Zenas Leonard left his parents’ home in Pennsylvania in
the early 1830’s to seek his fortune in the west. They did not hear from
him for more than five years, and he was presumed dead. Then one day he
showed up at their door, fresh from the Rocky Mountains. Everyone was
eager to hear his story, so he wrote it down, first publishing part of it
in a local newspaper, and later the entire account as a book.
Leonard had been living as a mountain man, completely cut
off from civilization, surviving for years just with his gun and traps.
Although he was clearly brave and manly, Zenas did miss home:
I could not sleep, and lay contemplating on the
striking contrast between a night in the villages of Pennsylvania and
one on the Rocky Mountains. In the latter, the plough-boy's whistle, the
gambols of the children on the green, the lowing of the herds, and the
deep tones of the evening bell, are unheard; not a sound strikes upon
the ear, except perchance the distant howling of some wild beast, or
war-whoop of the uncultivated savage--all was silent on this occasion
save the muttering of a small brook as it wound its way through the deep
cavities of the gulch down the mountain, and the gentle whispering of
the breeze, as it crept through the dark pine or cedar forest, and
sighed in melancholy accents…
Homesickness was the least of his worries, however, and he
was constantly facing death by hostile tribes, starvation, or grizzly
bears. His descriptions of the grizzlies, which were common in his day,
are particularly vivid:
The Grizzly Bear is the most ferocious animal that
inhabits these prairies, and are very numerous. They no sooner see you
than they will make at you with open mouth. If you stand still, they
will come within two or three yards of you, and stand upon their hind
feet, and look you in the face, if you have fortitude enough to face
them, they will turn and run off; but if you turn they will most
assuredly tear you to pieces; furnishing strong proof of the fact, that
no wild beast, however daring and ferocious, unless wounded, will attack
the face of man.
Often witnessing bloody and vicious battles (which he
describes in detail) between different Indian tribes and between Indians
and whites, Leonard was understandably afraid of encounters with natives.
However, there were some exceptions, and he had friendly relations with
certain tribes. For example, the Flatheads were unthreatening, and Zenas
became familiar with some of their practices:
The Flatheads are well accustomed to the manners and
customs of the white race, and in many respects appear ambitious to
follow their example. -- Some years ago, they were in the habit of using
a process to flatten the heads of their children, which they deemed a
very essential addition to their appearance; but since they have had
intercourse with the whites they have abandoned this abominable
practice. The process of flattening the head is this: -- Soon after the
birth of the infant, it is placed in a kind of trough and a piece of
bark fastened by means of strings through the trough, and pressed hard
upon the forepart of the head, which causes it to grow flat. In this
painful position they are kept a year, and in some instances over a
year.
Leonard's intimate and unique story is rich in such
detail, and is truly high adventure.
|
View Large