TWENTY YEARS IN THE ROCKIES. 2O3 



CHAPTER XIX. 



AGAIN IN THE WEST Off for the hills Bo via Creek three deer at three shotg 

 good sport Jack and Antelope wolves fishing on the Upper Big Horn- 

 interesting sport a storm the old Major some "yellow dogs" a lion's 

 den an Indian paradise. 



I had returned to civilization surfeited with wild West- 

 ern life. I was determined to settle down in my old home and 

 enjoy the many privileges and advantages from which fron- 

 tiersmen are debarred. But I could not feel that it was the 

 same old home I had so fondly and often remembered dur- 

 ing my wanderings. Or rather, I was not the same man that 

 I had been when I left those familiar scenes, and the simple 

 pleasures that once so delighted me had now become taste- 

 less. The sight of a fence was disagreeable, after having 

 looked so long across boundless prairies, whose beauty 

 the hand of man had not yet marred. I longed for the old 

 free life, for a sight of the dear old mountains, and, after a 

 short stay, I again made my way westward, landing at Fort 

 Custer, Montana. 



For a time I enjoyed life among the soldiers there sta- 

 tioned in the garrison. But, the weather being fine, I craved 

 for a good hunt,, and, through the kindness of Captain Fow- 

 ler, then acting quartermaster,, I obtained five pack mules 

 and a good saddle-horse. In company with Mike Barrett, 

 a first-class packer, and taking with us plenty of rations, am- 

 munition and supplies, I crossed the Big Horn ferry and 

 started for Bovia Creek, twenty miles distant. On the road 



