winter comfort—snowshoe-making—snow and storm—the moose woods—a night camp—memories—a midnight visitor—maskeypeton the iroquois—danger—a moose hunt—indian stalking—the red man’s happy hunting-grounds—plans—raft-building.
all was well in the hut; the cree had kept watch and ward. no indians had found the place. everything promised a quiet, peaceful winter, with ample time to mature plans for the spring. the stage which had been built soon after our first arrival at the spot was now filled with prime buffalo meat; the flour, blankets, and other stores taken from the trader, were stored carefully away on shelves in the hut. the cree and the scout dried and rough-tanned the wolf, carcajou, and buffalo skins; rude bedsteads were put up along the walls, and upon them dried grass, skins, and blankets made most comfortable beds. a large store of fuel was chopped, and piled outside the door; and harness, guns, skins, axes, &c., gave a furnished appearance to the interior, which, when lighted up by the pine-logs in the evening presented a look of comfort, in striking contrast with the savage desolation of the wilderness[192] without when the mid-winter rigour came full upon it.
as the end of the year drew nigh the storms increased in intensity. the snow deepened over all the land, but the meadow chosen for the horses held such an abundance of food that the animals stood the cold well. when the vetch and wild peas were exhausted, a swamp, which in summer grew a thick sedge-like grass, gave excellent sustenance to them. the snow was easily pawed away by the horses’ fore-feet, and the coarse grass, sweetened by the frost, was laid bare beneath. day after day the sioux, with myself, or the scout, or donogh, set out on a hunt for venison, and many a buck fell to our rifles in the valleys and thickets of the surrounding hills.
day after day the sioux, with myself, or the scout, or donogh, set out on a hunt for venison.
as the snow deepened over the land, the use of the snow-shoe became a necessity in walking. before the want had arisen the indians had taken measures to supply it. birchwood had been cut and seasoned, the gut of the jumping moose dried and prepared, and the rough framework put together, afterwards to be strung, and turned into the required shape.
as i watched the clever manner with which the wood was pared down and shaped, and with what beautiful accuracy the cross-pieces, the toes and heels, were fitted, turned, and made ready for the sinew strings—all done too with only a small knife and an awl, and done with such apparent ease, i felt tempted to say, “i too will make a pair of snowshoes;”[193] but it was only to find how futile was the effort to imitate the handicraft of the wild man in the work of the wilderness.
making snowshoes.
by the time the snowshoes were finished the snow was deep enough on the river and the plains to fully test their capabilities. i determined to accustom myself early to the use of the shoes, so that i might be able to keep pace with my friends, whose power of snowshoe-walking had grown from infancy. with this object i was out every morning as soon as breakfast was over, tramping along the frozen and snow-covered expanse of the rivers, or forcing my way through the thicket-lined shores, and up the hills and slopes of the surrounding country. at first i found it no easy matter to tread my way over soft and deep snow, or through places where the brambles and weeds lay half-buried in the drifts and dazzling banks; but in a few days my step grew more firm, my stride became longer and more rapid, and after a week i was not ashamed to join red cloud for a hunt after game.
thus we four denizens of this wild and lonely spot ranged over the land surrounding our solitary dwelling; and ere the new year had come there was not a pine-bluff or a thicket of aspens—there was not a bend on the rivers, or a glade among the hills, which was not known and explored. it was a strange, wild life, this winter roving over the great[194] untamed wilderness of snow.
at times the days were bright and calm—the sun shone with dazzling lustre upon the unspotted surface of the earth. the branches of the trees glistened in the white rime of the morning, the dry powdery snow sounded hard as sand under the shoe.
again the scene would change, and wild storms swept sky and earth; the bitter blast howled through the thickets, the pine-trees rocked and waved, and the short daylight closed into a night of wrack and tempest. such days and nights would run their courses, and again the scene would change; the wild wind would sink away, the snow would cease to fall or to drift, a death-like stillness would ensue, and with a brilliancy of untold beauty the moon would be seen above the still and tapering pine-tops, and the white light of frosted silver, set with myriad sparkling gems, would overlay all the land.
