The Last of the Chiefs: A Story of the Great Sioux War

by Joseph A. Altsheler

  Chapter VThe Lost Valley

  They spent a week on the slope, sleeping securely and warmlyunder their blankets in the pine alcove, and fortune favored themthroughout that time. It did not rain once, and there was not asign of the Sioux. Dick did not revisit the pass after the firstthree days, and he knew that the wolves and buzzards had beenbusy there. But he stripped quite clean the wagon which hadfallen in the gully, even carrying away the canvas cover, whichwas rainproof. Albert wondered that the Sioux had not returned,but Dick had a very plausible theory to account for it.

  "The Sioux are making war upon our people," he said, "and whyshould they stay around here? They have cut off what isdoubtless the first party entering this region in a long time,and now they have gone eastward to meet our troops. Beside, theSioux are mostly plains Indians, and they won't bother much aboutthese mountains. Other Indians, through fear of the Sioux, willnot come and live here, which accounts for this region beinguninhabited."

  "Still a wandering band of Sioux might come through at any timeand see us," said Albert.

  "That's so, and for other reasons, too, we must move. It'smighty fine, Al, sleeping out in the open when the weather's dryand not too cold, but I've read that the winter in thenorthwestern mountains is something terrible, and we've got toprepare for it."

  It was Dick's idea to go deeper into the mountains. He knew verywell that the chance of their getting out before spring were tooslender to be considered, and he believed that they could findbetter shelter and a more secure hiding place farther in. So heresolved upon a journey of exploration, and though Albert was nowstronger, he must go alone. It was his brother's duty to remainand guard their precious stores. Already bears and mountain lions,drawn by the odors of the food, had come snuffing about thealcove, but they always retreated from the presence of either ofthe brothers. One huge silver tip had come rather alarminglyclose, but when Dick shouted at him he, too, turned and lumberedoff among the pines.

  "What you want to guard against, Al," said Dick, "is thievesrather than robbers. Look out for the sneaks. We'll fill thecanteen and all our iron vessels with water so that you won'thave to go even to the brook. Then you stay right here by thefire in the daytime, and in the den at night. You can keep a bedof coals before the den when you're asleep, and no wild animalwill ever come past it."

  "All right, Dick," said Albert courageously; "but don't you getlost over there among those ranges and peaks."

  "I couldn't do it if I tried," replied Dick in the same cheerfultone. "You don't know what a woodsman and mountaineer I'vebecome, Al, old boy!"

  Albert smiled. Yet each boy felt the full gravity of theoccasion when the time for Dick's departure came, at dawn of acool morning, gleams of silver frost showing here and there onthe slopes. Both knew the necessity of the journey, however, andhid their feelings.

  "Be back to-morrow night, Al," said Dick.

  "Be ready for you, Dick," said Albert.

  Then they waved their hands to each other, and Dick strode awaytoward the higher mountains. He was well armed, carrying hisrepeating rifle and the large hunting knife which was useful forso many purposes. He had also thrust one of the revolvers intohis belt.

  Flushed with youth and strength, and equipped with such goodweapons, he felt able to take care of himself in any company intowhich he might be thrown.

  He reached the bottom of the slope, and looking back, saw Albertstanding on a fallen log. His brother was watching him and wavedhis hand. Dick waved his in reply, and then, crossing the creek,began the ascent of the farther slope. There the pines and thedistance rendered the brothers invisible to each other, and Dickpressed on with vigor. His recent trips over the lower slopesfor supplies had greatly increased his skill in mountain climbing,and he did not suffer from weariness. Up, up, he went, and thepines grew shorter and scrubbier. But the thin, crisp air was asheer delight, and he felt an extraordinary pleasure in mereliving.

  Dick looked back once more from the heights toward the spotwhere their camp lay and saw lying against the blue a thin graythread that only the keenest eye would notice. He knew it to bethe smoke from Albert's fire and felt sure that all was well.

  While the slope which he was ascending was fairly steep, it waseasy enough to find a good trail among the pines. There waslittle undergrowth and the ascent was not rocky. When Dick stoodat last on the crest of the ridge he uttered a cry of delight andamazement.

