The other three girls were all huddled together, holdin’ one another, and after we got that Arapaho out of the fire, Runnin’ Wolf went to talk to them. Just then, I heard a terrible scream and headed back toward the bushes, when the young Ute girl, Shinin’ Star, and Raven Wing came walkin’ toward me. Shinin’ Star walked up to the fire and threw a bloody mess into it. I saw then it was the complete manhood of the warrior that was still alive. Raven Wing pulled back her bow and put an arrow into each of the wounded men while Shinin’ Star cut the manhood off the other one that was still alive. He had lost so much blood from his leg wound I was not sure he even knew what she did. Then she held it up for the girls to see and said see they were men no more and would travel in the world beyond as not men. Runnin’ Wolf took all their scalps while I got their horses.
The one that was bein’ raped when Jimbo attacked was not able to talk. She was scared and tremblin’ all over. I picked her up and held her and just whispered to her and rocked her back and forth. She didn’t look to be more than twelve years old, and in a few minutes, I could feel her body start to relax a little. I put her on a horse and got on behind her where I could continue holdin’ her, and that left a horse apiece for the six others to ride. We took our time and walked the horses back to where we left Sun Flower and our stock.
Not knowin’ how far away the rest of the Arapaho raiding party was and the stock needin’ water, we mounted up and rode through the night back to the Seeds-Kee-Dee. We got in the river and went upstream for a couple of miles to hide our tracks just as it was gettin’ light. We made camp on the west side, in a thick stand of cottonwoods and willows. Anyone comin’ up on us would have to be mighty close to see us. This young girl with me, whom the others called Little Mouse, had fallen asleep off and on durin’ the night, and when I got off Ol’ Red, she just fell into my arms. I laid her down in the grass, and Sun Flower and Raven Wing came right over to care for her. They took her down to the river and bathed her, and when they came back, she lay right down and was asleep in minutes. Shinin’ Star was with the others, two of which were cryin’ from the relief of bein’ with friends. I had everyone rest for a couple of hours while me and Jimbo watched, and then Runnin’ Wolf took watch while I lay down for a while.
’Bout four hours later, we moved out again and, in not more than a couple of hours, were back with the rest of our horses. We had a good-sized herd now, and I wasn’t sure we should keep this many. The clouds were lowerin’, and it looked like rain, but so far, I hadn’t felt a drop.
Well, this was a fix we were in. We had to figure what to do next. We were right on the edge of the buffalo country, and we had seen a few yesterday, so do we take these girls huntin’ with us, or do we lose another week or two takin’ them back? Runnin’ Wolf said the Arapaho would send warriors back when the ones we killed didn’t return, and with the arrows, they would know it was Utes who killed them. They would be lookin’ for them to the south. He figured we should do our huntin’ farther north and then go back to the dugout and then take the girls back. Shinin’ Star told the girls that and why as Runnin’ Wolf was speakin’ English. One started to cry again, but they all nodded that they understood.
Sun Flower asked if we could just go a little way back to the river today. She said sitting on the horse any more would be hard on Little Mouse. We moved out at a slow walk, headin’ northeast, and hit the river in ’bout three hours. It was late afternoon, and we all needed rest and food. Runnin’ Wolf started hobblin’ the horses, and Ol’ Red, Jimbo, and me headed up the river to look around. I could plainly see the Wind River Mountains and knew we were gettin’ closer to the home of Sun Flower and Raven Wing. I jumped a few deer from the brush along the river and shot a little buck that was too curious for his own good and headed back to camp. The girls had a big stack of very dry firewood gathered, and they had an almost smokeless fire goin’ when I got back. When Sun Flower got out the pot and pan, it was plain these girls had never seen metal pots or pans before. There were still wild onions and roots left from our camp on Ashley Creek, and they all went right to work peelin’ them and puttin’ them in the pot, and then they started on that deer. It wasn’t long ’fore that deer was skinned and pieces were cut up and in the pot.
