the bending hickory and pawpaw, ash
and whitewood saplings!  Just to look at the ail.,y,
now in the calmp-fire light, and l run your hand over
feathlers and furs, is enough to put newv lifi into ecevy
tired bone of an overworked business man.  Dyspeptic
are you?  Let us go where you see those two Idarkies
calying in dishles, and in twenty minutes  you will
deny that you ever heard of dyspepsia, gastric juice, or
eveni a stomach.
It is a marvel that one a little dainty in his food,
liable to nigh,ltmare and horrid dreams, if he eats flesh,
fish, or fowl at home, within six hours of bedtime, can
stowv away so much meat in camp, after all traces of
daylight are gone, draw a blanket over himself; and
hear nothing, know nothing, till RPtube calls to a breakflst just likle the supper, to be as voraciously devoured.  It is nrot food, but business, care, and worry
that make so many dyspeptics, and supply water-cures
aul( the south of France with boarders.  The Swan
86 
TWVELVE NIGHIITS IN THE IIUNTEIZS' CAhiP
L.lke House, maniaged on the natural plan -  that is, our
)l.in -  that grave us "domiuion over the fish of the lake
a:tl over the fowl of the air," would upset the theories
of Sylvester Grahamn and all the vegetarians.
But supper waits, first course, second course, third
course, and then we wait around the blazing camp fire
to hear once more The General.
37 
THE GENERAL, OR
BOYHOOD, AND TIHE BEARS' PAW.
"I said that, when I was about ten years old, my
father moved to a new home. In this I soon found
miuch to excite and encourage my already ardent desire
for research and discovery. Not far from the house
there was an old hemlock swamp, almost impassable for
man or beast. This dismal wild abounded with the par tri(lge, hare, and rabbit. Here I soon learned to snare,
and with the assistance of my brothers I added not a
little to the supply of meat for the table. Fishing also
I took up naturally; and there was no pond or trout
brook in all the region with which I did not in a little
time become familiar. In the summer I assisted on the
farm, and in the winter attended the district school.
"An incident occurred about this time which showed
that my financial abilities had not then been fully
developed.  A  neighlboringr boy, who  had been out
hunting, called oni  me one day, having shot a redheaded woodpecker. The beauty of its plumage, and
the pleasure of a close examination of a bird I had so
often seen, but never handled, induced me at once to
set about the purchase of it. After many trials with
the boy to conclude a bargain, and having no money,
'Tnd needing to give something in exchange, I offered(
him my fishing-line. This was a piece of boy's property
that I had for a long time saved pennies to purchase.
The offer was accepted, the exchange made, and the
boy left for his home.
38 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  39
"This was a great thing for me.  It was my first
important bargain, and I nmarched into the house with
my bird, prouder and happier by far than I ever have
been since, when carrying home a wild goose or turkey,
or standing over a deer, or the struggling buftalo of the
plains.
"W With much pride I exhibited the bird to my mother,
showing its glossy plumage, with scarlet head and halfwhite wings. When my father saw it, he at once inquired how I came by it; for I was not yet permitted to
use fire-arms. Learning that I had given my valuable
fishing-line for a worthless and dead bird, lie took
occasion, as his custom was on questions of morals, and
habits, and money, to speak fieely, showing the perishable nature of the bird, its utter worthlessness, and the
folly of purchasing bubbles that would soon burst. Hle
theii told the story to the children of iFranklin's purchase of the whistle.
"I presume I looked ashamed.  I hung miy head,
while I felt keenly both the reproof and the loss of my
line. I saw very clearly that I had paid( too dear for
the woodpecker. It was a profitable purchase, however, taking a long life in view.  That early investment
in a dead bird has paid me good dividends annually
ever since.  But it was mny ifather's moralizing that
secured their payment.  Ever after, while under the
parental roof and about to make a trade, my father
would remind me of paying too dlear for a dead bird;
and it was not till 1855, when I paid him my last visit,
in his eighty-second year, that I heard fromi him the
last of that unfortunate  purchase, which, after all,
tarned out so well. 
THE GENERAL, OR
"The few years that I remained at home, and before
leaving for the wide world, were spent in working the
farm and attending school. But, like Walter Scott, I
kept up my field sports.  No  fisher on the Tweed
could spear a salmon more skilfully, and no hunter on
the Yarrow was a better rider ill the chase.  In later
days, when he was charming the world with his pen, lie
used it in the morning, and coursed hliares in the after noon.  MIany were the lessons taught me by my wor thy parents, not of agriculture only, but of industry,
prudence, caution, economy,  and morality, ill those
younger dlays.
"I was like boys generally, not so fond of work as of
play. Often my father would lay off my task for the
day, that I might gain time to run wild among the
little gamie and drown out the striped squirrel fromn
his hlole.
"It was on one of these occasions that my father left
me a quart of beans to plant among the growilng corn
in a small field.  Being in a great hulrry to join 1 ) party
of boys, who were going out for sport, I l)lanted all thle
beans at once in a few hills. As I knew hlie would
inquire whether I had planted them I thus prepared to
reply that I had.  When the beans came ul), and we
were hoeing the corn, we found them  starting fi'on
the ground in large masses.  An explanation was demanded, and, as usual, I frankly confessed the whole
truth. He gave mne a wholesome lecture on the matter,
and enforced it in a manner  more personal and pointed
than agreeable, much as Gideon taught the men of
Succoth.  [Judges viii. 16.-E-~itor.]
"On another occasion my father had set me to plant
40 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.   41
pumpkin seeds among the corn. This time, not wishing
to have my works follow me so closely, I took the seed
over the fence, and climbing a hollow, rotten stump of a
tree some ten feet high, I pouied the whole into it, and
left.  5Iy father wondered why the seed did not come
up.  The mystery was explained one summer day,
when, passing the old sttuimp, he found it ornamented
with  )puml)kin vines, that were hanging on all sides
firom the top in rich profusion.
"There was nothing, I think, malicious or wicked in
these boyish tricks, yet I would not justify them; but
at the time they seemed necessary for my enjoyment.
I was impetuous, and sometimes resorted to rather
extreme measures to gain my end.  One day, when my
pla.lymates were gathered for sport, and were waiting
tor me, I found my shoes dried up hard and stiff, -s
boys' shoes will sometimes become, so that I could not
put them  on.  Deelniing the case a kind of military
necessity, I dashed them into my mothler's dish-water
to soften them.  About the same time something like
a bomb explodedl very near to one of my ears, and nay
shoes went suddenly out of doors without any feet in
them.
"At the age of fifteen I was placed at the Worcester
Academy, or High School, where I remained for three
years.  The pecuniary circumstances of my father did
not permit me to draw any great amount of funds, and
I often labored, as was the case with many New
England boys at that time, to obtain means for the
purchase of books. The first book I ever bought was
the History of the United States.  I purchased it of
MIessrs. Dorr & Hlowland, booksellers, and paid tfor it
in sawing wood by night. 
THE GENERAL, OR
"From Worcester I went to live with an uncle in
Pomfiet, Conn., near to Putnamn's wolf den. Here I ret
maiiled a year or more. My uncle was an old fox-hunter,
kept his hounds, and at the proper sea,son of the year,
indulged fieely in this noble sport. I was a great
favorite with my uncle, and on these occasions I was
often permitted to attend him.  When a chase was to
take place, and a large number of hounds was needed,
my cousin would take the hunter's horn - an old goat's
horn -and give it a febw blasts at the door, about daylight. The dogs of his uncle, a mile away, would take
the call, and in a few minutes they would be heard on
the way, sending their deep and prolonged notes
among the hills, and through the stillness of the early,
fi'osty morning.
"The chase often lasted all day, and if the fox was
not taken, the hounds would sometimes follow up all
night, and we renew the pursuit the next morning.
These were pleasures well suited to my taste, and did
much towards strengthening my passion for a frontier
and hunter life.
"I spent one winter with  a distant relative in
Thompson, Conn., and in the spring went to Biimfield, Mass., where another  uncle  resided.  Here  I
engaged at common labor on a farm with a Mr. MI. L.
C., at ten dollars a month. I was then about nineteen
years of age. The winter following I spent at home in
study and reading, and in the spring returned to B.,
and gave another season to farming for Mr. A. S.
"The associations formed during my stay in this
beautiful and quiet village were of the most genial and
happy character. There was a large circle of young
42 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THiE HUNTERS' CAMP.   43
people, and our amusements and enjoyements made us
quite happy, and life very sunny. Those days were
among the pleasantest of my early life.  But I was still
thinking of days to come, and something more than
having a good time.  I pressed on in my studies on
every occasion that offeredl, and midnight often found
nme busy with my books in my secluded chamber.  I
filt keenly the want of such an education as would
en,able me to live by some employment less laborious
than farming, and my ambition prompted me to look
lp, aind fit myself for the position of an educated man.
"I did not ask charitable aid to do this thing, so
freely granted in that day; but I resolutely determined
to make and hew my own way, and gain the prize by
my own exertions.  Others, I knew, had done this with
less advantages.  I was full of energy, in good health,
with an iron constitution, the world was open to my
choice of a path to hlonor, and with industry, prudence,
and good moral habits, I had a strong faith to believe
I should succeed. This resolution, this fixed purpose,
was to me of more value than money, or a popular and
fashionable family name.  It was a capital to me that
was not likely to vanish and leave me bankrupt.  I felt
that I had the means, which have nmade more eminent
men than all others combined - a determination to
become a true man.
"In the fall of 1827 I became of age; and though for
yeairs I had been  thrown very much on my own
resources, I felt a new impulse in the fict that now I
wn-s alone in the world -that new l,1ans liust be formed
and greater exertions made for the hastening future.
"At this time emigration had set in strongly for the 
TIlE GENERAL, OR
West.' The Genesee country' and Western New York
was to many anl enterprising mind'a land flowing with
milk and honey,' and glowing accounts  came back,
fiom friends who had settled there, of its beauty and
fertility. Sly father and my Brimfield uncle had a
debt there due them, from a man residing near Otisco
Lake, in Onondaga county.  I thought this fact might
be made a good occasion for my visiting what was then
the Far West, while I collected the debt.  I wrote my
father, and he turned the whlole afftir over to his
brother. By much importunity I gained his consent
and the necessary funds for the long journey.  Late in
the fall of 1827 I set forth, in the old stage-coach, for
a region never yet reached- The West.
"Tell years afterwards I came nearer to reaching it,
when I crossed over the big river here side of us, and
walked over Black Hawk's old camping-grounds, with
the brands of his war councils scarcely done smoking.
General Scott's howitzers and canister had then but
recently scoured out the bottom  lands and  shores
around the mouths of Rock River, and the old warrior
ceded Iowa Territory to the United States, after his
bloody and limping flight across the Miississippi."
Here our sprinkling of boys around the camp fire,
now poking the brands and now each othei, but all the
while catching every wod(l of 1Tlie General, interpose(l
in the story to hear more about the Indians.  They
were quieted by the assturance of the old pioneer settler, that they would hear enough about Indians befote
the stories were all told and we broke camp.  The
General continued:
44 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  45
"Passing through Albany, I entered Utica on ruinners over deep snows, arrived in due time at my place
of destination, and for the first time in my  life saw
log cabins.
" While here I visited the Oneida Indians at Onondaga Hollow, and attended a council and feast at their
council-house. I had never seen Indians before; but
these were the white man's Indians, and I shall not
stop to speak of them. By and by, when these boys
have done a few more and better days' works at hunting, I shall get along in my stories as far west as the
Platte and the Rocky Mountains, and then you shall
see Indians, big chiefs and young braves, squaws and
pappooses, and the scalp of many a venturesome settler hanging from their wigwam pole and horse's
mane.
"I also visited Syracuse and the Salina salt workssmall places then, though the salt manufacture was
creating considerable interest.  Then I went to Caniden, in Oneida county, to visit some cousins who had
settled there.  I spent the moss of the winter with
them, enjoying the novelties of a new country, catching trout through the ice, shooting the black squirrel,
and following up other game on snow-shoes, that often
gave me, at first, a diry bath and a white cravat, as I
awkwardly plunged into the soft snow.
During my stay here a trial came off in a little village twelve miles away, for the theft of a bear cauglht
in a trap.  The attorney for the plaintiff was a Camden
man, whose pleasant acquaintance I had formed, and
so he invited me to ride out with him to attend the
court. On arriving I was introduced, for a little quiet 
THIIE GENERAL, OR.
humor, as a young man of the legal profession, seeking
a place to settle.  The joke took a more serious turn
when the defendant iii the case, whlom we found to be
without a lawyer, asked me to take his interests in
hand, and friee him fiom the claws of the bear and of
the law, that were just now giving him an uncomfortable hug. With a daring readiness, out among those
log cabin pioneers, I undertook the work.  The bear, it
was alleged, was stolen by the defendant ifrom the
ilaintiff's trap, and the prosecution sought to prove the
fact by producing, the paw found in the trap, and by
the circumstance that the defendant had the carcass of
a bear about that time, the acquisition of which hlie did
not choose to give an accouniit of; and all the paws of
which he was not disposed to produce.  With some
learned mention of law books I urged that all black
bears of North America of the same age have feet velry
much alike, and that it belonged to the plaintiff to
prove that the paw in court, and taken fi'omn the trap
of the plaintiff; belonged to the body of thie bear in the
cabin of the defendant.  In this the prosecution failed,
and  my client was  cleared by the intelligent jury,
though I had no doubt of his guilt. The pleadings
were somewhat eloquent on both sides. I represented,
in the most touching manner of the profession, the
monstrous injustice of shutting up my client in the
loathsome prison, in dead of winter, away from his
almost distracted wife and hulngry, half-naked little
ones, the cruelty of blasting his unsullied reputation
in the bloom of his mnanhood(l, and all on the unproved
supposition that he had taken a bear firom his neighbor's
trap.  The fact was, he had daringly hunted down and
46 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS CAMP.   47
captured another animal to appease the gnawings of
hunger in his lonely cabin in the wilderness.  The
prisoner was discharged amid much outt-door applause.
Owintg to the stringenicy in the mnoney market I got no
fees.  I, however, took the paw, and carried it home
with me to New  England, the trophy of my  first
attempt to plead law.
"HIere was my first experience in a free and easy
backwoods gathering.  Whiskey flowed abundantly,
while target shooting for beef, pork, poultry, and other
valuables was the pastime. The defendant was the
lion of the day, after his acquittal, and the young
attorney from the East was urged strongly to'hang out
his shingle,' as the WVestern phrase is.
"I received for the debt spoken of a horse in part
paynment, and making what was there called a'jumnper,'
an extemporaneous sleigh, I started for home.  Just as
the snows of ilarclh  were melting away on the rough
hills of Worcester county I drove up at the old homestead. At that day a journey like this was regarded as
quite an undertaking, even for experienced travellers.
It was an important as well as interesting one for me. I
improved it well, making many observations on frontier
life, and keeping a journal of facts and incidents."
The youngsters wanted more bears' paws, snow-shoes,
and jumpers, and the older hunters around the fire
evidently wanted to see The General farther from
home, and on the prairies, before they slept.  But all
things have an end, even good stories in the hunters'
camip.  Night had long since thrown her starry blanket
over the sleeping lake; the owl in the dleeper wood had 
THE GENERAL, OR
,'elpe,itedly challenged us with his "Who, mwho: who,
whlto?" as one of the night picket stationed at the
head of Sturgeon Bay; and Rube, in his gathering of
woodl, found the fires as insatiable as Dock found ou'
stomachs.
So one by one the candles glimimered in our tents;
their fionts, thrown open during the day, dropped loosely together; robes and shawls were stretched and tucked
in here and there; the lights disappeared; the voices
died slowly away, the rollicking boys being the last to
give up; and at length silence and sleep reigned over
the encanipment
48 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  49
THIRD NIGHT.
, LD  Hugh Latimer was right in thlat sermon
He preached it before the Sixth Edward, a lad
of twelve years, and a king of two, on the 12tli of
April, 1549.  IIad the king obeyed the )reacliing, as
hlearers should when they hear so good a mian as Master L,itiner, I doubt whether he would have died of
consumption at the early age of sixteen.  Many a
youth has died of consumption for not reading and
practising that sermon.  It is now moire than a quarter
of a century since I first read it. I practised thie doctrine
many years before, and more devoutly since hlie impressed it on me, and that he was sound ill the faith
in that sermon I have this evidence: For twenty-three
years I have followed Latimer's instructions, as given
before the young king, and have lost by sickness only
two days of pulpit labor.  This is his sound doctrine,
and of the old mIartyr school of divines:  "Men of England, in times past, when they would
exercise themselues (for wee must needs have soinme
recreation; our bodies cannot endure without some
exercise), they were wont to goe abroad into the fieldes
a shooting.... The game of shooting hath bin in
timnes past much esteemed in this Realme. It is a gift
that God hath giuen us to excell all other Nations
withal.... A  wondrous thing, that so excellent a
4 
THE GENERAL, OR
gift of God should be so little esteemed.  I desire you,
my Lordes, elien as yee loue the honIour and glory of
God, and, intend to renmoe his indignation, let there
be sent forth some l)roelamation, some shlarpe procla  tation to the Iustices of p)eace, that they may doe their
dutie.  For Iustices now be no  Iustices.  There be
many good acts made for this matter alheadie.  Charge
them upon their allegiance that this singular benefite
of God may be better practised,... for they be negli gent in executing thlese lawes of shooting.  In my time,
my poore father was as diligent to teach mee to shoote,
as to learne me any other thing,.... I had my bowes
bought mee, according to my  (age and strength, as I
encieased in them; so my bowes were made bigger and
bi,gger; for men shall never shoote well except they be
broughtlt up in it.  It is a worthy game, a wl,olesotme
kindcle of exercise, and much commended in Phlisicke.
.. In the reuei,eice of God let it be continued(."
That is practical preaching,, and I should think it
might be popular with many.  More tents and less hotels
in vacation would make our professional men more vigorous; Moosehead and the Adirondacks a,ie better irecuperators than Saratoga, Cape May, and the Rhine;
and fishing-rods and fowling-pieces are among the very
best gymnastic apparatuts for a college; but they should
be good time-keepers, and observers of good laws, and
not allow a literary exercise to give way to a rural exeui'sion.  WVhen I swam a river seven times one college
h,if-loliday, fobr the sake of better fishing on the op)Josite shore, and not unfrequently cooked my own,pa,tridge, or trout, or squirrel on Pelham Hills for a lunch,
I was enjoying "a wholesome kinde of exercise, and
50 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.   51
much commended in Phisicke." Losing since that time
little sleep by night, or work by day, firomi sickness, and
ro four nl meals in succession, I incline, firom experience,
to a college gymnasium that emnbraces the most of
four townships, a wild, hilly range or two, some mea(lows, a river, and several brooks. The fouiinder of the
celebrated Iarrowv School, John Lyon, had a good idea
of a gymnasium for boys. In his third rule for that
foundation, referring to parents, he sayls, "You shall
allow your child at all times bow, shafts, bow-strings,
and bracer, to exercise shooting."  And that eminent
worthy, who wrote IIoly Living and Dying, and enacted it too, the devout and scholarly Jeremy Taylor,
helps me to this view thus: "Nature's commons and
open fields, the shores of rivers, and the strand of the
sea, the unconfined air, and the wilderness that hatl
no hledge,... in these every man  may hunt, and
fowl, and fish respectively."
BItlt I forget myself in my preaching and moralizing.
MIy last chapter left us all sleepl)ing soundly in the
cniicamnpment at Swan Lake.  The reader may think
ime talking of these old authors in my sleep.  Very
like.  I have often hunted and fished with great sucecess in Dreamland.  The forests, rivers, and game there
are splendid.
Let the reader suppose, then, that we arose in due
time, ate a vast breakfast, had the usual success in our
diverging and miscellaneous hlunt, helped Dock most
efficiently in clearing the supper table, and are now on
the logs, robes, and camp-stools around The General,
just where you left us a little less than twenty-four
hlour, ago.  The audience  are all in, with not one 
TIIE GENEI'AL, Oh,
straggler  and' the sexton, old Nox, has closed the doors
of day onl us.   Our (o,'s give us some trouble as
The General is about to begil  lis Thi,d(l Story.  Two
of them, Shot and Grotse, have drawn.rations after
dusk, fiom tenrt number cigh!t, coin missaliiat's headqular
teirs, withlout the lawtful amount of Piube's red tape,
As the twno come within the caimp circle to eat among
gentlemen of the same profession, the others file claims
for divi(ldends on the draft, and  so our meeting is
disturbed.   Ilaving been all iipi)ed out of campl),
tlhe ciallain  i-rol)osed the following, as a by-law for our
evening mieetili)s, co)ied, lie sa.id, fiom the records of
his old Iteading parish, under date of 16620: "Every
ldog tlhat comes to the mieeting, after this present day,
or onl lecture days, except it be their dogs that pay for
a dog-whlipper, the owners of those dogs sliall pay sixpence for every such offence."  The Pilgrim by-law of
two centuries and a year old being accepted by acclamation, The General took up the thread of his narrative thus: -
52 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUTNTERS' CAMP.   53
IN THE WILDERNESS.
"In the month of November, 1828, I left the quiet
villaoe of Brimfield to seek my fortune somewhere
away, I hardly guessed where. It was a day of sadness
to me when I left. I had long enjoyed the society of
esteemed friends there, whomn I loved, and who, I
think, loved me. In the circle in which I moved, I
think I may say, few had warmier friends.  I had never
known care and responsibility, and my  even, lively
nature had kept me happ)y. Fondc of society, jovial in
my disposition, the evening circle that I entered was
surtie to have some animation. Others felt the separation, but I more; for I was launching my bark on the
sea of life without a guide or fiiendly adviser.  But I
was full of hope, self-reliant, and fully determined, not
only to better my condition, but to attain to a higher
intellectual and moral standard, and more marked em
ployment in life.
"With a small hand-trunk, containing all my effects,
and with a few dollars in money, I bade adieu to my
fi'iends, and, taking the stage, went to Hartford, and
thence to New Haven, where I spent a few days in
visiting an old( schoolmnate. Then I took passage on
the first steamer I ever saw, for New York.  The past
soge was delightffil, an(1 my happiness w.a,s marred only
.as the thoughts of ho,ei and the separation from fiiends
came over me, and I felt that each hour hastened me
fi'olm them, and into a land of strangers. I visited 
THE GENERAL, OR
some of the more prominent objects of interest in New
York, taking a few days for it, and then went on to
Elizabethtown, N.J. At the hotel I noticed an adver  tisement for a school teacher, in a district three miles
out.  Procuring a horse, I went out to the  place,
engaged with the trustees to teach the school, and
entered at once on the work.
"This calling soon introduced me to good society, and
I was not long in finding that my location was among
a people well noted for their hospitality and courtesy
to strangers, and for their sterling integrity and moral
and Christian worth.  The most of them lived on lands
inherited  firom their anicestors, many of whom were
those old patriots who, in the Revolution, were first on
the battle-fields of New Jersey.
"Here again I renewed my studies with double en ergy, and commenced others of a higher order, reciting
in Latin, and geometry, and trigonomnetry to a private
teacher, the Rev. MIr. Burroughs, vwho died a few years
afterwards.
"The four years I spent here, in constant employment as a teacher, were eventful as well as very happy
ones in my life.  No one who has visited Elizabethtown
and its vicinity can be ignorant of its unsurpassed beauty and loveliness, specially in the spring and summer.
HIlere I mastered civil engineering an/l surveying, a
profession I had chosen as adapted to favor the grow,
ing purpose of my heart- a settlement in the West.
"The society was of a solid, genial, intelligent character, and so made my residence in it both pleasant
and profitable to me.  During the first winter of my
labors here, I boarded in one of those antiquated
64 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE lHUNTERS' CAMP.   55
cottage houses, where the stairs to the chamber commence in the ioom below, anid have one step before the
door opens into the stairway.  This conveiiient step
was often used as a kind of shelf for sundry articles.
On one occasion the boys had set a hlalf-bushel measure on this step, in the dusk of the evening.  In descendling the stairs, I stepped into it, and sliding off,
fell at full length on the floor. On rising, I was intro.
dulced to a young lady, a cousin of the family, who h-ad
incidentally called in.  Four  years  afterwairds, that
young lady became my wife, and has shared with ime
the pl)easures and privations of life for more than thirty
years.  And though I was thus measured out to her at
first, she has never had reason to complain of scanty
weight or bulk."
Of course the camp had a laugh.  It was useless to
try to do otherwise.  That the portly dimensions of
The General, now quite an alderman in figure, should
ever have attempted to occupy a hlalf-bushel, was too
ludicrous a thoughlt, while the boys enlarged on his first
captivating approaches to the yoiung lady.  The pause,
in the narration was used also to renew the -fires, and
while Dock and Rube, who were picking ducks, drewr
modestly nearer to join in the story and the laughl
ing, The General proceeded:
"In the autumn of 1832 I was married(l, and remnoved
to a small village in Sussex  county, N. J., wheire I
spent two years as the princilpal of'an atad(lemy.  Tlien
I returned to Elizabethtowu.  The spring of 1835 I
spent in Norfolk, Va., il teaching.  In the fall of the
4 
THE GENERAL, OR
same year I sailed for New Orleans, with a view of en.
tering, into some business there; but the yellow fever
prevailed to an alarming extent, though it was as late
as the 20th of October, and so I went up to Natchez,
where I engaged for a time in teaching fancy painting
(an ait I had acquired while a teacher) to classes of
young ladies and in seminaries. In this I was quite
successful; but an opportunity offered where I could(
enter the business of land surveyor for the general
government, and at the same time gratify my desires
for wild life adventures and exploration.
"Cotton lands in the States of Mississippi and Louisi ana, in fact thlroughout the whole South, had become
valuable. Cotton was high, negroes commanded large
prices, and speculation in the staples of that region was
almost wild. As a consequence, the unsettled portions
of those states were being explored for cotton land(s,
and plantations were fast opening wherever suitable
soil could be found. I eagerly accepted proposals from
the surveyor-gene.al of that land district to explore
and survey these new lands, and so prepare them for
market, specially as such employment would gratify
some of my ruling passions for frontier life.
"Having purchased a horse, compass, and other out.
fit, I set forth, about the first of January, 1836, going up
the Yazoo River into the Pontotoc land district.  At
Chockehuma, on the Yallobusha River, in the Chloctaw
lPurchlase, as it was called, I obtained my mips, notes,
and instructions firom the land office there.  Penetrating firom Chlockelhuma far into the interior, I entered(l
on mny work in the depths of the dense forest, amnid
lakes and bayous, canebiakes and cypress swamps.  In
56 
TWELVE NIGIITS IN THE HUNTERS' cAMP.   57
this exploring tour for selecting lands, I had but a
single attendant, anld camped beside the fallen log,, or
with the Mnississippi raftmian.  Tlle rivermen, runaway
negroes, and ficitives from justice were theni the only
inhabitants of this wild country.  It was in this desolate region that the notorious 3Iorrill gang of desperadoes m,ide their rendezvous, the dread and terror of
the  South, whose plot  for a negro insurrection in
the winter of 1835-6, at Natchez and vicinity, was
discovered just in time to prevent a, most horrible
mass,acre.
" Vhile on this expedition, I visited the old Eliot
missionary station, on the Yallobushla River, planted
there in 1818, among the Chloctaw Indians.  The mnission had been abandoned, and the grounds turned into
a cotton plantation. It was a beautiful location, onI
high and rolling lands, cleared from the native forests
by the missionaries.  The buildings were of logs, sl)acious, an(d had an air of neatness and comfort.  In fiont
of the mansion was a lawn, on which tame deer were
feeding.  A few scattered fruit trees remained, nementoes fromi the hands of those who, years before, had
planted them in Indian soil, and had now gone to a
brighlter and better land.
"The whole scene, to a reflecting mind, was fuill of
sa(dness.  The remembrance of the labors and trials of
those whao, long years ago, had penetrated tlhis dark
wilderness to carry the news of salvation to thle benihltedl Indclian, and ofthose, too, who had gone homi.e
to their rewa(rd, flitted before my  mind(l, a.s I w.Indered over the once consecrated grounds, and sought
the places made sacred in teachiing the sons of the 
THE GENERAL, OR
forest the way to eternal life. I roamed over the
fields, and traversed the old log buildings wlhere the
schools were kept, and the morning and evening pr,ayer
went up to the mnissionary's God, to endure unto good
fiI'uit and the end.
"I bluslhed for our national government, when I considered how it unrighteously broke up all these good
beginnings among  the Cboctaws.   By  treaty,  these
l,inds were reserved to this tribe forevei, and the govemnment  favored and aided  Christian missions  here.
The Indians opened good farms, and introduced all the
simipler arts of civilization, and many of themI  had become wealthy.  But Mississip)pi slaveholderis wanted the
lands for cotton, and so the treaty with the Choctaws
was. faithllessly broken, a sham treaty of sale was formed
with a few of the tribe, and the State of Mississip)pi
assuminedl jurisdiction over  the Indian  territory, the
great body of the Indians objecting to the whole thing.
A forced sale brought themn but a trifle for their homes
and improvements, and they were forcibly removed to
tlhe west of the MIissssipp)i River, in the years 1831,'2,
and'3.  Their number was about fifteen thousand.  The
expenditure on these mission premises had been about
sixty thousand dollars by the Board of,Missions; but,
under government appraisal and by sale, it retuined to
the Board less than five thousand.
"I remained over night in tlhe neighboirood(, at a
little village near by, that had just begun its existence.
Learning that one of the missionaries, Father Smith,
still lived in tllc vicinty, I called oin himi at an eaily
hour the next morning.  It was one of those clear,
beautiful mornoing,s of a southern  winter.  The sun
68 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN TIHE HUNTERS  CAMIP.  59
began to shine through the thick forest.  As I reached
the door of his rude cabin, I heard the voice of prayer
The pioneer Christian was praising God, in the stillness
of the nmorning, that lie had brought him through se
many trials and dangers, and that he still' dwelt under
the shadow of his wing.'
"W\hen the service was ended I entered and introduced myself  3Ir. Smith had lost his first wife in the
early part of his settlement there, and had married another fiom the tribe among whom hlie lived. A large faimnily of children surrounded him, the most of whom could
speak English with fluency.  They were sprigh-tly, and
some of them quite handsome. The venerable patriarchl, with clear recollections of the days of darkness
and distress, related to me his trials and difficulties on
their journiey into the wilderness, and the misgivings
n,(l fears of their first settlement.
They left the MIississippi River in fiat-boats, and,
in the heat of summer, ascended the Yazoo and its
tributaries, into the unknown country. The men labore'l at the oars, and the women steered the boats.
Sickness prevailed among them.  One of their children
died by the way, and they buried him in the deep, lone
forest, and passed on to their labors of love and sacrifice.  Butt,'said the good old mllan - and the tears rolled
down his furrowed cheeks-'I have never regretted
my coming here.  My wicked heart murm-urs some.
times, but God sends comforts and blessings to us, as
his missionaries, more than we deserve.'
"From MIr. Smith I learned much about the country,
and particularly of the unexplored parts, a knowle(dge
of which he had gained fiom the Indians.  HIe also 
TIlE GENERAL, OR
tcl me nmuch of the bandit Morrill, and his gang, w1~o
had spread terror through that country.
"I travelled over the Black River country, which
was at that time just beginnling to be settled.  In the
early spring the river oveiflowed its banks, and thle
bridge on which I had crossed it was  sweplt  away.
Not aware of the danger of the undertaking,, I attempted to swimi it with my horse, as it was near nigh-tfll, and the last house passed was some distance back.
N~hen about half way over, some drift struck thle horse,
thrlowiing me off, and so entangling himn as to carry
himi down stream.  Beiing a good swimmer, I fi'eed the
horse, and then seizing him by the tail, we landed on
the same bank from which we started.  RPeturnilng to
the house, far behind, I remained there several days,
till the river fell. I then returned to Natchez, ma(le
mty report to the surveyor general, and in May arrived
in New Jersey, well stored with observations and redflections on my first visit to the South, its people, soil
productions, and peculiar institutions."
And so, well housed, in the narrative, with his famiJy, amid all the comforts of an old civilization, The
General  closed for the night.  Better and better, the
boys thought, as there were fewer houses, more IndiIans,
and wild adventures in the forests.  Still they begged
for longer stories, and more beals thrown in; and they
paddled up and down the Yazoo and Black River a
long time, after their candle went out, before they tied
up for the night in Sleepy Ilollow Cove.
60 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN TIIE HUNTEIRS' CAMIP.
FOURTHI NIGIIT.
"I[J UNTING and fishing! What a recreation for
Ij  1civilized folks,  men of business, professional
men, an( Chlistian ministers! "  And tlhen tender M1iss
Aramiuita exclaimis again, "How  cruel to torture the
innocent fislhes, and shoot the beautifill water fowl and
timidicl deer!  How can any one bear to kill anything
for his own enjoyment! "  An(d her silks rustle with a
holy lhoror at the thoiught.  Yes, maiden of the tender
heart, but how many silk-worms were scalded to death
that you " miight have one dress fit to put on "? hIow
inalny Al(ndeisous, and Spekes, and Livingstones almost,
and  poor Afi'icans, lost their lives, as well as  the
fi'ig,lteined ostrichl hles, tlhat you  migh,t properly toss
your hea(l with its le.st bit of a lhat and a sl)plendidi
plume on it?  PityiIng the dcleer, is it?  Sorry for poor
dumb creatures, are you?  See those sweating, jaded,
and dying horses, toiling up the White  Mountains with
ladies' trunks too big to have gone into the ark through
the door in the P'iianer picture.
I fear Miss Araminta would not have enjoyed, as a
neighbor, B-ernaboebo Viscoiti, whose tomb and equestrian
statue may be seen -it Milan.   Ie kept five thousand
houinds, quarteledl on his more wealthy subjects, an(l
any dog becaime too tat or too lean at the peril of lhis
keeper.   WlWat a glo'ious orchestra, to have themn a,11
61 
THE GENERAL, OR
open at once on a slope of the Adirondlacks, un(der "a
southerly wind and a cloudy sky," in an October morning! The famed and unfortunate hunt of Fitz James
around Loch Katrine and the steeps of Benledi and
Uam  Var would  be  nothling to it.  Tender 3Iiss
Araminta must go out with us some morning.  Sloe
needs reconstructing.  I fear me much she would now
be unwilling, the soft heart, to take the piece of money
fiom the mouth of St. Peter's fish.
Another  cup, Dock, of  that dark-brown Moclha.
Now a hot biscuit.  They cool off very quickly in this
airy tent.  One more partridge, rare and smoking.
Now for a wide range, a long day, and a heavy pack,
into camp  again, not forgetting  some  rare duck's
plumagnte for Miss Araminta's love of a bonnet.
As I struck out to-day, wilder than usual, three, four,
seven miles, over low prairie, through heavy timber,
across marslhes and around lagoons, I felt for a time
very happy without knowing why. At length the
thou,ght friom  my deeper consciousness canme to the
surface, that this hunting ground never can be settled.
Men cannot live here through the year.  The annual
overflow will make.it impossible.  Then it is reserved
by a statute of nature for a hunting and fishing ground
forever!  What a kind and wise provision of providence!
It was intended men should hunt and fish, and in the
final reconstruction of the world for man, just before
the days of Adam and Nimrod, large tracts were left in
a state impossible forever for human occupation. The
vast belt of bottom lands skirting the Mississippi- and
that the swelling river can cover when it will -keeps
62 
TWIELVE NIGHTS IN TIlE HUNTERS' cAAMP.   63
men from encroaching on the domain of wild animal
life.  The vast bayous around its mouth and in the
Gtiilt' States, and its soores to its very sources, divide
the country betw(eei men and wild( fowl an(d beasts.
So the Kankakee bottoms are providential game preservXes for S wan L'ke settlers.  Foolishly put in market
at ten cents an acre, their annuail flooding liughs at
tlhe Land Office at Washingiton an(d the stock board at
Chlicaglo.   The WAVinnebago Marsh, in Wisconsin -  a
tract fifteen or twenty miles long, with half as muchl
breadth -  was pr(emlp)ted by the Weblfoots before the
di.ys of Columbus, and will remain, by statute of Nature,
under their squatter sovereignty till the last gun  i1
fired.
It is not designed tlhat the first settlers in a country
slall have the best time  nd exhaust the supplies
some of the sportinig is reserved. So large por'tions of
Biritishl America will remain as it is, all through,l  the
millennium, a region for summer  excutrsiotist.s with
gun, angle, and  canip, and the wlhite bear  cnn be
hunted around the north pole, till that distinguished
axle is worn out.  The price of Alaska is cheap as an
ad(dlition to our national hlunting-park, anticipating the
tite when settlements and improvements, so called,
shall have ruiiued the rest of ourI habitable domain.
There  are portions of the RPocky  Mountains  that
nothling but wild aniimals can occupy for any twelvemionthi continuous, au(d streamns that no steamer can
vex, or wa4ter-wheel use, and pay dividends.  This is as
lrovidlential as the griiun-field(s of Iowa or the Nile.
So has Nature set up bars to irrepressible progress and
settlelment and corner lots, that the goodly art of the 
THE GENERAL, OR
angle and the wholesome exercise of the chase may not
be drivene fiom the earth.
Possil,ly William the Conqueror carried  the thing
too -far in lestroyixig villages and( towns to make forests
tor deer.  When he lad sixty-eight royal forests, lhe
laid waste an immense ti.acet in Itampslhire to forni
another, called The New Forest, and the curses of the
peasantly there came on himin for it. And wl-iei his son
Richlard was gored to dleath in it by a stag, they called
it the judgm,nenit of Heaven on him for so making that
Forest.  But, tlhen, ipnlprovements, and progress, and
settlements should not have been allowed to monopolize all the game regions of Alerrie England.  The
Eng,lish mistakes should be a warning to us in our new
and splendlid wilderness country.
I confess to an inward satisfaction whlen I hear that the
population is falling off in some rural towns, and that
otlhe rs are too ftar fromn the track of the  nineteenth
century to be annoyed by the sound of the railroad.
I      own to some sympathy with Bryant's Indian at the
burial-place of his fathers, now covered withl the white
mnan's thrift:
"I like it not;  I would the plain
Lay in its tall old groves again."
Yes, a portion of this world was set apart, primitively
niid organically, for hunnting and fishling. Why, even
the Holy Land had these reservations and hltmain cornfoits.  It had lakes and streams stocked with fish, and
good( fishermen were the very best of apostles, while its
hill-sides, and ravines, and the great plain of Esdlraelon,
abounded in animals for the chase.  There were tlh(
64 
TIVELVE NIGIITS TN THIE IIUNTERS' CAMP.    65
bear and pallthier, jackals and foxes, liyenas and wolves,
tl'.,i badger alnl  lion,   iirI(s and hares, tle wvild goast,
al.telol)e, and fallowv deer, and, in thle lbest d(as of tle
Jewish commonwealth, the blfi;'do, or wildl ox.  This
Nwas the "goo lly laind(," when promise(d, andl in tho
euilier glories of the kincgdomn prophets and good men
could chase " thle wildl gazellec on Judlali's hills," or hunt
tlte bulls of Bashlan on the far side of the Dead Sea.
David had goodcl training in tlhe chase for the arlmy and
the crown.  "1 Thy servant slew both the lion and tlhe
bear,"  he says to Saul, pleadingly, when long,ing to
meet himn of Gathl, who had dlefied the armies of Israel.
Surely if David, the general and king, prophet, psalmist,
and good man, could go on a bear hunt, "thy servant"
mighlt slioot wild geese at Swanii Lake.
It is one of the discomforts now, in seeking a quiet
little nook for sumnmer rest, to find somebody there.
"O for a lodge in some vast wilderness," where nobody
coiild find a body!  This has often been my wish, as it
was of Walter Scott.  "There is notling I should like
ilore." hlie once said to Irving, "tltan to be in the midst
of one of yolur grand, wild, origi-nal forests, with the
idea of hundreds of miles of unknown forest around
me."  I never have been able to find that lodge yet,
though I have tried.  Ilere at Swan Lake, we are disturtbed by the deelp, gruff, asthmatic cough of steamers
two miles away.
Once three of us had de)ended on a little quiet on
the hcad-waters of the An(droscoggin, twenty-five miles
comfortably inom everybody; but two men broke our
slumbers one night at ten o'clock.  Again, tlhirty good
miles from any house, on the Union River, in Main(
.5 
TIIE GENERAL, OR
an old college mate and myself were just dlishlil)g up,
in the light of a camlp fire, a venison stew, tl)l-it:it
Parkei's would cost a dollar a plate, with the nimnoiiit
of' waiter there pai(d for, when two  men  walked ill
amonig our shadows and savory odors.   Ve  served(l
them, of course, bountifully, and they paid us in pioneer
stories, thougli  it took us till midnight to settle the
bill. One is oblig(ed now to go a long and( tedious way
to he sure of mieetillg a deer or moose, or bear or wolf'
The older parts of the country are nearly ruined, and
the next generation would have poor prospects, but for
these natural and providential reservations of boo, andl
wild mount:fin, and arctic patches a thousand miles
square.