  The slope on which he stood was merely a sort of gate to thehigher mountains, or rather it was a curtain hiding the view.

  Before him, range on range and peak on peak, lay mightymountains, some of them shooting up almost three miles above thesea, their crests and heads hid in eternal snow. Far away tonorthward and westward stretched the tremendous maze, and itseemed to Dick to have no end. A cold, dazzling sunlight pouredin floods over the snowy summits, and he felt a great sense ofawe. It was all so grand, so silent, and so near to the Infinite.He saw the full majesty of the world and of the Power that hadcreated it. For a little while his mission and all human passionsand emotions floated away from him; he was content merely tostand there, without thinking, but to feel the immensity andmajesty of it all.

  Dick presently recovered himself and with a little laugh cameback to earth. But he was glad to have had those moments. Hebegan the descent, which was rougher and rockier than the ascenthad been, but the prospect was encouraging. The valley betweenthe ridge on the slope of which he stood and the higher onebeyond it seemed narrow, but he believed that he would find in itthe shelter and hiding that he and Albert wished.

  As he went down the slope became steeper, but once more thepines, sheltered from the snows and cruel winds, grew to a greatsize. There was also so much outcropping of rock that Dick washopeful of finding another alcove deep enough to be convertedinto a house.

  When nearly down, he caught a gleam among the trees that he knewwas water, and again he was encouraged. Here was a certainty ofone thing that was an absolute necessity. Soon he was in thevalley, which he found exceedingly narrow and almost choked witha growth of pine, ash, and aspen, a tiny brook flowing down itscenter. He was tired and warm from the long descent and kneltdown and drank from the brook. Its waters were as cold as ice,flowing down from the crest of one of the great peaks clad,winter and summer, in snow.

  Dick followed the brook for fully a mile, seeking everywhere asuitable place in which he and his brother might make a home, buthe found none. The valley resembled in most of its aspects agreat canyon, and all the fertile earth on either side of the brookwas set closely with pine, ash, and aspen. These would form ashelter from winds, but they would not protect from rain and thegreat colds and snows of the high Rockies.

  Dick noticed many footprints of animals at the margin of thestream, some of great size, which he had no doubt were made bygrizzlies or silver tips. He also believed that the beaver mightbe found farther down along this cold and secluded water, but hewas not interested greatly just then in animals; he was seekingfor that most necessary of all things--something that must behad--a home.

  It seemed to him at the end of his estimated mile that the brookwas going to flow directly into the mountain which rose beforehim many hundreds of feet; but when he came to the rocky wall hefound that the valley turned off at a sharp angle to the left,and the stream, of course, followed it, although it now descendedmore rapidly, breaking three times into little foamy falls fiveor six feet in height. Then another brook came from a deep cleftbetween the mountains on the eastern side and swelled with itsvolume the main stream, which now became a creek.

  The new valley widened out to a width of perhaps a quarter of amile, although the rocky walls on either side rose to a greatheight and were almost precipitous. Springs flowed from thesewalls and joined the creek. Some of them came down the face ofthe cliffs in little cascades of foam and vapor, but othersspouted from the base of the rock. Dick knelt down to drink fromone of the latter, but as his face approached the water he jumpedawa
y. He dipped up a little of it in his soft hat and tastedit. It was brackish and almost boiling hot.

  Dick was rather pleased at the discovery. A bitter and hotspring might be very useful. He had imbibed--like manyothers--from the teaching of his childhood that any bitter liquidwas good for you. As he advanced farther the valley continued tospread out. It was now perhaps a half mile in width, and wellwooded. The creek became less turbulent, flowing with a depth ofseveral feet in a narrow channel.

  The whole aspect of the valley so far had been that of awilderness uninhabited and unvisited. A mule deer lookedcuriously at Dick, then walked away a few paces and stood there.When Dick glanced back his deership was still curious andgazing. A bear crashed through a thicket, stared at the boy withred eyes, then rolled languidly away. Dick was quick tointerpret these signs. They were unfamiliar with human presence,and he was cheered by the evidence. Yet at the end of anotherhundred yards of progress he sank down suddenly among somebushes and remained perfectly silent, but intently watchful.

