This chief was said to possess a charmed life, or rather, to be
invulnerable to lead; no bullet having ever hit him, though he had been
in repeated battles, and often shot at by the surest marksmen. He had
shown great magnanimity in his intercourse with the white men. One of
the great men of his family had been slain in an attack upon a band of
trappers passing through the territories of his tribe. Vengeance had
been sworn by the Bannecks; but The Horse interfered, declaring himself
the friend of white men and, having great influence and authority among
his people, he compelled them to forego all vindictive plans and to
conduct themselves amicably whenever they came in contact with the
traders.
This chief had bravely fallen in resisting an attack made by the
Blackfeet upon his tribe, while encamped at the head of Godin River. His
fall in nowise lessened the faith of his people in his charmed life; for
they declared that it was not a bullet which laid him low, but a bit of
horn which had been shot into him by some Blackfoot marksman aware, no
doubt, of the inefficacy of lead. Since his death there was no one with
sufficient influence over the tribe to restrain the wild and predatory
propensities of the young men. The consequence was they had become
troublesome and dangerous neighbors, openly friendly for the sake of
traffic, but disposed to commit secret depredations and to molest any
small party that might fall within their reach.
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