IN THE OLD WEST 107 



tribes of the Pawnees, shave the head, with the 

 exception of a ridge from the forehead to the 

 center of the scalp, which is reached or hogged 

 like the mane of a mule, and stands erect, plas- 

 tered with unguents, and ornamented with feathers 

 of the hawk and turkey. The naked scalp is often 

 painted in mosaic with black and red, the face 

 with shining vermilion. This band were all naked 

 to the breech-clout, the warmth of the sun hav- 

 ing made them throw their dirty blankets from 

 their shoulders. These Indians not unfrequently 

 levy contributions on the strangers they accident- 

 ally meet ; but they easily distinguish the deter- 

 mined mountaineer from the incautious greenhorn, 

 and think it better to let the former alone. 



Crossing Vermilion, the trappers arrived on the 

 fifth day at Blue, where they encamped in the 

 broad timber belting the creek, and there awaited 

 the arrival of the remainder of the party. 



It was two days before they came up ; but the 

 following day they started for the mountains, 

 fourteen in number, striking a trail which follows 

 the Big Blue in its course through the prairies, 

 which, as they advanced to the westward, gradually 

 smoothed away into a vast unbroken expanse of 

 rolling plain. Herds of antelope began to show 

 themselves, and some of the hunters, leaving the 

 trail, soon returned with plenty of their tender 

 meat. The luxuriant but coarse grass they had 

 hitherto seen now changed into the nutritious and 



