My Sixty Years on the Plains: Trapping, Trading, and Indian Fighting

This classic includes the following chapters:


I. The Vote that Made me an Indian Fighter. St. Louis. I Join Bill Williams’s Party. The Boy Catches on. A Parley with Kiowas. Friendly Cheyennes. A Traders’ Trick. My First Sign-Talk. A Good Trade. Swift Runner my Friend. Athletics and Longevity.


II. Buffalo Hunt with Cheyennes. A Stirring Picture. My First Buffalo. Perils of the Chase. We are Feasted on our Return. Character of the Cheyennes. Pemmican and Depuyer a Substitute for Bread. We Leave the Cheyennes.


III. Sioux Village on the South Platte. A Pawnee Horse Raid. We Give Chase. Wonderful Endurance of the Indian Pony. The Stock Recaptured. My First Shot at an Indian. Return with Pawnee Scalps. Coup-Sticks. Counting Coups.


IV. Fur-Trade Rivalries. “Free Traders” and the Companies. Wealth of the Sioux. War-Parties and Singing. Indian Revenge. We Sell our Furs for Good Prices. Bill Williams a Diplomat. Visited by Arapahoes. We Trade, Feast, and Smoke. A Threatening Party of Crows. “Business Diplomacy.”


V. In a Dangerous Country. We Find a Moccasin and Prepare for Trouble. Attacked in the Night by Blackfeet. The Enemy Repulsed. Scalps Taken. Pursuit. Williams a Reckless Indian Fighter. I Lift my First Scalp. We Wipe Out the Entire Party. Beaver Trapping an Art.


VI. Little Wind River. A Wonderful Hot Spring. Shoshone Scouts. Chief Washakie. We Trade our Blackfoot Plunder. Shoshone Horse for Blackfoot Scalp. A Night of Council, Scalp Dance, and War Song. The Fate of.Two Trappers. “Good for Evil” not the Trappers’ Creed. Shakespeare in a Trapper’s Pack. Mountain Men Great Readers. A White Beaver.


VII. The Scouts Report Indian War-Parties. We Resolve to Clear the Country of them. Scouting for Hostiles. A Want of Strategy. Some Actual Warfare. A Wild Scene. We Have a Close Encounter. We Rush the Knoll. A Night of Mingled Mourning and Rejoicing.


VIII. A Brush with Piegans. We Part from the Shoshones. I Mystify Washakie. Indian Horsemanship. The Shoshones. Beaver Trapping. My First Bear. A Lesson in Bear Shooting. Fascination of the Mountain Life.


IX. The Blackfoot Fort in Utah. A Good Day for Bears. Fort Bridger. Mountain Men’s Law. We Trade our Furs. Infatuated with the Life. Exploration of the Yellowstone in 1839. Afterwards I Visit that Country. Trappers’ Tales. My Skill in Sign-Language. We Go with Washakie’s Band.


X. Horse-Racing. Shooting from Horseback. Whites Outshoot Indians. Williams Leaves us. Navajo Blankets. A Lost Manuscript.


XI. An Expedition to Explore Utah. The “Boy” Becomes “Bill.” Old Bear Orders us off. “Big Chief never Smokes with White Dogs.” Trapper Life in a Hostile Indian Country. Fortified in Camp Weber. The American Trapper a Fine Type. We Hear Wolf Howls and Prepare for Attack. The Enemy Repulsed with Heavy Losses. A “Big Talk” and Peace. “It Costs too much Blood to Fight Trappers.”


XII. Bear River. The Bannocks. A Swim with the Mercury 38° below Zero. The Pah Utes a Low Race. Poisoned Arrows. Brown’s Hole and its Gay Winter Life. I am Made Trader. A Terrible Storm. Our Horses Stolen by Blackfeet. A Hard Ride. We Recapture the Stock.


XIII. Williams Returns. Tygee the Bannock. A Lucky 13. Indians of the Blackfoot Country. Life at a Trappers’ Rendezvous. Hostile Bannocks. Howlack in a Rage. We Prepare for Trouble. Prowling Wolves when Shot Prove to be Indians. Spies who did not Return. Three Hundred Warriors Charge the Camp. A Desperate Fight. The Enemy Routed.


