The Life & Adventures of James P. Beckwourth
Mountaineer, Scout, Pioneer, & Chief of the Crow Nation of Indians.
Written from his own Dictation by T. D. Bonner. New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, Franklin Square. 1856.
CHAPTER 18
Departure from the Fort with the Crows.—I am elected First Counselor of the Nation.—Death of the head Chief —I am appointed Successor.—Last Moments of the Chief.
THE Indians having made all their requisite purchases, moved on to the Little Horn River, six or eight days' travel from the fort. We encamped here for the purpose of planting tobacco, which is done by the prophets and medicine men; after which a great feast is provided, and a general time of dancing and rejoicing follows.
The tobacco-plant grows spontaneously in the Snake country, but it is cultivated by the Crows and several other tribes. It is a tolerably good substitute for the cultivated species, for the purpose of smoking, but it is unfit to chew. The plant very closely resembles garden sage, and forms into heads similar to the domestic flax.
At this camp the First Counselor made a speech to the warriors, and spoke in substance as follows "Warriors! Red Bird has served you faithfully many winters. He is now old. He can be young no more. His body has been made weak by the numerous wounds he has received in fighting the enemies of the Crows. He now wishes for repose, and not to be disturbed in his slumbers by being called into the council at all hours of the night, when his body, once so powerful, now requires rest. He is desirous of joining the medicine men, that he will not be compelled to go to war; but he will always be ready to defend his own village, the women and the helpless, and to give up his life for them. Red Bird's medicine in the warpath has grown weak; let the younger warriors, who are brave and active, have an opportunity to try their medicine. We have plenty who deserve to be promoted, who are as brave as the she-bear, and as swift as the antelope. Warriors, I now give up my position as first counselor. I have done."
Long Hair replied as follows:
"Red Bird, we feel that our hearts are sorry that you have seen fit to cease to be our first counselor. You have served our people long and faithfully. Your counsel has been good: under your wise direction we have prospered. We would rather that you had still directed us; but you say it is your desire to have repose. Be it so. We know that your body is weak. We know that you have received numerous wounds from the weapons of our enemies. We know that you never turned your back upon the foe. Now we need a sixth counselor, and must select one from the braves here present. Will you name him for us?"
"No," said the old man;" I have never had any enemies among my braves, and I do not wish to make them now. I should not know which to choose, were I to attempt it. They are all brave."
It was at length resolved that one of the medicine men should be blindfolded, and go among the most distinguished braves, and whoever he first placed his hand upon should take his seat as sixth counselor. The distinguished braves then gathered promiscuously together; a close bandage was placed over the eyes of the medicine man, and away he went among the crowd. The five counselors being among the braves, he placed his hand on one of them, and cried out, "Here is your sixth counselor."
"You are wrong," said Long Hair; "he is counselor already."
He then went through the crowd, and laid his hand upon another brave, crying out as before. Long Bow was therefore declared to be the choice of the people for sixth counselor of the nation. When the seat of the first counselor falls vacant, the others are elevated one degree, thus leaving the lowest station vacant.
The village now crossed the Big Horn on their way to Sun River Creek, a small tributary of the Yellow Stone. At Big Horn I took forty warriors, and started in quest of Black Feet and horses. After traveling two days, I was overtaken by the head chief, A-ra-poo-ash, with one hundred and seventy-five warriors. He was evidently chagrined about something. Not wishing him to go to war, as I expected nothing less than that he would rush in and throw away his life, I told him that I should avoid the war-path, that my medicine told me my war-path was bad, and I intended to return to the village. I started forthwith, and he followed me. On coming in sight of the village, we halted and encamped for the night.
I stole away in the night with seventy-five warriors, and made for the enemy's country, hoping that the old chief would return to the village. But he took my trail the next morning, and overtook me with his remaining followers.
He advanced to me, and said, "Bloody Arm, you are a great warrior; you do not wish me to go to war, but I will. I shall never return to the village. I am going to die. The Crows are fools. I have given them good counsel, and they would not listen to my words. I have fought for them during many years. I have shed much blood for them. I have tried to make them a great people, but they have closed their ears. I am going to the big village of the Great Spirit. If you do not wish to go in the path with me, you can go in another path; I will find the enemy alone, and die."
