LIFE IN THE FAR WEST 137 



was offered at the trading post for sale, and had heard 

 her recount the miserable fate of her husband and his 

 companions on the forks of the creek, which, from the 

 fact of La Bonte being the leader of the party, has since 

 borne his name. 



Undaunted by this misfortune, the trapper continued 

 his solitary hunt, passing through the midst of the 

 Crow and Blackfeet country ; encountering many perils, 

 often Imnted by the Indians, but always escaping. He 

 had soon loaded both his animals with beaver, and then 

 thought of bending his steps to some of the trading 

 rendezvous on the other side of the mountains, where 

 employes of the Great North West Fur Company meet 

 the trappers with the produce of their hunts, on Lewis's 

 fork of the Columbia, or one of its numerous affluents. 

 His intention was to pass the winter at some of the 

 company's trading posts in Oregon, into which country 

 he had never yet penetrated. 



