The next summer when the inland brigade left Fort George for the interior, Ross accompanied it, for he was starting for his own post at She-Whaps. As usual, there were many annoyances—men deserted, others fell sick, some of the Iroquois were about to fire on the native Indians—and altogether the leaders of the party had their hands full in trying to keep peace.
Ross had with him a little dog which an Indian one morning got hold of and carried away. The dog, anxious to get back to his master, in its struggles to escape happened to scratch one of the children of his captor, and presently Ross saw the dog running to him, followed by two men with guns in their hands. The dog lay down by its master’s feet, and one of the Indians cocked his gun to shoot the animal. Ross jumped up and took the gun from the Indian, who seemed very angry and demanded it again. After a time Ross handed it back to him, at the same time picking up his own gun and telling the Indian that if he attempted to kill the dog he himself would die. The man did not shoot the dog, but telling his trouble to the other Indians, they gathered about Ross and there was every prospect of a pretty quarrel. However, Ross and McKenzie, strong in their knowledge of Indian character, smoothed things over, made a little gift to the child that had been scratched, gave the chief some tobacco, and presently went on their way with the apparent good-will of the whole camp.
A day or two later another example was seen of the way in which Ross handled the Indians. The chiefs and the traders were smoking and talking.
“While thus engaged, and the crowd thronging around us, a fellow more like a baboon than a man, with a head full of feathers and a countenance of brass, having a fine gun in his hand, called out, ‘How long are the whites to pass here, troubling our waters and scaring our fish, without paying us? Look at all these bales of goods going to our enemies,’ said he; ‘and look at our wives and children naked.’ The fellow then made a pause, as if waiting an answer; but, as good fortune would have it, the rest of the Indians paid but little attention to him. No answer was made; nor was it a time to discuss the merits or demerits of such a question. Happening, however, to be near the fellow when he spoke, I turned briskly round, ‘So long,’ said I, ‘as the Indians smoke our tobacco; just so long, and no longer, will the whites pass here.’ Then I put some questions to him in turn. ‘Who gave you that fine gun on your hand?’ ‘The whites,’ answered he. ‘And who gives you tobacco to smoke?’ ‘The whites,’ he replied. Continuing the subject, ‘Are you fond of your gun?’ ‘Yes,’ ‘And are you fond of tobacco to smoke?’ To this question also the reply was ‘Yes,’ ‘Then,’ said I, ‘you ought to be fond of the whites who supply all your wants.’ ‘Oh, yes!’ rejoined he. The nature of the questions and answers set the bystanders laughing; and taking no further notice of the rascal, he sneaked off among the crowd, and we saw him no more. The question put by the feathered baboon amounted to nothing in itself; but it proved that the subject of tribute had been discussed among the Indians.”
There was constant demand for readiness and quick-wittedness, for the whites were very few in number and the Indians numerous; moreover, these primitive people were altogether disposed to see how far the whites would permit them to go, and it was thus exceedingly easy to begin a quarrel about some trifling matter in which blood might be shed.
From his post in the She-Whaps Ross soon went east toward the Rocky Mountains, having been ordered to explore this country and see what it contained. He set out on foot with two of his best hands and two Indians. Each carried as baggage one-half dozen pairs of moccasins, a blanket, some ammunition, needles, thread, and tobacco, besides a small axe, a knife, a fire steel, and an awl. All they had besides was a kettle and a pint pot. For subsistence they depended on their guns, and for a further supply of shoes and clothing on the animals that they might kill by the way.
The country was extraordinarily rough. Fur-bearing animals were not plenty, but game was abundant, elk and deer being seen in great numbers, and so tame as to make it appear that they had never been disturbed.
In six days’ travel down a stream, which Ross calls the Grisly-bear, they shot four elks, twenty-two deer, two otters, two beavers, and three black bears, without stepping out of the trail. A little later they saw moose, and still later is given a curious account of a battle between two large birds, both of which were captured. One of these was a white-headed eagle which weighed eight and three-quarter pounds, and the other “a wild-turkey cock, or what we call the Columbia grouse,” which could only have been a sage grouse. This is said to have weighed eleven and one-quarter pounds!
During this same summer McKenzie had trouble with the Iroquois—seemingly most untrustworthy servants—who tried to kill McKenzie, perhaps with the idea of taking all the property of the expedition. However, McKenzie’s quickness and readiness enabled him to put the Iroquois to flight.
Soon after his return from his Eastern exploration Ross was invited by the Indians to accompany them on a bear-hunt, which he describes: