Memories of a Bear Hunter 



often completely bare of vegetation. At a wood- 

 yard where we stopped, we found half a dozen 

 Gros Ventres Indians, 7 who reported a camp of 

 Standing Rock Sioux Indians on a hunt only a few 

 miles away. Many of these Indians were armed 

 with Springfield needle guns and Spencer rifles. 

 From time to time they received runners from Sit- 

 ting Bull, and the report was that Terry was mov- 

 ing against the Sioux and pressing them. 



Here for the first time I saw one of the Indian 

 bullboats. 8 It was nothing more than a buffalo 

 hide stretched by willow twigs about an inch in 

 diameter into the shape of a large, but quite deep, 

 bowl. At the top it was about four feet across. 



Early on the morning of July 25, a few buffalo 

 were reported in the hills. They were seen by a 

 number of people, for here the mosquitoes were as 

 bad as at Bismarck, and all the passengers sat up 

 and fought mosquitoes all night. During the morn- 

 ing we passed a band of eighteen lodges of Sioux 

 Indians, who were crossing to the north side of the 

 river. They declared that they were very hungry 

 and seemed anxious to stop the boat. Some of the 

 passengers thought them hostile, but they made no 

 offensive demonstration. The men seemed large 

 and athletic, and were clad in blankets and breech 

 clouts'. 



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