Now, after all tlhis tallkiig, I am quite sure that Miss
Aramninta is fully satisfied( tllat hluiting, fishing, and
camping out are recreations perfectly proper for business men, scholars, and gentlemen, and that a kind
providlence has made parts of the world fit for gaime
and uninhabitable for man, that we sportsmen might
have amiple grounds for tentage, angle, and gun.
A wide range and a long dclay, I said in the morning;
and it has proved so. Nighlt is closing in as I thread
mny path back to the encampment.
"The shades of eve come slowly down,
The woods are wrapped in deeper brown,
The owl awakens fromi her dell,
The fox is heard upon the fell;
Enough remains of glimmering light
To guide the wanderer's steps aright."
The bearings are familiar, and the cheerful fires an
66 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAIP.  67
camp lights soon inake the tall old trees smile to their
top branches, as I enter the ring again.  The supper
hour is past when  I come in, but Dock has not forgotten the chaplain.  The gravies and biseuit are hot,
and the coffee steaming. Now the side of a brant, and
now a coon's shoulder, renew mne, and then comes a
woodcock, while English snipe keep me busy a little
longer, and The General is made to wait his fourth
beginning.  A dish of canned peaches brings the sup.
p)er to a period and the story to an opening. 
THE GENERAL, O
NOT ALL ROMANCE.
"In the autumn following, 1836, I again left New
Jersey with men and outfit for a land surveyor, and
returned South.  Leaving, my men iln camp near Vicks burg, I went to Jackson, on Pearl River, about forty
miles, and, for  want of a public coInv-eyance, on foot, to
see the stureyor general, whose office was tlecre, and
get the contract and instructions for miy first survey
for government.   The surveyor general for 3,issis sippi at that time was General Ileniy S. Foot.
"lMy papers assigned me to thCe head wateis of t1e
SnIIflower River, amid  l:tkes, cypress swamps, and
canebrakes, bears, snakes, and allig,ators.  Tlec regioa
was unexplore(l, subject to ov-erflow, and a part of the
Choctaw Purchase.   To reach the ground I had to
ascend the Mississippi to a point nealy op)posite the
mnouth of the Arkansas, and then pack my sul)plies to
the field, across many small streams and bayouis, that
at times macle the tripl) almost impossible.
"After  reaching the Sunflower we  found  an  old
piroTigue of abotit thirty feet in length, that enabled us
to navigate the stream on which somie of the work lay.
Thiis relieved the men of miuchi labor,; as in our' situationI no loise or Inile could be use(l, and all transpotatioin was ima(de on our backls.  Tllese lands lihd been
t:il,(,n b)y the government firom tilhe Cloctaw Indians,
ii the way I have menitionedl.  Though some of the
Lijnd was worthless, its siurvey was necessary.
68 
TWVELVE NIGHTS IN THE HIUNTERS' CAMP.   69
"TThe general face of the country was level, broken
into ridges i  )l aces, with d(leel) bayous, and all subject
to an annual overflow from  the MAississip)p)i.  In sonme
1)ortions there were extensive l.ikes and cypress swamps,
vwhile the more elevated parts were coveredl with heavy
timber and alnost impenetrable canebrakes.  The coiuntry was uninhabited, except by raftsmen, who resorted
there in winter months to cut cypress timber, and float
it out on thle sprilg rise for a market down the river,
and by criminals, who had fled from justice, and by
runaway negroes.
"Reachling my work, tlhirty miles interior fiom  the
MIississip)pi, I found it anytlhing but encouraging, and it
would have been abandoned it once, and my partv returned home, but that I was determined, and would not
allow myself to abandon it because of difficulties.'IThe
company consisted of six men, the most of them of no
exl-)erience in the rouglher employments of life. Everything was new to them  in this regioll and work and
manner of living.  They were therefore full of excitement, and ignorant of the fiuture, and so entered into
the enterprise witlh good feelinig and alacrity.
"A  month passed, andc though the labor was extreme, cutting our lines through heavy cane, wading
swamps and meandering lakes, yet all looked 3neerful
on our difficulties, and anticipated the day when  we
should be through, and return to civilization and our
homes.  But as the work prog,ressed the labor increased,
as the country became more low and marshy, so that
often a day would be spent in water ten and fifteen
inches deep.
"Besides this, often, in running meridian lines, oil 
THE GENERAL, OR
work took us so far from canlp daring the day, that we
could not rotmirn at n-ighlt w-itlio,,t gleat waste of tinme
and travel.  So at times we were oblig,ed to carry withl
uis, strapped to our backs, bllnkets  and  provision
enough to last us several days, or while running round
a township six miles square.  Night often found us in
water leg deep, away from any ridge, where a comfortable camp could be made. In such cases we had to cut
trees of the water ash, form a scaffolding on crotches
above the water, and start a blaze fbr our coffee and
cold meats on one end. I-ere, on the poles softened uip
by brush, we would spend the night, and in the morning step off our bed and commence the wading for the
day.  DuIring the coldest part of the winter, this was a
rather cool proceeding, as the ice would sometimes
form during the night, and lie on the overflow till ten
o'clock in the day. Generally the weather was cool,
fi'equently fi'osty, with heavy rain storms.
"Game became scarce, excepting bears, and these it
was hard to kill in the canebrake."
When The General mentioned bears, the boys shouttedl, "Good!" "There they are!" "Now bring on your
bears!" and the like.  The General quietly remarked,
"There are two kinds of black bears in America, boys:
one is the bear in a story, and the other is the bear out
doors."  He continued: -
"There were some  opossums on the ridges and
among the persimmon trees, the fi'uit of which they
like much. The wild fowl were abundant, but the irnmmense spread of water made the field too large fot
70
IN 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN TIIE HUNTERS' CAMP.  71
hunting them.  The dependence of the party for supplies was, therefore, almost wholly on the settlements
on the Mlississippi, thirty miles distant.
"The winter of 1836-7 was noted for an unusual overflow of the Lower Mississipl)i, in the month of February.
This was occasioned by the open winter at the North,
the early melting of the snows, and heavy rains.  As a
result, many suffered firom it extremely, who were not
prepared for it; and we were among them.   The
p)irogue had been sna-gged, her bows staved in beyond
repair, an    d so abandoned.  Provisions grew scanty, little game could be killed, and our camp was fast coming to short rations.
"Indeed, a crisis soon came, and something must be
done.  WAe put ourselves on short allowance, and eked
out, as best we could, our fanmishled larder with opossuIIIs and other small game, with now and tlien a catfislh.  But we could not ruil the risk of such uncertain
supplies. They must be packed in firom the river. I
couldl not trust any of my men to thiread a way to the
nearest post, and find the path back again.  I must go
myself.  I realized the personal peril in this, the already
hlilf starving condition of' my men, endangered much
more by being left probably two weeks while I went
for supplies.
"It had become warm and sultry on the morning I
started, and by ten o'clock thick, heavy clouds began
to darken the sky. To one accustomed to the rainy
selason in the South, all the premonitory symptoms of
a thunder-storm appeared. It was not long before it
burst with deep rolling thunder over the solitary and
endless warte of that desolate country. Never had I 
THIE GENERAL, OR
seen such vivid flashes, as it were currents of lightning,
or heard such awful peals of thlunder.  In the dense
forest, with patches of impenetrable  canebrake and
thicket, it was dark at noonday. I sought shelter in a
hollow tree till the strength of the storm should be
spent.
"Real night was drawing on, when, after wandering
on in some confusion, I judged it best to retrace my
steps for camp.  But all was changed.  In the dark.
ness of the storm I had become bewildered, an(l could
not recognize a single object; and there is a terril)le
sameness to a southern forest.  Not one known  point
could I make to steer by.  I was lost!  I thought of a
fire, and my matches, and even pistol, were soaked, like
myself.  As the darkness deepened, I sought shelter
under a fallen tree that rested on its limnbs, two feet
firom the ground.  HIere, amid the crash of failling trees,
whose trunks were decayed, and that after heavy rainis
are apt to fall, without a fire, in the thick darkness, and
made more sensible and gloomy by the hooting of
owls, I ate my moist lunch, and then tried to while
away the telious hours of the night.
"There was the hut of a raftsman about half way on
my route to the river, that I had intended to enjoy on
my first night out.  I had a sorry camp instead.  As
soon as daylight appeared I was in search again of my
trail, or some  lines of my previous surveys, that I
might know my location and take my bearings; but
all was strange to me.  About noon, however, I came
across a line of my survey, cut through a canebrake in
the early part of my work.  I followed this for some
time, but when tle sun came out I found I was going
7'' 
TW ELVE NIGIITS IN TIHE IUNTFRS' CAMIP.    7 t
in the wrong direction.  I then doubled on my track,
and went iii the opposite course till I struck the Sunflower River, and soon found fiamiliar points and bearings on my old survey.  With light steps and a lightei
henart I set forwvard with renewed vigor for the camp
of the raftsman, which I reached a little after nightfall.
"I have  told you before that these camps were
almost the only place of human habitation in this
wilderness, and that these were often the abode also
of the fireebooter. Tiie escaped criminal, the negrostealer, and the filgitive slave himself, were often found
in these cabins; and woe to the officer of justice, the
imastel-, or any one else, who attempted an arrest in
such a den of desperadoes.
"I had been at this hut before, on my first entrance
into the forest, and had seen menii there who pretende(d
to be choppers and raftsmnen, whose whole appearance
indicated another business.  On entering at this time 1
found a head man, and a good supply of game, meat,
and corn meal.  There were piles of plunder inii different parts of the house, which seemed to have been
built at (lifferent  times, and as occasion  require(d.
Logs, balrk, and  cane  were  used  indifferently as
material.
"It was very evident that labor was not the inten.
tion of the dwellers in this den. There were no ev.
deuces of it in the vicinity, and I soon had more thanr
suspicions that I was in a rendezvous of bandits. As
I sat by the fire, awaiting the preparation of the supper
by a negro, my assurance of the character of the house
was confirmed by a study of the faces of thie men, anl,o
by the vile and profane language they used. They 
TIlE GENERAL, OR
were evidently a gang who infested that country, p)lun
dering traders in flat-boats, merchants, travellers, and
planters; being  negro stealers, cutthroats, andl murder ers.  I was in a den of outlaws, and beyond the palo
of civilized life.
"The keeper knew me and my profession, and when
this was explained to the gang, the restraint imposed
by a stranger's presence was thrown off in a measure,
and they talked with more freedom. But I felt secure
even among such a lhorde of villains.  I knew that the
amount of money I mig,ht be supposed to have would
not tempt them to injure me, or pay the risk they
would incur in doing it.
"A blanket was given me, and I lay down in one
corner of the cabin for the night. During the late
hours there was a fresh arrival of two white men and
a negro.  \Whether they came from the settlement on
the river, or fi'oin similar camps in the forest, I knew
not; but the whites seemed acquainted with the head
man.
"It is a characteristic of camp life, not only in Mississippi, but all through the new settlements and wilds
of the WVest, that travellers and strangers are always
welcome to the cabin of the hunter or of the raftsman.
If one in hunting or exploring pass a camp firom which
the occupants are gone for the time, he is expected to
help himself of what the house affords to the supply of
his wants, and also to so much as he may need to carry
himn to his next point of destination. These are couLrtesies well understood by all backwoodsmen. The
Rocky Mountain trapper has, on such occasions, no
luxuries too choice to be brought out for his stranger
74 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.   7L
guest.  The  fattest ribs of' the mountain sheep, tlle
best steak of tle antelo)e, the juicy hump of the buffalc, or the rich tail of the beaver, is set forthl, and the
wanderer to that cabin is made welcome and glad.
" Years afterwards, in those f-r western  wilds I
proved this.  The courtesy of RPoclerick Dhu to James
Fitz James was a fair type of our firontier hunters and
trappers, when
'He gave lim of his highland cheer
Thc hlard(lened flesh of mountain deer.'
"I resumed my wea,y journey in the morning, not
without muchl  difficulty, owing, to the rise in the river
and the wide overflow; but I reached the settlement.
Several days were consumed in the purchase of provisions, aind in arranging to get theni in to my men,
since I had to do all this at St. Francis, on the oppo
site side of tle river.  I hired a woodcutter's cart to
lhaul my stores as far as possible towards  my camp.
Tle wheels of this cart were made by sawing off two
sections firom the end of a log three feet in dcliameter,
alu( pl)acingr a rude fii-ame on their axle.  Such affairs
were used then to carry wood to the river's bank for
steamboats.   OI  one of these primitive vehicles  I
1laced my pIrovisions, baicoii, corn mneal, flour, coffee,
and sugar, with a few articles of clothing.
Thus prepared(, with one man  as driver, I commence(d my anxious return to camp.  I avoided tlie
(lei  of the bandits by another though longer route.
It also led me over higher ground, by which I hoped
to reach the upper waters of the Sunflower with the
team.  I had ordered my men  to remove our camp to 
THE GENERAL, OR
the banks of this river, where, in the early part of our
work, we had what we called Cane Camp; and to this
point I hoped to raft my supplies after dischalging the
team.  But the second day brought us to the banks of
a deep bayou. Here was a dilenmma, formidable and
trying,.  We  traversed it for some distance  up and
down, but found no indications of its coming to an
end.  In fact there was a current in it, caused by the
overflow, which was still on the increase.  These bayoIIs are not, in geineial, very wide, but deep, having
been cut through the alluvial soil by the annual overflows. A tree was soon felled across, and a portion of
the provisions taken over.  Night came on; the camp
fire was lighted, the oxen made secure, and we slept
after the faitigues of the day.
"It was decided, the next mornling, that we should
load ourselves with as much provision as we  could
carry, and attempt so to reach the Sunflower.  There
thle teamster was to aid me in making the raft, and then
return to his cattle, pack up the remaining provisions,
and go home, while I was to float what we had carried
to the river down to my fiamishiing men, and  bring
them all in to the settlement. We started at an early
hour, each of us carrying about one hundred pounds
of bacon and flour.  At the distance of about three
miles we crossed a second bayou on a fallen log, where
a false step would have snit us into ten feet of water'.
"The journey was te(diotis both for want of path  ali
fiomn the weight of oltl I-)Icks.  On reaelhiig, the river
we found it so wide fi-rom the overflow as to be almost
unable to define its channel.  It was impossible to make
a raft on the overflow, and run it into the channel, on
76 
TW,VELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.   77
account of the trees and undergrowth.   We  spent
much time in exploring for a place where we could
build and launch a raft, and then abandoned this project fr'om necessity. Anxious and excited for the condition of my men, and as a last resort, I cached a
portion of the provisions on a ridge near by, and taking
the balance-on my back, I started down stream almost
in despair, leaving the teamster to return home.
"I well knew that to follow that stream would bring
me to the camp of my suffering men, and also knew,
that from the condition of the country in the present
high stage of water, I must meet many streams and
bayous putting in, that it would be exceedingly difficult
to pass. But I pressed on as rapidly as my burden
would allow, sometimes wading deep ravines, and at others forcing my way through thickets of cane and prickly
ash.  At length night overtook me, and I found reflige
in the hollow of a cypress tree. The hollow would not
allow me to lie down, but in a reclining posture, with a
fire in front, I passed the night, sleeping but little, and
in anxiety and alarm for my men.
"The next day I had travelled but a few hours when
a broad sheet of water presented itself like a lake, concealing the river in its vast expanse.  Ihere again were
trouble and delay, though not unexpected. Mvy purpose was formed at once.  Wading in as far as I could,
I procured a drift log afloat.  Seplarating it from ttle
jami, I got astride of it, with my p)ack on my back, and
thus for half a mile worked my way with a pole through
the drift, till I came to land on the opposite side. So
I urged my way on again by lan,l till night overtook 
TIIE GENERAL, OR
me. I slept in a thick clump of cane, and was eai ly on
my way the next morning.
"About ten o'clock I caine wlhere some of my surveys
struck the river; then I knew where I was, and how
far firom my men.  With renewed energy I now pressed
on, heeding no obstacles, my thoughlts wild with emotion, ind the condition of my poor men constantly preying on my feelings. The circuitous channel of the river
had greatly increasel the distance, and nig,ht again
found me afar from them.  I laid myself down weary
and almost discouraged.  In any other circumstances,
although my powers of endurance were great, I should
have sank by the way; but my whole soul was wrought
up to a kind of firenzy.  I knew that my men could not
escape, that they had long been without provisions,
that all game had fled the country, tlhat starvation was
before them, and that relief could comne only fi'om me.
I knew that I was within a few miles of Cane Capl),
where I had appointed to meet them.  But, two weeks
had elapsed since I left them.  Would I find them,ll
there, and alive?  These were my thoulghts that night
and the next morning, as I dragged my weary limbs
along down the banks of the Sunflower.
"Suddenly I came upon the camp!  My men were
lying, aroundl in a listless, dejected state of mind. If
they showed any animation, it was in watching, the large
camp kettle that hung over the fire, as if containing
something most valualble.  Taken all in all, they had a
wretche(l, forlorn appearance.  I stood lo-oking at them
but a moment, when my strength gave way, and, with
emotions of gratitude for their preservation, I fell
78 
T\WELVE NIGHTS IN THIE HUNTERS' CAMP.
in among them, and we all wept together like chl
di en.
"One of the mnen had just cau-ght a catfish, and they
wvele boiling it without salt or pepper, and watching
with eagerness the slow process of its cooking.  They
hal( caught one three days before, and eaten it, but the
hiigh water had prevented their getting a supply.  Game
of every kind, except the opossum, had fled from the
country, as if by instinct, to escape the overflow.  This
animnal, being slow in motion, had escaped to the ridges,
and there lived on the persimmon.  Of these animals
the men had killed a scanty supply, and sustained life,
roasting and eatirng them without any seasoning, except
the white ashes of the hickory bark that served as a
kind of substitute for pepper and salt. They had also
ga.thered the persimmon, and eaten it, cooked and raw.
So they lingered in life and hope, awaiting my return,
knowing the cause of my delay, but believing, too, that
I would come.
"The overflow had now begun to subside, and not having muchl provision to rely on, we abandlonedl the survey, and took up ouir march for the settlement.  Near
the head of the Sunflower we found a canoe  adrift.
Itito this we put our luggage, and aftel floatinrag it as
fiar as the stream would allow, we fitted poles, like
yokes, to the bows by a rope, and. tlhen, by two and
two, like Dr. Kane's men, we drew it acrioss to the Miss'-sippi, a distance of nine miles, and launched it on its
-waters.  Here the party broke up.  Some went to St.
Francis, somne returned North, while my assistant, II.,
and myself went down to Vicksburg in the canoe. I
7al
flo 
TIHE GENE IAL, OA
thence went out to Jackson, made my report to the Land
Office, and then II. and  myself took steamer for St.
Louis."
Alany questions were put, and tlrilling incidents
elicited in reply, and it was the honest hour of twelve
before the camp fire of Swan Lake dozed that night.
80 
TWELVE NIGHITS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.
FIFTH NIGHT.
"To sit on rocks, to muse o'er flood and fell,
To slowly trace the forest's shady scene,
'Vhere things that own not man's dominion dwell,
And mortal foot lath ne'er or rarely been;
To climb the trackless mountain all unseen,
WVith the wild flock that never needs a fold;
Alone o'er steeps and foaming falls to lean, This is not solitude;'tis but to hold
Converse with Niature's chlarms, and view her stores unrolled."
CIIILDE HAROLD.
NEVER spent a nigh,it in a sportman's camp?  Hlow
old are you?  "Well, over twenty-five."  You
have lost a great deal, but it is not too late to recover
something from your mistakes and losses.  You have
never yet enjoyed a night for what it is in itself; or, as
the moralists say, a nighlit pee se.  To be beyond the
si(ght of any midnighlit lamp of neighbors; beyond the
sound of lowing cattle; beyond the noise of any carriage, mill, or other human activity; beyond the bark
of any "cur of low degree," - I mean a common watch
and farm dclog, or any dog except a hunter's-to know
that solid, splendid miles of unsettled country lie in a
state of pure nature between your blanket pillow and
the nearest clearing or dwelling; to feel this frontier,
nncivilized darkness wrapping you about in its deep
black folds- that is to enjoy a night per se.  If, forta
81
ou 
THE GENERAL, OR
nately, you are alone, you exult in a monopoly of the
whole thing; you control thie market without a con.
petitor, like a Rothsclhild on'clhange. If you have
camp fellows, you may use the lnxuiy of your partial
solitude by talking about it.  Still there will be the
loss of real value by humnan interruptions and encroach ments.  The darkness, the starry expanse, or awtfil
storm, the wide reach of silence, you must divide up
into shares, and part with the control and comforts of
some of them; your meditations will be interrul)ted,
and the deep, silent flow of tlioughlt diverted.
You sometimes speak of a morning as "beautiful,"
' chlarming," and all that the boardiing-school gilils say
of it.  Allow me to ask whether you ever ha.d a M hole
morning all to yourself.  I mean all out doors at that
hour of the day, as far as the eye can reach, or the esi';
as extensive a morning I mean, as would cover twell e
hours' foot-travel in all directions.  Perhaps you have
taken a part in a morning from the balcony of the
Ocea.n House, or the Tip-top House, or firom a crest of
the Alleghlanies, in old stage times.  Well, that is bet
ter than no morning at all1. City people, who are seldom off the pavement, alnd out of coal smoke and the
odor of garbage, often say to me, "WVhat a delightful
morning!" and they speak so sincerely and joyfutlly,
just as if they know the article when they see it, and
the varieties in it, and had, right there on those flag stones
and brick walls, and through that dingy window on a
back alley with a grape vine, a number one specimen
of mornings.
Come, now, let us see a morning in camp    We
are on the St. Croix- two of us - betweer Great
82 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.   8l
Lake and Grand Lake. Our tent crowns a bit of a
mound overlooking the river.  Back of us, on the east,
goes up a hill, as the hill of Bastlan, and over it the
gray dawn is just coming.  Throw open thie tent-fly, and
step out, and stand still, and keep silence, for half an
hour. You catch at once the outline of the hills against
the blushing eastern sky.  Leavingl you standing in twilight, the rays pass over your tent, and gild the western
mountains, that stretch right and left. The birds open
tlheir anthem of Morn Among The Alountains, and a full
orchestra renders the chorus. The light deepens, fills
the valley on the southl, and comes flooding up the
channel, whlere the river, on rocks, and in gorges, and
over falls, has been sending up its rich bass all the
night, and ever since the night of chaos, when  the(
waters began their circuit to keep their place. Look
north, and how the new light gives the lake a morning
kiss!  Far up, farther, and still beyond, see with your
field-glass the golden sheet of a real morning.  Fleecy,
misty patches of clouds now go up, as blankets, froii
the bed of the lake, to be aired. The trees - and you
never saw trees so green before - flutter their welcome to the young dlay, and, as sunrise falls at your
feet, the wild flowers lift up their dewy heads.
That is a clean, full, original morning, and all ours.
A  beautiful morning in a city! Whlat  a dlelusive
thought!  We sportsmen have the first chance at;ature, and get all the best specimens.
Now for a breakfast. One kindles the camp fire,
and the other throws a well-selected fly where the
river makes a deep eddy. In twenty minutes three
land-locked salmon lie very close to the coals, and 
TIIE GENERIAL, 0R
the b,'eakf,,st is as good  as that morning of June 4,
1864, when we ate it.
A stoini is nowheie- so tliorogl,ly natuial and tCei'  ril)le as in a deep forest, wleice it lias  always lw:td its
w:ty.  It Nwas in September, 1854, when we were lying
by in tlhe logmen's cabin, on the head-waters of Union
live,', Mlaine, where we dished our vtenison stew to
tlhose strangers, that I first felt tlhe grandeur and glory
of a forest storm.  WNle  were well housed when niglht
closed in with a little rain and stiff wind, and clot(uds
irunniiin firom the southl-east.  On rising( ground, and in
a clearing, with a massive old log cal)in, we llad notli ig, to fears, anil so only to enjoy tlhe elements in a ragc.
Therie was never a darker nighlt, and I tlhink it never
rained harder.  It came slopping, splashing, as if spilled
over froin some wandering cisterli in tlie sky.  The
wind rose fi'om breeze to gale.  It r,ushed and hlowled
as if it were a personal fury.  A low inaishl, or lagoon,
in fi'ont of us, exposed our cabin to all tlhe force of the
tempest.  The forest groaned and roar.ed, as the storm
swept into it.  Old trees, decayed and dry, were s.atirated with the pelting rtain; and then, partly fi'om their
own weight, and paitly fiomni the violence of the storm,
they would go craslhing andl thliunidering to the ground.
All throtugh the first part of tlec nilght, at intervals, we
could hear these falling trees near by.  They had endured for ages, and been passedl by the woodman  as
unsoutind(, and this was their lalst nilght.  3Jatny a.y green
and strong one alo  went with them.  I nev-er knew so
wild a night.  The location,: twenty long miles fl'om
any human: habitation, the darkness, the xain, the,win!,
the ro ari,ng:forest, and- the- crah of trees, made t]e
84 
TWVELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERIS' CAMP.   85
scene fairly sublime. It needed only thle lighitning and
thlunder in proportion to make it terrible.  I would
sooner shut fi'om my memory and mnindcl's eye a score
of' the best paintings I ever saw than the impressions
of that night.  The warm sun came withli the morning,
and for a still hunt amuong the deer the day was delightfal.  I would Bierstadt had been withl us that nilght:
in whlat a frenzy of inspiration would lie the next day
hav-e dashed off After The Storm!
You err hugely in supposing we sportsmen follow
the wilderness mainly for the joy of so many pieces of
game shot or angled.  So we have our morning and
evening nieal of our labor, we are filled with success,
and all the rest is the hilgher enjoyment of studying the
pictures of Natuire in her own studio. You should readcl
w-lat good WAVynkyn de Worde says in The Treatyse
of Fysshynge wyth an Anle -a snmall folio of 1496.
Yet, to be exact, I mIust add,; that Wynkyn only republishled this valuable workl.  The author was my lady
Iul4yans Berners, prioress of tlhe nunnery of Sopwell,
near St. Albalns; and she printedl ten years before, with
Caxton's letter, this Treatyse.  And it is a great infelicity that "MIary Powell," in her Household of  Sir
Thomas MIore, makes that rare and exact scholar quote
lle work to Erasmus as Wynkyn's.   Sir Thomas would
not so blunder.   This is what Lady Juliana Barnes
says:   "Also ye shall not use this forsayd crafty cldysportc,
for no couetysense, to t-ie encreasynge and sparynge
of yo-ur money oonly; but pryncypally for your solace,
ai.d to cause the hlieltlhe of your body, and specyally of
y-our soule.  For whanne ye purpoos to gQ oo oQ4,yu 
THE GENERAL, OR
dclysportes in fysshynge, ye well not desyre gretly many
persons wyth you, whychle myghlte lette you of your
game.  And thenne ye may serue God cleuot,tly, in
sayenge affectuously your eustumable  prayer;  and,
thus doynge, ye shall eselhewe and voyde manry vices."
It is thus enjoying Nature in her undisturbed sim)li  city, befoire any blemish of man has marred the natural ness in all her varied phases, and moods, and times, that
makes the wilderness pastime so fascinating.  Let me
illustrate by showing you a picture I took, in memory,
about the middle of July, 1861.  For if you go back to
camp now, in the middle of the afternoon, you will not
find The General there, or any hunters, not even a dog,
but only Dock and Rube among the kettles.
With salmon-rod, reels and lines, choice flies and
gaffi; and some smaller "harnays," as the prioress calls
it, for the smaller members of the Salmo family, I run
through Bangor to Old Town  by rail.  Thence the
ancient stage took me by the MIatawamkeag and Iolton
to Presque Isle. A one-horse power worked me along
to Fort Fairfax, of bloodless memory, and the Falls of
the Aroostook, four miles above its entrance into the
St. John's.  No steamer runs to those faills, or railroad,
or stage -a blissful region. Nothling runs there but
game and the river.  The few scattered inhabitants
walk about, just a little. No hotel, no board(ling-house,
and, what is better still, nobody inquiring for one.  I
found a tent on the beach, just under the falls, occupied
by one man-  a Scotchl Presbyterian, from Tobiquewho was netting salmon.  I at once rented one half the
establishment, and paid him in news from The States,
and all about the war just opened. I found my Tent
86 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  87
On The Beach quite equal to Whittier's, the only difference being that I cannot give mine as good a poetic
setting for the public eye.
IIere is a river of good volume for one hundred and
twenty miles, hunting for an outlet to the sea.  Near
the St. John's, that it has scented from afar, it meets a
mountain range and barrier a mile and more in depth
Thriourgh this it has sapped and mined, worried and
worn and( forced its way for ages no doubt, making its
channel.  As if still vexed for long delay, it lrushles madly
down this gorge.  The chasm is not more than two
bow-shots wi(le, and at points not one.  Vast masses
of rock lie along in the channel confusedly, as if an
earthquake should topple and tumble all the blocks on
both sides of Broadway into that New York thoroughfare.  The walls are ragged cliffs, forty, sixty, a hundied and fifty feet high in places, and often perpendicular.  With  the greatest care one can, here and
there, get down to the water's edge.  But it is an angry
torrent, boiling, thundering, and foaming. Now it lets
itself roughly over a precipice of five or ten feet, and
now a clean shoot and unbroken plunnge of twenty.  It
gouges into the sides of the mountain, grinding with
the loose stone it keeps whirling there, vast smooth
caldrons foirty feet in diameter.  In these great eddies
the salmon rest as they try to work their wily up. The
noise drowns all other sounds, and conversation  at
many points along the channel is impossible.  Fortunately for nme, I had it all to myself.
I lay about on the ecldges of the cliffs, and on project
ing rocks, and whlerever I could reach a bracket on the
bald walls, for hours each day. I was never weary or 
THE GENERAL, OR
satisfied in looking.   Beauty, strength, terror, seculrity,
combined in the picture.  Each new position gave a
new view, and the old one was never twice alike.  It
was a great addition to my solitary enjoyment of the
scene, that at the time I was there a rise in the rivser
of twenty inches took place, and made it possible to
work off a jam of logs, that had lodged at the upper
entrance of the fallls. A gang of red shirts were work ing these loose, and so one by one they were running
the gantlet of the rocky pass. Some of these sticks
of timber squared three feet and more on a side, and
were forty and fifty long.  They were all squared.  The
mlad river tilted them against projecting rocks, and into
curved banks, with a concussion that could be felt far
from the shore, and be heard for a mile.  Sometimes
they would be pitched over the rapid shoots end for
end, and rise and fall on the water or rocks, or eachl
other, in a terrific manner.
At the foot of t}hese rapids, and where the stream is
most tumultuous, it dashes itself fiuriously against a
high rock as huge as a large church, standing midway
in the channel.  The waters leap far up the front of
this barrier, as if in a last effort of strength, and then
fall off madly right and left, and about equally, into a
basin of fifty acres or more-  a kind of Titan's washbowl.  Her, they seethe, and boil, and foama in a fiolic
of good-natured riot.  In this basin, up to the vel'y
)lulgle around that huge dividing rock, I lay lonlg houns
(dancing, as in an e,g shell, in my fiag,ile birch, temrl)ting the salmon with my fly.  The lusty fellows would
occasionally throw themselves out of water with a lazy
majesty, but were very shy of mny attentions. I took
88 
TWELVE NIGHT'S IN TltE ItUNTERS' CA3IP.    89
only smaller ones- the grilse.  The fieshet, that gave
me the graud river views, alinost spoiled mny fly-fishling
for salmon, by fillin,g thle wvater withli dliift and refuse.
But evening steals on witlh my long stories, and we
are on the wrong side of the Union.   Let us telegral)lh
ourselves froomi the Aroostook Falls to Swan Lake, or
we shall lose the opening of The  General's fifth story.
But as we send along over the wires, will you not concele thl:t we sportsmen  get the very best views of
Nature -  author's proofs, so to speak? 
THE GENERAL, OR;
OVER  TIIE MISSISSIPPI.
"When I closed last nilght I had escaped fiom the
canebrakes and cutthroats of the Mississippi swamps,
and was directing my course towards St. Louis.  This
was in the spling of 1837. At this time there was
much excitement about Wisconsin Territory and the
Black Hawk Purchase lying on the TUpper Mississippi.
A treaty had been made with the Sac and Fox Indians,
and that territory purchased and laid open to settleinent.! Immigciation had already commenced.   The
surveys of tlhe country had been  ordered, and the
becauty and fertility of it made public.
"Therefore my fi'iend E. and myself, now returning
home fiomn the South, determined to visit that region.
We planned to go up the river as far as the Dubuque
lead mines, thence across to Chicago, and down the
lakes by Niagara Falls to New Jersey.
"At that time the Territory of Wisconsin comprised
not only what is now that large and beautiful state, but
all the present State of Iowa, and a portion of Mlinniesota, thecn little known  except to the hunter and
trai)per. 
"On board the steamer firom  St. Louis I became
acquainted withl Colonel  Georgc  L. Davenport, of
Rock Island, nmurdered in 1845, and D. C. Eldridgc,
postmaster  at Davenport -  a little town then just
startingl on the Iowa side of the river, and opposite
to Rock Island.   These gentlemen, learning my pro
90 
TW'ELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.   91
fession, urged me very much to stop at Davenport, and
examine the country with a view to settlement.
"We had left St. Louis in a little steamer —the
Olive Branch - of small dimension, as the water on
the rapidts was too low for a large boat, and were five
days in making the trip to Rock Island.  WVe lay by at
Keokuk one day -a place then of a few log shanties
and whiskey shops.  Here were gathered  Keokuk's
band of Sacs and Foxes, spending a few days at the
old tradiigcr-post of the American Fur Company. Black
Ihawk and his family were encamped a short distance
above the village. It was here that I first saw those
two celebrated chiefs-  Black Hawk  and  Keokuk.
Keokuk, the gifted orator, one of Nature's own noblemen, was in a most beastly state of intoxication. They
were on their way to Rock Island to attend a council,
called to reply to an invitation of the President of the
UnLitedcl States, Martin Van BurenI, to visit Washington
by a delegation.
"The passage was somewhat tedious, but passed pleasantly amid new scenes constantly coming in view.  Tile
nmarked difference in the scenery between the Lower
and the Upper Mississippi, from the monotonous, dead
level of the South to the beautiful and varied sloping
bluffs of the North, at once excited emotions of pleasule.   The newly-built cabin of the immigrant, the
virgin soil for the first time opened to receive the seed
of the husbandinan, were scenes of interest to all,
and we could see that the darkness of barbarism was
giving way to civilization and improvements.  On that
trip I for the first time set my eyes on Sturgeon Bay,
and surveyed the margins of this beautiful hunting. 
TUtE GENERAL, OP
ground, now made forever famous by the grand encamp.
ment of this Club oin Swan Lake."
When  this was said, with all the gravity that the
august circumstances required, the entire company, ](,d
off by the boys, sent out three cheers into the daikness, that I make no douibt could be heard to the shore
of the big river.  The General continued:
"It was about the middle of April, 1837, when we
landed at RPock Island.  After the delay of an hour or
two we ran across to Davenport.  Of thlis beautiful sp)ot,
and to be, as it proved, my future home, I will speak
more fully another night.
"At the time of which I now speak, tl-he interior of
Iowa was but little known.  In a few days I was niounited with tlhree others, having my old and faithfuil caebrake compass by my side, to explore the strainge 1laiid.
We struck out where the only path was the Indiaii
trail.  Now, for the first time, I saw a prairie - one of
those great western seas of living green.  To  nme it was
not only a nrew but a noble sight.  Gently rolling, it
looked like the waves of the ocean, stayed in tlheir course
by Him who stillethl the tempest, and now covered over
with the grass and flowers of an early spring.  Ilere
and there stood smail clusters of tiees, but the uwhole
country looked like a deserted land -a land where
man  once dwelt, but where by some desolating blast
all had been swept away - houses, %nces, all traces
of settlement. The stillness of the scene, as we galloped along over the bed of flowers, cast a tinge of
muelancho,,r over my feelings.  For the thoughts would
92 
TWVELVE NIGIITS IN THE HIIUNTERS' CAMP.   93
arise of a once prosperous people, who may have livcd
here, and of the causes of their desolation and extinction.
"At night we came to a small grove -one of those
little isl.and(s of trees in the great sea of grass - and
here we enc.lnpedl.  It was near the first of Mlay, an(d
in the stillness of the region nothing could be heard
but the cooing of the prairie.owl, and the noisy gabble
of the ducks and wild geese in somne distant lake.
"We proceeded on our way with the morning, some.
times fi'ightening( the dleer firom  his bed in the tall
grass, and sometimes the prairie wolf firom his retreat
in the hazel clumpl).  And so on and on, till we came to
the timber that skirted the banks of the Ceda.r.  We
went up that stream  for many days, examining the
country, admIiinig its beauty, and exulting in the pl-ospect of its settlement into the stir and progress of civil
society.  Thle strea.is aind branches that we found were
swift anid  cl  and though timber was scaice, except
near the wiaterc()uises, no land seemed better adapted
to the wants of mnan.
"The unrivalled beatty of this section of thle West,
not only of lockl Island and its immediate surroundings, hut of its rich interior, its temp)ting soil fiuitful in
so miany of the staU)les of life, and its noble river a,np
banks, nowhere in its long course nobler than here,
induced me at once to fix onl it as the place of mv
future home.  I luad travelled over the rugged hills of
New Euglmtd, and tirried( on the pleasant plains of
New Jersey; I had seen, too, the rich cotton lands
of the sunny South; but nowhere had I beheld such
climate, fertility) and beauty comnbined. 
THE GENERAL, OR
"After our return from this excursion for exl)loring
the interior, I had leisure for more particular observations on the location, beauties, and history of Rock
Island, and the wild region about, and for an acquaintance with the Indian, his habits of life, virtues and
vices, prejudices and preferences.   This was just after
the Black Hawk war  closed.  The Indians had sold
their possessions to the United States, but a portion of
the tribe, being dissatisfied, were unwilling to remove
firom the scenes of their childhood and the giaves of
their fathers.
"'The great war chief Black Hawk, five years before,
had been basely treated by the civil chief of the tnibe,
Keokuk, by a treaty sale of the territory, in which  he
was not consulted, and to which lie neverl gave his coInsent or signatuie.  F'ollowing this, his wigwams had
oeen burnle(l by the whites, his cornfields ploughed up,
and his people driven off to seek asylum in other tribes.
"These cruelties, imposed on him by the glrasping
avarice of the white man, rendered him dlesperate; so,
gathlering around him a few faithful warriors, he comni-lenced hostilities against the whites, with all the bit
terness of Indian  cruelty and  revenge.   WVithl  the
tomahawk  and  scalping-knife )he crept  throughl the
little settlements of the Rock River country in Illinois,
spreading terror, and burning, and death in his track;
but armed forces of the government, with volunteers,
were soon on his trail.
"Black Hawk  had been  made a brave  for some
daring act at the early age of sixteen, and was celeI)rated in his nation and among the surrounding tribes
as a great warrior. He had served the English in the
04 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS CAMP.  95
war of 1812, and was the intimate and devoted friend
of Tecumseh.  He succeeded his faither in the chliefta.inshipi, and had but rarely known defeat in battle. Ile
was a proud, imperious man, fearel, by his enemies, and
venerated by his own people.  ieokuk was his rival,
but had no hereditary claim to lead the tribe.  Ite rose
fromn obscurity by the mere force of native talent, and
earned his name, which means Watchful  Fox.  He
was a Sac in blood, and disposing of the lands of his
tribe in the way I have mentioned, brought about a
bitter strife between him and Black Hawk. tle was
an intimate fiiend of the whites, and was influenced
bv them in the matter of the treaty that dispossessed
Black Hawk's  band of their homes without  their
knowledge.
"In his bloody march up the Rock River valley,
Black Hawk expected aid from his old allies, the Winnebagoes.   But when  he reached  their villages, he
found that the tribe would not assist him.  He had
been to Canada, before entering on this war-path, visitilng various tribes there, and obtaining firom tllemn a
promise of aid in his present campaign.   These also
now disappointed him, and he was left to fight his
battles alone.