the new year came; january drew to a close. colder and colder the iron hand of winter seemed to grasp the forest and the ridge, the silent frozen rivers, and the lonely hills.
one day the sioux set out with me to visit a large wood of pines and poplars, the tops of which could be discerned from a ridge lying a few miles away from the hut. it was a long tramp, and the dogs were taken to carry kettle, blankets, and food, in preparation for camping during the[195] night in the wood in order to continue the hunt on the following day.
as the morning was fine, the sun shone brightly on the snow, and the dogs followed closely in the footsteps of the sioux, as with rapid strides he passed over the white ridges and intervening gullies drifted deep in snow. i walked behind the sled that carried the supplies for the camp.
the day passed away, varied by nothing save exercise, broken only by the mid-day halt for food. it was the middle of the afternoon when we drew near the broad belt of wood which was to be our home for the night.
for some miles we had followed a tract of low meadow-land along the river; but now the sioux led across the frozen stream, and slipping his feet from the snowshoe-strings as he gained the farther shore, he began to ascend a very steep ridge that rose directly from the opposite bank.
the dogs worked might and main to follow their leader. i urged them with voice and whip from behind; and up the slippery ridge we scrambled until the top was gained. here a halt was made, to recover breath and take a survey of the scene.
beneath, spreading away for many a mile, lay a broken and wooded region, over which patches of dark green pine-trees stood in marked contrast to the snowy surface of level and ridge. here and there the eye caught glimpses of unbroken sheets of snow, telling the presence of frozen lakelets beneath.[196] indeed, the pine-trees were themselves sufficient to indicate the fact of water in abundance being there, for it was water alone that had protected them in the dry autumn days from the wild ravage of the prairie fire.
the sioux scanned with careful sweep of vision all the wide scene from east to west. then seemingly satisfied with his scrutiny, he resumed his snowshoes, and struck down a long gradual incline towards the belt of woodland.
it wanted but an hour of sunset when the first pine-trees were reached; and shortly after, the small grey owl’s hoot sounding through the vast solitude bade us select a thick clump of firs, in the midst of which a cosey camp was quickly made.
few who have not experienced it can realize the full measure of comfort which the wilderness, even in the depth of winter, can hold forth to its denizens. it seems difficult to believe that a camp, made in the open snow, amid a clump of fir-trees, with nought save the branches between the traveller and the sky, with only the frozen earth swept clear of snow for his floor, and with blankets and a skin for bed and covering, could be anything save the most miserable of lodging-places. but it is marvellous how quickly the wild hunter will change these unpromising materials into a spot where genial warmth can be felt, where rest can come to weary limbs, where food can fill hungry stomachs, and the[197] pipe of peace can be smoked in pleasant repose.
at first the night was still and fine; but as the midnight hour drew on the wind arose, and the tree-tops began to bend their heads, and the melancholy cadence of the swaying branches fell upon our ears as we slept.
long habit had given the sioux the faculty of consciousness in sleep; the senses, all save that of sight, still carried to his brain their various messages.
the swaying of the branches soon roused him to wakefulness, and throwing aside his robe he looked out at the night. the fire had burned down to ashes, which the night-wind, when its gusts came strongly now and again, blew into dull red embers. the snow-light made visible the tree-trunks around. overhead he could mark the clouds moving rapidly from the east; the storm was rising.
