Mountain Man Osborne Russell Describes a Nearly Uncontacted Tribe in 1834
Mountain man Osborne Russell’s encounter with a Native American tribe has some very interesting aspects.
Osborne Russell left behind perhaps the best mountain man journal from the time period. In this journal, titled Journal of a Trapper, Russell describes his experiences and emotions as a mountain man for a period of nine years. During this time, Russell traps, hunts, explores, fights, nearly dies, and lives to tell the tales. If you have not read the book, I would highly suggest you take the time and put in the effort at least once in your life.
While the Osborne Russell journal is filled with dozens of stories worth retelling, his encounter with a band of “Snake people” is one that seems to really stick with people. Basically, Russell is traveling with a group of other trappers in the Yellowstone region during (according to my best estimate) is his second summer in the Rockies. To his surprise, the groups battles snow in the month of July as they cross mountain passes in search of their fall trapping grounds. It is at this point, Osborne Russell recounts the story of meeting the nearly uncontacted tribe below:
“28th We descended the stream about 15 mls thro. the dense forest and at length came to a beautiful valley about 8 Mls. long and 3 or 4 wide surrounded by dark and lofty mountains. The stream after running thro. the center in a NW direction rushed down a tremendous canyon of basaltic rock apparently just wide enough to admit its waters. The banks of the stream in the valley were low and skirted in many places with beautiful Cottonwood groves
“Here we found a few Snake Indians comprising 6 men 7 women and 8 or 10 children who were the only Inhabitants of this lonely and secluded spot. They were all neatly clothed in dressed deer and Sheep skins of the best quality and seemed to be perfectly contented and happy. They were rather surprised at our approach and retreated to the heights where they might have a view of us without apprehending any danger, but having persuaded them of our pacific intentions we then succeeded getting them to encamp with us. Their personal property consisted of one old butcher Knife nearly worn to the back two old shattered fusees which had long since become useless for want of ammunition a Small Stone pot and about 30 dogs on which they carried their skins, clothing, provisions etc on their hunting excursions. They were well armed with bows and arrows pointed with obsidian The bows were beautifully wrought from Sheep, Buffaloe and Elk horns secured with Deer and Elk sinews and ornamented with porcupine quills and generally about 3 feet long. We obtained a large number of Elk Deer and Sheep skins from them of the finest quality and three large neatly dressed Panther Skins in return for awls axes kettles tobacco ammunition etc. They would throw the skins at our feet and say "give us whatever you please for them and we are satisfied We can get plenty of Skins but we do not often see the Tibuboes" (or People of the Sun) They said there had been a great many beaver on the branches of this stream but they had killed nearly all of them and being ignorant of the value of fur had singed it off with fire in order to drip the meat more conveniently. They had seen some whites some years previous who had passed thro. the valley and left a horse behind but he had died during the first winter. They are never at a loss for fire which they produce by the friction of two pieces of wood which are rubbed together with a quick and steady motion One of them drew a map of the country around us on a white Elk Skin with a piece of Charcoal after which he explained the direction of the different passes, streams etc From them we discovered that it was about one days travel in a SW direction to the outlet or northern extremity of the Yellow Stone Lake, but the route from his description being difficult and Beaver comparatively scarce our leader gave out the idea of going to it this season as our horses were much jaded and their feet badly worn. Our Geographer also told us that this stream bed united with the Yellow Stone after leaving this Valley half a days travel in a west direction. The river then ran a long distance thro a tremendous cut in the mountain in the same direction and merged into a large plain the extent of which was beyond his geographical knowledge or conception 30th We stopped at this place and for my own part I almost wished I could spend the remainder of my days in a place like this where happiness and contentment seemed to reign in wild romantic splendor surrounded by majestic battlements which seemed to support the heavens and shut out all hostile instruders.”
As you can see, Osborne Russell and his companions come upon a “nearly uncontacted tribe.” I describe them as “nearly uncontacted,” because they had met a group of whites before, but were more or less living a Stone Age existence. They had no horses. They had no useful guns. They only had one metal knife that was nearly worn completely out. They had a rock pot. Also, they had so little contact with the trappers that Russell says they trapped many beavers but just singed the hair off because they didn’t realize how valuable they were. And, if you have any doubts they would have traded with trappers, you can see they just kept throwing furs on the ground saying, “Take what you want, we want the metal stuff!” This might be one of the most interesting parts of this encounter.
In our modern world, we seem to wonder why Native Americans didn’t just resist Europeans at the shores and keep them off the continent. In my opinion (again, one person’s opinion) here is the crux. Native people really, really, really, liked manufactured metal wares. They simply made their lives better. If you don’t believe that, I’d challenge you to boil your next family stew in a shallow depression lined with a buffalo stomach and heated with hot rocks. It wouldn’t take long, and you’d want a metal kettle, too.
