Grizzly Killer: The Making of a Mountain Man

by Lane R Warenski

  Jimbo came up to the fire, and all three women just froze. But Butterfly was tremblin’ all over. I walked over to her, and she didn’t dare move. I told Jimbo to sit, and he did, waggin’ his tail, and his big ol’ tongue was hangin’ out the side of his mouth. I patted him on the head and told Butterfly he would not hurt her, that he would protect her. Then she looked up at me, and with tears in her eyes, she said, pointin’ at Jimbo, “Big Medicine Dog kill brother.”

  I looked at Runnin’ Wolf, and he said something in Ute I didn’t understand and walked away down toward the river.

  It took me a few minutes to put it all together, then I tried to make her understand that the warrior Jimbo had killed was tryin’ to kill Runnin’ Wolf and Jimbo was just protectin’ Runnin’ Wolf and me. If that warrior was her brother, I was sorry, but when we were attacked, we were warriors too, and we would always fight. I told her that she was with us now and Jimbo would protect her and Sun Flower and Raven Wing, just like he had protected Runnin’ Wolf, and that me and Runnin’ Wolf and Jimbo would only kill those who were tryin’ to kill us. She seemed to relax a little, but I could tell she was still mighty scared. Then Sun Flower and Raven Wing came over and talked to her in their own tongue. I figured they were tryin’ to comfort her.

  I walked down by the river where Runnin’ Wolf was standin’ and asked if he was all right. He said, “Her brother had killed his horse and tried to kill him, and he didn’t know if he should trust her or any of them.” He said, “The Snake and Ute are enemies, and the women can be more vicious than the braves.”

  I told him I believed these Snake women were just afraid and away from their own people, that if we showed them we would protect them, they would be our friends, and that it was Jimbo that scared them. If we were kind to them and provided for them like good men, they would be good women too. He nodded, but I could tell that trust on both sides would have to be earned.

  We traveled another ten miles or so before we stopped for the night. Those three women made camp mighty fast, had firewood gathered and deer meat roastin’ while me and Runnin’ Wolf took care of the stock. Now we had eight horses and Ol’ Red, and waterin’ and hobblin’ them for the night took a bit longer. Runnin’ Wolf’s leg was gettin’ stronger every day, and he was walkin’ with almost no limp, and he wasn’t wearin’ the splint anymore. I had Jimbo go back down our back trail, and he was gone quite a spell, but when he came back, he was carryin’ part of a half-rotten deer leg. So I figured all was clear. The women each had a buffalo robe to sleep under, so when it was time for sleep, me and Runnin’ Wolf brought in Ol’ Red and the chestnut and tied them right close. With them and Jimbo, I figured we wouldn’t need to stand guard.

  A couple of hours before light, Jimbo licked my face, and I was instantly awake and listenin’, but I couldn’t hear a thing. Jimbo made his very low growl, and I rolled over and got up and instantly saw Butterfly’s robe was gone. I checked on the horses, and her horse was gone as well. Jimbo was waitin’ for me to tell him to go after her, but I just motioned for him to stay.

  I threw a few small sticks on the coals and blew some life into them and got what few coffee beans we had left and made our last pot of coffee. Everyone was awake by now, and Sun Flower and Raven Wing were talkin’, and Runnin’ Wolf said, “They are afraid we would be mad ’cause we paid for all three of them, and they were worried ’bout Kimama.”

  I brought them over to the fire and, with Runnin’ Wolf’s help, told them I did not buy them to own them but to get them away from Jean Luc and the others, that Butterfly could have left anytime she wanted to, and so could they, that me and Runnin’ Wolf would help them and protect them if they stayed with us, but if they wanted to leave, they could, just like Butterfly did. Sun Flower, who seemed the boldest of them, asked why we helped them, that we paid for them, and we didn’t make them come to our robes at night, and now we told them they could go anytime. She asked, if we didn’t want them, why we bought them.

  I looked at Runnin’ Wolf, tryin’ to find an answer for them, and he just had a puzzled look on his face as well. Then I told them that Runnin’ Wolf had a sister just like them, and he would want someone to help and protect her if she needed help just like we were helpin’ them, that it made our hearts good to help those that needed help.

  Runnin’ Wolf still had a puzzled look on his face, but it was somehow different, and Sun Flower just looked at me and smiled and said, “I stay with Grizzly Killer, and it makes my heart good too.” Raven Wing was watchin’ Runnin’ Wolf, and I could tell she was seein’ him different now. He was not just a Ute and an enemy but a lovin’ brother that cared for his sister.

