BILL HAMILTON:
FAMOUS TRAPPER, TRADER, AND INDIAN FIGHTER
THE mountaineers were pushing, adventurous and fearless men who thought nothing of laying down their lives in the service of a friend. They usually carried very little with them. A few ponies transported their meagre supplies, and, with only enough provisions to last them a few days, they often set out to journey through a vast wilderness. Naturally they were very self-reliant. With only a gun or two they took desperate risks in a country filled with their red enemies. They overcame every difficulty with a dash and courage that is amazing. “Uncle Bill” Hamilton was a typical example of one of these men.
From the time that he was twenty years of age this famous old fellow spent his life on the plains. He became a sign-talker and was able to converse with all the Indian tribes which were met with. Sign-talking will soon be a lost art, but in the old days all of the red men used the same signs, although they spoke different languages. He was also a trapper, trader, and pathfinder. He blazed many a trail which was to lead the frontiersmen to rich agricultural regions. He set an example of courage and perseverance that will leave a bright memory in the hearts of all.
In the spring of 1842, when twenty years of age, young Bill was living in St. Louis, Missouri; but chills and fever were gradually undermining his constitution, so his doctor ordered a change of climate. Consequently his father made arrangements with a party of hunters and trappers, who were in St. Louis for a few days, to let his son accompany them on their next trip, which would last a year. The party consisted of eight “free” traders, with “Bill” Williams and a man named Perkins, as leaders. These two scouts had had fifteen years’ experience on the plains among Indians, and had a wide reputation for fearless courage and daring exploits.
The trappers soon reached Independence, Missouri,—where they sold their wagons and rigged up a complete pack outfit, as the expedition would go through a country in which wagons could not travel. Young Bill Hamilton still had on city clothes, and when the old fur traders saw this, they began to laugh and poke fun at him.
“What be you going to do with that city cuss in th’ mountains?” said one. “Why, he’ll lose himself in a hour’s time and walk down the throat of some grizzly bear.”
Young Bill did not like this remark at all, and hurrying to a frontier store he traded his “store clothes” for two suits of the finest buckskin. When he appeared in camp with these fine togs on one of the mountaineers said: