Buckskin Mose: Or, Life From the Lakes to the Pacific, as Actor, Circus-Rider, Detective, Ranger, Gold-Digger, Indian Scout, and Guide.Perrie, George W.
History
Buckskin Mose: Or, Life From the Lakes to the Pacific, as Actor, Circus-Rider, Detective, Ranger, Gold-Digger, Indian Scout, and Guide.
Perrie, George W.
Frontier and pioneer life -- West (U.S.) -- Fiction; Latter Day Saints -- Fiction; Western stories
Painter's brother Ben applied to myself and some others to accompany him
and bury the body. When we reached the spot, we found it cut and
mutilated in the most frightful manner. Ben, with the rest of us,
kneeling beside it, took a solemn oath to be avenged, whenever the
opportunity was afforded us. Having then buried the body, we named the
valley Painter's Cañon. It holds this name to the present day.
In the fall of the same year, a report spread that a man called Foreman
had struck a valuable silver-mine in the vicinity of Black Rock. This
was the same place, in which one of the settlers had discovered a large
lump of silver ore. His name was Harding. Being on a hunting expedition
at the time, and out of lead, he had run it into bullets.
A tolerable degree of excitement was caused amongst us, by the
confirmation of previous suppositions, we presumed was thus given. But
Black Rock was more than a hundred and twenty miles beyond Susanville,
on the north-west side of Queen's River Desert. Its distance prevented
many from going to prospect the place. However, after two or three days'
talk over the matter, old Pete Lassen, with a man named Clapp, myself,
and two other of the boys, determined upon verifying this report. On the
following day, therefore, striking the old Emigrant Road, and continuing
it as far as Granite Creek, our little party followed the Granite range
of mountains up to Stove-pipe Springs. Thence, we crossed them to the
Black Rock range. On the whole of the way, recently, we had encountered
wandering Indians. They had seemed very friendly. We were, however, in a
section of the country which the red-skins evidently considered their
rightful property.
The place of encampment this night, selected by Uncle Peter, was very
unfavorably situated. But when I advised him to allow me to select a
more defensible location, on higher ground than that adjoining the small
creek which he had chosen, the old German was obstinate.
"Tamn it, my poy! Don't you 'spose I know dem vellers. Dey von't hurt
old Pete. You must give dem some crub, my poy! Dat ish all dey vants."
"That may be, Uncle Peter," I replied; "but I wouldn't trust the last
three or four lots of red devils we have met, out of the range of my
rifle."
Just at this moment a party of some dozen Indians approached the little
camp, and the peaceful Peter motioning them with his hand, shouted out:
"Comes t'here!"
Understanding his inviting action, if not his words, they flocked around
him. The old Dutchman gave them some bread, meat, and tobacco. Before
they left us, he added to these things some powder and caps.
"A very dangerous gift," as I grumbled out in a low tone of voice.
When, after having got all they could, they quitted us, I expressed my
wish to Uncle Pete to stand on guard during the night.
"Don't be a tamned vool!" was his reply. "I dink you ar' scared of dem
Injins. If you vants, go on de hill, and leaff old Pete by himself. I
hafe no vear."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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