Grizzly Killer: The Making of a Mountain Man

by Lane R Warenski

  With nothin’ but a handful of jerky in our saddlebags, we headed back down Rock Creek to the Duchesne River and headed downstream. We were headed downstream but not stayin’ close to the river at all so we could keep up a good lope most of time away from the trees along the river. This country was dry benchland with short sage and prickly pear cactus. The Uintah or Bear River Mountains were now twenty or more miles north of us, and off to the east was nothin’ but more of this high dry basin. It looked like it went on for more than a hundred miles.

  Not much more than a couple of hours after we left, we came off this dry bench where another river ran into the Duchesne from the west. It was now ’bout the first week of July, and the spring runoff was ’bout over, so crossin’ these rivers wasn’t a problem. We stopped here just long enough to give Ol’ Red and the horses a breather. Runnin’ Wolf told me then that Black Hand was a Sahpeech Ute and he was very fast to anger, that he had tried to take Shinin’ Star as a wife before, but she had chosen another, and now that her man was killed, he had come back. He told me the Sahpeech lived ’bout four days’ travel to the south and west, but travelin’ like we were, we should make it in under two days. There was a large mostly dry canyon headin’ southwest from here, and Runnin’ Wolf said that was the trail that led over the mountains and down into the valley of the Sahpeech. He said he hoped to catch up to them before they got back to his village.

  Jimbo was a little ways from us, runnin’ ’round, smellin’ everything like usual, when he barked and headed southwest. We mounted up, and when we got to where Jimbo had barked, we could see tracks of where Black Hand had stopped with Shinin’ Star, and now Jimbo had picked up her scent and was on their trail. There had been no rain here, and the tracks were plain in the dry ground. We changed mounts, givin’ Red and the chestnut a break, and hit the trail, tryin’ to catch up to Jimbo. We struck an easy ground-eatin’ lope, and as the sun set, the western sky became a blaze of orange sight to behold. We traveled well into the dark, and then when the canyon started to get steep and covered with pines, we stopped and changed mounts again. The trail was steep and windin’ through the pines. We could only go at a slow walk. It was well after midnight when we topped out and decided we needed to rest Ol’ Red and the horses and get a couple of hours of sleep. There was no water here for the stock, so we tied them to trees and lay down under a pine and slept for two or three hours.

  It was too dark to see any tracks when we hit the trail again, but Jimbo seemed to know right where to go, so we just followed him into the night. The trail goin’ down the other side of this pass was mighty steep and narrow, and I couldn’t see the bottom. The goin’ was painfully slow here, but we were still goin’. By the time it got light, we were off the steep pass and headin’ southwest again ’cross miles of rollin’ hills atop this high mountain plateau. There were pines on the north sides of most of the hills and in the draws where the water would run. We crossed another small river that was runnin’ east and stopped to let Ol’ Red and the horses drink and graze for a while. Jimbo caught a cottontail rabbit, and while he ate it, me and Runnin’ Wolf had a piece of jerky. I figured we had come near a hundred miles from Runnin’ Wolf’s village in less than eighteen hours. I had never traveled that far that fast before.

  By midmornin’ we came to a spot where they had stopped and camped. The coals of the fire were still warm, and after studyin’ the tracks, Runnin’ Wolf said he figured that Shinin’ Star was tied up. He said that Black Hand didn’t figure he was bein’ followed and had slowed down now. He figured we would catch them today. We were close enough to them now, and if he was watchin’ his back trail, he would see us comin’. I knew it was a risk, but I suggested we leave Jimbo on the trail, and Runnin’ Wolf and I moved way off to the side. If Black Hand saw Jimbo at a distance, he would figure he was just a wolf.

  I got Shinin’ Star’s bed robe and let Jimbo smell it again, and he stayed right on their trail. Runnin’ Wolf and I moved a mile or so west of the trail and followed along at a good, fast lope. It appeared the trail was headin’ down this big wide draw still headin’ southwest, and we were up on the western rim in timber. We were movin’ as fast as we could through the trees, when Runnin’ Wolf saw a thin column of smoke comin’ from the bottom of the draw, maybe a mile ahead and below us. We tied the horses and worked our way into a position where we could see into his camp. We were maybe a half mile above them. He had his horses hobbled on the grass along the small stream that ran down through this draw, and it looked like he planned on stayin’ there at least for a while. Just then, without makin’ a sound, Jimbo came right up to us. We picked out a route we could use to get down to them without bein’ seen and headed down.