  He had seen a column of smoke rising above the pines and aspens.Smoke meant fire, fire meant human beings, and human beings, inthat region, meant enemies. He had no doubt that Sioux were atthe foot of that column of smoke. It was a tragic discovery. Hewas looking for a home for Albert and himself somewhere in thisvalley, but there could be no home anywhere near the Sioux. Heand his brother must turn in another direction, and with painfuleffort lug their stores over the ridges.

  But Dick was resolved to see. There were great springs ofcourage and tenacity in his nature, and he wished, moreover, toprove his new craft as a woodsman and mountaineer. He remainedawhile in the bushes, watching the spire, and presently, to hisamazement, it thinned quickly and was gone. It had disappearedswiftly, while the smoke from a fire usually dies down. It wasDick's surmise that the Sioux had put out their fire byartificial means and then had moved on. Such an act wouldindicate a fear of observation, and his curiosity increasedgreatly.

  But Dick did not forget his caution. He crouched in the bushesfor quite a while yet, watching the place where the smoke hadbeen, but the sky remained clear and undefiled. He heard nothingand saw nothing but the lonely valley. At last he crept forwardslowly, and with the greatest care, keeping among bushes andtreading very softly. He advanced in this manner three or fourhundred yards, to the very point which must have been the base ofthe spire of smoke--he had marked it so well that he could notbe mistaken--and from his leafy covert saw a large open spaceentirely destitute of vegetation. He expected to see there alsothe remains of a camp fire, but none was visible, not a singlecharred stick, nor a coal.

  Dick was astonished. A new and smoking camp fire must leavesome trace. One could not wipe it away absolutely. Heremained a comparatively long time, watching in the edge of thebushes beside the wide and open space.

  He still saw and heard nothing. Never before had a camp firevanished so mysteriously and completely, and with it those whohad built it. At last, his curiosity overcoming his caution, headvanced into the open space, and now saw that it fell awaytoward the center. Advancing more boldly, he found himself nearthe edge of a deep pit.

  The pit was almost perfectly round and had a diameter of aboutten feet. So far as Dick could judge, it was about forty feetdeep and entirely empty. It looked like a huge well dug by thehand of man.

  While Dick was gazing at the pit, an extraordinary and terrifyingthing happened. The earth under his feet began to shake. Atfirst he could not believe it, but when he steadied himself andwatched closely, the oscillating motion was undoubtedly there.It was accompanied, too, by a rumble, dull and low, but whichsteadily grew louder. It seemed to Dick that the round pit wasthe center of this sound.

  Despite the quaking of the earth, he ventured again into the openspace and saw that the pit had filled with water. Moreover, thiswater was boiling, as he could see it seething and bubbling. Ashe looked, clouds of steam shot up to a height of two or threehundred feet, and Dick, in alarm, ran back to the bushes. Heknew that this was the column of vapor he had first seen from adistance, but he was not prepared for what followed.

  There was an explosion so loud that it made Dick jump. Then agreat column of water shot up from the boiling pit to a height ofperhaps fifty feet, and remained there rising and falling. Fromthe apex of this column several great jets rose, perhaps, threetimes as high.

  The column of hot water glittered and shimmered in the sun, andDick gazed in wonder and delight. He had read enough torecognize the phenomenon that he now saw. It was a geyser, acolumn of hot water shooting up, at regular intervals and withgreat force, from the unknown deeps of the earth.

  As he gazed, the column gradually sank, the boiling water in thepit sank, too, and there was no longer any rumble or quaking ofthe earth. Dick cautiously approached the pit again. It was asempty as a dry well, but he knew that in due time the phenomenonwould be repeated. He was vastly interested, but he did not waitto see the recurrence of the marvel, continuing his way down thevalley over heaps of crinkly black slag and stone, which wereage-old lava, although he did not know it, and through groves ofpine and ash, aspen, and cedar. He saw other round pits andwatched a second geyser in eruption. He saw, too, numerous hotsprings, and much steamy vapor floating about. There were alsomineral springs and springs of the clearest and purest coldwater. It seemed to Dick that every minute of his wanderingsrevealed to him some new and interesting sight, while on allsides of the little valley rose the mighty mountains, theirsummits in eternal snow.

