Kate Mulhall A romance of the Oregon Trail
the subsequent negotiations, for as soon as the war ended and the
Government was apprised of the wrong inflicted by that treaty,
suitable reservations were provided.
[2] In 1849, after the discovery of gold in California, it is said
that more than seven hundred cleared from Atlantic ports to San
Francisco; many celebrated clippers made the trip from the East to
the West in the years 1850-51, and very fast passages were common
from 1850 on.
{137}
CHAPTER V
AN ENCOUNTER WITH PIRATES, AND A FORTUNATE DELIVERANCE; BEN FOUND;
HIS PROMPT START FOR MISSOURI AND UNEXPECTED ARRIVAL; A SON BORN TO
THE PELTONS.
Near the noon hour, with the headland yet in the distance, Pelton
noticed two canoes whose occupants were paddling as if speed were a
question of life or death with them. Not long afterward, another was
seen going frantically in the same direction, followed closely by two
more. Steicca observed the racing canoes, but though evidently
disturbed as to the cause, discreetly said nothing.
About the same time Kate saw either a boat or large canoe coming
directly toward them and wondering what it could mean, called Isaac's
attention to it. Sally had likewise discovered the craft and showed
signs of uneasiness. A friend had told the story of how, many years
ago, her little boy was taken captive by the northern Indians,
carried off into slavery, and had never been heard from since.
Somehow the appearance of this boat or large canoe revived the memory
of that occurrence and created a fear for the safety of Pete.
Slavery was once practiced in her own tribe (though at that time
discontinued); but she had been told by other Indians that the
northern tribes were known to still {138} follow the practice, which
seemed corroborated by the taking of her friend's boy. As the large
craft approached nearer, Sally hid Pete under the cover of a mat
beside her with fearsome admonitions that impelled him to lie quiet
and not betray his presence.
Pelton's suspicions led him to slip his fowling piece out of sight,
and Kate's trusted rifle was under the outfit in the bottom of the
canoe. Isaac directed that no sign of fear should be manifested when
they were overtaken, and all intercourse with the strangers be left
to him.
As the pirates came alongside they insolently threw a line over the
bow and stern posts, and then lashed the two canoes firmly together;
being much longer and wider, theirs loomed high above that of
Pelton's. It was of the pattern of the canoe in which the northern
tribes manned with seventy or more men went boldly to sea on their
whaling excursions; while not one of the largest, it would easily
hold twenty men.
Seven were on each side, with paddles in their hands, one at the helm
and a lookout in the bow, sixteen in all stalwart men in size and
physical condition far above the tribes farther south. The same may
be said of their mentality. In the northern tribes were painters and
sculptors of considerable ability, as evidenced by their totem poles,
inscriptions on rocks and ornaments of their mammoth canoes.
There were silversmiths in some of the tribes, as {139} shown by many
specimens offered for sale on occasions of their peaceful visits to
the white settlements. Nor were the women behind the men in ability
for fine work, abundantly illustrated by baskets, mats and other
articles for ornaments or domestic use.
Ethnologists attribute the superiority of these northern tribes in
part to a mixture of Japanese blood from castaways in past centuries,
perhaps even in prehistoric days; facial resemblances suggest the
fact, which seems to be confirmed by the remains of wrecked junks on
the northern coast. These were the people into whose clutches Pelton
and Kate had fallen on their honeymoon trip.
The spokesman for the buccaneers began by saying that they wanted a
tent, one of which was in sight, to which Pelton firmly responded
that he did not have any to spare. He had noticed a ship beating up
the Sound against the wind that had tacked toward them, and realized
that a parley to gain time until the ship came nearer would be their
best chance of escape.
Isaac noticed a silver ring on the spokesman's hand and offered to
buy it for his bride; for a moment the wily savage was thrown off his
guard, and looked Kate over with evident satisfaction. Just then one
of the men said something in a low tone, and after several articles
had been snatched by the robbers, the lines fastening the two canoes
together were suddenly cast off.
This precipitate action was caused by the near {140} approach of the
ship then bearing directly upon them; but unfortunately, it tacked
and bore rapidly away the same moment the lines had been loosened
from the canoe. Instantly all four paddles were frantically wielded
to overtake the ship, until by a supreme effort Steicca broke his.
The Indians soon discovered their advantage, but did not give chase
until they observed that the space between their victims and the ship
was widening. Kate then gave her paddle to Steicca and intently
watched the movement of their recent captors.
"As I live, Isaac, they have started to follow us," she said, as the
bow of the robber canoe was turned toward them, "is your gun loaded?"
"It is not," Pelton answered. "Then load it quick, and be careful,"
she cautioned, speaking while reaching down for her rifle and
ammunition so as to be ready for action at the crucial moment.
Realizing that it was impossible to escape by racing their few
paddles against fourteen, Isaac loaded his gun and deliberately
calmed his nerves for the contest. The ship was now too far away to
render assistance, and the robbers were rapidly gaining on them.