he got up, raked the ashes together, threw some wood upon the embers, and sat down to watch the flickering flames and to wait for the dawn. the noise awoke me, and i watched him from where i lay. oftentimes it was his wont thus to sit watching in those hours of the late night. more than once i had, on other occasions, looked out from my robe, to see thus seated before a few embers the figure of my friend. who can tell the thoughts that at such moments passed through the mind of this strange man? memories of that great wilderness he loved so well—of these vast solitudes, which to him had nothing awful. glimpses[198] of far-stretching prairies—of rivers flowing in wide curves through endless distances—of trees sinking beneath waves of meadow-land. such were the scenes he saw in the pine-fire embers. then too he would listen to the voice of the tempest in far-off forests; and as the sound swept through the lone hours of the night, there came to him many a thought of boyhood in the land lost to his tribe. but always, as he has often told me, his mind running along those grooves found the same resting-place—the spot where, in the island of the mountains, lay the bones of his murdered father. and then, with all the bitter wrath of his heart fanned into flame, he would rise to his feet, and stalk away into the dark forest or the silent prairie, and looking up at the cold stars he would cry, “father, thy son does not sleep. he wanders over the earth only to revenge thy fate.”
as now he sat, with head sunken on his hands, and eyes fixed on the embers, there sounded close by a noise as of human steps upon the snow. the sioux turned towards the side from whence the sound proceeded, and saw in the dim light of the snow the figure of a man. calm as he habitually was—accustomed to regard the sudden indications of danger with the outward semblance of repose, he nevertheless on this occasion felt creep upon him the sensation of fear. weird and ghostly, the figure seemed to have risen out of the white ground. instinctively the sioux grasped the rifle that lay near him. the strange figure[199] seemed to catch the movement: he spoke.
“as a friend i have sought your camp,” he said. “had i come as an enemy, you would not have seen me.”
red cloud relinquished his half-grasped rifle, and rose to meet the stranger.
“who are you?”
“i am maskeypeton the iroquois.”
the wind still rising, now blew a strong gust, which swept the camp, causing the flames to flare for a moment through the dry wood of the fire. the light fell full upon the face of the stranger, revealing features well known to the sioux.
“maskeypeton the iroquois,” he said, “no matter what has brought your steps at this hour to my camp, you are welcome. sit down and share my fire.”
the stranger answered, “there was a day, years ago, when you turned your horse’s head to take a wounded iroquois from under the guns of the long-knives by the banks of the yellowstone. maskeypeton is here to-night because of that day. last evening,” he said, “i struck your trail on the ice of the pascopee. i was then bound for where i had heard your hut lay. i followed your trail while daylight lasted, rested until the moon rose, and then kept the track that led me hither.”
the sioux listened in silence.
“i have not come,” went on the iroquois, “without a reason; that reason is a warning. enemies watch for you. they have found the spot where you have built your winter hut; and when the snow leaves the prairies, and the ice breaks in the rivers, the sircies will seek your life.”
“but i have no quarrel with the sircies,” answered the sioux. “no man of the tribe has ever known injury at my hand. why should they now try to harm me?”
“because there is another enemy hidden behind them,” said the iroquois. “the white trader finds many weapons with which he strikes his blows.”
the eyes of the sioux reflected with a strange wild glare, the fitful light of the fire, but he said nothing. after a while he asked,—
“is the trader with the sircies?”
“no, he is living at the white man’s fort by the river of the gros ventres.”
the sioux thought in silence over the tidings the iroquois had unfolded to him, and already his mind had formed its plan, but he did not even thank his informant for the timely warning.
looking towards the northern sky, he saw by the position of the great bear that morning was drawing near, and that it was time to prepare for the work of the coming day. the conversation with the new comer had been carried on in a low tone. to me it was unintelligible[201] at the time, but later on i became aware of its meaning.