  A great relief was mingled with the intense interest that Dickfelt. He had been sure at first that he saw the camp fires ofthe Sioux, but after the revulsion it seemed as if it were aplace never visited by man, either savage or civilized. As hecontinued down the valley, he noticed narrow clefts in themountains opening into them from either side, but he felt surefrom the nature of the country that they could not go back far.The clefts were four in number, and down two of them cameconsiderable streams of clear, cold water emptying into the maincreek.

  The valley now narrowed again and Dick heard ahead a slighthumming sound which presently grew into a roar. He was puzzledat first, but soon divined the cause. The creek, or ratherlittle river, much increased in volume by the tributary brooks,made a great increase of speed in its current. Dick saw beforehim a rising column of vapor and foam, and in another minute ortwo stood beside a fine fall, where the little river took a sheerdrop of forty feet, then rushed foaming and boiling through anarrow chasm, to empty about a mile farther on into a beautifulblue lake.

  Dick, standing on a high rock beside the fall, could see the lakeeasily. Its blue was of a deep, splendid tint, and on every sidepines and cedars thickly clothed the narrow belt of groundbetween it and the mountains. The far end seemed to back upabruptly against a mighty range crowned with snow, but Dick feltsure that an outlet must be there through some cleft in therange. The lake itself was of an almost perfect crescent shape,and Dick reckoned its length at seven miles, with a greatestbreadth, that is, at the center, of about two miles. He judged,too, from its color and its position in a fissure that its depthmust be very great.

  The surface of the lake lay two or three hundred feet lower thanthe rock on which Dick was standing, and he could see its entireexpanse, rippling gently under the wind and telling only of peaceand rest. Flocks of wild fowl flew here and there, showing whiteor black against the blue of its waters, and at the nearer shoreDick thought he saw an animal like a deer drinking, but thedistance was too great to tell certainly.

  He left the rock and pursued his way through dwarf pines andcedars along the edge of the chasm in which the torrent boiledand foamed, intending to go down to the lake. Halfway hestopped, startled by a long, shrill, whistling sound that boresome resemblance to the shriek of a distant locomotive. Thewilderness had been so silent before that the sound seemed tofill all the valley, the ridges taking it up and giving it backin one echo after another until it died away among the peaks. Ina mi
nute or so the whistling shriek was repeated and then two orthree times more.

  Dick was not apprehensive. It was merely a new wonder in thatvalley of wonders, and none of these wonders seemed to haveanything to do with man. The sound apparently came from a pointtwo or three hundred yards to his left at the base of themountain, and turning, Dick went toward it, walking very slowlyand carefully through the undergrowth. He had gone almost thewhole distance seeing nothing but the mountain and the forest,when the whistling shriek was suddenly repeated so close to himthat he jumped. He sank down behind a dwarf pine, and then hesaw not thirty feet away the cause of the sound.

  A gigantic deer, a great grayish animal, stood in a little openspace, and at intervals emitted that tremendous whistle. Itstood as high as a horse, and Dick estimated its weight at morethan a thousand pounds. He was looking at a magnificent specimenof the Rocky Mountain elk, by far the largest member of the deertribe that he had ever seen. The animal, the wind blowing fromhim toward Dick, was entirely unsuspicious of danger, and the boycould easily have put a bullet into his heart, but he had nodesire to do so. Whether the elk was whistling to his mate orsending a challenge to a rival bull he did not know, and afterwatching and admiring him for a little while he crept away.

  But Dick was not wholly swayed by sentiment. He said to himselfas he went away among the pines: "Don't you feel too safe, Mr.Elk, we'll have to take you or some of your brethren later on.I've heard that elk meat is good."

  He resumed his journey and was soon at the edge of the lake,which at this point had a narrow sandy margin. Its waters werefresh and cold, and wold duck, fearless of Dick, swam within afew yards of him. The view here was not less majestic andbeautiful than it had been from the rock, and Dick, sensitive tonature, was steeped in all its wonder and charm. He was glad tobe there, he was glad that chance or Providence had led him tothis lovely valley. He felt no loneliness, no fear for thefuture, he was content merely to breathe and feel the glory of itpermeate his being.

