Identifier: furtradersofcolu00irvi (find matches)
Title: The fur traders of the Columbia river and the Rocky mountains
Year: 1903 (1900s)
Authors: Irving, Washington, 1783-1859 Olmsted, Frank Lincoln, ed
Subjects: Fur trade Frontier and pioneer life
Publisher: New York, Putnam
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: Sloan Foundation

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ess was now entertained lest he shouldhave fallen into the hands of the Blackfeet who hadmade the midnight attack upon the camp. It was amatter of general joy, therefore, when he made hisappearance. He had lurked for several days amongthe mountains; at length he escaped the vigilance ofhis enemies in the night, and was so fortunate as to meettwo Iroquois hunters, who, being on horseback, con-veyed him without further difficulty to the rendezvous. In the valley called Pierres Hole was congregatedthe motley populace connected with the fur trade.Here the two rival companies had their encampments,with their retainers of all kinds. Here, also, the sav-age tribes connected with the trade, the Nez Perces andFlatheads, had pitched their lodges beside the streams,and with their squaws awaited the distribution of goodsand finery. There was, moreover, a band of fifteenfree trappers, commanded by a gallant leader fromArkansas, named Sinclair, who held their encampmenta little apart from the rest.
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HEROISM OF A WOMAN OF THE NEZ PERCESEngraved from a drawing by F. S. Church Pierres Hole 113 The arrival of Captain Sublette with supplies put theRocky Mountain Fur Company in full activity. Thewares and merchandise were quickly opened, and asquickly disposed of to trappers and Indians; the usualexcitement and revelry took place, after which allhands began to disperse to their several destinations. On the 17th of July, a small brigade of fourteentrappers, led by Milton Sublette, brother of the cap-tain, set out toward the south-west, accompanied bySinclair and his fifteen free trappers; Wyeth, also, andhis New England band of beaver hunters and salmonfishers, now dwindled down to eleven, took this oppor-tunity to prosecute their cruise in the wilderness withsuch experienced pilots. On the second morning, justas they were raising their camp, they observed a longline of people pouring down a defile of the mountains.They at first supposed them to be Fontenelle and hisparty, whose arrival

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