Ellis Edward Sylvester
Bill Biddon, Trapper: or, Life in the Northwest
“Of course, for I am sure he would not willingly miss an opportunity of seeing his old friend again. Of course, Biddon, we shall meet, if not in this world, I hope in the next.”
“P’r’aps so, though I can’t tell till we gits there. Don’t know much ’bout them matters, ogh!”
At this moment the voice of the steersman was heard, ordering the men to their places. Biddon turned, took a step, then halted and faced me.
“Good-by, Jarsey.”
He extended his hand, but ere I could take it it was hastily withdrawn. He mumbled something, dashed his hand across his face, and strode rapidly toward the boat.
“Good-by, Biddon. God bless you!” I called after him.
The voyageurs seized their oars, and in a few moments they were in the stream, their same cheery song echoing as loudly and as joyously as before. I stood upon the bank, watching them as the current bore them onward. In a few moments they reached a bend in the river – Biddon made a signal to me, and the next minute they had all vanished.
As the brigade vanished down the river, and the song of the voyageurs grew fainter and fainter, until it died away in the distant windings of the Yellowstone, I awoke from the mournful reverie into which I had fallen, and turned to the work before me. There was a dozen Indians around, all busy with their new possessions. Some were parading pompously in their new blankets, some examining their glitterng knives, and others wrenching off great mouthfuls from huge twists of tobacco, and all evidently in the highest spirits. The chief had been presented with a fine, polished rifle, and he was standing apart, trying its lock, and “drawing bead” on different objects in the distance.
I waited till he appeared satisfied, and then approached and made a complimentary remark; I saw at once it was not comprehended, and there was not probably a savage who could speak a word of English in the tribe. However, as they spoke the same tongue as the tribe in which I spent my captivity, my situation in this respect was not as bad as it might have been.
In the course of half an hour, the chief started toward his village, the others sauntering along behind him, and myself at his side. His rifle was now thrown over his shoulder, and he seemed to have lost all interest in it as he walked thoughtfully forward, his dark eyes bent upon the ground. A few minutes’ walk through the forest brought us to the Indian village. It was so similar to the one before described, that it needs no mention here.
The Blackfeet-Sioux are one of the many divisions of the Dacotah or Sioux tribe, whose hunting-grounds include the greater part of the vast territory of Nebraska. These subdivisions of this numerous people are tribes within themselves. Although speaking the same tongue, they are separate and literally independent of each other. Each has its village and chief, whose authority is absolute. Like all North American Indians, their life is a migratory one; and the traveler who to-day finds them located on the Yellowstone or Little Missouri, may, a year after, find them as far westward as the Great Falls of the Missouri.
My advent among these savages excited no unusual attention, as they are often visited by traders and hunters. The chief took me to his own lodge, where all the attention I could wish was given. I was gladly surprised to find upon the next day, that there was a half-breed among them who could speak the English tongue. His acquaintance I soon made. He was a middle-aged man, who had spent most of his life in trapping, sometimes as far northward as the Saskatchewan, and who often acted as interpreter for his tribe. He possessed the daring hardihood of the French trapper, and the low, ferocious cunning of the savage. He had ever considered this tribe as his people, having a squaw and several children.
From this half-breed I learned that the flight of Imogene was not yet discovered, and that the tribe which held Nat was about a dozen miles to the eastward I informed the chief, through the interpreter, that I should make several days’ ramble through the woods, in order to get a better idea of the face of the country and of its resources. He seemed to believe I really was an agent of one of the fur companies, and offered me an escort. I declined, however, and the next morning started on foot in the direction of the tribe alluded to.
CHAPTER XII
FOUND AT LAST
I took a direction nearly due east toward the Black Hills. Near the middle of the day I reached the shore of a lake. It was a small, beautiful sheet of water, its glistening surface unruffled by a single ripple, and I stood a long time gazing upon its placid bosom. The blue outline of the opposite shore was faintly visible in the distance, and here and there the green face of a tiny island protruded from its surface adding greatly to the picturesqueness of the scene.
