IN THE OLD WEST 165 



given " on the prairie," * as the Indians express 

 it in words, or by signs in rubbing the palm of one 

 hand quickly across the other, holding both flat. 

 Having once tasted the pernicious liquid, there is 

 no fear but they will quickly come to terms; and 

 not unfrequently the spirit is drugged, to render 

 the unfortunate Indians still more helpless. Some- 

 times, maddened and infuriated by drink, they com- 

 mit the most horrid atrocities on each other, mur- 

 dering and mutilating in a barbarous manner, and 

 often attempting the lives of the traders them- 

 selves. On one occasion a band of Sioux, whilst 

 under the influence of liquor, attacked and took 

 possession of a trading fort of the American Fur 

 Company, stripping it of everything it contained, 

 and roasting the trader himself over his own fire. 



The principle on which the nefarious trade is 

 conducted is this, that the Indians, possessing 

 a certain quantity of buffalo-robes, have to be 

 cheated out of them, and the sooner the better. 

 Although it is explicitly prohibited by the laws 

 of the United States to convey spirits across the 

 Indian frontier, and its introduction amongst the 

 Indian tribes subjects the offender to a heavy 

 penalty, yet the infraction of this law is of daily 

 occurrence, perpetrated almost in the very pres- 

 ence of the Government officers, who are stationed 

 along the frontier for the purpose of enforcing the 

 laws for the protection of the Indians. 



*"0n the prairie" is the Indian term for a free gift. 