"General Atkinson was at the head of our forces in
pursuit, and came up witli Black Hawk  at Sycamore
Creek, on Rock River, when a skirmish took place, and
the whites wvere forced to fall back.  Black hIawk then
fled( across the country, towards the Wisconsin River,
with our forces in close pursuit.  He reached a point on
the Mississippi about one hundred miles above Prairie
du Chien, called Bad Axe, where he was forced to 
TIIE GENERAL, OR
iabandlon the field before superior numbers.   IIe was
eyc-wvituess to the destruction of' his little band whlile
swmitliig  the rieri, andle hiiimself was  cal)tured
th.o)ugl  the treachery of two Winunebag,o chief;s.
"When carried; as a prisoner of war, cldow-n the river
past TRock Island, tlle grand the.atie of his  life, and
where were tlhe gravies of his fittlers, with  the ashes
of his wigwamns, he is said to have wept like a child.
A  sight of so many famniliar and hallowed spots, with
the memories connected, harrowed up the soul.  This
was his last look, and it was manliness to weep.  And
then caine out tlhe great truth that there is feeling in
the heart of the Indian.  It was niobleness in the agedi
warrior, Foing, as he was, to the prison of the white
man, robbed of his earthly possessions, aind bowed down
with wrong(s, to weep over his fallen greatness, when
it was so ignomniniously trodden under foot.  In fill
view of all that was good of earth, the home  of lhis
fathlers for nearly two centuries, the endearing spot of
his childhood, and with his children and tribe driven
about and slain like the deer of his native wilds, why
should lie not be in bitterness?  The stoical nature of
the Indiani is proverbial, but oppression and cruel wrong,
long continuedl, can bring him to grief like a woman's.
"About the middle of AMay of this yealr, an Indian
council was held at the trading-post and fort on Rock
Island, by thle Sacs and Foxes.  It was the one I hlave
al ieacldy mentioned, to answer the invitation of MIt.
Van Buren.  There were also, at this time, about five
hundred Potawatamies encampled on thle west bank of
the river, who were invited to be present.  These were
on their way to new homes on the MIissouri River,
P6 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  97
hlaving been removed by government fiom the R,ock
11;iec   r country.  By the courtesy of Colonel Davenl)olrt,
tliC Indian agenot, I lI.ld the pleasure of sitting in the
couin cil.
"The council was opened  by passing around the
caltnumet, of which all took a few puffs.  This pipe belongs to the tribe, and is requisite on all public occa
sionIs wlhen business of importance is to be transacted.
Tlie bowl is made fiom the redcl pipe-stone, obtained
near Spirit Lake, AIinnesota, and will hold about half a
p)int of what they smoke -  kinnlikinniiie - being a imixtire of tobacco with a native weed.   The  stem of the
pi)le is about six feet in length, made  firom Ian aslh sapi
li,g, withl the Fith driven out.  The whole is highly
ortnamented with the feathlers of various  birds, and
beads, and bells.  The pipe.having been smokedl, silence
was observed  for a short time, when  a chief airose,
and aldd(lressed the assembly, dwellinig principally on
the condition of the tibe, and( low they had passed the
-winter.  Then another brave harangued the council on
mnatters of a more popular nature; wlhen the agent,
thlrough the interpreter, Mir. Le Claire, read to them
the invitation of'tlhe president.  Muchl  satisfaction was
visible on the countenances of the dusky assemnbly.
"When  the  agent  asked(  what  answer he should
se(nd back to their great f.ther, Keokuk slowly rose,
letting fill his scarlet ilianket from his shoulders, dis -laying a gaudy calico shirt. ruffled aifter the fhlshion
of his peoplle.  From his scalp-loek hung the feathers
of the baldcl eagle, the hawk, and  the raven, while
around his neck, in bold relief, drooped a necklace of
tlhe claws of the grizzly bear, mnounted on wampum of
7 
THE GENERAL, OR
beads and porcupine quills.  His noble features were
painted in thie m'ost ftas)tastic colors, and his bosom w::is
tlhrown open, exposing tlhe brotad clest and fiull miscele.
"Vit'h slow anld mieasuied(l tield, the little b)ells ol
his leggings tinkling at envery step, he slhook ihandls first
withl thle wlites, and then withl lis own people.  Taiking
his position in firont of the agent, lie began lhis speech
by expressing the p)leasure he felt in seeing his firiends,
the white men, arolndl him, and lIis braves, wlho hal
always stood by liin, and foulht thle Sioux so inobly.
He then spoke of the invitation sent tlemn by lhis great
fathler at Wasliington, and conmplimented llim on his
good sense in seni(lig for himi and Tis chliefs.  Ie saidl
his father was a great chief, and the whlite people a great
nation; that the fires of tlheir wigwams always burned
)brighltly, and their hlearts were very large; an.id that lie
should go to see his great father.  IHe then branlche(l off,
much like a congressman, into a powerful speech, in tended to present his own greatness as well as that of
his people.
"His utterance was rapid, clear, and distinct.  Often,
in the excitement of his subject, parti.culaily wlien referring to the aggressions of his enemies- the Sioux
Ihis interpreter hlad to stop him, and have the glowing
passages repeated.  IHis position  at times  was  veryy
commanding.  He would draw himself up, and  fliiig
back his noble head, with one foot advanced, and long,
sinewy arm extended, while every muscle was straine(dl
to its utmost tension, and his keen, pielcing eye rested
on the agent, in almost exact imitation of' Clay or
Webster.
"Hle was nature's own orator, the best among all the
98 
TWELIVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.   95
tribes of the North-West.  He was fiequently cheerex
b)y his warriors with the characteiistic Indian Ughl!
Ugh! and How! hlow! reminding one of the gruff
En(slishmani's  lear! Hear!
Tile Potawatamie chiefs were invited to speak, aid
did so; when the council broke up with presents of
pipes, tobacco, and pails of sweetened water. Then
commenced a game of ball by the young men, while
others went to their wigwams on the grassy slopes of
the river bank.  Here the ceremnony of giving presents
to their fi'iends- the Potawatamies- took place. The
ceremony consisted in placing blankets onI the gLi'ouni(l,
ill fiont of the wigwamns, when a Potawatamiie brave
would step forward, set upl) a stick four or five feet lonL,
and place on it a rag or tuft of grass, to represent the
enemy to be killed.  He would return to the wigwam,
and in a few moments be seen stealthily approaching
the object, then spring with a fierce bound and piercing
yell on the enenmy, and tomahawk and scalp him, amid
the shouts of the whole encampment.  Hle then stands
by the blankets, and while he harangues the crowd,
detailing the ciiecumstances of the exploit just represented, his firiends make donations in flour, meal,
meat, coffee, and blankets, depositing all in a pile
before him.  This being done, another goes through a
similar ceremony, and so on till the entertainment is
completed.
"PRock Island and its vicinity had been the camp)ing
ground of the Indians firom tine innmmemorial.  MIaiquette and Joliet found a large village on the west
banik of the river, where Davenporit now stands; aInd
the tradition of the Indians, still extant, is, that tribe 
TIIE GENERAL, OR
fought tribe for the possession of this beautiful land,
conqutering, and in turn })eiiig conquered.  Thie dis coverers of Thle Gieat Riiver, whilch  they called Con ception, renching  it on the 17th of June, 1763, found
the tribes of the IlliIii here.  The tradition of the Sacs
ann  Foxes is, that they camne fi'om the Gitclhe Gumee
(Big Sea Water) -Lake  Superior; and Indians  yet
living say that the home of their fathers was  at Sac
Cireek, emptying into Lake Sul)erior.
"The Sac and Fox Indians were originially two distinct
tribes; but wai, pestilence, and famiinie reduced them,
till they united as one pople, and hlave becomec one
bandcl.  Tlhey liad possession of tlte country at the tilne
of its purochase by thle Uniit(ed States, andi ttlough they
lhad been  paid, and sirreie1ered their titles on bothl
si(les of the Alississip))i, they ]li)iered around( tlhe haunts
of their early days, and at tba tinic of which I now
speak, they were encamtpe(d on +he island and its imiiiediate vicinity.  By ia.ture fol(d of ease and idleness,
so nmuch  like the  pale faces, they ltiii.g around the
fiontier towns, exchanging their fel,  fuirs and peltries
for whliskey, tobha(co, and trinkets, eiu~ out ar, scanty
living and cointracting the vices of the whites, who
would buy tlheir last blanket withli fie-water.  Thus
situatedcl, they would be often embroiled  in quarrels,
not only with tlle wlhite man, butt withl eaec, other.
"On one occasion. soon after I alived t,e'e, a dispute arose between two young Indclians in.a (runken
fi-olie,  hen oe stitcek thlle other - an indignity that an
Iliiliaii seldom submits to, as it places himi in the position of a dog.  The imatter;-emained until nmorning,
when both were sober.  They trhe. repaired to a little
100
* 11 
*'.1 1  
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THIE HUNTERS' CAMP.  101
isl:and off the lower part of Davenport, armed, one with a
rifle aid the other weith a slhot-"gun, to settle the difficuilty
inl an'honorable' way, after the white iman's fashion.
Tiie fiietnds of both parties were present, but left the
two to makle their own  airrangeimeits.  Whlen it was
determined that they should sl-hoot at each other, the
hero of the shot-gun marched off for the agreed  distance; but, before lie could turn and( fire, he of the rifle
shot biin throtugh the head, and then fled like a deer.
Ie was a WAinnebago, and lived on RPock River, at
Sliab-be-na's Grove.  His fiiends were in deep distress,
for they  well knew  his doom, in accordance  with
Indian law.
"The relatives of the deceased clamored for blood.
lie was sent for by his firiends, his own sister going
after him.  Hle was foiund( in his wigwam, withi blackened fnce, broodint  iii silenice over his doom, well
knowing, that thle Great Spirit was angry with him,
and that no sacrifice was  too great to appease his
wrath.
"He returned to RPock Island with that sister,; whom
he tenderly loved, anid who urged lhim, for the honor
of his family and tribe, to submit to his fate.  One
bright morning in June, about a imonth after the murder, the quiet camp of the Inidians on the island was
startled by the dolefil chiant of the death-song.  A
few canoes, withi a white flag in the bows of the foremost, which was paddled by an Indiani girl of some
twenty summers, came glidling around the lower point
of the island.  In the forward  part ot  the canoe,
wrapped in his blanket, with his face blackened, sat the
murderer, singing his last song, this side the good hunting-grounds. 
TIIE GENERAL, OR
"The long, protracted howl of the wigvwaln crier
soon put in motion the caml)s on both sides of the
river. From every nook and eddy along the river
there soon shot forth canoes filled with excited savages,
eagerto participate in the bloody scene at hland. Girave
old men were there, the mothers of many a young
warrior, and maidens who had often played on the
green earth where they now stood. All looked on
with stoical indifference, while the wailing and lam entation of the culprit's sister were enough to pierce
a heart of stone.
"The prisoner was led up the bank firom the canoe
by his sister, bowed with griief; but no muscle of his
moved, nor any tear came to his eye. He chanted his
death-song as he moved slowly to the place of execution. This was a large, open green, with a stone for his
seat. The spot was surrounded by hundreds of Indians,
but no sound could be heard as they marched into the
circle, except the smothered grief of thle sister and
relatives. After being seated, his blanket was taken
fiom his shoulders, and the black wampum of Pagunk
(death) was put into his hands by one of the' medicine
nlen.'
"The nearest relative of the murdered  man  then
approached firom behind him, with a tomahawk, and
commenced the death-song in a dance.  Soon others
joined who were next of kin, until all the relatives
were in the circle, armedl with knives and tonmahawks,
and dancing around the prisoner. This ceremony was
kept up for some time, when other braves entered, and
the yell became deafening.
"At a given signal firom the first that entered, all
102 
TWELVE NIGIITS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP. 103
spirang it the victim with thle most horrid outburst that
human voices could make, and in a few mnomenits all
that was left of the prisoner was a clotted mass of flesh
and blood."
After The General closed this fearful story scarcely a
word was spoken, and we glided away silently to our.
tents. 
THE GENERAL, OR
SIXTH NIGHT.
r HIERE  must be, of course, a sameness  in tne
routine of each day in our camp life, and yet,
after all, a pleasing and often exciting variety.  No
two meals are alike; the weather is constantly clean ging; the parties are made up differently every morn ing for the hunt; our success varies, and our kinds of
game.  Now a piackage of wild fowl is starting off fobr
(lear ones at homie, with letters and mementoes safely
stowed in; and now a backwoods mail comes in over
no post route laid clown here, or known at Washington.
Occasionally a visitor is piloted to the encampment in
polished boots, broadcloth, and pure white linen.  We
are sorry, and so is he, at the mistake in cominig, andcl
there is a mutual gladness when he goes.  The man who
visits a sportsman's camp, expecting a fiont room on the
second floor, finger-bowls at dinner, and a night police
to keep the owls fi'om hooting at him, has mistaken his
calling; at least, hlie is not master of the situation. Before a man joins a company of hunters, he should read
what Master Izaak Walton says of fishing, and think
the same to be trule of hunting:  "Doubt not, sir, but that Angling is an art, and an
art worth your learning.   The  question is rather,
whether you be capable of learning it. For Angling
is somewhat like Poetry: men are to be born so."
104 
TWELVE NIGIITS IN TtIE HU-\TERS' CAMP.   105
In his later years Palmerston was d(listinguislied for
his expert use of the horse and the gun in field sports;
but this was the crowning  of his youthful habits.
The first in the clase, in Parliament, and in the nation
- those  excellences go  well together.   MIany have
wondered at the juvenile vitality of the old man.  His
gun could speak on that subject.
To-day our ordinary list of game, as we swing it up
about the canp grounds, was varied, and graced by
two splendid swans.  They cost the two  gentlemen
-whlo bagged them a nighlt's bivouac on a nmarsl, six
miles away; but that was all right.  They left camp
with that expectation yesterday morning, and shouted
their trophlies home to-nigiht, as they came glidingi down
the lake.  This is the most intelligent and wary, as
well as most weighty and royal, of our American water
foiwl.  Flocks of tlhem  will pass to and fro in the (lear
sky, almost out of sight, so high are they, and peal out
their trumpet and btugle notes for miles in every direction.  When looking for a night's rest and feedinggroun(ls, they come nearer and nearer to some lake or
lagoon, and circle up and down and. around it, coining
lower and lower in the dusk of the twilight, till, assured
against danger, they plough into the water. This is the
time for the hunter, under cover, to take them as they
sweep by on their broad wings. So these two were
taken. Thley were pure white, exeepting black bill
and legs, and a tinge of russet about the head and
upper portion of the neck.  They were so large that in
lifting them fi-om the ground I had to raise their heads
above mine; and their weight was twei-ty-eight and
twenty-nine pounds each, One of them came on the 
THE GENERAL, OR
table baked, but the meat was dry and lacked flavor.
This must have been the one that Audubon referred to
when he said, the flesh "of an old bird is dry and
tough."  The General put his own hand to somne steaks
cut fromn the breast of the other, and they were excel lent. The grain was coarser than the coarsest beef,
and the color a deeper red, and the meat itself full as
juicy.
When in the water during the day, they keep a re markable lookout with their long sentinel neck, and a
shot is impossible, except with a rifle at very long
range. Thle tradition that one mourns itself to death,
if its mate be killed, can hardly be true of them in a
wild state; for they are gregarious, and sometimes in
the early spring flocks of them are so large as to whiten
whole acres of flowed prairie, or lagoon.
When donmesticated they may thus pine away and
die of loneliness; and hence the old English law, as
seen in Coke's Reports, case of swanis: ~ "Ie who stealeth a swan in an open and common river, lawfully
marked, the same swan shall be hung in a house by the
beak, and he who stole it shall, in recompense therefor;
give to the owner so much wheat as may cover all the
swan, by putting and turning the wheat upon the head
of the swan, until the head of the swan be covered
with wheat."
There are two varieties of the swan in American
waters, the Americanus and the.Bucciator, or trumpeter. The former is the one usually found on the
Atlantic slope, and in glreat quantities firom the Chesapeake downward, sometimes flocks of three and even
five hundred. It is about one fourth smaller than the
106 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMIP.  107
trumnpeter.  Going westward, the trumpeter is mnet in
the waters of the Lower Ollio, and so down to th-e Gulf,
wvest to the Paecifice, andcl north to the Arctic.  It breeds
mnostlyr within the Arcetic, and as tle ice begills to form
tlheie ill Selptember, it comes  south, flying, like  the
Canada goose, in baseless triangles, and speed one half
greater, that is, at the rate of one hundred and more
miles an hour.  Whlen one and two  years old it has a
brownish color, but whlitens out as it comes to its full
growth, at the eidl of five years.   Then  it is our
noblest fowl in color, form, motion, and size.  Audubon had one tllhat measured ten feet firom tip to tip of
wing,s, and weighied thirty-eight pounds.  A flock of
tlese royal birds, ridingi at ease, and fiolicking out on
the bosom of a lake, as they will sometimes foi hours,
is an excitinr scene.  The sportsman and naturalist
will enter fully into the spirit of the remark of Audubon: "Imagine, reader, that a flock of fifty swans are
thus sporting before you, as they have more than once
been in my sight, an(d you will feel, as I have felt, more
lhappy and void of care than I can describe."
I have no means of estimating the age to which the
swan may attain; but judging firom  the toughness of
the one Dock bake(, I make no doubt the fellow was
ancient and honorable when Lewis and Clarke made
their exploring tour of the Itoeky AIountains in 1803.
The te- q.l mallard,l and geese even, that we huncg
uI) to-nigoht beside those two snowy Arctic voyageiurs,
looked diminutive and worthless.
But with foNiwls as meln, we soon learn that heig(tt
and bulk are no criterion of real worth.   The  tall
bitterni and crane yield the palm of excellence at once, 
THE GENERAL, OR
on the table, to those of shorter legs.  The elil(l ien of
Anak were of no account, and hlid to give way befole
the short and stocky Jews; little Davicl, with his sling,
was too much for Goliath, and the giants generally
have  lisappeared as the race of mana   has improved.
As the gases and vapors were reduced in bulk to mnake
the world, andl as the huge trees and animnals of the
earth before Adanm  were abandonied for smaller and
more delicate and useful  races, so improvements in
the human race run in the line of diminution, and
giants and very tall men are a cumbersome wonder
only.  Quinctilian places Thucydid(es at the head of
Greek  historians, and  speaks  of him  as dens8u8 et
brevis.  Somiie a)ply these words to his style, as being
"terse and brief."'  Does not Quincetiliani mean to say
that the leader in history was a " short, thick-set" n.man,
say about five feet four?  I hope no offencie will be
taken by my tall critics at this implied suggestion
about the proper height for a scholar and gentleman.
But I must not keep The General waiting for listen
ID8
er& 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  109
A:ION-G THE INDIANS.
"I spent the most of the summer, 1837, at Davenp)ort, and in exploring the country lhtely purchased of
the Indians.  The surveys of the public lands west of
the l1ississippi had been commenced, and I was ready
to share in the work.  I therefore reported myself to
the surveyor general of the north-west, General Robert
Lytle, at Ciincinnati.  I received my  contracts and
entered on the work October 17.  The tract I was to
run out lay on thle Wabessapinecon River, then but
little known or settled(l, and occupied by returned
bands of the Sac and Fox Indians.
"There was an abundance of game in the field of'lmy
labor; but supplies of flour, meal, pork, groceries, and
clothing must be obtained generally from Cincinnati.
"In order to learn the Indian language I employed
one or two Indians to ihunt for me, and supply our
camp.  Often a falmrily of them would make their wigwarn beside nmy tent, and move where we  moved.
Being in such constant intercourse, I was soon able to
talk with them sufficiently to carly on a trade in game,
moccasons, skins, anied furs for the use of our party.
"Aimong thlose who followed our camp was an old
Sac chief by the name of Nalh-ne-naske, who had been
in the Black HIlawk war. His great anxiety to talk and
tell his grievances, and the treachery of pretended
friends, like Keokuk, enabled me to make good progress in the acquisition of their tongue, and I often 
THE GENERAL, OR
spent my evenings in the tent of the old chief. Here I
learned much of Indian character, their hliabits, and
mode of life.  Nalh-mne-naske  was  intelligent, and
knew well the history of his race.  He had ever been
a true follower of Black Hawk, and felt mnost keenly
the injulies that had been heaped on his people.  His
mnind was stored with rich historic lore, and the legends
and(l traditions of his tribe were familiar to him. He
believed that Keokuk had been strongly influenced or
bribed by the whites in the sale of the land, and oftentimes he would become so indignant and excited over
the memory of their wrongs, that he would rise forom
his miat in a passion, seize his tomahawk, and with d(istorted features and eyes of bloody vengeance, tell by
his looks andl gestures how lhe would massacre those
who had destroyed him and his people.
"He censured the goverinment, the president, and the
settlers on his lands. He said to me one day,' Your
great. chief paid but little to tlhe Indian for all this
land, and now he sends you to cut it up, and sell a
little piece for a great heap of money.'
"One day in the early part of the survey, and before
our mutual acquaintance had sprung up, I found the
stakes and mounds of my surveys destroyedl, my marks
on the bearing trees cut out, and my lines so hacked
and mutilated that I lad to do the work over again.
I charged Nah-me-naske with the mischief, but he was
silent, neither confessing nor denying, the act.  I kindly, but firmly, told himn of the consequences that would
follow on the repetition of such a thing.  I assured hini
that I should send to the fort for troops, and drive him
and all his band fiom the country in the dead of winter.
110 
TWELVE NIGHITS IN THE HUNTEIZS' CAMP.  111
I told him that the acts of Keokuk, at which he was
angry, were legal, whetler just or not, and that the
lan(l was lno miore his; that hle lived on it only by perniissiou of the whites, and that I was doing only what
I " as commanded to do.
This seemed to pacify hitl for a brief time, and
incline him to submit to his lot; but one could often
find hinl in his lodge sullen and despondent.  At such
times I would retire. At other times the old chief
would order the bear-skin mat to be spread by his side
foi me, and when seated we would enter into conversation on all topics. He was fond of' hearing the news
of the white peop)le. Sonietirmes, when brooding over
the past, or unsuccessful in the chase, his countenance
would be  covered witll gloom and sadness. On one of
these occasions he said to me,-.
"'  Nah-me-naslke will soon go to the good huntinggrounds of the Great Spirit.  No treacherous chief or
bad white man will drive him  or his people away.
Gitche MIanitou will be tlhere, and no Sioux or Chippewa can come into the great lodge.  My l)eople, that
have been slain, will hunit unmolested over the gIeen
prairies, iand trapl) the beaver and the otter among the
beautiful lakes of Pagunk.'
"The Indian has his creed.  He  l)elieves in the
Great Hereafter, and a heaven where all is pleasure,
and no enemies to molest him, and where his feet are
never weary in the p)ursuit of game. Ile believes in
and worships the Great Spirit, because he is great and
good, and protects and feeds him.  I-e believes in an
Evil Spirit, and miakes a feast in his honor, to appease
his wrath and keep him quiet.  He believes in a pltae 
THE GENEPAL, OR
of punishment, where the bad Indian will suffer in a
(dep place, into which all their enemiies are thrust,
si)ecially the Sioux.  His acts of devotion are seldom
seen, as they consist of presenlts and offerings.
"Give to an Indian a pipe of tobacco, and watch him
closely, and yoai w       ill see him spill s ome onl tlhe ground
and look upl).  Give him meat, and his offeing will be
found on  the ground  before  him.  In sickness  the
prophets, the mIedicine men of the tribe, cure him by
(driving away, with  songs and incantations, the evil
spirit that has possessed him.
"The Sacs and Foxes have never been taught by
the missionary.  They  have to this day refused  to
receive him, or any teachers for their children. Their
views of a deity, of death, and the filture have been
handed downi to them fiom their fatlhers.  It is not till
they learn tlhe vices of the white man that they offend
the Great Sp)irit by oaths and imprecations.  There is
no word in their langnage by which they can swear, and
none to express contempt of God and his attributes.
"When I first went among them I conmmenced the
formation of an English dictionary of their language,
which assisted me much in learning their tongue, and
was a vast aid to me as long as I had intercourse with
them. They were always ready to tell me tlhe names
of things, and from the deep interest I took in their
language, history, and general welfilre, I became  a
favorite among them.  My tent was usially filled withl
game, andl so I always fe(l the Indian when he entered,
treated himi kindly, nevei cleated himl- in trade, or gave
himn whiskey, or allowed it in the camp.
"Long after their removal farthler west, when they
112 
TWELVE NIGIITS IN THE IIUNTERS' CAMIP.  113
would visit their old campilng-groyunds at Davenport
and Rock Island, their cliefs n(l  bi.r:tes visited me at
my residence; and many aie the feasts I have given
them, since tIhe lhand of civilization has covered Ul) the
ashies of their wi(rwamns.
"On one occasion, when I was on nmy survey, I had
been in my canoe a long distance up the Wabessapiiieton, exploring for my work in filture, and( became
belated in my return.  The old chief, Nalh-me-naske,
was encanmped beside my tent, on a small crieek, about
one mile fionom the river.   The river was very crooked,
and full of snags, and when night caime on, I found
mnyself a long distance firom  my camp.  But hlavinig no
blanket, I continued my rolite with the light of a pi.le
mioont, until I tholugh-t myself nearly opp)osite my camnp.
I had, in tllhe daik, run on a snag, calpsized the canoe,
sent my rifle to the bottomin, and wet my  matches as
well as myself.  As  the water was not deep, I recovered my  rifle, righted and baled the canoe, and
continued my joturney.
"I had often shouted, and given the usual Indian
mwhoop, so common  among firontier  huntsmen, but
gained no answer.  I landed, and hunted for a trail
that led across a l-)oint of prairie to my camp, but could
find none.  It was now midnight, and though not sevierely cold, it was a fi'osty November night. I was tired,
wet, and hungry.  I shouted again, but  no answer
came.  It was usual, in such cases, to discharge a gun,
but mine was wet.  I could not strike a fire, for my
matches were wet also.  So I put nmyself under cover
of a log to await daylight.
"My thoughts naturally dwelt on my condition. Tlio
8 
THE GENERAL, OR
hooting of the owl and the prolonged(l howling, of the
distant wolf reminded 11e tlhat I was quite alone, aid
far firom fiiends; but I resigned myself for the night.
Just at this moment I heard the rustling of leaves, and
thle soft tread of a moccason; wheni, turniuig a little,
Nah-me-naske stood near me  in dim  outline.' Is
Chli-he-maske lost?' said lie, as he stepped forwai(d,
closely wrapped  in his blanket.'Come with  me to
your wigwam, where you can be warm, and eat, and
sleep.'  Taking mny wet guii fiom the canoe, hlie led the
wa.y to the camp, which was nearly two mniles distant.
"None but the keen ear of an Indian could( have
lceard my voice so far, and none but a true fiiend would(
hli:ve come to mny relief in that hlour and daikuess.
IIe knew of miy absence, an(d had llrobably been listen ill for hours for the accustomed shout of a bewil(lerced
man, well knowing tlhat I could not find my  camip
alone.
"The Indians had named me Chi-hlie-maske, wlich
mneans "strong and swift," because I was slhort and thickset, and could travel a great distance in a day. Tlhis
was no solitary kindness of the chlief.  Often he would
fliig down at my door a choice turkey, goose, or coon
for my own special comfbrt.
" He stood on his dignity and rank.  Hle was a chief,
and so was I, in the service of the Great Father at
Washington, and so we were equals. When I ate with
himn by special invitation in his lodge, none  others
were admitted(l, except chiefs or braves, and always the
choice pieces of the venison or turkey were placed in
my bowl.  Salt, that is not much used by the Ind(lian,
was a-lways kept for the white chief, and was never
forgotten.
114
t 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.   115
"He taught ine the art of trapping, explained the
nature and habits of the animals of the chase, and often
entered on some of his hunting( and war stories, and
relatel, with much satisfaction, his expeditions against
the Sioux, his mortal enemies.   Ie had hieard of the
great wigwains of the white man towards the rising
sun, and of their power and strelngth.  He inquired of
me, with great interest, about the white man's ScutiNah-ga-tuck-e-sock, or fire-horse, thl)at could outrun the
antelope, with a h1undred men on his back.  I had to
make a drawing of it, in charcoal, onI the bark in his
wiigwam; but I could never satisfy him of the principle
on which it was propelled, or of the rail on which it
ran. Hle said the white man was very foolish to work
hard all his life, and build such large wigwams, with so
many rooms in them; and when he made a fire, to
make it so big that no one could get near it to warm
himself.
"During the whole winter the Indians were  constantly at the campe), and always had freedom in and
about the premises; but nothling was stolen.   They
were incessant beggars, but easily put off, when told
they did not need the thing, or could not have it.  Tlie
Indians never steal from  white friends, or fromn one
another, in friiendly tribes.
"The whole winter of 1837-8 we spent on this survey, living in a canvas tent, and losing but three days
on account of rough weather. We returned to Davenport on the 1st of April, having been absent about five
months and a half.  During all this time I had not
slept in a house, or seen scarcely a white man, except
those of my company. 
IE II GENERiAL, OR
"I1avincg arran,(el for the  l)uilding  of a dcwelling.
house in a little vill,ge:t few lliles fi'o)n )lvenl)olt, I
left for liomie, by thel  way of St. Louis iniTd Cincinnati.
At the laitter l-ce I was 4etailled six weeks in mlnkiig(t
returns of' my sIrv-eys and collections fol the work it
tlhe office of the suiirveyor general.  I then ascended
tlhe Olhio to Wlheeling, an(d thence  by stag,e to NVWaslh ington, where I spent a few days in business at the
Land Office, and so on to New Jersey, hlaving been
ab)sent fi'om my fimiily more tlhai- a year  and a half.
"Inl June following I bade ad(lieut to New  Jersey,
anai, with mly wife and two (lauli,iters, started back for
Wiseonsin Territory, tlhen tlhe extiemne border of the
Far W\est.  We  took the route of tl.e Pennsylvania
Canal to Pittsbuig, down the Olhio to Cairo, andl tlhence
up) the MIississi)ppi to Davenporlt, )ein  four wveekls on
the journey, and leaving Swan La,ke on tlle right!
"It is now little more tlhan a quarter of a century
since I saw the land( of my adolition.  Since that timie,
mighiity changes have comie ovel tlhe scene.  The wilderness has becomie a ga(rden,,nnd( barbarism has given
i1ace to civilization.   The lo]ng ni,a     tedious journey of
four weeks  has been reduced to less than three days.
The Ind(ian, who lurked around the cabini settlenient,
has gone on the red  iimal's path, towards the setting
suni; the place of his wigwam is covered with thle hlbitatio.ns of the pale faces, and the play-groulnd(s of his
ectildren have become  the fields and gardens of civilization.  The  home  of his filtheis, and the  sacircl
Iestil)g-i)laces of his dea.d lhave been given up to tlhe
},loughshaie.   The  canoe that once  floated in pride
.'i1I gloly on The Father of Wateirs is gone, like a
116 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP. 117
shaldow by the wigwam, and the Scuti-Chemon -  the
Fire Canoe of the wllite luai-  troubles tl,e g(reat river
(lay and  nighlt.   Assine-me-nass (Rock Island), tihe
scene of so iiany cotuncils and conflicts of nliglhty chief:
tains, and the honme of all thlat was great and( good in
Indian life, will becomne the armory an(d arsenal of tlhe
weapons of war for the white mian; anid the tattoo of
tlhe soldier will take the place of the merry song alnd
thle war-cry of the savage.  The green prairies, over
whllich he once roame(l, chasing the deer andl the elk,
are now grain fields, and the fur trade of trapper and
tracler has given place to the broad  cominerce of a
nation.
"A few wanlderig tribes are followed i y a populatioii of more than four millions; and the smoke fromi
thieir tliousandcs of cities and townis and cabins, firoom
ri\ er side and prairie and tiniber, all tliroug(lh tihe
Northi-west, goes up) likle incense fiom thie altars of a
gleat and  liappy people.  TlIe  ili,ity river, where
onee danced only tlhe lilght canoe, nowv bears ill) a trade
gre.ter than ever was tributary to imperial  toine.  So
em1)i re moves westward.
"T he Indian now lingers on the fiontier.  I-e muist
nmourn over the graves of his ancestors, and bid fGre well to his early home; for he is thie clild of destiny.
The fiinger of Fate points with unerringi certainty to his
Ibtutie.  His marchl is onwardl, onwrl, over the miglity
mni(llend barriers (of a continenit, till lhis weariy mocca s(.,i 1 ave its I)rints on the san(ds of the Pacific, there
sooii to be w aslihe  o,tt aind forigotten!"
S.a(lness aind gloom, as of a funieral, hlung over us as
*. 9 
THE GENERAL, OR
The General closed his narrative for the night.  Ile
spoke with the deep feeling and sorrow of one who
mourned for frienids, and would enibalm their memory.
You should have seen our camp fire group after hlie hal
done speaking.  No one said a word; no one move(d.
We watched the culrling smoke and the light flashing
up among the old trees over us; we looked out into
the deep and silent outline of dark forest, as if the
red men or their ghosts were stealing on us.  Sonme
of' the company felt pecuilialy what had been said of
the fading out of the race.  There was one man, past
miiddle life, who, a boy clerk in the tradiing huse of his
father on Stuigeon Bay just below us, knew  these
tribes, and their putrsuits and habits, and hlad p)urchased their fuirs, and peltries, and feathers; had been
in their canoes on these waters, and had seen them disaplpear. Here was another who had lived and trafficked
in the foremost ranks of their emigration as they had
gone westward, before the white man, into the Rocky
Mountains, and beyond.
A little chit-chat sprang up finally; then we wrapped
our blankets about IIus, and, like true white men, we
soon forgot "the poor Indian."
118
.,..!. 1. 1. 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE lHUNTERS' CAMP.
SEVENTHII NIGHT.
"There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
Tlhere is a rapture on the lonely shlore."
IFOUND it so to-day, as with little Iulus I strolled
off through the heavy timber lands two  miles to
the tliickly-wooded bank of the AMississippi.  Primitive
forest this is, daik with the trees of centuries; sonme
of them strong in their prime, with branches fir aloft,
that would be counted huge trees elsewhere, and others
old tand dclaying, with limbs rent away, and only naked
trunks left stancding.  The ground is marked by many
prostrate trees of immense dimensions, lying where old
age or the last tornado left them; some of them only a
long ridge of vegetable niouldcl in their decay, and others fiesh and solid, the victims of a late gale.   You
may as well flank thelm at once, for to go over logs of
such diameter, fotur, five, and sometimes sixfeet, is out
of the question.
This bottom land is subject to an annual overflow,
and so it is kept quite clear of undergrowth, and you
get distant views tlhrough loing vistas of the tall, smooth
trees.  Here one feels alone, and there is a charni in
the solitude.  No evidences lie about you that man has
ever been here, and you reflect that yours is the only
human foot that has trodden this silent forest for
119 
THE GENERAL, OR
months, possibly years.   The game is less abundant
than on the margin of the forests and around thl)e lakes,
but the vasturn ubi~;(e silec tium makes ample amends.
The gifted and( lamented Choate, in whose death the
Academy and the Fortum lost what it rarely possesses
to lose, in one of his letters to Mrs. Eames, written in
a little nook of rural seclusion, has this passage: " You
see Boston through the trees, and hear now and tlih(n
the whistle of invisible cars; otherwise you might
fancy yourself fifty thousand globes friom  cities or
steam.  These are the places and moments for that
discourse in which is so much more of our happiness
than in actualities of duty, or even in hope."
If the shade of one little artificial cluster of trees,
and thlat in sighlt of Boston, could give him such seclu sion and sense of distance fioom man, and( suchl increase
of happiness, what would be his solitude an(d joy in
this wildc haunt of nature? He would need the latest
editions of both the rival dictionaries to express his
emotions; and his "fifty thousand globes" would be
only a range of hillocks for the measuring line of his
prolific fancy.
As we wandered about, I said to Iulus, "Why not
go over to the Mississippi, and have a dinner on its
banks?" So, guided by a pocket comnpass, we made for
the river, bagging three or four fox squirrels as we went
along. We struck the bank on a little swell of laIn(l,
and above, below, and in fi'ont our king of rivers was
working his way to the Gulf.  Here and there it lingered around sand-bars, covered to l)lackness with wild
geese; and in the coves fleets of ducks were riding at
anchor.  The haze of an October sky hung over the
120 
TWVELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMIP.  121
water, dropping a dimness on the islands, and a veil
on the opposite shore.  A poet, or painter, or naturalist, any lover of the beautifutl in out-doors, would have
been enchanted with thle scene.  It was wild, vast,
1.1grand,  )rimitive.  Talk of dining-lhalls at splendid
hotels; the late congiress of lkings had not its equal
to the one wlhere our table was spread.  But perhal)s
-ou never ate an extemlpore forest dinner.  Poor man,
you have our coimpassion! See how we dclo it.
Drift woodl fi'om St. Anthony, left by a hig,l-wav.ter
edycl, is dry and waiting for our matchl. We  lay it
spainoly - for it is a warm day- beside the dead log,
and start the fire.  Now, out on one of those sanded,
romantic little bars, we dress our game, water enoiugh,
and of the purest.  Baick again, an(]  there is a good
b)ed of coals.   Three small switches, four feet each,
witll a crotch in thle end of each, set in the ground at
an angle of forty degrees over the coals, with a fat and
well-washed squirrel on each crotch; a half-dozen biscuit lialvedl ands buttered, and now  toasting;  a saltbox and a peppl)er-box well shaken over tile broiling
quarry - boxes as much a fixtuire to my Ihunting-coat
as the pockets - is not tlhec prospect good for a dinnei?
You turn the swvithels a few tiIes in the ground, and
how the juices of the mieat flash up from  thle coals!
You gashi the Ihami or shoulder to test the cooking, alnd
tlie grIavy fiom the dishl," floiwing, out of the cut, red':t(l
'1l)petiziiig, slhows yout tllat thel time lt Is come.    )w set
the swlitcles bearing'i tlhei' sinokillg loads perpendicular
in tle g,ronin,l in frolnt of ai log, an(l seat yourself on
the same.  Youir hunter's knife separates into knife and
fork, and( you proceed to caive and eat.  Your little 
THE GENERAL, OR
Ganymede, who was Iulus, brings your hunter's cup full
of the best of wvater, direct fi'om Lake Itaseca.  Did you
ever enjoy a dinner more?  Look on the walls of your
dining-hall, the p.aintings are true to iiature. Look out of
the Gothic windows, and adnire the ]landscape views,
river, forest, islands -now as steamer shooting between
two - and the whole canopied by one of the softest October skies.  An apple or two from  the game-bag for
dessert, and then you pick your teeth as complacently
as if standing on the steps of the Astor just after
dinner.
So we dined that day in the oldest human  hotelthe    First Adam's IHouse- and it was a table to be remembered.  Such a dinner is worth tenl dollars a plate
to    an over-worked,jaded business mana.  An inicidenti impressed the memory of it for a long time on my- riglh    t
shoulder.  In the warmth of the day and service I had
thlrown off my coat, and while doing thlus the honors
of our dining-hall, a flock of geese came flying most
directly and impertinently  over our very table, just
scaling the tree-tops.  It was the work of haste and a
moment, and, with my  gun at a perpendicular, and
loose about the shoulder, I fired.  One goose at least
was winTed, butt at the wrong end of the gun, and J
carrie(} a lamie aria for weeks.
This was a favorite ramble with me afterwards, anId I
often took it alone, not so much for the game as for the
wild, solitary nature of the route.
A single settler lived in this belt of timber between
our eaml) and the river.  His cabin seemed carelessly
thrown in there, where there was no  remotest evidence of a clearing,.  The only sign of breaking ground
122 
TWVELVE NIGHTS IN THE HtUNTERS' CA3'P.  123
was where he had dug a slough well, that is, a hole in
a dry slough, with clay steps cut down to the puddle
of muddy water at the bottom, where frogs, and leaves,
and crickets, and all other little things, creeping, jumping, or flying, could be dipped upl dead or alive.  I had
a curiosity to see the inside of his log shanty, and so
called one day, and asked for a drink of water. The
man of the house invited me in, and sent a girl to the
well.  The cabin had one room, like a hen-coop; the
ground was the floor; in one corner a stove; one chair,
withlout a back, which he gave me; a board against the
ro,ughl logs of the wall was the table; a pile of bedding
lay pitchedl into one corner, being an old feather beld,
anid two or three tattered and dlingy spreads. On this
pile loutnged his wife and a dlaughter of fifteen, while a
squad of smaller children crawled about, throuch, and
over the leal) -I canlnot tell how miany.  Oni  a shelf
Ily a lolng, thin strip of smoked middlings, the end
ltanging over, and, as it showed, within convenient
reach of a knife. Pieces of corn bread and this miserable p)ork were the only signs of food.  Two or three
old p)lates and broken tea-cups, not "wisely kept for
show," were all the table furniture in sight, and nothing
was covered up in that house unless it was under the
bedd(ling.  The cabin had not a cupboard, box, chest,
or trunk in it.  The girl came with the water, bareheaded, barefoot, and otherwise and generally almost
so. One of the broken tea-cups came in use; I put it
to my lips, drank all I wished, and left.  The man of
the house, who stood all the while I was there (I had
his chair) with his hands thrust into raggred breeches,
and the smoke of a stub pipe curling up under a 
THIE GENERAL, OR
slouched hat, followed me to the door, examined
my fowling-piece with great interest, asked whether
"she" was good, and bade me good by.  Yet this fam.
ily was cheerful and contented, and did not seem to
know but that it was well off.
