Grizzly Killer: Under The Blood Moon

by Lane R Warenski

  Shortly after the sun went down, the evening star was the brightest point of light in the sky and they sat on the river bank and watched the last of the light fade along the western horizon. A light but cool breeze was blowing down the river and a pack of coyotes were singing their love of the night as they crawled under their robes.

  Zach lay there listening to the sounds of the night with his wives next to him and Jimbo curled up by their feet. He felt safe with Jimbo, Ol’ Red and the chestnut close by, knowing they alert him of any trouble. He was watching the leaves move over head against the star light when a silent shadow moved across his field of view just a few feet over his head, he then heard the faint cry of a rodent as the Great Horned owl flew away with its meal.

  The next morning, he opened his eyes just as the stars were starting to fade and listened to the sounds all around them. There were birds singing in the branches of the cottonwoods and in the willows on the river bank. A pack of coyotes were chasing something just on top of the river breaks to the west. Jimbo was gone on his morning hunt and he knew all was safe around them for now.

  With a hug for Sun Flower and Shining Star he got up and walked down to the river bank and watched as an otter stuck its head out of the water with a fish in its mouth. When he returned the rest were up, and Running Wolf was checking the stock. Raven Wing was fanning life back into the fire, Sun Flower was making biscuits and Shining Star was working on the coffee. Zach walked over to Running Wolf saying, “We need to get them to drink as much as they will for it is a long way to the Sweet Water and with no recent rains we may not find water all the way.

  He hoped to find the big shaggy beasts close to the Seed-Kee-Dee and, at times, they had seen them west of the river, but so far this year they hadn’t seen any sign of them. They loaded up, made sure all their water pouches were full and headed northeast towards the Sweet Water.

  They made twenty miles that first day after leaving the Seeds-Kee-Dee, finding no water at all, only a couple of dry springs. They made a dry camp and used up over half of their water giving each horse and mule just enough to wet their mouths. The next day they started seeing some buffalo sign but it was at least a couple of weeks old. Running Wolf rode on ahead and about midafternoon he returned and told them he had found some water but it was another ten miles ahead so they pushed on. It was after dark when they reached the small water hole and their thirsty horses and mule turned it into a muddy puddle in a hurry. Jimbo was in the water with the stock lapping up the muddy water.

  The next morning the mud had settled into the bottom of the waterhole once again so Raven Wing and Sun Flower very carefully filled their water pouches without stirring up the mud then Zach and Running Wolf brought the horses and mules just two at a time to drink their fill. Zach figured they were still thirty or forty miles from the Sweet Water and they still weren’t seeing any buffalo.

  After a breakfast of left over biscuits and coffee they loaded up and rode on, still heading east by north. They skirted the north side of a mountain that is south of the towering Wind River Range staying up on the higher ground of the foot hills and when they got to the eastern side they could see the green water way of a creek running to the east. They had crossed to the east side of the great divide for this creek going east ended up running into the Sweet Water and then the Platte and on to the Missouri.

  They stopped there looking east and Zach thought about the first time he had crossed this country with General Ashley. It was the winter of 1824 and it had been a brutally cold, snow-filled trek across these plains. Running Wolf’s voice brought him out of the moment of recollection when he said one simple word, “Smoke.”

  He looked where Running Wolf was pointing and although faint there was no doubt that someone had a fire going along that creek. It was several miles away but they all knew it could mean big trouble.

  He led them all higher up on the mountain into a timbered draw where all of their stock was out of sight and had Running Wolf stay there to protect the women. Along with Jimbo he started for the creek, for that seemed to be the only cover across this short grass and sage brush plain. He reached the creek and found it to be a cool clear running stream with brush and willows along its banks. The cover was sparse for a man on a horse so when he reached a spot where a couple of cottonwoods were he dismounted just dropping Ol’ Reds reins. He knew his mule would stay there until he returned for him, as he was trained to do, but if he didn’t return Ol’ Red was free to return to the rest of the group of horses and mules.

  He continued on foot staying close to the brush and willows along the creek keeping Jimbo right in close to him. There were scattered cottonwoods here and there and when he figured he was close enough to the smoke to see, he climbed one of the trees to get a better look. Just as he started to climb, Jimbo started with his low growl and dropped down to his belly so Zach just remained motionless there in the tree, knowing any movement could be easily seen. He couldn’t see anything except Jimbo from where he was so he just watched the big dog. Jimbo’s hair was standing up all down his back and Zach very slowly tried to reach the rifle that he had leaned against the tree but it was just out of reach. So he slid the horse pistol from under his belt and waited.

  As he watched his dog, the hair started to lie back down and a moment later the very end of his tail started to flip back and forth then he very slowly started to rise off his belly. Without any warning his tail started wagging and his growl turned into a slight whimper. He bounded forward just as Buffalo Heart stepped through the brush.

