218 CRUISINGS IN THE CASCADES 



Then a guide was needed, and a Chicago news- 

 paper correspondent, who was to be a member of 

 the expedition, was deputed to employ one. As 

 usual in frontier towns, there were plenty of them, 

 each one of whom, in his own estimation, was the best 

 in the whole country. Each claimed to know every 

 foot of the ground in question, to be able to speak 

 the language of every Indian tribe on the frontier, 

 to be a crack shot and intrepid horseman, afraid of 

 nothing, and ready for any undertaking, no matter 

 how hazardous. 



Inquiry among the more reliable citizens of the 

 town as to who was best suited for the uses of the 

 present enterprise resulted in the choice of a rather 

 quiet and attractive-looking young man bearing the 

 euphonious pseudonym of ' ; Red River Frank. ' ' He 

 was clad in the conventional buckskin suit, and his 

 long glossy black hair hung in heavy curls down to 

 his shoulders. He was six feet two inches in height, 

 straight as an arrow, and had a deep, clear gray eye; 

 rode a good sized spirited mustang, and sat in his 

 saddle like a life-trained trooper. 



At the time appointed for the departure, the 

 party, which had now swelled to thirty-two men all 

 told, assembled in the j)ublic square. The wagons 

 were loaded with the tents, bedding, food, and other 

 necessary provisions for the trip, which, it was 

 arranged, should occupy about six weeks. At ten 

 o'clock the party rode out of town on the road 

 leading west, taking with them the hearty good 

 wishes of the assembled throng. They crossed a 

 narrow belt of timber and emerged upon a stretch of 

 gently undulating prairie, which was densely cov- 