As I stood looking dreamily out upon this lake, my eyes rested upon a small speck, just discernible far toward the other side. It was too small and dark to be an island, and, furthermore, I fancied it was moving. A moment more satisfied me that it was a canoe crossing the lake nearly to the point upon which I was standing. So small and black was it, that for a long time I was tempted to believe it was nothing but a bird floating upon the surface; but the flashing of the oars in the sunshine showed its true nature, and I waited anxiously its approach.
On it came, slowly and steadily, its form gradually increasing as it approached, until I could discover the outlines of a single man propelling it over the water. A sudden hope that it might be Nat himself came over me, but as it came nigher, the dazzling plumes of a savage convinced me of my mistake. It struck me as a little singular that the Indian, solitary and alone, should approach so unhesitatingly a stranger, and I was upon the point of concealing myself; but, knowing that I must have been seen, and that such a proceeding would only awaken suspicion upon his part, I remained boldly in view.
A few minutes later and the canoe grated upon the sand a few yards from me; and, daubed in all the glittering paraphernalia of savage war-paint and plumes, no less a personage than Nat stepped ashore and approached me!
I was upon the point of calling out to him, when I saw he did not recognize me. Since we had last been together my beard had grown considerably, and my dress was also changed to that of a semi-barbarous one. I drew my hat down to my eyes, and spoke in a changed voice.
“A pleasant day this, my friend.”
[Pg 240][Pg 241]
“Yes, it is,” replied the same natural, cracked voice.
“A fine country this, too,”
“Yes, that’s so; didn’t expect to see you.”
“And why not, my friend?”
“’Cause ’tain’t often you see a white man in these parts; you’re the first one I’ve seen.”
“And how is it you are here yourself?”
“Wal, stranger, there’s a long story fastened to that question – a longer one than I care about spinning at present.”
“You are not a prisoner, I hope.”
“It was some time last fall I got tuk, and I’ve been with them, of course, ever since.”
“And why have you remained with them so long? It strikes me that if I had the fine opportunity you have, I should not be long waiting to bid them farewell.”
“You see, when I landed down here, it was winter, and if you’re any hunter, as I calculate you are, from your dress, you must know that a fellow from the States would make poor work tramping a thousand miles at such a time. So I concluded to wait till spring, and have been thinking about going for the last month or two, but, somehow or other I haven’t got started; I suppose ’cause I haven’t had a good start.”
“What were you doing on the lake?”
“I came down this morning to fish, and seeing you on t’other side, took you to be an Injin fishin’ and so I paddled across.”
“You are allowed considerable liberty, it seems, after all.”
“Well, I have considerable, though it hain’t done me much good so fur.”
“You wish to return to the States, I presume.”
“I guess I do; I am about as homesick a dog as you ever laid eyes on, and there’s a gal home that I want to see amazingly.”
At this remark I was compelled to cough several times, to prevent bursting into a loud, boisterous laugh. I felt like dropping upon the grass and rolling over and over, and yelling like an Indian. But I restrained myself, and determined to carry the deception further.
“She most likely has given you up as dead by this time.”
“I’m a little afraid she has, and that’s the reason I want to go down and tell her her mistake. But I don’t know as it would be any use, by gracious!” he added, in a desponding tone.
“And why not, pray?”
“Oh, there’s a chap named Bill Hawkins, who thinks he’s mighty smart, all the time flourishing round there. I’d just like to lay hands on him once,” and Nat clinched his hands and shook his head menacingly. Then resuming his natural manner, he added, quickly, and with a sort of desperation, “I don’t care though. If Sal wants him, she can have him.”
“That’s it. Take things philosophically is my motto, when you are compelled to.”
In making this last remark, I unwittingly dropped my voice to its natural key. Nat started and raised those large, blue innocent eyes of his, and stared wonderingly at me.