  The women were puttin’ some meat over the fire, and it was plain Runnin’ Wolf was ponderin’ on what had been said. Finally, he said to me, “They are just like Shining Star, and helpin’ them makes my heart good too.”

  We were loaded and movin’ north again just after dawn, and ’bout midmornin’, Raven Wing pointed to a break in the hills to the west and told Runnin’ Wolf that was the trail to Sweet Lake and then we go over the mountain to Willow Valley. We turned on to a fairly plain but not well-used trail and left the Bear River, headin’ west. As we came out of the pass in the hills, the biggest water I’d ever seen filled the whole big valley, spreadin’ off to the north. It was so big you couldn’t see the north shore, and it looked to be at least a half day’s ride to the west side of the lake. I was just starin’ at it, and I asked Runnin’ Wolf if’n he had seen this lake before, and he just shook his head no. He said, “I’ve had heard stories about it, but I have not been here.”

  Jimbo had been scoutin’ up ahead as usual, and he came back to see why we had stopped. The women seemed to be gettin’ excited ’bout something, and Raven Wing told Runnin’ Wolf, “We stop by lake to rest horses for climb over mountain.”

  We followed the trail down, and it was plain it was leadin’ around the south end of the lake. Just after midday, we came to a big sandy beach. There were trees back a ways from the water and grass for the horses and no sign of anyone bein’ around. We stopped and unloaded the horses and hobbled them on the grass. I figured it to be the first part of June, and it was a right pretty and warm day. The weather had been clear ever since we left the dugout. And I figured by lookin’ at just the sage-covered hills, it didn’t rain here in the summer like it did back home. We built us a fire maybe twenty-five feet back from the water, in the sand, then Sun Flower and Raven Wing just pulled their dresses up over their heads and ran out into the water, completely naked again.

  Bein’ naked didn’t seem to bother them a bit. It was just as natural to them as any other part of their lives. I was just standin’ there, starin’. Bein’ around naked women wasn’t natural to me at all. Then Sun Flower came runnin’ up out of the water, splashin’ and laughin’ right to me. She grabbed my arms and pulled me out into the lake. I must have had a real strange look on my face, ’cause Runnin’ Wolf started to laugh at me, then he stripped down and went in the lake too. I was standin’ in water up to my middle in soakin’-wet buckskins with this beautiful girl completely naked, laughin’ and splashin’ water right in front of me. I was gettin’ mighty uncomfortable, and my manhood was stickin’ straight out, pushin’ against the buckskin. Then Sun Flower jumped up on me and threw her arms around my neck and kissed me. I held on to her as tight as I could. She drew her head back and smiled and looked at me with those dark shinin’ eyes like they were teasin’ me. She had her legs wrapped around my middle, and she pushed her upper body away from me and started to undo the laces on my shirt. I let her do it, just watchin’ those dark eyes of hers. When she had the laces undone, she unwrapped her legs from around me, and I pulled the shirt off, and she started to undo my pants.

  In just a minute, I was as naked as she was, and she took my hand and placed it on her breast and kissed me again and again. I had never been with a girl before, and I had no idea what to do, but she just took my hand and led me out of the water and we
lay down in the grass. She taught me how to make love over and over all afternoon. There was no wrong in it. It was just another part of the natural world. I still was not at all comfortable at bein’ naked in front of a woman, but Sun Flower was so natural ’bout it, it all seemed right.

  By late afternoon, I had not seen Runnin’ Wolf or Raven Wing since we went into the water earlier, not that I had been lookin’, and I knew it was gettin’ to be time to be fixin’ a meal ’fore dark. But I was havin’ a right hard time wantin’ to move. Lyin’ in the grass with my arms around Sun Flower, holdin’ her tight up against me, was the finest feelin’ I could ever remember havin’.

  Then I noticed movement across the way and could see Raven Wing and Runnin’ Wolf walkin’ hand in hand toward the fire pit. A couple of hours before, Sun Flower had spread my buckskins out over some brush in the sun to dry, and now we got up and got dressed. My buckskins were still a little damp, but they would dry with me in them by the fire soon enough.