  Buffalo Heart was so startled by this huge dog bounding at him he jumped, tripped and fell backward all the while trying to put an arrow in his bow. Jimbo was on him in an instant licking his face and holding him down. Zach started laughing so hard he fell out of the tree just as Red Hawk came from the other side of the creek to see what all the commotion was about. Jimbo heard Red Hawk then and headed right for him, but by now Red Hawk had seen who it was so he dropped his bow and braced himself as Jimbo jumped up on him licking his face and wagging his tail.

  The two Shoshone teenagers were as glad to see Jimbo and Grizzly Killer as they were to see them, even though it had been just a little over a month since they last seen one another at the rendezvous. The boys told Grizzly Killer they were part of a hunting party that had been hunting buffalo for more days than they have fingers and had killed many. They were waiting for all the meat to dry to take back to their village up on the Popo Agie.

  Red Horse told him that Badger, Little Horse, Otter, Buffalo Horn, Long Eyes, and Runs Like the Wind along with their women were in camp keeping the smoking fires going and resting from the hard hunt. Buffalo Heart added that Otter had been hurt when his buffalo runner stepped in a prairie dog hole and fell, breaking its leg. He told him that Otter hit the ground with his head so hard he didn’t wake up until that night.

  Zach told the boys to let the rest of them know he would be coming into their camp in a couple of hours- that he had to go back and get Running Wolf and their wives. That only he and Jimbo had come ahead to see who was camped here. In parting, Red Hawk told him they would all have glad hearts to see him.

  Zach jogged back to Ol’ Red, then struck a good lope back up the hills to the timbered draw where he had left the others. Running Wolf had been watching and when he saw Grizzly Killer coming in such a hurry, he had the women all mounted and the pack animals ready to run in case there was trouble that he couldn’t see. But when Zach got to them he had a big smile on his face and said, looking at Sun Flower, “They’re Shoshone from your village. I talked to Buffalo Heart and Red Hawk, let’s go.”

  They headed in as straight of a line as they could, right for the smoke not trying to stay out of sight. Zach told them as they rode what the young men had told him. That they had had a successful hunt and were just finishing drying the meat to take back to their village. Running Wolf smiled as he said, “We now know why we haven’t seen the buffalo, if they had been hunted here for many days we’
ll have to go all the way to the Sweet Water now to find them.” Zach replied, “Don’t make much difference now were only a day or so away.”

  It was a happy reunion as they rode into the Shoshone hunting camp. The sweet smell of the wild plum and chokecherry smoke as it preserved the drying buffalo meat was pleasant to them all. The women were scraping and tanning what looked to be a couple of dozen hides and there was a mountain of meat already dried and they had several racks still full of drying meat. There was a large swale between two rolling hills where they had their horse herd. Zach waved at Little Horse who was watching the horses from just below the top of one of the hills. Buffalo Heart with a look of disappointment told them it was time for him to watch the horses and left jogging out to where Little Horse was sitting and Little Horse came running back to camp.

  As Zach walked over to where Otter was lying, Otter tried to stand but he was still unsteady on his feet and he told Grizzly Killer that his eyes didn’t see things right. Zach took him by the hand and helped him lay back down, wishing him well.

  They camped with the Shoshone that night as they celebrated a successful hunt. They danced, ate fresh hump ribs and talked around the fire half the night. Badger told them the main herd of buffalo had moved off to the north east toward the Sweet Water but they would find them in less than a day’s travel. He said they wouldn’t move far from this little stream because most of the water holes were now dried up.

  The next morning, Little Owl, one of Badgers children, a boy of just three or four was playing and trying to catch a pot gut. As it ran into the bushes along the creek Little Owl followed. They heard him start to cry and then the pungent smell of a skunk started to spread across the camp. He came out of the bushes rubbing his eyes, crying and running toward his mother but she and everyone else just ran away from him. Finally, Blue Dove, his mother had him hold a stick and led him to the creek. He was screaming all the more as she made him sit down in the cold water and started to scrub him with dirt and sand. Badger watched with a disgusted look and asked him if he now wanted to be called Big Stink instead of Little Owl. Red Hawk and Little Horse were laughing so hard Badger told them they would take turns letting Big Stink ride behind them on their horses when they left to go back to the Popo Agie.

  Zach and Running Wolf said their farewell’s to the men as Sun Flower, Raven Wing and Shining Star said good bye to the women. Then they headed out, roughly following the course of the creek.

  By midday they were seeing a few buffalo in small scattered groups but they were wary and ran from the horses before they even came close to them. Then, about midafternoon, as they were climbing up a long rise they could hear what sounded like thousands of animals. Zach and Running Wolf dismounted and crawled to the top of the rise and in the swale on the other side of this rolling hill maybe five miles across and extending all the way north to the Sweet Water were thousands and thousands of buffalo.

  Zach figured they were still between five and ten miles south of the Sweet Water and maybe two miles north of the creek they had been following so they decided to go back to the creek and set up camp.

  There was a gusty wind starting to blow from the south as they approached the creek. They followed along the creek downstream until they found a spot with a good stand of cottonwoods and plenty of chokecherries, service berries and plums growing along the creek that they could use for the smoking fires. The wind continued to get stronger as they got the teepee’s up and by nightfall the sky was clouding up.

