Grizzly Killer: The Making of a Mountain Man

by Lane R Warenski

  Runnin’ Wolf was with Ely and Grub, and I found Sun Flower still with Spotted Elk and asked ’bout Butterfly. Sun Flower said she was still mighty sore and was scared to come back here. I told Sun Flower I wanted to talk to her and asked if she would go with me.

  It took but a few minutes for Red and Sun Flower’s roan to get us back to the village, and Sun Flower led me to the lodge where Butterfly was. We entered, and Butterfly seemed surprised, and she asked Sun Flower why we weren’t with the others. Sun Flower told her I wished to speak to her. I didn’t know if Sun Flower could tell Butterfly exactly what I was sayin’, but the meanin’ seemed to get across to her. I told her she was a strong Shoshone woman and that she should not let a few bad men make it so she didn’t enjoy herself, that Lucien and Jacques were gone and would not be back, and the other trappers were good men that wanted the best for her. I asked her, if me and Sun Flower helped her, she would come with us to see all the things at the Rendezvous. I also said Jimbo would be there to protect her and he wouldn’t leave her side.

  I don’t know what all was said between those two friends, but Butterfly smiled up at me and nodded. Her face was still swollen and bruised, and her ribs were mighty sore, but in just a few minutes, Sun Flower had helped her into a fringed dress and had put some of the yellow cloth in her hair. I got her horse ready and put my hands together to help boost her up on the horse. We just let the horses walk back to the tradin’ area.

  As we walked the horses toward the crowd, it got quiet, and everyone was watchin’ us. Spotted Elk came right over, and the two of us helped Butterfly down. A man I did not know came toward us, wantin’ to give Butterfly a necklace he had made from beads, and Jimbo stepped in front of him and growled. He stopped with a surprised look on his face and said very sincerely that he was sorry for what happened and he wanted her to have this. I told Jimbo to sit, and he did, but he stayed between this stranger and Butterfly. Butterfly reached out and accepted the bead necklace and smiled at him, and everyone cheered.

  We stayed with Butterfly and looked at all the trade goods, and Spotted Elk gave her some of the foofarraw. Nothin’ was said, but I got the feelin’ Spotted Elk liked Butterfly a lot. I thought back to when we first rode into the Snake village and the naked kids some hidin’ behind their mothers and others not, and I thought again Sun Flower would have been right out front, not bashful at all, but Butterfly would have been one of the ones hidin’ behind her mother.

  This part of the Rendezvous reminded me of the town socials and dances back home in Pottersville, ’cept there was more drinkin’ and gamblin’ goin’ on here. That made me think of Emma again, and I wondered where she was and what had become of her. I must have been kind of daydreamin’, ’cause when I looked at Sun Flower, she was watchin’ me with kind of a puzzled look on her face. Those dark eyes of hers lookin’ up at me could make me forget everything in the past and just want to hold on to her forever.

  As evenin’ approached, I was tired, and I figured from Sun Flower’s look she was too. Neither of us hardly slept the night before. We found Runnin’ Wolf and Raven Wing, and I let them know we were goin’ back to the teepee, and they said they would be along shortly. I saw where Spotted Elk and Butterfly were, and we walked over to them. Sun Flower asked her brother if he needed any help gettin’ Butterfly back to the village, and he said no then said we would leave on the hunt tomorrow before light. I nodded, and he spoke to Sun Flower in Snake for just a minute.

  We were just walkin’ along, leadin’ Ol’ Red and the roan, enjoyin’ the evenin’. It was a mighty pretty evenin’ at that. As the sun set, there were a few fluffy clouds that turned bright red orange, and as long as we stayed a ways out from the river, the mosquitoes weren’t much of a bother either. I asked Sun Flower what her brother had said to her. She just smiled and shook her head then said she did not know how to say in English. I could tell she knew more English than she made on, but she wasn’t sure ’bout it. I was still amazed at how much English Raven Wing really knew. And bein’ with Runnin’ Wolf was helpin’ them both out with English ’cause they spoke English all the time to each other. It was a lot easier for them to understand that than Runnin’ Wolf speakin’ Ute and Raven Wing speakin’ Snake. But it seemed to me that Raven Wing must really have a gift for speakin’ different tongues ’cause she was pickin’ up Ute mighty fast as well.

