East Grinstead

“ After dinner that night Mr. Sturgis said: "Well, it is time for us all to get back to our different jobs. You and I have got to go back to the ranch, Hugh, and see how the beef round-up is getting on; and you, Jack, have got to get East as fast as you can, and get to school. I think as good a way as any for us to return is to go back over the railroad that is just being built from Portland, and in that way we will see a new country. The country will be new, even to you, Hugh, won't it, as far east as Idaho?" ”

“ This valley was nearly straight and only three or four miles in length, walled in on the west and north by a vertical precipice, not very high, but terminating in the same jagged rock pinnacles that crowned the wall to the north of the camp, and beyond which Hugh thought he might see the valley of Belly River. There was no timber growing at the foot of this rock wall nor on the steep mountainside that lay to the east, but at one time the actual valley where the stream ran and where grass and underbrush now grew, had supported a growth of large timber. ”

“ Grinson was walking towards the hut, accompanied by the medicine-man carrying water in a huge banana stalk. Trentham laughed.
'That's the village doctor,' he said. 'A thorn in our flesh until Grinson tamed him by a sort of strong man exhibition. Now he 'll follow Grinson like a dog.'
'Natural philosophy,' said Hoole. 'The Germans will be the better for a dose of the same physic. It's a low order of intelligence that admits no superiority but brute force, and I guess you must deal with people as you find 'em. Ahoy, Grinson! How 's Meek?'
'Doing well, sir,' roared Grinson. ”

“ They began to climb the bluff toward the village, 16 and Jack asked Hugh about the Indians who lived here.
"In old times," said Hugh, "these Indians were scattered out up and down the river. The Gros Ventres lived furthest up, between here and Buford, and the Rees and Mandans lived further down the stream. A long time ago,—back maybe more than a hundred years,—the Rees and the Mandans all lived together, away down below here; but then they had some sort of a quarrel among themselves, and the Mandans moved on up the stream, and for a long time camped near the mouth of the Knife River. ”

“ These people ain't got no idee that we're around, and I don't want 'em to have." Jack took his gun and started up the hill, and Hugh took his place in the bushes and went to sleep. For some time nothing was to be seen from the hill-top, but an hour before sunset Jack saw three horsemen come in view, riding across the plain, as if they were going from the river bottom on the east, westward toward to camp. They rode slowly, leading two pack horses, apparently loaded, but they were so far off that he could not be sure of anything about them, except that they were people. ”

“ John Gay, who found life a jest, has also walked amid the West Grinstead bracken.
West Grinstead church is isolated in the fields, a curiously pretty and cheerful building, with a very charming porch and a modest shingled spire rising from its midst. Brasses to members of the Halsham family are within, and a monument to Captain Powlett, whose unquiet ghost, hunting without a head, we have just met. Hard by the church is one of the most attractive and substantial of the smaller manor houses of Sussex, square and venerable and well-roofed with Horsham stone. ”

“ As the indications seemed to be that the buffalo were more plenty east of the Marias, the camp turned in that direction and moved on toward the Missouri River.
By this time, great stores of food had been accumulated by the Indians. In every lodge were piled up parfleches of choice dried meat and back fat and tongues. Many sacks of pemmican had been made, and Jack greatly enjoyed seeing the old women at work, preparing this food. Every evening there was feasting in the camp. Men invited their friends to eat with them. Young people held dances, sometimes some of the societies held their dances. ”

“ Just after we crossed the Yellowstone, coming north, three or four sheep pretty nearly came into our camp one morning, and I killed one there. Those are the only ones I ever saw."
"There are sheep up there," said Joe, pointing to a flat mountain not many miles away.
"Is that so?" said Jack. "I shouldn't think there'd be any as close to this camp as that. I should think the Indians'd kill 'em all off."
"Pooh!" said Joe; "these Indians don't hunt in the mountains, they hunt on the prairie, they kill buffalo, but they don't go much into the mountains, nor into the timber; they're afraid of bears. ”