“Did my remark surprise you?” I asked, working harder than I ever did to restrain my gravity.
“It weren’t what you said, but your voice sounded amazingly like a person I used to know, and I thought maybe you might be him.”
“Perhaps I am.”
“No; you don’t look like him. He was about your size, but didn’t dress like you, nor didn’t have such whiskers.”
“What was his name?”
“William Relmond, from New Jersey.”
“William Relmond, from New Jersey,” I repeated, as though trying to recall some half-forgotten remembrance.
“He used to be called ‘Jarsey’ by Bill Biddon,” added Nat, quickly, as if to aid my recollection.
“And do you know Bill Biddon, a trapper?” I demanded, eagerly.
“I am of the opinion that I do, being as I have hunted with him a long time.”
“Ah! indeed. He is an old friend of mine. I saw him some time since, and he was then in the service of the Hudson Bay Company.”
“Didn’t he say anything about ‘Jarsey?’”
“I’ve hit it now! There’s where I heard the name. Yes; he said a great deal about him, and he also mentioned a person called Nathan Todd, I think.”
“I am the man, sir,” responded Nat, with considerable dignity.
“You are! I recall now that he mentioned the fact of your captivity, although he was more inclined to say you were dead and gone long since.”
“Bill is a pretty ’cute chap, but he’s mistaken there.”
“Yes; he seemed to cherish a warm friendship for you.”
“You see the way of it was this: Me and Bill Relmond started from Independence last summer for California. The company we was with ran away from us, taking my knife and mare with them. So we started fur Californy on our own hook. We came across this Bill Biddon and changed our minds, or, rather, Relmond did, and concluded to go on a hunt up in these parts. Well, we did, and this is the end of that hunt. We fixed on a place down on the Yellowstone, and would have spent a good time if it hadn’t been for that Relmond. He was a good fellow, but betwixt you and me (you needn’t say nothing about it, you know), he was rather soft, and I had to keep a clus watch over him to prevent his getting into danger. There used to come some Injins down the stream in a canoe, and they set his head crazy. It wasn’t the Injins, though, but a white gal they had. She was pretty, I allow, but he ought to have knowed better than to chase her as he did; he might have knowed what would have come of it. We used to go down and watch this canoe. One day I went a little lower down the stream than he did, and hid in some bushes beside the water to take a good look at the gal and the Injins. Pretty soon they came, and as they got along by me, by gracious if they didn’t start right into the bushes after me! I was so fast in the roots and limbs that I hadn’t time to git out before they got right on to me. I then up and blazed away to keep them off, but I forgot to take aim, and didn’t hit them, and the first thing I knowed I didn’t know anything. One of them smashed his tomahawk square at me, grabbed me by the neck, whopped me into the canoe, paddled to the other side, and made me walk all the way here. I haven’t seen Relmond or Biddon since, and I should like to know what has become of them.”
“Biddon is safe, of course; and Relmond was a captive, I believe, awhile, but he managed to make his escape some time since.”
“How do you know that much, I should like to know?”
“Simply for the reason that I am William Relmond.”
Nathan Todd started as if struck by a thunderbolt. His eyes and mouth opened, his rifle fell unheeded to his feet, and he stared all agape at me. His face was such an embodiment of wonder, doubt, then certainty and pleasure, that I gave way completely to my feelings, and, seating myself upon the ground rolled over and laughed one of those laughs which rack our whole being, and make us as weak as an infant. When I again resumed my feet, my old friend approached and extended his hand.
“What you laughing at? I knowed it was you all the time.”
It is hardly worth time to dwell upon the words which passed between Nat and myself after my identity became known to him. Of course he was half frantic with joy in turn, and overwhelmed me with questions and explanations, and in the course of half an hour we both came to a full understanding.
