242 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



evening that a large body of Sioux were encamped south 

 of Sydney, and that their destination was evidently the 

 Republican Valley. This news caused us to feel somewhat 

 alarmed ; so we concluded to take what meat we could ob- 

 tain in a couple of hours, and retreat into Kansas if the road 

 to the north was closed against us. We therefore hastened 

 our work, and in about three hours had four wagon -loads 

 of meat and hides. Returning to camp, we struck tents at 

 once, and set out on the march to Kearney Junction, and 

 arrived there the next day just as a large party of panic- 

 stricken Pawnees entered it ; for they, like ourselves, had 

 the utmost fear of encountering their worst foes : the most 

 deadly hatred exists between both tribes, and they show no 

 mercy to each other whenever they meet. On making in- 

 quiries at the telegraph-office, I learned that the marauders 

 were stopped by some companies of cavalry, and were sent 

 back to their reservation ; but as I had had enough of hunt- 

 ing for the time, I did not return to the valley. 



I heard it estimated in this town that there were over a 

 thousand hunters, including the Indians, in the Republican 

 Valley when we were there, and that every herd in the re- 

 gion was in motion at one time. This was evidently the 

 scene I had witnessed, and grand indeed it seemed ; it was 

 one I certainly would not have missed for a good deal. 



I passed through the same valley in 1874, when the 

 crops were eaten up by grasshoppers, and persons had 

 scarcely anything to live on but meat, and I then learned 

 that buffaloes were not considered such nuisances as they 

 had been ; for, were it not for them, many of the inhabi- 

 tants would have suffered from hunger. 



I have followed the shaggy bison frequently since then, 

 but no runs are so distinctly impressed on my memory as 

 those of the first two expeditions, as they were my noviti- 

 ate in buffalo-hunting, and gave me more experience than 

 would a dozen ordinary runs in which there were neither 

 mishaps nor disappointments. 



A person does not always escape from, a buffalo -hunt 

 without any more serious injury than a fall or a few 