“ It remained for the expeditions of Hall, Nares, Greely, Amdrup, Holm, and Mylius-Erichsen to prove by their united observations that there was not only an Inuit settlement on the east coast, but that such [337] natives are the descendants of the true Children of the Ice, who have crossed Grinnell Land, skirted northern Greenland, and thus come eventually to their present habitat. Their fathers were formerly inhabitants of the most northerly lands of the globe, of the lands of Grant, Grinnell, Greenland, and Hazen (or Peary) . ”

“ He spoke a few words; the Papuans sprang up gleefully, crowded about the white men, and jabbered with excitement. They gave scarcely a glance at Meek, who stood in his usual drooping attitude, open-eyed with fright. They stared critically at the two younger men, seemed to dispute for a few moments, then turned to Grinson and began to poke him in the ribs. The boatswain glared, cursed, kicked, only to be caught by the leg and thrown to the ground. Hoole and Trentham made a movement towards him, but were instantly seized by the natives standing by. After a vain struggle, Grinson lay inert. ”

“ So early do they begin to learn the trade of a lifetime.
We entered Grindelwald late in the afternoon. The shadows of night, which fall earlier in these valleys than elsewhere, were already gathering. The few, scattered cottages, walled in by the everlasting hills, with the snow-covered Wetterhorn in full view, and the glacier behind it, wore a cheerless and gloomy air in the quick-coming twilight. Train after train of tourists, upon horses and mules, or dragging weary feet, descended from among the mountains, to find carriages here and hasten away. ”

“ Lieutenant Lockwood subsequently supplemented Greely’s discoveries of the interior of Grinnell Land with the result that jointly 6000 square miles of territory was examined, an accomplishment which “determines the remarkable physical conditions of North Grinnell Land. It brought to light fertile valleys, supporting herds of musk-oxen, an extensive ice-cap, rivers of considerable size, and a glacial lake (Hazen) of extensive area....”
Traces of Eskimos having wintered at Lake Hazen, as shown by permanent huts, were a source of surprise to the explorers. ”

“ To-morrow the camp will move. All the lodges must be taken down early. Everybody must pack up soon after sunrise. The camp will move toward the Sweet Grass Hills. You men, get your horses close. You women, pack up your things to-night, the chiefs have ordered to start early. Listen, listen, everybody pay attention.'"
"Well," said Jack, "I am glad they are going. We have been here a long time now, and I'll be glad to get out on the prairie again, and glad to see the Indians chase buffalo. They'll do that, won't they, Hugh, when they get into the buffalo country?" ”

“ For many days they travelled northward, crossing some small streams, and then coming to the head of Powder River, and journeying along the divide on its east side. The marches that they made were not very long. The grass was good, there was plenty of water, and the loads were light; so that their horses kept in good condition and moved along briskly. After two or three nights Hugh picketed only four of the horses, permitting two to drag their ropes, and when morning came these two were found with the others. ”

“ There ain't no German ports in New Guinea nowadays, and I lay that port have got a new name that don't break your jaw to say.'
The stranger turned his eyes on Grinson for a moment, then went on:
'It is a long way--a journey of eight or ten days. I show you. Dere is needed great care. De niggers--cannibals--you see dem. Always must we watch, and wid luck--I say wid luck--we do not fall into deir hands. Dey have villages along de coast--de coast is very dangerous, and we must go drough de forest.'
'Aren't there villages in the forest?' asked Trentham. ”

“ Hugh turned to Joe and said, "How is it, boy; is there plenty of room in Fox Eye's lodge?"
"I guess so," said Joe; "nobody lives there but him and my aunt and me. The lodge is big; there ought to be room for two more people."
"Well," said Hugh, "you go over and ask your uncle if Jack and me can come along and stop in his lodge, and let me know."
The boys walked quickly across the circle of the camp, and presently found themselves at Fox Eye's lodge. When they entered they found Joe's aunt busily engaged in packing things up, and the interior of the lodge almost dismantled. ”

