At the outset of the fight Kosato, the renegade, fought with fury rather
than valor, animating the others by word as well as deed. A wound in the
head from a rifle ball laid him senseless on the earth. There his body
remained when the battle was over, and the victors were leading off the
horses. His wife hung over him with frantic lamentations. The conquerors
paused and urged her to leave the lifeless renegade, and return with
them to her kindred. She refused to listen to their solicitations, and
they passed on. As she sat watching the features of Kosato, and giving
way to passionate grief, she thought she perceived him to breathe. She
was not mistaken. The ball, which had been nearly spent before it struck
him, had stunned instead of killing him. By the ministry of his faithful
wife he gradually recovered, reviving to a redoubled love for her, and
hatred of his tribe.
As to the female who had so bravely defended her husband, she was
elevated by the tribe to a rank far above her sex, and beside other
honorable distinctions, was thenceforward permitted to take a part in
the war dances of the braves!
17.
Opening of the caches--Detachments of Cerre and Hodgkiss
Salmon River Mountains--Superstition of an Indian trapper--
Godin's River--Preparations for trapping--An alarm--An
interruption--A rival band--Phenomena of Snake River Plain
Vast clefts and chasms--Ingulfed streams--Sublime scenery--A
grand buffalo hunt.
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