The Bison or American Buffalo 9 



meat. 20. Made nineteen miles over prairie ; 

 again only mud, no water, freezing hardr 

 frightful thirst. 21 st. Thirty miles to Clear 

 Fork, fresh water." These entries were hur- 

 riedly jotted down at the time, by a boy who 

 deemed it unmanly to make any especial note 

 of hardship or suffering; but every plainsman 

 will understand the real agony implied in 

 working hard for two nights, one day, and 

 portions of two others, without water, even in 

 cool weather. During the last few miles the 

 staggering horses were only just able to drag 

 the lightly loaded wagon for they had but 

 one with them at the time while the men 

 plodded along in sullen silence, their mouths 

 so parched that they could hardly utter a 

 word. My own hunting and ranching were 

 done in the North where there is more water; 

 so I have never had a similar experience. 

 Once I took a team in thirty-six hours across 

 a country where there was no water; but by 

 good luck it rained heavily in the night, so 

 that the horses had plenty of wet grass, and I 

 caught the rain in my slicker, and so had 

 enough water for myself. Personally, I have 

 but once been as long as twenty-six hours with- 

 out water. 



The party pitched their permanent camp 



