[Illustration]

I do not think that this calculation, which proved to be perfectly correct, occupied the old chief more than three minutes; and it must be remembered that it was done in the face of the enemy.  But I resume my own history.

CHAPTER X.

In narrating the unhappy death of the Prince, I have stated that the Crows bore no good-will to the white men established among the Shoshones.  That feeling, however, was not confined to that tribe; it was shared by all the others within two or three hundred miles from the Buona Ventura river, and it was not surprising!  Since our arrival, the tribe had acquired a certain degree of tactics and unity of action which was sufficient in itself to bear down all their enemies, independent of the immense power they had obtained from their quantity of fire-arms and almost inexhaustible ammunition.  All the other nations were jealous of their strength and resources, and this jealousy being now worked up to its climax, they determined to unite and strike a great blow, not only to destroy the ascendancy which the Shoshones had attained, but also to possess themselves of the immense wealth which they foolishly supposed the Europeans had brought with them to the settlement.

For a long time previous to the Crow and Umbiqua expedition, which I have detailed, messengers had been passing between tribe and tribe, and, strange to say, they had buried all their private animosities to form a league against the common enemy, as were considered the Shoshones.  It was, no doubt, owing to this arrangement that the Crows and Umbiquas showed themselves so hardy; but the prompt and successful retaliation of the Shoshones cooled a little the war spirit which was fomenting around us.  However, the Arrapahoes having consented to join the league, the united confederates at once opened the campaign, and broke upon our country in every direction.

We were taken by surprise; for the first three weeks they carried everything before them, for the majority of our warriors were still hunting.  But having been apprised of the danger, they returned in haste, and the aspect of affairs soon changed.  The lost ground was regained inch by inch.  The Arrapahoes having suffered a great deal, retired from the league, and having now nothing to fear from the south, we turned against our assailants on our northern boundaries.  Notwithstanding the desertion of the Arrapahoes, the united tribes were still three times our number, but they wanted union, and did not act in concert.  They mustered about fifteen thousand warriors, from the Umbiquas, Callapoos, Cayuses, Nez-perces, Bonnaxes, Flat-heads, and some of the Crows, who had not yet gained prudence from their last “brushing.”  The superiority of our arms, our tactics, discipline, and art of intrenchment, together with the good service of two clumsy old Spanish four-pounders, enabled us not only in a short time to destroy the league, but also to crush and annihilate for ever some of our treacherous neighbours.  As it would be tedious to a stranger to follow the movements of the whole campaign, I will merely mention that part of it in which I assisted[13].