Five Scalps
The Story of Edward Rose
by Jerry A. Matney
with D. A. Gordon
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2012 by Jerry A. Matney
Print copy available from:
Five Scalps Cover Art by Conrad M Okerwall
eBook Cover Design by D. A. Gordon
Smashwords Edition License Notes
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Thank you for
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Author Note: This is a work of historical fiction. Although the persons and events in this book have representations in history, this work is the author's creation and should not be construed as historical fact.
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Dedication:
This book is dedicated to the
friends and
readers of Woman War Chief.
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Regional Maps
Readers can download detailed maps of the regions discussed in this book from http://www.fivescalps.com. These maps include rivers, mountain ranges, towns and forts mentioned in the book, along with Native American tribe hunting grounds and markings of the future western state boundaries.
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Part One: Five Scalps
After a long day of loading ugly flatboats, Ed's strong back and powerful arms felt weary. All day he had been lifting salted hogsheads, smoked meats, furs, grains and bars of pig iron, all of which was bound for New Orleans. Leaning against a wooden bulkhead, Ed rested for a moment. Soon his mind wandered to thoughts of New Orleans, and his desire to visit the crescent city nestled at the end of the Mississippi. By what he had heard from the boatmen who had been there, the city sounded both wonderful and wicked.
At eighteen, Ed Rose was very much a man. He had matured early in life both from his hard work on the docks and from the physical abuse of his father. Asa Rose, half English and half Cherokee, was a hard-drinking trader who moved his family from the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee to the village of Louisville on the Ohio River. When he was sober, Asa could be successful at trading, but unfortunately, he wasn't sober very often. Although Ed despised his father Asa, he loved his easy-going mother, who was part Negro and part Cherokee. Although the Rose family was free, many white people still treated them as if they were slaves and not worth much consideration. To help minimize his feelings of rejection, Fatima Rose emphasized her son's Native American heritage. Ed had learned to accept the fact that his father would occasionally beat him, but Ed refused to accept ill treatment from anyone else. The fire burning in his restless soul cried out for freedom, and the justice he envisioned would come with that freedom.
Only the love Ed felt for his mother kept the young man in Louisville. Mentally and physically drained, Ed entered The Red Lion, a dark, dingy clapboard building that smelled of cheap whisky and unwashed human bodies. As usual, noisy dockworkers awaiting passage to St. Louis or New Orleans crowded the tavern. From experience, Ed knew that many of these dockworkers would have to work on a flatboat in order to earn a ride down the river.
Ed tried twice to gain the attention of the bartender standing at the other end of the bar, but the man seemed to be ignoring him. Finally, Ed boomed, "Jake, can I have a whisky down here?" Jake stopped talking, nodded to a stranger, and moved toward Ed.
"I've told you before," said Jake, "I ain't gonna serve you whisky because Asa would have my ass for allowin you to get drunk and then be unable to work. But I will get you a beer, just like before." Grabbing a mug, Jake turned to a large barrel. He opened the spigot, filled the glass with foamy brown liquid, and set the mug in front of Ed.
Meanwhile, the short, muscular stranger at the end of the bar left his place and staggered toward Ed. Apparently he was irritated by Ed's interruption.
"Sacre bleu," he belched, "monsieur, do you offer a drink to this be'be' ne'grillon? I think it would be against your laws to serve him." Jake ignored the drunk, but Ed understood the Frenchman well enough to know that the man had just insulted him. The stranger not only called him a nigger, but questioned his manhood, right there in front of his waterfront companions. Instantly, Ed became enraged. He charged the Frenchman, who realized too late that he had greatly underestimated this young dark man. Blood flowed from the Frenchman's mouth and left ear lobe. In desperation he counter-attacked by fiercely biting Ed on the forehead. In the meantime, the Frenchman drew a knife from his high-topped boot and cut Ed's nose badly before slashing his cheek.
Ed choked on his own blood as he wrestled the older man for his knife. Violently he bit the man's wrist until the knife dropped to the blood-soaked floor. Though bloody and deeply wounded, Ed beat the Frenchman until the stranger lay in a bloody pile on the dirty floor.
Jake pulled Ed off the lifeless body of the Frenchman and then looked toward two men seated at a nearby table. "Billy," Jake ordered, "you and Able take Rose to Captain Fall's boat and hide him in the cabin. Doctor him as good as you can while I try to stall the sheriff. They'll hang the boy for sure if they catch him. Now move, you hear?"
Billy and Able each grabbed a bloody arm and half-carried, half-dragged Ed to a large keelboat tied to the wharf. There they lit a candle so they could examine their friend's wounds. Although Ed Rose had cuts on his arms, hands and chest, his face had suffered the greatest injury. On his forehead a jagged circle caused by the Frenchman's teeth bled into Rose's eyes. One nostril had been severed and his cheek had been gashed from the corner of his mouth almost to his ear. Billy and Able covered Ed's wounds with lard and bandaged them with cotton rags. By the time they finished doctoring him, Captain Fall arrived with his boatmen.
Captain Fall examined Ed's wounds himself. He liked the young man and had hired him many times to load his boat. Captain Fall knew that when Ed loaded a boat, the cargo did not shift during passage. Captain Fall nodded at Ed and then dismissed Billy and Able.
