Untamed & Uncharted

The new mission

The new land mission moved on as soon as the weather cleared up, with the story of my Nile river expedition in their heads, I was unsure whether the team were afraid of what might be ahead or more determined to face the consequences. There was little distance made over many weeks due to the steep mountains we had to share the load in our backpacks to help the horses, the sight of the Missouri River and the snow-covered mountains as a backdrop was magnificent.
The lush fertile valleys and magnificent forests were breathtaking, I sat down on a rock and soaked it up for what seemed to be an hour; the trip down the mountains to the river was steep and dangerous. I breathed a sigh of relief at the river's edge, and then travelled three miles upstream to a suitable campsite. There on flat ground on the edge of the river we then built log cabins where we would stay the winter; everyone knew their tasks well, each day the shooting team would provide fresh meat deer and elk.
The winter wasn't far away so we dried and salted the meat that along with grain flour and oats would be our diet until spring, the winter was bleak and miserable the snow was so thick that doing anything was difficult the team managed to build the rafts. Living in the extreme cold and the short days was tough, how the Indians survived the winters here was a wonder to me, two shooters reported seeing Indians watching them bringing the game back so Jake sent Hinmah out to meet them.
He was from the Nez Perce tribe the ones rumored to be on the verge of waging war, Hinmah never returned.
In early spring I went upstream a further nineteen miles with Jake and his Indian scout Kamak until I found the start of the Missouri River. I then started mapping on the return trip back, three large sturdy rafts were ready and it was a magic moment when we first pushed off.

The river was wide deep and crystal clear not at all like the Nile, there wasn't much current the rafts were well-equipped with oars each raft had a bark shelter and the provisions were all stored in watertight barrels. Travel on the rafts was easy as we all took turns rowing, the countryside was picture perfect, I felt relaxed and wished each day would never end but they did and as each day drew to a close a camp was set up and we slept in four-man tents.
The river was in a deep ravine so daylight hours were short, there was plenty of salmon and game so we ate well, mountain streams were flowing into the river, we camped one night at the junction of a stream. Lou and Mario wandered off with their gold pans; they came back before dark and told Jake that they had found a few specs of color; they would leave the team here in search of their fortunes. Next morning Jake issued them with a pick, shovel, axe, flour, sugar, salt, oats and biscuits, the next two weeks saw farmers, settlers, trappers and prospectors leave at their chosen location, and the farmers got seed grain as well as their provisions. A couple from Scotland Alan and Jodie McNabb and two French trappers left at the junction of a large river, this was an ideal spot and had miles of lush flat land; the third raft was not needed because we only numbered twenty-seven now.

The French trappers said they would help the McNabbs build a cabin before setting off upriver.
Three days further downstream we saw Indians on horseback so we camped on the opposite bank that night, when we set out the next day we had not go far when we were attacked by Indians in canoes. It was terrifying, they were everywhere and we had no chance they were picking us off like flies, I saw the wounded trying to escape in the water but was shot with arrows. I was in the lead raft with Jake when one of the canoes approached as Jake was reloading his rifle. One of the Indians in a canoe was Hinmah, who had gone missing weeks before. He came up to the raft and said to Jake you go back and tell what happened here, tell them this will happen to others who enter our land, you will be the only one left alive, Jake yelled jump!
The Thompson's, Nellie Jamison and I immediately jumped into the water, the river bank was close. I swam down as deep as I could the water was cold, I could see the steep river bank not far ahead in the clear water, it disappeared and I was blasted by a rush of water that was so cold that it must have just come from an ice melt nearby, it was hard to breathe.
I surfaced bobbing up and down in the current I saw the junction of the icy river and the bank of the Missouri close to me so I made a desperate dash for it. I made it to the riverbank it was impossible to get out as the bank was eroded and undercut from the current, dense bushes and grasses were hanging over to the water so I clung on to a root protruding from the bank it stopped me being swept away. Peering out through the vegetation I could see the canoes patrolling back and forth on the edge of the fast water. I knew that I would not survive in this freezing water for long so I let my grip go and was washed downstream; I was thankfully still under the cover of the overhanging vegetation hidden from the Indians.

