Chapter 4

We arrived at the trading post just before sunset and set up camp in one of the walled off over-hangs on the back of the building the owner had built just for this purpose. It cost a wolf skin for the night but included dinner; which was beef stew and water, anything else was extra. I traded all my skins and trappings with the owner, a William Duran, who was ¼ Indian as his mother had been a half-breed traded to his father. I had $117 after all the trading was complete and began to reverse the situation as I started to buy items that we needed. First on my list were the three Bowie knives at $2 each, the extra dollar got all three sheaths for the knives. I saw a .44 caliber Navy revolver twin pistol set, in a wooden box with the powder flask and cleaning tools, along with two spare cylinders and the bullet making tool. For $10 they were mine. A .44 caliber Kentucky short carbine and matching pistol with the bullet maker, powder horn, cap holding ring, and shooters hip bag for Bear Claw was $5. A .50 caliber Hawkins pistol giving me two for $3; 10 pounds of lead and 10 pounds of powder along with 200 caps cost $5; 10 pounds of salt, flour, corn meal, sugar, coffee, baking powder, 100 pound of beans, and a few tins of spices cost $10; 10 new traps of various sizes cost $5; two horses with tack and a second mule $12; some glass beads, tin mirrors, hair brushes, skinning knives, and several bolts of cloth for trading $15; 2 flintlock .36 caliber rifles and a flintlock .36 caliber pistol with powder horns and bullet makers for each and the pistol had a holster too cost $5. That night, William let us stay for free, but we cooked our own meal. The next morning we loaded both mules, Bob and as it turns out, Bobbie. The horses were named Smoke and Cloud since they were both grayish in color. I rode the bigger, darker horse, Smoke and Bear Claw rode the lighter, smaller horse, Cloud. Taking leather, Bear Claw made a holster for her pistol in a cross draw position, on her left hip and kept her new Bowie along the small of her back, at a slight angle with the handle on her right side. I adjusted my belt to hold one of the Navy revolvers on each hip and the two .50 caliber pistols butts out, barrel together, at the small of my back. The Bowie still rode on the side of my right calf and the tomahawk on the left calf. William threw in a very soft, colorful blanket as he bid us farewell.

Bear Claw cooked a wonderful meal that night. Afterwards, I scouted around camp before we settled down to sleep. The terrible sound of animals fighting woke me a few hours later. I pulled my boots on and took all four pistols with me as I went out to see what the fight was. Bear Claw dressed and put her moccasins on, setting all the rifles out and checking to make sure they were ready to shoot. I found a coyote den that had been attacked by a mountain lion. It was dragging off the mother of the den. I heard a sound and looked to see one pup was still alive.

I picked up the pup and carried it back to camp to ask Bear Claw what to do. Bear Claw said that it would die soon unless we took care of it. I said we could try and see if it would live. We got back into bed and found the pup climbed right in between us and dropped off to sleep. We just laughed and did the same. Two days later we were at my summer cabin, which really was just a solid log wall that I built across the front of a natural cave. I had added a two-foot high stone wall across the front to protect from diggers and weather. There was a natural spring inside that provided fresh water. Near the back of the cave, there was a crack in the wall that went up to the ceiling, where there was a small hole that would let smoke out but nothing larger than a cricket in.

This is where the fire was kept, to heat the cave and cook on. On the left side of the cabin was a steep draw that I corralled off to keep the horses and mules in. I had built a barrier over the top to deter predators from jumping down onto the animals. The window in the cabin wall looked right at the gate to the corral. Bear Claw liked the cabin and I loved the fact that I was not alone anymore.

A week later I had gone out to set traps and Bear Claw was smoking meat outside the cabin when two trappers followed the smoke to the cabin. Lucky, the name we gave the coyote pup yelped once he smelled and heard the two trappers coming. Bear Claw looked up and saw them and did not like the look they had. She slowly moved to the cabin and bolted the door. I heard the shot and knew it was Bear Claw's pistol. I was running along side Smoke, hopping and skipping until I was able to swing up into the saddle and hold on to the horse as Smoke charged back to the cabin. Mark Stevenson and Ben Cooper had seen the young squaw and decided to make a calling on her since that was all squaws were good for. When they got to the cabin door, it was bolted and she would not open it when they told her to. Ben being 6'2" and close to 300 pounds, slammed through the door and was shot in his left bicep by Bear Claw. Ben turned with the power of the bullet hitting his arm and Mark saw Bear Claw pick up the .36 caliber flintlock pistol and aim at him. Ben grabbed and flung the water pail with his right hand, spraying Bear Claw and the flintlock pistol with the dirty water and pee preventing the flintlock pistol from firing. Back swinging the pail as he stepped toward Bear Claw, Ben knocked her out, breaking the pail against her head. Mark patched up Ben's arm while they waited for Bear Claw to wake up. They had already stripped her naked and ball tied her. She woke to find that they had wrapped the end of a rope several times around her right ankle before tying the rope, then pulling her right ankle tight against her right thigh they wrapped the rope several times around her right thigh and right shin keeping her ankle tight against her thigh, then pulling her right arm down toward her right ankle they wrapped the rope several times around her right upper arm before folding her lower arm back and wrapping the rope around it too. A second rope was used to do the same to her left side and the two ends were pulled extra tight forcing her arms and legs apart as they were pulled toward her back. They had stolen six ponies from a tribe of Crow Indians the previous night and the Indians had sent a war party of twelve out looking for them. I was not the only one to hear the shot. Others were watching the smoke when they too heard the shot. Mark and Ben were arguing over who was going to go first with the squaw, when I came charging in. Ben pulled his pistol and fired quick draw style but missed. Mark pulled his pistol and was taking the time to aim as I drew both .50 caliber pistols and fired them together. Mark's shot creased my rib but did not cause much damage. My best shot hit Ben right in the nose and blew a hole clean through his head and my worst shot hit Mark in the left side of his chest just under the nipple. It shattered his shoulder blade, spinning him around before letting him fall to the ground to die. The Crow war party had just reached the clearing as I shot both men. They were angry that I had killed the men they were after and decided to take Bear Claw and me in their place. I heard the Indians hollering and screaming war cries and just dropped both .50 caliber pistols and drew the Navy revolvers. Running Elk, Little Beaver and Dancing Bear were on the ridge above the cabin watching as the Crow charged me and were upset that they could not help. I looked at all the Crow warriors and found that they all had spears except for two that had bows so I started firing at them first. It took two shots from the pistol in my right hand to drop the first bowman and three from the pistol in my left hand to drop the second bowman. I had my aim down now and they were getting closer, which also helped. With my next seven shots, seven Crow warriors went down. Running Elk, Little Beaver and Dancing Bear were sliding down the side of the ridge as fast as they could. I had just dropped the Navy pistols, pulling my Bowie and the tomahawk Grey Wolf had given me. The last three dove off their horses as they reached me. I leaned into the middle Indian and shouldered his attack, driving my Bowie up under his chest bone ripping his heart and blocked the spear with the tomahawk.