Our tents looked more inviting than ever as we
rounded the shore and went in at sunset.  Supper canie
earlier, as we all were in sooner, and so The General
made an earlier beginning.
124 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAM3P.  125
FOUNDATIONS OF IOWA.
I- IT 1839 I was employed in tlhe survey of the p)ubihc lands in Iowa, on what was called The Black I-awk
PI-rchase.  This newv acquisition was then being settled
up with great ral-)idity.
"In 1840 I undertook for government the survey of
the island(s in the Mississippi, between the mouthl of
PRock Rieivor and Quincy.  It was a work of great difficulty and lhardshlip.  These islands had been surveyed
several times by other parties, but their work was so
incorrect that tllhe government rejected it. Mine was
the last one made.  It was commenced early in the
spin,g, amid floating ice and highl water, anid in roughl
vweathler.  It was neeessary to extend the section lines
fioin tlhe main land to tihe islands, and then meander
the islands.  Of course the party were compelled to be
much  in the watei, and, as a consequence, there was
much sickness amnong them, as well as delay in the
work.  But I conip)leted it that season, and in a manneri satisfactory to the government.
"Falling readily into the custom of frontier men, I
joined a party of sevene, in the fall of this year, to go on
a Ihunting expedition into the Indian country.   The
outfit (consisted of hlorse and ox teams, with tents,
blankets, provision, and, in this case, with barrels, as
we intended to take wil(d honey.  It was not usual for
hunters to go far beyond the settlements at that early
day; but our company was made up of laen not only 
THE GENERAL, OR
fondI of the chase, but anxious to explore a region so
much talked of, and not unwilling to have exciting adventures.
"The company set forth about the first of September,
an]t, following the dividing ri(dge between thle Cedar
and Wabessapinecon Rivers, were some seven  days iii
reaching the grotund(s on which they intende(l to hunt,
a tract between the headl-waters of-these two rivers.
"The constant broils between the Sacs a(nd Foxes
and the Sioux, whose lands adjoined(l, iuduced tl-ie governiment in 1828 to cut off a strip of land twenty miles
wide on each side of the d(livid(ling line between the
tribes, making forty miles of territory in width, running,
fiom the Alississippi lRiver above Prairie du Chlien-, to
tlhe Des Moines, a distance of about one hundred and
fifty miles.  Tlhlis strip of land neithler party could use
for huniiting purposes, and  was  called  The Neutral
Groutlld(s.
When the Winnebagoes sold their la(nds in WisconIsin, they were removed to these Neutral Grounds,
being at peace with the Indiadls on both sides.  The
Winnebagoes were in possession of these linds at the
time our party went on this hunt.
"When we arrived near the boundary line of the
IJdians, we encampedcl, and for many days enjoyed tle
sports of the chase, and took some honey.  Irere we
waited till the In(lians should start on their journey to
Prairie du Chien to receive their annuity fioom government, which we  knew was to be paid about this time.
We also knew that their absence was the only time
when we could hunt and gather honey on these Neutral Grounds with any safety.
126 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAM3P.  127
we were accordingly ready to remove to the scene
of operations as soon as thie Indianls left.  We did so
at thle earliest opportunity, and camped on what we
ecalle(d Honey Creek, a small stream within tle Neutral
Grioounlds.  Not far fiom  tlhe camp  was a whiite oak
giove, onl a rise of land.  The trees were large and
ol(l, and many of them  hollow, and on a half mile
square of this  grove we  found  sixteen bee  trees.
Other game was plenty, and we enjoyed ourselves during one of thiose delightful II(ndian summeris, so much
admired in the West.
"We  felt secure so long as the Wiinebagoes were
away.  We had no right on their la(nds without tlheir
permiission, or that of the Indian ag,ent; and wlhen
whites were caught hunting  or fishiing  tlere, tl-leir
property was  considered by  the Indians as lawfuil
prize.
"XVe had completed our ihunt, having  strained the
honey and put it in casks, jerked the meat, and got it
ready to pack, and prepared everythinig for a homevward move, except the tl'ying out of a large quantity
of beeswax. It was late in the afternoon when some
of the party, who had been out huinting, came into
camp  and  reported Indians in the vicinity.  Scouts
being sent out, several were seen, and one even cainme
into camrnp, and viewed  the rich  stoie of meat  and
honey that we had taken.  Hle was grave and severe,
and refused food, which fact we all understood p:)infully well.  Ile left, and we sent a spy to watch him.
When some distance from  c.amp, he put spuis to his
horse, and went at full speed across the prairie.
"It was now well un(derstood that the Indians had 
THE GENERAL, OR
-returned from the agency, and that we might expect a
visit fi'om them about d-lylig-lt the next ilmorning, tlle
time vwhen all tribes are wont to open their attacks on
ani einemy.  The hluntilg party pult their arms in order,
and determined on detence, it' tlle einemy should not
l)iove to be too numerous.  All hands were now engaged in packing and loading the wagons preparatory
to a retreat.  The barrels of honey were loaded in, the
oxen and horses gatlhered and tied near by in the bush,
for fear that the intentions of the party to depart might
be discovered by some Iiidian sp)y.  The company had
taken eight barrels of strained honey, besides much elk
andl deer meat.
"WVaiting for the rising of the moon, and then building a large camnp fire, we  hitched up  our tealns, and
placing a rear guard and pilot, we started for hlome.
After much trouble and a few miles' travel, we stiruck
the trail where we entered, and about dayli,ght we
passed safely the boundary line. About the same time,
probably, the Indians were visiting our old campinggic,lind to rob us of our booty.  These same Indians
had robbed trappers and explorers the fall precedling,
and they were disposed, on all safe occasions, to apl)propriate the effects of the white man  to their own use.
But they gave us no difficulty, and we arrived home in
safety, ancd well laden with gaen  and honey.
"In 1841-2, the public surveys being suspended, I
turned my attention to a more full exploration of tl)e
territory that had been cut off from Wisconsin, and
called Iowa.  At  this time there had not been an)y
rnmas or sketches of the country lying noi-thl of the
;aite of Missouri, and between  the Mississippi and
128 
TWELVE NIGIHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAM3P. 129
Aiissouri  Rivers.   Major Lee, of the United States
airzy, had made a tour-, withl dragoons, Up the Des
'Aoines, and Nicholat lhad traversed the nortlh-west on
both sides of the Mississsippi, by order of Congress,
a,id made sotme outlines and topography of the country. But there was nothing reliable, or what could
give one a tolerable idea of the region between the
two  rivers.  The  vague  and  romantic  story of the
trapper was all that the people of the frontier knew of
the region.
"These wild adventurers gave the most glowing
accounts of its beautiful groves of timber, its swiftflowin(g rivers and its broad-rolling  i-iies, its glassy
lakes, with pebbled shores, and abundance of fish, and'
its immense herds of buffalo, elk, and deer, that roamed
at will over the delightful wilds.  But they could give
no great landmarks, or inlan(l seas, by which tne travel ler could direct his course.
"At the instance of Governor Chatmbers, of the then
new Territory of Iowa, and the solicitation of tlhe sur'cy3or general of the North-west, I undertook the ex p)loration of the territory, and at my own  charges.
WVith two men and a proper outfit, I set forthl, in the
autumn of 1841, to sketch the country and  make  a
mnap of the same, as far north as the forty-third degree,
tle present southern boundary of Mininesota.  In this
work I was engagel a portion of the time for three
years, nmakling annual excursions, tracing tle rivers to
tlteir-sources, and markingr tle timber lands, living, the
while mostly on game.
"The Indian title at this time was extinguished( to
only a small part lying along the Mississippi River.
9 
THE GENERAL, OR
The rest was inhlabited by the Sacs and Foxes, thl
Potawataiies, and thc Wi,neb.agt,oes.  Ill my first trip
I followed Iup the ri(le between thle Cedar and tile
Val)essiapinecon RPiveIrs to t!le boii(ldaiy line of tlhe
Neutral Ground(s, oil which the \Winnebag,oes resi(lel.
Iliee I established miy lIea(lquartite's for the wintcr, ]Ill
built a depot for my supplies.  It was locate(l on a
sma.l.l creek, in a d1eep andT densely-wooded glen, a few
miles fiomn the WuVbessapinecon, and just within the
line betwveen the In(lia.ns and the whites.  This was
about the first of Sel)temlber, and( thle chief of the han(
w-lo lived on tllhis por'tion of the Neutral Groiunds, and
whose villa.ge w.IS only aboult six miles away, lla(t gonle
witlh the most of his lbraves and great men to Prairie du
Chien.  No  cocn maunication, therefore, could be  had
with kim till his return, which would be a month or
more. Portions of his people were encamped near by,
on their fall hunt, and came often to my camrnp. In this
band were some young men and boys who had attended the Fiission School at Fort Atkinson, on Turkey
RPiver, established and maintained by the government.
"It is a characteristic of the Indian never to spleak
English, even if he can, unless sheer necessity compels
him, or when he is sure his people will not know it.
It is considered a kind of disgrace, as if he were tinctured with civilization, and were apostatizing fi'omn the
dignity of his fathers, and becoming a white man.
"I had learned some  Winnebago words'f'om the
Sacs and Foxes, some of whom spoke it, though the
two languages are quite unlike.  As I could  not proceed across the Indian country till Chas-chun-ka (Big
Wave) retarned, I set my men to hunting and storing
130 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN TIIE HUNTERS' CAMP.  13\
away provisions for the winter, while I attempted to
g.tin a sufficient knoNwledge of tl,e language to enable
nme to travel intelligently among tlhem.  It wais always
necessary for one to remain in camlp to Ipevent Indian
dep)redations, and to keep the horses fi'onom strayinig.
This duty I now took on myself, and encouraged the
Indian boys, who fi'equently visited the camp), to be
familiar, givinog them presents of red cloth and ribbons,
bread and pork, of which they are very fond, and other
trifles of civilization.
"They soon became familiar, answering promptly the
questions I put them, as to the names of things. One
day, what Were my surprise and deli,ghlt, when I inquired
of a sprightly lad(, about twelve   ears of age, and who
had come into the cabin alone, whlat he called the
victuals that were then cooking in the kettle, to hear him
answer in plain, unbroken English,' \Yhy, it is pork
and beans, and I shall want some breadl and potatoes
to eat with them when they are done.' His dark,
keenr eye twinkled with the answer, and he burst into
a fit of laughter, half hiding his falce tlhrough slame
that he knew so much of the white mana's language.
"He saw my dcleli,ght at discovering his knowledge,
and yielded freely to the questions, where, and how,
and when he obtained the English so perfectly.  ITe
had been a pupil in the MIission School of the PRev.
David Lowry for five or six years, and could read as
well as speak English quite fluently.  When I applied
to hiln to teach me, nothing could exceed his unwilling ness, even to interpret. PBut my close familiarity and
gentleness, andl presents for himself and mother, whose
lodge was about a mile distant, won him over, and he 
THE GENERAL, OR
proved of great value, not only in teaching me, but in
shielding me from dangiers tfterwards.
"The return of Chas-clhuii-ka, about the first of No veilnbeir, was  speedily  heralded through  the Indian
camps, and I was notified by my firiendly and faithful
little mission boy, who, by this time, knew all my de sires and plans.
"The chief was, like the most of his race, vain and con
ceited, puffed up with self-importance, but susceptible
of flattery, and fond of presents.  Ile was not an heredi tary chief, but a Fox by birth, and having joined the
WVinnebagoes at an early age, he had risen to his pres ent position by the force of native talent. I-le was
worth some property in horses and presents, given hiin
by the agents and officers of the government.  Ite had
two wives, and was about to take a third; but as the
winter was near, and provisions scarce, lie had conceluded to wait till spring.
"He was duly notified of my presence in the country, and my wish to hold a conference with him at my
tent whenever his chieftainship would please to signify
his willingness. Early one morning, a few days after
his return, a cavalcade was seen conming across the
prairie towards my camp.  In due time, and in  long
Indian file, they drew up around my cabin.  I remained
inside to receive the distiniguishied guests, while his
officials motioned to the Indians, as they dismounted,
to enter the council.
" Therie were twelve or mcre uiideri-chliefs and braves
x hlo accompanied  Clias-chun-ka.   lIe entered  first,
bowing and shaking hands with me.   This salutation
was repeated by the whole troop.  They then seated
132 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  13a
themselves arotund the cabin, on the ground, but their
chief on a bench.  The appearance of the cllicf was
ve1y suriprisiig to me, for I had explected to see a
pi'oftusion of p)aint and feathers, aid wamipum-Ii  of costly
texture.  Instead of that, he was clotlhed in a buffalo
overcoat, a stove-pipe hat, and wore a pair of green
sp)ectacles. His belt was probably the gift of a soldier,
as it bore the U. S. in front.  His outfit had all probably been given to him by some traders,t tlhe fort.
"I addressed him politely as hle entered, but  I did
not at first regard him as the chief.  On pronouncing
his name, hle bowed, and, as I supposed by his dress that
he must be a half-breed, and could speak English, I addressed lhim in that tongue, but he would makle  no
response.  Still believing that it was only Indian policy
and custom not to know English, I pressed the point
in broken Indian; but a persistent protest of silence in
Chlas-chun-ka compelled me to send for my little teach er and mission  boy, WVabessa-wawa (\White Goose).
ITe came trenmbling and abashed before the saclhem and
his warriors, an(l, as he passed the chief; the latter pat ted him on the head, and said some app)roving words
th:t caused the boy to smnile.
"The council was opened as usual with the pipe and
tlhe shaking, of hands.  Then all were seated again, and
lookled to nme to make known my business.  I arose,
and after telling tllem of my long residence at Assinni iMtanness, with their friends, the Sacs and Foxes, and of
nmy labors for their Great Father, the Presidclnt) in sur veying the lands he boughl t of them, I told them I
had come to see their country by the request of their
Father.  Then I showed them the passport given me 
THE GENERAL, OR
by General Chambers, and told the chief that I wanted
to go across his country and make a picture of it for the
president.
After hlearing me and:cam(iinlng my nmaps Ind
sketches taken on the way up, some of which he cor rected- for the Indian is a topographical draughtsaian
by nature - he handed the papers back and shook his
head.  Looking around on his warriors with an air of
kingly importance, he directed the ii:terpreter to tell me
that he could not let me go over his lands for any such
purpose. He said he well knew the object of his Great
Father in sending me there to make a picture of his
country; that if it was good for the white he would buy
it, but if not the Indian could keep it.  No, I could
not go. After many entreaties and presents to induce
him to yield, I found it of no use, and the council
broke up. This was a difficulty that I had not anticipated, and all my plans seemed liable to fail.
"The next day I visited him with one of my men in
his lodge at the village.  He was affalble and polite,
but rather cool, and when the subject of explorations
was introduced he became silent and morose.  I therefore left him, determined to visit Fort Atkinson and
see the Winnebago agent.
"It had now becomne late in the season, and there
was great danger in traversing an unknown country
at such an inclement season without a guide orI trail.
Ioreovelr, I should be subject to the watchful eye of the
Indians, and if the chief found I had left, hlie would send
his warriors and bring me back.  But I was not to be
baffled in my plans, and give up my project without a
strig,le.  I was not afraid of the Indian, for I knew
i,f4 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CA-IP.  135
t.,at I was regarded as an agent of tle governmenit,
and so no hairm must come to me in his territory.  I
would not ask the chief for a guide, or even let hini
know of my  intentions of visiting the agency, as it
w-as on Indian territory, to which I had already been
refilsed access.
"I therefore set out early one miorning, with one
man and two horses, across the country one hundred
and twenty-five miles, for Fort Atkinson, with no map
or trail, and with the assurance, almost, that I should
bU  arrested and brought back by the Indians.  I knew
the course to be about north-west, and( exl)etitng to
find trails, or see some Indians, when near there, who
would direct me to the fort, I entered on the journey.
At first I avoided the prairie to escape the vigilance
of the Indians.  On  the second day out a cdense fog
covered the open country, while it rained( in torrents.
The streams were so swollen that we were obliged  to
sA-imn them with our horses. When tllhree days out,
and(l near night, it cleared up, the fog rolled off, and( it
turned cold.  We steered for a grove in sight, which
we reached just at dark, and to our surprise found
there the ashes of our morning  camp fire.  We  had
wandered in the fog all day at good speed to come
back there for the night.
"The next morning we put out again, and after a
journey of five days more, over wet prairie and swollen
streams, we reache  the fort.  The first night we were
entertained within its walls to our full comfort.   The
agent then provided for us during the ten days that
we remained.
"WhNile here I visited the Mission School of Mr. 
THIE GENERAL, OR
Lowry.  It contained about sixty sclolars of both
sexes, many of whom had made good advances in read.
ing and writing English.  There was a farm of twelve
hundred acres, brioken up and fenced, with suitable
buildings, all belonging to the agency, and intended to
teach the Indians agriculture and the arts of civilized
life.  But they could not be made to wof'k.  Govern ment paid for the labor of eight men; but fews Indians
would go into the fields to work. 
"'Mr. Lowry gave me a passport to go over the lands
of the Winnebagoes: and he also wrote a letter to
Clias-chun-ka, telling him what a great and good chief
he was, and that he had always been friendly to the
white man, and that now he must permit me to cross
his lands whenever I pleased, and that by so doing lihe
would not only please him, but his Great Father.
"I retturned, and, takingWabessa-wawa to read the letter, I rode over to the lodge of the chief and presented
him the papers given me  by the agent.  When the
letter was read, it flattered his vanity so much that he
sent for the chiefs and braves, and had the same read
to them.  When it spoke of his greatness and goodness
he would look around on his men with a proud and
haughty air, as if ~u  say,' Behold your chief; and hear
what the white man says of himr.'  His whole being
seemed at once changed, and he told me that I might
go all about over his country, and that he would send
men with me.
"The next day he came over to see me, and of course
to get some presents. He wanted me to wait for hiin
two weeks or so, when he would go with me. I did so,
but seeing no preparation by him for such a trip, I
13 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN TIlE HUNTERS' CAMP.  137
started without him. My route lay up the Wabessapinecon to its head and down the Cedar.
"During my absence the Indians, many of them,
had removed, and among them, greatly to my regret,
had gone the lodge of my little interpreter, Wabessawawa.  I could get no information which way he had
golle, only that he left with his people for a hunt.
"After recruiting myself and horses, I again started
towards the head-waters of the Des Moines.  I had not
passed the Neutral Grounds, when one day we came on
an encampment of Winnebagoes, who seemed boisterous and much disposed to plunder, pulling the packs
firom the horses, and demanding bread and meat. Their
rudeness was observed by the old men of tile tribe, but
they said nothing, till I went to one of them, and, addressing him in his own tongue, I told him I was the
friend of Chas-chun-ka, and the agent of the government, and that I had a pass from Mr. Lowry, and that
they must not allow their young braves to do such
things.  In a moment he spoke to the rude fellows,
telling them who I was, when they left the stores,
but with evident reluctance and disappointment. On
making inquiry for the trail that led to an old trading
post on the river, four or five young Indians stepped
forward and offered to show me the way. We took
their lead, and pursued it for more than a mile, when,
on looking back, I saw an Indian boy coming up in
great haste. The party came to a halt, and the boy
came up, wrapped in his blanket, his face half averted,
but with his keen eye fixed on me.
"Speaking in a low tone, he said,' You are on the
wrong trail. The Indians who sent you here are bad 
THE GENERAL, OR
138
Indians, and they mean to follow and rob you.'  I
pulled the blanket aside, and discovered the pretty face
of my  Wabessa-wawa.  Hie seemed in much excitement and haste.  Requesting me to follow him, lie
struck off through the woods at a rapid rate, and where
there was no path; and after travelling about a mile, he
came out into a beaten track.' This,' said he,'is your
path.  I heard you ask for the trail to the old tradinghouse, and saw those bad Indians put you in the wrong
way, and I came to tell you.'  He would not allow me
time to inquire where his lodge was, or where I should
see him, if evei, again, nor hardly to untie the Iack and
give him some biscuit and p)ork. I did, however,
addling some pieces of silver coin.  Shaking the little
fellow by the hand, I let go of him, and in a few moments lie was lost in the thick wood, oil his way to the
lodge.
Here, thotughlt I, are the firuits of Christianity and
the germs of civilization in a savage.  This boy had
been taught at the Mission School, and, aside fi'om
seeing his fiiend robbed, he knew the wickedness of
the deedc, and his duty to prevent it. He had the
native cunning of his race, and knew how to avoid
detection for thwarting the designs of had men.
"We returned in safety from this trip, and once
more recruited at our supply camp, or headquarters.
Then we made a short excursion towards the Missouri
River, but snows had become so deep that travelling
was almost impossible.  We were three weeks in snow
firom two to four feet deep.  Our usual method  in
camping was to find a large log, tramp down the snow
beside it, pitch the tent, spread down the green hide; 
TWVELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  139
of elk or deer, and build a good fire. No dampness
could p)enetrate these firesh skins, and so, vwrapping ourselves in blankets and buffaloes, we slept soundly.
All Indian trader haid  conic to tlhe  samle place
where w-e had nmade our dclepot, late in the tfall, and,
lamonlg other things, hle,as usual, broughlt whiskey.  lie
hlitd  built him self a small tradling-house  near to us.
Tlhis served to gather about him  large numbers of Indins, andcl thou,gh lhe managedl to (ldeal out his poisoli
\itll some degree of caution, as a tlhilng forbidlden by
tle gokovernlent, yet at times a few drunken Ind(ians
wouldt be found about the calmp.  On such occasions I
never allowed them in my camip.
"On Iny retura fiom the MIissouri River trip I found
tle trading-hlouse closedcl, thie Indians drunk, the barrel
of twhiskey, all that was left of the trader's stock, moved
upl) to my caimp, andl the clerk there in attendance on
it.  The  trader himself had gone  to Dubuque for
goods, and left his clerk, a cowardly and effeminate
fellow, in charge.  The Indians demanded liquor, and
to prevent their getting it, he hadl rolled the barrel to
my premises, and left it with my tenit-keeper.
"It was late in the night when I arrived, and being
indiginant thalt it had been  placed in my  depot, I
ordered it out, and it was set outside.  But it was too
l:te in the stage of afftirs to quell the disturbance.
Tlhe Indiails were alrealdy maddened by the beginnings
of intoxication, and no persuasion or refusal of the
tr.tdler's clerk could quiet their demands.  I had per emi)torily forbiddlen the sale of any more to them, and
the clerk, now finding the trading-house too warm  a
place for him, closed the doors and took refuge in my
tenit. 
THE GENERAL, O0
"The Indians had threatened to scalp him if he dad
not produce the liquor, and followcd him to nmy qna, ters. Here they found the barrel of whiskey outside
the door.  I spoke to them  with firmness, refusiii,
them  any more.   A  portion of them, Chlas-chuni-k.a,
and some of his braves, had come inside, and sat ill
silence around my fire.  Some of the chiefs, who knew
me  well, had come to me in behalf of the whole,
pleading for more whiskey.  I firmly refused.  Beiflg
weary fi'om  the long and hard [larchl of the day, I
lay down for some rest, ordering my men to keep their
armns in readiness, while I placed the heavy hickory
fire-poker near me.  The Indians were without arms,
having deposited them, as usual, with their knives and
tomnahawks, on the top of the tradinig-house, and the
most of them  were too drunk to get them again
readily, even if the sober ones would let them.  As I
lay on my lounge, a large crowd was outside, and ten
or fifteen inside.
"An old squaw, in order to bring me to terms, had
commenced pounding on the head of the whiskey barrel, as it stood near my camp.  Big Wave came to me
in great pretended alarm, and told nme that unless I
permitted them to have whiskey, he feared they would
break in the head of the barrel, and then all would be
drunk, and great trouille would follow.  I told him
that if he allowed that liquor to be broken open I
would kill every Indian within  miy reach.   In the
mean time tile old( sqiuaw kept up her drumming, and
as the chief himself disapipeared fiom the door-way, tle
head of the cask went in!
"In a moment I sprang from my bed, caught my
140 
TWVELVE NIGIITS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  141
walnut poker, a stick five feet long, and cried out to
my men, in the Indian language, to kill all in the cabin
first.  \With one stroke I split the table to pieces with
a great noise, it heinog mnade of the lids of a dry goodi
box, and continued striking right and left, whooping
loud andcl sharp to my men to kill the chliefs first.  The
cabin was soon emptied of Indians, and, with those outside, they all took to their heels like a herd of deer.
I hl(ad the barrel of whiskey moved inside again, the
door barricaded, and quiet restored.  Of course no Indian was hurt by us, as my men were under secret
instructions to injure no one.  The next morning a few
came back, and were shown a large place in the snow
where the whiskey was deposited, withl the barrel bottom up over it.  The liquor was confiscated and gone,
only an odor remiaining in the snow.
"An Indian cannot fight with a club, but to him it
is a most formidable weapon in the hands of an angry
white man.  Take firom them the gun, tomahawk, and
knife, and a resolute man can drive a host of them.
When once the Indian has tasted liquor, he does not
leave it till drunk, or the liquor gives out.  He knows
no other use for it, except to produce intoxication.  It
is not a pleasant beverage to him; he does not like tlhe
taste of it; it is only for the effect tlhat he drinks it.
His palate is as little vitiatedl as that of a child.  lIe
uses no salt, nor seasoned food, aind has a very keen
aid sensitive taste.  I have seen an India(i  in apparent
agony by tl-he use of whiskey; for the; article prepared
for their il-arket is often well spiced with red p)epper
and glums to keep) up its strengthl.  And I have seen
the young Indian and squaw held by main strength, 
THE GENERAL, OR
while whiskey has been  administered to them, that
they mig(rht be taught to drink it.
"I returned to Davenp)ort with my party, hlaving
accolmplished a good work for thle season, on mny siur
vey for a territorial map.  Tis I finished the  next
year.  The result of my explorations at this ealy day
were important themselves, though small.  My'Map
and Notes of Iowa' were published by Doolittle &
Munson, of Cincinnati, in the  spring of 1845, andl
l'di(l more,' salys  a  late writer,'to  disseminate  a
knowledge of the Territory of Iowa than aniythiing ever
before published.'   The  legislature of the territory
complimented tlhe work by ordering copies for each
member of both houses, and foi all the heads of delarments.' Mliny works,' says one writer,' since
written, have been largely indebted to this little work
for valuable information.  And many  a settler fi'o()l
the old world dates lhis ideas of emigration fron lrecalding those Notes on Iowa."'
This section of The General's narrative, more than
any one of the preceding, set the Western members of
tlhe party to talking about early times on the Ul)per
MIississippi.  The reader will see it was going back to
their own cabin days, when red men were compl)elle(d
by Generals Scott and Atkinson to talk by the council
fires of the pale faces, and when the towns of civilization were crowding farther west the wvigwam, andl when
the birch canoe glid(led away from the danger of being
swamped in the wake of the Scuti-Chlemon - the Fire
Canoe.  Some of them  had to tell of the days they
remembered when there were no white settlements
142 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THIE IIUNTERS CAMP.  143
back of Davenport, beyond Duck Creek, four miles
out, while now it is solid( with furms andl cities, railro:l(ads, and  the institutions and improvements, comimelce  and comforts, of civilization four lhundlred miles
to Omaha.  Since that Seventh Night a railroad has
been opened nine hundred and sixty miles west beyond
O)iunaha.  Then  little settlements dotted the western
bank of the  Mississippi on the Iowa line, like  scatteed( and  lonely beacon lights, heralding the comnilg
of a  great population.   Then Iowa  had less than
fifty thousand iinhabitants; now a million and a half
are gathered  in  her rurlal districts, thlriving cities,
and, to mnany of them, palace  homes.  They  talkedl
of those masses of emigration that had swept on
under their own  eyes beyond  Missouri and Kansaus
Territory to the Rocky MIountains, and over them,
building an empire on the Pacific.  It was thlrilling to
hear those men of commerce, and of maliufactures, and
of the RItocky Mountain trade tell what their own eyes
had seen of the growth of states -a siglht and growth
such as no nation or kiingdom ever saw before.
I am afraidcl we sat up that night longer than our
Put:iitan ancestors would approve, but there was no
nille o'clock bell within scores of miles of us. 
THE GENERAL, OR
EIGHTH NIGHT.
HEN I arose the next morning I found quite a
number ahead of me at the camp fire, and all
discussing with lively interest the incidents related the
evenilng before by The Gen-eral.   The frontier  and
WVestern slpilit of all the older members of our encamp lnent was well stirred, an(d they were living old times
over ag.idu. WWhen The General joined the group at
the fire, tl-iey hliled him as a kind of Christopher Coluiibuis, vwhio had opened that part of the new world
to themi; and when he assured them  of still more
tliriilini  incidents, enacted in regions now well settled
and ft iiliar, they weie impatient for the evening.  But
as nothiig spoils the huniter's appetite, neither impatienlce nor delay, tramping or resting, we proceeded to
dlo julstice to Afi'icaa labors in the culinary line, an(I
had our usual success.
The hunit for the day had many stirring events, mixed
in of game captured arid missed, that I will not pause
to mention in details.  Suffice to say, that after long
ranges, and with evening shadows, we garnished the
sap)lin;gs and limbs around the camp with their usual
hanigings of flir and featlhers, and could have filled large
orders for a game supper at the Fifth Avenue, without
enl:lalgering our own table.
It is a marvel to the inexperienced that we hunting
144 
T'VELVE NIGHIITS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.   145
and fishing men can walk so far, and carry so niiith
wNeig}ht, witlount gieat fitigutC, and en(lII're heit, n1l(l
cold, and rain, and sleet, without injuly.  The fact is,
the nature of the sport is stiengtelining, and legitimate.
)ly gives one a goocd )Ihysique.
And this hellps towards a fuill manhood.  For the
intellectual and the moral are not wont to develop well
thro(ughl a feeble body.  The greatness of many of our
great men stands closely allied to a strong body.  Legends of enormous power cluster about Brou,ghim as
they did about Heircules.  Professor Wilson  was  as
famous for casting the hlamiier as for throwing lhis own
thoughits at you.  Bui,ns led the youthl of his day in
-wrestling, pulling,, and other Scotchl sports of the athlete.  Isaac Barrow, that prince of preachers, was noted
at the Charter flouse School for the ni,uscle lie carried,
aid( was stiikingly impressive in ptugilistic argutnent.
Andrew Fuller was splendid at boxing, and Adam
Clarke was famous for rollingr huge stones about.  It
is of little use to try to work a powerful eng,ine in a
weak fiame.  You, a I)reaclier, feel poorly on MIonday,
and about adequate to the effort of seeing the cream
rise on a pan of new milk.  A part of this feeling is
professionally imiaginary, and stuggestive that you per joined a wonderful and exhausting work  the day
before.  Some clergymen are so very able that they
can preachl but one sermon a day, and have no evening
meetings or pastoral work, and so must have vacations
lengthy and often; and if very feeble, and in a wealthy
society, they absolutely need a trip to foreign lands.
Others are really weary on MIonday. Dear Sirs, you
sllouldl go to Dr. Nimrod's Water Cure - a leaky tenit
10 
THE GENERAL, OR
-and take lhis prescrip)tions, to wit: The W,tlton fish  hlook every other (lay, alternating with number six shot.
Tlhis is )precisely whaltt the fi,Tble means about Antmtus
and Itercules.  Antatus was the son of Terra and Nep  tune -  lind and water.  Ite catle of good stock, one
of the "first families."  Like Broutghlam, and Btarroow,
and others, he was faiued for wrestling, and was more
than  a match for Hiercules, because  as often as he
touched the earthl-is nimotlher — she renewed his
stirength.  Then Hercules, discovering thle secret, lifted
him  up in the air, and squeezed him to death.   Tli,t
is, the Rev. 3ii. Antaus became very averse to tlle
grolunl-d.  He disliked a cane, and a spade, and a fislh ing-rod, and gun, and a prairie hlay bed, and biirchl
canoe.  le allowed himself to be lifted up into a car riage, and an easy-chair in lhis study, and  into the
seventh stoly of a fashionable hotel, and so lhis lie
was squeezed out of him.  If he would have kept his
toes on the ground through vacation!
I meet the Rev. Mr. Antmus fiequently in the last
stages of his wrestling.  He has a thin giil's hand, a
sallow, flabby cheek, a stooping gait, and a CIhinese
foot, and the latest issue of the prolific press.  Poor
man!  There is just one chance for you, dyspeptic and
dying.  Come down to the ground, and let your parents, Neptune and Terra, nurse you. Cook your own
trout on the Parmachene, eat moose beef andl venison
by your own camp fire in New Brunswick, bear's meat
in the Acdi,ondacks, and grouse on the Iowa prairies.
Then, in the next match, I will bet on you against ITereules.
But you think it undignified in scholarly men to
146 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CA3IP. 147
eoine down to the earth in tlhis way.  Better so than
to coi-le under the earth with semni-suicidal dignity.
Anything, almost, that will enable you to throw Herettles.  Perhaps you have religious scrutples.  Tlhen
read RPobert Boyle's Aingling Ihnproved to Spiritudt,
Uses, forty-two pages, royal quarto.  But such amusemnent and recreation you regard as aniniisteial.  You
should study carefully A Discourse uttered in Part at
Ammauskeeg-Falls, in the Fishing Season, 1739. By
Joseph Seccombe.  John xxi. 3.  The topic of the
worthy divine, cdriawn firom the words of St. Peter,'"1
go a-fishing," and the reply of the apostles, " We  also
go with tlhee," is this:  Business and Diversion inoffensive to God, and necessary for the Comfort and Sul)poit of Iiuman Society.  For certain ones, so devout
they cannot smile nearer to the Sabbath than Wednesday, he remiarks, " Some so miuffle up Christianity, and
make it look so melancholy, sickly, and sour-, that in considerate people are apt to dread its commands."
If you are shy of diversion, and a good, natural,.jolly
time, and plead the demands of business, beware of
coming within reach of the saicasmn of Locke: "Some
men nmay be said never to divert themnselves; they can not turn aside from business, for they never do any."
We were all waiting by the huge fires, in the gray
dusk of the evening, for The General, who always had(l
ways and timnes of his own, when he came leisurely llp
to the g,roup. TiHe opened on us with a merry remark
that sent a volume of laughter to the other shore of
Swan Lake.
It is a privilege that we hunters enjoy of laughing
to the full compass and volume of civilized life, and 
TIIE CEFN,FAT,. OPT
tlat, too, witlouit disturbin,g any neiglhboirs.  Mr. Smith,
across ourt' steCt, is not:tnnoye4,  ndu  M,'s. l'ynt'$
baby, on  ttle uext sqllr, is llnot waked ul), by thlese
a,il(lible exl)ressions of our cheerflltliess.  It will be a
sad dlay fobr this countrty whlen the l)ol)nlaitioni is so delnse
that on,e cannot laughll conifortiably without disturbiong
some neighbl)or.
Taking his seat on the largest log,, he set his compass
and laid.his chain, like an old survLeyor, by the last
stake, and so reinewed the narrative of his wanderings
148 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE flUNTFIRS' CAMP.  149
TERRIBLE TIMiES IN TIIE WOODS.
"' In 1843 the public surveys, that had been s.ispended
for some time, again commenced.  I was sent by the
surveyor-general into the country lying north of the
WVisconsin River, and on the IKickapoo.   This was
a rough, broken, wilderness land.  It was formerly
owned by the Winnebaigoes, and( obtained firom them
lby treaty, throughl Governor Dodge, ill 1834.  It is extensively known as The Sugar Loaves of Wisconsin,
fi'om  its abrupt and, rounded pealks and illaccessible
])oints, separated by deep ravines and impenetrable
tlhickets.  It was tlhrou,gh this region that Black Hawk
wu'ily led his trusty followers when pursued by Colonel
Atkiuison.  IHis command became entangled among the
precipices and gorges, and he was obliged to abandon
lhis wagons, baggag,e, and all, with the loss of many of
his horses, and some men.
" I undcertook my work here in May, and though my
progress was slow, the weather warmrn, and mosquitos
almost beyond en(lturance, the health of the company
kept good, and the work went forward.  Provisions of
all ki-ids had to be obtained firom Prairie du Chien,
abouIt fifty miles distant, as this was the nearest trading
poi:it to my work, and thence they were bi)oughlit into
C'lin1) on pack animals.
"About tlhe mild(le of July our provisions grew
scanty, and, as tl-eie was very little gianie to be had, I
stiiteil for Praiiiie du Chien for supplies.  During my 
THE GENERAI,, OR
absence of several days, thiere passed across this Kickl.
apoo region the most terrifir hurricane that tlhe West
ever experienced.   From  Prairie du  Chien  to  the
Kickapoo Rive;r, a distance of forty miles and more,
the country is prairie, but beyond that, inward to my
field of labor, heavily timbered, and mostly with sugar
nmaple.
"At the point where my trail entered this timber, the
tornado seemed to expend the strength of its fury. Its
effects were almost utter destruction for miles in extent.  The forest was uprooted, and trees of imnmense
size were twisted and broken into all shapes, and then
left piled up in unlimited confusion.
"I arrived at the crossing of the Kickapoo with my
supplies just at night, and saw the utter desolation and
destruction.  Even the river was full of broken tiees
and( limbs, afloat and fast, and my way appeared to be
shut up beyond my power to open it.  With nmuch
anxious tholught for the morrow, I encamped for the
night.  3Iy only hopes were, that the extent of the tornadco had not reached my camp, and that their supplies
wouldcl hold out while I worked my tedious way to
them through these forest ruins.  My  detention at
Prairie du Chien had been unexpectedly long, and I
knew their provisions could not last many days.  The
exigencies demanded prompt and vigorous action, and
I summoned all my energy to meet them.
"There was a WVinnebago camp near the crossing,
and I soon found my way there, amid the barking of
logs and crying of pI)appooses.  I at once made known
to the chief my condition, and the situation of my men,
shut off from me by the tornado.  From him I learned
[50 
TWVELVE NIGHTS IN TIIE HIUNTERS' CAMIP.  151
the course of the tornado, and the width of its track
of destruction.  I hired several Indlians, and early the
next mnorning crossed withl them  the river, andcl commeaced( cutting a bridle-path thlrougll the confused and
tanglled mass.   The progrIess was slow andl discoura
ging. We spent hours in trying to find a zigzag courso
around the imlpenetrable piles and winidfalls, often only
to come at last to some confused mass that I could not
l)ss, much less my pack-horses.  Tired an(I distresse(s,
I recrossed the river at nighlt, and encamped with my
Indians.  The next morning  I was  again at work,
hopliig, to find the range of the tornado sucll that I
could turn to one side firom its debris, but in vain.
The second night found  nme back in my  old calnl),
tot'dlly baffled.
I tlhen had canoes prepared, and the next mornini,
I started the Indians up the river in thlelm with the sup)lies, while I followed on the land.  I took but one
.ack-horse withl me, and ascending the Kickapoo till I
ha(l passed across the range of the hurricane, I swam
my horse over, landed my provisions, and discharge(l
the Indians. The sun was setting as I stood alone on
the bank.  The canoes of the faithful Indians were receding from my view, and my never-tiring horse, that
lhad been with me for years in my exp)lorations west of
the Mlississippi, alone was left as my companion, wlile
no habitation of a white man was within forty miles
of me.
"Increasing excitement for the safety of my  men
nerved me  for stiuggle with any  difficulties.  TI'hi,t
night I carried rmy supplies half a mile, and spreading
sticks and grass on the wet ground, I placed them there 
THE GENERAL, OR
carefully, and covered them over with bark and brush
I slept but little that night, and as soon as it was light
enough to travel, I made faist a sack of flour and sonie
pork to my horse, and then laid my course in such a
direction as I thought would intersect, beyond the
sweep of the tornado, the trail by which I had origi nally entered the forest.  Unfortunately, I had  no
compass, or any other guide below the sun, excep)t the
Indian's north star, the moss on the t'ee.  The countiry
was broken into ravines and precipitous p)eaks, of wlich
I have spoken. WVitli my hatchet in one hand, and
the bridle-rein in the other, I plunged into the dark
forest in my  perilous journey, Ihurried( and strength ened by painflil anxieties for the fate of my men.