Back on the boat deck, Fall yelled, "Stow your gear, lads. We'll cast off as soon as possible. I want to be thirty miles downriver by daylight. I ain't turnin this boy over to no damn sheriff for killin a Frenchie, especially not one dumb enough to pick a fight with a dockhand. Now move it!" The men worked quickly to prepare the Beaver for sailing. By midnight the boat glided quietly down the river, its box sails catching the stiffening breeze.
During the trip Ed languished below, amid the cargo, while waiting for his wounds to heal. Eventually the wounds did heal, but the deep scars on his face would stay with him for life.
Chapter 2
At daylight, Captain Fall checked the landmarks on both sides of the river. "Look lively, Jocko," he exhorted. "That is Otter Creek on our larboard side. We're makin good time lads, keep her movin." Then Fall entered the cabin to check on Ed Rose again. Although the bleeding had stopped, he could see that the wounds were deep. Because the boy's cuts had not been sutured, the scars would be wide and jagged.
Captain Fall offered Ed some rum cut with water to help replace Ed's body fluids. To numb the pain, he added a small amount of laudanum. The warm liquid soothed Ed's parched throat. As he grew drowsy again, he curled up in the feather-stuffed bedding and fell asleep. Several days passed before Ed became aware of his surroundings.
By the time the Beaver reached the mouth of the Tennessee River, the captain allowed Ed to lie on deck so he could observe the river and its shorelines. When they passed a canoe containing natives, Ed's pulse quickened. He had seen Native Americans before but most of them had either adopted white man's ways or had become alcoholic beggars. But these natives appeared to be healthy hunters and proudly wore their tribal clothing. The boatmen said these were Quapaw, who were known to be friendly to white men.
In the past year, Ed had loaded the Beaver many times. The boat was seventy feel long and eighteen feet wide. It was pointed at both the bow and the stern – with a large oar amidships for steering. Crewmen walked along each side of the deck using long poles to help propel the boat when there was no wind. The poles created small circular whirlpools as the men pushed them against the river bottom. At the end of each walk, the men pulled their poles from the water and returned to the bow to repeat the cycle.
Ed noticed a change in the color of the water. The starboard side had become dark and cloudy, while the larboard side of the boat remained clear. Captain Fall watched Ed stare into the water. "That is the Mississippi we are joining lad," he said, "and now we are on our way to New Orleans for sure. The muddy water is caused by the Missouri River, which flows all the way from the Rocky Mountains." Ed could not fathom what the Rocky Mountains might be like, but he wanted to visit them too someday.
As the May nights grew more humid, Ed started sleeping on the open deck. The lapping water against the hull and the night sounds of frogs and birds soothed his troubled mind. Ed missed his mother a lot, but he feared he would be hung if he returned to Louisville. He hardly remembered killing the Frenchman, but he would never forget the pain of the man's sharp knife against his face. He vowed to never allow such a thing to happen to him again. He wanted to become the meanest knife fighter on the river.
~~~~
One morning Ed noticed Captain Fall sitting on a bale of furs drinking his morning coffee. Ed moved over to sit next to the older man. "Captain," he queried, "how many times have you been to New Orleans? Are there many Americans down there?" Captain Fall paused to take another sip before he responded.
"I usually sail between Cincinnati and St. Louis. Only since the Treaty of San Lorenzo have Americans been allowed to take their cargo to New Orleans. This is my fifth trip downriver with a legal cargo." He took another sip before continuing. "New Orleans is an international city. The city contains Frenchmen, Englishmen, Portuguese, Creoles, Spaniards, Cajuns, Americans, Cameroons, Quadroons, Mulattos and slaves. Be careful they don't put you on the auction block or place you on a cargo ship bound for China."
Ed's blood rushed to his temples. "I'll kill any sonabitch who tries to capture me," he blurted. "I heard them ships goin' to China treat their sailors worse than slaves. At least slaves are valuable because they can be sold. Boatmen don't seem to matter to them folks at all." Then Ed remembered that he was wanted for murder back in Louisville and he grew quiet.
Guessing what the lad must be thinking, Captain Fall said, "Lad, just be alert and quick of mind and you will learn how to survive. Just be careful, because there are pirates, assassins and thieves all over this river. Trust no one." Ed respected the advice of the older man, so he asked him something that had been on his mind for a while.
"Captain, how can I learn to fight with knives?"
"If you feel you must fight to survive," replied the Captain, "I can't blame you. Bein' black is goin' to cause you a lot of grief, so I think Jocko can help you. He is the small, wiry Cajun handling the ship's tiller. Don't let his size fool you. He is the best damn man with a knife I've ever seen." Ed had already noticed the small, dark man with the thin mustache. Jocko seldom spoke to other members of the crew and they seemed to stay clear of him. Ed figured Jocko to be about thirty years old.
The captain motioned to Ed to follow him amidships. "Jocko, let me take the tiller for a while. I want you to teach Rose a thing or two about fighting with a knife before we get to New Orleans. He got cut up badly in Louisville and he doesn't want it to happen again." Jocko let go of the helm and walked over to Ed, looking him over. He could tell that the once handsome youth would be badly scarred for life.
"So you want to learn how to defend yourself with a knife?" asked Jocko. "I heard you beat that Frenchman with your bare hands. You are lucky I am a Cajun instead of French or I might have to avenge my countryman. My family lives in Barataria, which is below New Orleans. We are hunters, boatmen, guides, fishermen and sometimes we rob the rich who use our waterway. They are trespassers."
