Conservative *
articles which might be useful to
him , and he left us the next day.
' The example of this man shows how
easily men may bo weaned from the
habits of civilized life to the ruder ,
though scarcely less fascinating
manners of the woods. This hunter
had now boon absent for many years
from the frontiers , and might
naturally be presumed to have some
anxiety , or at least curiosity , to re
turn to his friends and his country ;
yet , just at the moment when ho was
approaching the frontiers , ho was
tempted by a hunting scheme to give
up all those delightful prospects ,
and to go back without the least re
luctance to the solitude of the
wilds. ' '
Back ho went , therefore , and spent
the winter of 1806-7 somewhere in
the mountains. In the following
spring ho is found coming down the
river aloiio. Near Plattsmouth he
met Manuel Lisa , going up with the
first trading expedition on record.
Lisa wanted Colter , so back goes
Colter a second time. When they
reached the Bighorn Lisa sent him
on a mission. The lawyer and trav
eler Brackinridgo speaks of the mat
ter thus :
"He shortly after dispatched Col
ter , the hunter before mentioned , to
bring some of the Indian nations to
trade. This mail , with a pack of
thirty pounds weight , his gun and
some ammunition , went upwards of
five hundred miles to > the Crow na
tion ; gave thetn information , and
proceeded from thence to several
other tribes. On his returna party
of Indians in whoso company he hap
pened to be , was attacked and he
was lamed by a severe wound in the
leg ; notwithstanding which , ho re
turned to the establishment , entirely
alone and wHhout assistance , several
hundred miles. Yet such instances
of intrepidity would not bo regarded
amongst those people , as any way
extraordinary. How should those
blush , who are continually whining
about the little inconveniences and
privations of common life. "
On this expedition Colter , as Cap
tain Chittondon has shown , undoubt
edly discovered and passed through
the Yellowstone National Park ; his
stories of which wore treated as
fables until the official discovery of
the Park in 1371. Ho spent two years
more in the upper country , where
various things befell him in connec
tion with the long-standing feud of
the Blackfeet Indians , then just
broken out. The naturalist , Brad
bury , tolls the following story of
him :
"This man came to St. Louis in
May , 1810 , in a small canoe , from
the headwaters of the Missouri , [ a
distance of three thousand miles ,
vhich he traversed in thirty days.
! saw him on his arrival , and re
ceived from him an account of his
adventures after ho had separated
: rom Lewis and Clark's party ; one
of these , from its singularity , I shall
relate. On the arrival of the party
at the headwaters of the Missouri ,
Colter , observing an appearance of
abundance of beaver there , got per
mission to remain and hunt for some
time , which ho did in company with
a man by the name of Dixou , who
lad traversed the immense tract of
country from St. Louis to the head
waters of the Missouri alone.
"Soon after he separated from
Dixou , and trapped in company with
a hunter named Potts ; and aware of
the hostility of the Blackfcot Indians ,
one of whom had boon killed by
Lewis , they sot their traps at night ,
and took them up early in the
morning , remaining concealed during
the day. They wore examining their
traps early one morning , in a creek
about six miles from that branch
of the Missouri , called Jefferson's
Fork , and wore ascending in a canoe ,
when they suddenly heard a great
noise , resembling the trampling of
animals ; but they could' not ascertain
the fact , as the high , perpendicular
banks on each side of the river im
peded their view. Colter immedi
ately pronounced it to bo occasioned
by Indians , and advised an instant
retreat ; but was accused of cowardice
by Potts , who insisted that the
noise was caused by buifaloes , and
they proceeded on. In a few minutes
afterwards their doubts wore removed
by a party of Indians making their
appearance on both sides of the
creek , to the amount of five or six
huudrul , who beckoned them to
como ashore. As retreat was now
impossible , Colter turned the head of
the canoe to the shore ; and at the
moment of its touching , an Indian
seized the rifle belonging to Potts
but Colter , who is a remarkably
strong man , immediately retook it ,
and handed it to. Potts , who re
mained in the canoe , and oji re
ceiving it pushed off into the river.
He had scarcely quitted the shore
when an arrow was shot at him , and
lie cried out , 'Colter , I am wound
ed. ' Colter remonstrated with him
on the folly of attempting to escape ,
and urged him to come ashore. In
stead of complying , lie instantly
leveled his rifle at an Indian , and
shot him dead on the spot. This
conduct , situated as he was , may
appear to have been an act of mad
'ness ; but was doubtless the effect o :
sudden and sound reasoning ; for if
taken alive , he must have expected to
bo , tortured to death , according to
their custom. Ho was instantly
pierced with , arrows so numerous
; hat , to use the language of Colter ,
he was inado a riddle of. '
' ' They now seized Colter , stripped
lim entirely naked , and began to
consult on the manner in which ho
should bo put to death. They wore
first inclined to set him up as a
mark to shoot at ; but the chief in
terfered , and seizing him by the
shoulder , asked him if ho could run
fast. Colter , who had been some
; imo amongst the Koo-kat-sa , or
Crow Indians , had in a considerable
degree acquired the Blackfoot lan
guage , and was well acquainted
with Indian customs. He knew that
10 had got to run for his life , with
the dreadful odds of five or six
hundred against him , and those
armed Indians ; therefore he cun
ningly replied that he was a very
bad runner , although ho was con
sidered by the hunters as remarkably
swift. The chief now commanded
the partv to remain stationary , and
led Colter out on the prairie three
or four hundred yards , and released
him , bidding him to save himself
if ho could. At that instant the
horrid warwhoop sounded in the ears
of poor Colter , who , urged with the
hope of preserving life , ran with a
speed at which he was h'imself sur
prised. He proceeded towards the
Jefferson Fork , having to traverse a
plain six miles in breadth , abound
ing with prickly pear , on which he
was every instant treading with his
naked feet. Ho ran nearlv half way
across the plain before he ventured
to look over his shoulder , when he
perceived that the Indians were very
much scattered , and that he had
gained ground to a considerable distance -
tanco from the main body ; but one
Indian , who carried a spear , was
much before all the rest and not more
than a hundred yards from him. A
faint gleam of hope now cheered the
heart of Colter ; ho derived confidence
from the belief that escape was
within bounds of possibility ; but
that confidence was nearly fatal to
him , for he exerted himself to such a
degree that the blood gushed from his
nostrils , and soon almost covered the
fore pat of his body.
"Ho had now arrived within a
mile of the river , when ho distinctly
heard the appalling sound of footsteps - ,
steps behind him , and every instant
expected to feel the spear of his pur
suer. Again ho turned his head , and
saw the savage not twenty yards
from him. Determined if possible to
avoid the expected blow , he sud
denly stopped , turned around , and
spread out his arms. The Indian ,
surprised by the suddenness of the
action , and perhaps of the bloody ap
pearance of Colter , also attempted
to stop ; but exhausted with running ,
ho fell whilst endeavoring to throw