"Though I avoided the confused path of the tornadclo, I found difficulties in the way, and nmy progress
was very slow through  tlickets, and around sloughs,
and mountains, and ravines.  By shlunlning the trail
of the whirlwind, I had nearly doubled my distance to
the camp, and my physical energies were taxed to tlhe
utmost, while the exciting conviction urged me  ci,
that my men must now be entirely destitute of any
supplies, and possibly starving and dying before I could
reach them.  When  darkness overtook me again, my
little camp fire was lighted, and my faithful Luke was
spancelled out to crop such scanty vegetation as lie
could find in the dark recesses of the wood.   I p)re1)ared and ate my scanty'meal in silence, and then,
rolling myself up in may blanket, I slept.  Then dreams
came, not of home, with its comforts and blessings,
nor of its dear ones, but of those who looked to me
for protection and food, now shut up among the rocks
and dells of the wilderness.
152 
TWELVE  NIGLITS IN TIlE IIUN-TERS' CAMP.  153
"At early dawn I was again on my  route.   This
day was stormy, andcl the wilderness was dark, and in
my wander,ngs I lost my course, and muchl travel tand
tim,e.  Tlhe next morning came with a clear sun, and
imy I opies and streniigthl were renewed.  The next niglit,
just as d:i]'lkne(ss begin to remind me of a place for encampling, I camne inito a beaten track tlhat showed tlhe
footl)ints of horses.   Passing, along rapidly, I camie
to a little rivulet, and following it a short distance, I
fouIid a sprillg of prtoe, colM water, and quickly reco,gnized th,e place of an old encampment, that I had made
whlen I first entered the country. Now I felt fulfly
relieved of anxiety as to my course, and of any uncertainty as to finding my  camp.  Again I ate my
solitary meal, and wrapped my  blanket around  me,
feeling tthat one more day would reveal all to me of
wllat I hop)ed and feared.
" [Iy sulspense was agonizing, and I startedc up with
the filll purpose to press on till I knew all.  But darkness foibadle, and my better judgment brought me back
to my blainket.  But my nmental torture that night can
never be forg,otten.  3Iy imagination, in my half-sleepilg cond(ition, would  picture to me  the emaciated
features of my men, calling for food, and frowning over
my dclay.  Daylight brought relief, because it allowed
nile to strug,le on agin.
"I hla:(l gone a little distance, not more than hilf
a mile, wIlen, turning at the foot of an abrupt precipice, I suddenly stood before one of my  men!  Pale
and thiln, witl  matted hair an(l beaid, I.hardly knew
him.  His blanket was drawn loosely around him, and
his e)es stared wildly, as if he were bewildered.  Tho 
TIIE GENERAL, OR
recog,nition was mnutu.al, but so sudden and unexpected,
thalt neither had(l time to pI)relFre for the meeting.   The
story was soon told.
" V., the assistant, had left tlhe camip, withl one otlici
man,  two  (danys before, and on  this trail, with thle
hople either of nmeetinig me  or of re.clhing some place
of relief. He left tlhe others in a stairviiing condition.
The  camp stores had been  exhaustedl, the two bear
dog,s hlad been killed and eaten, andcl tlhe party had b)een
for days with only a young phefsanit for food, boiled
with a kind of wild nettle, and mad(le ilto soup.
"One of the pIarty, Fitz P., had refused to eat of
the dogs, and was in a very reduced condition.  Tlhey
had not been able to kill any game, and such berries
and roots as they dared eat were very scarce.   They
had a stlupply of coffee, and used it fireely; but, taken
w-ithlout food, the effects of it were unpleasaiit, and
often painfiul.   All  had  been confident  that I  was
killed by the Indians, or lost in the wilderness.  V. informed me that one of the party, who had left canmp
with himi, was  but a shiort distance behind,  but too
weak to proceed.  Giving  V. some  food, I hastened
on, and found the poor fellow lying by lis little camp
fire.  Peeling some bark fiomn the linden, anid mixing
somie flour, 1(1 pasting it to the baik, I soon baked
for himi  a lI'ttle brea(l.  Leaving, there a simall portion
of polk, I hurried on to caimp, wlhere I found  thia
rem'ialing four of my seatteredl band.
"it was a scene I could not look on without tears.
On a log near by were stretched tle skins of our- two
bear dogs, and their bones  lay scattered about the
camp ground.  In the tent lay the imen, prostrate by
I!.-, 4 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CA3-P. 155
weakness, dliscouraged, and given over  to despair.
They waited, in the confidence of my return, too long
before they made an effort to save themselves by seeking a settlement and food.  Yet had they left, the
-robability is, they would have been driven back by
the                    barrier the tornado had thrown up, or, in   forcing
tleir                  way through it, become entangled, and  so perished.  When I entered the tent, they wept in surprise
and joy.
"I soon had food prepared, anld dclealt it out to thlem
in s(mall quantities.   Such were their gnawings  of
hun,ger, after they hadcl once tasted foodl, that I was
oblig,ed to sit on the provisions, and keep them firom
the men by nain force, or they would have eaten to
tlheir death.  All that night their pleadings for food
woLie heart-rending.  Long after the darkness shut us
in, the tw-o absent ones, who  left two days  before,
caime back.
"The pack-liorses had strayed off into the mountains
before food was wholly gone, or they would have shared
thl-e fate of the dogs.  We hunted them up in due time,
and as soon as the men were sufficiently recruited, we
slow-ly took the back trail to my depot of supplies,
hlii(len lunder the brush ol tlhe banks of the Kicikapoo.
After a wearisome march, and when our provisions in
hand were nearly gone, we reached the cache only to
findl that it had b)een plundlered of its precious contents
)y the Indians.  A  wandering squad, firom the Root
River bandcl, had been on the Kicikapoo, fishing, and,
discovering my tracks and signs, they had robbed us
of our last hope.  We  had intended to recruit here,
and then resume work in another part of the field; 
TIlE GENERAL, OR
but now our only chance was to flee to the nearest
settlement.
"The river here was not passable without swimming,, and our only open way was to ascend to a foid
ten miles above.  This we did, and in a few days we
all reached a place of safety, and of supplies and rest.
Many articles of clothing were  afterwards found in
the liquor Shops of Prairie  du Cliien, that belonged(
to our plundered camnp, but no Indian who sold them
could be found.  They had gone  up the Iississipl)i
to their wigwams on Root River, and we turned our
steps homeward.
"In 1844 there was great excitement about mineral
lands.  The copper regions of Lake Supeiior had been
explored, and marvellous stories were told of the imnmense wealth hidden there.  Large  companies weie
organized in the North and South, and mineral iands
wvere sought after all through the North-west.  A kind
of mineral'float' had been issued, similar to a preemption right, and parties organized to find mineral
lands and locate' floats' on them.
"A  company  was  formed in New Orleans, with
General B., an old friend of mine, for its head. In
June of this year, an expedition in the interests of
this company left Davenport for the head-waters of
the St. Croix, in Wisconsin Territory, now Minnesota.
Of this expedition I was intrusted with the command.
It consisted of a surveyor, two geologists, a full set of
camp hands and Canadian voyageurs, with bateaux
adapted to the swift streams of the mountains.
"We left the head of the St. Croix Lake, about the
middle of June, in a Mackinaw boat, and after reach
156 
TWELI,VE NIGIITS IN TIlE HIUNTERS  ClAMP.   1, 7
ing the Gran(d Falls of that river and rnmaking its portage, the party divided, a portion going on by water,
andcl the rest by land, with the Canadian ponies.  AWe
ascended to the mouth of Snakle ltiver, one of tlhe
principal tributaries of the  St. Croix, and then  followied it il), lpast the portage, into Cross Lake, where
the missionary station for the Chiippewas was located,
and to the head of Pokegoma  Lake. Here we  iemnained a few dlays to recruit, and then started for tlhe
Porcutil)ine MIountains, the destination of the  expedlition.
"There was much in this trip to interest and please
nme, sl-)eci.lly as I had the control of nmy own tinme, and(
was general director of the camp and the movements
of the party.  The  season of the year was  delightful
above all others, and the  country was uninhabited,
except by the Cluippewas, who  were fi-iendly.  This
i.was their fistinig season, and as they were very suecessful, our caml) was abundantly supplied.
"T11he scenery in this wild region is mnost sublime.
TlIeie are no pl)recil)itons lmountains, but a hilgh range
of table-linds, interspersed with lakes, the Illost beautifll and  romanatic thlat  one  can  imagine.   Little
streams of the purest water run at your feet, alive
with the speckled trout, while the lakes, bays, and
inlets, sla(led by the sweeping  boughs of the pine,
sI)truce, and birchl, iiivite you to their cool retreats, and
sin,  their luillal,y over your  camp.  Sometimes the
little waterfall, or the  more mig,llty cataract, would
recall one fromn lhis reverie, andcl draw himn to its side,
where he  would  sit in the spray and admire  tlhe
never ending, never  wearying  music of the water. 
THE GENERAL, OR
The stillness and tile beauty of such a scene, unmarred by any touch of civilization, could never fail
to call forth adoration and praise, and fill the soul with
love for Himl who made the mountain and the plain
and the wilderness without inhabitant.
"Thie geological survey was  made, specimens ol)tained, and land located. At one til-ne in our exploring
we were near to the shores of Lake Superior.  The
survey being completed, the expedition returned to
the mouth of the St. Croix and disbanded.
"Several of us then nmadle up a niew and smaller
party, and visited St. Paul, then consisting of a few
cabins, the Falls of St. Anthony and MIinnehaha, and
Foit Snelling at the mouth of the St. Peter's.
"There the Sioux lived at ease in his native forest.
Ilis wig(wam stoo(d  on the banks of the Minne.lhaha
unmolested, and his children played on the campinggrounds of his fathers.  Cities now cover the ashes of
his lodge, and where he then chased the deei, elk, and
buffeilo, the husbadclman  gathers in the hlarvest of
civilization.  The mii(lnight lamentation of the Indian
mnother, the Rachel of the Red Man, over the grave
of her child, is now exclhanged( for the music of the
maid(lens of the pale faces, and the wild notes of Itidian
lovers are replaced by the hulm and bustle of the settlements.  The Laughing Water of his native forest
has been immortalized in song, while the footsteps of
the Indian have followed in his trail of doom over the
prairies of the Fatr West."
The General closed his story for the night with a
touch of sadness in his tones.  Hle pitied, as hlie always
158 
TWVELVE NIGHTS IN THE IIUNTERS' CAMP.  159
pitied, the Indian, feeling that lie was the victim of a
lieatlhen religion and  superllior race.  Cupidity, inolre
tlU:,i Clristianity, has prevailed in the earlier dclealil,ngs
of the whites with the Indi.ans, so that our treatment
has debased rather than elevated them; and what  we
called "Indian ouitragoes  were but thleir natural and
na:tional modes of self-defence, according to thleir Law
of Nations, which, unfortunately for them,  they had
no Vattel to expound and defend.  The General had
rarely experienced anything but kindness fi'om their
hands during twenty-five years of intercourse with
them, more or less intimate and exposed.  Aind( while
thllus detailing the beginnings of imperial success in
tlhe founding of new states, he felt keenly the sacrifice of one race for the elevation and glory of another.
AWe, the mean while, were considering, only the sacrifices of our own race in this gigantic marchl of western
p)rogress.
It costs something of white toil and hardslhip) and
sorrow to turn a wilderness into the firuitful field; and
these continuous narratives of The General were pressinig tis truth o  us nightly ald inole amrnply.  I felt it thlc
niore, coming firom MIassachusetts Bay Colony, where
two hundred years stood between my childhood honme
and the wigwam  of Samoset.  To  this pioneer work
of the surveyor  must succeed the blazed tiee, the
emigiant wagon and cabin, the rude trail fi'om settleiment to settlement, the ford and biidg,e, the log schoolhouse and church, the larger villages, fainis, poputlation, wealth, and all the powers of a Christian civiliza tion.  Those improvements and forces have followed
up in the wandering and lost steps of the surveyor 
THE GENERAL, OR
amiong  thle Sugar Loaves;  and a heavy population,
N itll (ities  an(l  frin'is,     highw ay, l)lblic butildinl(s,
an( tlrift, are now on the groun(l  vhlerie his men ate
tleir bear dogs and the so0l) of the youi,g pleasant.
Crlawford and Vernon counties, the present Kiekapoo
country, could then muster only one scattered cam)
of white men and a  pack-horse.  The few cabins of
St. Paul have grown to a noble city, and the Minnehahla is now the  Lalugh-ing Water, among  sl)indles
and lathes, belts and cogs, ihuge wheels, millstones, and
manufactories.
160 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP  161
NINTH NIGHT.
OMIETHING  besides story-telling and listening
was going on at our camp fire last night.  While
all ears were attentive to The General, andcl every hearer
floundered along with him, in synmpathy, throughl the
windfall and overflow of tlle Kickapoo, Dock  and
Rube caulght every word, as well as thlle best of us,
whlile they worked hard in p)lucking, and roasting, and
basting an extra two dozen of ducks.  When the story
wound  up with the pltundering of tlhe cacche by the
ll.oot River Indians, the task of the cooks was nearly
coml)lete, and before the last of us left the crackling
bira(nds for otiur blankets the twenty-four dultcks, plump,
brown, and crisp, lay cooling, off in tent inumber eight.
The case was thus:
Six or eight miles inland from our grounds were
some lakes and lagoons, where, in a former hlunt of
tlhe club, they bad found  large  supplies of geese,
comingi in fiom nighitfaill till midnighl-t.  A  few of us
ruloposed(  to make  a stand hunt tlhere the following
night.  This would necessitate outr absence from camp
two days and one nilght, and hence the needl of the
extra cooking.
Bright and early, with rations for two days, and a
blzaiket for a bivouac after our evening shootinlg, we
11 
THE GENERAL, OR
set forth, our only regret being thle suspension for one
nightt of the personal history of Thle Generai-l.  Our
route, much of the way, lly over bottom prairie.  A
chickei or (luck broke now and then thle ted(litim of our
march, as we use(dl a w(arm October dayi, sweatinig un(der
our burden.  Indeed, the labor would have had a strong
resemblance to work if we  had done it iunder pay.
Lucky had it been for us, had we been draw-ing pay;
foi whvlen we came to the lakes and lagoohis, we found
only bl:ank and (dry nmud bottoms.  The drough-t h1ad
been severe in all that section of Illinois, and the sIhoal
bodies of water had diied up.  We visited the familiar
stands, where, thle year previous, they hlad knocked
down so many geese when coming on their nighlt feeding-glounds; but the reeds, and grass, and wild rice
were shrivelled and brown, and the water was all gone,
leaving a baked and crackled lake bottom.  We lunched
famously by a shaded spring, and then hunted leisurely
back to camp, knowing better than ever before whlat is
mneanlt by "1a wil(,-goose chase."
And why not  ce know, as well as anybody?  A
wil(d-goose chase is not the worst a man can make.
Some persons follow smaller game for years over  the
pavenments, and fare no better than we did.  The hunt
itself was royal; what we caught was quite ianothier
thling(.   The  chase  has  always  been  royal sl)oit.
Chaliles III. of Spain run the stagt or wild boar eight
hours every day, except the Sabbath,nd great hlolidays of the church.  Forbidden by his confessor to
hunt on those days, he had an aviary canied into his
paik, and shot the birds as they were let fly one by
one.  And the melancholic Burton tells us that the
162 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THIE HIIUNTERS' CAMP.  163
kings of Persia were  accustomed to hawk butterflies
withl sparrows and starlinigs, that tlley had trained for
tlhis petty falconry.  HIlow muclh above ki s were we,
in chlasing geese, even thloulgh we fliled.  Louis XIII.,
when a boy, had the same small sporlt with  butterflies.  Indeed, I have seen many grown-up people
chasing butterflies, though they  call them by other
rlllames.
After you have turned aside from the great and
proper aim of life, to make this world wiser and better
by your residence in it, and have drop)ped away into
pursuits of pleasure and selfishness, your game may as
well be in lakes as in counting-rooms, country residlences, ownership of railroads and steam lines.  It
is all geese, only differing in size and color.  A span,
a yacht, a month at Saratoga or Newport, the only
shawl of the kind tlhis side of Cashmere- it is all a
wild-goose affair, and half the adult world are in the
chase.  If Branch Pierce, tlhe old Plymouth hunter, to
whose cabin Webster made his annual pilgrimage, kill
in fifty years two hundred and sixty-seven deer with
the same gun, why has he not followed a pleasure as
honorable for manhood, and as useful for mankind, as
he who hunts his pleasure in a "corner" of the corn
exchange, where he doubles the price of each kernel
for the poor consumer, and bags his two hundred and
sixty-seven thousand dollars to make his idle sons fast
young men?
We all must hunt geese of some kind, and probably
the smaller the better.  In the hunt referred to we
made a failure; but our camp fellows were well re 
THE GENERAL, OR
signed to our disappointment, as it brought The
General before us, without the loss of a night.  We
came soon and easily into listening attitude, wondering
what new adventures, in an energetic and wonderful
liffe, were now to be opened up to us. We were not
kept long, in suspense.
1.64 
TWELVE NIGHITS IN THE IIUNTERS' CAMP.  165
OVER TIIE PLAINS.
"After the mineral lands expedition, I was eilgaged
for years in surveying the public lands of my own state.
The Indian, the buffalo, and the elk had fled before
the swarms of immigrants that were filling, our,new
andiis.  The last canoe had crossed our 3Iissouri boIndlay westward, and the orig,inal owners of the state
had found a new home in Kansas Territory.
Caliiornia hacld given hints of her hidden treasures,
and a wonderful excitement followed.  The more venturesomie and enterl)rising of our western men, flushed
with the visions of immense and easy wealth, began to
traverse the Plains and American Desert -so called
tlhen -  and to climb the snow-capped mountains, to
reap the golden harvest.  Many fancied that the precious metals could be had there with only the labor
of scrapling them  up.
"In 1849 all public surveys were again suspended.
Business of all kinds became dull in the West.  At this
timie a favorable opportunity presented itself for me to
gratify a long-clherishedl and ardent desire to visit the
Plains, the Desert, the IRocky Mountains, and the shores
of the Pacific.  Tllis l-)roject had been in my mind for
somen  time.  I had watched the progress and westward
miovemnent of civilization with deep interest, hoping and
expecting that in the course of events my foot would
follow in the trail of the Indian, and my face be turned,
withl his, towards the setting sun. 
THE GENERAL, OR
"The Mormons had solghlt the valley of Silt Lakle,
which was their only p)ossible resting-place betweien
the Mississippi and the S,acramiento, aid fr'omi thllee to
five months were consumed by them in the trip.  Nii  inerous tribes of hostile Iildians at that time lived on
the route, and but few of the emigituants had knowledge
or judgment enough to arrange an outfit for such a
journey, or conduct it safely.   Wagons were made
too heavy; large quantities of unincessary provision,
machinery, tools, and trumpery, were loaded in.  So
the animals were worn down before they came to the
mountains and feeding-pl)laces, and their bones wciee
left by the way, and the emigrant was doomed to pursue
his journey as best hle could on foot.
"In the spring of 1850 the opportunity long de sired offered itself to me, and I embraced it.  With a
light two-horse wagon, five horses, two men, and such
l-)rovision and clothing as good sense suggested for the
trip, I crossed the State of Iowa to Council Bluffs, before the frost had left the ground. We went into
camp at St. Francis, a village of huts six miles below,
on the Missouri.
"At the request of many enterprising men, I prom,
ised to make observations on the route, and report on
the feasibility of a railroad to the Pacific- a project
just then starting up. Always ready and willing to
assist in the progress and welfare of the West, I took
with me my surveying instruments, and such other
apparatus as would enable me to make a preliminary
topographical survey.  This survey I made, and repoited on the same, after my arrival in California, giving the latitude, longitude, and altitude of all the nmore
166 
TWVELVE NIGHIITS IN THE HUNTERS' CA3IP.   16t
prominent landmarks and stopping-places oin my line
of travel.  This report was published at the time in the
New York IIerald, aind extensively copiec(l, as the first
one ever made, I think, for a railroad to the Pacific.
"The  season was  cold  andcl  vegetation backward.
All who passed over the Plains that year can well remember the trials and hardship  endured.   Our encainpmnent below Council Bluffs was long and tedious,
while we waited for the glass to start.
"DTLuring these many  days of delay I visited the
country up and down the MIissouri, Platte, and smaller
rivers.  I visiteld Kanesville, then the great 3iormion
rendezvous, and point of departure for Salt Lake.   I
formed  the acquaintance of the MIormon elders and
missionaries, and acquired a good  understanding of
much of their doctrine. The Boyer River I also traveisecl, finom its mouthl to its source in the vast prairies.
At this time the Otto and Omaha Indians were living
along the 3lissouri, fi'om the mnouthl of the Platte to
the Big  Sioux, and I travelled fieely among them.
Tlhe mission established by the government among
tliem  was then an active institution, and at a place
since called  Bellevue.   Tlhe  Rev. MtI. Kinney  had
elrg^e of the mission, and school attached.  Here I
attendecd church duLrig our delay, and had ample op)portunities to see the work of the missionaries in turning the Indians firom the darkness of barbarism to the
liglht of the Gospel.
"Long will be remembered the days I spent on the
grounds of the old Omaha mission.  He who  all his
life has only read of the trials and hardships of the
missionary should have been there with me to see and 
TIfE GENERAL, OR
realize the labors of one who has set apaii't his life to
so good a work.  The school contained about seventyfive scholars of both sexes. The only hope of the
missionary is in the  chlildren.  These were  taught
daily, and in somie the progress was astonishing, while
others were like the untanined f.awn, whose eyes and
ears are ever so open and alert that it can scarcely
pause to crop the grass and appease its hlunger.
"Many of the girls boarded at the mission, and weie
there taught the various branches of female emplloyment.  On the Sabbath all were gatlhered in the log
chapel, together with any stray whites who chose to
come in.  On these occasions you would see tile father
and mother of the scholars seated around the sides of
the roomi, evidently feeling that it was the place of tihe
Great Spirit.  As the service was about to commemce,
the aged warrior would conice in, bowing in solemn
silence, as if he knew it to be the place where the God
of the white man was worshil)ped.
"The time drew on, though very tardily, whien we
must take up our line of march.  The olganization of
our company had taken place by chloosing me as The
General."
IHere one of the lads interposed to inquire if that
was where he got his title as General, and he was infoblrmled that his commission bore that date, and place,
and authority.  The General resumed:
"We passed by-laws and resolutions to regulate our
caimping and marching, feeling that nothing but order,
authority, and due subordination to the will of the
168 
TWELVE NIGI-ITS IN THIE IIHUNTERS' CAMP. 169
whole, deliberately expressed, could insure us a safe
trip over so long a route, and through so many dangers, as we knew would beset us. For the company
consisted of sixty men, one hundred and eighty-five
horses, and twenty-seven wagons.
"On the 20th of April we broke up camp and began
the crossing of the Missouri. This we completed the
next day, and went into camp on the Nebraska side,
preparatory to a final departure. This was our last
camiping, in sight of a settlement.  There was no grass
as yet, but the great uneasiness of the company to
move carried the vote for a start.
"It was Saturday night, and all had their tents
pitchled, and horses and mules cared for.  The mnoon
in its splendor seemed to vie with the bright and blazing
camp-fires, as I took my official round to see that all
was in trim for a start.  At nine o'clock the bugle
sounded from the tent of The General, and all were
soon gathered there to hear of plans and regulations
for our travelling.  In a few words I reminded the
conmpany of their readiness to depart, of the poor prospects for forage, and of the constant care required to
keep  up the strength of their animals in the  first
stag,es of the expedition.   I also very feelingly reminded them of our departure now firom home, and
fiiends, and settlements, and that we were about to
strike out on unknown prairies, and to encounter trials
and difficulties of which as yet we were totally ignorant. I also called attention to the fact that the next
day would be the Sabbath, a day of rest for man and
beast, and that while I had the honor to command, the
expedition would not move on that day. 
THE GENERAL, OR
" Monday morning, April 22, the announced day for
the departure of the train, came at last, bright and beau tifuil. It was one of those April moirnings when the blue birdl sings, and the early robin is seen, retuirne(l firom
the sunny South-  a d:y well calculated to call up
sweet recollections of home, and all its endearments.
The camp was in motion at an early houri, and at six
o'clock the bugle sounded for the train to move off
according to their assigned number. Long will that
beautiful morning be remembered by the sur'vivors of
the company, as the train wound around the point of
bluff that overlooks the valley of the Platte.
"As the train rose on the high prairie, fiom which
could be seen the beautiful land of Iowa, that lovely
spot, which contained to many in the expedition all that
was dear to them on earth, and as its rich and undu
lating plains receded from view, many a silent prayer
went up, and many a tear was brushed away. So we
bade farewell to the'States' and entered the Indian
country.
"Great was the undertaking, and difficult the overland route that day to California.  None knew  the
dangers and destinies of those who undertook it.  The
parting from home was a sad fiarewell, and this was renewved as the wanderer passed the border of the settlements.
"Forage had become scarce on the Missouri, and,
thlou,gh the grass had not grown sufficiently to sustain
the animals, it seemed almost imperative to move on.
For more than two weeks after starting we fed the
stock on flour wet up with chopped dry grass gathered
from the prairie, and on browse, when we could find it.
170 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THIE IIUNTERS' CAMP. 171
Along the Platte and Loup Fork Rivers we obtained
for this purpose limbs of the linwoodl, imulberry, and
elm.   The cavalcqade moved slowly to tlhe Elllkhorn
River, andcl thence to the Loup Fork, a. distance of one
hundred miles, to a crossing about five miles above its
mouth.  Some enterprising emigrants had niadle a fiatl)oa.t here, and were keeping a kind of ferry, the river
b)eing highl, and not fordable, except in July and August.
Tl1iere were one or two companies, waiting to be set
over wlhen we arrived.  Some days the winds were so
hig,hl that not one team could be p)assed over. We went
into camp to await our turn for the fiat —eoat, there being
timhber and browse in abundance, and old girass that we
could prepare for our teams.
"W\hile encamped here, I started out with my old
and tried firiend C., who had been my coml)anion on
many of my Iowa expeditions, for a hunting tour up
the Loup Fork.  There had been a recent battle between the Sioux and Pawnees, who fought each other,
on every occasion, somewhere on this river, and we
were very desirous of finding the ground. After triavelling one day till nearly night, we came to the bloody
field in a willow tl-hicket near the bank of the river.
"The  attack had been made by the Sioux.  The
Pawnees were out on a hunt, and, as usual, eneamped
in a thicket to hide themselves from their enemies.
P),it the keen eye of the Sioux discovered their retreat,
and(1 fell on them in the night, killing six. As we approached the battle-field, we found on the edgle of the
prairie, about a hundred yards fi',)m  tlhe site of tlheir
camp, a number of small holes dug,, not more than a
foot in diameter, and an equal number of small poles, 
TIlE GENERAL, OR
or sticks, placed by them, pointing in different directions, showing whence the enemy came, and which way
they retreated.
"Along the side of these holes lay twelve small
sticks of willow, about a foot long, and of the size of a
pipe-stem, each end being finely splintered(, like a broom.
These we could not interpret, tioug,h both of us were
acquainted with the dumb laLnguage of Indian signs.
But at the place of battle in the willows, and where
the dead fell, the signs were more intelligible.
"In front of the lodge, or rather of the place where
it was -for the poles were still standiing, there stood - a
straight willow pole, about five feet high, and painted
red, bent over a little at the top, fiomn  which was
suspended an Indian effigy, cut fiom  undressed elk
hide, painted and hanging by the scalp lock. On each
arm were cut six notches, representing the six Pawnees
killed in the engagement. On the top of this pole was
placed a brass finger-ring, broken, to show that the
enemy had professed firiendship, but broken it. This
was an allusion to a treaty of friendship made between
these two tribes not more than six months before.
About four inches apart fi'om the top of the pole downward were tied six pipes full of tobacco, each in a rag,
with a lock of the hair of the deceased Indian attached
to it. This was an offering to thle Great Spirit, that lihe
iiiigh,t supl)l)ly the lepariited( withl tol)(i(-co to smoke forever
in the hutnting-grounds of tlhe Gitche Ia.iiitou. On each
side of this pole, and not fair dlistant, two others of
smaller dimensions were placed, firom  the top of each
of which swung, like an old tavern sign, a piece of
grained elk skin about eighteen inches square. On one
172 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMIP.  173
of these were painted a large number of horse a(nd
mule feet, signifying the number of such animals the
enemy had. On the other side the number of the
enemy  was represented by so maniy Indian  heads,
painted m ith scalp locks. On the other parchment
was represented the number killed by each party, and
the number of horses taken.  From  this spot comilmenced a line of poles, with small flags or bits of rags
on the top of each, pointing in the direction in which
the enemy went.
"In addition to all this, and the most interesting of
all, were the rude hieroglyphics on the ashes and sand
around the camp, where their religious ceremonies took
place, and the offerings were made to appease the Evil
Sp)irit.  The dead of both parties were carried offsix Pawnees and three Sioux - after this mlanner: Long,
poles were cutt and attached by one end, two for each
horse, to either side of the saddle.  The other ends
dragged on the ground.  In this way a kind of litter
was made, and to it the dead were lashled and drawn
away to their village.  It is their custom to remove the
wounded in the same way.
"The fineral obsequies differ among  the different
tribes, as do also their customs of courtship and marriige; and while we are waiting, as it were for the
ferryminan at the crossing of the Loup Fork, 1 may as
well tell you soinetling of the latter.
"W,ithli the Sacs and Foxes, a y3oung man selects lis
fiture wife at some feast or dance, and then i)forms
his mother, who calls on the mother of the girl.  If an
arrangement for the match is made by the mothers, a
time is fixed, and the lover goes to the lodge of tho 
THiE GENERAL, OR
gilI's parents in the night, when all arie asleep, or are
supplosedl to be.  ITe findls the matel)es, which have
been provided for the occasion fiom  tlhe pitch of thiv
pine tree, and( lighting these, lie soon dliscovers whler
his intended sleeps.  lIe awakes her, holds the liglt
to lis own fece, that she may know him, and  tlhen
lplaces it close to her farce.  If she blows it out, the
ceremony is over, and he appears in the lodge the
next morning as one of the family.  If shle does not
blow it out, he leaves thle lodge, and the light is lef).
to brain till it expires.
"But the next day lie will pllace himself in full view
of lher wigwamn, an(l play his flute. Tlle young womnen
there asseinbled will then go out, one by one, to see
wlioiiim hle dcesires.  As thley ap)proachl singly he chlang,es
tlhe tune, for each successive one, to discord and confiasion, till his intended appears. Wllein she sliowvs herself
in the door of the lodge, le plays the soft, sweet notes
of a lover, until she retires.  She does not approach
him.  Her appearance while lie plays encourages him;
and so at night le goes again to lher lodge, and this
second time he is generally successful.
"During the first ye.ear of the marriage, they ascertain whether they can  live together  in peace and
happiness.   If'incompatibility' appear, they separate, and try ag,ain for new partners.
"The courtship of the Chil)pewa is still more siinple.  The lover appears at the door of the wigwami
of' his dlesiued bride with  a bundle of furs, peltries,
beads, and wampum.  He enters and lays the gifts at lher
feet, and then retires a short distance from the lodge
to await her decision. If he is accepted, she soon
174 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP. 175
appears at the door, and holds aside the cuirtain that he
may enter.  It'f hle is rejected, his fuirs and otiher preseits are suddenly thrown out of the lodge, and he
I)icks them  lI) iand(  retires, as if they  were' thle
Imitten.'
"It is not to be supposed, however, that these loveri
are strangers to each other.  Long  years of acquaintance andl courtship may have passed between them;
but the ceremony of the offered hand and acceptance
must be carefully regarded.
"With some tribes the negotiations are made by the
parents, wlen a certain number of horses and blankets
is given for the brid(e, and she is driven or forced off,
like a slave to the market, which tlhe Indian wives so
genlerally become, after manrriage.  For they plant an(l
iharvest the corn, cut and pack in the wood to tlhec
lodge, move the wigwam iii summer and winteli, rain
an(l snow, without  any  aid  from  husband,  fitther,
brother, or son.  They slkia the gaine, dress thle flis,
cure the meaLt, dry thle fish, gathler the rice, and cook
the v-ictuals, whlile the 1.-lzy Indian lies on the mat and
enjoys the friit of the wife's labors.
" As to the burial customs, the Sacs and Foxes, Winnebag'oes and Potawatamies, bury their dead in a sitting
position, with tbe body left above ground as high as
the rib)s.  The  blanket is thrown loosely over  the
shouldeirs; the paint is in one hand, and the pipe and
tobacco in the otlher.  The grave is enclosed with high
l)ales, set closely tog(ether in the ground, so that no
aiim-al can enter.  The Sioux and Chlippewas bury
above ground, if I may so sl-)eak, on  a  scaffoldi,ng.
This is built with poles and bark, often ten feet high, 
, HE GENERAL, OR
ancd sometimes in the branches of the trees. The body
is prepared for the fiuneral rite by closely wrapping
it in  blankets, and  the clothing of  the deceased.
Whlen placed on the scaffold it is covered with bark
to prevent the birds firom dev(ouringi it.
"It is no uncommon thing for the traveller in the
Sioux country to find, a short distance fiom the lodge,
the dead body of a child, wrapped in its cradle of
btirk, swinging from  the limbs in full view of the
itother's watchful eye.  She guards it sacredly from
the rude touch of man or beast.  She listens to the
sighing wind, as it rocks the p    recious burden, and adds
lici wild lullabl)y for the spi'it of the departed.
"Some  t,ibes lay their dead  on the top of the
ground, and cover them  over with stones and earth;
but very few of themi bury, like the white man.  It is
the customii of all the tribes to visit the graves of their
dead often, and for years.  A noted chlieftain's grave
will often be surrounded by his warriors and braves,
and the most bitter lamentations will be sent forth,
,awakening hill and dale with their sorrow.  So with
the mother at the grave of her child, and the maiden
at that of her lover.  Bitter wailings may be heard
at midnight, but none goes near to comfort the sorrowing.
"Of their sports and pastimes the Indian has more
than the white mlan.  Besides their feasts and dances,
they have, in the most of the tribes, the great game
of ball, at which five hundred can play on  a side.
Ihorses, guns, blankets, and trinkets are staked, and the
winning party takes the stakes.
"The Indian is also an inveterate gambler, and will
176 
TWELVE NIGIITS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  177
lay down his last blanket, or even the wampum of his
squaw, to in(lulge this passion.  They play with eards,
but it is au game different fi'om any known to white
ilen.
"WVell, at last the ferryman is ready to pass us over,
and the men are weary of delay.  The gold fields of
California glisten before them, and they are eager to
press on.  But ferriage over the Loup Fork by night
is a dangerous thing.  We  must wait now till morning."
WAith the promise of pleasant rambles up the Platte,
through the Pawnee country, and- among elk and buff.ailo, at our next session of the Swan Lake encampment, we broke up for the night
12 
THE GENERAL, OR
TENTII NIGHT.
DAY of miscellanies.  Thle keen edge of hunting
has been wearing off, and we have gradually come
into it as a rontine of -)business.  No new specimens of
game are exp)ected.  We have r.an,ed fiom the jackl snipe to the lordlly turkey and royal swan, and fiotn
squirrel to coon.  No new localities are to be hunted(
up.  We have trailed to the outer edge of our saucer
of bottom laud, and know every creek, lag,ooi, anid
uddlle.  Incidents to the game or ourselves, lby land
or water, are no lon) er extraordinary amongo  twu-ety
men daily seeking themn; the exciting, and the marvellous, and the ha.ir-breadtlhs, have come by their abhundance to be ordinary, expected, and commonplace.  In
the generous natural sup)ply of game on our grounds,
we are not driven to lihunt to live; we merely live here
to hunt.
So to-day there has been no great enthusiasm for the
sport, and no wide ranges were planned. It has rather
been a day of all woiks. We made short excursions,
or shot what came in near on the lake shore, and down
the outlet. A little municipal or philosophical phenomenon engrossed the attention of our canvas village early
in the day, and thus:
After leaving The General and his expedition at the
Loup Fork Ferry last night, and betaking ourselves in
178 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN TIIE HUNTERS' CAMP. 179
an orderly way, as good hunters will, to our lodges, one
of the tents was warmed tip) by a little pocket stove,
withl a three-inclh plipe, for a supplement to the evening
chleer. The iinmate(s, a little invited(l compalny, sang, and
told stories, and laughed, and did a dozen other meriy
andi innocent things, till the wee bit of a stove became
suddenly asthmatic and -wheezy, and could not catch
its breath.  Dryer wood was of no account; the lifting
of the tent curtain broulght no relief by draulghts of
fiesh air. Aifter all the coaxing and forcing, the smoke
refused to go up the legitimate way, an-d socially filled
the tent instead; at which many tears were shed.  So
the fire was put out; singing and joking, and stories
and laughinig, came to an end after a short half hour.
The men wondered, and the boys too, what tlhe matter
could be, and then all went to sleep.  This morning, in
attempting to solve the mystery, masses of leaves and
grass, much like an old squirrel's nest, were  found in
tlhe ilpl)er end of the pipe, where it was made steady
against a tree.  The men won(dered, and the boys too,
that squirrels slhould build in a stove-pipe at night, and
while the fire was bturning.  The men hlad never heard
of the like before, andcl the boys said they had not.
Strange things do sometimes occur in camp, specially
-wlhee there are boys.
Some time was spent to-day in packing off game to
friends up and down the river, as we had an opportu nity to forward it to a landing.  The plump ducks set tled in cosily in the boxes between geese and turkeys,
and the fox squirrels filled up thle chinks, whlile par tridges and snipe took the place of honor on the top.
A gentleman hunter came into camp during the day, 
TIIE GENERAL, OR
amusinti us more than he disturbed the game.  Hle was
dressed in good hl:)tck bhoatdclotli, ani(1 his boots had a
splendid polish, while his huntilng al)paratus was of the
mnost appiroved pattern, an(l militatry finislh, fobr he ranked
higi( in tlhe army. I-lis movemnents o01 the gamie were bold
and soldier-like.  WIhen he returned( fi'omn his first and
last attack on the ducks down the creek, his broadcloth
an(l boots looked otherwise than so as they did look
when he marhedlel forth; and hle did not say so much
of game when he put off his armor as when he put
it on.
To one experienced in catnI), angle,  nd gun life, it
is vastly entertaining to see your fastidious and exqui site hook sportsman enter the field. IHis outfit is ex tavagantly expensive, as well as unfitting; he has more
luggage than a belle at Cape Miay, yet learns at last that
a very small bag and boy can carry all his game.  The
rain and the sunshine, the flies and the mosquitos, the
brisli and the open land, the bog and the rocks, all
trouble him, and he, in return, troubles all his compan.
ions; and the universal prayer is, that he may be taken
home tenderly and speedily to a dressing-gown, slip)ers, and ani ottoman.
I well remember fishing for mackerel, during a college holiday, firom a wharf in Dorchester, when a gentleman was driven down pompously in a splendidcl open
buggy, to try his chance.  The driver so placed the carri.lge that his eminence could sit iii it and fish. With
aluch ado he rigged a beautiful jointed pole and reel,
and made a beginning.  If there hadl been one aristo
(I'ratic or snobbish mackerel in Boston Bay, that estab1,sl~tent wanted him, and ought to have taken hil.
180 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  181
Buit, as it turned out, the first fish was an impudent
and yulgar sculpin.  We  laug,hel, the gentleman was
disg,ustedcl, and the carriagTe left. Our military firiend
crme down the river, and then - lhe went  up  the
river.
During this same clay the skin of a swan was carefilly removed from the orig,inal owner, and packed for
the East by Thle General, and threescore and tell squirrel tails were removed to make emineni t bashaw boys
at home.  A solitary turkey called us a half mile into
the forest, and there left us quietly to our own meditations on the deceitfilness of hope.
To relieve the tedium of that idlle Indian summer
dayN, so soft in its lhaze, and lying so lazily all abroad on
the tinted forest, and lake shores, and lal,ps of praiie,
we made sundry empty pickle jars serve as targets for
our revolvers andl rifles. It was a good study and practice for the culture of exactness.