While yet beyond rifle shot, Pelton directed Steicca and Sally to
cease paddling, not to make any movement in the canoe other than to
keep it pointed on its course, and for Steicca to lie down.
"I believe you can reach them now, Kate," Isaac said. "Wait a
minute," came the response in a firm {141} voice, while she stood
upright in the canoe. We may well believe the aim was deliberate,
for the bullet lodged in the body of the lookout, who tumbled off his
perch into the water.
It took but a moment to reload the rifle. Pelton could not reach the
buccaneers with his fowling piece at that distance, and held his fire
in reserve. The robbers stopped to pick up their dead or wounded
comrade.
Sally and Steicca resumed their strenuous paddling as Kate sat down;
but when Isaac saw the Indians coming toward them a second time, he
again directed to cease paddling so their craft would be steady for
aim at the next victim. Onward came the great canoe, again Kate
reserved her fire and was successful in hitting her target--this time
the helmsman. As the canoe swung off its course to within range of
Pelton's gun, he disabled two or more on her broadside.
By this time the ship tacked again and was now approaching, while a
sloop rounded the nearby point and made directly toward the
distressed voyagers. Seeing these, the marauders drew off toward the
eastern channel, and were soon out of sight.
It is unlikely that they ceased the pursuit because of their losses,
for it is a matter of history that once this same tribe had 117
warriors in a combat, besides their women and children. During the
fight 27 were killed and 21 wounded; but they held out stubbornly for
two days, when hunger {142} compelled them to yield. Another
historic reference illustrating the ferocity of this tribe, the
"Haidahs," states that "both ships were attacked by northern Indians
when off the upper end of Vashon Island; all on board, eleven in
number, were murdered and the ships plundered and burned."
When the ship was finally hailed, no explanation was required, as the
pilot had heard the guns; the captain, with the aid of his glass,
knew what had happened. As the canoe came alongside, he cordially
invited all, including the Indians with the Peltons, on board; he
also took up the canoe, as he was intending to cast anchor off the
village from whence they came.
Nothing on the ship was too good for his unexpected guests. The
captain had heard of Kate's experience as Deputy Sheriff, but not of
the wedding. His enthusiasm at that news knew no bounds; by the time
they arrived at the village he insisted that the bride accept a
silver table service which she treasured to the end of her life as
the present from the big-hearted captain.
Pete had the time of his life with the sailors, who were surprised to
see the bright little fellow, up to all sorts of pranks as he
explored the ship from stem to stern and from top to bottom. He and
his mother were fairly loaded down with presents; Pete never forgot
his sailor friends, and in fact became a sailor himself.
The evening after their arrival at the village, {143} Kate and Pelton
rowed out to the ship, still at anchor in the harbor, to offer the
old tar sincere thanks and leave with him some token of good will and
appreciation for the opportune way in which he appeared upon the
scene and rescued them from imminent peril of the northern savages.
Capt. Pierson was past middle age but in perfect health, and an
impulsive jollity pervaded his whole being. He would not listen to
their leaving the ship until after dinner, nor to their profuse
thanks for his act.
"Oh, that's nothing; a man who did not respond in such an emergency
would be a brute. I only wish I could have chastised the rascals,"
he said--and meant it.
The captain belonged to a class of seafaring men (now almost
extinct), which once carried the Stars and Stripes to the farthermost
corners of the earth--free and easy with comrades, but usually a
strict disciplinarian, though sympathetic with his men. He was the
aristocratic ruler of the little world within the bounds of the ship,
their home and castle; all were inured to the hardships of long
voyages without complaint, but every one greatly enjoyed the respite
of a few days in port.
From time immemorial the "ships that go down to the sea" have carried
the commerce of the world, and planted the seeds of civilization in
every clime. It is difficult to realize that all this has been
changed within the range of one span of life. Only a very small
number of sailing ships now leave the ports {144} of the United
States; and the noble "clippers," the pride of the nation at that
period, very seldom grace the waters of the two hemispheres any more.
And the rugged, jolly captains, bronzed and weather-beaten, rough in
speech and stern in looks though usually kind-hearted and generous
beneath the surface, have almost vanished--like their ships.
Seafaring men who navigate the oceans in the immense vessels of the
present time are entirely unlike the old-time sailors in appearance
and actions. The modern crew appear upon our thoroughfares in fancy
uniforms, the officers resplendent in gold braid and gilt buttons,
and the common sailors in natty uniforms, usually without anything to
mar their dandified appearance. One can easily tell that reefing a
mainsail or splicing a rope is no longer part of their duty.
But the old-timers came ashore careless in appearance and rollicking
in manner, out for a good time--ready for a fight or a frolic--and
usually had it. Now they belong to the things that were, and we see
no more of them.
Captain Pierson believed the reason the Indians did not return the
fire was that their spokesman wanted to take Kate captive, for they
could have destroyed the little honeymoon party without mercy. The
confusion incident to the loss of their helmsman, quickly followed by
the wounding of several of their paddlers, and the sudden tacking of
the ship so disconcerted their plans that the marauders barely {145}