They talked on and on about Rendezvous telling Benny that he was going to meet all the long time trappers. Bill and Milt Sublette, Jim Beckwourth, Davy Jackson, Joe Meeks, Hugh Glass, maybe even Jed Smith if he makes it back from the western ocean. They told him of Jim Bridger floating down the Bear River two years ago, when the Rendezvous was in Willow Valley. How he had floated right into the Great Salt Lake and how he thought he had found the western ocean, because it was salty. They went on with their stories telling him of the battle last year with the Blackfeet and how Grizzly Killer had killed Thunder Cloud, the great Blackfoot war chief and about Grizzly Killer’s fight with Bull Beaumont, killing the bigger man without ever being touched himself.
They went on and on telling their stories about the Rendezvous. It was the only time each year the trappers saw one another, except the chance meeting on the trail somewhere, and the more the two talked the more excited Benny was to get there.
They headed out the next morning and dropped out of the hills into Pierre’s Hole then headed south toward their cache. The weather was good and so was their mood as they marveled at the beauty all around them. There were the jagged, towering peaks of the Tetons to their east and lush pine and aspen hills with lush green valley’s in between them that they were traveling through.
They stopped to camp that night on the creek no more than a couple of feet wide right on the edge of meadow where they would have good feed for the horses. While Grub and Ely was hobbling the horses and setting up camp, Benny went out to make meat for their supper. He was on foot slowly sneaking through the trees when he caught just a hint of wood smoke.
He was hunting into the wind just like Grub and Ely had taught him so he knew the smoke couldn’t be from their camp. He continued on slowly very carefully making sure where he placed each step. As he continued the smell of the smoke got stronger, then he heard voices. He listened but he couldn’t understand a word they were saying. He sided up to a large pine and froze there, not daring to move. The voices were getting closer, then out of the corner of his eye in saw movement. There were two Indian warriors walking through the trees. He didn’t know what tribe they were from but he could plainly see their faces were painted for battle.
21 Haunted Village
When the warriors had passed and Benny could see no trace of them any longer he headed back to Grub and Ely. When he walked into camp he went right to the fire Grub had just got started and kicked it apart. He kicked the burning and smoking logs right into the tiny creek. Ely was still with the horses and hadn’t seen what Benny had done, but Grub didn’t even question Benny he just grabbed his rifle and softly whistled at Ely.
Ely came up at once and the two older men listened as Benny described what he had seen. Ely looked at Grub and said, “Blackfoot.”
Grub nodded and replied, “Maybe Gros Ventre.”
Ely just shook his head and said, “Don’t much matter, both of ‘em is mighty bad news.”
Benny asked, “What do we do?”
Both replied, “We’s get the hell outta here.” Then Ely added, “Jus’ as fast and quiet as we’s can.”
As Ely and Ben reloaded and saddled the horses Grub tried his best to make the camp site look like they had never been there. They headed west away from where they figured the Indians were camped. After dark the traveling was slow. They had to trust the eyes of their horses as they moved through the dark trees.
By the time it had started to get light Ely figured they had covered less than ten miles and they as well as the horses needed rest. They were mostly out of the timber country now. The rolling hills were mainly covered with sage and an occasional clump of brush. They could see hills still further to the west and decided they would likely find cover there so they could rest. They covered the five miles of relatively open ground in good time and as they moved into the hills Grub stayed behind and watched their back trail.
Ely and Benny moved up into the hills and found a steep narrow draw. It didn’t look very wide at the bottom and Ely figured no one would look for them there. They pushed through the brush growing on the hill side and down into the draw, where they found a few ancient cottonwoods growing by a small pond with just a trickle of water running out of it. They had the packs and saddles stripped off the horses by the time they heard Grub pushing his way into the draw.
It was quite some time before they seen Grub. Benny asked Ely, “What’s takin’ Grub so long ta get down here anyhow, we left a plain ‘nough trail.”
Ely just smiled at him and replied, “That’s what takin’ him so long, he’s tryin’ ta cover our trail so’s nobody will foller us into this here little hidin’ place.”
Benny just nodded, embarrassed he hadn’t thought of that.
They sat down and waited for Grub to arrive and Benny’s tired mind started drifting. He wondered what would have become of him if he hadn’t met up with Ely and Grub. Then he thought back to the farm, he wondered how his Ma and Pa was doing and his younger brothers and sisters. He couldn’t even imagine when he left home that he would become a trapper in the Rocky Mountains, or his very life would depend on what he was learning from these two older trappers he was with. He was so tired his thoughts were mixed and jumping from one thing to another he thought of his stint on the river. And was so thankful to be where he was. He didn’t know why Ely and Grub had befriended him as they had, but he would be forever grateful to them.
The sound of Grub approaching brought him back to the present. He smiled at the old trapper as he led his horse up to them. Benny jumped up, tired as he was, and told Grub to sit down, he would take care of his horse. Grub smiled and nodded as he handed Benny the reins.
They didn’t make a fire, only ate dry jerky and drank the cool water from the small spring. Benny told the others to get some sleep, that he would stand watch. Ely just nodded and told him to wake him in a couple of hours for his turn at watch.