Jocko looked into Ed's piercing black eyes. "The kind of knife you use is not so important," he added. "It is more important that you know how to hold and use the knife you have. Take it gently with your fingers and flick it with your wrist. Keep your balance at all times and hold the knife in front of your body." Jocko demonstrated numerous moves. Ed was mesmerized. For the next ten days Jocko showed him various shapes and sizes of knives, explaining the advantages of each. Jocko was showing Ed a few defensive maneuvers when he had to take over the tiller again. Ed practiced by himself, wielding his knife against imaginary assailants.
The boatmen grew excited when the Beaver approached a high, rust-colored bluff on the larboard side of the widening river. Wild grapevines, flowering magnolias and large oak trees grew atop the bluff. A motley collection of weatherworn shacks stood below the bluffs, surrounded by numerous keelboats and flatboats. A steep road led up the bluff. Ed learned that this town was called Natchez. Captain Fall called out, "Jocko, we will not stop at Under the Hill on this trip, so keep the boat in midstream. I want to keep my crew alive and my cargo intact until we reach New Orleans." Ed looked up the bluff as they sailed past the boisterous port town.
Ed often practiced with his knife, and by the time the boat and crew arrived at New Orleans, he felt confident that he could hold his own in a one-on-one knife fight. He told this to his mentor. "You are ready for any fight, monsieur," said Jocko. "You know how to use a knife now, and you are brave and quick. Your scars make you appear older and more experienced than you are. Now, I will give you a name that will place terror in the hearts of your enemies. I name you Nez Coupe, which means 'cut nose'. My friend, be careful in the Vieux Carre' because life is cheap and the games are expensive. Dieu vous be'nisse --God bless you my friend."
Chapter 3
A lively port-of-call, New Orleans anchored ships from all over Europe. The city's taverns and cafes bulged with boisterous drinkers and gamblers, along with numerous ladies of the evening. Ed's eyes took in the sights of the bustling city. Captain Fall had told him that the city burned in 1784, and now the Spanish government was rebuilding the port with brick, stucco, tile and ornamental iron. The town's sidewalks were constructed of cobblestones, and the streets were paved with a mixture of ground oyster shells, clay and sand. Although New Orleans was Spanish designed and Spanish governed, its heart and spirit remained French. The city's population exceeded six thousand.
Because Ed had only the few coins advanced to him by Captain Fall, he could only watch the excitement around him. He longed to join the revelers. Captain Fall had promised Ed a job working on the docks, and Ed had taken the job. But he knew from experience that the work would be hard and the pay meager.
When winter arrived, traffic on the river slowed to a crawl; fewer ships arrived from the sea. Out of work and wandering through the French Quarter, Ed heard a loud greeting.
"Alloo, Nez Coupe! How have you been my friend?"
Ed rushed to meet the small Cajun and pumped his hand. "Jocko!" he exclaimed, "am I glad to see you. I need a job in the worst way. Do you have anything for me?"
Jocko showed Ed a bag of gold coins. "First we play and drink of the juice of life," he said, "then I will take you home with me to Barataria."
Ed and Jocko caroused all night in the Vieux Carre'. Ed made love for his first time, accompanied by a buxom mulatto gal. By morning they were thoroughly exhausted. Ed slept in the bateau while Jocko paddled them down the Mississippi canal system to Barataria. When Ed awoke, he found their bateau gliding quietly through salt grass and canes. The Spanish moss dripped from the cypress trees and oak hillocks seemed to rise out of the swamp. Ed saw several houses built on poles.
Jocko said, "We raise our cemetery and houses because of the high water table and because of hurricanes, which cause heavy rain and high tides." Ed wondered what a hurricane would be like. "We will land here," said Jocko. "That large two-story house belongs to my family."
Ed studied the old house. A balcony wrapped around the building on two sides and the home was completely shaded by large trees and vines. Jocko tied the boat to a tree on the levy and led his guest up the path. When they entered the darkened living room, Ed spied a fat old man sitting in a big chair, sipping from a ceramic jug. The man set down his jug and said, "Soyez be bienvenu. Will you join me in a veauverie?"
Jocko replied, "No, papa, we have just come from Vieu Carre' and we still souffrir."
The old man laughed and then tipped the jug again. Jocko led Ed into the kitchen. Jocko approached the short, fat woman who stood by the stove, stirring a pot of crayfish gumbo. He hugged her and turned to Ed saying, "Thees ees my eme'r – my mother. She will feed us." Jocko and his mother jabbered in French while Ed watched a young woman plucking feathers from a chicken. A feather protruded from the tip of her pretty nose. Jocko noticed the two young people exchanging glances.
"And thees ees my soeur, Juleen," Jocko explained. "Watch out for her, my friend, because she eats men for breakfast."
Juleen laughed and then turned back to her work. At eighteen she remained unmarried because her aggressive independence frightened young men away. She liked the looks of her brother's new friend and began to flirt with Ed. Jocko's mother set out large bowls of gumbo and black bread for Ed and Jocko. Ed ate hungrily, acutely aware of Juleen's stare.
After they ate, Jocko and Ed retired upstairs. Ed felt as though he had just nodded off when he became aware that someone was fondling him. Ed's eyes opened to see Juleen completely nude and trying to untie his cotton pantaloons. Although he was tired, Ed became aroused. Yet, he was afraid because Jocko slept on the other side of the dimly lit room. Ed helped Juleen remove his clothes and allowed her to teach him more about the art of lovemaking.