When he had finished speaking, he dismounted. Then, placing the edge of his shield on some buffalo chips, he said, "Warriors, you see my shield. If it rises, I shall die before I return to the village; if not, I shall return." He then addressed the sun for some minutes, after which he took his lance and made several motions with it. Then, giving a bound, the shield was raised as high as his head, and not a warrior saw him touch it. Then every one present believed his words, namely, that he would never return alive to the village. I knew that the shield must have some elevating agency, but it was concealed: my attention was so riveted upon the chief, that I did not discover the power that produced the seeming miracle.
The scouts now ran in to report that there were fourteen Black Feet but a short distance off, who were approaching us on foot. All was then bustle of preparation for a moment, and the trick of the shield was forgotten. Away we sped to find the enemy. We speedily found them, and they, perceiving escape was impossible, prepared to sell their lives as dearly as they could.
The old chief was the first to charge impetuously upon the scanty foe; as his steed plunged through them, he cut down one with his battle-axe; then, wheeling and again passing their line, he clove a second. Again turning to pass the enemy's line a third time, he had already raised his arm to strike, when an arrow entered his body just below the hip, and passed clean through, showing itself near the shoulder.
Every warrior paused in astonishment at seeing their chief thus furiously engaged; but when he fell a demon seemed suddenly to possess them, and the few surviving Black Feet were hewed to pieces in a moment. Every warrior gathered round the dying chief; his life-blood was fast draining from his mortal stroke.
"Warriors," he said, "I came here to die. My wish will soon be gratified. A-ra-poo-ash will lead you no more to war. My home will soon be in the Spirit Land. My people were fools, and would not listen to my counsel. Bloody Arm, come to me. You must now take the place of A-ra-poo-ash. You are brave and wise. You fight the enemy, and vanquish them without losing our own warriors. Your medicine is powerful. Warriors, listen to your dying chief! You, Bloody Arm, are the only brave who can keep the nation together. The Crows disobeyed my orders, and I did not like to punish them for it. I loved my people too well; I was too kind to them for their own good. I was too indulgent. They all fear you, and will obey your words. If they obey you, they will increase and become a powerful people, as I have wished them to be; but if they disobey you, they will not be a nation two winters more. Their enemies are numerous and powerful, and they will rub out all the Crows unless they hearken to what you say. My eyes grow dim. Red Arm, are you listening? I can not see."
"I am listening to all you say," I replied.
"It is well. Then take this shield and this medal; they both belong to you. The medal was brought from our great white father many winters ago by the red-headed chief. When you die, it belongs to him who succeeds you. Listen. Tell Nam-i-ne-dishee, the wife that I have always loved, that if our child, yet unborn, shall be a son, to tell him who his father was. Red Arm, listen."
"I hear you," I said.
"Let my body be buried under this spot. Suffer no warrior to make a track on this war-ground for one season. Then come and seek my bones, and I will have something good for you.
"I can hear the voice of the Great Spirit. It sounds like the moaning of the mighty wind through the dark, gloomy forest. He calls for A-ra-poo-ash to come to the spirit land. I must go. Re-mem-ber !"
The word "remember" expired on his lips as his soul winged its flight to the spirit land. Every warrior (except Yellow Belly, who was a brother of the old chief) immediately set up the most dismal cryings that I have ever heard in my life. I dispatched a herald to the village to inform them of the head chief's death, and then burying him according to his directions we slowly proceeded homeward. My very soul sickened at the contemplation of the scenes that would be enacted at my arrival. When we drew in sight of the village, we found every lodge laid prostrate. We entered amid shrieks, cries, and yells. Blood was streaming from every conceivable part of the bodies of all who were old enough to comprehend their loss. Hundreds of fingers were dismembered; hair, torn from the head, lay in profusion about the paths; wails and moans in every direction assailed the ear, where unrestrained joy had a few hours before prevailed. This fearful mourning lasted until evening of the next day.
The morning following I ordered the removal of the village in the direction of the Rose Bud. We there built a council-lodge, and all the prophets and medicine men in the village were assembled in it on its completion. The national records were read over, and, after a lengthy ceremony performed by the great men, it was unanimously declared that they had elected me First Counselor, and that, conjointly with Long Hair, I was head chief of the nation. Which pronunciamiento was recorded.
