Tag Archives: Hawkins

Fording Potter Creek

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Crossing a Western creek can appear to be deceptively easy. After all it looks like it’s only hoof deep in most parts, and for the most part it is as seen in the image above. But note too how dark brown the water is from the silt being carried down stream. In places you cannot see the bottom due to the cloudiness of the water.

Also know that the creek can widen out and fill very quickly if it rains up stream or during the spring runoff. Its meandering course also causes deep holes to occur near sharp corners where the bank juts out into the stream and near and around large rocks in the streambed. These holes can be deep enough to swallow a horse and rider up to the saddle or higher.

Granted given the normal shallowness of the creekbed it’s unlikely to be that dangerous if you got throwed or worse yet, fell in, it’s unlikely that your companions would let you forget that for awhile, but the loss of a good Hawkins and the rest of the gear being carried can ruin your whole day. For example, right behind the rider on the paint horse the bank juts out into the river in the image above. Just off that point there is a deep hole that nearly swallowed that horse and rider when the horse accidentally stepped into it. See the image below.

Climbing out of the Widowmaker hole in Potter Creek

Whenever a river or creek crossing was necessary it was never taken for granted despite what you might in see in the movies. The routine to follow to have a safe crossing was to have one fellow who hopefully knew the crossing or was more experienced in fording would start out and the others, in single file, would carefully follow his lead. If the fellow ahead of you suddenly disappeared and all you saw were bubbles it was prudent to halt and backtrack to the bank behind you. If that didn’t happen then you continued across like you had good sense. That usually was the most successful way to make it across, and anytime you could win one it was a good day.

Whiskey’s In

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It’d been a rough couple three days at the rendezvous. The whiskey ran out just when things were going strong and the boys faced a dry spell until the next wagon got there with a fresh supply. The trader, who went into hiding shortly after he found out the whiskey was gone in fear of his hair being lifted by his customers or worse, frantically sent his assistant out to see where the incoming wagon was. The Mountain men only had one chance to drink this season and their supply was gone. The boys were getting perturbed. Things could get real dicey if they didn’t replenish the supply before somebody brought out the Hawkins.

Turned out the wagon was near but unfortunately it was upside down in Little Cowfoot creek due to the inattentiveness of the driver and the whiskey barrels were halfway down to the Green river bobbing along without a care in the world. A rescue team was sent out immediately with strict instructions to save the inventory and bring it back to camp forthwith without breaching a single one of the barrels. However Mountain men being Mountain men those instructions only lasted until they got the first barrel located and then those instructions were immediately modified due to the prevailing theory that water may have infiltrated the kegs and ruined the whiskey by diluting it. There was nothing for it but to crack the keg and check it.

A second team including the trader himself was dispatched and they found the first team in need of rescue due to incapacitation. Some were laying half in and out of the creek, some just sitting there mumbling in tongues and some just lost. Finally amid much gnashing of teeth, and threats of great harm to those rescuers if they had busted into the barrels by those left in camp, the whiskey reached the trader’s tent amid great cries of huzzah, and jubilation rang in the air. Everyone rushed to the make shift bar set up in the trader’s tent and with only a small amount of disorderly shoving and knuckle busting and an infrequent bite to the ear or back of the neck if a line jumper dared to try and improve his chances of getting his drink first, their thirst was finally satisfied.