  The evenin’ star was out and shinin’ bright when we reached the teepee, and I could hear a few night birds callin’ from the trees along the river. We went inside and climbed under the robes. She slid her naked body up against me, and we made love and fell asleep in each other’s arms. I woke for just a few minutes when Runnin’ Wolf and Raven Wing came in but didn’t stir again till I heard Jimbo whinin’ just outside the openin’. I got up and looked out and could see a couple of fires gettin’ started and figured it was time to get ready for the hunt.

  15 The Hunt

  I went out and got our pack horses in the dark, and when I returned, Runnin’ Wolf had Red and the chestnut saddled. We threw the empty packs on the horses and were ready when Spotted Elk rode over. He just nodded his approval and motioned for us to leave. Sun Flower and Raven Wing had a fire goin’, but there wasn’t time for coffee, so they just handed us a bag of jerky, and we rode out, each of us leadin’ two pack horses. There was Spotted Elk, a brave that was called Red Hawk, Badger, and the young man that had takin’ me and Runnin’ Wolf over to the tradin’ tents that first day, Little Horse. Little Horse was leadin’ three pack horses as well.

  We made our way toward the mountains to the east. By the time the sky started to get gray along the eastern horizon, we were followin’ a trail alongside a fast-runnin’ good-sized creek up a narrow rocky canyon. We were headin’ due east, and I figured we had traveled maybe eight or ten miles by the time it was light enough to see. Then without warnin’, the canyon opened up into a large, broad basin that went off to the south, farther than I could see. The sun wasn’t up yet, and there were coyotes yippin’ at each other on both sides of this basin. We continued to follow the creek and jumped a cow and calf moose that took off, stayin’ ’bout two hundred yards away from us. Spotted Elk stopped and pointed across the basin. Maybe a mile away, we could see a herd of a couple of dozen elk.

  We sat there, studyin’ the lay of the land, and I figured we all were figurin’ out a plan. There was a mornin’ breeze blowin’ right in our faces out of the east. The elk were grazin’ in a big grassy meadow where the creek made a big bend off to the north. There was kind of a bottleneck between a rocky point on the hill and the creek. It looked to me like if we could get set along the creek at the bottleneck and have Jimbo and a couple of others spook the elk from above, those elk would just naturally run through the bottleneck within just a few yards of those of us by the creek. I suggested to Spotted Elk my plan, and he nodded. I told him that me and Runnin’ Wolf with our guns needed to be by the creek and two of them with their bows. I thought that Little Horse could take Jimbo with him and one of the other braves and circle way out around the meadow and come into it from above, and hopefully the elk would run out through the bottom. Spotted Elk said it would take more than two men and the dog to keep the elk from scatterin’ in every direction. Badger and he talked ’bout it for a few minutes, and Spotted Elk signed he would go with Grizzly Killer and Runnin’ Wolf, and Badger would lead the others around and come in on the elk from above.

  We tied all the pack horses along with Ol’ Red, Spotted Elk’s pinto, and the chestnut right where we were. I showed Little Horse very quickly how to give Jimbo hand signals for where he wanted him to go. Then Badger led out, leadin’ Little Horse and Red Hawk, and I told Jimbo to go with Little Horse. Spotted Elk led the way across the creek, makin’ real sure we were stayin’ out of sight of the elk. I was carryin’ the Hawken and Pa’s old rifle, and Runnin’ Wolf had his new long rifle. But he was also carryin’ his bow and quiver over his back.

  We worked our way along, stayin’ on the outside edge
of the brush, walkin’ real quiet on the far side of the creek away from the elk, when all of a sudden, right in front of us, a big buck deer with four points on each side of his antlers bounded up from the creek and headed off to the north. They were callin’ these deer mule deer ’cause of their big ears. They were bigger and had much bigger antlers that grew in a different shape than the white-tailed deer from back home. They also seemed to like open country more. The whitetails always stayed in the thickets and tight cover, but these big mule deer would run right out across open country but most often too far away to shoot.

