166 IN THE OLD WEST 



The misery entailed upon these unhappy people 

 by the illicit traffic must be seen to be fully appre- 

 ciated. Before the effects of the poisonous " fire- 

 water," they disappear from the earth like snow 

 before the sun. Although aware of the destruction 

 it entails upon them, the poor wretches have not 

 moral courage to shun the fatal allurement it 

 holds out to them of wild excitement and a tem- 

 porary oblivion of their many sufferings and priva- 

 tions. With such palpable effects, it appears 

 only likely that the illegal trade is connived at by 

 those whose policy it has ever been, gradually, but 

 surely, to exterminate the Indians, and by any 

 means to extinguish their title to the few lands 

 they now own on the outskirts of civilization. 

 Certain it is that large quantities of liquor find 

 their way annually into the Indian country, and 

 as certain are the fatal results of the pernicious 

 system, and that the American Government takes 

 no steps to prevent it.* There are some tribes 

 who have as yet withstood the great temptation, 

 and have resolutely refused to permit liquor to 

 be brought into their villages. The marked dif- 

 ference between the improved condition of these, 

 and the moral and physical abasement of those 

 which give way to the fatal passion for drinking, 



* This is an exaggeration. The laws against sale of 

 liquor to the Indians were strict, and the chief difficulty of 

 the fur companies was to evade Government agents who 

 searched tlieir outbound cargoes and often made seizures. 

 Still, there doubtless was much collusion. (^Ed.) 



