EARLY DAY STORIES. 33 



Indians placed a skin on the ground, and three or four 

 bushels of shelled corn were brought from the wagons and 

 piled upon the skin. The chief said in English, "Heap 

 Squaw" meaning there were plenty of squaws to do the plant- 

 ing, and made signs for more corn. The pile was increased 

 to five or six bushels, which seemed to satisfy him, and 

 opening up the ranks of his warriors he allowed us to pro- 

 ceed, after shaking hands with Knapp and myself, and re- 

 peating two or three times "Heap good man," "Heap good 

 man." These two phrases "Heap Squaw" and "Heap good 

 man," probably comprised all his knowledge of English — 

 at least it was all he made use of during the interview. The 

 chief did not shake hands at parting with any except Mr. 

 Knapp and myself, probably supposing that Knapp was in 

 command because he was on horseback, and that I was his 

 lieutenant, because Knapp handed me the note to read. I 

 never knew why Mr. Knapp passed the note to me, but I 

 always suspected he was just enough scared to be a little 

 beside himself. I made no attempt to count the Indians or 

 estimate their numbers, but some who did, said there were 

 about three hundred — probably one hundred would be more 

 nearly correct. A bad mistake was made by Capt. Wells 

 in permitting the teams to remain in line in charge of the 

 drivers, provided he thought the Indians meant to be hos- 

 tile. The wagons should have been parked, and prepara- 

 tions made for defense, and only two or three should have 

 gone out to meet the Indians. It was the only time on the 

 whole trip that we were stopped by Indians, or that there 

 was the least appearance of hostility, and the only signs of 

 hostility this time were that the Indians were fully armed, 

 there were no squaws with them, and they blocked the road 

 to the bridge. The bridge was made of willow poles placed 

 across the creek for stringers, covered with smaller willow 

 poles, brush and sods. It was a sHmsy affair, and teetered 



