g2 LIQUOR AND THE FUR TRADE. 



" Ha, ha, ha !" retorted the owner. " You seem to pick upon a Strang* 

 place for a snooze ! Wliat in the world were you doing before that skittish 



beast '" 

 The roar of kiughter which followed, told how well the joke was relished 



bv the crowd, ,. 



" Reports from the mountains brought intelligence of recent duhciilties 

 between the whites and Sioux,— the latter having murdered several trap- 

 pers. A battle had also been fought in tlio Snake country, m wnica the 

 Siouy were defeated v.'ith a loss of tweisty killed and wounded,— the whitens 

 suffered ^in the loss of their leader (Frapp) and four others. Another 

 affiiir had come ofi; at Fort Platte, between two factions of that tribe, while 

 on a drunken spree, resulting in the death of Schena-Chischille, their 

 chief, and several of his party. 



The most acceptable item of intelligence was the probability ot out 

 reaching the buiTalo range in ten days, at least, where we should thid vast 

 quantities of those animals. This led our voyageurs to expatiate anew 

 upon tlie cr.oice varieties of the feast of good things we might expect on 

 tliat occasion. 



Bidding adieu to our transient camp-mates, we were soon again en route. 

 The day following, being unfit for travel, was devoted to overhauling and 

 re-adjusting the freight of the waggons. Here, for the first time, I ascer- 

 tained the fact, that a portion of the above consisted of no less than 

 twenty-four larrels of alcohol, designed for the Indian trade ! 



Tliij announcement may occasion surprise to many, when aware that 

 the la^vs of Congress prohibit, under severe penalties, the introduction 

 of hquor among tlie. Indians, as an article of traffic,— subjecting the of- 

 fender to a hca\y fine and confiscation of effects. Trading companies, 

 however, find ways and means to smuggle it through, by the waggon-load, 

 under tlie very noses of government oflicers, stationed along the frontiers 

 to enforce the obsen^ance of laws. 



I pm irresistibly lod to the conclusion, that these gentrj' are wilfnlly neg- 

 ligent of their duty ; and, no doubt, tliere are often weighty induceirwMs 

 presented to them to shut their eyes, close their ears, and avert their faces, 

 to let the guilty pass unmolested. It seems almost impossible tliat a blind 

 man, retaining the senses of smell, taste and hearing, could remain igno- 

 rant of a thing so palpably plain. The alcohol is pat into waggons, at 

 Westport or Independence, in open duy-light, and taken into the territory, 

 in open day light, where it remains a week or more awaiting the arrival of 

 Its ownors. Two Government agents reside at Westport, while six or 

 eio'ht companies of Dragoons are stationed at Fort Leavenwortli, ostensibly 

 for the purpose of protecting the Indians and suppressing this infamous 

 trathc,— and yet it suffers no diminution from their vigilance! VVhat 

 faithful pubhc officers ! How prompt in tlie discharge ot their whole 



These gentlemen cannot plead ignornnce as an excuse. Itiev wen 

 know that alcohol is one of the principal articles in Indian trade— tins fact- 

 is notorious— no one pretends to deny it ; not even the traders themselves-- 

 and yet, because no one takes the trouble to produce a specimen of the 

 \i7vd of freight taken, more or less, by aU mountain companies, and forci 

 them to see, iaste^ touch, a,iid smell, they affect ignorance t It is thus th« 



