Lieutenant Frémont was just opening a folded note, evidently brought by the Indians. They had seated themselves upon the floor, along the wall, and were waiting for the result. The white men were eyeing the missive anxiously, and waiting also.
“This is a note from Mr. Bissonette at Fort Platte,” announced Lieutenant Frémont; “as follows,” and he read, in French. Then he continued: “In case some of us may not have understood it all, I’ll translate.” And again he read—flushing more as he proceeded:
“Fort Platte, July 1, 1842.
“Mr. Frémont: The chiefs in council have just told me to warn you not to set out before the party of young men which is out shall have returned. Moreover, they tell me that they are very certain that they (the young men) will fire upon you at the first meeting. They ought to be back in seven to eight days. Pardon me for thus addressing you, but it seems to me that I should warn you of the danger. Furthermore, the chiefs who forbid you to set forth before the return of the warriors are the bearers of this note.
“I am your obedient servant,
“Joseph Bissonette,
“by L. B. Chartrain.
“The names of some of the chiefs—The Otter Hat, the Breaker of Arrows, the Black Night, the Bull’s Tail.”
As the lieutenant finished, one of the seated chiefs arose, and dropping his blanket, as signal that he was about to speak, in guttural tone, with now and then a gesture, delivered a short harangue. Mr. Boudeau, the American Fur Company agent in charge of the post, translated sentence by sentence.
“You have come among us at a bad time,” said the chief. “Some of our people have been killed, and our young men who have gone to the mountains are eager to avenge the blood of their relations, which has been shed by the whites. Our young men are bad, and if they meet you, they will believe that you are carrying goods and ammunition to their enemies, and will fire upon you. You have told us that this will make war. We know that our great father has many soldiers and big guns, and we are anxious to keep our lives. We love the whites, and are desirous of peace. Thinking all these things, we have decided to keep you here until our warriors return. We are glad to see you among us. Our father is rich and we expected that you would have brought us presents from him—horses and guns and blankets. But we are glad to see you, anyway. We look upon your coming as the light that goes before the sun; for you will tell our great father that you have seen us, and how we are naked and poor and have nothing to eat, and he will send us all these things.”