  We were just a couple of hundred yards from them, when Runnin’ Wolf stopped and whispered to me that he was gonna just walk into Black Hand’s camp and try to talk to him, that he didn’t want to have to kill him if there was any other way. At ’bout fifty yards out, we hadn’t been seen yet, and Black Hand was yellin’ at Shinin’ Star that if she didn’t cook for him, she wouldn’t eat. She told him, as long as he held her captive, she would never eat again. He slapped her, and she fell to the ground, and then he set a rabbit on a stick over the fire. Jimbo started his low growl, and Runnin’ Wolf motioned for me to hold him and stay. He set his rifle down and walked right on in.

  He was only ’bout twenty yards from them when they saw him, and both Black Hand and Shinin’ Star just stared for a minute. Then Shinin’ Star got up and started for him, yellin’ his name, and Black Hand knocked her down again and pulled his knife. Just from the look of Black Hand, I figured Runnin’ Wolf wouldn’t be a match for him in a fight. He was a mighty fearsome-lookin’ man. He was built wide and powerful and just had a look of meanness in him.

  Runnin’ Wolf walked right in and asked him what right he had to take his sister against her will and then treat her like a slave. This took Black Hand off guard, and I could see the anger building in his face. He said, “She has no man, and she is now my woman and I have the right to treat her as I please.”

  Runnin’ Wolf had now raised his voice and told Black Hand that Shinin’ Star did have a man, that he was the great white warrior Grizzly Killer, and he was here now to take his woman back. I was not sure who was more surprised at that—Black Hand, Shinin’ Star, or Me. He told Black Hand to take his horses and go in peace but not to return to the land of the Uintahs. Black Hand told Runnin’ Wolf he was lyin’, that Shinin’ Star had no man but him, and he was not leavin’ now or ever without his woman.

  I told Jimbo to stay and stood up and walked in, and as I got closer, I noticed two things right off. Grub Taylor had been right with what was said ’bout Shinin’ Star when we were at Rendezvous. She was a mighty beautiful woman, and Black Hand was surprised and furious all at the same time. I ignored Black Hand and walked right up to Shinin’ Star and put my arms around her and, in the best Ute I could, asked her if she was all right. She was stunned and just looked at me. Black Hand came at me, yellin’ to get away from his woman. He still had his knife in hand, but he wasn’t ready to use it just yet. When he was close enough and without sayin’ a word, I swung my fist and caught him square in the face. He landed flat on his back, but this was one tough, strong man, and he was back on his feet mighty fast. His nose was flattened, and both his lips smashed. He was a bloody mess. I told him to leave now or die. Just as he started toward me, Jimbo came up to my side and growled. Black Hand stopped, and Runnin’ Wolf told him he couldn’t win, that we were takin’ Shinin’ Star back with us. He told us we were cowards not to fight him fairly and that he would follow us till we were all dead. I believed he would from the look in his eyes, so I pulled my knife and told Runnin’ Wolf to hold Jimbo.

  He came at me, tryin’ to catch me off guard like I had caught him, but I was expectin’ that. I sidestepped his lunge with the knife and kicked the side of his knee with all I had, and he went down. He rolled and got up, but I could tell he was hurt. He came at me
again, not movin’ near as fast, but this time, he had figured my move and caught me on the shoulder with his blade, and I could tell it was a deep cut. He spun ’round to finish the job, but I hadn’t moved and was waitin’ for him. I drove my knife deep into his belly, and with all my strength, I lifted up and opened him up clear to his ribs. He had a look of surprise as he fell to his knees and, tryin’ to hold in his guts with both hands, fell to the ground and died.

  I was shakin’ all over. I had killed a few Injuns before but not like this, not in a hand-to-hand fight. This fight was violent and bloody and lasted less than a minute, and a man was dead. Shinin’ Star ran to her brother, and Jimbo ran to me. I half staggered over to a fallen log and sat down. Runnin’ Wolf and Shinin’ Star came over to me, and Shinin’ Star started doctorin’ my shoulder.