  Jimbo was chewin’ on the remains of a rabbit he’d caught, and I figured we needed to spend the night and get an early start tomorrow, but I wanted to have a look around before dark. I saddled Ol’ Red and whistled for Jimbo, and we went out scoutin’. I rode east along the lakeshore for a couple of miles and then made a big half circle around camp, endin’ a couple of miles from camp on the west side at the lake shore. I saw no tracks but our own, and Jimbo hadn’t smelled anything wrong, so I just headed back in. There was deer roastin’ on the fire, and I noticed the bedrolls were spread out. Mine on one side of camp and Runnin’ Wolf’s on the other, and right next to each was a buffalo robe. I looked at Runnin’ Wolf, and he just smiled at me.

  After we ate, me and Runnin’ Wolf went out and gathered the stock, watered them, and brought them right in close and set up a picket line for them. While we were doin’ our chores, Runnin’ Wolf said, “Snake women are good, not like Snake warriors,” and he had a big ol’ grin on his face. I figured life on the trail was gonna be mighty different from here on out.

  Next mornin’, after gettin’ almost no sleep all night and eating a little leftover meat, we were loaded up and were on the trail by dawn. ’Bout midmornin’ we were roundin’ the southwest side of Sweet Lake and started north along the western shore. By midafternoon we came to where a canyon came down the mountain from the west, and Raven Wing pointed and said, “Willow Valley.” We turned and went another five miles or so and found a campin’ spot alongside a grassy meadow full of flowers with a fast-movin’ creek runnin’ right down through it.

  We set up a camp mighty quick, and Runnin’ Wolf said he would go make meat and left me in camp to care of the stock. Once I had the stock hobbled in the meadow, the women had a small fire goin’, and we were waitin’ for Runnin’ Wolf to come back. I had the women come over and sit down by the fire, and with what Injun talk I had learned and with sign language, I got them to understand I wanted them to speak English. And so I started the long process of teachin’ these two Shoshone women the English tongue. The only way I knew how was by pointin’ at something and sayin’ what it was in English. It was the same way I had been teachin’ Runnin’ Wolf, but Runnin’ Wolf already knew a fair amount ’fore I started with him.

  But these two sisters seemed to make a game and a competition out of it. They were pointin’ at everything and waitin’ for me to say the word, and they would try to repeat it. I would point to my nose and say nose and then my ear and say ear. Then Sun flower lifted her dress off and pointed to her breast and waited for me to say the name, but I just turned bright red, and Sun Flower and Raven Wing both just laughed at me. They seemed to take particular delight in makin’ me turn red. I didn’t know it at that time but would find out later that Raven Wing already spoke mighty good English and Sun Flower knew some as well. They were still laughin’, and Sun Flower was slidin’ back into her dress, when Runnin’ Wolf came ridin’ into camp. He had a small buck on the back of his horse with its antlers just startin’ to grow for the year. Then I could see he was hurt; his right arm was bloody. I jumped up, but Raven Wing beat me to him. She was helpin’ him down, and I got the deer off the back of the chestnut and noticed a good-sized gash down the haunch of the deer. When I got over to the fire, Raven Wing and Sun Flower had his buckskin shirt off, and I could see a couple of nasty scratches a few inches long runnin’ from his shoulder, almost to his elbow. But those women were cleanin’ it up, and by the time I had his horse taken care of and went over to find out what had happened, his arm was wrapped up tight, and he had a big ol’ smile on his face.

  When I asked what had happened, he said he needed the Grizzly Killer with him. He told me after he shot the deer with his bow, he gutted it and got it tied onto the chestnut. He had gone just a few feet when a grizzly stood up in the trail and swiped a paw at him. He said, “The chestnut reared up, and that saved me. Just the tip and the bear’s claws caught my shoulder, and I fired the squirrel gun at the bear. I don’t know if I hit him or not, but then the chestnut was running and the grizzly wasn’t following.” The more I pondered on this, the more worried I was gettin’. If Runnin’ Wolf’s shot had hit the grizzly, we had a wounded bear in the area, and if it didn’t hit him, we had a grizzly on the prowl in the area. Both were mighty fearsome to deal with.

  I pulled the balls from the Hawken and Harper Ferry rifles and put in an extra charge of powder and then did the same for the squirrel gun. It was a lot lighter load, but we might need all we could get out of all the guns if that bear showed up. I brought the stock right close and said we would all have to watch tonight. They all agreed, and the women started to bring in more firewood and built two more fires in a triangle around us.

  Long toward mornin’, Jimbo started to growl, and Ol’ Red let loose with a loud bray, and the horses were all mighty uneasy, but we never saw a thing.

