Soul Stance River - 13

The river smells like damp cotton this morning, the weather has been so complimentary to our exertions frost invades the nights nicely and soft sunshine comforts our faces in daytime, we have been averaging 26 miles per day for more than a week which gives us fat optimism that we'll reach the he Mandan villages before November, our sense of serenity and ease is abruptly shaken by a suspicious sight, from the boats we notice , not far inland a settlement abandoned to arid earth and the whispers of sullen fate, with a detachment of 12 men this broken place in paradise is searched with the circumspection of armed archaeologists, from wood and rock totems we have surmised that this village belonged to the Arikaras, evidently, they systematically left here, or were decimated by some terrible force, a gutteral roar rips into my ears as I see the most monstrous beast of my life, it is the great grizzly bear, wicked in temper and simply petrifying in stature, about 40 yards away Sheilds stumbles out of an Arikara sod lodge as the grizzly emerges from it's liar, standing upright like a tower of terror fangs in the air and claws ready to thrash Sheilds buries a slug right into it's chest from 10 feet away sounding like a large stone plunging deep into water white panic stretches his face while the beast stammers for a moment, there is no time for him to reload and he starts running to the canoe faster than a fuse several of us take aim and unleash a crossfire of lead pegging the bear every which way halting it's chase and with the speed of a two horse wagon it's running to the brush, we forgo the hunt and evacuate to the canoes, enough has been seen here, J.A.B.