Sept. to, 1904.] 
S!6 
the early days. It was generally a well timbered quarter 
section of land whose owner lived back east, or it be- 
longed to some estate, or at least there was no owner or 
agent in the neighborhood to look after it, and for some 
if these reasons stealing timber from it was considered 
safer than from other lands in the same wood, and when 
3nce a quarter had acquired the name of hooking quarter, 
people went to it for timber as though they owned it, or it 
it least was' public property; and these quarters were 
usually entirely denuded of their timber before any of the 
adjoining timber was touched. 
But to me at that time it was quite a sight to see a 
whole quarter of land denuded of its timber. But it made 
a grand place to spend my time. It was full of sunshine, 
|birds, and flowers. I found a log seat and from this 
watched the birds and the squirrels. Then a wild turkey 
led her brood of young ones out into- the sunshine, and 
In plain sight they skirmished for their dinner. A doe 
and a spotted fawn came out of the shadows of the wood, 
[and while the doe cropped the blades of grass made sweet 
by sun and dew, the fawn played about her, jumping over 
low stumps and logs or little piles of brush. A pheasant 
came out and ran along a log to the other end, like a 
minstrel coming on the stage, and there he drummed, then 
I shook himself and flew away, and a brown thrasher in the 
Jnearest tree said, "Look there, look there; come here, 
Icome here; what's the matter?" And although this place 
was more than three miles from home, it became a 
favorite place, in which I spent many long and glorious 
days. On all these excursions I had one companion — a 
dog. His name was Watch. He was a very large brindle 
dog, with very heavy head and jaws, and his match did 
not roam the woods. He was very quiet, always attend- 
ing to his own business, and his business was nearly 
always with me ; and while I sat on a log he laid at my 
peet, with his great head on his paws and his eyes always 
on me. 
One bright July day I Was at my usual occupation, sit- 
ting on a log in the hooking quarter, with Watch lying 
■before me with his nose on his paws, when I noticed 
■that Watch was looking very intently past me, and that 
■the hair along his back was slightly raised, and he was 
■showing signs of uneasiness that made me turn and look 
■in the same direction, and there, about ten feet from me, 
■stood an old man, and with the man a little benched- 
I legged dog.' The man was tall, stooped-shouldered, with 
grizzly hair and whiskers, and he had a long rifle in his 
■hands. As soon as I looked around, he spoke to me, and 
Isaid, "How de do, boy." I spoke to him, and he came 
land sat down beside me on the log. His dog by that time 
ihad come nearer, and was growling and making a good 
Ideal of fuss, as though he wanted to fight Watch, but 
IpWatch laid still with his eyes on the old man, and paid 
■no attention to the dog. Then the old man said : "Don't 
■ let them dogs get to mix in' ; I expect your pap needs that 
■ dog of yourn," and I wondered what he meant. His dog 
■ was hardly as big as a coon, one of those old-fashioned 
■ penny dogs, with bench legs, and white and yellow in 
I color; but I finally said, "Watch won't hurt your little 
■ dog," and the old man laughed and shook all over for a 
■ while, and then he said : "Whose boy be you ?" and when 
II told him, he said, "Live out there on the -perarie?" and 
■ when I said yes, he told me that he lived about two miles 
■prom where we were sitting, and that he farmed a little 
land made barrels and kegs, and that if our folks wanted 
■ any pickle kegs to tell them to come over and get some. 
■ Then the old man told me that he was watching a bee tree, 
■ and that just as soon as the bees swarmed, he was going 
■ to cut it and get the honey, and that if I happened 
■ around at the right time I could have. some of the honey, 
I and I made up my mind to be around. 
The next morning when I entered the hooking quarter 
I saw the old man running as hard as he could, and beat- 
ing on an old tin pan, and I made up my mind that he 
was crazy; but my curiosity got the better of me, and I 
followed him, and he soon stopped. He had been chasing 
that swarm of bees, and they had settled on a low bush, 
and he went home and got a hive, and soon toted them 
home, while I looked on from a respectful distance. When 
we arrived at his house, his wife set out a lunch of cold 
corn-pone, cold catfish, and some home-made cheese, 
which was very light in weight and color, and I made 
a hearty meal. 
