Lead from the Target Tree

In the fall of 1804, Nathan Boone and his trapping partner, Mathias Vanbibber left their cabins in the vicinity of St. Charles, near the village
of St. Louis and headed up the Missouri River to trap. Nathan was the youngest son of Daniel Boone. Boone and Vanbibber were bound
for the Kansas River, and it's beaver rich tributaries. They trapped as they proceeded west, camping each night in the brilliant fall weather.
Always exploring new territory, they detoured up the Grand River in what is now northwest Missouri, adding beaver and otter pelts to their
fur packs daily. One morning in late November a party of Osages "hellowed" their camp. The Osage had a history of rough treatment of
trespassers. The Natives out numbered the white intruders and correctly suspected the two woodsman were trapping on their own and
not in the employ of the Chouteaus with whom the Osage Nation traded. The Indians promptly loaded all the pelts and traps on one of
Nathan's horses. Blankets, axes, an iron cooking pot, everything but what the hunters were wearing was claimed by the offended Osages
who, grabbed the reins of Boones remaining horses and delivered a warning to Nathan and Mathias. "You had had better clear out of this
country" they said, warning them another party of Indians had also discovered their sign and was looking for their camp. The Osages rode
away with the trappers horses , traps and entire catch of furs leaving the two frontiersman more than 200 miles away from the nearest
settlement with only their rifles and shooting bags.

A day later and ten miles away, just after first light, a deer paused in a clearing not far from the river. Nathan shot the deer. While tending
to it, four Indians, two on horseback and two on foot approached the two hunters. The Indians threatened them and attempted to take
their guns. When two more Indians joined the group Nathan knew they needed to make some kind of deal with the Indians if they were
going to escape without being taken prisoner or killed. Nathan tried to convince the band that they were in the employ of the Osage's
friend, the Chouteaus. One Indian stepped forward and struck Boone across the face with a ramrod. Nathan's face stung in the cold air
and tempers rose. A tense moment followed with rifles pointed menacingly by both sides. Wind rustled the dry prairie grass and eyes
glanced nervously about. The hunters kept their wits. Re-thinking the high cost of obtaining the hunters rifles, the leader of the Osage
group offered a solution to the stand off. He announced that if the frontiersmen would give them gun-powder, flints and lead balls and their
blanket coats the Osage would leave. Nathan agreed to the deal and with Mathias covering him, moved forward to place his coat, some
powder, lead balls and flints on a rock. Mathias fished in his haversack, pulled out some lead balls, and did the same with Nathan
covering him.

The parties backed away from each other until each was out of gun range. Once out of sight, Nathan and Mathias struck off at a run.
Moving fast and continuing their flight until well after dark, the pair spent a cold, fireless night in a cave with nothing to eat. It may have
been then that they discovered just how dire their situation was. Each had assumed the other had held back more lead bullets in the
bargaining with the Osages. They took stock and discovered they had only five bullets between them. A slim supply to defend and feed
two hungry woodsman hundreds of miles from home.

The following morning Nathan shot a wild turkey. The leather clad hunters struck a fire and spitted the big bird. What they did not wolf
down they dried and stuck in their haversacks. The fire was comforting and it felt good to eat, but it was getting colder and soon it began
to snow.

They traveled hard for the next two days. Then the weather turned on them. The wind shifted to the north as an early winter snow storm
turned the river bottoms white and made travel miserable. The temperature continued to drop. The wind knifed through their hunting shirts.
Bearing south they came to the Missouri river and crossed to the south side on the ice, then pushed on down river. Suffering from fatigue,
extreme cold and hunger, they missed the buffalo and the deer they shot at, expending their last bullet in the process. Now they ate
grapes and "haws" to survive. One week stretched into two without meat. Winter was now their greatest enemy. Weak and cold they
wondered if they would make it. Then, suddenly, they came upon a tree the Indians had used for target practice. Digging into the tree with
their tomahawks they found bullets buried in the wood. They pried out the deformed lead and heated the salvaged bullets in a lead ladle.
From the recovered lead they were able to mold four precious bullets for their rifles. They now had a chance to survive because of the lead
from the target tree.

Re-supplied, they pushed on. Three or four miles from the target tree, they discovered some abandoned Indian cabins and decided to hole
up, build a fire inside one and spend the night. As they entered the dark interior Nathan saw a mountain lion curled up in the corner. He
shot the cat without hesitation and the famished hunters fell on it with their knives. They roasted the meat and made two vests of the
hide.

The following day the gaunt hunters found the track of a man in the snow. A mile and a half later they found the camp of three or four
white trappers who were weather-bound in camp. All were friends of Vanbibber and Boone. One was Nathan's nephew, James Callaway.
The friends nursed them for a week while they recovered, feeding them buffalo and deer. Re-supplied with clothes, ammunition and jerky
the hunters continued on. The weather warmed and on Christmas eve, the woodsman arrived back at their homes on The Femme Osage.
Nathan took most of the rest of the winter to recover from the severe experience.
Mathias never did fully recover from the ordeal. His health failed and he died less than three years later in Virginia. Nathan, much like his
father, would go on to play an integral part of the young nations westward expansion.