The Bison 155 



were the hunts of the wild Red River half-breeds. 

 These were pursued on horseback, and the men 

 were armed with the old Hudson Bay smooth- 

 bore flint-lock guns. Powder was carried in a 

 horn and balls in the mouth. When he had 

 discharged his gun, the hunter poured the powder 

 from the horn directly into the barrel, guessing 

 at the quantity, slipped a ball from the mouth 

 into the barrel, the gun was given a jar on the 

 saddle to settle the load, a little priming was 

 poured into the pan, and he was ready for 

 another shot. 



On such hunts the Red River half-breeds 

 transported their families and their property 

 almost entirely in the well-known Red River 

 carts, each drawn by a single horse, and con- 

 taining, besides a load of baggage, a woman and 

 perhaps two or three children. 



Besides these wholesale methods of taking 

 buffalo, of course they were killed singly by men 

 who crept close enough to them to drive even a 

 stone-headed arrow deep enough into the sides to 

 reach the life. Often, when the buffalo were in 

 situations where it was impossible to approach 

 them, men disguised as wolves crept in among 

 the herd, and killed buffalo with their arrows. 



