Grizzly Killer: The Making of a Mountain Man

by Lane R Warenski

  When we got to the horses, Sun Flower got on her roan, and I handed her the reins of the chestnut and Raven Wing’s dun, and she headed back. I took Red in as straight a line as possible to the pack horses. I got to them through the thick timber at the bottom of the draw. It was goin’ to take me an hour to load everything, so I just made sure the picket line was still tight and loaded the pack with the cookin’ supplies and headed back with just the one horse. I went in the open and straight across the big meadow, and it didn’t take long to cover the five or six miles back to the dugout.

  When I rode in, I stripped the pack off the horse, and as I put him into the pole corral, Raven Wing already had the grease pouch and was coverin’ this young man’s burns. They had Red Hawk moved over, sittin’ up against the dugout, but the other two hadn’t been moved. I walked over to Red Hawk and said in what little Shoshone I had learned, “My name is Zach Connors. They call me Grizzly Killer, and I am pleased to meet such a brave Shoshone warrior.” His eyes lit up, and he was smilin’ from ear to ear.

  Sun Flower was tryin’ to make the one that had the head injury comfortable, but his eyes were just starin’ out into the distance, and I didn’t think he even knew she was there. I walked over, and she said his name was Sees Far and he was their cousin. Raven Wing spoke ’bout the burned one. She said, “This one is Buffalo Heart, and he is the younger brother of a friend of ours.” She touched Buffalo Heart’s arm, and he opened his eyes. When he was lookin’ at me, she said, “Buffalo Heart, this man is Grizzly Killer.”

  He tried to smile and made a slight nod, and I told him what I told Red Hawk, that I was mighty pleased to meet such brave warriors.

  Runnin’ Wolf had been draggin’ the dead out into the meadow. In this summer heat, it wasn’t gonna take long for ’em to get smellin’ mighty ripe. I saw they had all been scalped, and Sun Flower said the scalps were for these young men to take back and show they were now warriors. Raven Wing then said they would tell them the scalps were ours, and Sun Flower just said it wouldn’t matter. The scalps would show they had been in battle and now they were warriors.

  I needed to get back and bring in the rest of the horses and supplies. So I just climbed back in the saddle and headed out. It took me a couple of hours to get there load up and get back. When I rode in, Runnin’ Wolf had all the horses from the meadow in the corral, and he came over and helped me unload and put the rest in the corral. There were now eighteen horses and mules in that little corral, and it was crowded.

  Runnin’ Wolf told me that Red Hawk said there were many more Arapahos all painted for war when they first saw them, maybe as many as forty, but only these five came after them, and he figured these five were to meet up with the rest after they got these three’s horses and scalps. If they didn’t meet them, he figured the rest would come lookin’ for ’em. He said, “We should load these five Arapahos up and haul them way down the river, almost to the Seeds-Kee-Dee, so’s they would find them right off and not come up this far lookin’.” I said we would leave at first light. I figured it would take ’bout two long days to get there and two to get back.

  Sun Flower and Raven Wing were startin’ dinner and were cuttin’ up the wild onions and camas bulbs and such in the pot. Red Hawk was now up and walkin’ a little bit, and he had moved over to Buffalo Heart and sat down by him. Buffalo Heart’s eyes were open now, and it peered to me. Red Hawk was tryin’ to comfort him some. Sees Far was still just starin’ out at something none of us could see, and it looked like he was now strugglin’ to breathe. Sun Flower walked up to my side, took hold my hand, and said she feared for her cousin. I just nodded.

  The stew was made with what was left of the smoked deer, so we were down to just the dried elk jerky. We needed to make meat.

  I got one of the grizzly skins out and laid it out by the fire and asked Raven Wing to see if Buffalo Heart felt like he could move to the skin, where he would be more comfortable, and he nodded. I put a saddle under the skin so he could lay with his head on it, and with me holdin’ one arm and Runnin’ Wolf the other, we got him moved onto the skin. Raven Wing helped him eat, and Sun Flower tried to get Sees Far to swallow a bit, but he was not able. After we ate, Sun Flower just sat down by her cousin and held his hand.