I had acquainted Nat with my separation from Imogene, and that she was waiting for me at “Death Rock.” He knew the place well and without losing time we hastened forward. He had become acquainted with Imogene, and had often conversed with her about her lost sister, and of me, little dreaming that she had ever seen me.
Nat proved his knowledge of the country, for his course toward the Death Rock was direct, and, ere we had traveled many miles it loomed up to view. It seemed a long while to reach it, but before dark we were both conversing with Imogene.
The night was spent within the cave, Nat and I conversing around the fire, while Imogene, wrapped in our blankets, slumbered unconsciously beside it. Nat succeeded in catching several fine trout from a small mountain-stream, and when we resumed our journey, I hardly think three more hopeful people could have been found in the universe.
Our progress was less rapid than usual, as we feared for Imogene, although her life had been such as to make her the very embodiment of health and activity. At night we reached a bend of the Yellowstone, and camped upon its banks. A fire was again kindled, and while Nat kept watch, I concluded to take a little rest. He allowed me to sleep heavily until morning, when I was aroused by one of the most terrific, unearthly shrieks that ever greeted mortal ear.
“God of heaven! what does that mean?” I exclaimed, springing to my feet.
“Sounds like the ‘Snorter,’ the engine that I heard on the Boston road,” answered Nat, rubbing his eyes, and listening.
“Hush!” I admonished, as again that hideous scream burst upon us.
“Wonder if the Pacific Railroad’s built yet?” remarked Nat, with the utmost nonchalance; “or, maybe, some of their engines have run away from them.”
As I stood wondering and waiting, the gray light of morning commenced appearing through the forest, and shortly the day dawned. A moment after, as I was about to awaken Imogene, the awful scream was repeated, seemingly directly across the river. It was different from a human voice, but sounded like the cry of a wild animal in extremity of the direst agony.
As if our terror was still too faint, we now heard the loud ring of a bell, apparently from the very forest.
“What is that?” asked Imogene, pale with horror.
“Heaven knows!” I answered.
“Sounds like the old bell up in Lubec,” remarked Nat; who, singularly enough, was the least agitated.
“Listen!” whispered Imogene, raising her hand.
Now was heard a dead sound like the distant heave of the stormy sea, growing stronger and nearer each second, and at intervals that wild, unearthly shriek reverberated through the forest arches with a horrid power.
Matters were now assuming such an inexplicable form I began to fear I was losing my senses. I looked around upon the faces of others; but no – it was all a terrible reality.
“Look!” spoke Imogene, in a husky whisper, pointing down the river.
I did look and what was seen? There, just rounding the curve of the Yellowstone below us, burst the broad flaming hull of a steamboat.
For a moment I could scarce believe my senses. Nat was the first to recover himself.
“I knowed what it was all the time, by gracious! Hilloa, you!”
The latter exclamation was addressed in vociferous tones to the steamboat; and, fearing lest he might still escape notice, he sprang into the water and waved his plumes excitedly over his head, yelling at the top of his voice all the time. We had been seen, however, and heeded by those on the boat. A small bell tinkled, and instantly the huge wheel of the steamer reversed, plowing the water into foamy waves, and quickly bringing it to a stand still. The captain then stepped from his wheelhouse and hailed us:
“What’s wanted?”
“Supper and lodging,” answered Nat.
“Who are you?”
“White men of course.”
“White men; I see only one, and you’re an Injin, sure as I’m Captain Garbold.”
I now stepped forward from the shelter of the forest, to which I had instinctively retreated with the trembling Imogene, upon the appearance of the boat.
“Ah! who are those?” called the captain, instantly.
“We are whites, as you can readily see, and only ask to be taken to our friends.”
The captain immediately turned and spoke to several beside him. A few minutes afterward a small boat put out from the steamer, and Imogene, [Pg 251][Pg 252][Pg 253]followed by myself, stepped into the boat, but Nat lingered.
“Come, hurry, Nat, don’t keep them waiting,” said I.
