A Sportsman 125 



the time the number was supposed to be larger, as the 

 tribes to which these Indians belonged comprised some 

 thirty thousand warriors. The condition of affairs in 

 Colorado during these difficulties was aggravated by 

 the expectation of attacks from other tribes than those 

 engaged upon the plains, who were living in the moun- 

 tain regions adjacent; but, fortunately, those tribes 

 maintained a peaceful attitude. 



In the meantime troops were sent from the East, 

 and volunteer companies were organized in Colorado 

 from the hardy miners, who scoured the plains in all 

 directions and soon opened the route. But the vigi- 

 lance and activity of the savages prevented their being 

 punished to any considerable extent. In one instance, 

 however, a large body of them were surrounded when 

 encamped near a stream, not a long distance from 

 Denver City, when from four hundred to five hundred 

 of the Indians were killed. 



During this condition of affairs, although the mail 

 and stage lines were open almost all the time, and pas- 

 sages of combined bodies of emigrants were regularly 

 and safely made, prices for the necessaries of life rose 

 to a height previously unknown in the Territory. 

 Corn, oats, and other grains sold at from twenty to 

 twenty-five cents per pound; potatoes from five to 

 fifteen cents per pound ; flour, butter, and other articles 

 of food sold at prices correspondingly high. Freight 

 across the plains to the Territory readily commanded 

 an average price of ten cents per pound, in some in- 

 stances reaching twenty-five cents per pound. 



The natural result in Colorado was an increase in 

 price of labor, which could not be obtained at less than 

 from $5 to $10 per day. During those years mining 



