A TRIBUTE TO THE CAYOTE. 317 



Rattlesnake Bill, and Tiger Bill, the last named be- 

 ing, as one of our men who had played with him re- 

 marked, the "dangererest on 'em all." We also 

 heard of a Camanche Bill and an Apache Bill, but 

 these celebrities it was not our fortune to meet. 



I can not dismiss the peculiar characters of the 

 plains without again paying tribute to that unap- 

 proachable thief, the cayote. Let no party of travel- 

 ers leave any thing exposed in camp lighter than an 

 anvil. We lost, in one night, at the hands — or 

 rather the jaws — of these slinking sneak-thieves of 

 the plains, a boot, a pair of leather breeches, and a 

 half-quarter of buffalo calf, besides some smaller 

 articles. 



