Miller described this scene in detail in his notes accompanying the Walters commission:
About six months previously, our Commander had left at Fort Laramie a beautiful blooded stallion,–a racer,–with strict injunctions that he was not to be ridden by any one until his return. When he reached within a mile of the Fort, the Captain selected Auguste to bring him the horse, and A. was delighted. We saw when he reached the Fort and in a short time both emerged from the great gate, coming toward us a top speed,–Auguste, yelling like an Indian, and the horse frightened out of his wits. On they came, and when within a hundred yards of us, the horse made a shy at something, and the next moment Auguste was measuring his length on the ground. He was picked up, and as soon as he recovered breath, one of the trappers said to him in French, “A. I should have been a little afraid of that horse.”—“A moi (said Auguste), Je le crains rein de tout mon cher,–non,–pas encore le diable lui-même,–sacre nom de dieu!—de dieu!!” [“To me, I do not fear it at all—no, my dear, not even the Devil himself. Sacred name of God, of God.” (Ross, 1968, text accompanying plate 10; Warner, 1979, pp. 79 – 80)
This may be Miller’s sketch made in the field as he witnessed the incident.
Ron Tyler