  It took us ’bout a half hour to get across from the rocky point. We couldn’t see the elk, but we could see those rocks. Spotted Elk checked the breeze again by droppin’ a couple of leaves and watchin’ ’em fall. Even though it wasn’t as strong as before, it was still comin’ from the elk toward us. We very slowly moved across the creek again, and Spotted Elk, signalin’ us to stay, worked his way to the edge of the willows and brush. In just a minute, he came back. Without makin’ a sound, he drew a little map in the dirt, showin’ the creek where we were and where the elk were. He showed a possible route the elk might take and run across the creek a little above us and indicated for me with the two guns to go there and block that route, and he and Runnin’ Wolf would stay here. I nodded and, watchin’ where I placed every step, headed for that spot.

  In less than five minutes, I was there and could then see just what Spotted Elk was worried ’bout. There was a very well-used trail where the elk was comin’ down to the water, and it looked like a natural route for them to follow. I was only ’bout a hundred yards from the closest elk, and very slowly I got set where I figured I’d have good shots no matter if they came toward me or straight down through the bottleneck where Runnin’ Wolf and Spotted Elk were waitin’.

  I didn’t know how long it would take for the others to get in position above the elk, so movin’ as little as possible, I got as comfortable as I could and checked the powder in the pans again. I watched several of the little ground squirrels that looked a lot like prairie dogs playin’ along the edge of the meadow. I heard a couple of the trappers at Rendezvous call ’em pot guts. They did kind of have pot bellies when they stood up. The elk were grazin’, movin’ around a little, and in what I figured was maybe twenty minutes, I could see seven of them from where I sat. Then all at once, all their heads came up, and they were all lookin’ up the hill, away from me.

  All of a sudden, they were all runnin’ right at me. I took a bead on the chest of the first one, and when she was maybe thirty yards out, I fired the Hawken, and she collapsed. When she hit the ground, the others behind her turned off the trail and headed right down toward the bottleneck. It took me but a couple of seconds to have Pa’s old rifle up, and a bull with good antlers grown out ’bout two feet long already for this time of year was runnin’ by, and I followed him along and fired. He jumped but didn’t fall. I then heard Runnin’ Wolf’s rifle fire, and Badger came chargin’ past me with his horse, runnin’ full out. His reins were just lyin’ across the horse’s mane. He had his bow in hand and fully drawn and was guidin’ his horse with his knees. I ran out where I could see, and in just a few seconds, he was right up alongside a runnin’ cow and let fly with his arrow. It was only a few seconds, and he had another arrow in her, and as the third arrow buried deep into her side, she stumbled and fell. Jimbo was then comin’ right to me, and I gave him a hard ear rub and patted his head, and he took off again down toward Runnin’ Wolf.

  I could see the bull I shot with Pa’s rifle had only run ’bout a hundred yards and was down. As I looked down into the bottleneck, I could see two more down. Five elk on the ground, and I started to wonder if we had enough pack horses. We had a mighty lot of meat to carry back, and in the heat of summer, it would start spoilin’ mighty fast. I reloaded just as fast as I could and started to dress out the first one of mine. Red Hawk and Little horse were just now gettin’ to us, and Badger sent them for the pack horses.

  When I finished the first one and started for the second, I could see the pack horses were just headed this way and would be here in no time. Badger had his elk gutted, and Spotted Elk was walkin’ over to help Runnin’ Wolf finish his. Just as I was pullin’ the guts from this bull and had cut out the liver, Badger walked up, reached down, and cut a thin strip off the liver and ate it raw and then sliced another off and handed it to me. I just shook my head, and he laughed at me. I started skinnin’ this one, and Badger stayed right there, helpin’. By the time we had the hide off him, Little Horse and Red Hawk were back with Ol’ Red and all the horses. We all knew time was a real factor with meat this time of the year, and there was no wasted time in gettin’ all their hides off.

  We cut and packed all this meat just as fast as we could and had the weight spread out on all the horses in no time. We used the hides to cover the meat for shade and to help keep the flies off. I figured we were between ten and fifteen miles from the village, and with heavy loads and a narrow rocky canyon, I reckoned we’d be maybe three or four hours gettin’ back. It was ’bout midmornin’ when we left that open basin and started down the narrow canyon.