The man who would give precision and a clear cut to
his tlhought, and send the idea accurately home, should
l)ractise rifle shooting.  In thiS hle learns to depend on
a singl,e ball, and on his skill in putting it in the right
place. It is practical mnathlerematics, conic sections ap plied, in a very demonstrative way.   A  good sharp shooter must be an accurate reasoner.  Distance, re fiaetion of the atmosIphere, and currents of air, as wei!
as tlhe most vulnerable point in the gane, and its speed,
if it be moviing, must be estimated.
I well rememnber my first lesson on the deceptive ness of a cldense ani( refracting atmosphere.   It was a
):fiziC chicken on the marashes below Davenport, clean
bunt l)()tto,i, and loadled down with the heavy vapors 
*
THE GENERAL; OR
of an approaching April evening.  My vision of the bird
was, of necessity, in  n upward curve.  MIy first ball
made a good perpendicular, but three inches above the
bird's head, as its strike beyond showed; the second
was lower, anid thle third lower still.  The bil(], true to
habit, kept itself motionless, till thle fourth ball redullced
its head to a vulgar firaction.  Distance, and vapors,
and refraction, and breezes, and the changing positions
of men, not being taken fully illto account, many public
speakers make  random  shots.  Some  hit the hea(rer
the second time just where they missedc him  the first
time.
Specially men who handle canons ecclesiastical
should practise rifle-shooting.  Dependence on a sitgle
ball in the right place will give them command of" the
inevitable words," so honorably  credited to Robert
South.  O, but how  many use shot guns, and small
shot at that, and like an old British soldier, they seem
to come no nearer to taking aimn than laising tlhe gun
breast high.  Some, in their trepidationi, and(l with unpractised hands, let their pieces off at half cock, which,
perlilaps, is just as well, after all.
Moreover, this rifle practice will help the speaker to
know that, after he has fired, his piece is empty.  It is
no use to cock and snap till he loads again.  How
much sn,apping of explosive, sensational caps in  the
pulpit and on the platfbrm, with an empty rifle, because
the speaker does not know that he has fired, and is
empty, and should be endled of his noise.
-Ien who use shot can, if able, carry a double barrel,
and so fire twice in close succession.  Father Gleason,
the good missionary among the New York Indians,
182 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE IIUNTERS' CAMP.  183
had a Deacon Two Guns in his church.  Probably in
his wil(l state the man was the possessor of a doublebarrelled gun, and so came by his name; to wich the
church lell afixed the title, as an officer in it.  Happy the
pastor anl tl-he church where Deacon Two Guns is an
office-bealrer, provided(l  always tlhat lie knows how  to
handle his piece.  It was, no doubt, the fiequent andc
ill-timed 1)pop) of a single barrel of snall shot, and the
nskilled use of a double barrel, that led Dr. Toddc to
make a clharacteristic reply on a certain occasion.
Dr. To(ld," inquired a firiend, " how dlo you proceed
when about to elect a deacon?"  " With great relutetance, sir'."
I a,nm awarie that the Council of Ag(le forbade hunt
ing a(nd hawking to bishops, presbyters, anl1 deacons,
an(l they were not allowed to keep dog,s and falcons
for field sports.  Also the Council of Trullo restrained
the clergy firom baiting wild beasts and hunting tlemn
w-ith dogs.  But this was far back in the darkness of
the sixth and  seventh centuries, and  in  the Papal
clhurch.  Against all such restrictions I an a thorough
Protestant, and my Lord Coke rules that I may hunt,
as you will soon see.
If all bishops or ministers shoul(l keep a fast day, as
Lauld dlid, for every awkward shot, their weeks would
not  be  long  enorugh.   The stol'y runs thlus   The
famous Laud  had been norinated ns Bishlop of St.
Da,vid's, buit was not installed.  Visitiig Lordl Touch
at Bianshill Park, H-lampslire, he is persua(led to join
in a hunt, which was vIery well, before or after in(iduc tion.  But not skilled in the crossbow, as good Hiugh
Latimer would have had him —and in some other 
THE GENERAL, OR
things, too, he was far from Latimer's model for a
bishop- he unfortunately shot a man instead of a (leer.
It was a sad thing, and Laud went penitently into
retirement, while his rivals urged that a man of blood
could not fill a bishol)ric.  The king issued a coin mission of inquiry on the objection, and they declared
it to be no bar.  The opposition also consulted Sir
Edward Coke, whether a bishop might hunt at all.
He wisely declared it to be good canon and civil law
that a bishop may hunt.  Sir Edward was learned and
scholarly, as the world knows.  Laud(  was inducted
Bishop of St. David's, November 18, 1621; but he ever
after sorrowfully kept that fatal day as a fast day.
Awkward shots, erring, wounding shots, have kept
many candidates from installation, and disturbed the
settlements of not a few, and their fast days are not
near enough together.  Yes, practise rifle-shlooting, as
a means to clear ideas, accurate expression, singleness
of aim, and definiteness in result. For, as that most
excellent sermon hath it, "Men shall never shoote well
except they be brought up in it." Study carefully
the archery of the Psalms, and all the arrows of the
Old Testament, and trust to no bow drawn at a
venture, though a careless man did once so kill a
wicked king.
WTell, we were shooting rifles at tihe empty pickle
j.ars beside Swan Lake. So in doing various notliings
laboriously- for to do nothing in a series, and follow it
wvell, is hard work -the leisure (lay waxed and waned in
all the mellow glories of October in the forests. We
were as merry, andl jolly, and free fromn care as Robin
Hood's men in Sherwood, and if we made no shots as
184 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  185
good as Callum Dhu's ainong the McGregors, it was the
fault of our education in degenerate times.
Supper came, and went too.  Then The General set
us all over the Loup Fork in one boat load, and we
struck out for the Rocky Mountains in bold style, as
you will now see. 
TIIE GENERAL, OR
INDIANS! INDIANS!
"I like a good starting-point in a story, and a ferry
is such.  WTe crossed  over, the next morning, froni
where I left the expedition last night, and were now
f.aily in the Pawnee  country.  Large band(s of them
would often follow the train fi'om  molrning till nighlt,
begging and stealing accolrdilig to opportunity.  They
are a low, filtliy tribe, inferior in every respect to tle
Sioux of the Upper LMissouii.  They were fiien(dly, but
mlost inveterate thieves, particularly of horses, in whlich
they abouinded.
"They  had often demanded  and received presents
fi'om smiall companies passilng thirough their country.
WThen  our  train eneamped  on  Wood  River  these
Ind(ians nmad(e their appearance in large numbers.  The
guard was set across the bend of the riverI within wlhose
curve our camp was, and no Indian was allowed to
eriter.  With 1)revi5ous trains of emigrants they had lIa(1
the pivilege of going withini the lines, and even tents,
ostensib)ly to trade, but really to steal.  At my  1unlooked-foi chleek on theii custom ani(I )lins, they becamne clInoroioiis and  abusive.  They li.ad  pressed Up
hardi( on tl1e linie when  I or(1elred the guard(  to be
doubled(, ald nl may men to conie inside.  At this juneture oF afftirs two yoiung chiefs clame forward, andl in
broken English (deman dede( to see tle c:i-)taiii. I wascalled
fi'om Iny tent, and met the two chIiefs outside.  They
demanded tribute in tobacco, piipjes, blankets, powder
186 
/IT ~hI\
THE GENERAL ])ECLINES TO PAY TRIB3UTE.  Page 187.
0o 
O'A 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  187
and lead, because my band was passing through their
territory, eating their grass, killing their buffalo, and
burning their wood, adding that other bands of whites
ha(l paid this tribute, and I must.  I replied, that they
hbd a large country, and did not need all the grass and
wood, and that their Great Father at Washington had
given me permission to go through, and that he gave
them annually many horses, and guns, and blankets,
and provisions, and money to pay for letting bands of
white men go through, and that he expected his children, the red men, would not trouble his other chilldren,
the pale faces.
"They then demanded to be let into the camp to
trade, and sell moccasons and fancy things for food and
n,iinmunition.  This I also refilsed, telling them  that
their people were thieves, that I could not trust them
inside, and that all their demands  and threats for
presents or trade I shlould resist with force.
"At this the Indians all retired to a small rise of land
at a short distance in fi'ont of the camp, and set up a
most terrific cry, with fierce gestures of revenge, brandishing their knives and tomahlawks. All at once they
started for their village, two miles off, yelling as they
went, some on horses, andl some on foot.  This act
caused much alarm in camp, and I was censured for my
arbitrary course towards the Indians. But I was forced
into the measure by their constant thefts from the
wag,ons. All along the route, where a halt was called,
at a waltering-place or encampment, a crowd of the
vagabonds would come about us, and while one Indian
engaged the attention of a driver by the sale of some
trifle, others would steal whatever came to hand that 
188
THE GENERAL, OR
could be concealed and carried. On an examination
the day before, it was ascertained that many of the
company, not used to In(dlian trickery, had not only
lost trifliug thlings, like knives and hatchets, but whole
hams and large pieces of other mieat.  An Indian can
place  two or three hams under his blanket, and walk
off without being mistrusted.  I well knew  the sad
consequences of such losses, whlen, in the pr)ogress of
the journtey, misfortune might come and provisions be
scarce.  Moreovei, if I submitted to these demands,
smaller trains of emigrants would he compelledl to
surrender, and be robbed wholly, and without mercy.
I therefore set them at defiance.
"As the Indians went off in great anger, the more
timid of our company  believed  that we should  be
attacked that night.  But as the evening wore away,
the little circles grew less and less around the canip
fires.  One after another disappeared in his tent, so
that by ten o'clock all attacks by Indians were forgotten.
"It was a dark night, with no mnoon and few stars.
The prairie was on fire in the distance, lilghting, up the
solitary waste with a luid glare far along the horizon.
It was nearly eleven o'clock, and a few of us, officers,
were sitting around the fires of the guard in fi'ont of
the encampment, when thle tramp of horses' feet was
heard approaching fron up) the river.  In an instant I
laid my ear close to the ground to listen.  The sound
was distinct, and as I rose up I could see by the light
of the prairie fire, and between  Ius and it, horsemen
approaching at a gallop.  I at once shouted, at the top
of niy voice,'Indians! Indians!'  Those inside who 
TWVELVE NIGHTS IN THE IIUNTERS' CAMIP.  18S9
were awakle repeated the alarm, and it spread  like
flashing lightniing through the camp.
"I gave orders for all to form in line in firont of the
camp.   Ilen rushed firom their tents half clothe(l, bewildtlered, Iand without arms.  Some  brought glins unloi(lded(l, aidi others axes, knives, and hatchets.  A few
sotcught reftuge ill the tents, or under the wagons, and
lbid thlemselves away among bags and blankets.  One
old man, a  Iletlhodlist exhorter firom Iowa City, and
vwho diedl soon after his arrival in California, was found
linder l5is w agon, praying for protection against the
IJalihans!  Just as the oflicers had succeeded in forming,
a line of so many as had the courage to come out, the
enemy was discovered to be a small party of our own
horsemen, who had been feedi,ig their stock up tlhe
creek- a cieircumstaince of absence forgotten for the
time by the wagcu-naster, and never mentioned to me.
"Iitending to l'rofit by the occurrence, so seriotusly
openiing, and etid(ling so ludicrously, I ordered the roll
called, and all delinqueuts to  be brought forward.
Tlhis reeale(l a bad state of things.  Somre of them
couIIld not find thleir Iarmis in time to fail in; others
had no amiiuniitioli.  Indleedl, but few of our entire
conipany were really ready foi' an Indian  surprise.
Out of the company of men in camp when the alarm was
given, only twenty-four were found in the ranks ready
to fi(ght.  I at o,,ce took nmeasures to have all their
arms puit in goo(( oi.der, each man to be provided with
ammiiilitionl; and I i)assed the  regulation that they
sllould keep thleir 1)ices loaded, but not capped, and
by their sides at  ight.  After a protracted address
on watchfulness ai!To:,g the Indians, two rounds were 
THIE GENERAL, OR
fired, andcl then all retired to rest, except tlhe guard.
To this day many of that company believe that I
planned that alarm and played a game on them, to see
what kind of material I had to depend on in crossing
the Plains.
"There was another company that passed while I was
in controversy with the Pawnees, and not only saw their
angry manners, but were told by the timid( of my train
that we should be attacked before mornling.  This train
passed on about two miles, and camped some distance
firom the road, through fear of the Indians.  They were
aroused by the report of our guns, and supposing we
were attacke(l, instead of coming, to tlhe rescue, they
broke up their camp in haste, and at midni,ght, and
commenced their march for the next day.  About a
mile beyond them, and just before regaining the main
roadl, tlhere was one of those sunken marshles, so often
found on the bottom lands of the Platte.  In attemptimg to cross th-is in the dalrkness, tlheir teams miiied,
and many of them remained there till mornilng.  Our
company saw them fiom the thloroug,hfare, as we p)assed
by, and remindiing them of the story of tlhe two friends
and the bean, we left them to extricate themselves as
best they could.
"The company were now ascending the north folrk
of the Platte, and were fairly in the buffalo country,
and vast herds of this animal were seen in the distance.
The valley of the Platte is fi'om three to ten miles
wide.  In some places, the bluffs or high prairie come
near to the banks, while in others they recede. Under
the edge of these bluffs the grass springs much earlier
than in the more open prai'ie, and immense herds of
190 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THIE HIUNTERS' CAMP.  191
buffalo were here quietly grazing.  When at a distance,
one would see a loneg, black line of them  beneath the
blutft, and this line wouldl continue in view fiom imornilg, till nigllt.  This accounts for the oft-repeate(l and
n(v-er-explained assertions of travellers, that they had
seen thousands of these animals in single lher(ls, andcl
had travelled tnrouhl them firom  morning till night,
and for days toYethler.  They had seen a thin line of
these animals on that strip of early and tender grass,
and not deep and dense herds.
"In the extreme hot weather the little lakes, creeks,
and l)onds diry utip in the interior, and by instinct these
animals approach the Platte for water, in distances of
hundreds of miles across the plains, and their movement is marked by vast clouds of dust.  When once
started they neither stop nor turn out till they reach
the water. In these annual migrations they always
seek a beaten track, called a'bnffalo trail.'  It is coinp)osed of five hundred, it may be, or a thousand paths,
si(le by side, like firrows in a field, only that they are
deeper and about four feet apart.  These  are quite
uniform in depth and parallel distance, and often
mlike a belt of great width.  The trail is begun by a
lherd starting for water, and travelling side by side
through the prairie grass, the platoon, so to speak, being several buffalo deep, and each following in the
steps of his predecessor.  They return in the same
track and order, and as they go back and forth thus,
the paths are worni deep, while the grass along the trail
is wholly destroyed.
"When thie stranger beholds one of these trails, his
first thought is, that he has come to a cultivated land, 
TIIE GENERAL, OR
and that this is a vast field ploughled and fiurrowed for
planting.  ILe looks off rillht and left  on it, and sees
each path beaiing its iegutlar curve to the other, like
the crooked furrow the farmer has followed in p)logllg ing each succeeding one.  Wlihen the train coimes to
one of these trails the mnen must find a high ridge,
where the wind has filled in the paths with sand, or
they must level a road with the spade, foir, in many
places, the paths are too deep for any carriage to pass
them.
"If a traveller is once caughl t in a buffalo trail when
they come along(, pressing on for water, he lhas no way
of escape.  The buffalo could not turn out if hle would,
for he is plressed on each si(le, and from behind, by the
rushling herd.  If an animal falls down, he is trampled
to death by those following, who  cannot stop.  The
eyes, nose, and months of these creatures are filled withl
sandi anld dust; their tongrues hang out swollen and
parched with thlirst, and no obstacle-  man or beastcan stop them in their passion and hlaste for water.
"The Indians and trappers say that the bufflAlo often
came dowin to the Platte in such wild fury as to rush
over the banks into the river, treading on one anotlher,
so that thousan(ds are drowned.  We found hundreds
of them dead and dying on the open plain that had
been burned by the annual prailie fires. On the seasoii
of our trip, however, the fires had been  unusually
severe, for the old grass was heavy - perhaps the
accumule ation of two or three years.  Sonme advanced
tri.ins had set the fires during a wind storm, so tlhat the
bla.zing tufts were carried to a great distance, and a
wide country fired at once.  Not only had the buffalo
192 
TWELVE NIGIITS IN TIIE IIUNTERS' CAMP.  193
been overtakeii by thle flames, but the wolf, and( even
tlhe fleet antelope, as we found, hacl p)erislhedl in the
fierv tornado.
"5[Many blind butfflo lay along  tlhe banks of the
Pliatte, and at tinies, we  then road ral  i near,i to them,
ae had to send scouts forward to clear the way, lest
tlhey should run into us.  Tlhrough aIll this region our
camip was well supplied with  buffalo  and  antelolpe
meat.  Of the latter animal but little notice is taken,
as lhis fleetness prevents his being captured to any practical extent by the sportsman.   They are animials of
great culiosity, andcl no strange object can be shown to
them without their approaching to know what it is,
dependingi on their swift foot for safety, if danger arise.
Tlhe hunter uses this curiosity to kill tlhemn.   Selectin,
some log, rock, or cover, hie lies flit on the ground, a(nd
pittting his hlndlkerchief or some showy object on his
r.mrol, -he waves it back and forth till the attention
of the animal is arrested.  In a few moments it will
comie towards the hIunter withl a bound.  As it comes
quite near it will be,gin to circle aroiund tlle object,
cominig inearier and nearer, till withlin the range of the
fatal rifle, and so is killed.
"Of all the aniiinals tlhat inhabit thie Plains, they are
tlhe most beautiful and innocent, resemhbliig, somewhlat
tlhe fa-wn, or yearliii, deer, except in length of body and
neck, -hich are sllorter and more like thlose of the goat.
Tlhey have the color of tlhe deer, witl  wlhite stripes
along the sides, a lnottledl fce, with a te(lndei, beautiful
ey-e like that of the gazelle. Tihe antelol)e is often
called the American gazelle.
"We  Lad now  travellet  three hundred miles fiont
13 
THE GENERAL, OR
the Loup Fork, and to a re(-ion on the Pl,atte where
the timber gave out entirely, and nothing but a. treeless
waste lay before us.  IHere we spenit some lays in rest ing tlle animals.  Two hundred(l miles lay between us
and Fort Laramie with only a singlle tree in all tlhe
distance!  A senlse of loneliness cocmes over one as he
enters this vast )prairie ocean.  After a journey of two
or three days his eyes are greeted by the si,ght of the
Lone Tree, known to all trappers, traders, and eimiii grants of the Platte.  Whence it came, or how long
it h'as braved the storms of rain anld wind, sand and
fire, none can tell; but there it stands, a solitary sen tinel of tle desert, unscatlhed by the lightnings, while
the hand of man has not presumed to miar it. It looks,
at a distance, like the first speck of a ship at sea, and
is a great landmark, for it counts three hundred and
seventy-five miles firom Council Bluffs, and one hundred and forty-seven to Fort Laramie.
"Another curiosity met withl on  these prairies is
The Saleratus Beds. These are composed of a white
substance that rises fironm  the earth, looking like lime
or pl)aster of Paris, sown all over the land for many
mniles.  It whlitens the grass like snow, and persons
travelling through it find their pants covered with tl)e
white powder to the knees.  When pools and other
bodies of water impregnated with it diy up, an inecristation is left, like ice, an inch thick, and large flakes or
sheets of it can be lifted as ice firom under which tlhe
water has been drained off.
"These ponds form a curiosity to the traveller, as he
beholds their dazzling whiteness in the morning sun,
sparkling like acres of diamonds.   The substance is
104 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  195
.;ten usedI for bakiiing purposes, but it has a bitter taste,
afi( is a poor substitute in camp for saleiatius.  When
thle water ilmpregnated by it is idrunik by man or beast
in any la,rge quantity, it pro(Luces death, while very
smatll quantities act directly on the kidneys, producing
weakness and disability.  In some portions of tile route
to California, it is very troublesome, and has produced
gre'lt disasters, destroying the entire teams of a company, leaving the poor emigrants helpless and destitute
on the desert.
We were at this time passing over immense prairies,
and no living being was visib)le, except the buffalo, the
antelope, and the cayote, or prairie wolf.   Water was
scarce, and at wide distances apart, so that we  were
often without it at night, except as the men had carried
it in their rubber bags and tin cans.
As soon a  as ahalt was called at night, the cooks of
each mess would be seen running in evelry direction,
with sacks and blankets, for buffilo chips, so called
politely, for fuel.  AVhen dry the article is a good substitute for wood, and produces no unpleasant odor.  It
makes a mass of coal not unlike peat, and answers all
the purposes of fuel.
"The mi,2age, as seen on these endless prairies, is
wonderful, and often sublimne.  At one time the trav eller sees before him, and directly in his cour'se, a beau tifiil lake; but as he approaches, it recedes.  Its placid
waters, that invited and excited the tlhirsty wanderer,
prove to be a false and fleeing shadow.  Again, lhe
will see a city, nigh or far off, with magnificent domes
and spires, minarets and towers, lying up in the noon day sunI. But as lie gazes and approaches, it moves off. 
TIIE GENERAL, OR
like the aurora, till lost in the distance. The small emn.
iaences, at times, loom ul) like mountains, and shrubs
become groves inviting to their cool shades, that fade
out ancld move off, as one pursues them, under a burn ilI sun.
"The dust we encountered was a great annoyance,
and; was often so severe as to bring the train to a halt,
and compel an e]lcampment.  Aftei travelling all day,
it lhappened that we didl not recognize each other, or a
man his own team, having l)ut on gogg,les and a veil,
and being covered with a (deep coating of white dust.
"Anothler curiosity to us was the priailie dog, of
vwhich trappers and travellers of those regions have
toll so much.  This animal is  bouiit as large as the
wharf rat, with head an(] ears like the woodchuck of
New England.  I-e inhabits only the prailie, and that
the ligh groundcl, lives on gr'ass and roots, andl burrows
like the gopher, biinging, the dirt to the surface.  And
so, as they never live solitaiy, but in villages, one of
tlheir hlaints, covering acres, iooks likle a city of moun(ds.
Tlhe only visitors tl-hey admit to thleir subterranean
houses are the owl and the rattlesnakle.  Some have
stul)posed that the l)rairie dog has instinct, like the
beaver, that leads him  to organize a settlement on  a
plan and under riegulations, and that the owl and snake
are there on invitation, or by consent, as guests and
firiends.  But I am satisfied(l, fiom long observation, that
this is a mistakle.  This aniimal has less shrewdness  or
isdIomfl then the commlon fiarm rat, and possesses little
i)()wei   of'self-l)rotection.  -lIence tle owl cInes in to feed
onl thleir youLng, and the snake to find a place of comfoirt and safety.  Their rep.ted bark, as of the dog, is
196 
TWELVE NIGIITS IN TIIE II3NTERS' CAMP.   197
mulch a matter of the iimagination.  It is true that on
the approach of danger  they sit ait the mouttis of their
holes, iand mnke a cltcking noise, but it mnost resembles
that of thte squirrel.
"Of the landscau)e curiosities in ascendirg the Platte
va.ll        e       there are  but few. Chimney Rock and Court
I-Tl       o    use   Rock  are per pendicular escarpments of sandstone, nearly seventy-five feet high, and( they stand out
as sentinels, to be seen at a gre.at distance.  They are
also favorite laces of resort ill sunmmer for tlf e Dakota
Sioux, as there were tradinug-posts at both tlese Rocks,
and a good ratige for glazing, and opportunity for laying in the annual suplly of fish.
" On tlhe  17thl  of' June we reached Fort Laramie,
at tlhe  ulp)ler forl\s of the  Platte.  Here we  rested
for several dayNs, visiting tle fort and vicinity, and in
receruiting.  Tlhis is tlhe country of the D3akota; Sioux
of tlhe Ul, e)I)r iissouri.  Tlhey are a fine, athletic specimnen cf tlIe Indianls   lho inlhabit the extreme fi'ontier,
and were tlhen reputel to be fiiendly to tlhe whites.
Here, on lis own soil, he wailks in dignity and selfrespect, fiee fiom ma.n'y of the vices of the wlhite mian.
BowNing to no suIperior, he asserts lis rig,lts and defends
tlhiei-.  Thlose lwhom  I saw were cldressed with  nmuch
taste in the beautifully tannedcl leather of the antelope
and mountain sheep.  Tlheir  gariments were  g.audily
emilbroidere(-l with beads and tlle stained quills of the
mountain porcupineill.  They hli((l sleudid horses, and
were  oo(d riders, both men and vwomen.
The departulre of the tra.in firom  L'ramie was fill
of perplexity tand( doubt.  Various rumors were aflo.t
of 1hostile Indians on the line.  Tlhen tlhere were othler 
THE GENERAL, OR
and more certain difficulties to be encountered. The
mountains were to be passed, the Great American
Desert was to be crossed, the snowy  -eiglhts of the
Nevada climbed, before we could rest on the plains of
the Sacramento. Piles of letters were despatched firom
this place to the loved ones at home; and it seemned
like parting anew firom all that was hallowed on earth,
as the train moved out from its encampment on the
banks of the north fork of the Platte, from this the
last outpost on the American frontier."
Night and sleep come in a very easy, off-hand way
in camp, and it is a pleasing study to watch by the
blazes and see the men, one by one, do the last whlittling, the last smoking or joking, and then drop off,
half awake and half asleep, to the tent. We did it
quite promptly this night, wishing to be up bright and
early, and see The General lead off his company fiomni
Fort Laramie.
199 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THIE HUNTERS' CAMP.
ELEVENTII NIGIIT.
A NOVELTY to-day, and therefore welcome. We
are here to shoot, and flesh and fowl have been
the rage with us in the field and on the table. This
morning the rumbling of prairie wagons and the loud
talking of strange voices up the lake shore attracted
our attention.  The scattered farmers, far outside, had
made up a company to lay in a winter's stock of fish,
and they were on hand at early dawn with nets and
seines, spears and hooks, and the conveniences for
cleaning and salting sundry wagon loads of the finny
folk of Swan Lake and waters adjacent.
All day long there has been with us a divided interest between the camps of St. Peter and of Nimrod.
The guns and dogs were not idle, and yet some of us
have been constantly watching the hauling of the
seines.  The amount of fish taken is wonderful, but
the kinds are more so.  Some of them are outlandish
enough. The teams carried off on the second day
several wagons full, dressed and somewhat salted.
The varieties of the fishes in the western waters is
not yet fully known, though in some localities the discoveries and classification have been quite thoroughly
made.  About seventy-five species have been tabled
scientifically, as belonging to the waters of Ohio.  Of
these many are commnon throughout the West. The
199 
0oO
THE GENERAL, OR
fishes taken here for family use were the white perch,
rock bass, pike, black bass, buffalo, and catfish. The
perch is a fish of sometimes sixteen or twenty inches
in length, and, when taken fioiim runillning water, a good
table fish.  The  rock and black bass are among the
best, specially the latter, a fish of two or three pounds
somnetimres, and of a flavor much like the tautog or
black fish, such a favorite in the eastern markets.
Tile pike is substantially, if not identically, thl)e pick erel of New England.  The structure, color, habits, and
flavor are the same, allowing for some local influences
and the greater size of many of those taken.  They
are not uncommon in the West of twenty or thirty
pounds' weiglit, and sometimes are taken much laiger.
The General, in his early days in Iowa, took one with
a spear that weighed thirty-one pounds and a fraction-i.
I wvell remember the jaws, as they were sent East, aind
the teeth were as long as the longest of a cat.  As the
fellow was lying some distance off, he threw the spelu,
and being thus made fast, like a harpoon, the pike carried it across the creek, where he was captured by in
associate.  Hilow large some nmay grow is iunknown.
In the Notes on the Pike, in Walton's AnIler, the
London papers of January 25, 1715, are cited as mentioning one taken near Newport that weighed one leindred and seventy pounds.  This may well be, if anothler
statement in the same Notes, and quoted firom Iakewill's Apologie of the Power and Providence of Go(ld,
is to be taken. Ile says that a pike was caught in Sweden, in 1497, carrying a metal tag with a Greek illscription, to the purport that Frederick II. put tlii
fish into those waters in 1230, two hundred and sixty 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  201
seven years before. Such age might well give great
weigh-t.
The pike is a savage, voracious, sharky fish, and your
more gentle feelings are never tried in landing him, as
whenl taking trout or salmon.  St. Izaak calls himn "a
solitary, melanchieloly, and a bold fish," and you are ready
to treat hlil as you do the other bachelors or solitaiies
of nature, as the lion, eagle, hawk, and the like, that
spurn social and neiglhborly life.
Tllhe buffhilo is one of the suckelr family, and the
largest of the kind - a coirse fish, often three and
four feet long, and would commonly be regarded as
very poor eating.
The catfish is well known through the States by its
family name.  The cat of the M1ississippl)i is among their
best articles of fish in the market, if not too large.
They often attain to the weight of a hundred pounds.
A fiiend of mine once took from four night hooks, hung
in the mouths of PRoek Liver, four catfish, whose unitcd
weight was about three hundred pounds.
Amnong the worthless fish hauled to shore by these
countrymlen there were two that would attract a stiranger -  the gar and the spoonbill.  The former is a long,
lank, arrow-shlped creature, whose  main feature is a
piratical and rascally-looking head, one fourth his whole
length.  Tis is all jaw, and teeth, and eye, like an
out-and-out politician living on spoils.  In character it
is the shark of the river, and grows large.  In Sturgeon Bay and Swan L:ike they Were five feet long;
and in the Lower 3Iississipp)i, taking the name of the
alligator gar, as another species, they grow to thie fearful size of eight and even twelve feet, and are said to 
THE GENERAL, OR
be a match for the alligator. They would be a most
uncomfortable bathing companion.
The most marked  fish, however, is the spoonl)ill,
The body is not unlike the eat or cod it. general
appearance, but it has a huge head, with,oarse and
stout jaws of equal length, and in thI.wan Lake
valiety, toothless. But on the upper jaw is an elongation of cartilage, equal almost to bone in firmness,
which is one third of the entire len,gth of the fish.
This ruins tapering till near the end, where it expands
like the bowl of a spoon.  This snout is used for rootingc or digging on the muddy bottom for food, much
after the manner of the hog; and as this fish sometimes gains the weight of a huncdred pounds, one can
conceive what a monstrous sight it must be with such
a head and nose.
Of course we had fish for supper, baked, boiled, and
firied, dishes good enough for the old Romnans, who
expended so miany tens of thousands of dollars on their
fish ponds; and then, better still, came The General.
But as "finally" sometimes  comes  midway in a
sermon, so now, though through my Prelude  to the
Eleventh Night, certain extended "concluding remarks" remain to be made on this matter of fish and
fishing.
It is angling, and among game fish, to which I refer,'
and can best commnend it, generally, in the words of
Sir Henry Wotton, the intimate of St. Izaak. iHe
says that it was to him, "after tedious study, a rest to
the mind, a cheerer of his spirits, a calmer of unquiet
thoutghts, a moderator of passions, a procurer of con.
tentedness; and begat habits of peace and patience."
202 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP. 203
The Scriptures recognize this art, and in a very
honortble way.  Job, the most patient man, speaks of
drawingr out leviathan with a hook, which, were he to
do it, would( make him "hioh line" among all fishermien.
The p)rophet Amos talks of fish-hooks  in a clerical
-way; and in the catalogue of the apostles, four are
fishermen, and stin(d first on the roll.  The meditative
quietness of the exercise favors a serious turn of mind,
though I think the Hon. Robert Boyle, in his tract
entitled "Angling  Improved to Sl)iritual Uses," has
but poorly presented a good theme.
It is to be noted that some of the worthiest and
noblest of men have been men of the angle.  Not
only did Antony and Cleopatra enjoy it, as Plutarch
informs us, but excellent divines.  MIost worthy Dr.
Nowel, Dean of St. Paul's, London, in the reign of
Elizabeth, who wrote a Latin Catechism, long bound
i1) and  used with the service-b)ook of the English
Clhurch, and that was also published in English and in
Greek, was accustomed to spend a tenth of his time in
angling. Ile gave all his fish and a tenth of'l his income
to the poor, and "at his return to his house would'
praise God he had spent that day free fiom  worldly
trouble, both harmlessly and in a recreation that became a churchman."  A picture of him, long seen, and
I h)ol)e yet, in Brazen Nose  College, Oxtord, he left to
tell posterity who was the Dean of St. Pautl's for fortyfo)ur years.  Hle stands in it clerical, with  tlhe Bible
before him; the top of the picture is surmounted with
'a fishing-ro(d aid several fishes, and the fish-lines intertwine the sides and loop around the inscription under
neath -" PISCATORl HoMINUM" -- a worthy ornament 
THE GENERAL, OR
for college halls, and suggestive in these  days, when
we are straining wits and consciences to devise Christian amusements.
Sir Walter Scott, though puny and lame, and at the
University at Edinburgh called the Great Blockhead,
could strike a salmon equal to the best fishers on the
Tweedl.  His feeble and unpromising boyhood developed into vigor with field sports. At that early day
the Hllrp of the North and the pen of Waverley hulng
delicately and doubtfully hooke(d on his fly-rod(l.  Fortunately for the world, he was able to rieel them in.
The world knows how Daniel Webster handled the
Constitution of the United States, Itayne, and Nulliication, and international questions.  Boni fortunately
among  trout brooks, he handled  lhuge trout in the
same ardent, easy way.  Webster was a prince among
fishermen, as elsewhere.   He loved deep-sea fishing,
and made long casts, in more senses than one.  While
steadying the ship of state, he often rocked in a yawl
on the Potomac. Says one who frequently took him
out on these excursions, -
"When  Secretary of State he used to come  here,
always early in the morning, and accompanied by his
private secretary.  He liked the firesh morning air as
much as any man I ever saw, and when he talked to
me fireely about fish andl fishing, I could believe that
he had been in the business all lhis days.  I rememlber
well the dlay that he caulght his biggest rockfishl.  I
had taken him in one of my boats to the'Cattiing
Rock,' and as we swnIg across tile iroarinc  waters,
the great man clapped his han,ls like a child. The
fish weighed sixteen pounds, and gave him much trou
204 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMIP.  205
ble; and when I gaffed the prize, and we knew it was
safe, he dropped his rod in the bottom of the boat,
jumped to his feet, and gave a yell, a regular Indian
yell, which mighlt have been heard in Georgetown."
HIis voice was wont to be heard afar at other times,
when heavy prizes were made safe for the country.
Walton, in his Complete Angler, expresses quite
clearly my own views on this interesting subject: -
"No life, my honest scholar, no life so happy and so
pleasant, as the life of a well-governed Angler. For
when the lawyer is swallowed up with business, and
the statesman is preventing or contriving plots, there
we sit on cowslip banks, hear the birds sing, anct l,ossess our souls in as much  quietness as these silver
streams, whlich we  now see glide so quietly by us.
Ind(leed(l, my good scholar, we may say of Angling as
Di-. Boteler said of strawberries,'Doubtless God could
have made a better berry, but doubtless God never
did.'  Andl so, if I might be judge, God never  did
make  a more  calm, quiet, innocent recreation than
Angling."   "Let me  tell you, there be many that
have forty times our estates, that would give the
greatest part of it, to be healthful and cheerful like us,
who, with the expense of a little money, Jave eat and(
drank, and laughed and angled, and sung and slept
securely; and rose next day, and cast away care, and
sung and laughied and angled again; which are blessings rich men cannot purchase with all their money."
That was a happy conceit- so Fuller uiiderstanpd?'t
-of Di-. John Colet, when lie founded St. Paul's School,
London, in 1512.  lie made the firee scholarships there
"a hundred and fifty and three," the nufber of St. 
THE GENERAL, OR
Peter's "great fishes" when he "cast the net on the
right side."  Good fishermeni are wonlt to make good
endowments, as well as to remember and record the
exact number of "great fishles."  I am not advised on
the point, but think the doctor must have been fond
of the angle.  If so, tile world of letters may thank
this successor of St. Peter for Milton, and I-Halley, the
great astronomer, for they were educated in this school
of fishes, and went on swimmingly over that hard bottom into the deeper waters of Canmiblidge and( Oxford.
It should he added that these manly spoits on land
and water have much to do with the stalwart energy
and firee spirit of a people. The man who ranges the
wilds of nature, and exercises "dominion over the fish
of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every
li\;ig thingr that mloveth upon the earth," accordtling
to the divine commission, is not the  ie an  to pairt
readily with his fieedom of thotught and of conscience
and of person. It was New England fishermen largely
who manned  victoriously our navy  in three wars.
Lorl Wilton well says, in his book on natural sports,
that no nation devoted to manly sports  can fail to
flourish, or enjoy political freedom.
This familiarity with land and water in their natural and unsubdlued state, as they are seen in the higher
gradcles of sporting, has much  to do in promoting a
manly independence.  So there was  deep truth, as
well as the deeper humor, in Webster's social, depot
kind of speech at Rochester, after they hadl shown him
Niagaria Falls: "MIen of Rochlester, go on.  No people
ever lost their liberties who had a waterfall one hundred and fifty feet high."
206 
TWELVE NIGHITS IN THE HUNTERIS' CAMP.  207
I hope these supplementary remarks to my Eleventh
Pielu(le will prove conclusive as to the virtues of tlhe
goo(ly art of angling.  It only rema.ins to say that,
steadily and temperately indulged, it l)promotes length
of days.  Its quiet contrasts strangely with the fiictionI and chlafing, of other sports and indulgences that
so soon wear one's life out. Walton died at the
advanced age of ninety, "in the great forest at Winchester."  Jenkins, who lived till he was a hundred
and sixty-nine years old, was a Yorkshire fisherman
and the parish record of Llanmaes, Glamnorgan county,
Wales, has the following original entry: "Ivan Yoriath,
buried a Saturdaye the xiiii day of july, 1621, aged
about 180.  He was a sowdier in the fighte of Bos-worthe, and lived at Lantwitt MIajor, and hee lived
muchi lyN, fishing."
But The General is anxious to leave Fort Laramie. 
TIIR GENERAL, OR
THERE AT LAST.
" There are always hanging about these outposts
of the frontier, Indians, trappers, and half-breeds of
both the French and Spanish mixture, who are ready to
serve as guides for the travellers over the mountains
and plains.  We had so far had an old mountain ranger,
who joined us at Council Bluffs; but he knew little of
the regions beyond Laramie.  We felt, therefore, the
need of another guide, specially as several routes were
talked of, and no one of them was very well known.
As we had concll(uded to go by the South Pass, and
Illuibol(lt and Carson RPivers, we wished an experienced
guide, who would take us over that route.
"After due consultation G;ispero was taken for our
cew guide and interpreter.  He was one of those inevitable loungers I just now mentioned.  This class of
people are very fond of adventure and excitement, and
love to tell of their hair-breadth escapes among Indians
and( wild animals.  Gaspero was about forty years old,
had been in the mountains eighteen years, and was
familiar not only with the passes through the wild
country and plains, but was well versed in Indian tricks
and the habits of the wild game which lie had so long
lIunted(l. His tangled locks and matted beard, innocent
of a razor for years, presented the appearance of anything but a pleasant companion, while his keen, piercing black eye indicated hate, revenge, and deadly
strife, if need be.  He rode a small Spanish mule, a
208 
TWELVE NIGHIITS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  209
tou,gh, hard -looking animal, of niottled colors, called by
the trappers tlhe Cricket imutle. Qtiarters were assig,ned
to him in my tent, as tle p)lace itost convenient for
consultation.  Ile spoke broken  English  very well
when calm; but when excited(, Spanish, Indian, and
English all came at once, a perfect jargon, that himself
could hardly interpret.  I-e was very fondcl of telling
his hard stories by the camp fire, and spent many long
evenings in tlhis way, to the vast entertainment of the
crowd. But he knew the country well firom Laramie
to the  ecvadas.
"With such a guide we left Fort Laramie.  Following up the North Platte through the Black Hills for a
Ihundrled and twenty-five miles, we left on our south a
river that we had learned to admrnire and love while we
kept it company for more than six hundred miles.  It
was like parting-from an old friend.  We had camped
on its banks, drank its pure waters for weeks, and now
turned our backs on it.  Soon, however, we made the
acquaintance of the Sweet Water, a river flowing firom
mountains of the same name, but not till we had
known the discomforts and perils of being without
water.  IHere we  encamped for recruiting, and  the
hunters feasted us on the ailtelope, the mountain sheep,
and the black-tailed deer.