of the purport of the stranger’s visit; red cloud now said nothing, he simply explained the presence of the iroquois, by remarking that he had struck and followed our trail of the previous day, that he was an old friend, and would join them in hunting the moose during the next few days. the morning already gave every indication of being followed by a day well suited to the pursuit of the moose; the trees rocked and swung under the gusts of storm, and the moan of the wind through the stretch of pine forest promised the hunters the best guarantee of a noiseless approach to the resting-place of that most suspicious and far-hearing denizen of the waste. breakfast over, we set out from the camp, leaving the sled and harness suspended in the fork of a tree to save the leather fastenings from the attacks of the dogs. red cloud led the way, plunging directly into a labyrinth of wood, which soon opened upon a frozen and snow-covered lakelet. at the farther side of this open, a profusion of willow bushes were seen; along these we bent our steps, and soon, in the deep snow that had drifted around the willow stems, a series of large hoof-prints became visible, now leading around the edge of the thickets, now into the midst of them, while the tops in many places hung down, bruised and broken, as though some tall animal had been browsing upon them as he travelled[202] along. the indians looked at the tracks intently, and then pushed their way through the thicket to the edge of the forest at the farther side; here a perfect network of footmarks seemed to lead in every direction, crossing each other in apparently hopeless confusion. but the sioux did not appear to have any doubt as to the line he should follow. passing again into the forest, he held his way without pause through tangled brake and thicket. i, however, noticed that we were now following a double track, that is to say, a track made by an animal which had gone to and returned from the willows by the same line, but the double marks were not always distinctly defined. on the contrary, it required the most careful scrutiny to discover the existence of a double footprint in the holes, so exactly had the animal appeared to place one footstep in the impression already made by him in the snow. i noted that the sioux, when he did bend down to examine the holes, paid particular attention to the edge of the snow at the point where the hoof of the moose had last quitted the track. at this edge a few fine grains of snow lay on the surface of the older fallen mass, and these light particles seemed to give to the tracker his test of proximity to his game. sometimes he would blow gently upon them, sometimes he would content himself with pushing the muzzle of his leather-covered gun into the footmarks.
all at once a change passed over his mode of pursuit. his pace slackened; his step was more carefully planted, and his eye scanned more closely the surroundings of copse, brake, and thicket. he now motioned the iroquois to stay in one spot, and whispering me to keep close behind him, and to tread as much as possible in his footsteps, he turned aside at a right angle and bore away deep into the forest, apparently following no track of any kind.
following closely behind, i noticed that the course was not straight—it bent inwards in a wide circle, so that if continued it must again strike the trail of the moose. it was so; with long drawn steps the sioux came back again upon his old line at a point some quarter of a mile from where he had quitted it. arrived near the line of tracks he made a most careful study of the ground, and noted each footprint with great care; then he bent his steps back again in the way he had come, and again bent round so as to make another half circle, this time a considerably shorter one. his course i can but illustrate by the following diagram—
diagram
the straight lines representing the original track of the moose, and the curved ones the course which we followed, in lessening half-circles, that ended and began again some[204] few yards short of the trail.
the object of these curious tactics was not at once apparent to me; but i noted two points that threw some light upon them. one was the fact that the circles were always made to the side away from the wind; and the other was, that the sioux on arriving near the line of trail invariably directed his scrutiny of bush and thicket to the space lying between us and the line, little care being taken to examine the forest directly along the trail to the front.
three circles had thus been made without any result, and we had once more drawn nigh the line of trail. a few steps, more carefully taken than any that had gone before, brought us to their limit, some few yards short of the line.
to the left front as we looked towards the trail there stood a small clump of broken and tangled wood, lying within twenty paces of the trail. the sioux looked long and steadfastly, then he advanced half-a-dozen paces to his front, noiseless as the footfall of a hare in a thicket; all at once he stopped. as yet the gun-cloth had not been taken from his gun, but now i noticed that the barrel was uncovered; still the hammer remained upon half-cock. i had not gone forward the last ten paces, for i instinctively realized from the manner of my companion that the final moment of the stalk was at hand.
without changing his position red cloud now beckoned me to his side, with a gesture impressing the utmost caution.[205] both of us had long since taken off our snowshoes, and our moccasined feet scarcely sounded in the snow. when we were close together red cloud said, in a low whisper,—
“look in the centre of yonder thicket.”