“I’m going to remain!” he remarked, quietly.
“What do you mean?” I asked, in astonishment.
He approached, and whispered in my ear:
“I’m going to hunt up Irene Merment!”
“Why – ”
“Don’t say anything,” he interrupted, with a smile. “I will do it. There is no use of trying to persuade me to go with you. My mind is made up, and has been made up a long time.”
Imogene joined her entreaties with mine, but he could not be made to change his resolution. Not wishing to detain our friends, I extended my hand.
“If you are determined to remain, I must now bid you good-by, Nat. Your determination is so new to me that I can hardly realize it. It is a hopeless search upon which you are going, I fear. May the One who has so mercifully watched over all of us, still protect you. If you ever see Biddon, don’t forget me to him. Good-by.”
“Nor me either,” said Imogene, taking his hand. “I long to see him, to pour out my heart’s gratitude to him. I hope we shall see you again.”
“Oh! you will, sure. I shall be down in the States one of these days, and like enough bring a wife with me, and several little Nat Todds, as good-looking as your heirs will be. You mustn’t think this is a last farewell, for I know it isn’t.”
We exchanged farewells once more, and then were rowed out to the steamboat. As we were received on board, Nat swung his plume over his head, and shouted:
“Long life to you! the fust news you will receive from Nat Todd will be a telegraphic dispatch from the Rocky Mountains, ‘that he is making a sensation in that neighborhood.’”
Another and a last farewell, and the eccentric being had vanished in the forest.
Imogene had no suspicion of the true cause of Nat Todd’s erratic course, and I judged it best to let her remain in ignorance until Nat should inform her himself. Whether that time was ever to come or not, no one could tell; but I had strong hope that it would.
As may be supposed, our advent created an infinite amount of questioning and wonderment for our new-found friends. The boat was the steamer “Shooting Star,” which had been sent to trace the Yellowstone, as far as it was navigable, by a company in St. Louis. They proposed opening trade in this section, and knowing well the prodigious resources of the country watered by its tributaries, had sent a skillful captain and crew to ascertain its character and availability. This river had, however, been ascended before.
The “Shooting Star” ascended the Yellowstone several hundred miles further, until brought to a stand still by the rapids in its upper part. Several days were spent in running up Clark’s Fork, the Big Horn, Tongue, Powder, and numerous other streams, many of which, as yet, have received no names though of considerable size. All along the banks of these gathered crowds of wondering Indians, who surveyed us with mingled terror and amazement. On two occasions, when halting to wood, the crew were attacked by them, and one of their number was slain. At other points they manifested a friendly disposition and bartered extensively with us.
Finally the bow of the boat was turned home, and on a glorious morning, in the latter part of June, 1850, we glided into the turbid waters of the mad Missouri, and a few days later “Shooting Star” sunk to rest at the wharves in St. Louis. Accompanied by Imogene, I made my way home as rapidly as possible. As may be supposed, my return was a never-to-be forgotten day to my friends. The caravan which I had joined at Independence, had been attacked, a few days subsequent to my separation from it, by an overwhelming body of Apache Indians. Rumors reached the States that all had fallen in the massacre, and my reappearance was like the dead returning to life. The reader, I trust, can imagine the few remaining incidents. After inducing Imogene to return to the States, I do not think I should have ever forgiven myself had I not offered her all the protection within my power. She was like an exotic at first, taken from a distant clime; but love works wonders. To-day there are few accomplishments of her sex which she does not possess. True there was no great romances or mystery yet to be developed in her history. She had been orphaned when a young child, in the terrible manner described by the trapper at the commencement of this tale. I had gained no princess or wealthy heroine, but simply a wife, in the truest sense of the word.
The history of Nat Todd’s adventures and journey to the Rocky Mountains, together with a further account of Bill Biddon, the Trapper, and of Irene Merment, the lost sister, will be given the reader in another volume.