Jimbo had scared Little Mouse so bad when he attacked the men on her. She was still real jumpy ’round him. Sun Flower was the youngest of us at eighteen, and Little Mouse was stayin’ by her like a shadow. The deer hide was staked out, and the young girls went right to work scrapin’ it with stones. Raven Wing brought the rib bone I had made with a knife lashed to it over and showed them how to use it, and they were amazed at how much easier it was.
Sun Flower sat Little Mouse down and called Jimbo, and as he approached, she tensed up. He lay down and put his head by her feet. Then Sun Flower told her he was her friend, that he saved her, and he would protect her, not hurt her. Little Mouse looked at me, and I nodded. She then very slowly reached out and patted his head. He wagged his tail and inched a little closer, and she smiled for the first time since we found them.
These four girls ate like they had been starved for days. They had never seen a biscuit or tasted coffee before, and Sun Flower put enough sugar in the coffee for them to think it was quite a treat. These girls had nothin’ at all. I didn’t want to put up the teepee in case we needed to make a fast escape, so we just got the bedrolls and robes out, and all slept close to one another. It rained lightly durin’ the night for a little while, but we stayed warm and dry.
The next day we crossed the river and headed east. The clouds were still low and threatenin’, but the wind had died right off. We traveled maybe twenty-five miles by early afternoon and came up over a rise and looked out over a wide, shallow valley with maybe a thousand or more of those shaggy big beasts in it. Some were lyin’ down, and some were up grazin’. We stopped and backed right off. Just a couple of miles back, we had crossed a small creek that had good grass and a few cottonwoods all along it, so we went back to it, and while the women and girls set up camp, me, Jimbo, and Runnin’ Wolf went scoutin’, makin’ sure we were in a safe spot. I rode upstream, and Runnin’ Wolf rode down, while Jimbo made a big wide circle.
A couple of hours later, we were all back, and neither me nor Runnin’ Wolf had seen anything but buffalo tracks. We spent a relaxin’ afternoon makin’ plans for the hunt and decided to circle way out around them come mornin’ and see just what was on the far side. I hoped we could find pockets with just a few buffalo we could take without stampedin’ the whole herd.
Real early the next day, me and Runnin’ Wolf left, with Jimbo stayin’ to watch camp. He wasn’t happy ’bout stayin’ behind, but he did stay. We rode south what I figured was ’bout three miles and then east. Each time we came to a rise, we approached on hands and knees. We came up on a dozen or so young bulls that were out of sight of any others and dropped two of them. After guttin’ them, we moved on, and by noon we had six down.
I had Runnin’ Wolf hightail it back to camp while I started the skinnin’, and within a couple of hours, he was back with the women, the girls, and a dozen extra horses. Skinnin’ those big beasts was a lot of work. I used Ol’ Red and a rope to pull most of the hides off, but it was still a lot of hard work. I was amazed at how these four girls, all twelve and thirteen years old, worked. They laughed and played while workin’, and it made the chore downright pleasant. They were all eatin’ pieces of raw liver, and Sun Flower cut open the gall bladder of one and dipped a piece of liver in it and put it up to my lips. I shook my head, but she kept on till I tried it. I was amazed it was pretty good.
The sun was just settin’ when we got back to camp. It was still mostly cloudy, but the sun was comin’ through a few holes in the clouds by the western horizon, and the colors of that sunset reminded me of a paintin’ me and Pa had seen over a bar in St. Louis. The women had spent the mornin’ makin’ dryin’ racks and gatherin’ firewood, so we all went right to work puttin’ the meat on the racks and gettin’ the dr
yin’ fires started, then we put hump ribs on sticks, roastin’ over the cook fire. Next mornin’ we ate slices of boiled tongue before me and Runnin’ Wolf went out again.
We spent the next week with each day much the same. That next day we had five down by midday, and I went back after the women and horses. They had all six hides stretched out and staked and were gettin’ them scraped when I got there, and we threw more wood on the dryin’ fires and headed back to Runnin’ Wolf.
By the end of the seventh day, we had twenty-six buffalo down, and I figured that was more meat than we could carry. Once you dry the meat, it loses most of its weight, but it still takes up a mighty lot of room.