  Just as the sky was turnin’ gray along the eastern horizon and some of the stars were startin’ to disappear, we ate some of the deer Runnin’ Wolf had brought in and loaded up. We headed up the trail just when it was light enough to see into the trees pretty good. I didn’t want to be surprised by a wounded grizzly feelin’ real cantankerous comin’ out of the shadows. Jimbo was out in the lead, and I was next with two pack horses, then Sun Flower and Raven Wing, with Runnin’ Wolf bringin’ up the rear with the other two pack horses. If that bear came at us, I didn’t want the women slowed down with the pack horses to pull along. I kept whistlin’ Jimbo in a bit so’s I could see him most of the time. I didn’t want him as far out in front of us as he usually was.

  As we climbed up toward the pass, it was mighty steep, and we stopped to rest the horses often. By midmornin’ we came out on a flat bench, and it appeared we only had another mile or two to reach the top. But with the horses lathered and winded and us not gettin’ any sleep last night and very little the night before, we stopped and pulled the packs to let the horses rest. I figured we could all use a couple of hours sleep.

  The view from here was like none I’d ever seen before. Lookin’ east, you could see forever. The bright blue of the sky with its fluffy white clouds just seemed to blend into the horizon. To the southeast, you could see the snowcapped peaks of the Bear River Mountains, and lookin’ down at the clear blue water of Sweet Lake as it filled this huge valley that it was set in, you could see every shade of blue you could think of. You could see mountain ranges to the northeast that I had no idea what they were, and in the distance, you could see there was no tellin’ how far away they were. This was a mighty big land and as beautiful as anything you could imagine.

  We lay down in the warm June sun with the horses ground-picketed right close by, and with Jimbo on guard, I was asleep almost at once. When I opened my eyes and lay there listenin’ as always, I could see the sun was past center sky, so I knew we’d been asleep more than two hours. I could hear a whisper of wind shakin’ the quakie leaves that were just gettin’ to full size from their buds, and I heard the cry of a hawk and then caught his movement as
he soared high overhead. I sat up and looked at Sun Flower lyin’ there by me and the beauty of her face. I wondered what Ma and Pa would think of me with this Injun girl. Then I thought of Emma Potter and wondered if she was married now and if I would ever see her again. I didn’t think so, ’cause I doubted I’d ever leave these mountains now; they were my home. As I stood up, the others came awake, and we all took our time gettin’ movin’. The sleep helped, but it wasn’t at all enough.

  As we loaded up, I noticed Jimbo was starin’ at the trees off to the south. They were maybe two hundred yards away. He wasn’t growlin’, but something over there had his attention. Just as I was ready to saddle up, Jimbo stood up, and all the hair down the middle of his back stood up, and he started with his deep-down low growl, and I knew there was something over there. I didn’t cotton to the idea of bein’ followed whether it was by man or beast, so I told the others to stay there while I checked it out. I checked the prime in the Hawken, Pa’s old Harper Ferry, and the horse pistol and started over to the trees. Jimbo was out in front, but he wasn’t gettin’ very far ahead.

  When we were ’bout fifty yards from the trees, Jimbo started to growl and then took off toward them. I caught a glimpse of movement, and an ol’ silver-tipped grizzly came out from behind the branches of a pine and started right at Jimbo. He was limpin’ on his front leg, and Jimbo was able to stay out of range of those claws. Red was way too nervous to hold still, so I jumped off to get a good shot. I aimed right for his front shoulder and fired. When that ball hit him, it threw him off-balance, but he didn’t go down. And then he started after me. He wasn’t movin’ very fast now, but I didn’t have time to reload, and Red had taken off with the other rifle, goin’ back to the others. I started to reload as fast as I could make my hands move, and then Jimbo attacked him from the rear. That bear turned to take on Jimbo, and that gave me time to finish loadin’. That ol’ grizzly was turned, fendin’ off Jimbo, and I had a clean shot at his other shoulder from only ’bout fifteen yards, and my shot was true. The bear roared his hatred of me to the world, but with two broken shoulders, he couldn’t get up. As I started to reload again, I heard the thunder of hooves and saw Runnin’ Wolf bearin’ down on me at a full run. That chestnut could really run. He jumped off and fired the squirrel gun, and I was ready and fired again. That grizzly tried to roar again, but no sound came out, and just as I was reloaded and ready to fire another shot, his head collapsed, with his sightless eyes starin’ right at me. Runnin’ Wolf turned and looked at me, and with a big smile on his face, he simply said, “Grizzly Killer.”