XIV. The Bannocks Taught a Lesson. Indians as Fighters. Excited Umatillas. The Walla Walla Valley. Its Fish and Game. The Walla Wallas. Tygh Valley. Indians Salmon Spearing. My First Sight of the Columbia. Latitude 49°. Vicissitudes of the Trapper’s Life.


XV. A Rich Beaver Country. A Hunter’s Paradise. Great Klamath Lake. In Winter Quarters. A Horse Pack worth $7200. “Boston Men” and “King George’s.” In the Modoc Country. We Dig Rifle-Pits. Trappers’ Coats of Mail. Prepared for Attack.


XVI. The Modocs Threaten to Rub Us Out. The Camp Rushed. Hand-to-Hand Fighting. A Furious Charge. We Lose Three Men. Modoc Slaughter. An Incident of the Modoc War of 1856. The California Rangers. The Massacre of Bloody Point.


XVII. Honey Lake Valley. Thieving Indians. We Turn South. The Truckee River. Degraded Red Men. In a Mountain Storm. Fortune Favors the Brave. A Dismal Camp. Snow-Bound. Glimpse of the Great American Desert. Camp on Carson River. A Pah Ute’s Square Meal. Gratified Squaws and Skinned Beavers. A Big Catch of Fur. Humboldt Lake. Hostile Utes. One of our Men Ambushed and Killed. A Sharp Fight and a Decisive Victory. We Capture Forty-three Horses. Our Revenge.


XVIII. We Move Camp. Crestfallen Trappers. Blackfoot Victims. Fur Company Traders. Hot Springs. Our Company Breaks up. Expedition to the Big Horn Mountains. We Stand off the Blackfeet. An Arrogant Leader and a Coward. The “Tartar Outfit.”


XIX. Washakie Again. The Joy of Youth. A Buffalo Hunt. Stinking Water. Crow and Shoshone Horse-Racing. A Peaceful Camp. Sign-Language. The Mexican War. I Visit St. Louis. Home is Changed. “Westward He!” I Pilot an Oregon Emigrant Train. Attacked by Pawnees. Out of Deference to the Ladies we do not Scalp. Mormon Emigrants. Fort Hall. The Fur Companies and their Employees.


XX. Fort Bridger. “Doby Men.” California Gold. We Decide to Go to the Mines. Fate of Bill Williams. Hunting and Trapping in the Big Horns. “Humpy” a War-Party Leader. We Give the Easterners a Lesson in Indian Fighting. Washakie Identifies the Scalps as Pend Oreilles.


XXI. Bound for California. Furs and Gold. On the Old Camp Ground. An Undisturbed Grave. The Indians Hold Aloof. Crossing the Range. Sacramento. We Trappers Turn Miners, and Stake our Claims. Barbarous Murder.


XXII. Miners Killed by Indians. A Gloomy Outlook. The “Mountaineer Miners.” Rifle Barrels for Crowbars. Our Circus Entry into Nevada City. A Council of War. Perkins Advises Vigorous Action. We Take the Trail. More Indian Outrages. We Overtake the Hostiles. An Attack and a Stubborn Defence. A Brave Chief. Good Work of the Sharps Rifle. “Silver Tip” Has his Ear Split and Russell Gets a Bullet through his Hat. The Indians Utterly Routed and Many Killed. White Men’s Scalps to Teach a Lesson. A Big Lot of Plunder. The Trappers are Made to Blush. We Have a Triumphal Ovation and are Hailed as Avengers. Our Fame Spreads.


XXIII. Our Services in Request at Hangtown (Placerville). We Meet the Indians at Biglow’s Lake. A Desperate Charge. Mexican War Veterans Save the Day. To Kill a Chief is to Win the Battle. Our Trained Horses. Fastidious Trappers Annoyed by Blood Spots on their Buckskin Suits. The Owner Gets his Mules. The Trinity Massacre. “Tar-heads” Chastised. The Trappers in the Rogue River and Modoc Wars. The Pitt River Massacre. Our Band Breaks up. Through the Modoc Country again. Fort Walla Walla. I Go as Scout.


XXIV. Death of Russell. A Brave Man and a True Comrade. I am Left Alone. My Horse Hickory. A Business Trip to Trade and Spy. In the Enemies’ Camp. My Part nearly Chokes me. An Extraordinary Trade. We Get what we Came for. The Spokane River Campaign. I Establish a Trading-Post at Missoula. Fort Benton. The Expedition of 1874 with General Crook. American Horse. Later Years.