It then devolved upon me to deliver my inaugural address. As nearly as I can recollect, I spoke as follows "Brothers and warriors! The great A-ra-poo-ash is no more. He has met his fathers and kindred who preceded him to the Spirit Land. He has told all concerning you that yet survive on earth. He has related your deeds of bravery, which makes the spirits rejoice; he has also told of your disobedience to your chief, which has made them cry and become dark. The Great Spirit becomes angry at you when he sees his heroes mourn. But, although you displeased A-ra-poo-ash by disobedience, and made his heart to mourn, he intercedes for you there, that, if you now obey the chiefs you have chosen to lead you, your war-paths may constantly be prosperous; your buffalo and beaver shall always abound, and you may become a great and powerful people.
"I am now your great chief. If you obey what I say to you, I can make you all you wish to be. By my long stay with the whites, I possess advantages which the chiefs of no other tribe possess. I can get twice as much for our robes and beavers as you ever got before. I came back to you. I can talk to our white brethren, and they understand all my words. They know that if they cheat my people I shall find it out.
"My medicine tells me that we must not make war on our enemies, unless they first kill our people or steal our horses: we must then attack them with many warriors, so that we may run no danger of being rubbed out. I shall never consent for our nation to have more than two villages at one time. Let those two villages keep their warriors, their wives, and their children together, and not subdivide, when they are sure to be attacked by the enemies. When our village is united, no enemy will ever dare to attack it.
My brother, Long Hair, is a very great brave, a wise chief. He will guide one village, and it will be my duty to guide the council and direct the other. I want all my warriors to lay aside the battle-axe and lance for a season, and turn their attention to hunting and trapping. Our streams are full of beaver, as also are our prairies with buffalo. Our squaws excel all others in dressing robes, for which the whites pay us a great price. Then let us get all the robes they can dress, and not keep them in idleness as mere playthings. If we keep them at work, they will be healthy, and strong, and brave, when they become warriors. They can also buy every thing they require, both for themselves and their children, while the beavers of the warriors will also supply our wants.
"Warriors! How can we do all this, if we scatter over the country in numerous little villages, subject to continual attacks from our enemies, who will cut us off, a few at a time, until we are all rubbed out? No; obey me, and keep yourselves undivided; and if enemies attack us, we can kill ten of them when they kill one Crow: thus my medicine says. But if you disobey me, and will not hearken to my words, then I shall surely leave you, and return to my white friends, not enduring to see the nation become weak, and flying before their enemies, and our women and children carried into captivity. Obey and assist me, then, and I will do my best in your behalf. Warriors, I have done."
This oration was received with undisguised approval, and I received the name of Good War Road.
A herald having been dispatched to our other village to acquaint them with the death of our head chief, and request them to assemble at the Rose Bud, in order to meet our village and devote themselves to a general time of mourning, there met, in conformity with this summons, over ten thousand Crows at the place indicated. Such a scene of disorderly, vociferous mourning no imagination can conceive, nor any pen portray. Long Hair cut off a large roll of his hair, a thing he was never known to do before. The cutting and hacking of human flesh exceeded all my previous experience; fingers were dismembered as readily as twigs, and blood was poured out like water. Many of the warriors would cut two gashes nearly the entire length of their arm; then, separating the skin from the flesh at one end, would grasp it in their other hand, and rip it asunder to the shoulder. Others would carve various devices upon their breasts and shoulders, and raise the skin in the same manner, to make the scars show to advantage after the wound was healed. Some of their mutilations were ghastly, and my heart sickened to look at them; but they would not appear to receive any pain from them.
It was frequently asked of me why I did not mourn. I told them that my medicine forbade me to mourn in their manner, but that I mourned in my heart, and in painting my face. I would frequently represent to them the folly of maiming themselves, and appearing before the eyes of the Great Spirit so greatly disfigured; but I lost my labor. By torturing themselves their pagan minds supposed they were rendering acceptable sacrifices to the Great Spirit, and performing penance for offenses against his will. It was religion; and to interfere with their received opinions would have subjected me to the imputation of infidel, and perhaps have entailed upon me expulsion from my high office.
The mourning over, I selected seventy young warriors, and started out in search of feats of arms (according to their custom), to prove my fortune in my new office. I crossed the Missouri into the As-ne-boine country, where we fell in with fifteen Indians and four old women. We killed them all, and returned home with their scalps. There was but slight rejoicing on my return, on account of our recent affliction.