“ They continued to occupy the Black Hills until about the close of the last century, when they were driven out by the Dakota advancing from the east, and by the Cheyenne who crossed the Missouri from the northeast. The same pressure drove their old allies, the Crows, farther westward.
The northern Cheyenne informed Grinnell that on first coming into their present country they had found the region between the Yellowstone and Cheyenne rivers, including the Black Hills, in possession of the Kiowa and Comanche (?) , whom they drove out and forced to the south. ”

“ Don't they look like three rats scuttling off over the hills, as fast as they can go. Before long, now, we ought to see plenty of 'em along the river; though we ain't likely to see many buffalo before we get above Buford."
The boat pushed slowly up the river's muddy current, and Hugh and Jack continued to talk about the Indian village on the hill.
"A mighty queer thing happened once at that village, son," said Hugh. "You've heard, maybe, that in some tribes of Indians they have sort of prophets, or men that foretell things that are going to happen. ”

“ Soon they heard another person shouting for a feast, and, going, they entered the lodge of the Sin-o-pah chief. Here, too, were the old men assembled. After they had eaten of that set before them, the chief said: "Those among whom you are newly arrived are generous. They do not look at their possessions, but give to the stranger and pity the poor. The Kit-fox is a little animal, but what one is smarter? None. His hair is like the dead prairie grass. His eyes are sharp, his feet noiseless, his brain cunning. His ears receive the far-off sound. Here is our medicine, take it." ”

“ There was no trail, but Hugh seemed to be travelling north without any land marks to guide him. During one of their halts Jack asked Hugh where they would camp that night.
"Well, we can camp most anywhere, for we'll find plenty of water toward the end of the afternoon. We'll either come on La Bonté, or on some little creek running into it. There's good feed anywhere, and wood enough for us, too. I reckon we'll have to picket all the horses to-night, and maybe every night for the next week, but after that it will be enough if we picket three of 'em, and let the other three drag their ropes. ”

“ I gave the shoulders to Bull Calf and Hezekiah, whom I met out here on the prairie, but I've got the hams here. Shall I turn Pawnee loose, or shall I tie him up here by old Baldy?"
"Better tie him up here," said Hugh. "I want to make arrangements with some young fellow to herd our horses; Joe's gone off now to try to do that. We've got the lodge up, and now pretty quick we'll have a fire and cook supper."
The news of the arrival of the strangers had already spread through the camp, and that night Hugh and Jack and Joe were invited to feasts at several lodges. ”

“ Most men when they see anything that's alive they want to kill it, and they want to keep killing as long as there's anything around that moves."
The next day the two passed over a low divide between high hills, and soon came upon water running to the north. Hugh told Jack that this was a branch of the Judith River, that runs into the Missouri from the south. "I don't know," he said, "whether you'd call this the main creek or not; it's lots longer than the other fork that rises in the Judith Mountains, but it don't carry near so much water. The big creek is what we call Big Spring Creek ”

“ Among the rough fraternity of mountain trappers he was also very popular, his reputation for courage being remarkable even among that class of daring men. He was tirelessly active in prosecuting the aims of his trade, making frequent trips to the camps of the various tribes with which he, and later his company, had dealings, and to the Mexican settlements in the valley of Taos and to Santa Fé. Every year, probably from 1824 to 1864, he made at least one journey from the fort on the Arkansas, across the plains of Colorado, Kansas, and Missouri, to the settlements on the Missouri frontier. ”

“ Hugh told Jack about the woman, and said, "Now, just as soon as it gets dark, we've got to start over to the other creek, and take down that. I want to put fifteen or twenty miles behind us before we stop, but when we do stop we've got to let these horses feed, and give 'em some water. I believe the best thing we can do is to keep on the divide, after we get up there, and not travel down these river valleys. The country seems to be full of Indians. ”