Part 7 (1/2)

The conference broke up with sons of excite, a party of thirty men set off in pursuit of the foe, and Captain Bonneville hoped to hear a good account of the Blackfeetback on the following day, leading a few old, sorry, broken-down horses, which the free-booters had not been able to urge to sufficient speed This effort exhausted the martial spirit, and satisfied the wounded pride of the Nez Perces, and they relapsed into their usual state of passive indifference

13

Story of Kosato, the Renegade Blackfoot

IF the rieved the spirit of Captain Bonneville, there was another individual in the ca This was a Blackfoot renegado, nairl of the sah adopted into the tribe, he still retained the warlike spirit of his race, and loathed the peaceful, inoffensive habits of those around hi of the deer, the elk, and the buffalo, which was the height of their ambition, was too tame to satisfy his wild and restless nature

His heart burned for the foray, the ambush, the skir and predatory warfare

The recent hoverings of the Blackfeet about the ca and successful marauds, had kept hie who hears his late co in wild liberty above him The attempt of Captain Bonneville to rouse the war spirit of the Nez Perces, and prompt them to retaliation, was ardently seconded by Kosato For several days he was incessantly devising sche to set on foot an expedition that should carry dismay and desolation into the Blackfeet town All his art was exerted to touch upon those springs of human action hich he was es round him by his nervous eloquence; taunted the pictures of triumphs and trophies within their reach; recounted tales of daring and ros, s; together with the triu of the victors These wild tales were inter of the dru to Indian valor All, however, were lost upon the peaceful spirits of his hearers; not a Nez Perce was to be roused to vengeance, or stilorious war In the bitterness of his heart, the Blackfoot renegade repined at the enial spirits, and driven his so destitute of martial fire

The character and conduct of this man attracted the attention of Captain Bonneville, and he was anxious to hear the reason why he had deserted his tribe, and why he looked back upon them with such deadly hostility

Kosato told hiives a picture of the deep, strong passions that work in the bosoms of these ood; she is beautiful--I love her

Yet she has been the cause of all my troubles She was the wife of my chief I loved her hed together; ere always seeking each other's society; but ere as innocent as children The chief grew jealous, and commanded her to speak with rew more furious He beat her without cause and without ht if she even looked at e againstWar parties of the Croere hovering round us; our young men had seen their trail All hearts were roused for action; e Suddenly the chief came, took them to his own pickets, and called them his own What could I do? he was a chief I durst not speak, but er in the council, the hunt, or the war-feast What had I to do there? an unhorsed, degraded warrior I kept by es

”I was sitting one evening upon a knoll that overlooked the meadohere the horses were pastured I saw the horses that were oncethose of the chief Thisfor a time over the injuries I had suffered, and the cruelties which she I loved had endured for rew sore, and my teeth were clinched As I looked down upon thehis horses I fastened my eyes upon him as a hawk's;the s In an instant I was on my feet; my hand was onupon him, and with two blows laid him dead at my feet I covered his body with earth, and strewed bushes over the place; then I hastened to her I loved, told her what I had done, and urged her to fly with me She only answered s I had suffered, and of the blows and stripes she had endured froain urged her to fly; but she only wept the o My heart was heavy, but my eyes were dry I folded o alone to the desert None will be with him but the wild beasts of the desert The seekers of blood may follow on his trail They e; but you will be safe Kosato will go alone'

”I turned away She sprang after me, and strained o alone! Wherever he goes I will go--he shall never part fros as we e, ht, we soon reached this tribe They received us elcoood and kind; they are honest; but their hearts are the hearts of women”

Such was the story of Kosato, as related by him to Captain Bonneville

It is of a kind that often occurs in Indian life; where love elope the novel-read heroes and heroines of senti feuds

14

The party enters thehills--Mountain mutton--Peace and plenty--The aala equipments--Christmas in the wilderness

ON the 19th of December Captain Bonneville and his confederate Indians raised their cae made by the north fork of Salion so te Green River the plains had invariably been of loose sand or coarse gravel, and the rocky formation of the eneral, were skirted s and bitter cottonwood trees, and the prairies covered ood In the hollow breast of theheights were clothed with pine; while the declivities of the lower hills afforded abundance of bunch grass for the horses

As the Indians had represented, they were now in a natural fastness of the e, so narrow, rugged, and difficult as to prevent secret approach or rapid retreat, and to admit of easy defence The Blackfeet, therefore, refrained fro a better chance, when they should once e into the open country

Captain Bonneville soon found that the Indians had not exaggerated the advantages of this region Besides the nuhorn, thethe precipices These simple animals were easily circumvented and destroyed A few hunters may surround a flock and kill as ht into ca and fat was extolled as superior to the finest mutton

Here, then, there was a cessation froers were forgotten The hunt, the gaood-humored joke, ned throughout the camp

Idleness and ease, it is said, lead to love, and love to matrimony, in civilized life, and the saood cheer and an to repine at the solitude of his lodge, and to experience the force of that great law of nature, ”it is not itation he repaired to Kowsoter, the Pierced-nose chief, and unfolded to his of his boso your tribe Not a young, giddy-pated girl, that will think of nothing but flaunting and finery, but a sober, discreet, hard-working squaw; one that will share , however hard it e, and be a companion and a helpmate to me in the wilderness”