Peg Leg Smith In the Winter of '48

[Old Bookaroo]

Peg Leg Smith in 1848​

While reading the very interesting Dreams of El Dorado; A History of the American West, by H.W. Brands (2019) – a thoughtful gift from my brother-in-law – I came across a reference to the following brief account of Peg Leg Smith’s whereabouts in the winter of 1848.

The Oregon missionaries Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, and twelve others, had been massacred by Cayuse Indians. Over fifty women and children had been taken hostage by the murders as shields against retribution.

The “Merry Mountain Man” Joesph L. Meek was delegated by the new provisional government to carry to Washington City news of the terrible event along with a petition for federal government protection.

In the face of the dangers of a winter journey across the continent – after his arrival, Sen. Thomas Hart Benton said “In the depth of winter they send to us a special messenger who makes his way across the Rocky Mountains at a time when almost every living thing perished in the snow, when the snow was at such a depth that nothing could penetrate to the bottom of it” – there were also hostile tribes with which to contend. At about the time described, Meek and his little band had traveled for two days without a rest to stay ahead of Bannocks demanding tribute, and then continuing east had to detour to avoid Lakota seeking the same.

Meek encountered an old friend along the way.

1848. Taking only a blanket and their rifles, and leaving the animals to find their way back to Fort Hall, the little party pushed on. Meek was now on familiar ground, and the old mountain spirit which had once enabled him to endure hunger, cold, and fatigue without murmuring, possessed him now. It was not without a certain sense of enjoyment that he found himself reduced to the necessity of shooting a couple of polecats to furnish a supper for himself and party. How long the enjoyment of feeling want would have lasted is uncertain, but probably only long enough to whet the appetite for plenty.

To such a point had the appetites of all the party been whetted, when, after several days of scarcity and toil, followed by nights of emptiness and cold, Meek had the agreeable surprise of falling in with an old mountain comrade on the identical ground of many a former adventure, the head waters of Bear River. This man, whom Meek was delighted to meet, was Peg Leg Smith, one of the most famous of many well-known mountain men. He was engaged in herding cattle in the valley of Thomas’ Fork, where the tall grass was not quite buried under snow, and had with him a party of ten men.

Meek was as cordially received by his former comrade as the unbounded hospitality of mountain manners rendered it certain he would be. A fat cow was immediately sacrificed, which, though not buffalo meat, as in former times it would have been, was very good beef, and furnished a luxurious repast to the pole-cat eaters of the last several days. Smith’s camp did not lack the domestic element of women and children, any more than had the trapper’s camps in the flush times of the fur trade. Therefore, seeing that the meeting was most joyful, and full of reminiscences of former winter camps, Smith thought to celebrate by a grand entertainment. Accordingly, after a great deal of roast beef had been disposed of, a dance was called for, in which white men and Indian women joined with far more mirth and jollity than grace or ceremony. Thus passed some hours of the night, the bearer of dispatches seizing, in true mountain style, the passing moment’s pleasure, so long as it did not interfere with the punctilious discharge of his duty. And to the honor of our hero be it said, nothing was ever allowed to interfere with that.

Refreshed and provided with rations for a couple of days, the party started out again next morning…

The River of the West; Life and Adventure in the Rocky Mountains and Oregon; embracing events in the life-time of a Mountain-Man and Pioneer with the Early History of the North-Western Slope including An Account of the Fur Traders, the Indian Tribes, the Overland Immigration, the Oregon Missions, and the Tragic fate of Rev. Dr. Whitman and Family. Also, A Description of the Country, Its Conditions, Prospects, and Resources; Its Soil, Climate, and Scenery, Its Mountains, Rivers, Valleys, Deserts, and Plaints. Its Inland Waters, and Natural Wonders, by Mrs. Frances Fuller Victor (1870)

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo

 

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[releventchair]

Wonderful choice Brother in Law.

The cow hints of potential jerky or pemmican to take forward.

Illustration of a young Meek shows a fullstocked rifle.
Born or antler powder measure. Shape doesn't suggest cow or buffalo horn tip .
I'm pointing such out as it seems an Eastern influence on the artist.
Then looking at his pouch ...It's not quite a later GreatLakes/MidWestWoodland floral design.
But too , something complex. For a shooting bag it's fancy. (Nothing wrong with fancy but it's well beyond utilitarian sometimes. Then a rare and pleasant surprise combines both).
It speaks of native craft. But also of ladies "pockets" worn not so dissimilar by unmarried gals to demonstrate thier handiwork.
We may hazard that's not Meeks needlework.
Scottish thistles were symbolic . Of course to Scots!
[ From the mid-eighteenth century forward, the mainstays of the Hudson’s Bay Company and its eventual rival, the North West Company, lay with its Scottish personnel. The HBC ships sailed from London, but they often made last calls at the Hebrides or Orkneys, where they seldom failed to find recruits. The company maintained agents in Stornoway, the Isle of Lewis, and Stromness, Orkney, for years. ]

The work in question looks like a clover stalk and blossom. And teases a question of why or what it represents.
The Rocky Mountain fur Company was absorbed in time by the American Fur Company.
Given Meek was involved with The Rocky Mountain Company prior to it's fate before the o.p.'s mentioned trip East., a thistle is unlikely.
Yet Meek in time would allegedly use a red sash in the Oregon territory to imitate French of the Hudson Bay Company. Not so much to attract business doings , but more (again allegedly) to be left unharmed /let pass.

