"
44.
Outfit of a trapper--Risks to which he is subjected--
Partnership of trappers--Enmity of Indians--Distant smoke--A
country on fire--Gun Greek--Grand Rond--Fine pastures--
Perplexities in a smoky country--Conflagration of forests.
IT had been the intention of Captain Bonneville, in descending along
Snake River, to scatter his trappers upon the smaller streams. In this
way a range of country is trapped by small detachments from a main body.
The outfit of a trapper is generally a rifle, a pound of powder,
and four pounds of lead, with a bullet mould, seven traps, an axe,
a hatchet, a knife and awl, a camp kettle, two blankets, and, where
supplies are plenty, seven pounds of flour. He has, generally, two
or three horses, to carry himself and his baggage and peltries. Two
trappers commonly go together, for the purposes of mutual assistance and
support; a larger party could not easily escape the eyes of the Indians.
It is a service of peril, and even more so at present than formerly, for
the Indians, since they have got into the habit of trafficking peltries
with the traders, have learned the value of the beaver, and look
upon the trappers as poachers, who are filching the riches from their
streams, and interfering with their market. They make no hesitation,
therefore, to murder the solitary trapper, and thus destroy a
competitor, while they possess themselves of his spoils.
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