i looked, and saw nothing beyond the maze of tangled branch half-sunken in soft snow. red cloud now raised his gun, but it still remained at the half-cock. i looked, and looked again, but could make out nothing. all at once the sharp click of the hammer, drawn to full cock with somewhat unusual strength, and therefore noise, struck the ear; a second later and there rose up in the thicket centre, fifty yards from where he stood, a huge, dusky animal. the sioux seemed in no hurry, he took matters as coolly as though the moose was working in obedience to his own movements; the moose stared blankly at us, the sioux looked quietly at the moose. the pause was only for four seconds, but to me it seemed an age. all at once the spell was broken. quick as lightning the gun was raised to the shoulder, the shot rang out, and the moose bounded like a ball from a cannon, crashing out of the thicket. “missed,” thought i—no; not a bit of it. thirty paces were not covered ere the great beast plunged forward in the snow, a struggling mass amid the spotless white.
we drew near the quarry. he was a noble animal. the sioux regarded him with looks of pride. it was a stalk well done; it had been a triumph fairly gained over an animal remarkable over all the wild animals of the north american forest for cunning and sagacity.
and now as we waited for the iroquois, i had fully explained to me the tactics i had just witnessed. when the time for lying down comes, in the early dawn, the moose selects a safe spot to the leeward side of the trail he has followed; in fact, he retraces his trail for some distance before deviating from it. he takes up his resting-place for the day, guided by instinct to select a spot from which he can catch the wind of any person following his footsteps. to defeat this excessive caution was the object of those curious lines of approach taken by the sioux; each time he came out within sight of the line on which he knew that the moose was to be looked for in some adjoining thicket. thus each brake had been scanned. to have followed the trail would have been to have given the animal warning of our approach. it was only by cautiously examining all possible lurking-places from behind them, i. e. to leeward of them, that the result we have seen could be attained.
the work of skinning and cutting up the moose was now proceeded with. the distance from the camp was not far, and while the sioux made ready the carcase, i went back along our track to bring the dogs for the meat. when i got back from the camp with the sleds all was ready. skin, marrow-bones, and meat were all packed away, and before the low-set sun had touched the pine-tops in the west we[207] were back again in our camp.
it was a grand feast that evening for both dogs and men. we sat long in the red light of the fire, frying the delicious marrow-bones, and toasting rich bits of meat. the iroquois looked the picture of content. he had had a hard time of it for some weeks he told us; his gun had not shot straight; the moose had been wild, the days calm; but now plenty had come, and he seemed determined to make up for past misfortunes. he spoke english fairly well.
“white brother,” he said to me, amid one of the pauses in our repast, “these are the happy moments in our lives; these are the moments which, when we think of them in civilization, draw us out again into the wilds. months of hunger and cold are forgotten in a day such as we have spent to-day.”
“but,” said i, “you are a stranger here; your people dwelt far away beyond the great lakes, where the white man’s cities now cover the land, and where the rivers are furrowed by the wheels of his fire-boats.”
“yes,” he answered, “that was my home, and a remnant of my race still dwell by the shores, of the st. lawrence; but for me it would not do. i came here twenty years ago, a youth, in the canoe of a trader. i have lived in these woods and prairies ever since. in my own land i was a stranger, in this strange land i found myself at home.”
next morning the return march to the hut was begun. the iroquois formed one of our party. we moved over the snow-clad wilderness in silence. red cloud was busily engaged in forming plans by which we might hope to elude the designs of his enemies. the iroquois, always reserved and taciturn, moved along wrapped in his blanket, silent and impassive; and i felt in no humour to break in upon the plans or meditations of my companions.
darkness had quite fallen when the dogs, tired by the weight of the moose meat which they were hauling, came in sight of the hollow in which the hut lay. then the weary load grew light in anticipation of home, and, pulling vigorously at the traces, the fire-lit doorway of the little hut was soon reached.
but long before the journey was over, red cloud had fully matured in his brain a plan which promised him escape from the toils that encompassed him. that plan he briefly explained to me as follows,—
on the ice-covered little indentation, or mimic bay, close beneath the east wall of the hut, we would construct a large and solid raft of dry pine-trees. the raft when finished would be lashed to the trees on the shore to await the disruption of the frozen river. the ice once gone and the structure afloat, the work of loading goods and chattels, guns and ammunition, would begin; then, at the first signal of assault from hostile sircies, the hut and its fixtures would be fired, and down the swift-rolling flood of the loosened[209] rivers would glide the ark, bearing to realms of safety our little party from the ruined site of our winter home. such were the means by which he hoped to defeat once more the machinations of his foes.
the next morning saw the beginning of the refuge raft. the pine bluff echoed with the ringing strokes of well-wielded axes, and soon a dozen dead and dry pine-trees had fallen, and their trunks were rapidly being cleared of branches and cut into even lengths of fourteen feet, and others of ten and twelve. the dry trees were the only ones fit for the work; the green ones, heavy with sap, would have floated too low in the water to allow of weights being placed on them.
when a sufficient number of dry trees had been felled and cut into lengths, the work of drawing them to the little bay began. every one worked with a will; but many of the trees had been cut at a considerable distance from the hut, and it was laborious work to get the larger pieces into position upon the ice. then was done the work of notching and shaping the various parts of the raft, and forming the outer framework upon which the higher platform was to be built. the two longest and thickest trunks were placed as outside pieces, these two were connected together by cross sticks at either end, and all formed a massive frame twenty feet in length by eight feet across; over these in turn were placed eight pieces of lesser bulk and size, crossed and held together by transverse sticks.
while these preparations were going on, the cree was busily engaged in cutting up and stretching into pliable lengths long strips of “shahanappi,” or buffalo and moose skin; these, when fully stretched, were passed around the trunks, lacing the entire structure into a most compact and powerful raft.
in three days’ time the raft was finished, and as it had been in the first instance laid upon the exact spot on the ice which it was meant to occupy when afloat, no further labour was necessary to drag the ponderous mass into position, and nothing remained but to complete the arranging and sorting of the stores, and many minor details, and to make everything ready for rapid embarkation when the hour of movement would have arrived.
the first object aimed at by red cloud was to avoid leaving in the hands of his enemies any token of his defeat. he was determined that, if he could help it, not a gun or trophy should be shown as things that had been taken from the wandering sioux. nothing in fact save the possession of a barren site should be left to his enemies. the chief difficulty lay in the horses. how were they to be removed? there could be no reason to expect that the sircies would allow a day of practicable weather to elapse after the melting of the snow before their scouts would be on the alert, around a wide circle of the banks, to prevent the escape of the party by land. it looked as[211] if all the horses must be sacrificed. the idea of killing his favourite horse, his long-tried, faithful friend, was a thought that red cloud could not endure. he spent many hours in thinking out some method of escape. at last he hit upon what seemed to promise success. he would build another raft, and putting himself upon it, and his steed swimming behind it, he would run the river alone; the others would go on the first raft. he told me his plan. i proposed that the raft should be made large enough to carry two people, and that i should also take my horse, and still continue to share the fortunes of my friend.
the sioux consented to this arrangement, and the work of building soon began. some changes were made in the shape and construction of the second raft, to enable it to bear the unequal strain likely to be put on it. in the course of a few days it was declared finished, and, moored side by side with the one first built, was in readiness to receive its cargo whenever the moment would arrive. thus we found ourselves ere the close of winter preparing to meet as best we could a formidable attack from powerful enemies. the forewarning given by the iroquois had enabled us to forearm, and it now only remained to await the attack when the breaking up of the ice would let loose the passions of our enemies, and the flood-gates of our friends—the pascopee and the red deer rivers.
