Memories of a Bear Hunter 



handled. It weighs about a hundred pounds to the 

 package. Sometimes choke cherries or buffalo ber- 

 ries are mixed with the tallow. Pemmican is very 

 palatable and nourishing, and is largely used in 

 winter travel in the British Northwest. 



These French half-breeds were well armed, 

 good hunters, and made their living from the buf- 

 falo. The robes they sold at three or four dollars 

 each. Pemmican they sold to the Indian agencies, 

 always reserving enough for their own winter use. 

 Their means of transportation was unique, and 

 suited to the open prairies over which they roam. 

 It consisted of two-wheeled carts with wooden 

 axles and without any iron or steel in their con- 

 struction. The entire vehicle was bound together 

 with buffalo rawhide. These carts were usually 

 drawn by one or two hardy Indian ponies. If two, 

 they were driven tandem. If a cart broke down it 

 was easily repaired by means of the strings and 

 lines and rawhide which all possessed. The axles 

 were ungreased, and when the half-breeds were 

 moving, the cries of the wheels could be heard a 

 mile off. Their wives and children traveled with 

 them, and they lived in lodges like the Indians. 



These half-breeds were seldom molested by any 

 of the prairie tribes, and were on good terms with 

 all of them, though occasionally young men on 



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