102 RANCH LIFE AND THE HUNTING-TRAIL 



Bands of them, accompanied by their squaws and children, often come 

 into the ranch country, either to trade or to hunt, and are then, of course, 

 perfectly meek and peaceable. If they stay any time they build them- 

 selves quite comfortable tepees (wigwams, as they would be styled in the 

 East), and an Indian camp is a rather interesting, though very dirty, place 

 to visit. On our ranch we get along particularly well with them, as it is a 

 rule that they shall be treated as fairly as if they were whites : we neither 

 wrong them ourselves nor allow others to wrong them. We have always, 

 for example, been as keen in putting down horse-stealing from Indians 

 as from whites which indicates rather an advanced stage of frontier 

 morality, as theft from the "redskins" or the "Government" is usually 

 held to be a very trivial matter compared with the heinous crime of theft 

 from " citizens." 



There is always danger in meeting a band of young bucks in lonely, 

 uninhabited country those that have barely reached manhood being the 

 most truculent, insolent, and reckless. A man meeting such a party runs 

 great risk of losing his horse, his rifle, and all else he has. This has hap- 

 pened quite frequently during the past few years to hunters or cowboys 

 who have wandered into the debatable territory where our country borders 

 on the Indian lands ; and in at least one such instance, that took place 

 three years ago, the unfortunate individual lost his life as well as his 

 belongings. But a frontiersman of any experience can generally "stand 

 off" a small number of such assailants, unless he loses his nerve or is 

 taken by surprise. 



My only adventure with Indians was of a very mild kind. It was in 

 the course of a solitary trip to the north and east of our range, to what 

 was then practically unknown country, although now containing many 

 herds of cattle. One morning I had been traveling along the edge of the 

 prairie, and about noon I rode Manitou up a slight rise and came out on a 

 plateau that was perhaps half a mile broad. When near the middle, four 

 or five Indians suddenly came up over the edge, directly in front of me. 

 The second they saw me they whipped their guns out of their slings, 

 started their horses into a run, and came on at full tilt, whooping and 

 brandishing their weapons. I instantly reined up and dismounted. The 

 level plain where we were was of all places the one on which such 

 an onslaught could best be met. In any broken country, or where there 

 is much cover, a white man is at a great disadvantage if pitted against 

 such adepts in the art of hiding as Indians ; while, on the other hand, the 

 latter will rarely rush in on a foe who, even if overpowered in the end, 

 will probably inflict severe loss on his assailants. The fury of an Indian 



