CHAPTER XXVI.
Deputation from the As-ne-boines—Characteristic Speech of Yellow Belly—Visit to the Fort—Visit to Fort Union—Rescue of Five White Men from Starvation—Arrival at Fort Case—Departure for the Village—Visit of the Snakes to the Crows.
We received another deputation from the As-ne-boines to sue for a renewal of peace. We had lost a warrior and two women, who had been massacred when away from the village, and on discovery of the bodies we followed the trail of the perpetrators in the direction of the Black Foot country. We eventually discovered that many petty outrages, which we had charged upon the Black Feet, were in reality committed by the treacherous As-ne-boines. On their return from their thievish inroads they were in the habit of proceeding very near to a Black Foot village, with which they were at peace, and then, turning obliquely, would cross the Missouri into their own country. Becoming acquainted with this oft-repeated ruse, we determined to chastise them. I accordingly crossed the Missouri with a force of eight hundred and fifty men, and invaded their territory with the determination to inflict upon them such a chastisement as should recall them to a sense of decency. We encountered a small village, only numbering forty lodges, on their way to Fort Union, and within a few hundred yards of the fort. Seeing our approach, they intrenched themselves in a hollow, rendering our assault a work of danger. But we stormed their position, and killed twenty-six warriors (all of whom we scalped); the remainder we could not get at, as we found their position impregnable.
Admonished by this chastisement, they sent another deputation to us to treat for the re-establishment of peace. But
