Blackfeet Tales of Glacier National ParkSchultz, James Willard
History
Blackfeet Tales of Glacier National Park
Schultz, James Willard
Glacier National Park (Mont.); Indians of North America -- Folklore; Siksika Indians -- Folklore
During my long friendship with him, Monroe told me many stories of his
adventures here in early days. This was his favorite mountain resort
on account of the great numbers of moose that inhabited the heavily
timbered valley and mountain slopes, and of the great variety and
numbers of fur animals that were found here. The valley swarmed with
elk and deer; there were countless flocks of bighorn and goats on the
mountains, and herds of buffalo everywhere along the lower lake, and
below it; but Monroe liked best of all the flesh of moose, and killed
large numbers of them every season that he camped here.
His method of catching wolves was simple and unique. He would build an
oblong, pyramidal log pen about eight by sixteen feet at the base, and
eight feet in height, the last layer of logs being placed about
eighteen inches apart. Easily climbing the slope of this, the wolves
would jump down through the narrow aperture at the top to feed upon
the quantities of meat that had been placed inside to decoy them, but
they could not jump out. Often, of a morning, the trapper and his sons
would find ten or more big wolves imprisoned in the trap, and, powder
and ball being very costly, they would kill them with bow and arrows,
skin them, and drag the carcasses to the river and cast them into it,
then take the hides home and peg them on the ground to dry. In this
manner they would often, in the spring, have several hundred wolf
pelts to pack in to Fort Benton for sale, and prime pelts sold at five
dollars each, in trade. Their catch of beaver, otter, mink, martin,
and fisher was also large.
Monroe always camped at the foot of the lower lake, near the outlet,
and was there more than once attacked by roving war parties of
Assiniboines, Crows, and even the Yanktonais. The horses were kept at
night in a strong corral just back of the lodge, and in the daytime
were watched by some member of the family while they grazed on the
rich prairie grasses. All the family--John and François, the sons,
Millie and Lizzie, the daughters--and even the mother had guns,
flintlocks, and a good supply of powder and ball. Early one morning a
large war party was discovered approaching the camp, sneaking from
bush to bush, some crawling on all fours through the high grass.
Lizzie opened fire upon them and killed her man, and then the fire
became general on both sides. But the Monroes, in their trenches
surrounding the lodge, had the best of it from the start, and
eventually made the enemy retreat with a loss of five of their
number. Late the following night the Assiniboines crept in to make
another attack, but the Monroes were expecting them, waiting for them,
and in the bright moonlight could take fairly accurate aim. They again
drove them off, with a loss of two more of their number, and that time
they kept going. Nothing more was seen of them. But for some days the
Monroes did not venture far from their camp.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account