In late afternoon, Jocko awakened Ed, saying, "Mon ami, will you sleep all day? For my mother, we must go and hunt. I promised her some fat opossum for her stew, so let's go!"
Chapter 4
Over the next few years, Ed and Jocko robbed boatmen up and down the Mississippi. They partied in the Vieu Carre' and hung out on the wharves, always looking for new customers to rob. They fenced their stolen goods with various merchants on the New Orleans waterfront.
Physically Ed grew more powerful and mentally he became more cunning. He feared no one – that is, as long as he had Jocko's blades to back him up. He fought so often that his reputation grew. The name "Ed Rose" brought fear to those who knew of him. When boatmen from St. Louis or Louisville entered New Orleans, they soon learned of the fierce, black man called Nez Coupe. His scars easily identified him to the new arrivals and they wisely kept their distance. Ed felt people pulling away from him, but that was okay. He only relaxed around Jocko and he stayed close to the village of Barataria. He still had an occasional encounter with Juleen, although he preferred the Cameroons of the Vieu Carre'.
On June 6, 1803, the unbelievable happened. Word traveled to New Orleans that the United States had purchased the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon. On November 30th, Spain turned over the ownership of New Orleans to the French. Then on December 20th, France turned the area over to General James Wilkinson, the U. S. Commission, and C. C. Claiborne, the governor of the Mississippi Territory. Suddenly New Orleans became a world port, open to all trade as a part of the United States of America. Unfortunately, this openness also brought more pirates and members of the underworld to New Orleans. The wide-open city was a long way from the lawmakers of the United States.
In 1806 two brothers arrived in New Orleans and opened a blacksmith shop. Jocko approached Jean Lafitte and his brother Pierre about selling them his booty. Pierre agreed to handle their goods; however, his brother Jean was more interested in smuggling slaves into New Orleans. Pierre had formed an alliance with Dominique You, a rich slave runner who had built a lavish brick mansion on the island of Grand Terre. Captain You had ships that flew the flags of Cartagena while attacking Spanish ships in the Gulf of Mexico and in the West Indies. He smuggled his slaves and treasures to Barataria where Jean Lafitte set up his headquarters. In turn, Jean fenced the goods in New Orleans through Pierre's business. They sold the slaves on the block, with prices ranging from $800 to $1000 each.
As Jocko became more involved with Lafitte and his business ventures, Ed withdrew. He wanted no part of slave trading. He tried to dissuade Jocko, but the man would not give up his newfound wealth. Besides, Jocko argued, this job seemed safer than robbing keelboats. In the meantime, Ed grew tired of Juleen. She now had two of his children and she bothered him constantly about getting married. But Ed did not want a family to interfere with his quest for adventure. At twenty-six, he felt great and wanted something more, at least something different. He needed to leave Barataria and New Orleans.
News came down the river that Captain Lewis and Captain Clark had finally returned from their Corps of Discovery to the Pacific Ocean and back. Ed heard that Lewis and Clark had discovered rich furs in the Rocky Mountains and that they had made peace with the native tribes of the Missouri River system. Ed heard people say that a man could make a fortune in only a few short years of trapping, and this prospect appealed to him very much.
Ed bid Jocko and his family adieu. To Jocko he said, "Mon ami, thank you for your friendship and your knife skills. My knife has protected me well during our adventures. But now, I must leave Barataria and find my own way. I want to explore the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains while I'm still young."
Jocko hugged his friend and started to weep. He had grown fond of this wild, black man. Reluctantly, Jocko helped Ed load his pirogue. With misty eyes, he and his sister Juleen watched Ed paddle away until they could no longer see him.
~~~~
Ed paddled at a steady pace until he reached the docks of New Orleans, where he made one last visit to the Vieu Carre' to sleep with his favorite quadroon. At dawn he returned to the docks, where he searched for a keelboat heading to St. Louis. Eventually a boat named Otter caught his eye. The large keelboat, about sixty feet long and eighteen feet wide, had a four-foot by four-foot oak rudder and a long oar amidships for steering. The Otter reminded him of the Beaver.
As Ed stood admiring the boat, a well-dressed French businessman watched him. To Ed, the Frenchman looked prosperous, though he was more muscular than the average businessman. The Frenchman surmised from the onlooker's appearance that he must be the fierce riverman, Nez Coupe. He slowly approached Ed.
"Monsieur," the Frenchman said, "you admire my boat very much, yes? Do you wish to sign on to St. Louis?"
Ed responded, "Oui monsieur, I wish to enter the beaver trade on the Missouri. Do you have a position for me?"
The man replied, "I am Pierre Menard and, if I am not mistaken, you are called Nez Coupe?"
Ed gave him a rare smile and answered, "I prefer the name Edward Rose, please. I try to forget my unfortunate scars."
Menard smiled back. "Then I shall call you Monsieur Rose. What background do you have for the fur trade, monsieur? "
In his explanation, Ed decided to leave out his life of piracy. He said, "I have trapped all the bayous below New Orleans and I am an excellent hunter. I have shot gators, bears, wildcats and deer, though now they have become scarce on the lower Mississippi. I learned to be a good boatman on the Ohio. I grew up in Louisville." Menard already knew Rose's reputation as a pirate, brawler and knife fighter. He also knew the return to St. Louis could be a treacherous voyage because river pirates abounded. It would make good business sense to have a fierce pirate along to protect his cargo of coffee, tobacco and sugar from other pirates.
