THE MISSOURI RIVER JOURNALS 33 



shots in a given distance. The horses were mounted as 

 another Wolf was seen trotting off towards the hills, and 

 Mr. Culbertson again told us he would bring it in. This 

 time, however, he was mistaken; the Wolf was too far 

 off to be overtaken, and it reached the hill-tops, made its 

 way through a deep ravine full of large rocks, and was 

 then given up. Mr. Culbertson was seen coming down 

 without his quarry. He joined the riders, started with 

 his gun empty, loaded in a trice, and fired the first shot; 

 then the three riders came on at full speed, loading and 

 firing first on one side, then on the other of the horse, as 

 if after Buffaloes. Mr. C. fired eleven times before he 

 reached the fort, and within less than half a mile's run; 

 the others fired once less, each. We were all delighted 

 to see these feats. No one was thrown off, though the 

 bridles hung loose, and the horses were under full gallop 

 all the time. Mr. Culbertson's mare, which is of the full 

 Blackfoot Indian breed, is about five years old, and could 

 not be bought for four hundred dollars. I should like to 

 see some of the best English hunting gentlemen hunt in 

 the like manner. We are assured that after dusk, or as 

 soon as the gates of the fort are shut, the Wolves come 

 near enough to be killed from the platform, as these 

 beasts oftentimes come to the trough where the hogs are 

 fed daily. We have seen no less than eight this day from 

 the fort, moving as leisurely as if a hundred miles off. A 

 heavy shower put off running a race; but we are to have a 

 regular Buffalo hunt, where I must act only as a specta- 

 tor; for, alas ! I am now too near seventy to run and load 

 whilst going at full gallop. Two gentlemen arrived this 

 evening from the Crow Indian Nation; they crossed to 

 our side of the river, and were introduced at once. One 

 is Mr. Chouteau, son of Auguste Chouteau, and the other 

 a Scotchman, Mr. James Murray, at whose father's farm, 

 on the Tweed, we all stopped on our return from the 

 Highlands of Scotland. They told us that the snow and 



TOL. II. — 3 



