Unluckily, the trappers and their allies, in
searching for the fort, had got scattered, so that Wyeth, and a number
of Nez Perces, approached the fort on the northwest side, while others
did the same on the opposite quarter. A cross-fire thus took place,
which occasionally did mischief to friends as well as foes. An Indian
was shot down, close to Wyeth, by a ball which, he was convinced, had
been sped from the rifle of a trapper on the other side of the fort.
The number of whites and their Indian allies had by this time so much
increased by arrivals from the rendezvous, that the Blackfeet were
completely overmatched. They kept doggedly in their fort, however,
making no offer of surrender. An occasional firing into the breastwork
was kept up during the day. Now and then, one of the Indian allies, in
bravado, would rush up to the fort, fire over the ramparts, tear off a
buffalo robe or a scarlet blanket, and return with it in triumph to his
comrades. Most of the savage garrison that fell, however, were killed in
the first part of the attack.
At one time it was resolved to set fire to the fort; and the squaws
belonging to the allies were employed to collect combustibles. This
however, was abandoned; the Nez Perces being unwilling to destroy the
robes and blankets, and other spoils of the enemy, which they felt sure
would fall into their hands.
The Indians, when fighting, are prone to taunt and revile each other.
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