" FRTOAY." 



company were busily engaged in carving their own ; but remembering a 

 former resolution, I declined the honor of imitating tlieir example. 



June I6th. More than three weeks have intervened since our arrival at 

 Walnut creek, and still there is no present possibility of proceeding with 

 the waggons. This continued delay is becoming extremely irksome, not- 

 withstanding the countless thousands of bulTalo which afford us an inex- 

 haustible feast of " fat things." Time is precious and I must go on ; and 

 there are several who would do likewise, but hesiiat^, — v*hile frigiitful vis- 

 ions of Pawnees and Osages disturb the ir midnight dreams and fluster 

 their waking thoughts. Friday, the Arapaho, asks to accompaay me ; — 

 our arrangements are completed, and to-morrow we leave. 



June nth. About noon, bidding adieu to vexatious hindrances, we 

 started, and, after a short ride, forded the Arkansas above the mouth of Wal- 

 nut creek, — thence, following the course of that river upon its opposite 

 bank, we halted for the night in a broad sandy botcom, four or five miles be- 

 low. 



The musquetoes here proved so troublesome to ourselves and animals, 

 we were compelled to defend the former by means of a dense smoke and pro- 

 tect the latter with a close envelope of robes. The next morning we re- 

 crossed the Arkansas, and, striking the waggon road soon ai'ter near Plum 

 Butte, continued our way to Gov/ creek. 



A few miles above this point the regular trail leaves the Arkansas upon 

 tlie right, and, following a northwesterly course for about tliree hundred and 

 fifty miles, strikes the States at Independence, Mo. 



The interval between Walnut and Cow creeks is generally sandy and 

 somewhat tumulous, but is different in many respects from any other sec- 

 tion previously noticed. The hills, adjacent to the river and near the 

 trail, are coniform and not unfrequently naked piles of dry sand, while the 

 hollows and depressions among them afford a humid soil, "coated with rant 

 vegetation 



Cow creek is a small stream with very steep, clayey banks, and ia 

 sparsely timbered. Its bottom is about four miles broad and of variable 

 fertihty, — doubtless susceptible of cultivation. 



On rebuming our course we leave the buffalo region, a transition for which 

 we are now fuUy prepared. Aware that this must shortly occur, I had sent 

 Friday in advance with my rifle, who veiy soon prostrated three fine bulls, 

 affording us a stock of most excellent beef from which to make our selec- 

 tions. 



Few Indians or whites can compete with Friday as a buffalo-hunter 

 either in the use of the bow or rifle. I have seen him kill five of these 

 animals at a single chase, and am informed that he has not unfrequentlj 

 exceeded that number. Conscious skill, in this respect, is the occasion 

 of some little pride to its possessor. 



But it is not in hunting exploits alone that he excels ; his deeds of war 

 equally command the respect and admiration of his tribe, among whom he 

 ia known as the " Arapaho American." A brief sketch of his early fife 

 I have reserved for the succeeding chapter, which the reader may rely upom 

 u strictly tru& 