  By the time we reached the mouth of the canyon and entered Willow Valley, there was a cloud of flies around each of the pack horses, and I was mighty happy to see the tops of the teepees, or lodges as the Injuns called them. When we rode into camp, there were dryin’ racks set up, with fires ready to start under them, and more than a dozen women met us and started to unload the meat. They spread the hides out on the ground and laid the meat on them and just ignored the flies. ’Bout half of them went to cuttin’ the meat into strips, and the others were hangin’ the strips onto the dryin’ racks and gettin’ the fires started.

  It was hard to believe how fast they had those racks filled and the fires goin’. The smoke was keepin’ the flies off. They had gathered chokecherry branches for the fires, which burned with kind of a sweet smell. Runnin’ Wolf cut off a big ol’ chunk of meat from one haunch, and he headed for our teepee with it while I helped Little Horse care for the horses. Spotted Elk was takin’ the livers and hearts we brought back and was givin’ them to several families. He had me take one liver over and give to the older wife of Chargin’ Bull.

  When I got back to our teepee, Sun Flower and Raven Wing had staked out that still-green grizzly hide. Sun Flower was on her knees, workin’ a mixture of brain matter and water into it. Raven Wing was settin’ up a spit over the fire with that chunk of elk so we could turn it as it roasted. Runnin’ Wolf was just comin’ back from takin’ his chestnut to the river for water, and I headed down to do the same with Red.

  It had been a real good hunt this mornin’, but with a village like this, huntin’ and bringin’ in food was a constant thing. There were two other huntin’ parties that went out today, but neither of them had returned yet.

  It was fixin’ to be a right warm day ’bout the middle of June. There were fluffy white clouds and a mighty blue sky. There was the green of the trees along the rivers and wildflowers with every color you could imagine. The air was so clear it made you think you could see forever. I knew I’d never get tired of the beauty of this land. I could just stare off into the distance all afternoon and never look at the same thing twice. It didn’t rain near as much here in these western mountains as it did back home. It had been quite a spell since we had any.

  There was quite a commotion comin’ from the other side of the village, and lookin’ that way, I could see another Injun village was comin’ into Rendezvous. Sun Flower stood up and walked over by me and said they were Bannocks, another tribe of the Shoshones that lived west of the mountains. Those Bannocks, after wavin’ and shoutin’ greetin’s to the Shoshone village, went over to the east a couple of miles and camped along the creek we had followed this mornin’ on our hunt.

  Not long after that, the other huntin’ parties came in, and they had both deer and elk, and the second huntin’ party even had a black bear. Everyone pitched in and, i
n no time, had more dryin’ racks lashed together and smoky fires goin’ to cure all this meat. The game was plentiful, but it wouldn’t last with this many people all in the south end of Willow Valley and everyone huntin’ for their food.

  As the elk roast was gettin’ done over the fire, I made up a pan full of biscuits and got a pot of coffee goin’. Raven Wing had been down by the river and had pulled some wild onions and a few camas roots. She said they were for later. We sliced off pieces of the roast, ate biscuits, and drank coffee. This was the first time Sun Flower or Raven Wing had tasted sugar, and when I put it in their coffee and saw the smiles, I figured I best get another sack or two of sugar ’cause this would never last. After we ate, we just lay back in the afternoon sun and napped.

  A couple of hours later, Spotted Elk, along with Butterfly, came to our teepee, and Spotted Elk had three of the elk hides from this mornin’ and gave to us. He said these were the ones me and Runnin’ Wolf had shot. He looked at the grizzly skin that the women had been tannin’ with the hair on most of the day with a look of surprise then, lookin’ right at me, said, “You are the Grizzly Killer.” He helped Butterfly sat down. Her ribs were still really hurtin’ her when she got up and down. She looked and me and started to speak in Shoshone. Raven Wing started to tell us what she was sayin’. She told us when we first got herself, Sun Flower, and Raven Wing from Jean Luc and the others, she was afraid I would kill them, that she knew the Great Medicine Dog had killed her brother, and that I had killed some of his friends that were with him, and she really believed I had bought them to use them and then kill them, so she ran away. She said she told that to Sun Flower, and Sun Flower told her she was wrong, but she was scared and went away alone. She said now she knew she was wrong, that all white men did not have bad hearts, and that she was sorry for thinking that way.