354 SELL MY GREY HORSE. 



Helena for the winter. During the day we passed a small 

 river, and on stopping to let the horses drink, the Colonel's 

 pony lay down, rolling him off into the stream, which was very 

 cold, so we camped on the bank and lit a fire to dry him. The 

 whole thing was so comical that I could not help laughing ; and 

 very shortly after I was punished for doing so, as the grey 

 bucked as I was sitting sideways talking to the Colonel, and so 

 bucked me off for the second time, though he did not lash out 

 at me as he had done before. Some men passed us late in the 

 afternoon, and I sold him to them for rather more than I gave 

 for him, and was very glad to get rid of him. I heard after- 

 wards that he got loose when on the prairie, near the large 

 Crow camp, and joined a band of buffalo, so that no doubt 

 the Indians got him again. 



These men told us that during the previous winter they 

 drove a band of elk into a small valley in the Crazies, from 

 which there was no exit, closing the mouth of it with trees 

 and brush, and had then killed the whole band, taking nothing 

 but their skins and tongues ; happening to visit the valley some 

 weeks later, they found that most of the bodies had been 

 eaten by bears, which had been there in such numbers that 

 the whole place was trampled by them, some of the tracks 

 being very large. 



We struck the stage-road on the following day and drove 

 down to the place where the stage changed horses, and found 

 an old man and his wife in charge, who seemed to think 

 nothing of the danger they ran from Indians. They told us 

 that the stage was due in the morning, so we camped by the 

 house, and while at breakfast two long-haired, very- much- 

 fringed individuals drove up and dismounted, and after the 