Peg Leg had it going on.
Elsewhere native used a valley /riverine terrain in winter and followed the river to a great lake in summer for a few degree temp difference. And encountering less humidity and bugs than were developing inland.
He was using the natural features in a logical way.

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Wonderful choice Brother in Law.

The cow hints of potential jerky or pemmican to take forward.

Illustration of a young Meek shows a fullstocked rifle.
Born or antler powder measure. Shape doesn't suggest cow or buffalo horn tip .
I'm pointing such out as it seems an Eastern influence on the artist.
Then looking at his pouch ...It's not quite a later GreatLakes/MidWestWoodland floral design.
But too , something complex. For a shooting bag it's fancy. (Nothing wrong with fancy but it's well beyond utilitarian sometimes. Then a rare and pleasant surprise combines both).
It speaks of native craft. But also of ladies "pockets" worn not so dissimilar by unmarried gals to demonstrate thier handiwork.
We may hazard that's not Meeks needlework.
Scottish thistles were symbolic . Of course to Scots!
[ From the mid-eighteenth century forward, the mainstays of the Hudson’s Bay Company and its eventual rival, the North West Company, lay with its Scottish personnel. The HBC ships sailed from London, but they often made last calls at the Hebrides or Orkneys, where they seldom failed to find recruits. The company maintained agents in Stornoway, the Isle of Lewis, and Stromness, Orkney, for years. ]

The work in question looks like a clover stalk and blossom. And teases a question of why or what it represents.
The Rocky Mountain fur Company was absorbed in time by the American Fur Company.
Given Meek was involved with The Rocky Mountain Company prior to it's fate before the o.p.'s mentioned trip East., a thistle is unlikely.
Yet Meek in time would allegedly use a red sash in the Oregon territory to imitate French of the Hudson Bay Company. Not so much to attract business doings , but more (again allegedly) to be left unharmed /let pass.

Peg Leg had it going on.
Elsewhere native used a valley /riverine terrain in winter and followed the river to a great lake in summer for a few degree temp difference. And encountering less humidity and bugs than were developing inland.
He was using the natural features in a logical way.

On his way east, Meeks wore a distinctive cap and red sash so he could pass himself off as a Hudson's Bay Company man, thinking the locals would be more agressive toward an American immediately after the massacre. Along the journey, Meeks went back to his wolfskin cap, which caused something of a stir when he crossed the Mississippi to civilization.

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo

 

[DolanDave]

Great references, pictures, and posts from everyone. I love the history. I have been hunting gold all over the area since 2002 in the area of the Virgin River, and Colorado area. I can attest to black manganese coated gold I have found exactly in the area. Here is what one of the nuggets look like, and ones in the background I have acid washed...

 

[Steve Baldwin]

Good stuff Bookaroo, but allow me to add to the story. In 1848, Peg leg was indeed selling horses to the emigrants who came across the country on the Oregon trail, which is why he built his trading post a 1/4 mile from the trail. But he was more of a trader and not a "cattle herder." He sold mostly horses to the emigrants and these horses were stolen from Spanish ranches, between 1830 and the late 1840's. My research on Peg leg -- in preparation for a book -- indicates that his horse theft activities with his Ute partner Walkara, was probably encouraged by the US government which wanted Mexico OUT of the Southwest. The US govt was engaged in a number of covert actions to harass Mexico in order to create the Mexican American War, which we knew we would win. You know, the whole "Manifest Destiny" thing.

When Pegleg wasn't stealing horses (we're talking around 20,000 over a ten year period, which was greatly destabilizing the California economy), he was assisting emigrants by fixing broken wagon wheels, selling them food, and allowing them to take a break from the road by camping out at his cabin compound on the Bear River. I'm attempting to get permission right now from Idaho authorities to locate the exact location and memorialize it with an historic marker of some kind. Currently, no one knows where it is. After reading through hundreds of overland emigrant diaries, I've found passages about Pegleg helping them in over 70 of them and, indeed, he was so instrumental in assisting emigrants that in the 1850's, there was a big effort in Congress to pass a bill that would give Pegleg a federal pension.

Anyway, Meek did stay at Pegleg's compound but he asked Pegleg to write a letter that urged the US. government to send troops to help him "settle" Oregon. He thought having Pegleg's name on the letter would help, since Pegleg's name was very well known all over the country at that time. When Meek got to St. Louis, he convinced the newspaper there, the Adventurer, the publish the letter. After months of trying to obtain a copy of what was actually published, I now have it and it shows that Pegleg was far more literate than what some writers have claimed. By the way, years later, Meek became somewhat of a con-man and was known for pretending to be a doctor in the Oregon territory and made some money from doing so. He had no medical education or any education for that matter. But he watched other doctors do their thing and, in time, was actually performing surgeries. But, at the time, there were no real doctors in the area so perhaps it was a good thing. But, as we all know, the West was not settled by refined, highly educated men but by rough men who who often lived "on the edge."