238 The King of the Thundering Herd 



nificent as the storied rivers of the old 

 world over which the tourist raves, yet in 

 our own great country they were almost 

 unknown to the geographer. Game of 

 many kinds abounded, and each day a half 

 dozen men were detailed to ride ahead 

 and shoot enough for the troop. Bear, 

 both black and grizzly ; deer, of both 

 black tail and white tail variety ; and the 

 more lordly elk, abounded. Grouse were 

 flushed on all sides, so the menu of the 

 troopers was varied and suited to the taste 

 of an epicure. 



Each evening a camping-place was se- 

 lected by two or three troopers who had 

 gone ahead for that purpose, and twenty or 

 thirty white tents were pitched. Then the 

 horses were picketed for the night and soon 

 the odor of broiling venison or bear-steak 

 came to the keen nostrils of the troopers 

 who always carried their appetites with 

 them upon such occasions as these. 



