He had lived some
time among the Crows, so as to become acquainted with their language
and customs; and was, withal, a dogged, sullen, silent fellow, with a
sinister aspect, and more of the savage than the civilized man in his
appearance. He was engaged to serve in general as a hunter, but as guide
and interpreter when they should reach the country of the Crows.
On the 18th of July, Mr. Hunt took up his line of march by land from
the Arickara village, leaving Mr. Lisa and Mr. Nuttall there, where
they intended to await the expected arrival of Mr. Henry from the Rocky
Mountains. As to Messrs. Bradbury and Breckenridge, they had departed
some days previously, on a voyage down the river to St. Louis, with a
detachment from Mr. Lisa's party. With all his exertions, Mr. Hunt
had been unable to obtain a sufficient number of horses for the
accommodation of all his people. His cavalcade consisted of eighty-two
horses, most of them heavily laden with Indian goods, beaver traps,
ammunition, Indian corn, corn meal and other necessaries. Each of the
partners was mounted, and a horse was allotted to the interpreter,
Pierre Dorion, for the transportation of his luggage and his two
children. His squaw, for the most part of the time, trudged on foot,
like the residue of the party; nor did any of the men show more patience
and fortitude than this resolute woman in enduring fatigue and hardship.
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