We had hunted around the edges and never did scare the main herd off. We stayed there at that camp for another week, workin’ those hides and makin’ rough packs to carry all that dried meat. We ate liver and heart and tongue and hump ribs every day, and Little Mouse had become just as playful as the others by now. We gave each of the girls a buffalo robe that was brain-tanned right soft by the time we left that camp. Many of the hides would still have to be worked more when we got to the dugout, but we had a great start gettin’ ready for winter.
We had a mighty big pack string when we got loaded up and headed southwest back toward the Seeds-Kee-Dee. I figured travelin’ slow like we were we would be ’bout four days gettin’ to the dugout. Some of these Injun horses had never carried packs before, and we had some trouble when the packs would shift. It took us all day to get to the river.
When we got to the river breaks, we approached mighty slowly. There was a breeze blowin’ from the south, not hard, just a subtle little thing, but I thought I caught the smell of woodsmoke just as we got to the first break. We turned back north and traveled another three miles or so before we stopped, and then we made a cold camp in a wash back off the river a ways. It wasn’t the nicest camp, but I figured it was the safest. I didn’t feel safe leavin’ the women alone, so leavin’ Runnin’ Wolf with them, me and Jimbo went on a scout. We crossed the river and headed south on the far side with the breeze right in our faces.
I got above the breaks on that west side, and when me and Jimbo were maybe four miles south, I was gettin’ the smell of smoke again. I moved farther out off the edge of the break and moved south another mile then got off Red and left him there in the brush. Me and Jimbo moved mighty slow and quiet as we approached the break and could see down into the river bottoms. Just a little farther south, there was an Injun camp. I counted fourteen warriors and no women, so this was a raidin’ party. They were too far away for me to tell what tribe they were from, and I wished Runnin’ Wolf was here. He was much better than me at tellin’ the different tribes.
I knew I was takin’ a risk, but I needed to get closer to tell if it was the Arapahos lookin’ for their dead or for us or if it was the Utes lookin’ for the girls. I figured if it were the Arapahos, they had never seen Jimbo, but the Utes would remember him. So I decided to send Jimbo out into the open where they would see him. But before I did that, I went and got Red. If I needed to run, I wanted him right close by.
Well, Jimbo just trotted right down there like he didn’t have a worry at all. He was ’bout a hundred yards from them when they saw him, and a couple of them grabbed their weapons. Then one of them shouted, and the others lowered their bows, and then one of them stepped out and started to walk toward Jimbo. I could now tell it was Rabbit, the Ute we had met on the trail, lookin’ for the girls.
I stood up and mounted Red then started down off the top of this break, and when I hit the flood plain, I loped right up to Jimbo and raised my arm in the peace sign, and Rabbit did the same. We talked as the others walked up and joined us, and Rabbit told them all who I was. I told them all four girls were safe and bein’ cared for by my and Runnin’ Wolf’s wives. I told them they were a little ways from here, but we were afraid the main body of Arapaho might come lookin’ for the ones we killed. Rabbit and several others held up their weapons, and I could see many scalps tied to them. Rabbit said he thought they would send no more.
Rabbit called out to some of the warriors, and as they came up, he said, “These men are the girls’ fathers. Redfoot is the father of Little Mouse, Hawk is the father of Laughing Eyes, Eagle Claw is the father of Morning Dew, and Three Bears is Little Bird’s father.”
I held out my hand and told them they all had mighty strong and brave young daughters, and they should be proud of them. Then I said, “Let’s go get them.”
Their camp was loaded in less than ten minutes, and we struck a fast lope right up the flood plain of the river.
I whistled real loud as we approached the wash, and Runnin’ Wolf stepped out. In just a minute, the girls came runnin’ out of the wash, and their fathers were down and runnin’ toward them. It was quite a gatherin’. Little Mouse, draggin’ her father by his arm, came over to me. She was tellin’ him of me and the dog savin’ her, that I was the strongest warrior in the world and Jimbo had the most powerful medicine of any animal that ever lived.
