A Trip on the Prairie 221 



crossing the creeks on the prairie is often very dis 

 agreeable work. Even when apparently perfectly 

 dry the bottom may have merely a thin crust of hard 

 mud and underneath a fathomless bed of slime. If 

 the grass appears wet and with here and there a 

 few tussocks of taller blades in it, it is well to avoid 

 it. Often a man may have to go along a creek 

 nearly a mile before he can find a safe crossing, or 

 else run the risk of seeing his horse mired hard and 

 fast. When a horse is once in a mud-hole it will 

 perhaps so exhaust itself by its first desperate and 

 fruitless struggle that it is almost impossible to get 

 it out. Its bridle and saddle have to be taken off; 

 if another horse is along the lariat is drawn from 

 the pommel of the latter s saddle to the neck of the 

 one that is in, and it is hauled out by main force. 

 Otherwise a man may have to work half a day, fix 

 ing the horse s legs in the right position and then 

 taking it by the forelock and endeavoring to get it 

 to make a plunge; each plunge bringing it perhaps 

 a few inches nearer the firm ground. Quicksands 

 are even more dangerous than these mud-holes, as, 

 if at all deep, a creature that can not get out immedi 

 ately is sure to be speedily engulfed. Many parts 

 of the Little Missouri are impassable on account of 

 these quicksands. Always in crossing unknown 

 ground that looks dangerous it is best to feel your 

 way very cautiously along and, if possible, to find 

 out some cattle trail or even game trail which can 

 be followed. 



For some time after leaving the creek nothing 