  The sun was ’bout to set, and I saddled up Red again, and we headed up the trail along the stream. I told Jimbo to stay, and he just sat down on his haunches and watched me ride out. I hadn’t gone far when I saw some deer grazin’ their way toward the river. I left Red there in the trail and got to a place hidden by willows that I figured the deer would pass and just waited. It was almost too dark to see when they got into range, and I fired. With the pan flash, I couldn’t see if I hit. I had to walk back and forth in the tall grass to find if I had hit or not and then tripped over the downed deer. I gutted it in a hurry and then got Ol’ Red. This deer was just a yearlin’ buck, but it would last for a couple of days.

  When I rode back into camp, Sun Flower and Raven Wing were cryin’, and Runnin’ Wolf was wrappin’ a blanket around Sees Far. He had died while I was gone. I hurried and skinned this little buck and cut it in quarters and hung the quarters in the smokehouse, doin’ it all by the light of the fire. I took a shovel full of coals from the fire and put them in the fire pit in the bottom of the smokehouse and piled branches from the berry bushes I had stockpiled right by the door on the coals and closed the door up tight.

  I didn’t know how the Shoshone buried their dead, but I knew Sees Far had to be buried soon in the summer heat. I walked over to the fire and sat down with the rest of them and told them of a hill ’bout a half mile from the dugout that overlooked the stream and this huge meadow, that the mornin’ sun hits it first thing, and it would be a place I would like to be my final restin’ place. Sun Flower just leaned in to me, and Red Hawk said he was sure the family of Sees Far would be pleased to have him honored by bein’ buried overseein’ the land of Grizzly Killer.

  Runnin’ Wolf had told them of our plan to take the dead Arapahos back to the Seeds-Kee-Dee and why. We talked a little ’bout the Arapaho raidin’ party and where they might be headed. Runnin’ Wolf figured they would follow the Seeds-Kee-Dee, either north to find a Snake village or south and then east through the land of the White River Utes back to their own lands. He figured it would be south ’cause the Utes and Arapahos had been enemies since the times of our grandfathers’ grandfather. Raven Wing asked how long we would be gone, and I told her no more than four days. I said we would bury Sees Far at first light and then leave. Red Hawk went over to the pile of weapons Runnin’ Wolf had gathered from the Arapaho and went through them. He found Sees Far’s bow and knife and started speakin’ in Shoshone faster than I could make out. Sun Flower told me, “He says these weapons are Sees Far’s, and he will need them to make the journey.” Then Buffalo Heart said something, and Red Hawk nodded. Raven Wing spoke softly and said he would need his horse for the journey too.

  Before light the next mornin’, me and Runnin’ Wolf left with the two spades and rode to the top of the hill I had spoken of and dug a grave. We went back and tied the travois onto a pack horse that had been carryin’ it, and we laid Sees Far on it. Red Hawk was tryin’ to get a lead rope on Sees Far’s horse, and Runnin’ Wolf went over to help him. Raven Wing came and asked if I would help Buffalo Heart on his horse. I went over to him to tell him no, that it was not a good idea for him to move, but when I saw the look on his face, I just nodded and asked Runnin’ Wolf to put my saddle on Buffalo Heart’s mount. It took both me and Runnin’ Wolf to get him in the saddle, and he just sat there, breathin’ real heavy. It was light now, but the sun hadn’t hit the valley floor. By the look of the bruises, I figured most of his ribs were busted, and several of the burns were seepin’ a clear liquid. We helped Red Hawk too, but he wasn’t hurtin’ nearly as bad as Buffalo Heart.

  The sun was fully over the horizon when we laid Sees Far into the grave. Red Hawk laid his bow and knife alongside him. Then Red Hawk led Sees Far’s hor
se alongside the grave and wrapped the lead rope around his hand and stabbed the horse in the neck and held him while he bled out. The horse went to his knees then lay on his side and, a minute or two after, laid his head on the ground and didn’t move again. They didn’t want him covered with dirt, so we covered the grave and horse with rocks. It took much longer than I figured. It took a considerable number of rocks to cover the horse so wolves and coyotes couldn’t get to it.