Within minutes he could hear the two older trappers softly snoring. He cleaned his rifle, and made sure everything was alright with it. He removed the flint and repositioned it, then removing the powder from the pan he tested the sparks a couple and times so he was sure the powder would ignite each time. He only had one flint left in his possibles bag and hoped he didn’t have trouble and he would need more before they got to Rendezvous where he could resupply.
When he was satisfied with his rifle, he sharpened his skinning knife, and just as he was putting it back in its sheath he heard something coming through the brush right toward them. He didn’t want to wake Grub and Ely but something big was coming through the brush. And he figured it could well be a horse. The horses had all stopped grazing and were looking toward the brush, their ears were cocked forward not missing any of the sounds. He cocked his rifle and quietly walked over to Ely and just as he was ready to tap him on his shoulder he saw the antlers of a very large moose moving through the brush.
It was obvious then this moose was coming to this little watering hole. Benny knew moose could be right cantankerous critters. He had heard stories of trappers being chased by them and since his sleeping partners were right by this pond he figured he better wake them. He gently tapped Ely on the shoulder and his eyes opened instantly, his hand on his rifle. He saw Benny bent over him pointing at the brush then heard him whisper, “big moose!”
Ely sat up and reached over and laid his hand on Grub’s arm. Grub was awake and alert instantly. Both of these men knew very well the dangers of living in the wilderness and were light sleepers because of that. The three of them quietly moved up the hill away from the pond and into the edge of the brush. The spring and pond were between them and the moose. It was only a minute later when the big bull moose stepped from the brush and into this little clearing that was under the half dozen cottonwoods.
The horses never moved, they were used to being around wildlife. The moose just raised his head and shook the massive horns like a warning then walked down into the pond and drank. The three trappers sat motionless. There
was a slight breeze blowing right in their faces and Benny could smell the strong musky smell of the moose. This was the closest he had ever been to one and he marveled at the size of this magnificent animal. He would put his whole face under the water and drink for the longest time then he started eating the grasses that was growing out into the water.
Benny was tired and mesmerized watching this giant animal when the wind shifted. The bull raised his huge head staring right at them. They could see every muscle in his massive body was tense he then grunted and blew clearing his nostrils and scraped his front hoof on the ground like he was ready to charge. Benny watched Grub and Ely moving extremely slowly bringing their rifles up so he did the same.
Then the moose looked up toward the top of the ridge above them and they saw out of the corner of the eyes all of their horse’s heads turned looking up towards the ridge top as well. There was total silence, even the slight breeze had stopped. Then they heard a hoof strike a rock. A moment later voices, Benny had no idea what tribe they might be but there was no doubt they were Indians.
The moose bolted running back through the brush the way he had come. He was making a lot of noise as he ran through the thick brush. The voices above them got louder and more excited. A few moments later, they could hear the hooves on the trail again.
They stayed right there motionless for nearly half an hour making sure the Indians were gone. Then Grub climbed the hill and found the tracks to see how many of them there had been. He was gone quite a while and when he came back he told them, “We’s is some lucky bastards, there must be two dozen of ‘em and them Injuns was right on our trail. I covered our tracks purty good but I figure when them there bucks cain’t find us or our tracks on the other side of this here ridge they is gonna be back and when they come back we best be gone from here.”
Ely added, “That there moose is probably what saved our hides, them bucks would’ve come down hear lookin’ if’n they hadn’t saw him. They’d not figure him to be here if’n we was.” Grub nodded and they started to load up.
They climbed back up out of the draw the same way they had come into it. They stayed right on the trail the Indians had used and they backtracked a couple of miles then turned off the trail heading straight south.
They were all tired, Grub and Ely had only had about an hour of sleep and Benny none at all. They could tell the horses weren’t as lively as usual and they knew very well if the Indians found them they wouldn’t be able to outrun them.
Ely was leading, heading a little east of south to what appeared to be heavily timbered hills. He hoped they could hide their trail in the thick timber well enough it couldn’t be followed. He knew that was unlikely but they had to stop soon before the horses gave out completely. They reached the hills with no sign of pursuit and disappeared into a dry rocky ravine. They worked their way up between the rocks and eventually come out on a plateau covered with lodge pole pines. Working through the pines Ely spotted a large rock outcropping with a stand of large spruce right below it.
Once inside the spruce there was a spring that had been used as an elk wallow but below the muddy wallow there was plenty of green grass for the horses. They stopped right there, thinking this was as hidden a place as they were going to find. Once inside the vale of spruce they were hidden well. It was late afternoon but they still didn’t feel safe making a fire. So once they got the horses stripped and hobbled they just ate a piece of jerky for their supper.
Grub took the first watch and he walked several hundred yards down their back trail seeing what kind of the trail they were leaving. Walking across the forest floor covered with pine needles was almost as good as walking on rock. The sponginess of the thick needles just sprang back into place. In a few places he carefully sprinkled a handful of the needles over where one of the hooves had disturbed the needles enough to be seen. When he was finished he was satisfied they were as safe as they were going to be.