  Half hour later, I was still shakin’ a little from the intense fight, but Shinin’ Star had the bleedin’ stopped. The cut was deep enough it needed to be sewed up, and I had a needle and some sinew in my possibles bag. I got it out and asked Runnin’ Wolf to sew it up for me. Shinin’ Star took the needle from Runnin’ Wolf, looked at it for a minute, and smiled. She then frowned, and I nodded. She was careful, but it did hurt. I tried not to let it show, but it hurt.

  Runnin’ Wolf said, “We should get as far from here as we could before nightfall, and we will take Black Hand with us and find a spot to bury him where he will not be found.”

  Black Hand had ten horses that he had trailed all the way to pay for Shinin’ Star, and we had to take them all with us. We rolled Black Hand’s body up in his robe and tied it on and headed back the way we had come. Ol’ Red and our three horses were up on the rim of this draw in the timber, so we worked our way up to them, and it was midafternoon by the time we started back, and within a couple of hours, we crossed a deep little wash that would make a good grave. We followed it ’bout mile off the trail and put Black Hand’s body in it and sluffed the bank down on top of it. Shinin’ Star was mighty quiet durin’ this whole time.

  The three of us were leadin’ eleven horses now, but they were used to the trail, and we moved right along. We were back up on the big plateau, and when we got to the small river where we had let the stock graze before, it was just a couple of hours before sundown. All of us and the stock needed a good night’s rest, so we stopped for the night. We hobbled all the horses but, as usual, just let Ol’ Red loose. There was plenty of grass for ’em to graze through the night. Runnin’ Wolf said he was goin’ huntin’, and Shinin’ Star went down to the river and bathed. I was gatherin’ firewood when Shinin’ Star got out of the river, but I couldn’t help lookin’. A beautiful naked girl with water glistenin’ on her skin was a sight I would never be able to turn away from.

  I had a fire goin’, and the western sky was painted with such colors as you wouldn’t believe, when Runnin’ Wolf came back with a deer cross the back of his horse. As he got it to the ground, Shinin’ Star, still not sayin’ much, just walked over and started skinnin’ that deer. She got the skin off one haunch, cut three big chunks of meat off, and got them roastin’ on sticks over the fire. Then she went back and finished the skinnin’. We ate that fresh roasted deer and drank the cold stream water while Jimbo ate three cottontail rabbits. Then sittin’ by the fire as it got dark, the tenseness of the fight and two days and nights in the saddle all started to hit me, and I needed sleep. I got my bedroll and handed Shinin’ Star hers, and as I unrolled mine and lay down, the last thing I remember was some coyotes yippin’ in the distance, and then I was asleep.

  It was a chilly night up this high, and we just had one blanket each. I felt the warmth of Sun Flower’s body next to me and put my arms ’round her and pulled her naked body right up against me and slept. When I opened my eyes, the sky was already gray along the eastern horizon, and the warmth of Sun Flower in the chill of this mountain air sure felt good. Then I realized where I was, and Sun Flower wasn’t here, and this naked girl in my arms was Shinin’ Star. I tried to move without wakin’ her, but as soon as I moved, she opened her eyes and smiled at me. I didn’t know what to do, but I did know I wasn’t goin’ to betray Sun Flower, so I just threw the blanket off me and got up. It was cold, so I put my blanket over Shinin’ Star and got a fire goin’. Runnin’ Wolf was still under his blanket, but I could see the smile on his face, so I threw a piece of firewood at him. He said every great warrior needed more than one woman, some even had three or four, so I still had more to go.

  I felt I needed to talk to Shinin’ Star, but I just didn’t know enough of the Ute tongue, and right now, I wasn’t so sure how helpful Runnin’ Wolf would be. So we ate more roasted deer and saddled up. We wasn’t pushin’ near as hard as before, but we set a steady pace. Climbin’ up over that pass was even more fearsome in the daylight. At least at night you couldn’t see how far it was to the bottom, and the trail even looked steeper and narrower than it did durin’ the night. It was slow goin’, but we made it up over the top without any trouble.

