IN THE BIG HORN MOUNTAINS. 121 



stone and the lower part of that of the Big Porcupine. We 

 had heard from some ranchmen along the way that the 

 buffalo herd was at this time grazing about fifteen to twenty 

 miles up the Big Porcupine, and knowing that antelopes are 

 nearly always found hanging on the outskirts of every large 

 herd of bison, we were on the lookout for them, for it would 

 not be at all strange to find them near the stage trail on 

 which we were traveling. We scanned the country closely 

 with the field glass and were finally rewarded by seeing a 

 number of small white spots on the dead grass away up the 

 Porcupine, that seemed to be moving. We rode toward 

 them at a lively trot for perhaps a mile and then stopped to 

 reconnoitre a.riin. From this point we could plainly distin- 

 guish them, though they looked to be about the size of jack 

 rabbits. We again put the rowels to our donkeys and rode 

 rapidly up to within about a mile of them, when we picketed 

 our animals in a low swale, took out our antelope flag a 

 piece of scarlet calico about half a yard square attached it 

 to the end of my wiping stick, and were ready to interview 

 the antelopes. 



I crawled to the top of a ridge within plain view of the 

 game, and planted my flag. The breeze spread it out, kept 

 it fluttering, and it soon attracted their attention. They 

 were then near the bank of the river, grazing quietly, but 

 this bit of colored rag excited their curiosity to a degree that 

 rendered them restive, anxious, uneasy, and they seemed at 

 once to be seized with an insatiable desire to find out what it 

 was. An antelope has as much curiosity as a woman, and 

 when they see any object that they don't quite understand, 

 they will travel miles and run themselves into all kinds of 

 danger to find out what it is. They have been known to 

 follow an emigrant or freight wagon with a white cover 

 several miles, and an Indian brings them within reach of his 