Menard replied, "Monsieur, I need a good man who can hunt and who can protect my cargo from river thieves. Can you do this job?"
Ed smiled again, "I will keep your larders full of camp meat and no thief will dare attack the Otter as long as I am on guard."
"Done," said Menard. "I will pay you fifty dollars in specie when we arrive in St. Louis. We leave tomorrow at daybreak. Good evening."
Ed quickly returned to his stored pirogue. He unloaded his few possessions of linen, cotton clothing, his treasured long rifle, long-bladed knives and his French pocket pistol. He carried his bag of belongings to the Otter and stored them in the hold. Then he fell asleep while listening to the creaking planks above him as boatmen finished loading cargo on the Otter.
When Ed awoke, he heard the captain yelling for all hands to push off. Then he heard, "Pole! Damn you laggards, pole!" He quickly climbed up to the deck and watched the men lined up on both sides of the deck pushing hand poles into the soft-bottomed river. Slowly the Otter moved out of the waterfront and started up the Mississippi.
Ed walked to the stern to get directions from Menard. "Monsieur," the Frenchman said, "I want you to position yourself here and scan the river for any boats or drift that might be a threat to us. Alert the captain at once so he can maneuver the craft for defense or to evade drifting logs. When we stop to camp, I want you to hunt for deer, bear or turkey to keep our larder filled. We should make about fifteen miles per day with good weather." As directed, Ed diligently scanned the river every day, even though he only spotted a couple of piles of floating driftwood. In the late afternoons he loved to explore the woods and stalk deer or the occasional black bear. Turkeys were elusive in the evening and he had to search for their roosting sites.
After five grueling days, they reached the place called Natchez Under the Hill. Menard and Captain Lambeau personally guarded their cargo while all hands became rip-roaring drunk. The crew brawled, partied and made love until daybreak. Ed roamed and explored the raucous town, but he remained sober. They laid over one day – for recovery – before again launching the Otter in their quest for the port of St. Louis. They polled past the Yazoo and the Arkansas Rivers, and then they finally met the confluence of the great Ohio River. It was difficult to pole their boat past the turbulence created by the junction of the two great rivers. At last, the Mississippi became calm again and travel became easier, but the water ran murkier and they had to navigate more snags and sawyers.
Ed longed for his mother and for Louisville, but he knew he could never go home again. He had been gone almost nine years now and perhaps his mother and father were dead. Although he felt homesick he had a strong desire to see the Missouri and the great Rocky Mountains. He soon turned his melancholy into excitement about his future.
~~~~
As they ascended the river, traffic became heavier. They met more skiffs, flatboats, dugouts and pirogues. These boats carried supplies, goods or families and their livestock to the new American port of the West, St. Louis. The cargo on these boats included geese, chickens, horses, cows, sheep and pigs, both for both personal use and for trade. The boats also carried regular trade goods, such as tin ware, pork, flour, hemp, tobacco, farming tools and whiskey. A lot of the travelers dressed in linsey-woolsey, made from flax and wool. Some of the men wore loose shirts that reached almost to their knees. These shirts were open in front and overlapped with a belt or tied in back. Some wore large capes across their shoulders. Some of the men wore shirts fashioned from dressed deerskin and breeches made of buckskin, fringed at the seams. Many also wore moccasins instead of cowhide shoes. Most of the women wore plain homespun dresses and handmade scarves.
Occasionally, natives were seen along the river, either staring in wonderment at all the boats or seeking trade from the wealthy travelers. These boats also carried Kentuckians, Virginians and Pennsylvanians who were either seeking new adventures or freedom from debts. Some of them traveled west to evade the law.
In the still of the evening Ed could hear the sounds of axes striking wood and the barking of dogs. He loved the smell of wood smoke and frying bacon. Beech, sycamore, willow and cottonwood trees marked the shoreline of the river as they struggled ever onward to their destination. At night, boats made camp if they could find land high and dry enough to tie to. Above all, they had to protect their precious cargoes.
As the Otter reached St. Genevieve, Ed noticed whitewashed mud walls and many wooden crosses. They passed high bluffs on the western shore and then they came to Carondelet and Cahokia. Several weeks since they passed the mouth of the Ohio River, Ed finally spied the skyline of St. Louis the westward bluffs. St. Louis was acquired in 1803 with the Louisiana Purchase and the town was just now beginning to grow and prosper. Since Lewis and Clark returned from the Pacific, St. Louis had become a hotbed of excitement for trapping, trading, and the Indian services provided by the federal government.
While waiting for Menard to put his trapping expedition together, Ed walked the streets of St. Louis. The town now numbered over three thousand souls, with new arrivals coming in daily. Most of the houses were built of wood frames, which were daubed with mud, and then whitewashed. Some were built of stone and coated with mortar. A few new stores and homes were even being built with brick.
Ed visited many taverns and bars, listening to trappers and hunters who had returned from the upper Mississippi or the upper Missouri. He discovered that not much was known about the upper Missouri. Once again he heard wild tales about giant mountains at the headwaters of the Missouri. However, he also heard tales about fierce native tribes who did not like white men venturing onto their lands.