  The evening meal was cooked inside Zach’s large teepee out of the wind and Running Wolf said he was worried about the storm making the buffalo move. But all they could do was wait out the storm then check in the morning to see if the buffalo had moved. It was the middle of the night when they woke to the sounds of thunder and then a hard rain. But the storm passed quickly and by first light the rain had stopped and as he stepped out of the teepee into the gray light of early dawn, Zach could see the sky was mostly cloud free.

  The creek was running muddy so Sun Flower used what was left in the water pouches to make coffee while Raven Wing made biscuits and Shining Star fried thin cut strips of the deer that they had taken two days ago from along the Seeds-Kee-Dee in bear fat. After Sun Flower had the coffee heating on a bed of coals she filled their cooking pots and water pouches with the muddy water to let it settle so they would have clear water for their evening meal.

  After they all had eaten Zach and Running Wolf saddled up and started north towards the Sweet Water to see if the mighty herd had moved with the storm during the night. Jimbo was exited to go with them but Zach told him to stay and protect the women. As they rode out he just sat on his haunches and watched until they were out of sight. He had a dejected look as he walked back to the fire but Sun Flower called him over, gave him one of the left over deer strips and rubbed his ears, he wagged his tail then started out on a large circle around their camp.

  Riding at a gentle lope they covered the distance to where they had seen the buffalo in what seemed like no time at all. They were staying to the west side of the gentle rise and swale where the main herd had been yesterday. They dismounted and again crawled to the top of the rise. The herd had moved but not far, only a couple of miles north closer to the Sweet Water.

  As they sat there on the crest of this gentle rising hill studying the lay of the land and planning how best to start their hunt, they heard the report of two rifle shots and the mighty herd started running right towards them.

  Meeting New Friends

  They watched but only for a moment as thousands and thousands of buffalo started stampeding right towards their position. Without saying a word, they both jumped to their feet and sprinted down the rise to where they had left Ol’ Red and the chestnut. They mounted up and started on a fast run due north towards the Sweet Water. When they reached the first of the breaks leading down to the river they were still well over a mile from its south bank. Zach brought Ol’ Red to a stop and watched the river bottom for any movement looking both up and down stream as far as he could see. But there was nothing there but the river as it turned and twisted is way through this wide shallow valley.

  Running Wolf turned in his saddle and pointing back a little southeast said, “I will go find out who made the cooch run.” Zach smiled at his partner, knowing he hadn’t even realized he had called the buffalo by their Ute name. Then answered, “We will both go for we are stronger together.” With a nod Running Wolf headed east following the river break.

  After going only, a mile they started seeing scattered buffalo that had broken off from the main herd. They were still pretty spooked and would run away from the two riders while they were still several hundred yards away. Running Wolf said, as he watched a group of six trot away to the south, “They are scared, they have been hunted too much and we may need to wait a few suns just watching them ‘til they feel safe once more.”

  Zach nodded his agreement but he was watching a small dot two or three miles away that stood out against the back drop of the dry prairie grass and short sage. As he watched it appeared the spot was moving and he pointed it out to Running Wolf. Neither of them could tell for sure but Zach figured it was the hunters that had taken the shots probably gutting their kill.

  As with any large buffalo herd there were wolves following along but they had never seen numbers like these. The stampede had left them behind and from where they now sat in their saddles Zach figured he could see over a hundred of the Prairie wolves looking for any downed or injured buffalo.

  They dropped off the edge of the break to be out of sight of the spot they figured the hunters were in. Although he figured them to be white men, he couldn’t be sure for there were a few Indians that had traded for guns and still others had taken guns from trappers that they had killed.

  When they reached a spot where they thought they were as close as they would get they stopped. They both got down and crawled to the top of the break. Now they could see two men were skinning a buffalo and he
wondered just who it could be. There was a small draw coming off the top of the break that ran out nearly as far as these men were working at getting the hide off their kill, so staying in this little draw and crouching low they moved out onto the plain.

  When they were close enough to see the two men had full beards, they stood up and Zach shouted, “Okay to come in?”

  He and Running Wolf both fired their rifles in the air. Letting these hunters know they were now unarmed. Peter Cosgrove was so startled by the sound of another man’s voice he jumped up got his feet caught up the hide they had mostly off now and fell flat on his butt. Sean Finnegan stood and started laughing at Peter who didn’t think it was a bit funny. Then, in his friendly Irish accent shouted back to Zach and Running Wolf, “Ye come on in and help me lift this clumsy ol’ trapper off his back side.” He then reached down and held his hand out to help Peter get up but Peter just brushed it away and got up on his own and that made Sean laugh all the more.

  As Zach and Running Wolf walked up he could see the look on Peter’s face was one of caution but Sean’s happy go lucky Irish nature was showing through in the broad smile across his face. Peter noticed the pistol in Zach’s belt, the knife and his Cherokee tomahawk. He had spent enough time in the wilderness to be cautious and Zach could see right off he was an experienced mountain man. Zach held his hand out in greeting first to Sean who readily reached out and shook it then to Peter saying, “My name is Zach Connors but they call me Grizzly Killer.”