"One evening, as a large company  of us were
gathered around( my tent fire, Gaspero, who had been
mnood(ly and sullen for sonme dclays, began one of his
mountain yarns.' HIere,' said he,'is the very place we
weie in twelve years ago.  We were in camp yonder
on the other side of the grove, under the cliff, and we
hbad a desperate fight with a band of Blackfeet.'  Then
14 
THE GENERAL, OR
knocking the ashes fiom his pipe- a signal for a story
-he began.'There were about twenty of the rascals,
and only six of us.  We  had been up to the canon
yonder after a woundled grizzly that the boys had shot
the day before.  We  had killed and dressed the old
gentleman, and after cuttiig, off as Imuch as we could
pack in, we hung up the balance. Feeling a little
hungry, we roasted some before our' fire, and, after eat ing, started for camp with the rest lashled to our backs.
It was near sundown and the distance teni miles.  Now
to you, boys, it don't look half as far; but I tell you, if
any of you get lost about here, you'll know the fill
length of the roat,s.  You see the air is so pure in this
mountain ran,Ige, a fellowv don't know distances by look ing.  Why, you can see an antelope five miles, and tell
him foin a (leer; and when the sun shines right you
can see even the white stripes along his sides. A
bufilo shows his hump that distance just as plain as a
Blackfoot does his teeth when a bullet disturbs his
in'ards. You need not follow antelope in this region;
you will never come up with them.
"'Well, as I was saying, we had strapped on our
meat, and gone about a mile dclown the timber, when,
crossing a little run, one of the boys saw a moccason
track in the mud. It was fresh, and the little bits of
sand and mud left on the grass were not dry; and we
knew by the shape of the foot and point of the toes
that it was a Blackfoot.  We  had seen  no Indians
since our encampment.   We were just leaving a gorge
in the mountains, and following a skirt of timber along
the open prairie, when we came on the track again.
We then came to a halt, examined our rifles, and took
210 
TWELVE NIGiITS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP. 211
each to a tree, while old Pamaska, a Dakota chief, who
was w-ith us, examninedcl the trail and pronounced if,
Blackfoot, and  not  far  off.  Tlhe  Blackfeet were
PIamaska's imortal enemies.  HIe had often fell in with
them in the mountain, and many were the (conflicts the
old fellow had hadc with the rascals.  Now his savage
nature was aroused by the prospect of a fight and a
scalp.  Hle was a brave, and showed no fear. Ordering
us "to tree," he followed the trail, with true Indian
instinct and caution, into a gorge among the cliffs.
There he found traces of their recent encampment, and
from appearances he judclged their band to contain
about twenty persons.  The ashes of their fire was still
warmn, and we presumed they were then acting as sl)ies
on our movements.
"' Our trail lay along the timber another mile, when
it emerged into open prairie that we must cross before
reaching canip. It had now becomne quite dark, and a
consultation was held as to our filture operations.  Our
Dakota taking the lead, we followed cautiously in single
file, with rifles all ready, and packs so that we could
slip them on the instant.  As we airived at the point
where the trail left the timber, and were bending our
course into the prairie, an ariow whizzed past the ear
of old Pamaska; but no Indian could be seen or heard.
In an instant we dropped our packs, and fell flat on
the ground, awaiting the attack. Not a leaf stirred nor
twig cracked.  No  motion of the enemy  told their
place or number. Both parties lay low, awaiting an
onslaught.  The Blackfeet wanted us to attack and be
drawn into the timber, while we were determined to
draw them into the prairie, as no Indian can fight 
TnIE GENERIAL, OR
well in the open.   If' thle (log cannot  tree, he wil
ralll.
"'Well, the moon had just begun to light up  rile
mountains, andt we could distinguish objects at a little
distance.  Gatlheiiiig our packs, we crawled off a (lis tonce from the timnbers.  It was too dark for the red skins to use their arrows, and we could get no clear sight
ot them among the trees and underbrushl.  In case of
attack, therefore, you see, it must be at close quarters,
with tomahawk  and knife.  WVe  lay for an hour or
more in the grass, awaiting events, an(-l then cautiously
st:llited( on oui way for camp without a trail.  About
twvo miles ahead we had a deep ravine to cross, throughi
which, in the wvet season, a creek run; but now it was
idry.  The  Indians, when  they found  we  had with drlawn to the prairiie, run down  the tiiiiber to this
ravine, to cut off our approach to canmpl). WVe d(rew
nrear to this crossing with great care, fearing an ambush.
WAVe had nearly reached the bed of the creek when the
wlhole band of Blackfeet sprung on us with a fearful
yell, tomahawk in hand.
"'Pamaska discharged lIis rifle first, and we next, in
quick successioln, but mostly at rad(lomr, as we could
only hear the Indians climbitng up the banks of the
creek.  Our packs were again dilo1l)ed, and( our rifles
clubbed; and as the Indians came up tlhe bank, we
tumbled  tlhem  back again with heavy blows, killitg
{)ome and wounding others.  Enraged at defeat, thley
foilght like dclemons in a renewed attack, and at this
tiaie drove us from the ravine into the prairie. Here
t!hey well nigh surrounded us, and our fate seemed ine itable, when Painaska sirng,led out their leader, an1
212 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  213
closed with him in a deadly struggle. Tlis renewed
the conflict on our part with (t,speration, and knife to
knife. Their number grew less. The long rifle was
evidently too much in its wide sweep for their shorthanuled tomahawk, and so many of them fell wounded
and dead that victory seemed certain for us.
"' The fight had lasted about half an hour, when a
yell of anguish came up firom the ravine.  We rushed
down the bank, and found the two chiefs locked in mortal combat, the Blackfoot underneath.  Old Pamaska
had his knee planted on the breast of the chief; with
lhis left hand in the scalp lock, he fastened his head to
the ground, and in his right glittered the fatal knife.
The other Indians hastened up, but we kept them at
bay till their leader had his last grief firom Pamaska's
knife.
"'This ended the struggle.  The Indians who  survived made good their escape, carrying off what they
could of their dead and wounded; but Pamaska secured
tle scalp of the chief, and one or two more.   Two
of our number were wounded severely, one by a toma hawk cut on the shoulder, and the other by a bad gash
on the arm; but both recovered in a few weeks. I
broke the stock of my rifle, which caused me much
trouble till I came round to the fort. But we carried
homie our bear's meat, though,l we came near losing our
tol)kn ots.'
"' Silenee was broken as our hero interpreter closed
his n:arr:ative, and the men scattered to their tenlts for
thle nig'tlt.'
"Our course now lay upl) the Sweet Water, a beauti ful nmountain stieam, flowing forever in solitude, and 
THE GENERAL, OR
singing its own  nmusic to the shadows of the Rocky
3Iountains.  The valley of this river is very beautiful
and fertile, and furnishes pasturage to vast herds of
buffalo that gather here in the summer months.  The
current is swift, and generally foidable, and we fol
lowed it far up, till we came to gorges where it leaps
from  the  mountain  in a number  of little  silvery
cascades.
"At~the base of the mountains, just where one begins
to climb, is that great landmark of travellers, Iudepeii dence Rock, a giant bowlder, probably the largest on
the Ameiicanl continent. This rock is nearly two hundred feet high, with an area of nearly two thousand
square yards. It is wholly separate from any mountain
range, and stands isolated, evidently brought tlihere in
the glacier period, in one of those immense ice-floes of
higher latitudes.  It has a smooth surface, with all the
appearance of having been ground and grooved in the
glacier process. Here caravans rest and recruit, and
the southern firont is covered with names to the height
of ten feet and more, put on with paint, tar, and the
like.
"A party was made up among us to dine on the top
of it.  We made the ascent by Indian ladders, and the
aid of little projections, till we reached a graded
erevice, and by it the summit. It was a dangerous
undertaking, but we achieved it without accident, and
the splendid view from the top) well repaid us.  Choice
stores were taken up, such as canned oysters, sardines,
huflllo and antelope steaks, together with fuel and the
inevitable coffee-pot. Here half a dozen of us dined
sumptuously on a granite table eight thousand feet
214
I 
TWEL'VE NIGHTS IN TI-IE HUNTERS' CAIMP.  215
above the level of the sea, drank toasts with the pure
water of the mountain, mnade speeches, and remembered the dear ones at hoine.  Long will the memories
linger of that gathering on an isolated rock in the valley of the Sweet Water.
"Five miles firom this, on our line to the South Pass,
this river goes through what is called the Devil's Gate.
Tlhe cut is through limestone, two hundred feet deep
an(l one hundred broad, and about one thousand long,
The walls are perpendicular and smooth, having the
finish apparently of mason -work.  Thle whole body of
the Sweet Water rushes through this natural canal in
the rocks, bounding and foiaming, and  throwing up
spray like the Falls of St. Anthony, or M1innehaha.
The ascent is quite difficult and dangerous, owing to
hugle seams and chasms; but we accomplished it, and
viewedl from the giddy top the wild scene.
We were now fast approaching the summnit level of
the mountains, and the scenery in many places was
most enchanting. As we pressed on up the great
tdividing ridge between the two oceans, the noble
streams that we had been following so long dwindled
into little rivulets. Sometimes we were compelled to
work our way through narrow and winding defiles,
and as often came out into beautiful and luxuriant
valleys.
The train had now come within fifty miles of the
highest elevation, and was following the winding trail
among the escarpments of sandstone, looking for a
place of encampment, when we opened on one of those
most beautiful and enchanting valleys, -blushing and
fragrant with flowers.  It showed no human habitation 
THE GENERAL, OR
or trace of man, but was as silent and highly adorned
as the abode of pure spirits.  The guide dismounted,
and all, as by instinct, began to pitch their tents and
light their fires.  The animals were spancelled and
turned loose, the guard set, wood and water provided,
the daily inspection of man, beast, and wagon  gone
through, and the several messes took their evening
meal, and retired for the night.
"The morning  came  with a brightness and glory
p)eculiar to the climate. It was the morning of the
holy Sabbath, a day that we had uniformly observed,
from the first, for rest and for sacred purposes, so far as
the men  were inclined.   While  the camp  was yet
sleeping, I arose and strolled off. The sti~lness of the
scene was very impressive, as the sun began to light
Lip the horizon, and touch with mellow light the rugged
hill-tops that shut in our valley.  Not a sound disturbed
the quiet of the place, not even the note of a bird. The
region seemed hallowed, and thoughts of God and of
his greatness and glory went up like incense in silence
firom a Jewish altar.  My feelings led my steps, and
following the little trail of the mountain sheep, I at
length gained the very top of the encircling heights,
and had  a full survey of the sublime and  majestic
scene.
"The snowy peaks could barely be recognized in the
distance, the plains we had passed were almost lost to
view, and the South Pass, as a narrow chlop) in the
mountian range, just showed its outline on the op)en
sky beyond.  Ilere, if anywhere, tlhe diviner part of
man will lift him up, and purified and humbled by the
surroundings and the influence of the holy day, his
216 
TWELI,VE NIGHTS IN TIIE HUNTERS' CAMIP  217
thoughts will go up reverently and devoutly to the
Cre.tor.  At least, such was the effect on me  as I
returned to camp.
"And here anotlher scene, in perfect keeping with
the da.y and place, awaited me.  A youngr man by the
name of Jones, fiom one of the interior counties of
Iown, had joined our company after its origanizatiorn,
with the hope that the expedition would benefit his
feeble healthl.  JIe had been in a decline so long that
he wa-s incurrable.  Ilis brother was with himn, and( the
two had a goodl outfit, and were not dependent on the
company for anything but protection and sympathy.
The invalid won the good will and tender regard of all,
specially as he had left behind a wife and child and an
indulgent, loving, mother.
"Ills (ldas were numbered and hastening, and he
seemed fuilly aware of it, yet had no fears of the great
change.  IIe often rode reclining, and in such a way
that hle could view the beauties of the country as we
passed through.  As we entered this valley the evening
before, hle cauaglht a glance of its loveliness, and with a
sadl yet sweet smile he expressed the wish, that if he
must dclie in the mountains, and no more see the loved
ones at hlonie, he migllt find his final rest in that valley,
trusting in God that in the morning of the resurrection
hle shoul(d not be forgotten.  HTis wish was grlatifie(d,
and le dlied that morning, while I was rambling on tlhe
mountains.
"Just as the last sunbemus were burnishing the tops
of the sturiound(ling hills, wie moved, in solemn p)rocession, to a knoll at the head of the valley, and there,
beneath the spreading bouglhs of a l)ine tree, we laid the 
THIE GENERAL, OR
young husband and father in his rest.  It was a mourns
ftil and instructive scene, as the twilight fell on us
around his grave.  All was still save the sobs of a fond
brother, when I broke the silence by reading the burial
service of a Christian funeral, only adding,'The separation will be short.  The reunion with the loved ones
will soon come.   Tlere it is earth to earth, ashes to
ashes, dust to dust; but there it will be heart to heart,
and face to fie.'
"The next lday we moved on, one less, towards thl
unchangeable landmark, the Soutli Pass.  At the dis.
tance of fifty miles or mlore, it has the appearance of a
small gap, just wide enough for a team to pass thliough,
But as one draws near, it widens into a beautiful prairie,
quite level and covered with grass.  Nearer and nearer
we came, till the last brook running towards the At,
lintic had disappeared, and we were on an elevated
plateau, where the waters were in a quandary which
way to run.  This space, where  Fremont made his
summit level, is not more than a fourth of a mile in
extent; and as the traveller passes along to its western
border, he findls the first little rivulet that runs towards
the Pacific.  Tlere an encampment was ordered, and
we entered fuilly into the enjoyment of the scene and
of our circumstances, givinlIg up the day to our eyes.
"Knowing that we could have but this day on this
ridge or water-she(l of the continent, I set myself at
once to the fullest indulgence of the opportunity.  It
was an occasion to which I bad long looked forward;
indeed, it Mwas one of the ends of very many of my most
ardent wishes and hopes firom childhood.  Mly iniitimate
companion, S., and myself strolled off immediately,
218 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP. 219
and were soon on the highest point of rocks that overlooked the vast panorama.  The great basin of the
RPocky MIountains, five hundred miles in extent, was
before us, destitute of wood, water, herbage, or tree,
or any object to obstruct the sight. On one side of us,
far up the north, were the snow-capped peaks, though
now midsummer, ill fill view.
"From my earliest youth, as I well remember, my
feelings thrilled me when I read or heard of the mysteries locked up in this region.  Its outlines on my
little school atlas, with the inscription, Unknown  Interior, created an intense desire to know about it by
personal examination.  This desire grew and strengthened with my years, till it became a passion with me;
and I had been for a long timne approaching this spot, as
the sailor in beating and tacking against a head wind.
First it was Central New York, then Virginia; then I
stood again on the sante tack to the Mississippi; thenii
Wisconsin  Territory; then the Kansas borders, where
I laid mry course for these headlands, midway between
the two oceans.  And now the visioni of my youth was
a reality, the hopes and wishes of my childhood had
become fact.
"I also remember my  feelings, wl-Ien, as a lad, I
read of the covered mysteries of this wild region.  Ihow
I longed to go over the plains, now behind me and befoie me, to hunt the buffalo on themr, and to climb, till
the rivers became gurgling brooks and springs on these
heights! Long years I labored for it, and now I was
repaid.
"To the north lay the everlasting snows, and above
us the rocky peaks towering into the clouds.  There the 
TIIE GENERAL, OR
intrepid Fremont threw our Stars and Stripes to the
breeze. Westward is the Great American Basin, or
bowl, of five hundred miles diameter. Far to our left,
an(l southerly, like a half-coiled serpent, lies Bear River,
ill dim line, emptying fair away into Salt Lake, but finding no outlet from it, except by evaporation.  We note
in thie far distance rolling piles of smoke anid steaiii,
reminding one of Atlantic cities.   They arise fi'om
burning coal mines and hlot springs, whose fires, Indian
tradition says, have been smouldering from the day of
creation.
"We are on the land-crest between the oceans. Here,
on the narrow belt where we are standing, the waters
divide for the Atlantic and Pacific. I said to my fiiend
S.,'Let us change the destiny of two cup)fuls.' So we
walked to the nearest rivulet, that had begun its tiny
course for the Pacific, and di)pping firomn its ciryvstal
waters, we carried a hulnter's cup of them across the
dividing ridge, and poured them into a babbling brook,
that had just started for the Atlantic.
"Then we followed, in thought and conversation, the
water that would have been but a swallow for the buiffalo, down into the Sweet Water, then six hundred and
fifty miles on our back track in the Platte, then eilight
hundred down the muddy MIissouii, and thirteen hiuidred more down the MIississippi, whose tributaries drain
a valley in which scores of the kingdoms of.Eutirope
and the old world could be hidden away.  We left the
solitary cupful to its changed destiny, and long, silent
wanderings, to Atlantic tide waters, and then balanced
the exchange by carrying a similar portion from the
220 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  221
Atlantic slope of our  high plateau, and starting it in
the head springs of the Coltumbia for the Pacific.
"We wandered among the ridges and peaks till iwe
clambered the  highest in the immediate region, and,
there seating, ourselves, we had a full feast of the eyes.
5Iy fiiencl had been iii foreign lands, seen the old cities
of Europe, bathled in the Sea of Galilee, and threaded
the narrow streets of Jerusalem; but never before hlad
he seen antiquiities, vastness, and glories like what now
suir'round,ed us.
"It must be delightful to follow where  patriarchs
pitched( their tents, to ridle over the hills of Judea, to
enter the Iloly City over the way where the triumnl)lial
piocessioni followed our Saviotir with palmis and hosannas.  Butt it imust lbe mortifying to say to the wandering
Jew, or any other foreigner in those. stinted ancient
lands, thllat you hal  e inot seen Niagara Falls or Milinebalh., the moutlhs of the Missouri  or a prairie.  To
'travel,' as some affect and delight to say, when they
liha-e seen notl-hing of the vastness and richness, the
glorious rivers and lakes, mountains  and forests, and
praiies of their own country, is not my passion.  MIy
ownn, my native land first for travel, as it is in rank, aind
othler cuntries afterwards."
The General thoulght the summit of the Rocky
MIountains the best place to end an evening story, and so
stopped s(uddenly, to the surprise and regret of all.  We
felt this the more,cs btit one nilght now remained for us
in camp, and we could not see how he could take us
the rest of thle way to the Pacific in one  evenin,g.
But we were obligedl to content ourselves with whiat 
TIlE GENERAL, OR
we had of the story of his eventful life, and leave him
to hurry us down the western slope of that nidge of
the continent in his own time and way. A half hour
was given to questioning him about the mountains;
our fur trade companions talked with him of scenes an(]
trails there known to both parties; and the changes in
that wild region since the summer of 1850 were noted
By and by the conversation fell to the lot of two or
three who knew the route; the others dropped off one
by one, and at length all retired to their tents, and the
sentinel owls went on picket for the rest of our Elev.
enth Night.
222 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  222
TWELFTH NIGHT.
T IE  last day in camp!  That has an unwelcome
sound to the sportsman's ear.  It suggests the last
beat down the creek, around the cove, up the,lagoon;
the last evening stand for geese and swan; the last calls
on the duck family, fironom the comic and juicy little teal
to the portly alderman mallard with his aristocratic
green head. The firosty morning wash at log, stump,
and camp stove, around the crackling fire, is more cosy
and chatty than usual; the jokes are more practical,
and the laughs louder. You see, reader, our lungs are
better than when we entered the forest, and there is no
danger of "disturbing neighbors" by throwing our
feelings quite energetically into our voices.  The washing does not give our faces the pale, clean look we had
when we left our counter, desk, or study, though Swan
Lake water is of the very best for ablutions, if used on its
shores.  What a breakfast one eats the last morning in
camp! Our appetites have gone on increasing in a
cumulative ratio now for fourteen days, and Dock has
kept his table temptingly in advance of us in variety
and abundance. I never realized before into how many
eatable conditions a cook could put a webfoot or small
quadruped.
The chan,ge in one's physique by camping out is a
marvel.  The first day the nervous man, the dyspeptic, 
TIIE GENERAL, OR
the feeble clerk, who has not strength enough to work
his mol.ars on a cracker, filngers the f()o(0 very delicately,
ani( for Dock, very prvovkingly.  The second day f(air
rations are drawn and disposed of legitimately.  The
tljii-d day these same men take up eating as a business,
and as the days go by it increases on  their hands.
MaIrk another faict keepinig pace with this, and helping
to explain it.  The first day they hung about camp, and
whittled, andl read, and glrew very tired.  It was a kind
of sidewalk life.  The second day they strolled out of
silght, with gun or fishing-rod, and lost their way, and
found an al)petite. Before the week was gone they
cared not whether they lost themselves or not, but to
have lost one meal they would have regarded as a
calamity.
The air in that wild region is an independent fortune
to the man feebly creeping out there from the city. At
home, in his office, shop, counting-room, study, or baywindow even, he does not get one cubic inch of atmosphere that has not been meddled with by somebody.
If he is not enjoying a stiff north-easter, his city air
has a touch of Erin, or Holland, or both in it. IHe can
tell which way the wind is by the odors of the different
bacek alleys that hlie knows so well.
But throw back the fly of your tent in the early
norning, step out, and fill your lungs, and you feel that
here is more nourishluient in such air than in boardinglouse soup.  No mortal ever snuffed that air before.
it is not second-hand.  You have it pure from the mannUictoriy.  You have been breathing it all night, charged
pitlh the exquisite aroma of your hemlock or prairiera1'ss bed.
224 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  225
A jaded(l, worried m,an, you felt p)oorly; entered Nature's hos)ital on Swan Lake, iundler the siuperintendeice
of Dr. Nihirod; took fish-hlooks every other day, altern'.ting with inumber  six  shiot; should(lered Edward
Wiislow's Puritan "fowling peeee, fearing not the
w-aight of it;" and now, just breaking camp fbor home,
you are a new mnan, after the shiort treatment of fiburteen days. The marvel has been wrought by a combination of causes, centring in "a lodge in som e vast
wilderness."
AlWhat we shall do for relief and recuperation I know
not, whlen every Umtnbagog has a steamer on it, and
every \White MIountain has a railroad to its top, and
every charming nook of wilderness has a first-class
hotel and dress dinners.  For the joys and profits of
the camp lie in its difficulties, physical exertions, dcleni als, and glorious dist.ances from  anybody.  I am, I
think, profoundly grateful for the archlitecture of our
domain, in that it has some mountains, and morasses,
and river gorges, that railroads, and Saratoga trunks,
and bills of fare, can never annoy.
Yes, on this last hunting morning in Swan Lake
camp, we are a brown, huLngry, healthly-looking group
of fellows.  Outr muscle is not flabby; there is nothing
weak about our lungs, and no "melancholy crack" in
our laugh.
Now for a carefil hunt for the rarest bits and the
best of game, for other hlnmds must grace other tables
withl the sploils of to-dclay.  We are miaking up parcels
to go homne withl us.'rIie seven dogs and the seven
boats must do their best.  All the ground is thoroughly
known, eachl cover and range of flight, and minimtum
15 
THE GENERAL, OR
bay, and jam of drift wood(, wild rice patch, and scanty
piul(lle falr out in the tall bottom prttirie gr-ss.
Eairly evening brings us all in, and no one ashame(ld.
Tile record, 01o joiirnal ratlheI, of the encamprment ea(ls
well. Evidently some of thl)e best of the queen's wild
fowl had come over the border for our special benefit
and honor at home. The saplings, that have now seen
service, bend under the trophies.  We  are not timid
about seeing a steamer, or a city where we are well
known.  Our credentials are ample and of the best
authority.  They are fromi the first families of the first
settlers of the country.
But we are to make an important movement tonight. Last night The General gave us all firee lod(ging
on the summit of the Rocky MIountains. To-nilght we
hope to sleep in San Francisco.  So, supper being over,
we hurry to our blazing camp fire to take an early start,
and all together for the Pa(ific.
The General is not hard to start off on a story of
personal adventures, and he got under way as soon as
Dock had started a roaring camp fire, and hushed up
with a supply of bones three or four growling dogs.
226 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  227
THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
"I believe I left you all sleeping, in my life-narrative,
last night, in the upper story, the very attic of North
America. I hope you had pure air and a good view of
sunrise. I also hope that you are well refreshed by
your mountain sleep, for it is a long trail I shall lead
you before you make camp to-night.  I mean you shall
hear the breakers of the Pacific before you strike our
next camp fire.  Fortunately our course is now down,
rather than up, the continental slope, and we shall
make easy speed.
"Our company bade adieu to the delightful spot and
panorama, of which I told you last eve, and at early
morn we  commenced our descent of the mountains.
Three miles from the summit we made a brief halt at
Pacific Springs, noted for their pure water and rich.
grass.  HIere we took a lingering and last look.  In
our rear, and a little to tlhe left, was Pike's Peak, with
its white cap of winter still on. A little farther along
was Spanish Peak, and to the north Fremont's and other
noted landmarks. Forty miles away on the right were
the Wind River Mountains, full of wild and glorious
nooks of scenery.
"But we took our farewell, and passed on over the
Dry Sandy, then the Little Sandy, and then the Big
Sandy Rivers, firom the last of which we found neither
water nor grass for twenty miles.  After a weary
plodding of sixty-five miles we came to Green River, 
THE GENERAL, OR
one of the most beautiful streams, with the most chliarm,
ing  valley of all the mountains.  And  I know not
which enjoyed it most, we 01or our animals.  liere we
found encalmped some Snake Indians and half-breed
Spaniards, from whom we obtained a supply of jerked
buffalo meat.  Since we left the South Pass we had(l
been in the Snake Indian territory.  They are a fine
specimen of the mountain tribes, being well built, and
well dressed, and athletic, as wiell as fiiendly.
"The river lhere was a hundred yards wide, and gen erally fordable.  Like maiiy other nountain strieams, its
mouth was not then known.  Strange stor'ies were told
by the Iindians, and traders, too, of the wonderful appear anee of some of its valleys.  They say that one of thlem
is in a state of petrifaction, the trees in full leaf, flowers
in bloom, birds on the limbs in natural colors, and deer
feeding on the green and glassy fields, and all done
into stone, as if the vast woirk of an artist. They called
it the land of the Great Sp)irit, said their fathers had
visited it, and offered to take me to see it, if I would go.
"We  bore away westward, leaving  the Bear River
MIountains and Salt Lake more than a hundred miles
to the south, passing hot and cold springls, as well as
copperas and soda, and over a country intolerably rocky,
reaching the head-waters of the Humboldt on the 6th
of June.
" Here, for the first time, our animals showed serious
signs of weakness and( breakin  dclown.  They had had
a g,oodl supply of grass, and( been carefully driven, but
-ihad driank water affected moie or less by alkali, while
the juices of the glass probably carrlied the same poison.
The hiigh waters oft thie Ilumniboldt drove us to the maoun.
228 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE IHUNTERS' CAMP.   229
tains, and into difficult passes.  We  were now in the
Ute In(lial countriy, andi entering' that of the Root
I)i,Ceis.  O1r p)rogress wvas slow and wearyig, and we
left our ev ening camp fire for our tents and blankets at
Ian early houi', usually, and some of thi  mien began to
feel that California gold would cost them a hundred
cents to the dollar.  The heavy snows of 1849-50 had
swelled all the stieams, and so we were often detained
in crossing.  Frequently the horses were detached fiom
the wagons to swim over, while the goods were ferried
over in suCli wagon-bodies as were water-tight, wnile
the running gear and other carriages were hauled over
by ropes.  This had more work than romance in i, and
it is much prettier to read of it in a book than to do it
in the Rocky ATounttains.  Fuel was scarce, the only
growth of this bairen region being the wild sage, a
dwarf bush three feet high.
"We started Gaspero's memory of a promise of that
other story about a' fight with the Utrs,' but the toils
of the journey had made himn, like the rest of us, quite
willing to take all the sleep that our canmping would
allow. For now our animnals were so reduced that we
were all obliged to walk, relieving them of every article
of lu,ggage that could possibly be thrown away or
packed by ourselves.
"We were now among the Root Digger Indians,the
miost extensiv  e tribe oi0 the western slope, and extendiig fi'oi the head of the Humboldt to California and
Oregon.  They are, enphatically, the wild Indian of
the mountains, and the most ignorant, degraded, and
filtlhy of all the tribes of North America. With a low.
flat forehead, they have no intellect, little clothing, and 
THE GENERAL, OR
no wigwams, living, like wild animals, in caves and
burrows.  Tlhey have no horises or mules, and seem to
know of no use for a domestic animnal except for food.
They have no fire-arms, but use the bow with great
skill.  Of course I am speaking of them as they then
were, thirteen years ago.  They live on roots, seeds,
acorns, lizards, snakes, frogs, and grasshoppers.  They
may be seen in the early morning, on the sunny slopes,
gathering the seeds, wild oats, and grasshoppers into a
huge conical basket suspended firom the forehead and
hanging on the back. It will hold a bushel or more,
and comes to a point at the bottom.  The squaw takes
the cover of the basket in one hand, and while the
grasshopper climbs to the top of the grass or wild'oats
to get the rays of the warm sun, she scoops or mows
it off, with the motion of one cradling grain, at each
swoop emptying the contents of the lid into the
basket at her back. When the grasshoppers become
warm enough to fly, she puts on the cover of the
basket and returns to the wigwam. Here a fire is
kindled in the pot made in the sand and lined with
fire clay. W7hen this is hot the fire is taken out, and
the grasshoppers put in and baked. The seeds, oats,
and acorns are dried and parched in the same way;
and then they, with the insects, are pulverized together and baked into bread.
"Fish is a great article of food with them, and they
are very expert in spearing the salmon.  They often
follow the emigrant trains dclown the IHumnboldt for days,
picking up  cast-off clothling, scraps of  iron, buffallo
robes, now burdensome in that latitude, and also for
the p)urpose of shooting any stray ox or horse, that
they may have it for food.
230 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  231
"One  night, while we were encamped in a little
valley, surrounded by hills and sand plains, the scarcity of feed had compelled  us to turn  the animals
loose, and give them a wide range, though still keeping
guard on them. The midnight watchman, when he
camie in, failed to arouse fully his successor before he
turned in, andl so the animals were without guard for
perhaps half an hour.  The Diggers, who had been
lying in watch and wait for any such chance, suddenly
encircled five of them, and started them off for the
mountains.   We  roused the camnp, but no trace or
trail could be found till morning.  We  then followed
them eleven miles into the mountains, where, among
the gorges, we discovered two of the animals skinned
and ready for cutting up and drying, and a third dead.
They hadl all been shot with arrows. The last one
killed showed( that the arrow hald madle a clean passage  thlrough the heart, and  entered a sand bank
beyond, whlere we found it still sticking.  But no Indlians could be found.  The other two horses came into
camp) afterwards with arrows hanging in their flesh,
wlhicli we drew out, healing the wounds.
"At the Sink of the St. Mary we made a long halt, to
recruit and prepare grass for the passage of the Desert.
This Sink is where the Humboldt spreads out and loses
itself in the sands of the barrens.  Whether it reap pears after a subterranean passage, or there ends in
absorption and evaporation, we could not learn.
"Great need we had for rest at this place, for we
were mnuch exhaustedl, both men and animals, and the
great Sahara of North America was before us.  We
found it necessary not only to rest and recruit, but 
THE GENERAL, OR
also to reconstruct our entire ti'rin.  We  h}ad become
reduced to a few teams.  Some had found it difficult
to travel as fast as others, and so had fallen behind
into other parties.  Some  had lost a part of their
horses, and were compelled to ling,er and unite with
others following us, who were in a similar condition.
WVe were a.ll reduced to foot travel and shol't -rations.
The Desert before us was eighty-five miles wide, with out wood, water,  or glrass, with  the thermometer  at
one hundred, often, in the shade.  Of course hay must
be made and packed to take the animals over.  To
do this we waded in the overflow, cut the grass under
water with our' belt knives, backedc it to shore, and
dried it on the burning sand.  The water cans and
kegs were  filled, enough for man and beast, and all
surpluts b,ag,. a,e, and every article of wei,ght or bulk
that could possibly be spared, were thrown aside, to
make our perilous trip as expeditious as possible.
"We  struck  out  on  thle  barren  waste  at  four
in the afternoon, and did not stop, excep)t for feedinig
and rest of an hour or two at a time, till we reached
the Saltnon Trout Ri vei.  But it was too much fo,
many of the already exhausted animals.  Sonme died
on the way, and others after we were across.
"Now our real troubles began.   Up to the time of
crossing the Desert provisions had been plenty, and no
particular disasters had occurred to hinder our progress.  But now  our animals were worn out, through
want of feed and by use of the alkali waters.  Having
lost two of my own beasts, I abandoned my wag,on
at Salmon Trout River, threw away nearly all my
camnp  furniture, tent, axes, and  spad(es, and  reduced
232 
TWELVE NIGIITS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  233
h,y bacgage to the smnallest possible compass.  We
made pack-saddles from the spokes of an abandoned
wagon, of which there were many along the road,
n~d so carried the little we kept.  Our entire party
was now reduced to five men, four mules, and three
horses.  The rest of our original train were scattered
along, the route beJliind us.
"Thoulgh now over the Great Desert, we frequently
found ourselves on smaller ones of twenty and tliirzy
miles, destitute of all vegetation or water. A party
just in advance of us showed the straits iand perils
of' the California emIigrant of tlhose days.  As we
came on their nilghtly camping grounds, we invariably
found the skeleton of a niule that they had slaughtered for meat.  These sights much discouraged my
nen iwhen they counted the long and weary miles befoie them, and estimated their scanty supply of buffalo
mncat and hard biscuit, now reduced to one per man
a day.
"At length one of my horses gave out for want of
feed.  Then we were two days without food on the
small sand deserts, leading our pack animals under
tlhe burning sun.  On the third morning I shot two
sagTe hens, and in the evening a mountain hare, all of
w-iielh we devoured at a meal, in our encampment on
Carson River.  Ilere another horse failed us, andc was
left; but the mules kept up, though very weak.
"Again we made a reduction of our luggage, casting off all but our guns, a small supply of ammunition,
a few  articles of extra clothing, and my surveyiing
instruments. We had now travelled about four hundred miles on foot, and were near to the end of our 
THE GENERAL, OR
hard journey, though we did not know it. For our
guide, Gaspero, had long since deserted us, and at that
early day no one was returning fiom California, whom
we could meet and question of our position.
"It was  now the 6th of July, and we were en camped on a rivulet, but without food of any kind.
MIany were the plans and suggestions, at that gloomy
camp fire, for the safety of the party.
"To kill a miule that was so poor he could hardly
stand alone was revolting, and our last horse was not
more tempting flesh. Our ignorance of our position
and distances was dclistressing, and the desponding,
hopeless feelings of the party shook not a little my own
usual determination. I appealed to the love they bore
for those left behind and at home to keep up courage
and renew  their energies.  One  of my  men was a
Frenchman by birth, and his terrors at the thlought of
starvation were intense.  We were all lame fiomn travel,
balt no one felt that he had a right to think of starvation while the horse or a mule yet lived.  Our great
anxiety and most oppressing thoughts were as to our
location. We knew not where we were, and the
Desert seemed endless.
"It was finally agreed that I should push on ahead
in the morning, since the animals could not travel as
rapidly as I could walk, and find relief and send it
back. So, at early dawn I started, following the Carson River over a rough and barren country. At noon
the oppressive heat and my own weak condition conimp)elled me to take shelter under an oak for an hour by
the trail. As I started on again, descending a hill, I
met a man with a double team and wagon, loaded
2'0'4 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  235
with supplies.  Some humane Mormons, living at the
base of the Nevada, on the Carson River, were expect.ng, firiends over the plains, and, fearing they might be
ill a starving condition, had sent out this man to meet
thein with supplies.  His provisions consisted of salt
pork and flour.  He informed me that I was not nmore
than one dlay firom the MIormion settlement, where I
could obtain all I wished to take my party through.
IIe gave me a pound of pork and a cup of flour-, and
promising to relieve my men, we parted.  I took the
pork in my handl, and poured the flour into my hunter's pouch.  Undler the terrible gnawilngs of hunger I
ate both uncooked, dipping the pork into the flour and
eating as I went.  The next day at noon I entered the
lIormon station, and mly wants were amiply met.  In a
few days the rest of my advance party came in, and,
aftter recruiting, we crossed together the Nevada between the 12thl and 15th of July.  On those heights
we passed chasms yet filled with snow, probably a
hundred feet deep. No further incidents of special
interest occurred, and in due time we, the jaded five,
slept in San Francisco."
The last night in Swan Lake camp, and the last of
the Twelve Stories of The General! I think I had
bhest not pause to tell how late our fires burned  that
night, anrid what shorter stories were told of fowl, and
fish, andl animals of the chase, and cosy camips nearer
hlome than the Rocky Mountains.  If we had a second
suppel, and( every one took from the larder what game
he pleased, and cooked it in his own way, it does not
concern my           so much as it did Dock  in the 
THE GENERAL, OR
morning, when he suggested that some of Mosby's
guerrillas had made a raid on our co-mmissary tent
while we slept.  Perhaps I need not speak of midnigllt
guns mysteriously rousing our encampmlent, and the
sound of dipping paddles and war-whoops out on the
lake, as if some of the ghosts of Black Hawk's braves
were back fi'om the hunting,-grounds of the blessed to be
revenged oil the pale faces. I think our camp was.not
as quiet and orderly that night in the small hours as a
young ladies' boarding-school, where they all sleep to
order and sneeze by rule.
T+le morning at length came, as it is apt to do, what
ever the night may have been, and with it the teams
to haul us out; and also a powerful rain storm came, I
know not for what purpose.  Whether for us or not I
cannot tell, but we had the principal advantages of it
while we packed and loaded, in its drenching and pelting. WVe kept the fires going, and the tents standing
to the last. When finally we struck them, and stepped
out into the cold world, we found ourselves on equal
footing, literally, with the webfeet and squatter sovereigns of the region.  We came out fiom our campinggrounds as we welit in, by land and water, though,
technically speaking, we  made  our exit on   - heels.
Sleet, snow, and slosh greeted us, wvith the evening, at
New Boston, and we greeted a supper, and in a very
fiiendly way.  The  hot viands, good fires, and  dry
clothes made a meriy company of us, an(d we lost no
time in moody mielinchloly, while waiting for an  upward-bound steam,er.  Late in the eseniing ller whistle
broke in on our storytelling and laughling, and again we
crowded her with men and dogs, boats, tents, Iluggage,
236 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE IIUNTERS' CAMP.  237
and game. The spoils of our raid on Swan Lake were
the general centre of observation  and admiration.
Whlo can look on a large collection, variety, and fine
specimens of game fi'om prairie, woo(dlandl, and rivei,
and not linger to inquire, and be pleased, and surprised?
As we passed the opening to Sturgeon Bay on the
right, and, some time after, the low, fat belt of timber
lying between us and our favorite lake, we  turned
wishfuil eyes towards the dark shore, and the grove of
our encampment by the outlet of that beautifuil water.
It had been a kind of paradise to us, and our tent had
stood by that stream somewhat as Adam and Eve's in
their forest life.  For we are told that "a river went
out of Eden," and I suppose our first parents had their
bough-house  on its banks.  Nor  is it strange that
"some natural tears they dropped" when they left it.
We could sympathize with them.
A night and a morning and we were home.
Our camp life at Swan Lake was too short by at
least ten days. Not that this amount of added time
would have satisfied us in concluding the hunt. I
know not what number of days would have served for
that.  At least I never saw enough at one time in any
one camp.   The  true sportsman always wants one
more shot and bite.  Our time was short for Thle General, as he was only midway in his life stories.  Iie had
come down only to 1851, and the opening of California.
The ten years following to him, some of us knew, had
been fnll of incident and romance in frontier excursions
and pioneer life. 
THE GENERAL, OR
Iowa had become a state only five years before
(1846), and he had had muich to do in unfolding her
resources, and maiking them known at honle and abroad.
The first map of Iowa Teirriitory he published, firom
plersonail surveys and obseXrvation, about 1845, the result
of labori, at intervals, of three ye.ars.  A  new edition
of tiis,, with notes, was published in 1854, and many
were led to settle and invest in the new state fi'om the
information it gave them; and works more recent on
Iowa have been much indebted to it for valuable facts.
From his being in the Public Surveys for so many
years, and fiom his personal knowledge of the state
and general land interest, he was able to do much in
settling Iowa; and he probably did more than any one
mail, firist and last, to bring ill immigrants and locate
them.
With Scott county, his adopted home, lie was intimnately familiar, and had written out its full and detailed history, drawn firom its few records, old settlers,
and his own personal knowledge.   This has been published in the Historical Annals of Iowa.