He kept himself busy maintaining his kit, sharping his knives and checking his rifle until it was too dark to see then he stood and would walk from one place to another in order to stay awake. The night was nearly half gone when he woke Ely and he kept the vigil up until it was nearly light. Benny was put out they had let him sleep through the night for he wanted to take his turn as well, but the two older trappers just smiled and told him they would get even.
When they moved out they continued on due south. This was an area they had not covered before and were not expecting what they found when they came to the south side of the plateau. The land fell off into a deep gorge, they could see a stream in the bottom of it but it was a long way down and the side of the gorge was very steep. Ely studied the gorge and finally pointed out a way he figured they could make it down. After Grub nodded his agreement they moved off the plateau and started down.
It was well past noon when they reached the stream which was much larger than any of them figured it to be. They stopped there and stripped the heavy packs and saddles off the horses. After zigzagging down the steep hill for several hours they needed a long break.
They let the horses drink and rest for a full two hours then loaded up and continued downstream. There was a well-used trail along the stream and that had both Grub and Ely worried, but there was no sign of recent activity so they continued on. An hour before dark the gorge was widening out and they stopped for the night. They still didn’t feel safe enough to start a fire so they sated their hunger with more jerky and turned in for the night. This night they took even turns at watch, but again it was quiet. Just before morning a lone wolf started its mournful howl on the rim of the gorge right above them and the eerie sound sent chills up Benny’s spine.
It was cold next to the water in this deep gorge, but they still figured it was best to go without a fire. The sun wouldn’t hit the bottom of the gorge until midmorning so all three of them was glad to be on the move again.
Less than an hour later the gorge opened up into a wide green valley. There was a hill right before them that the stream went around to their left but the trail went up and over the right side of it. The trail here was now well used but it didn’t appear any of the horse or moccasin tracks were fresh. Ely was in the lead, even more wary than he usually was, about half way up the hill he stopped and dismounted. Handed the reins and lead ropes of his two pack horses to Benny and continued on foot.
Near the top he dropped down to his belly and crawled until he could see over the top. He froze right there, what he could see sickened him. Lying in the trail only a few feet in front of him was an Indian woman. The back of her head had been caved in and she had been scalped. Crows or buzzards had been picking at the brain matter that was oozing out from where the war club had crushed her skull. Ely thought he could still see the expression of fear in the distorted features of her face.
After the shock of such a sight right before him he looked beyond to the remains of an Indian village in the flat just below the hill. There were the burned out skeletal remains of a dozen teepees and bodies were lying all about. He then scanned the valley as it spread out below the village for any sign of movement or life.
His eyes were drawn to a spot a half mile below the village right on the opposite side of the stream, then the movement became clear, it was a dozen elk coming out of the trees to feed in the lush grasses close to the water. He rose to his feet and just stared at what had been a small but apparently thriving village just a couple of days ago.
He motioned with his hand for Benny and Grub to come up but he couldn’t take his eyes off the carnage below. He could see drying racks that had been pulled over and in the trees just off to the right a pole had been lashed between a couple of trees for them to hang their game on for skinning.
As Benny rode up and saw the woman right before them he just stared then started going pale. Less than a minute later he jumped off his horse and threw up. Grub walked up and said, “Get it all out boy, I’s ‘fraid it’s gonna get worse.”
Ely then looked at his long-t
ime partner and said, “Lookin’ at this here’s squaw’s dress what would ya say… Flathead?”
Grub looked at the sickening sight before him and just nodded, swallowing hard several times, afraid he was going to be sick as well.
They slowly walked down into the village. Benny was still pale and was afraid he was going the throw up again. No one had been spared, the attackers had killed them all. One woman was holding a baby with an arrow sticking through the baby and into her chest. There were twenty-five dead in the village mostly women and children. Grub looked over at Ely asking, “Ya figure the men were out huntin’?”
Grub nodded his head and said, “They must be, don’t see no tracks been made here since this happened.” Grub got a real serious look on his face, then said, “If’n they is comin’ back, we’s best not be here.”
Benny then asked, “Who would do this? Kill all these little kids and women, they couldn’t hurt nobody.” Ely just looked at him and pointed to several arrows that were sticking out of what appeared to be boy of ten or twelve years and said, “See them markin’s on them arrows, them is Blackfoot arrows.” Grub looked hard at the arrows then said, “Probably that same bunch been a doggin’ us.” Benny shuddered, thinking how close they had been to them just a couple of days ago.
Benny then asked, “Are we gonna try and bury ‘em?”
Ely just shook his head and then Grub said, “Best not leave no sign we was ever here.”
Benny replied, “If’n they ain’t buried their spirits is gonna haunt this village.” Grub looked at the kid, almost spooked by that thought, then shook his head and said, “We best get away from here for them hunters or their spirits decide to come fer us.”
They had just mounted up and were started out of the village, Ely in the lead again, when he stopped, staring off to his right. He didn’t say anything for a minute then turned and looked back at Grub saying, “You was right partner, it got worse.”
Grizzly Killer: The Medicine Wheel Page 17
