AND OTHER HUNTING ADVENTURES. 315 



at my expense. It is the custom of the country to 

 leave camps and cabins at any time, and for as long a 

 time as necessary, without locking up or concealment 

 of any kind, and instances of stealing under such 

 circumstances are almost unheard of, while he who 

 would leave personal property similarly exposed 

 within the bounds of civilization would scarcely hope 

 to find it on his return. 



An incident may serve to illustrate how suddenly 

 Eastern people change their opinions of cowboys 

 on close acquaintance. I -was going west a few 

 years since on the Northern Pacific Railroad, and 

 stepping off the train at Dickinson, Dak., met 

 Howard Eaton, an old-time friend and fellow hunter, 

 a typical cowboy, who has charge of a ranch and 

 a large herd of cattle in the ' ' Bad Lands ' ' on the 

 Little Missouri river. He was dressed in the regu- 

 lation costume of the craft canvas pants and jacket, 

 leather chaparejos, blue flannel shirt, and broad- 

 brimmed white felt hat. His loins were girt about 

 with a well-filled cartridge-belt, from which hung 

 the six-shooter, which may almost be termed a badge 

 of the order. Large Mexican spurs rattled at his 

 heels as he walked. He had ridden thirty-five miles 

 under the spur, arriving at the station just in time 

 to catch the train, and having no time to change his 

 apparel, even if he had wished to do so. He was 

 going some distance on the same train, and I invited 

 him into the sleeper. As he entered and walked 

 down the aisle the passengers became suddenly 

 alarmed at the apparition imagining that the train 

 had been corraled by a party of the terrible cowboys 

 of whom they had heard such blood-curdling tales, 