  From the top you could see the full length of the Uintah Mountains. They looked to be nearly a hundred miles north of us and went to the east as far as the eye could see. You could still see snow hangin’ on the sides of the peaks. We started off the top of this pass and worked our way down the trail through the timber and started down this long canyon back toward the Duchesne River. We got to where the river comin’ from the west met the Duchesne just as the stars were comin’ out and stopped for the night. Jimbo went out lookin’ for his dinner, and we put more of the deer to roastin’. I sure wished we would have brought the little coffee pot and some coffee.

  After we ate, I got my bedroll and laid it out off to the side of the fire, and Shinin’ Star got hers and followed me. I shook my head no and told Runnin’ Wolf to tell her I already had a woman. She looked hurt and spoke. Runnin’ Wolf told me she asked if I did not like her. I smiled at her and said I liked her very much, that she was a beautiful woman, but that I already have a woman. When Runnin’ Wolf had told her what I said, she looked at me with a puzzled look and said, with Runnin’ Wolf tellin’ me in English, “If you only have one woman, now you have two.” Then she said that I had fought and killed for her and that Runnin’ Wolf gave her to me and she would be my second woman. Then she just smiled and put her blanket next to mine.

  I had no idea what to do to make her understand, and I sat down by Runnin’ Wolf to get him to explain it to her. But to Runnin’ Wolf’s way of thinkin’, I’d lost my mind. He said men took more than one woman, that the women helped each other and it was easier for them, that even Chargin’ Bull, the Snake chief, had two women, and he did not understand why I didn’t want two women. Then he asked me if I didn’t like his sister. I told him again I liked her, but I felt like it would be betrayin’ Sun Flower. He looked puzzled and asked why. I could tell my white-man beliefs made no sense to these people, just as their beliefs made no sense to me, so I just crawled into my bedroll, wonderin’ how I was supposed to explain all this to Sun Flower. When I opened my eyes and listened for the natural sounds the next mornin’, Shinin’ Star was lyin’ there next to me, but this time, she still had her doe skin dress on.

  Travelin’ easy like we were, I figured it would take us ’bout four hours to get back to their village on Rock Creek. I was both exited to see Sun Flower and worried ’bout what Runnin’ Wolf and Shinin’ Star would say. They were both actin’ like Shinin’ Star was gonna be my woman too.

  23 Two Wives

  It was late mornin’ when we saw the village, and we were met by those same two boys as when we first rode in a few days ago. They were mighty excited and headed right for the village with the news. I could see our teepee standin’ high above the wickiups, and ’fore long, I could see Sun Flower and Raven Wing standin’ in front of it. A couple of the braves came out to us, and Runnin’ Wolf asked if they would take the horses out to the herd for him.

  By now there was a crowd of women ’round Shinin’ Star, and they were talkin’ way too fast for me
to pick up much of it. I just rode through them all and right to Sun Flower, jumped down, and picked her up in my arms. Her smile and the look in her eyes made my day. Runnin’ Wolf was tryin’ to get through everyone that was askin’ all sorts of questions when Raven Wing just pushed through them all and threw her arms ’round him. Shinin’ Star saw that and went right over to him to meet the Shoshone woman her younger brother had chosen.

  I was surprised at the amount of the Ute tongue Raven Wing had picked up. She was talkin’ to Shinin’ Star, and Runnin’ Wolf was just smilin’. Raven Wing really had a gift for learnin’ different tongues. Sun Flower, it seemed, was pickin’ up a lot that was bein’ said, and she had a strange look on her face. I couldn’t understand what was bein’ said, and I started to get worried again.

  Another tall man that looked like he was important said there would be a feast tonight to celebrate the return of Runnin’ Wolf and Shinin’ Star. Sun Flower told me that was Two Feathers, the son of Stands Tall. She said he and the other hunters had brought in much meat.

  Runnin’ Wolf then brought Shinin’ Star over to us and introduced Shinin’ Star to Sun Flower. Shinin’ Star started talkin’ and asked Sun Flower if she understood. Sun Flower nodded, and I got even more worried. Shinin’ Star told her that I had saved her from Black Hand and that Black Hand was a very powerful warrior and I had killed him with only a small wound on my shoulder, that she was very pleased to meet the woman of such a great warrior. She said that Runnin’ Wolf had given her to me, but I did not want her ’cause I already had a woman. Shinin’ Star told her she was very lucky to have such a great warrior with such powerful medicine.