Ten years of such fi'ontier life, while the Teriitory
is passing into the noble State, must be full of thrilling
incidents with a man of stirring and moul(ling energies,
such as The General had. We greatly regretted, therefoie, that we had not a few nights more, in which he could
bring us down in his narrative nearer to our own time.
He had so much to tell of the first log cabins and fiame
houses, the first bridge,  and church, and school-house,
the first wedding and funeral, the first corporate meetings of the people, and struggles fibr the county seat by
imported voters and citizens of a day. IHe was full of
238 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  239
reminiscences, too, of the ruder and rougher social life,
thl.t must accompany the pioneer's axe and breakingul,) plough.  Theie had been their early rollicking, and
j iiluketing, and mierry-nakings, wvlere now arc cities,
an(l p)alace homes, and a graded society.
There were many incidents, too, in Indian life with
whichl he was familiar in Iowa and its borders, in those
twilight times, when the gloomy shadows of the wigwarn were giving way before the rising light of the
settlement and village.  His business had taken him,
with the Congressional Commission, over the grounds
and aimong the survivors of the terrible Minnesota
Ilassacre, in which fifteen hundred whites were killed
by the savages in all strange and barbarous methods.
lie had given to the public the most accurate and
,grlaphic account of this tragedy that has been publishlied, and we wished miuch to have it from his own
lips.  It was just the place to tell and hear it, by that
camp fire, under those grand old hickories, and on
gi'ounds where many an Indian romance had been
acted out.
But our camp and narrative were broken up together,
foi business men made lip the company, and office calls
were too imperious to allow longer sporting and storytelling.
Ev(n then The General was planning a tour of exploration and trade to Idaho and Montana.  For about
one year before, in July, 1862, the two brothers Fairweather had discovered gold where now stands Virginia City, Montana;  and by  December over two
thousand  persons were there digging it.  With  his
characteristic love of adventure, travel, and business, 
THE GENERAL, OR
Tile General headed a company for this region in the
sl)-ing of 1864, the season following our Swan Lake
encampment.
I can here travel out of and alhead of my sketching
only to say, that this trip to Virginia City, full of nov elty, peil, and enterprise, was performed by the over l.,nd route, with a private outfit of four persons, four
horses, and ten mules, in one hundred and six days, the
distance being sixteen hundred and fifty miles. The
return was made late in the same year by stage.  In
1865 he made another excursion to Idaho and Montana,
by the Missouri Riivei, a distance of over three thou san(l miles, on one boat, fiomi St. Louis to Fort Benton.
Of both these exeursions The General took full notes
a habit with himn fiom early life - which were pub lished in The Bloston Review for 1865 and 1866.  These
)uTl)lislhed Notes will interest any one who wishes to
see wildl life on the prairies and mountains, the Indian
on his good and bad side, the buffaloes on a promenade,
the grizzly without a cage, and the man who means to
g,et a fortune, without work, by pick and spade in the
IRocky Mountains.
I have made this wandering firom Swan Lake to
Montana, and gone two years forward fromn our breakilng camp there, to introduce the last story of The
General. While starting on his last western trip), he
promised my four children A Christmas Story, written
out, since lie could not come on to tell it to them.
The material of the promised story came to hand on
this wise -
In this excursion up the Missouri, The General, on
the steamer Roanoke, passed the mouth of the Yellow.
240 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  241
stone on Bunker Hill dclay, 1865, and afterwards rounded
to at Fort IUnion, five miles above.  This point is
twenty-two hundred and seventy-five miles above St.
Louis.  This is the land of the Assiniboins, a branch
of the great Sioux  nation.   Strolling among  their
lodges while the boat was lyiing to at the levee, he
gathered the incidents and details of the thrilling narrative.  If my boy-readers wish to make it more like
the stories of Swan Lake, and more befitting the wild
scenes it describes, they had best read it some dark
autumn evening by a camp fire in the back of the garden, or over the hill.
16 
THE GENERAL, OR
CHIN-CHA-PEE, TIrE lMAID OF THE ASSINIBOINS.
"As we  were strolling among the lodges of the
Assiniboinrs with the interpreter, a half-breed French,
whose home has always been among them, and who
very well knew the individual history of almost the
whole tribe, we tarried a moment before a more than
usually neat and tasty wigwam, varying a little in its
structure from  others, and having a slight enclosure
upon one side protecting some beautifiul mountain flow ers in full bloom. Our gui(le seemed to have a little
pride in lingering, while we examined the rude but neat
little flower garden.  The mountain lily, with its lonl,
tapering leaves and slender stems, loaded with its ciim son blossoms, seemed the most prominent of the group;
although the pine-apple cactus, with its many-tinted
colors, was beautiful, and seemed to acknowledge a care
and attention not common in savage life.
"When we turned to pursue or' way, we found our
guide had strayed inside the lodge, and was engaged
in conversation with some one whose sweet, silvery
voice attracted our attention at once. We stood for a
moment at the entrance, when he invited uis in, and
waving his hand towards an Indian woman, in a kidl
of French salute, simply said, Chin-cha-pee.
"Shle was dressed in the fine, soft skins of the mountain sheep, richlly embroidered with beads and the
quills of the porcupine. A double row of elk teeth,
neatly fastened to a strip of blue cloth, surrounded the
242 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THIE HUNTERS' CAMP.  243
bottom of her dress, while her beautiful neck was load.
ed with strings of beads of i many colors.  Ill her hand
she held a curiously carvedcl stick, or paddle, the usual
implement for digging the'kalenas root' or the'pomme
blainchle,' a kind of prairie turnip, that grows here in
great abundance, and is very nutritious fbr food.
"She was evidlently about leaving the lodge for the
purpose of procuring her vegetables for dinner. Her
features were far from those common to her race; and
although a tinge of sadness could be traced upon her
face, yet none that behleld her could help but acknowledge that she had once been beautiful. A kind of
nmelancholy seemed settled upon her countenance; and
as we scanned her genteel form, and the neat apartment she occupied, we longed to know her history,
feeling that some hidden sorrow was slowly, but surely,
wasting a life at once romantic and interesting.  As
we bade her adieu, and were passing out, she raised her
dark, piercing eyes, and fixing them fully upon  us,
seemied to inquire our business there, but never spoke.
"W Te passed oni through the village, and, with the
excuse of weariness, seated ourselves upon a log, under
the shade of a widle-spreading, cottonwood, asking the
interpreter for the past history of Chin-cha-pee, the
Firefly.
"The Assiniboins and Blackfeet have ever been the
most bitter enemnies.  WNVar parties are formed on both
sides, and scarcely a year passes now that does not find
them engag,ed in deadly strife.
"The former chief of the Assiniboins, Tehletka, the
most noted leader that cver governed that tribe, was
an unscrupulous,  amhibitious man, another Blackbird 
THE GENERAL, OR
in atrocity and ciiine, an(l often resorted to poison to
rid hinself of hlis political  eneries.  IIe died by his
own hand.
Ills successor to the chlieftainship, W~e-noll-ga, was
brave, fondi( of war, ald evei seekling, an ol)portunity to
go aIainst the IBlackfeet, tlheir most iml)lacalle eniemy.
In their annual hunlt for the buff,ilo tlhey often ap proached the hunting-grotnnds of the Blackfeet, at the
base of the Rocky M-ountains, always taking with thlem,
on such occasions, the squaws, to cure and dress the
meat and skins; as an Indian never does anything, as
a liutnter, but kill the gamie.
"It was early in Septeniber, many years ago, that
We-non-ga summoned his warriors ani(  hunters to assemible at their village at the mouth of the Yellowstone, preparatory to the ftll ihunt.
One beautiftul, sunny morning, after the buffalo feast
had been duly celebrated by dancing and feasting, he
set forth with four hundred of his choicest hunters and
warriors, taking with himn his only daughter, Chin-cliapee, the Firefly, whom  we saw  this morning, then
about eighteen years of age, the first time she had ever
been permitted to leave the piterllil roof, as was the
customn for miaidens of her age to do.  The mother was
left at home, and it was with mnany fears that she parted with her only child, well knowing the dangers to
which she  was exposed.   She wias  attended by  her
cousin, Vi-oli-noti, Mountain Lily.  Slhe was mounted
),l a mrnost beautiful cream-colored chairger, her favorite
steedl in all her rambles over hill and prairie around
Iter native village.
"IIer boon  companion was ever by her side, for slie
244 
TWELVE NIGHIITS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  245
vwas like a sister, and the only one sl-e ever knew.  She
rode a no less spirited l)ony thall that of Firefly, lthoiugh not as beautiful, nor so richly ca])parisoned.
"These two maidens did not attend the expedition
as liborers, nor were thley expected to fill any particular position, but as daughters of the chief, beloved by
all, and having due respect shown them by the whole
camp.  Their apartment was in the chief's lodge, which
was ever guarded with double cafe.
"It was one of those Indian summner evenings, when
the soft, hazy atmosphere settles down in sweet silence,
and all nature seems sinking to rest, that the first camp
was made up the valley of the Yellowstone.  For long
hours, by the light of the moon, did old warriors, expert hunters, young maidens, and wooing lovers, sit
around their camp fires, or wander upon the banks of
that sweet-flowing river, talking of the past, enjoying
thle present, or speculating upon the future.  They were
upon their own lands, and felt secul'e.
"Firefly and Mountain Lily sauntered arm in arm
around the camp, accompanied at times by some young
braves, companions of their early youth.  All was glee
and mirith.  Unalloyed pleasure seemed to reign supreme throughout the camnp of this free and happy
peol)le.
"The morning came, and with it the usual routine
of camp life, to gathler the vast herd of ponies, strike
the encampment, pack the train, and take up the line
of march.  Tlhis, (lay after day, the expedition passed
oi, killing by the way the smaller gamne, the deer, the
alntelope, and fisliing firom the stream.
"After many days they reached the mouth of the 
THE GENERAL, OR
Big Horn River, intending to hbunt between the Judith
and tle Big Horn Mountains.
"Their main camp was iixed on a little creek near
the Yellowstone, in a gorge of the mountains, opening
out on thle broad prairie, ficing the east.  Thelre was a
high point of bluff in the r-ear of the cainp, firom whelnce
could be seen the loose stock, tile buff,alo, or an enemy
approaching, and a watch was constantly kept there
dniring thle clay, as a kind of sentinel.  A  few days after
the encampment was mlade, late in the evening, buffallo
were seen off in the distance some two miles.  All
necessary preparations were made  that  niglit.  The
ponies were corralled, thle quivers of the hunters were
filled up, and the bow new strung. The sentinel descend ed fi'om his lookout, and reported the probable number,
the course they were travelling, and the looks of the
ground over whicil the chase mighilt extend.
"The  chief of the hunters then assigned to each
squad the position they were to occupy, the manner of
attack, and to what distance the chase might extend,
that parties might not get separated, and captured by
the Blackfeet.   The  bufilo song was  chlanted, the
Good Sp)irit invoked by the incantations of the prophlet
of the tribe, who always attends these armed hunts,
tlhen all retired, to be ready to start by the early dawn.
"Long before the clouds began to brighlten in the
east, the camp was full of life and activity.
"The warrior and hunter laid off his wampum, and
his paint was washed from his face.  Every unnecessary
encumbrance was laid aside, and nothing but the knife
and belt, the quiver and the bow, was to be seen about
him.  The simple trappings of the hunter's horse and his
246 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  24 
saddle, his bridle, and his lasso, fastened to the bow of
his saddle, with his short whip hlanging from his wrist
by a buckskin string.
"Tlhe squaws were no less busy in preparing their
pack-saddles, ropes and lariats, knives, hatchets, and
sacks, to follow in the hunters' track, and commence the
work of butchleringr as soon as game was killed.
"The party moved at daylight, separatil)g into small
bands as soon as the position of the herd was ascertained.  WVhen the attack was made firom the farthest
point of the drove, in order to force them towards
the camil), all lay in ambush, until they should rush upon
the hunter, receive a discharge of arrows, and wheel in
another direction.  Then all the bands met them, when
in dismay the poor animals run in every direction,
beiing enclosed in a circle by the hunters, from whom
there was but little chance to escape.
"Personal combats are often entered into between
a wounded bull and an unsaddled hunter.
"The rage of the wounded animal becomes terrific,
and nothing but the cool courage of the Indian and hlis
trusty bow can save him firom a horrible death.
"The chase lasted some three hours, when the ex cited hunters, with their panting steeds, drew up inll
the centre of the field of action, upon a high piece of
prairie, overlooking the slaughter-pen of the chase.
"A long string of pack animals was seen wendling
their way back to camp, loaded with meat and skins,
while the prairie was spotted with slain and wounded
buffalo.
"One hundred and seventy were killed this day, and
their meat and skins taken to camp. 
THE GENERAL, OR
"The scene presented in camp was now all life and
animation. The choice bits of the buffalo were laid
aside for the feast and dance, which always follows a
siecessfull hunt.  Then are all made happy.
"The old warriors and hunters preside, and their
children and friends carry their precious morsels. The
chief of the hunters is toasted, and he who has slain
many is loaded with presents.  The feast ends by setting aside an offering to the Great Spirit, which is laid
upon poles outside of the lodge.
"And now follows, day after day, the dressing of
hides, and drying of meat which is to furnish food for
the winter months when no game can be found.
"The skins are stretched first upon the ground, with
the flesh side up, and with a paddle, the end of which
is full of notches, like saw teeth, the squaw cleans off
all flesh and grease; and when sufficiently dried, they
are strained on bars and poles, like cloth on the frames
of a dyer.
"The meat is cut into thin slices, and dried in the
sun; and strange as it may seem, thousands of pounds
are annually preserved in this manner without the loss
of a pound, and without salt.
"But to return to the story of Chin-cha-pee.  While
the various tribes were at the trading-post at the mouth
of the Yellowstone, as was their usual custom, both
fiiend and foe, to dispose of their furs; and before the
setting out of this expedition, a party of Blackfeet,
headed by a young chieftain, had determined on following the trail of We-non-ga., an(], watching the op.
portunity, not only to steal horses and take scalps, but
to capture Firefly and Mountain Lily, and bear them
248 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  24.
in triumph to the village of the Blackfeet. No oppor.
tunlity, however, was piesented on the route.
"They had seen the maidens often at their town, in
their gay plumage,  icling about the fort upon their
matchless steeds, or saunteliing at twilighlt along the
banks of the river, but never so far fi'om the protection
of the fort as to allow them the attempt of capture.
They therefore followed the camp of We-non-ga until
near the mouth of the Big Horn, and then secreted
themnselves.
"At the hunting camp the maidens were cautious,
and ever on the alert, well knowing the danger; but in
the excitement of success, the pleasure of a life so new
and full of romance, they became careless, and often
forgot themselves, riding beyond reach of succor fi'om
the camp, and sometimes out of sight, unprotected and
alone.  Several times they followed the chase, but the
sport soon became uninteresting to them.
"One day, when near the close of the hunt, and the
meat sufficiently dry to pack in bundles, the skins all
dressed to snowy whiteness, and the ponies fat for their
return tril, the two giws were riding, as  usual, iiup the
little creek upon which they were encampl)ed, which
was skirted with timber, and without any attendlant,
when, seeiing some uncommonly brilliant flowers upon
the opposite bank, they dismounted. Tying one of their
ponies, ad leaving the other to griaze, they c osse(l
over upon a fallen log,, and were busily e,ngag,ed in
gathering flowers, when fiv e Icndians rushed in between
them  and t)heir lorses, rendiering their escplo)C i.np)ossible.  To their horror they soon discovered them to be
Blackfeet. 
THE GENERAL, OR
"Lily, who was the more timid of the two, sent
forth a most heart-rending scream, while Firefly stood
the very inmage of Indian defiance and revenge.  Her
noble bearing for a moment riveted the intruders to the
spot with awe and admiration, as she stood withi arms
fcldled, holding in one hand her gathered flowers rest ilng on her heaving bosom.
"In a moment she recognized in the leader of the
party the young Blackfoot chieftaini, whom  she had
often seen at her home, in her rides and walks around
her village.  Firefly now coml)rehended all.
"The young chief had followed hei, with a few trusty
nmen, and she was a prisoner among the hated Blackfeet, the bitter enemy of her fither and of his tribe.
Slowly and gently the young chlieftainr approached
her, and calliin,g her by name, asked her to accompany
him to his country and his wigwam, telling her that,
althloughl  their tribes were  enemies, yet peace  and
happiness might reign in their lodge in the mountains,
in the land of the Blackfeet. He told her of his family
distinctions, of their prowess in war, of the scalps his
own brave hand had taken; he told of his admiration,
his long pent-up love, of the days and weeks he had
followed her trail to make her his own.
"Chin-clia-pec stood like a statue of marble, immovable, andl not a word escapled from her lhalf-p)arted lips.
"The chief motioned to his attendants, the ponies of
Firefly and Lily were crossed over the creek to them,
and they were mounted, an Indian leading each by the
bridle up the creek, about a quarter of a mile, to where
the ponies of the Indians were concealed in the bushes.
All were now soon on the way. Following up the creek
250 
E'llr\                 A>
;4
9b
Ew
I OF
C
En
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C  
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP. 251
to its source, and striking a dividing ridge upon the
broad prairie, they followed it in a northern direction
all that day. Night coming on, they encamped in a
deep ravine, where the ponies could find grazing. No
fires were made, as they might aid the pursuers in their
course. A sort of bower was built for the girls out
of some blankets, and the horses were tethered and
guarded. The night passed quickly away, for it was
late when the encampment was made. The chief and
one of the Indians stood sentry for the night. They
left with the light of dlay. They followed all day along
this same ridge until near night, when they struck the
head-waters of a creek that emptied into the Musselshlell River, down which they travelled till late in the
evening. All efforts to induce Chin-cha-pee to enter
into conversation were in vain. She would not even
speak to her captors. With true Indian stoicism she
maintained her self-possession, and never for even once
did the sound of her voice escape her lips. Once during
the sleepless night did she whisper words of solace to
the weeping Lily, who so keenly felt her horrible
c ndition.
"Thlus did the wearisome days and nights wear away,
No  hope of escape offered, although the girls were
allowed to ride their own ponies, the fleetest in the
party; but they were led by two Indians.
"Every day added to the distance of separation fiom
all they loved on earth.  Awful and bitter were the
reflections that continually crowded in their mninds;
but all was covered in their own bosom. Firefly
never allowed her emotions to betray the agony of her
soul to her captors. 
THE GENERAL, OR
"On the tenth day, in the evening, the party ar.
rived at the village of the Blackfeet, on Musselshell
River, and the prisoners were conducted to the lodge
of an aged squaw, anid given into her keeping.
"Thle young warrior chieftain had never yet succeeded in extracting a single word from the lips of
Chin-cha-pee.  Lily had answered some questions for
the young Blackfoot, for he could speak withl fluency
the language of the Assiniboins.
"But to return to the hunting camp on the Yellow.
stone. Deep was the sorrow and loud were the lamentations of that camp when night came and the two
maidens came not with it.  All night long did the
agonized father and chief walk iup and down the camp,
heaping imprecations on the Blackfeet, and beseechiing
his warriors to go upon the trail with the light of the
day, and as it dawned, twenty picked men, with the
fleetest steeds, were in pursuit; but missing the trail at
first, they had to return to the place of captui-e, and it
was long before they were fairly on the way.
"They followed for several days, often fiding signs
left upon the bushes by Firefly and Lily, where they
had staid over night, such as twigs broken and bark
peeled from little limbs by the teeth of the girls.  The
sign was well understood; but to overtake them was
impossible, and they returned to the camp with blackened faces, indicative of the fiowns of the Great Spirit,
and the deep sorrow and misfortune that had come
over them.
"1We-non-ga ordered an immediate return home of
the whole party to the mouth of the Yellowstone, which
place they reached after a mlarch of some fifteen days.
252 
TWELVE 1IGHITS IN THE HUNTFRS' CAMP.  25L
"Quickly the news spread over the village of tho
capture of Chin-cha-pee and Vi-oli-noti.
"A grand council of the tribe was summoned, and all
the warriors ordered upon the war-path  against the
Blackfeet.' For,' said We-non-ga to his tried and fahithftill men, as hle addressed them in council assemble(d,
'I have often led you to the battle-field, and lifted the
scalp firoom the Blackfoot. We-non-ga is no coward; he
never feairs the foe.  You see, my brave warriors, my
face is l)ainte(d like the burnt prairie, and my eyes are
red with blood [venrmilioin]; but I cannot go Upon the
w.ar-pitlh now.  I am overwhelmed with grief.  I am
broken (lownv like a woman, and must weep; for my child,
my lost Chin-chla-pee, and her whom I love next, are
prisoners in the vill.agre of the Blackfeet.  The lighlt of
my wigwam  has gone out.  I sit in darkness.  Tlte
Great Spirit turns away his folce.  O0, my brave wairiors, bring to my deserted lod(ge Chin-clla-pee and the
Lily of the AIouintiin, and make my heart glad, before
I go to the goodl liunting-ground, to tlhe island of the
blest.  The Great Spirit will guide you on thle trail, and
the war-song of my p)eople shall be sung each night as
the sun goes down behind the dark hills beyond the
prairie. I have spoken.'
" It is customary, on every occasion of a grand council, for ill young biraves, and others who may be entitled,
to present thiemselves for service in the war-party.
Some brave act is necessary to insure admittance, unless it be by somIe sle('ial permission of council.
"Amonig the 3youtlhs that were candidates for admission was a young brave by the name of Ta-to-kah-nan,
The Antelope.  IIe was' tlhe companion of Firefly and 
THE GENERAL, OR
Lily in all their juvenile sports in earlier days; was in
the expedition when the girls were captured, and felt
most keenly the sad event, particularly as he had a
special interest in the safe return of Firefly.
"He had never distinguished himself sufficiently to
entitle him to the war-path; but being the son of a
brave, active, energetic, and a good marksman, his ape
plication was received, and he was placed upon the list
to give him  a chance to show his bravery.  And he
longed for some opportunity to carry trophies of victory,
and lay them at the feet of Firefly, the chieftain's
daughter.
"The feast and the war dance were celebrated.  The
prophet and medicine men of the tribe had consulted
-the tutelary spirits, and early one morning, late in
Octoberi, the war-whloop was sounded, and five hundred Assiniboiii  warriors,  mounted  on  their  best
lhurses, left the village for the home of the Blackfeet,
on MAlusselshell River, more than five hundred miles
distant.  The command of the expedition, in the absence of We-non-ga, was  intrusted to the  second
chieftain of the tribe, Wa-to-ine-ka, IIe that runs fast.
Striking up the dividing ridge between the waters of
the Yellowstone and the Missouri, they travelled late
and early, until they reached the land of the Blackfeet,
when, by slow and cautious marches at night, they
came within about thirty miles of their village. Here
they secreted themselves in a little valley, surrounded
by hills, and sent forth spies to the camnp of the enenly.
Among this number was young Ta-to-kah-nan. They
travelled in the darkness of the night, and secreted
themselves by day.  The village of the Blackfeet was
254 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THIE HUNTERS' CAMP.  25b
situated on the banks of the river, having a kind of
amphitheatre of pririe hills on  the north and east,
some of which ranged near to the village.  Over oine
of these hills was a ravine with a cluster of trees and
thick underbrush, a kind of an oblong grove, running
to a point as it came up towards the summit.
"In this point of timiber, Ta-to-kah-nan secreted himself, from which he could at all times crawl to the brow
of the hill unobserved, and get a complete view of the
village.
"The spies had met with but one small camp of the
Blackfeet, and this was but a few miles from their
village. In the dead of night, they crawled upon them,
and each to his man; they slew them all, five in number.
Ta-to-kah-nan in triumph slung his scalp in his giudle,
and the next morning found him in the point of timber
above described, with his war-horse by hin  screened
from view, in a dense thicket of bushes.
"As the sun rose he crawled firom his hiding-place to
the top of the bluff, and in the course of a few hours he
saw the well-known ponies of Firefly and Lily led
round to the door of a lodge, standing on one side of
the town, by a tall young Indian, who held another horse
by the bridle line. Soon came forth the two maidens,
and, stepping upon a log, bounded into the saddle for
their morning ride, attended by only one Indian.
"They took their course at first up the banks of the
river, stopping at times to watch the wild goose or the
duck, as they sailed upon the placid waters, or view
the chattering squirrel (ad-je-do-mo) as he sat uponI
the limbs of his native forest; but with a bend of the
river into the dense forest, they turned their course 
THE GENERAL, OR
towards the hill where the young spy lay. In a mo  ment  lhe withdrew to his hidinjg-place, and awaited
events with a beating heart.
"On gaining the summit of the ridge the party
halted, as if to enjoy the autumnal breeze and view the
seared leaves of approaching wintel, as well as to select
their course to pursue still farther their ri(le.
"The first thought of Antelope was to send an arrow
through the heart of thle attendant, and flee with the
maidens to the camp; but the other spies were not in,
and would be taken. They were all to meet that night
at a spot agreed upon, and report thleir discoveries.
"They all started down the hill towards the point of
timber, Firefly being behlind, as she had stopped to
look at some flowers of rare beauty. The first two
passed the point. In a moment Ta-to-kah-nan ad vanced fiom the bush and discovered himself to Fire fly, unseen by the others, making the sign of silence,
andl pronouncing her name in a loud whisper. Firefly started, while a half-smothered shriek escaped her
lips.  Her quick perception and keen Indian cunning
told her all. Assuming to see something interesting,
she advanced to the edge of the thicket, and the young
brave, crouched in the brush, told her of the warriors
sent by her father, the course of their camp, and the
plans laid for her escape.  She advised him to call in
the scouts, and return to the camp of the warriors; and
the next morning, at the same hour, she and Lily would
be there prepared for escape, while he so disposed of
the troops as to cut off pursuit fiom the village.
"Firefly soon joined her party, and, although excited, managed to escape the notice of the attendant.
f#
256 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  257
She changed  her course, and by  a circuitous route
soon returned to the village, to give Antelope an opportunity for arranging things for the moirow.
0, how did the heart of' Firefly bound  within her,
and leap for joy at the prosp)ect of deliverance.  She
longed for a secret mnoment to tell Lily all, the sweet
I)rospects of home and friends, and as soon as they arrived, and the attendant was discharged, they sought the
little bowelr that had been built for them in firont of the
lodgce.  Here, in an excited state of mind, did Chin-chapee unfold the plan to Vi-oli-noti, telling her of the
hurried  interview with  Ta-to-kah-nan, of  his  true
devotedness to their cause, of his daring, and bravery
in venturing almost into the very camp of the enemy,
of the scalp that hung from his belt, and of her love fobr
him.   Lily seemed ready to scream for joy.  They
wept in silence, and thanked the Great Spirit for his
goodness to thlem.  Soon the bright eyes were dried,
and the all-absorbing thoughits of escape, of home, faither,
mother, fiiends, were uplpermost in their minds. The
two maidens lay locked in each other's arms that night.
Sleel) forsook them, and with the dawn they rose, full
of hope and fear.
"The young warrior chieftain, as was his custom,
passed round their lodge, tarried a moment, andl, with
winning smiles, tried to engage thet in some conver sation; but Firefly, as yet, hlad never spoken to him.,
Shle could but admire his mnagnanimity, his nobleness
of heart, his kind indiulgence dnring all thleir imprison mnent; for not the slightest indignity had ever been
offered them, and every facility for enjoyment granted
that they desired. They walked, they rode, and rambled,
17 
TH]3 GENERAL, OR
and were never separated. At night the old sentinel fas.
tened the door of their lo(g,e, and slept at its threshlol(ld.
"What would not the warrior chieftain lhave given
to gain filly th-ie aections of one so lovely, so pure,
so noble in chl-aracter, and exalted in birth, so beautiful
in form and feature! I-e loved to see her, the admired
of all, mounted on her splendid charger. I-TIe was as
fleet as the deer, and never did woman sit upon a horise
with more grace and beauty. No lhorse in the whole
Bl.ackfoot camp could outrun him, or that of Lily, who
also was a good rider, having been long taught by
Firefly.
"Ta-to-kal-nan was soon joined by the other spies,
and all returned to the camp of the warriors.  Ante lope was now entitled to rank. He had slain an enemy.
The scalp of a Blackfoot hung, firom his belt, dripping
with blood, and he was no longer to follow, but to lead,
upon the trail of an enemy.
"The camp was aroused; the report of the spies
heard in council, and that night Ta-to-kah-nan led the
armed warriors to the field of battle.
"It was arranged so that a protecting force should be
in readiness to cover the flying retreat of the maidens,
but in such a manner as to draw the enemy into a
pitched battle.
"The several squads of braves were placed around
the hills, while the main body was posted in a valley
surrounded with hills, in such a manner as not to be
seen until fairly entrapped for battle.
"Ta-to-kah-nan alone awaited the arrival of the girls
at the place appointed. Hours, anid even minutes,
seemed days to him, as he sat concealed, watching with
258 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  259
eager eye the summit of that little hill over which the
maidens were to come.  How did he watch the waving
of each bush and twig that obscured his sight! and with
what breathless anxiety did he long, for the moment
when Firefly should give the signal for flight!
"At last they came, Lily in the lead, the attendant
by her side, and Firefly lingering in the rear. She saw
Antelope for a moment, and received fiom him a token
of assurance. In another moment a wild scream burst
firomn her lips, and her bounding steed flew past Lily,
whose animal had now caught the alarm, and seemed
to skim the ground like a bird. The attendant, dumbfounded and speechless, seeing an Assiniboin warrior
in close pursuit, turned, and fled to the top of the hill,
gave the alarmn, and soon the whole village was in wild
commotion. Warriors were at once mounted, and in
full pursuit.
"Ta-to-kah-nan, with the captives, had rested upon
the top of a hill, as if in defiance of their enemy, but
in reality to draw them into the camp of the Assiniboin warriors.
"The war-whoop of the Blackfeet now rang through
the village, and little squads of horsemen were seen
leaving in all directions.
"While Antelope and the maidens sat watching the
scene with anxiety, a company of twelve Indians rushed
upon them fr'om behind a knoll - a point they had
gained unobserved by the captives- and now began
the chase for life and death. The young warrior chief tain led the band, and with the most deafening whoops
and yells, on they came, but without gaining an inch
upon their prey. 
THE GENERAL, OR
"The race now became wild as the wind. Over hill
and dale, across ravine and prairie, did Firefly lead
the yelling enemy, with Lily close behind her, and
Antelope by her side. All pressed their noble steeds
to their glreatest capacity.
"The Blackfeet, in desperation, strained every nerve,
until, rising a sharp ridge, the Assiniboin camp lies
before them! A yell of triumph arose fiom the assem bled warriors, all mounted, and'Chin-cha-pee! Chin cha-pee! Vi-oli-noti!' is sounded through the camp.
But on came the pursued and the pursuers.  Firefly,
with hands lifted, imploring the aid of the Great Spirit,
half raised in her saddle, her long, glossy hair floating
in the breeze, and the lines of her horse flung across
his neck, looked more the picture of an unearthly being than the mute and silent Firefly!  She gave an
anxious, imploring look behind for the safety of those
she loved, and patting her faithful horse, a few more
bounds brought her into camp), and she sprang from her
cream-colored pony into the arms of her fi'iends.
"The pursuingo Blackfeet saw the stratagem, and
turned to flee; but it was too late. They were surrounded, led to the centre of the camp, and a strong
guard placed over them.
"Short was the rejoicing over the lost maidens now,
for on came the Blackfeet with most desperate fury,
shouting their terrific war-cry, the sassiskivi of the
tribe.  Burning to avenge so daring an outrage upon
thleir village, they rushed foreward with great imnpetuosity fi'om every hill, and from behind every nook.  But
thle Assiniboins were  ready  for them.   They had
formed in a circle, having the captured maidens and
260 
TWVELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  261
the Blackfeet prisoners in the centre.  The scouts had
now all come in, and the battle became general.  Chincl.a —)ee, mounted on her foamingn steed, with the' totem' of lher tribe floating over helr head,. rode roundl
the circle with Vi-oli-noti by hler si(le, shouting the war.
cry of her people, and in the thickest of the fight
urging the warriors to desperate conflict.  The repeatedl and fearful charges of the  Blackfeet  drove the
Ansiniboins into closer quarters.
"Chieftain and brave alike foughlt with desperation,
all lashing themselves to their horses, that in case of
death their bodies would be carried from  the battlefield, and their scalps saved firom their enemnies. At
every charge they were repulsed, and the enemy fell
like buffalo before the arrows of the Sioux.
"The battle continued for more than two  hours.
Many a Blackfoot had bit the dust, and many of the
Assiniboins had also gone upon the trail to the good
hunting-grounds.
"Night came on; the battle began to wane.  The
Blackfeet seemed determined on one more desperate
charge, before giving up the contest; and, rallying in
solid column, they came down with almost resistless
fury, striving to break the ranks of the Assiniboins,
first discharging their arrows, and then with knife(
and tomahawk seeking a hand-to-hand conflict. The
carnage was dreadful.  IHorse and rider rolled alike in
the dust, while many a steed bore away the bleeding,
lifeless corpse of his master from the field of battle.
"The Blackfeet now turned and fled in dismay, with
the Assiniboins close in pursuit, following them even
to the outskirts of their village. Eighty-five of their 
THE GENERAL, OR
number were slain, and upwards of twenty of the
Assiniboins. Among the latter was the young, the
brave, and noble Ta-to-kah-nan, the protector, pre.
server, and lover of the beautiful Chin-cha-l)ee, the
Firefly. Her grief was inconsolable.  She wept in bitter
anguish as she remembered the self-sacIificing spirit of
the noble youth, in his recent success, for he had slain
many in the action, and was in the thickest fight.
With him were buried all her future hopes, and fiom
that day a settled melancholy fixed its indelible stamp.
upon her dusky brow.
"All that long night there was mourning in the
camp of the Assiniboins for the brave dead.
"Morning came, and after burying their dead and
securing the scalps of the enemy, they started on
their return home, taking with them the prisoners,
whom it was usual to put to death on the evening
after the battle, when the scalp-dance is performed;
but this was deferred for the night of the first encampment, when four were tortured to death, and on the
arrival of the party upon their own lands, four more
were led to execution. The other four, among whom
was the warrior chieftain, were to be kept until the
arrival of the party at their village, when all could
join in the sacrifice and dance.
"Chin-cha-pee had watched with earnest care the
victims briought foirth for sacrifice, intending to interfere in behalf of her captor, the young chieftain, when
his turn came for the torture.
"The last camping-place was at length reached, on
the banks of the Yellowstone; and on the morrow
the grand entry was to be made into the village of
262 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  26
the Assiniboins, with the trophies of victory borne
by the victors.
"A halt was called a mile from the town, and the
procession formed.  First came the chief appointed by
We-non-ga to lead the expedition, and by his side
rode the prophet and medicine men of the tribe.
Then came Chin-cha-pee and Vi-oli-noti, upon the
same ponies they rode away weeks before, bearing
the totem of the tribe, as the daughter of the chieftain. Then came the warriors in great triumph, followed by the scalps taken in the expedition, closed up
by a long train of pack animals, the poor, lame, and
wounded of the party.
"When the procession reached the chlief's lodge,
there was a halt, and one wild cry of joy went up fiom
the gathered multitude, and'Chlin-cha-pee! Chlin-chlapee! Vi-oli-noti! Vi-oli-noti!' rang throughout the
vast assembly, as the aged chieftain clasped his longlost dlaughter to his bosom.
"Long and silently did hle weep over her whom  he
thoughlt lost.  No word was spoken, nor was there
any wild outburst of affection, but that still and silent
joy for her return, and deep sorrow for the loss of
hiim whom she loved, for Chin-cha-pee had whispered
her lover's death in her father's ear.
"There was another scene for Firefly to go through.
Her mother was absent from the village at the time of
the arrival, and hearing of the return of the war party,
she hastened to her lodge, and with deep emotion,
forcing her way through the dense crowd, found Fire fly leaning upon the bosom of We-non-ga. A moment,
and the mother and daughter were locked in each 
THE GENERAL, OR
other's arms, amid the cries and shouts of the tribe, and
with sobbing and tears sank to the earth.
"While this scene was going on at the lodge of the
chief,  the village  crier had  summoned  the grand
council, and the prisoners were before them. The
closing scenes of the great drama were fast coming to
an end.  The grand scalp-dance was already begun,
and one of the prisoners had been chopped in pieces,
when Chin-cha-pee and Vi-oli-noti came in and stood
before them. Their wild joy for a moment ceased.
The young Blackfoot stood bound, chanting his death
song, when, on raising his eyes for the last time on his
enemies, his miild but piercing eye rested on Firefly,
who had taken her place beside her father, near to the
stake of execution.
"No pleading look from him seemed to ask for mercy.
For a moment his haughty nature seemed to scan the
pitying look of Chin-eha-pee, but her piercing glance
sank like an arrow deep into his heart, and hle felt the
wrong he had done her, the bitter anguish he had
caused her.
"Firefly now stood forth, and, addressing her ftther,
said,'This is the young chieftain of the Blackfeet.
He was my captor.  He is the son of a great chief,
although our enemy. His hand has taken the scalps
of our people.  But his heart is big, noble, and good.
ie ever guarded with honorable and jealous care
Chin-cha-pee and Vi-oli-noti, while prisoners in his
camp. His good heart ever fed us with the choicest
morsels of the deer and the antelope, and all our
wishes were granted when in his lodge.  To his kind
indulgence are we indebted for our escape and resto
264 
TWELVE NIGHTS IN THE HUNTERS' CAMP.  26b
ration to your arms. Pardon him, my father! The
Goodcl Spirit whispers me fo]' his return to his tribe,
that he may tell how honor, and principle, and justice
can be rewarded, even by an enemy.'
"The aged chieftain, WVe-non-ga, ordered the thongs
cut from his arms and legs, his pouch filled with buffalo meat, and set upon  his own horse with a safe
guide until he reached the land of the Blackfeet.  But
Chin-cha-pee never spoke to the young warrior chief
tain of the Blackfeet.
"We-non-ga, and the aged Wah-to-mee-ka, his wife,
have long  been  laid away in the'Village of the
Dead,' at Fort Union.
"Firefly and Mountain Lily, at the death of the
Chief, took the neat little lodge where we saw Firefly
this morning, but Vi-oli-noti was no more.  She hal
fallen a victim to that scourge of the Indian, the
small-pox, with thousands of others, and her spirit had
been wafted to the banks of that river where the
floweris bloom forever and the Blackfeet never come.
"Chlin-cha-pee could never  forget Ta-to-kah-nain.
His memory fastened strongly and closely to her heart,
and although many a noble chieftain had sought her
hand, she ever refused, since she had no heart to
give with it.  Her beauty has  faded; sorrow has
tinged her once fair brow, but the light of her eye is
yet undimmed."  
nf, mvxm
T was on the opening Sabbath of 1868 that this life
of honorable labor and varied incidents ended, and
the weary feet of The General rested from their travels.
He had indulged his youthful wish in seeing the wild
nature of his native land in her wildest dress. He had
laid out ample fields for agriculture, surveyed the channels and thoroughfares for the wealthiest inland commerce, run the boundaries for new states, and aided to
found their cities. Educational, humane, and religious
organizations shared in their beginnings in the energies
of his mind, and the warmth of his heart, and the liberality of his hand. Society felt thee sunshine and the
glow of his private life. So was the great purpose of
his boyhood realized in the achievement of a truly
noble life, in which the mental, and social, and Christian
honorably obscured the mercenary.
His grave overlooks the land he loved so well, and
led so many others to know and adorn.  "Oak Dale"
looks down on the beautiful city of his adoption and
nurture, and over the broad river that was his pride
and glory, and out upon the vast, billowy prairies,
where his were the first compass and chain, and corner
(2G.) 
IN MEMORIAI.
bounds for the immigrant.  This region he selected
for a home, as the crowning beauty of all the wide
lands he had traversed; and fitting it was that his
final resting-place  shoull have an outlook over the
beautiful panorama. Native oaks stand( sentinel about
his monument, and the delicate prairie flowers spriing
at his feet, as in tender memory of an early friend who
found them in their wild homes.
His final rest is where he prepared for it by enclosure
and monument, and in the manner of being laid in it
his wish was gratified. For at the first festival of The
Pioneer Settlers' Association of Scott County, Iowa,
in 1858, he said, in closiing an addiess, "Thy people
shall be my people, and thy God my God; where thou
diest will I die, anid there will I be buried. And when
I shall have gone to
'The undiscovered country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns,'
the greatest boon I can ask is, that my grave may be
surrounded by the Pioneer Settlers' Association of
Scott County."
His desire was sacredly regarded, and they sorrowfully gathered about his grave, and tenderly placed in
it all the mortal that remained of
WILLARD BARROWS.
268