1 34 SETTLERS THIEST FOR VENGEANCE t 



woman and a child, and had fired into several of the houses. 

 They were now, they said, on their way to the Sioux camp, to 

 demand the surrender of the woman and child, or to take 

 them by force, if necessary. They spoke so confidently, that 

 we really believed they meant business this time, and told 

 them that if they would stay to dinner, three of us would join 

 them, and could guide them to the Indian camp, as it was 

 most likely the large one we had found the previous year at 

 the forks of the Solomon River, to which the Sioux came every 

 year. They agreed to this and picketed their horses. Dinner 

 for nineteen people was a serious affair, but we managed it at 

 last, cutting up almost the whole of a small deer to make a 

 stew, as their appetite was enormous. When dinner was over, 

 we thought that perhaps it might be as well to ascertain what 

 amount of ammunition the party had brought with them. 

 They were armed with a most miscellaneous collection of fire- 

 arms, no two being alike ; some had long muzzle-Joading 

 Kentucky rifles, others old Tower muskets, and a few had 

 muzzle-loading shot guns, not exactly the weapons to face 

 Indians with. When we inquired as to ammunition, a lament- 

 able state of things was disclosed, many having no more than 

 the loads which were in their guns, and very few had more 

 than six rounds. We offered, however, to make up deficiencies 

 and lend rifles to those who had shot guns, as we happened to 

 have a good number of the former in camp. 



The men asked for time to talk the matter over, and went 

 aside for that purpose, returning to us in a few minutes, 

 to say that it would after all be very foolish to go any further, 

 as they were only a small party, and knew nothing about the 

 number of the Indians. The fact was that the Lake Sibley 