I spent the afternoon with my new-found friends, and 
had a very pleasant time. One of the things that inter- 
Jested me most was a fish pen. There was a small brook, 
1 fed by springs, that came into the stream just at the old 
■ man's house, and the water in this brook was very cold, 
1 as well as pure, and he had fenced in about a rod square 
I of this brook. Along the sides, the fence was made of 
I pickets driven into the ground, but across the ends it could 
I not be driven into the ground on account of the solid 
I rock bottom, so the pickets were stood upon end on the 
I rocks and laced together with hoop poles, and in that 
I pen were about a dozen catfish of different sizes, some as 
I large as ten pounds, and then there were three or four 
r| fine pike, and a hundred or more sunfish. These he had 
I caught in a net out of the large stream and put into his 
I pen, where he could dip them up when wanted, and he 
I told me he penned them up that way because if left in the 
I large stream they would not be good to eat in dog days, 
I and if kept in the cold spring water they would be good 
I all summer. As eight hours or less constituted a day's 
1 work for the old man, he decided to cut the bee tree the 
I next morning; so after another feed of cold catfish, cold 
I pone, and home-made cheese, I scampered for home, and 
I waited very impatiently for next morning to come. 
I was on hand next morning, and did not stop at the 
I bee tree, but went to the old man's home and found him 
1 about ready to go. He took a tub, an ax, and some 
I matches, and we started, and after a brisk walk of about 
I twenty minutes we arrived at the tree. After deliberately 
I looking around the tree a few times, the old man went to 
I chopping, and in about half an hour the tree came down 
I with an awful crash, but it was not a story-book tree, 
J and did not perform like Washington Irving's or Cooper's 
it bee trees. They always split open from end to end, but 
I this old tree remained as solid as a rock. The old man 
I looked it over carefully from end to end, and finally de- 
I cided, to his own satisfaction, where the honey was, and 
I then he cut out a log about twenty feet long and prepared 
I to split it. He first made some wooden wedges, and • it 
I seemed to me that he was the slowest mortal I had ever 
seen, and it was after noon before he laid that log open; 
but when he did lay it open, it disclosed the most wonder- 
ful store of honey, and the old man said it was the 
greatest store of honey he had ever found in a bee tree, 
and that he would have to go home and get his wife and 
the ox team and some more tubs, and he left me to watch 
the tree. Before starting, he had built several little fires 
under the tree, and smoked the bees very thoroughly, so 
they would not trouble us, and I was to watch and not 
let the tree get on fire. As soon as he was out of sight, 
I commenced to investigate the honey, and .taste it, too. 
At what had been the top of the hive, the honey was very 
light colored, and very good, but as it was followed down- 
ward along the hive, it was much darker, and finally it 
was as dark as mahogany wood. I began tasting at the 
light-colored honey, and gradually worked downward to 
the darker honey. The darker was the richer and better, 
so I filled up on that. While I was eating, a bee had 
crawled inside of my trousers, just below the belt, and 
as I happened to lean a little too hard against the tree, he 
stung me. It hurt awful for a minute or two, but not 
enough to prevent me from finishing my dinner. But be- 
fore I had finished, I began to have awful pains. They 
grew worse and worse; I wished for the old man, and 
made up my mind that he was not coming back. I threw 
myself on the ground and rolled and tumbled, but it did 
no good. The paid got worse and worse, and I con- 
cluded I had been poisoned, and that I must die. But 
that did not help the pain, and long before the old man 
and his wife arrived, I had become perfectly reconciled to 
die, but I could not stand the pain. At last they came, 
and I was lying on the ground unable to get up, white as 
a ghost, and suffering all the torments, perfectly willing 
to die if they would only stop the pain and let me die 
easy. They saw what was the trouble at a glance, and 
while the old lady Went home after some milk, the old 
man pulled some weeds and fed me, or made me eat them. 
