The two parties came together two or three days afterwards, on the
4th of August, after having passed through the gap of the Littlehorn
Mountain. In company with Campbell's convoy was a trapping party of the
Rocky Mountain Company, headed by Fitzpatrick; who, after Campbell's
embarkation on the Bighorn, was to take charge of all the horses,
and proceed on a trapping campaign. There were, moreover, two chance
companions in the rival camp. One was Captain Stewart, of the British
army, a gentleman of noble connections, who was amusing himself by a
wandering tour in the Far West; in the course of which, he had lived
in hunter's style; accompanying various bands of traders, trappers, and
Indians; and manifesting that relish for the wilderness that belongs to
men of game spirit.
The other casual inmate of Mr. Campbell's camp was Mr. Nathaniel Wyeth;
the self-same leader of the band of New England salmon fishers, with
whom we parted company in the valley of Pierre's Hole, after the battle
with the Blackfeet. A few days after that affair, he again set out
from the rendezvous in company with Milton Sublette and his brigade of
trappers. On his march, he visited the battle ground, and penetrated to
the deserted fort of the Blackfeet in the midst of the wood. It was a
dismal scene. The fort was strewed with the mouldering bodies of the
slain; while vultures soared aloft, or sat brooding on the trees around;
and Indian dogs howled about the place, as if bewailing the death
of their masters.
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