290 THE UPPER YUKON 



tain sheep, the caribou, or the moose, and of 

 her ability to trap fish and to shoot wild geese. 

 When the snow was deep and he couldn't 

 cover all of his trapping lines within a reason- 

 able time, she would take her husky dogs and 

 the sled, and cover one of his trapping lines 

 nearest the cabin, say a distance of nine miles 

 out and nine miles back, thus making eighteen 

 miles in all. She would then take out of the 

 traps whatever animals might be caught in 

 them, re-set and bait the traps, bring the cap- 

 tured carcases home on the sled, and promptly 

 skin and cure their hides. 



Our other guide, who is a well-read white 

 man, a native of Montana, also married an In- 

 dian woman, but we did not see her. On 

 being asked ivhy he had married a squaw, he 

 said: "For many reasons the Indian woman is 

 better than the white woman." Some of the 

 reasons he gave were quite startling. Now 

 listen, you marriageable girls, and hear what 

 this man has to say in favor of the Indian 

 wife. 



"My wife doesn't wear corsets, and there- 

 fore her body isn't crushed and bent out of its 

 natural shape. Neither does she wear high- 

 heeled and small-toed shoes. The coming 

 and going of fashions do not interest her, 