  He picked up a pebble presently and threw it into the lake. Itsank with the sullen plunk that told unmistakably to the boy'sears of great depths below. Once or twice he saw a fish leap up,and it occurred to him that here was another food supply.

  He suddenly pulled himself together with a jerk. He could notsit there all day dreaming. He had come to find a winter homefor Albert and himself, and he had not yet found it. But he hada plan from which he had been turned aside for a while by thesight of the lake, and now he went back to carry it out.

  There were two clefts opening into the mountains from his side ofthe river, and he went into the first on the return path. It waschoked with pine and cedars and quickly ended against a mountainwall, proving to be nothing but a very short canyon. There wasmuch outcropping of rock here, but nothing that would help towarda shelter, and Dick went on to the second cleft.

  This cleft, wider than the other, was the one down which theconsiderable brook flowed, and the few yards or so of fertileground on either side of the stream produced a rank growth oftrees. They were so thick that the boy could see only a littledistance ahead, but he believed that this slip of a tributaryvalley ran far back in the mountains, perhaps a dozen miles.

  He picked his way about a mile and then came suddenly upon ahouse. It stood in an alcove protected by rocks and trees, butsafe from snow slide. It was only a log hut of one room, withthe roof broken in and the door fallen from its hinges, but Dickknew well enough the handiwork of the white man. As heapproached, some wild animal darted out of the open door andcrashed away among the undergrowth, but Dick knew that whitemen had once lived there. It was equally evident that they hadlong been gone.

  It was a cabin of stout build, its thick logs fitted nicelytogether, and the boards of the roof had been strong and welllaid. Many years must have passed to have caused so muchdecay. Dick entered and was saluted by a strong, catlike odor.Doubtless a mountain lion had been sleeping there, and this wasthe tenant that he had heard crashing away among the undergrowth.On one side was a window closed by a sagging oaken shutter, whichDick threw open. The open door and window established a draught,and as the clean sweet air blew through the cabin the odor of thecat began to disappear.

  Dick examined everything with the greatest interest andcuriosity. There was a floor of puncheons fairly smooth, a stonefireplace, a chimney of mud and sticks, dusty wooden hooks, andrests nailed into the wall, a rude table overturned in a corner,and something that looked like a trap. It was the last that toldthe tale to Dick. When he examined it more critically, he had nodoubt that it was a beaver trap.

  Nor did he have any doubt but that this hut had been built bybeaver trappers long ago, either by independent hunters, or bythose belonging to one of the great fur companies. The beaver,he believed, had been found on this very brook, and when theywere all taken the trappers had gone away, leaving the cabinforever, as they had left many another one. It might be at leastforty years old.

  Dick laughed aloud in his pleasure at this good luck. The cabinwas dusty, dirty, disreputable, and odorous, but that draughtwould take away all the odors and his stout arm could soon repairthe holes in the roof, put the door back on its hinges, andstraighten the sagging window shutter. Here was their home, ahouse built by white men as a home, and now about to be used assuch again. Dick did not feel like a tenant moving in, but likean owner. It would be a long, hard task to bring their suppliesover the range but Albert and he had all the time in the world.It was one of the effects of their isolation to make Dick feelthat there was no such thing as time.

  He took another survey of the cabin. It was really a splendidplace, a palace in its contrast with the surrounding wilderness,and he laughed with pure delight. When it was swept and cleaned,and a fire blazing on the flat stone that served for a hearth,while the cold winds roared without, it would be the snuggesthome west of the Missouri. He was so pleased that he undertookat once some primary steps in the process of purification. Hecut a number of small, straight boughs, tied them together with apiece of bark, the leaves at the head thus forming a kind ofbroom, and went to work.

  He raised a great dust, which the draught blew into his eyes,ears, and nose, and he retreated from the place, willing to letthe wind take it away. He would finish the task some other day.Then the clear waters of the brook tempted him. Just above thecabin was a deep pool which may have been the home of the beaverin an older time. Now it was undisturbed, and the waters were sopure that he could see the sand and rock on the bottom.