  It was midday before me and Runnin’ Wolf headed out with the Arapahos. I wanted Jimbo to stay with the women, but Sun Flower insisted he go with us to scout ahead in case the other Arapahos were still out there. Jimbo was still wearin’ his moccasin, but he wasn’t limpin’ at all now. We made better time than I figured we would. Without draggin’ that travois, the pack horses could move right along. But we had over a hundred miles to travel just one way.

  By nightfall we were what I figured was fifty or sixty miles out on the flat land, and other than the river we were followin’, it was hot and dry. The flies were becomin’ a nuisance, and it wasn’t a pleasant thing takin’ the gruesome loads off the horses for the night. We moved a ways downwind of them to set up our camp. Jimbo’s paw was doin’ much better ’cause he caught a rabbit for his dinner. Me and Runnin’ Wolf just settled for some jerky. Durin’ the night, a pack of coyotes came down and was fightin’ over the dead Injuns, and I sent Jimbo to run ’em off. Even four or five coyotes would run from him, and if he gave chase, he could catch them in no time, but he just ran them off and came back.

  Loadin’ those five bodies the next mornin’ was even worse than unloadin’ them had been, and I sure hoped we’d make it far enough before nightfall. We covered ground mighty fast on these flats and could strike a gentle lope at times. We were never far from the river, so water for the horses and Ol’ Red wasn’t a problem. By the time the sun was just past center sky, we had passed where both Ham’s Fork and Smith’s Fork ran into Black’s Fork and could see the green waterway of the Seeds-Kee-Dee. We were still miles away, but we slowed to a walk, watchin’ for any sign of trouble. We had been roughly followin’ the tracks that the three Shoshone boys had left, with the Arapahos’ tracks over the top of them, and when we were what I figured was six or seven miles from the Seeds-Kee-Dee, the tracks separated, showin’ this was where the Arapahos started to follow them. We left the bodies right there. I was mighty glad to get rid of such a gruesome load.

  Our tracks would lead the Arapaho raidin’ party right back to the dugout, dependin’ on wind and rain, but it didn’t rain much in this country this time of year. Runnin’ Wolf figured these five wouldn’t be missed for several days or more and that our tracks would be gone by then. We decided to go on down to the Seeds-Kee-Dee and see if we could tell which way the Arapahos were headin’. We cut the trail of many horses ’bout a mile west of the river that headed south, and we followed it for a couple of miles and stopped when we saw a big dust cloud comin’ toward us from the west. We hadn’t been makin’ any dust as we were just walkin’ the horses, and neither of us figured we had been seen, as this group was still several miles away. But they were headed right for us, and there were too many of ’em to fight.

  20 Homecomin’

  There looked to be some breaks ’tween us and the river, so we headed there for cover. We got to the edge of the break and found a wash that came off the flats, and we rode down it. We holed up and tied off the pack horses mighty fast. I got both rifles and checked the pans and saw Runnin’ Wolf doin’ the same with his rifle, and then he slipped his quiver over his shoulder and got his bow. We climbed back up the wash on foot, and lookin’ through the brush where we couldn’t be seen, we watched that dust cloud gettin’ closer.

  They were runnin’ full out, and the dust made it hard to see, but when they were only ’bout a half mile out, I could see the lead horses didn’t have riders. ’Bout that time, I heard Runnin’ Wolf start to laugh, and he said it was just wild horses comin’ to the river for water. We watched, and as they got to the break, they slowed and, in a single line, went down through another wash maybe three hundred yards south of us and went on to the river to drink.

  It was late afternoon now, but I figured we had three of four more hours of light, and I didn’t want to be away from the women any longer than we had to. So I suggested we head back now and ride till dark. We stopped on a bend in Black’s Fork just as it was gettin’ dark. We were all tired. Ol’ Red and the horses needed water and grass, and even Jimbo just curled up and didn’t go huntin’. There wasn’t much grass here, just a little right on the riverbank. We hobbled the horses so’s they could move along the bank, findin’ what graze there was. We didn’t build a fire ’cause it could be seen too far away on these flats, so we made do with just a piece of jerky again, and I threw a piece to Jimbo as well.

  Next mornin’ we were up just as the eastern sky was turnin’ gray and found the horses had scattered for quite a ways along the riverbank. Jimbo had already gone out lookin’ for his breakfast, so I just walked out to Ol’ Red and jumped up on his bare back and gathered all the horses. We just ate another piece of jerky after we were in the saddle and figured we’d stop for coffee and a meal once we got off this dry, flat land and started to get into some trees again.