We moved our camp out of the wash and down by the river under the cottonwoods. We gave the girls each a horse, and we gave one pack horse loaded with dried buffalo meat to the four of them, and they each had a new tanned Buffalo robe. Rabbit and Redfoot came over to protest we were givin’ too much, that we had already saved their lives, and I simply said we hadn’t given them anything they did not earn, that they all worked very hard on the buffalo hunt, and it was only right they received the rewards.
We stayed there and ate buffalo and celebrated the rest of the day and into the night. While we were loadin’ up the next mornin’, the four girls, their fathers, and Rabbit came over to say their good-byes. The girls were huggin’ Sun Flower, Raven Wing, and Shinin’ Star while we said our farewells to the men. Runnin’ Wolf told where we would be spendin’ the winter and told them, if they got to our side of the mountains, to stop and visit. They would always be welcome. Rabbit came forward and looked me right in the eye. He said, “I never met a white man before, and I had heard bad things about them. I did not know when we first met that what Running Wolf said was true. I know now that everything he said is true and more.” He told me I would be a friend forever and if I ever needed help, to call on him.
Just as we were ready to mount up and leave, the four girls ran over and hugged us all again. Little Mouse hung on to me long and hard, and she had tears in her eyes as we left.
27 Going Home
We headed Southwest from the Seeds-Kee-Dee and continued on till we hit the place where Ham’s Fork ran into Black’s Fork. We had made a little better time today. The horses were startin’ to get used to the packs and weren’t fightin’ them near as much. We might even have a good pack train by the time we reach the dugout. We camped in a stand of cottonwoods on a bend in Smith’s Fork, just a ways above Ham’s Fork. It was a much calmer and quieter camp without the young teenage girls, and I thought we all sort of missed them.
The currents and buffalo berries were ripe along the river, and the women spent the evenin’ pickin’ berries. I figured we would make it to Black’s Fork ’fore the end of the day tomorrow, and it felt like I was goin’ home. I figured it must be the end of August by now, and then we would be set for the fall trappin’ season. Once we had the packs stripped off the horses, we went through checkin’ their hooves and hobblin’ them for the night, and when the women came back, they had cattail shoots and camas bulbs and onions and got a stew started. We had used the last of the flour several days ago with all the extra mouths we had been feedin’, but we were still eatin’ mighty well and were only two or three days from the dugout.
After we ate, Sun Flower and Shinin’ Star each took my hands, and we walked down along the river. We came to a bend where the water was calm, and Sun Flower looked right at me and told me I stink. I needed to bathe. The two of them started to undress me, and then they pulled off their dresses and pulled me into that cold water.
I must admit, it had been over three week
s since I had a bath, and I knew it was needed, and bein’ with these two was enough to warm that cold water right up. As we washed each other, it made me wonder why the white people weren’t as free ’bout life as the Injuns were. They enjoyed sex, and it didn’t matter to them who knew it. It was just as natural to them as any other part of their lives. Most of the people back home would think what I was doin’ here was terribly wrong. It sure didn’t feel wrong, and I was beginnin’ to figure the Injuns had a better way of life.
I got my buckskins to put on, and Shinin’ Star grabbed them and set them in the river. I now didn’t even have a blanket to throw around me. She just started to scrub them with sand, and when I asked her what I was supposed to wear now, she just smiled and pointed at Sun Flower. I turned, and Sun Flower was standin’ there, holdin’ a brand-new set of buckskins. Shinin’ Star came out of the water, and they both helped me into them. They were just as soft as could be and made out of elk skin brain-tanned and worked to a softness I had never felt before. I didn’t know what to say. This was the best set I had ever had, and the smile on these two women’s faces, well, I just held them both then realized they were still naked. Shinin’ Star walked back into the water and finished scrubbin’ them old greasy buckskins while Sun Flower finished washin’ her hair. Then they both walked back to camp, dryin’ in the air before they put their dresses back on.
Grizzly Killer: The Making of a Mountain Man Page 25