I never knew what the weeds were, but think the old man 
said it was either boneset or pennyroyal. At all events, 
the pain gradually got better, and when the old lady ar- 
rived and gave me a drink of milk I soon got so I could 
stand up. But I was still a very sick boy, and so sore 
that I could hardly move; and to add to my discomfort a 
storm was coming up, and the old man told me I had 
better try to get home before, it rained, and that I could 
come back some other day and get some honey to take 
home, but I told him he could have all the honey, and I 
started for home. It was nearly sundo.wn, and the storm 
struck me before I had traveled a mile, and such an awful 
rain ! It came down in torrents, and when I reached Pike 
Run, just at dusk, . it was a raging flood, high enough 
to swim a horse. But Watch had crossed, and came back 
before I got lo the bank, and as he turned around as 
though about to start in again, I grabbed him by the back 
of the neck, and in we went together. I had made the 
mistake of getting on the upiaer side of the dog, and when 
the torrent swept us both off our feet, my legs went under 
the dog, and they were badly scratched, and the blood 
was running down in streams when we got out of the 
water. Just as we crawled up the bank, Uncle Tom came 
nvpr the hill on a horse hunting for me. and pulled me up 
behind him, and I was soon at home. I did not want any 
supper, and was put to bed. After rolling and tumbling 
about on the bed for a while, I fell asleep, and then 1 
dreamed. I dreamed that a panther got me and took me 
into an old log cabin, and began to grind some corn stalks 
on an old grindstone to cut me up with, when, just as he 
raised up the corn stalks, and felt along the edge to see 
if they were sharp, I made a break for liberty, stubbed 
my sore toe and fell, and just as the panther landed upon 
me I awoke and found mother sitting by my bed putting 
cold cloths upon my head. A. D. McCandless. 
[to be concluded.] 
Trails of the Pathfinders —XVII. 
Alexander Henry (The Younger). 
(Continued from #age 194.) 
In August, 1801, Henry was on his way to a new post 
on the Pembina, the one which Langlois had established 
the year before. He intended to establish also a post at 
Grandes Fourches, the site of the present town of Grand 
Forks, North Dakota.- This business, and his travels to 
other subsidiary trading posts that he built at various 
points, occupied the autumn. Game was abundant, and 
so were fish. The Hudson's Bay Company, the opposi- 
tion, were not far off,, and there was some intercourse be- 
tween the men of the two companies. On March 14, 
during a drinking match, occurred one of the fights 
among the Indians which were so common in those days 
of abundant liquor. "Gros Bras, in a fit of jealousy, 
stabbed Auposoi to death with a hand-dague; the first 
stroke opened his left side, the second his belly, and the 
third his breast. He never stirred, although he had a 
knife in his belt, and died instantly. Soon after this, 
Auposoi's brother, a boy about ten years of age, took the 
deceased's gun, loaded it with two balls, and approached 
Gros Bras' tent. Putting the muzzle of the gun through 
the door, the boy fired the two balls into his breast, and 
killed him dead, just as he was reproaching his wife for 
her affection for Auposoi, and boasting of the vengeance 
he had taken. The little fellow ran into the woods and 
hid. Little Shell found the old woman, Auposoi's mother, 
in her tent ; he instantly stabbed her. Ondainoiache then 
came in, took the knife, and gave her a second stab. Lit- 
tle Shell, in his turn, taking the knife, gave a third blow. 
In this manner did these two rascals continue to murder 
the old woman as long as there was any life in her. The 
boy escaped into Langlois' house, and was kept hid until 
they were all sober." 
March 15, a swan, a turkey-buzzard, and a hawk, the 
first spring birds, were seen; and by the middle of April 
wildfowl were plenty, and calves were becoming numer- 
ous. Passenger pigeons were passing north, and toward 
the end of the month some Indians came in with thirty- 
six whole beaver in a skin canoe. In May came the 
news of a Sioux attack on the Salteurs, in which seven of 
the latter were killed. Henry planted his garden, and 
soon after made ready for his departure to join the 
brigade. 
■ The next September he was back again at Panbian 
River, trading with the Indians, and, of course, handing 
out rum to them. His entry for February 15 contains a 
small temperance lecture which represented what he 
sometimes preached, but never practiced. As he says: 
"The Indians totally neglected their ancient customs ; and 
to what can this degeneration be ascribed but to their in- 
tercourse with us, particularly as they are so unfortunate 
as to have a continual succession of opposition parties to 
teach them roguery, and to destroy both mind and body 
with that pernicious article, rum? What a different set 
of people they would be were there not a drop of liquor 
in the country. If a murder is committed among the 
Salteurs, it is due to a drinking match. You may truly 
say that liquor is the root of all evil in the West." 
