BACK TO THE BUFFALO RANGE 



While in the settlements we indulged in such 

 luxuries as milk, butter, eggs, and so forth, when- 

 ever they were to be bought, and we killed plenty 

 of prairie-chickens with our shotgun. 



These prairie-chickens were very numerous in 

 the Kansas settlements, occurring in such multi- 

 tudes that they were pests to the farmers, eating 

 great quantities of grain. They haunted the set- 

 tled country or grain-producing parts but were 

 seldom found far out on the plains, though while 

 in the service I saw a few as far west as the Big 

 Bend of the Arkansas. 



In the army the Sibley tent was calculated to 

 hold twelve to sixteen men crowded pretty close 

 together but in our Sibley, with only the three 

 occupants, there was room for stove, mess-chest, 

 camp-stools, or anything else we might bring 

 inside. Found always made his bed under the 

 wagon, where he could keep watch over the ani- 

 mals and act as general camp guard. 



In order to favor our team we made two drives 

 a day, stopping for an hour or so at noon to turn 

 the animals out on the grass, while we made cof- 

 fee and ate some cold meat and bread. On our 

 afternoon drive, as night approached, we selected 

 a convenient place and camped, turning out the 

 team except the flea-bitten gray mare, which 

 we always picketed as an anchor to the rest. 

 After supper, sprawled on our beds in the tent, 

 we talked and spun yarns. 



39 



