THE WHITE WORLD 



concerned an Indian hunter and his wife, in camp some 

 thirty miles from any of their people. Game grew scarce, 

 and starvation threatened them. The woman was in deli- 

 cate health and unable to travel. The man resolved to 

 save his own life by fleeing to his 

 people, but being unwilling to 

 leave his wife to die, he shot her. 

 Another family was in a similar 

 situation; the husband in this case 

 did not have the heart to kill his 

 wife, so he left her without fuel, 

 food or blankets, to die by star- 

 vation and freezing. 



The two families that lived near 

 us during the winter were Kaskas, 

 and although they were not a part 

 of this renegade band that lived in 

 the mountains near Hell Gate, 

 yet they received and dispensed the news with perfect 

 confidence, as they had never even heard of law or offi- 

 cers of the law. While the morals of these two families 

 might be, and evidently were, far superior to that of the 

 renegades, yet a short sketch of their self-imposed laws 

 may make my story more appreciable. One of the families 

 consisted of Iron, his invalid wife, a little girl, and a boy 

 slave. The other was composed of Powder and his wife. 

 Powder was a sliamen, or Indian doctor. 



The first I ever saw of Iron was one dreadfully stormy 

 night in October. All day a fearful snow storm had 

 raged and my helpers and I had worked with a will in 

 moving our supplies around Cranberry Rapids. We had 

 only just completed this laborious task when night came 

 upon us, and in the storm and darkness we groped our 

 way while making camp, gathering firewood, and prepar- 

 ing for the night. At last we had a large canvas spread, 

 under which we placed a bed of pine boughs, and soon 

 a huge log fire in front gave cheer and life to the scene. 

 Not a bite of food had been tasted since morning, and a 

 rousing hot supper was prepared. When all was ready, 

 my entire party seated themselves on the pine boughs 

 underneath the canvas, and in the warmth reflected by the 



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