170 THE STORY OP THE TRAPPER 



tribe s warriors. In vain Johnston sued for her hand. 

 Old Wabogish bade the white man go sell his Irish es 

 tates and prove his devotion by buying as vast estates 

 in America. Johnston took the old chief at his word, 

 and married the haughty princess of the Lake. When 

 the War of 1812 set all the tribes by the ears,, Johnston 

 and his wife had as thrilling adventures as ever Colter 

 knew among the Blackfeet. 



Many a free trapper, and partner of the fur com 

 panies as well, secured his own safety by marrying the 

 daughter of a chief, as Johnston had. These were not 

 the lightly-come, lightly-go affairs of the vagrant ad 

 venturer. If the husband had not cast off civilization 

 like a garment, the wife had to put it on like a garment ; 

 and not an ill-fitting garment either, when one consid 

 ers that the convents of the quiet nuns dotted the wil 

 derness like oases in a desert almost contemporaneous 

 with the fur trade. If the trapper had not sunk to the 

 level of the savages, the little daughter of the chief was 

 educated by the nuns for her new position. I recall 

 several cases where the child was sent across the At 

 lantic to an English governess so that the equality 

 would be literal and not a sentimental fiction. And yet, 

 on no subject has the western fur trader received more 

 persistent and unjust condemnation. The heroism that 

 culminated in the union of Pocahontas with a noted 

 Virginian won applause, and almost similar circum 

 stances dictated the union of fur traders with the 

 daughters of Indian chiefs; but because the fur trader 

 has not posed as a sentimentalist, he has become more 

 or less of a target for the index finger of the Pharisee.* 



* Would not such critics think twice before passing judgment 

 if they recalled that General Parker was a full-blood Indian ; that 