Chapter 5
While Ed continued his education in the St. Louis taverns, Menard organized a trade expedition for the Missouri River area. He obtained a keelboat and two bateaus, which had come from Canada. These boats were about thirty feet long and eight feet wide. Pointed at both ends, they had flat bottoms and required six oarsmen to operate. By July Menard had hired twenty-five men including Ed, whom he hired for one season at one hundred dollars American.
When the men gathered at the wharf, Menard told them, "Boys, my new trading partner is Mr. Manuel Lisa. He and his family have many years' experience trading on the Mississippi and the Missouri. He knows the Indian tribes with whom we will be dealing and he is friendly with their chiefs. Obey him and show him the same respect you have shown me."
Manuel Lisa was small and dark; he sported a thin, well-manicured mustache. He was quiet and serious, much like Ed himself. However, Lisa seemed unsure of Ed and was not very friendly to him. Ed was not sure he liked Lisa either, but as long as he worked for Menard, Ed would accept Lisa as a condition of employment. In any case, Ed was anxious to be on his way to the Rocky Mountains. He believed that his life to this point had prepared him for this adventure.
The large party left St. Louis and turned up the Missouri River from the wide Mississippi. Ed went ashore on the southwest bank of the Missouri in order to hunt ahead of the boat. As he studied this new countryside, he didn't see much wildlife, though he spotted an occasional domestic cow. At least he was able to kill a few turkeys and one medium-sized black bear for the larder. This country had been well hunted by the ever-growing white population around the village of St. Charles, which he could see across the river to the northeast.
Ed reached the Osage-Woman's River and peered across its mouth, which seemed about thirty yards wide. Then about twenty miles above St. Charles it started to rain. By the time they reached Charrette's, the rain turned to hail and it began to thunder. Ed fired a shot into the air to hail the keelboat. "Hello there!" he yelled. "Bring her ashore. I'm cold and wet as hell out here."
Menard met Rose as the boat came close enough for him to jump aboard. Menard joked, "I see I may have picked a soft hunter. You will have to become stronger to survive among the Osage, monsieur."
Since Ed did not have much of a sense of humor, he simply replied, "When my services are needed, Monsieur Menard, I assure you I will make you proud."
During the next week it rained, thundered and hailed most of the time. Their progress slowed appreciably and hunting became limited. They passed the wide Gasconade, the narrow Big Muddy and finally the big Osage River, with a mouth nearly four hundred yards wide. They moved up the Osage River, passing thickly forested areas populated with oak, ash, elm, walnut and hickory trees. When the rain subsided, clouds of mosquitoes flew at the boatmen. Then the sun grew hot and the air became sultry.
Menard and his men were so eagerly greeted at the grand village of the Osage that order had to be restored before trading could begin. As Ed Rose strolled about he noticed men with their heads closely shaved except for a tuft of hair on their crown about two inches high and the size of a person's hand. Many men braided the center of their tuft, allowing it to grow long. Some of them pulled a scalp lock through it and inserted a small bone through the braid to hold the arrangement together. Some men even had silver plates of otter fur decorated with feathers attached to their scalp locks. Menard said that the entire Osage population consisted of six thousand men, women and children. Ed noted that the Osage warriors were tall, with many of them over six and a half feet in height. A number of the men sported tattoos on their arms, legs or chests. Later Menard explained that those markings denoted war honors or special events in each warrior's life, and that the Osage were very proud of their tattoos.
Ed discovered that most of their bows were made of wood from the bois d' arc tree. He recognized a good trade opportunity for obtaining and selling this wood because he had seen none of it around St. Louis, yet it was plentiful in the lower Louisiana Territory. When the head chief appeared for the parley with Menard, Ed and the other boatmen gasped. They had never seen a native as large as this chief. Through an interpreter they learned his name was Tchong-tas-sab-bee or Black Dog. He was almost seven feet tall and weighed between two hundred fifty and three hundred pounds. Ed himself was a little over six feet tall with almost two hundred pounds of solid muscle, yet he felt small alongside Black Dog. Ed thought that this chief should be called Big Dog instead of Black Dog.
They also met the chief of the upper village. This chief was called Chief White Hair. However, the interpreter told them that Black Dog was the leader of the entire Osage Nation.
~~~~
Ed watched Lisa and Menard give gifts to the chiefs in order to win their favor. The chiefs in return greatly flattered the white traders. The gift-giving ritual of his employers and the reciprocation in trade impressed Ed. He would remember this the remainder of his trading career. Ed learned that Osage pipes ranged from bones and stone wrapped in sinew to curved or angled hardwood roots and clay. The pipe bowls were shaped like a disk or were stubby and called a Micmac. Stone bow drills were used to make holes in the pipes, and then they were cured over a fire and smoked until they formed a carbon-caked lining in the bowl. Stone pipes were made of steatite, argillete, shale, limestone, serpentine or a red stone from the Rock River in the North Country. The latter was the most popular and was traded by tribes northeast of Big Sioux Falls.
Eager to get away from the clamor of the village, Ed selected an older native man named Turkey Foot to guide him. Turkey Foot communicated with him by using sign language and a Siouan dialect of the Osage language. Ed learned from his mentor that other tribes linked to this language group included the Mandan, Hidatsa, Crow, Sioux, Assiniboine, Iowa, Oto, Missouri, Omaha, Ponca and Kansa. Ed was good at learning languages and picked up their sounds quickly.