  Still tingling from the dust, he took off his clothes and divedhead foremost into the pool. He came up shivering andsputtering. It was certainly the coldest water into which hehad ever leaped! After such a dash one might lie on a slab ofice to warm. Dick forgot that every drop in the brook had comefrom melting snows far up on the peaks, but, once in, he resolvedto fight the element. He dived again, jumped up and down, andkicked and thrashed those waters as no beaver had ever done.Gradually he grew warm, and a wonderful exhilaration shot throughevery vein. Then he swam around and around and across andacross the pool, disporting like a young white water god.

  Dick was thoroughly enjoying himself, but when he began to feelcold again in seven or eight minutes he sprang out, ran up anddown the bank, and rubbed himself with bunches of leaves until hewas dry. After he had dressed, he felt that he had actuallygrown in size and strength in the last half hour.

  He was now ravenously hungry. His absorption in his explorationsand discoveries had kept him from thinking of such a thing asfood until this moment, but when Nature finally got in her claimshe made it strong and urgent. He had brought cold supplies withhim, upon which he feasted, sitting in the doorway of the cabin.Then he noticed the lateness of the hour. Shadows werefalling across the snow on the western peaks and ridges. Thegolden light of the sun was turning red, and in the valley theair was growing misty with the coming twilight.

  He resolved to pass the night in the cabin. He secured thewindow shutter again, tie
d up the fallen door on rude barkhinges, and fastened it on the inside with a stick--hasps forthe bar were there yet--but before retiring he took a long lookin the direction in which Albert and their camp lay.

  A great range of mountains lay between, but Dick felt that hecould almost see his brother, his camp fire, and the pinealcove. He was Albert's protector, and this would be the firstentire night in the mountains in which the weaker boy had beenleft alone, but Dick was not apprehensive about him. He believedthat their good fortune would still endure, and secure in thatbelief he rolled himself up in the blanket which he had broughtin a little pack on his back, and laid himself down in the cornerof the cabin.

  The place was not yet free from dust and odor, but Dick's hardylife was teaching him to take as trifles things that civilizationusually regarded as onerous, and he felt quite comfortable wherehe lay. He knew that it was growing cold in the gorge, and theshelter of the cabin was acceptable. He saw a little strip ofwan twilight through a crack in the window, but it soon faded andpitchy darkness filled the narrow valley.

  Dick fell into a sound sleep, from which he awoke only once inthe night, and then it was a noise of something as of clawsscratching at the door which stirred him. The scratch wasrepeated only once or twice, and with it came the sound of heavy,gasping puffs, like a big animal breathing. Then the creaturewent away, and Dick, half asleep, murmured: "I've put you out ofyour house, my fine friend, bear or panther, whichever you maybe." In another minute he was wholly asleep again and did notwaken until an edge of glittering sunlight, like a sword blade,came through the crack in the window and struck him across theeyes.

  He bathed a second time in the pool, ate what was left of thefood, and started on the return journey, moving at a brisk pace.He made many calculations on the way. It would take a week tomove all their goods over the range to the cabin, but, oncethere, he believed that they would be safe for a long time;indeed, they might spend years in the valley, if they wished, andnever see a stranger.

  It was afternoon when he approached the pine alcove, but thefamiliar spire of smoke against the blue had assured him alreadythat Albert was there and safe. In fact, Albert saw him first.He had just returned from the creek, and, standing on a rock, afish in his hand, hailed his brother, who was coming up theslope.

  "Halloo, Dick!" he shouted. "Decided to come home, have you?Hope you've had a pleasant visit."

  "Fine trip, Al, old man," Dick replied. "Great place overthere. Think we'd better move to it."

  "That so? Tell us about it."

  Dick, ever sensitive to Albert's manner and appearance, noticedthat the boy's voice was fuller, and he believed that the dry,piny air of the mountains was still at its healing work. Hejoined Albert, who was waiting for him, and who, after giving hishand a hearty grasp, told him what he had found.