342 ON THE ETHNOGRAPHY AND PHILOLOGY OF THE 
Mountains. The Indians had the advantage of position and defensive barricades, the 
trappers that of arms, ammunition, and skill. For two days a sharp firing was kept up on 
both sides, the whites from behind trees and rocks, aiming at the openings in the forts, 
and the Indians shooting any trapper that exposed his person to view. A number of ex- 
hibitions of individual daring occurred on the part of the trappers; some of them leaped 
into the middle of one of the defences, which contained about twenty Indians, whom they 
killed and scalped, losing a few of their own party at the same time. Mr. Sublette, the 
leader, received a severe, though not mortal wound, from a ball passing through his body, 
after breaking hisarm. At the end of forty-eight hours, the trappers left the place, being 
unable to dislodge the Indians from their barricades. In this conflict, fifty-six of the At- 
sinas were killed, and about double that number wounded. ‘The trappers had nine men 
Ixilled, and several wounded, some of whom subsequently died from their wounds. 
As soon as possible after this battle, the Atsinas decamped, and pursued their journey 
by long and rapid marches. Considering themselves out of the reach of their white 
enemies, and beyond the limits of the range of the Crows, they travelled more leisurely, 
and inclined more northward, with a view of reaching a portion of the Blackfeet, near St. 
Mary’s Valley. Even when they considered themselves most secure, still greater misfor- 
tunes were impending over them. It so happened that the whole Crow nation had been 
on a visit to the Flatheads to obtain horses by barter, as was their usual custom. Having 
concluded their traffic, the Crows returned home in two camps, about the same time that 
the Atsinas were travelling through that region. Neither tribe was aware of the proxi- 
mity of the other, this portion of the mountains being unoccupied by Indians, and seldom 
visited by war-parties. The Crows, also, were travelling from west to east, whilst the 
others marched from the southwest in a northern direction. One of the Crow camps was 
about two days’ journey in advance of the other, when four young men started from the 
hindmost camp to join the one in front. In the meantime, the Atsinas had advanced 
nearly to the trail when the Crows had passed, and these young men, seeing the lodges, 
supposed them to be their own people, and went directly to their village. ‘They soon dis- 
covered their mistake, for the Atsinas at once killed three of them. The fourth, escaping 
among the rocks and bushes, fled back to his people, and informed them of the fate of his 
friends. ‘To secure a signal revenge without farther loss, the Crows waylaid the Atsinas 
in a certain pass which they knew their enemy would be obliged to travel through. This 
spot they surrounded, and lay in ambuscade until their enemies entered and filled it with- 
out suspicion. The Crows then fired upon them from behind rocks and trees with safety. 
The Atsinas were panic-stricken, and fled, leaving behind them their wounded, and some 
of their women and children. ‘They scarcely attempted a defence: only a few shots were 
fired at the Crows, but without effect. Sixty-seven Atsinas were killed, and double that 