Ed and Turkey Foot hunted and trapped up North Moreau Creek to its headwaters, where they picked up the Lamine River and trapped it down to the Blackwater. When they reached its mouth at the Missouri, they traveled northwest to Arrow Rock and set up a temporary camp to dry their furs and pelts. They waited for the numerous boats of traders and trappers ascending the river to gain transportation back to the main Osage village.
Along the way, they held brief conversations with Launay, La Faysseau, Aird, Captain McClellan, Gravelines, Robidoux and several French Canadian trapping parties. They were told of a large party behind them that was coming down the river. Ed waited until he spotted them before firing his rifle and waving to them over the wide river. One of their pirogues with two hunters finally paddled to where he and Turkey Foot stood.
The taller of the men offered, "Hello, thar! I'm George Drouillard and this here is John Potts. We just returned from traveling the whole damned Rocky Mountains. We were with Captain Lewis and Captain Clark and the Corps of Discovery. Boys, we have seen some sights. Come on aboard and we'll tell you stories you won't believe." Potts nodded to them as he took their bundles of furs.
Ed offered, "I'm Ed Rose and this is Turkey Foot of the Osage. We have been hearin' about you fellows for some time. We heard you were on your way back to civilization. How's things up in those mountains?"
Drouillard said, "Son, there is more damn beaver in those streams than you've ever seen. You don't even need traps. All you have to do is sit under a cottonwood tree and wait until they come for tree bark and tender limbs and you just hit them over the head and toss them into your plew bag. We aim to join up with the first crew that will take us back to the Yellowstone."
Ed became excited. He gushed, "I'm with a rich Frenchman by the name of Pierre Menard of New Orleans and a tight-ass Spaniard named Manuel Lisa of St. Louis. I know they'll hire you if you can take us back to the great Osage village down below." The four paddled out to catch up with the other boats in the flotilla, where they met up with Peter Wiser, who also wanted to join the Menard and Lisa venture. At Black Dog's village, Ed introduced Drouillard, Wiser and Potts to Menard.
Menard offered, "Monsieurs, if you will winter and learn to trap here among the Osage, me and my partner Manuel Lisa will pick you up when the ice breaks in the spring." The men set up camp among the Osage and began to hone their trapping skills. From these men Ed learned everything he could about life in the Rocky Mountains. He could hardly believe their adventurous tales about crossing over the mountains to the Pacific Ocean and back. The news excited Ed to the core – this type of adventure was just what he wanted.
Chapter 6
On April 19, 1807, Manuel Lisa and Pierre Menard led the St. Louis Missouri Fur Company flotilla up the Missouri River. The flotilla had one large keelboat and four bateaus. The group also carried several dugout canoes for ferrying men and supplies back and forth from the river's banks. Rose, Potts, Wiser and Drouillard had been eager to join the expedition, and Lisa and Menard paid each of them two hundred dollars for joining. Because Ed felt he was worth more than the other men, he simmered about the pay offer. Lisa's party had been delayed several days because Jean Baptiste Bouche', who had received his pay in advance to care for his family, deserted the party. Bouche' had to be returned to the expedition in chains. Antoine Bissonet also deserted, taking with him several blankets and some camp equipment.
Lisa roared at his newly hired trappers. "Who will go catch that damn thief Bissonet and bring him back to me? Bring him back dead or alive!"
Drouillard spoke up. "Colonel, if you want his hide, I'll go after it," and with that he grabbed his rifle and took off through the bottoms in a lope. He trailed the renegade Bissonet for hours before spotting the man when he entered a clearing.
"Halt!" called Drouillard. "Damn you! I said, 'Halt'." But the man didn't stop. Tired of chasing Bissonet, Drouillard took a careful bead and fired. After he saw the fugitive fall, he rushed forward. The bleeding deserter screamed at him.
"You have killed me, you bastard! You have killed me for sure!"
Angrily Drouillard answered, "Shut your mouth, you damn thief. You're lucky my shot was off a little or I really would have killed you. When I yell Halt you son-of-a-bitch, you had better damn well Halt!" Then he half-carried, half-dragged the bleeding man back to Lisa's boat.
"Oh! My God!" Lisa exclaimed. "I did not mean for you to really kill him, Senor. I only meant for you to slightly wound him." Lisa sent one of his engages in a dugout to transport the wounded man back to St. Louis.
~~~~
When the flotilla reached the mouth of the Kansas River, the group met another party comprised of McClellan, Hortiz and Le Compt. Later, Ed learned that Lisa had paid Le Compt five hundred dollars. Although this angered Ed even more, he controlled his urge to quit Lisa because Menard had been very good to him. Perhaps he could still impress Menard so that Menard would tell Lisa to give him a raise. When the expedition reached the mouth of the wide Platte River, they met a solitary trapper in a canoe loaded with pelts. Lisa led his flotilla to a large sandbar to converse with the stranger. Soon, Drouillard, Wiser and Potts leapt from the keelboat to greet their old comrade from the Corps of Discovery.
Drouillard told Lisa, "Colonel, this is John Colter, the best damn hunter in the West and the toughest man I ever saw. He could whip his weight in Indians. He left us upriver last year to go into the trappin business. I suggest you listen to him and hire him if you can."
Colter told Lisa, "Sir, I have traveled all over the Rockies and most branches of this river and I'm here to tell you that the Yellowstone River country is the best trappin I have ever seen. If you will buy my furs, I'll sign on to lead you to the Bighorn, which has the best beaver in American waters." Lisa relied upon Drouillard, who vouched for Colter, and so he employed Colter on the spot. He assigned the new man to assist Rose in hunting for the party and to serve as a guide to take them to the Bighorn River.
