Memories of a Bear Hunter 



cember. When we reached the river opposite the 

 town, we found to our dismay that the ice was 

 running so thick that it was impossible to operate 

 the ferry boat, and we could not get across. We 

 were without blankets, food or firewood ; the tem- 

 perature stood at 12 degrees below zero. There 

 was no house behind us for twenty miles, and be- 

 fore us ran the turbid river, surging with broken 

 ice. We were at a loss what to do. At last some 

 one suggested that three miles below there was a 

 cabin where we might find shelter. We went there, 

 found the owner at home, and he took us in and 

 made us as comfortable as possible. The next 

 morning we found the ice not running and the 

 river frozen over, and by careful sounding with 

 an ax and pole, and stepping from one ice cake to 

 another, we finally crossed over and reached Benton 

 at noon. 



As I walked about the town with a friend, I saw 

 on its outskirts a very large adobe building 22 with 

 a high adobe wall in front, and asking about it, I 

 was told that fifty years before it had been built as 

 a fort and trading store by the Northwestern Fur 

 Company; that it had only one entrance through 

 the outer wall, and was built for defense against 

 Indians. 



I asked my friend why it was that it was no 



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