I should have mentioned that at the assembly of our two villages a grand council was held, wherein certain principles of action were deliberated and adjusted. On the death of a chief all his plans die with him, and it devolves upon his successor to come to an understanding with his confederate head chief. In this deliberation it is determined upon what rules the villages shall move, which direction each shall take, and what shall be the relations existing between them. There is generally a harmony preserved between the chiefs, and much method is shown in the preliminary adjustment of details. Long Hair and myself were the best of friends, and my allied brother was the elect to the office of Sixth Counselor, so that there was a promising indication of unanimity in our administration.
The villages then separated, with an understanding that they should again assemble at the fort in one moon. The attention of the nation was turned to trapping and killing buffalo, and the stock of accumulated peltry that fall was prodigious.
When I started on my excursion to the As-ne-boines, Pine Leaf begged to accompany me. Her arm was far from sound, and I refused to take her. However, soon after I had left, one of my leaders invaded the Cheyenne country, and, regardless of my wishes, she accompanied the expedition. She was brought home, as all supposed, mortally wounded. A ball had penetrated her left breast, just escaping the heart; it had passed through her body, coming out at the shoulder-blade, and tearing away a portion of it in its exit. On seeing her in this pitiable condition, I resigned all hope of her recovery. "So much," said I, "for disregarding my counsel. I would not allow you to go with me, in consideration of your wound; but you took advantage of my absence, and now you are done for."
"Well," she replied, "I am sorry that I did not listen to my chief; but I gained two coos."
The party accompanying her lost four warriors, wounded in rescuing her, and saving her scalp. She eventually recovered, but it was a long while before she could again go to war. The Cheyennes were defeated in the end, with the loss of three scalps, which were brought into camp.
The two villages met at the time appointed at the fort, and disposed of all their peltry. A Mr. Tulleck was sent up as clerk, and to him I intrusted full charge of the fort, promising him the protection of the Crows for the winter, as I intended that one of our villages should take up their winter quarters in his vicinity. I was at this time salaried by the American Fur Company at three thousand dollars per annum, to reside with the Crows and procure their trade for the company.
Our whole nation then crossed the Yellow Stone, and moved on to Mussel Shell River, whence we purposed to go and gather the remains of our late head chief, as the time he had specified for their removal had arrived. The Indians count four seasons in the year; namely, green grass, yellow grass, leaf falling, and snow falling. Our party destined to collect the bones consisted of seven or eight hundred persons of both sexes. On arriving at the grave, we discovered a new Indian trail passing directly over the spot, and we started in immediate pursuit. After a march of six miles, we came upon a Black Foot village of twenty-seven lodges, who were returning from the trading-post, having made extensive purchases. At sight of them, every warrior's breast kindled with revenge, they remembering the fall of their chief. We charged furiously upon them, killing and taking prisoners about one hundred and fifty of their party. While the warriors were engaged in the attack, our women attacked the Black Foot women, and killed many of them and their children before we could interfere to stop it. We captured quite a number of young women and little boys, with an abundance of horses, weapons, ammunition, scarlet cloth, beads, and sundries. We did not receive a scratch, as we attacked them with such overwhelming numbers that they offered trifling resistance, their chief endeavor being to save themselves by flight.
We took up the body of our chief and returned with it to the camp. Then there was another ceremony of cutting and maiming, and a body of two hundred lodges was sent to deposit the remains in the burial-ground of the chief's ancestors. While this party were away on their mission, those who remained with us busied themselves in collecting the various sorts of fruit with which the country abounded.
I now received my last name — for I was on the pinnacle of my fame, and they could ennoble me no farther — Nan-kup-bah-pah (Medicine Calf).
After tarrying about three weeks, we returned to the fort, where we again spent a short time, and then proceeded to the Big Horn, where we had engaged to meet Bear's Tooth, who had the conduct of the burial party.
While we were resting at the fort, a small party of twenty-three warriors, led by Little Gray Bull, stole from our camp at night, unknown to the chiefs, and when at a safe distance sent us word that they were going to the Cheyenne country in pursuit of spoils. They were the élite of our party, the braves des braves. Not one of that devoted band ever returned. What fate befell them remains to be shown.