The flotilla continued to work its way up the Missouri, past the Big Sioux, Niobrara, Big White, Bad, Cheyenne, Moreau, Grand and Cannonball until the party spotted large, earthen, lodge villages surrounded by fields of corn and vegetables. A large sandbar narrowed the Missouri into a swift channel in front of a village that contained about sixty round earth lodges. Each lodge had a smokehole at the top. Women, children and old men stood on top of their lodges, waving and yelling at the approaching party. Wooden pickets and earthen parapets built for defense surrounded the village. These folks had the swift river in front and a large creek protecting them in the back. It seemed like a good place for a village.
Lisa knew these people well. He told his men, "They have three villages with about five hundred warriors and a little over two thousand civilians. I have traded with them many times but they are very suspicious and can be treacherous. They are bitter enemies of the Sioux and Dakota, so never let them see you being friendly with members of those tribes." Beyond their pickets, Ed could see fields of squash, pumpkins, beans and corn. These people appeared to be farmers rather than buffalo hunters like the other tribes living on the plain. Lisa set up a trade camp on the sandbar in front of the village. While he was trading gunpowder and knives for horses, the Arikara chiefs brought dried squash, cornbread and boiled beans for Lisa's men. Ed enjoyed the Ree food after weeks of eating only salt pork, deer and elk.
As the party moved up from the main village, they saw two additional villages similar to the first, about one half mile from each other. When they reached the Knife River, they came upon the villages of the Mandan and the Hidatsa. In the villages they met some French Canadian traders who had lived among the people in these tribes for several years. One of these traders was Louis Menard, who proceeded to warn Lisa and Pierre Menard.
"Monsieurs," said Louis, I was robbed of everything two years ago, up on the Yellowstone. There were beavers all over that country, but the Crow think everything belongs to them. They stole all my furs, horses, guns, knives and traps as payment for my trespassing. I advise you to seek permission from their chiefs before you enter Absaroka." An older trader, Toussaint Charbonneau nodded agreement.
"I also have known them many years, monsieurs," said Charbonneau. "I have just returned from the Pacific Ocean. Potts, Wiser, Drouillard and Colter can vouch for me when I tell you the Crow chiefs are most honorable, but their braves and women will steal you blind. The River Crow are under Chief Rotten Belly and the Mountain Crow are under Chief Long Hair. I advise you, monsieurs, seek peace with both of them and then place traders among them."
~~~~
When the flotilla reached the mouth of the Yellowstone, Lisa set up a camp to repair his boats and recheck his supplies. To Pierre he said, "Here, Senor Menard, is the perfect location for a future trading post. From this position one can control all the trade on both the upper Missouri and the Yellowstone."
"Oui! Monsieur," replied Pierre. "I agree weeth you, but first we must push on to the Yellowstone and establish ourselves among the Crow." They worked their way past the Powder, Tongue and Rosebud Rivers until they reached the mouth of the Bighorn. Pierre called for a landing on the south bank of the Yellowstone above the Bighorn.
"Monsieur Lisa," Pierre offered, "I recommend this site for an excellent position to trade with the Crow. If we go further, I fear they will think we are interfering in their trade with the Snakes and Flatheads. They may even suspect us of providing powder and fusils to the Blackfeet."
Lisa had also been studying the country. "I agree, Senor," he said. "We shall build here. I will name this post Fort Ramon after my eldest son." Despite the name Lisa gave the post, white trappers called it Ft. Raymond, or even Ft. Manuel.
Chapter 7
Ed hunted during the fall of 1807 while most of the trappers were assigned to build Fort Raymond. They had laid out the post about three hundred feet square with double log stockades. They built a blockhouse on the northeast corner and placed one of the keelboat swivel guns atop to guard the river approach. Ed roamed up the south side of the Yellowstone bottom until he came to a large stone monolith. The tower was located about a hundred yards from the river. Ed paced over four hundred around the rock tower's base. He estimated its height at over two hundred feet. Its walls appeared to be perpendicular except for the northeast corner. Here he located an old trail that led to the top.
Ed could not resist – he had to climb this tower. When he reached the top, he saw that the surface was covered with good topsoil and short grass. The natives had piled two piles of stones on top and had carved pictures of animals and events into the tower walls. On the horizon Ed saw what must be the great Rocky Mountains to the west, and smaller mountains to the south, along the Bighorn River.
As he climbed down the tower, he spied a native sitting atop a horse, watching him. As Ed drew closer, he noticed the warrior had a bow, a quiver of arrows, and a British fusil. Ed was not much worried about the old gun. He worried more that these warriors could fire dozens of accurate arrows, while he could only get off one shot at a time with his black powder rifle. The stranger eased off his horse and clasped his hands in front of his body with the back of his left hand facing downward. Ed had already learned that this sign meant Peace. Ed returned the same sign back to the man.
As Ed continued his progress down the trail, he hoped the man with him was a Crow and not a Blackfoot, because his life may lay in the balance. The two men cautiously sat down. The native held his left fist in front of him with his flat right hand held just above it. He struck his left palm three times with his thumb and index finger, indicating he wished to smoke and palaver. Ed had learned that everyone was safe as long as the parties agreed to smoke together, for this was the universal peace sign of the Plains people.