  ’Bout midmornin’ we saw a herd of antelope that was grazin’ in the sage near the top of a rise on the northern side of the river. I left all the horses with Runnin’ Wolf and backtracked a mile or so then crossed the river and got to the north side of that rise. I left Red at the bottom of the rise and crawled up through the brush. I made sure the Hawken was ready and, very slowly, keepin’ my head below the brush, looked over the top. I was a little farther east than I figured I would be, but I figured I could make the shot even if they were over a hundred yards away. They hadn’t seen me yet, but just as I was ready to fire, one buck lifted his head, lookin’ right at me. I squeezed off the shot just as they all started to run, but after just a couple of bounds, the one I had shot at fell. I threw this little prairie goat behind my saddle and headed straight down to the river. Runnin’ Wolf and Jimbo were waitin’ for me once I got across. It took just a few minutes to cut it in half so we could split the load onto two of the pack horses, and we headed out.

  By midday we were gettin’ into higher country with more grass and brush, and when we came to a thick stand of cottonwoods, we stopped to rest and eat. There was good grass, and we built a small fire up under the trees so’s the smoke would break up, goin’ up through their branches. While Runnin’ Wolf was puttin’ some antelope on a couple of sticks to roast, I made coffee. And for the first time since we left the dugout, we had fresh meat and hot coffee. We let Ol’ Red and the horses graze for a little over an hour and got back on the trail. We struck a gentle lope, and the miles passed by mighty quick.

  By late afternoon, I figured we were only ’bout twenty-five miles out, and if the horses could hold to even a fast walk, we could make it in by dark or shortly after. The last of the light was fadin’ from the western horizon when we could see the fire at the dugout, and Jimbo went on ahead to let ’em know we were comin’ in.

  Sun Flower, Raven Wing, and Red Hawk were on their feet, waitin’ for us, as we walked the horses right over to the corral. I noticed first the teepee set up, and I could smell the sweetness of chokecherry smoke comin’ from the smokehouse, and there were two deer hides staked out that the women had been workin’. As I climbed off Ol’ Red, Sun Flower came runnin’ over and threw her arms ’round me and just held on. She then whispered to me she had been afraid for us.

  We got the stock taken care of and put the antelope in the smokehouse with the two deer. We just rolled the antelope hide up till mornin’. I was tired and hungry, and I knew Runnin’ Wolf was the same. Jimbo just curled up by the fire and didn’t move. I noticed then his sore paw was stickin’ through the bottom of his moccasin. He had worn the bottom right off it. As I took the worn-out moccasin off and checked on his paw, Raven Wing was dishin’ us out some
stew they had made with fresh deer, and Sun Flower was pourin’ coffee. Buffalo Heart was lyin’ on the grizzly skin, but he was smilin’ and looked better than when we left.

  After we ate, we sat ’round the fire and told of our journey, with Raven Wing tellin’ these young men what we were sayin’. They all got a good laugh when I told them of us runnin’ and hidin’ from a herd of wild horses. I asked ’bout the deer, and Red Hawk said Shoshone women were good hunters. Sun Flower told us she went up the river with her gun and waited for the deer to come to the water. She said the gun made her feel like a warrior that could take care of herself. Raven Wing said Sun Flower hit the second one while it was runnin’, that she was gettin’ real good with her gun. We were all smilin’ and happy, sittin’ around that fire, tellin’ our stories, and for now not thinkin’ ’bout Sees Far or the Arapahos.

  I asked ’bout the teepee, and Sun Flower said the air wasn’t good in the tree lodge, as she called the dugout, and I figured it was made of trees, so her name was fittin’. I noticed then the sides of the teepee were rolled up ’bout a foot high all the way ’round it, and she said that was to let cool air in for the summer. I was tired and ready for sleep, and our beds were already rolled out in the teepee, so I said good night and went in. It was only a minute later when Sun Flower came in, and it felt mighty fine holdin’ her again. Next thing I remember was openin’ my eyes and seein’ it was already light. I could see out under the rolled-up lodge cover, and Red Hawk was up with a fire goin’.