TWENTY YEARS IN THE ROCKIES. 85 



for some time. To escape the consequences, he made an 

 excuse to go after provisions, with a family on their way to 

 the Crow Agency, promising to be back in three days. I 

 was convinced that he did not understand his business, that 

 he did not know the topography of the country in which we 

 were, and that he had misled us from the first. 



I tried to persuade my friend Mitten to turn back with 

 me and go to some settlement, where he could find employ- 

 ment. He received this proposition with disdain. No, in- 

 deed ! He was to have a gold mine, a corner lot in the new 

 Eldorado. I had asked him several times to give up the 

 trip with the same result. This time I told him my oxen 

 should go no further he owned the wagon and bedding 

 and I the team. He became indignant and declared that 

 our guide would be back as he had promised, and that I 

 would upset everything by acting so. Finally I told him 

 that I would go on just to satisfy him, and if Lyons 

 (the guide) ever came back, the oxen were his ; for that 

 in my opinion Lyons was a scoundrel and deserved 

 hanging. He made a great show of indignation and 

 repeated my words to Lyons, just before he started. 

 Lyons came around with two six-shooters, ready for use, 

 one in each boot, thinking to scare some of us. We crossed 

 the Stinking Water, where we bade adieu to a few of our 

 friends, whose destination was Bozeman, and then kept on 

 toward Wind River. 



The scenery was charming. In the west the Rockies 

 were more clearly visible than they had been before ; the 

 Big Horn mountains to the east looked as if they might be 

 sentinels, keeping guard over their more majestic neighbors. 

 The Bad Lands, to the south, somewhat marred the picture. 

 They presented a very uninviting appearance. Notwith- 

 standing we were surrounded by so much beauty, our 



