162 THE STORY OF THE TRAPPER 



sharp that French voyageurs gave this queer craft the 

 name Cf canot a bee d esturgeon &quot; that is, a canoe like 

 the nose of a sturgeon. This American adaptation of 

 the Frenchman s craft was not of birch-bark. That 

 would be too frail to essay the rock-ribbed cafions of 

 the mountain streams. It was usually a common dug 

 out, hollowed from a cottonwood or other light timber, 

 with such an angular narrow prow that it could take 

 the sheerest dip and mount the steepest wave-crest 

 where a rounder boat would fill and swamp. Dragging 

 this from cover, the two white men pushed out on the 

 Jefferson Fork, dipping now on this side, now on that, 

 using the reversible double-bladed paddles which only 

 an amphibious boatman can manage. The two men shot 

 out in mid-stream, where the mists would hide them 

 from each shore ; a moment later the white fog had en 

 folded them, and there was no trace of human pres 

 ence but the trail of dimpling ripples in the wake of 

 the canoe. 



No talking, no whistling, not a sound to betray 

 them. And there were good reasons why these men 

 did not wish their presence known. One was Potts, 

 the other John Colter. Both had been with the Lewis 

 and Clark exploring party of 1804- 05, when a Black- 

 foot brave had been slain for horse-thieving by the 

 first white men to cross the Upper Missouri. Besides, 

 the year before coming to the Jefferson, Colter had 

 been with the Missouri Company s fur brigade under 

 Manuel Lisa, and had gone to the Crows as an emissary 

 from the fur company. While with the Crows, a battle 

 had taken place against the Blackfeet, in which they 

 suffered heavy loss owing to Colter s prowess. That 

 made the Blackfeet sworn enemies to Colter. 