I bumped into an outcrop of massive tangled roots then I fumbled along through them and then all of a sudden I was sucked into an opening and was washed up onto a pebble beach. It was dark and gloomy and as I staggered trying to stand I heard a voice, Brett, Brett have you seen Daisy. It was Neil Thompson, I then saw Brian and Kate I answered in a shaky voice no, and my teeth couldn't stop chattering from the cold.
Daisy and Nellie then washed up, we were all in a bad way, Daisy said we had better warm-up or we will perish.
Get your wet clothes off roll around on the pebble beach in your underwear, it will dry you off and rolling will get the blood circulating. Sitting on the beach my eyes began searching through the poor light, my mind still numbed from the cold said to me am I dead? What is this place of darkness in the middle of the day, what are these entire long dangling dark shapes hanging overhead? After a while, I had regained my senses I began to explore this strange place, my eyes had become accustomed to the darkness and as I looked up. I saw massive tree roots hanging down like stalactites which disappeared up into the dark canopy.
We set off along the beach towards a dim ray of light a short distance away, on reaching it I looked up and I could see a small patch of sky. At the top of what at first appeared to be an enormous chimney, my senses still were not working properly, and then Neil said we are inside a giant hollow tree. He was right it must have been three hundred feet high, the top was missing it was truly an amazing sight, Daisy said we have no time for anything now but survival, we are all suffering from hypothermia and time is of the essence. There's a strong updraft here so hang out your clothes to dry on the roots, I found plenty of fine dry moss all around, it's soft so we need to remove our wet underwear.

Now we need to wrap ourselves in the moss, Brian said there are lots of stringy vines hanging down we can use to secure the moss. We did so and after about three hours my brain started working properly again, darkness set in quickly so we all huddled together to try to keep warm. Nellie didn't make it through the night, Daisy said that we were all lucky to make it but we're not out of danger. Our body's cores were not warm so we should try to build a fire.
Brian said smoke will attract the Indians then Neil said how can we start a fire anyway? I looked up the tree trunk and saw holes about fifty feet up with daylight streaming in, I said if we could reach one and look out to see where we are or if there is any danger from the Indians. Neil said he was an accomplished climber and would be able to get up there, I said that I had found some flint stone and there's plenty of dry wood I believe I can start a fire.
Brian said I have searched the area and the only way out of here is back through that freezing water, Daisy said that was not an option, Neil scaled the tree trunk wall to the first hole which was about as large as a man's head Neil said that the hole is where a branch had been long ago. He looked out and said I can see the river but no Indians, I think they must believe that we had drowned, I think it's safe to late a fire.
The updraft here is quite strong; any smoke should dissipate before reaching the top. We all gathered wood and after many attempts I finally got the fire going we didn't get close for fear of catching fire in our moss cladding I looked like a caterpillar cocoon. That fire was just so good we got changed now that we had dry clothes then kept piling the driftwood on and soaked up the heat for hours, my thoughts turned to survival, we were trapped in a strange tomb and did not know how to get out.
Neil climbed up to another hole in the hollow tree trunk much higher and on the other side; he said the tree was like a stone not like wood at all. There is a hill on this side and the ground is just below the hole, there are holes below filled so I think that sediment was washed down around this ancient giant tree, the sediment turned to sandstone and that's what's holding this petrified tree up. I yelled up to Neil is there any chance of breaking through the trunk he replied no; no way will you have to hack through more than two feet of solid stone. It must be more than two hundred feet further up to the top and will be far too dangerous to attempt that exit, I said we will all need to make a thorough search of this place now so split up tear through the roots and debris as we will die from starvation if we stay here. I said we will all need to make a thorough search of this strange place; we will die of starvation if we don't find a way out.

Read part 7            A way out

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