?—?Ho hey there! came Samuelson’s shout.
There he appeared, along with Boyd & the girl, none the worse for wear, escorted by two Midnooskies up the Trail River. The dog, Boyo, led the charge, to Pruitt’s annoyance. We had enticed the Lieutenant out of the hut for a dose of sunshine, so he sat cross-legged upon a boulder when the dog lunged into him, barked, lapped his face.
?—?What’s this? Samuelson asked when he saw Tillman with babe in arms. —?You work fast, soldier!
?—?No, no. Not mine. Though that would make a more believable story than the one we’ll tell.
We shared our news, though not all the gruesome details of the child’s birth. I concede, now the infant is washed & clothed, it is more appealing. It is much altered in this short time, too. It holds up its round head & watches everything keenly.
We told of our stay so far with the tyone & his people, our disappointing attempts at communication.
They, too, had their adventures. When they set up the Trail River in search of us, they followed our same mistaken route. How had they then found their way to us?
?—?Lucky for us, you left a marker.
Boyd untied his pack, took out the bundle of Pruitt’s books.
The revelation brought new life to Pruitt. I thought for a moment he would be brought to tears, but instead he shook Boyd’s hand, thanked him repeatedly.
?—?We were glad to see it in the tree, Boyd said. —?From there we spied your tracks up the dirt slope. Once we got up on top of that ridge, we could make out the village.
It seems that not long after we had parted company with them, they shot several tebay in the mountains, but lost one to the cliffs. As they carried the meat down the valley, they camped along a creek where they were happy to find ‘color’ in a few pans.
?—?That’s not all, Boyd said with much emotion.
?—?He believes he caught sight of his woman, Samuelson said.
?—?I did, Colonel. Up high by those peaks, where we shot them tebay, I seen her wandering in the fog. I ran & called after her till I was hoarse, but she was too far off.
They were reluctant to leave the creek, both for its gold prospects & Boyd’s attachment.
?—?But we were wondering after you, Samuelson said. —?It’s good to find you well.
Just then, Boyo broke into a scrap with several of the village dogs, so our conversation was interrupted.
Written record by Lieutenant Andrew Pruitt
Meeting between Tyone Ceeth Hwya and Lieutenant Colonel Allen Forrester, translator William Samuelson
Trail River
May 23, 1885
?—?Does he know a way through the mountains? We want to travel up the Wolverine River, over into the Tanana drainage.
?—?Yes. Yes. You have told him that many times since you first came. He says he is not an old man who can’t hear. He knows where you want to go. You haven’t told him why.
?—?That’s the way to our home.
?—?It would be better to go back the way you came. He says the way through the mountains is not as good.
?—?We are determined to go north. We would like to set out soon, so we will be home before winter.
?—?If you want to be home, why did you come here?
?—?Tell him the United States of America now owns this land. We bought it from the Russians. We need to know what is here. Now that we know, we can go home.
?—?How can this be your home, if you and your family and tyones live someplace else?
?—?This isn’t our home. We own the land. But it’s not our home. Our home is far away. Tell him I have a wife and child waiting for me. I want to see them. To do that, I have to get across these mountains.
?—?You must have come for another reason. He says men don’t leave home unless they are after something. Is it fur? Slaves?
?—?We came to see the country. That is all. Now it is time for us to go home. We need to know the way through the mountains. Will he guide us?
?—?He doesn’t think so.
?—?Why not? Could he at least give us some advice about the best way? He has been there many times, hasn’t he?
?—?Maybe he has. Maybe not. He wonders why you soldiers are here. He wants to know if an army follows you up the river.
?—?Tell him there is no army coming. We want to leave him in peace.
?—?He says you’ll run into trouble in the mountains. [I don’t know the word, Colonel. Think it’s something like a ghost or spirit of some kind.] He says you should go back down the Wolverine. It’s a lot farther to go over the mountains. You and your men were almost dead when they found you.
?—?Tell him we will go, whether he guides us or not. It’s just a matter of what he gets out of it. We’ll pay him. Guns. Ammunition. Even if he’ll just tell us the best way. We think there’s a pass, above the north fork of the Wolverine. Is that the best way?