Spring came on with the usual signs, and about the 
usual time. The women were making sugar at the last 
of March (1803), and it was noted that spring that very 
few buffalo drifted down the river. The plains of the 
■ Red River were covered with water from the sudden 
melting of the snow, and the men suffered much, for they 
were continually on the march, looking up Indians along 
every stream. The water was commonly knee-deep, and 
in some places much deeper, and was usually covered 
with ice in the morning, making the walking tiresome, 
and often dangerous. Some of the best men, Henry says, 
lose the use of their legs while still in the prime of life. 
The Indians were now bringing in the proceeds of their 
spring hunt, and exchanging it for rum. When the time 
came around, Henry interrupted his hunting and his 
trading to plant his garden, sowing potatoes, cabbage, 
and many root crops. With the end of May came the 
mosquitoes, a terrible pest. Among the articles traded 
for was maple sugar, an important article of food in that 
country. As usual, about midsummer, Henry started 
down the river with his furs, and reached Fort William 
July 3. 
On the 29th of the same month he started on his return 
journey, with a brigade of eight canoes; and about two 
months later, September 20, found himself at the present 
Winnipeg, and somewhat later at the old post on the 
Panbian River. 
Horses had now begun to be used in the trade at this 
point, and Henry grumbles about them in a long entry, 
which is worth reproducing: "It is true they are useful 
A RED RIVER CART 
No metal in its construction. 
animals, but if there were not one in all the Northwest 
we should have less trouble and expense. Our men would 
neither be so burdened with families, nor so indolent and 
insolent as they are, and the natives in general would be 
more honest and industrious. Let an impartial eye look 
into the affair, to discover whence originates the un- 
bounded extravagance of our meadow gentry, both white 
and native, and horses will be found one of the principal 
causes. Let us view the bustle and noise which attended 
the transportation of five pieces of goods to a place where 
the houses were built in 1801-02. The men were up at 
break of day, and their horses tackled long before sun- 
rise; but they were not ready to move before ten o'clock, 
when I 'had the curiosity to climb on top of my house to 
watch their motions, and observe their order of march. 
"Antoine Payet, guide and second in command, leads 
the van with a cart drawn by two horses, and loaded with 
private baggage, cassetetes, bags, kettles, and mashque- 
minctes. Madame Payet follows the cart, with a child a 
year old on her back, very merry. Charles Bottineau, 
with two horses and a cart, loaded with V/2 packs, his 
own baggage, and two young children, with kettles and 
other trash hanging on to it. Madame Bottineau, with a 
squalling infant on her back, scolding and tossing it 
about. Joseph Dubord goes on foot, with his long pipe- 
stem and calumet in his hand. Madame Dubord follows 
011 foot, carrying his tobacco pouch with a broad bead 
tail. Antoine Thellier, with a cart and two horses, loaded 
with V/2 packs of goods, and Dubois' baggage. Antoine 
La Point e, with another cart and horses, loaded with two 
pieces of goods, and with baggage belonging to Brise- 
bois, Jasmin, and Pouliot, and a kettle hung on each side. 
Auguste Brisbois follows, with only his gun on his shoul- 
der and a fresh-lighted pipe in his mouth. Michel Jasmin 
goes next, like Brisebois, with gun and pipe, puffing out 
clouds of smoke. Nicolas Pouliot, the greatest smoker in 
the Northwest, has nothing but pipe and pouch; those 
three fellows have taken a farewell dram, and lighted 
fresh pipes, go on brisk and merry, playing numerous 
pranks. Dormin Livernois, with a young mare, the 
property of Mr. Langlois, loaded with weeds for smoking, 
an old worsted bag (madame's property), some squashes' 
and potatoes, a small keg of fresh water, and two young 
whelps, howling. Next goes Livernois' young horse, 
drawing a travaille, loaded with baggage and a large 
worsted mashguemcate belonging to Madame Langlois. 
Next appears Madame Cameron's mare, kicking, rearing, 
