Forty Years Among the Indians: A true yet thrilling narrative of the author's experiences among the nativesJones, Daniel W. (Daniel Webster)
History
Forty Years Among the Indians: A true yet thrilling narrative of the author's experiences among the natives
Jones, Daniel W. (Daniel Webster)
Frontier and pioneer life -- West (U.S.); Indians of North America; Latter Day Saint pioneers -- Biography
The day the Indian came was fast-day, and for us fast-day in very
truth. We met as usual for we kept our monthly fast-day. During meeting
we became impressed that there were some wrongs existing among the
brethren in camp that should be corrected, and that if we would make
a general cleaning up, and present our case before the Lord, He would
take care of us, for we were there on His business. On questioning some
of the company privately, we found that several had goods in their
possession not belonging to them. When we felt satisfied all goods
were replaced we went _en masse_ and cut a hole in the ice on the river.
There were several carcasses of cattle that had died lying near the
fort, that the wolves had not devoured. Some of the boys, contrary
to counsel, had cut steaks from them during the time we were eating
the hides; it made them quite sick. There was a pile of offal in the
butcher shop from the poor cattle killed. But what looked more tempting
than all to starving men was a pile of more than one hundred fat wolf
carcasses, skinned, piled up and frozen near the fort. They looked very
much like nice fat mutton. Many of the company asked my opinion about
eating them. I told them if they would all do as I advised we would
have a good clean supper of healthy food; that these carcasses were
unclean; that we were on the Lord's service, and did not believe He
wanted us to suffer so much, if we only had faith to trust Him and ask
for better.
We all became united in this feeling. Accordingly we hauled all these
carcasses of cattle, the wolves, also the offal from the store-house
and shoved them into the hole cut in the ice, where they floated off
out of our reach. We then went and washed out our store-house and
presented it before the Lord empty, but clean.
Near sundown the Indian spoken of came to our quarters. Some of the
boys hunted up a small piece of raw hide and gave it to him. He said
he had eaten it before. None of us were able to talk much with him;
we invited him to remain with us over night. Evening came on and no
supper; eight o'clock, no word from any one. And the word had been
positively given that we should have supper. Between eight and nine
o'clock all were sitting waiting, now and then good-naturedly saying it
was most suppertime. No one seemed disheartened.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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