28 LIQUOR AND THE FUR TRADE. 



"Ha, ha. ha!" retorted the owner. " You seem to pick upon a strange 

 place for a snooze ! What in the world were you doing before that skittish 

 beast ?" 



The roar of laughter which followed, told how well the joke was relished 

 by the crowd. 



Reports from the mountains brought intelligence of recent difficulties 

 between the whites and Sioux, — the latter having murdered several trap- 

 pers. A battle had also been fought in the Snake country, in which the 

 Sioux were defeated with a loss of twenty killed and wounded, — the whites 

 suffered in the loss of their leader (Frapp) and four others. Another 

 affair had come off, at Fort Platte, between two factions of that tribe, while 

 on a drunken spree, resulting in the death of Schena-Chischille, their 

 chief, and several of his party. 



The most acceptable item of intelligence was the probability of our 

 reaching the buffalo range in ten days, at least, where we should find vast 

 quantities of those animals. This led our voyagcurs to expatiate anew 

 upon the choice varieties of the feast of good things we might expect on 

 that occasion. 



Bidding adieu to our transient camp-mates, we were soon again en route. 

 The day following, being unfit for travel, was devoted to overhauling and 

 re-adjusting the freight of the waggons. Here, for the first time, I ascer- 

 tained the fact, that a portion of the above consisted of no less than 

 Iwentij-four barrels of alcohol, designed for the Indian trade ! 



This announcement may occasion surprise to many, when aware that 

 the laws of Congress prohibit, under severe penalties, the introduction 

 of liquor among the Indians, as an article of traffic, — subjecting the of- 

 fender to a heavy fine and confiscation of effects. Trading companies, 

 however, find ways and means to smuggle it through, by the waggon-load, 

 under the very noses of government officers, stationed along the frontiers 

 to enforce the observance of laws. 



I am irresistibly led to the conclusion, that these gentry are wilfully neg- 

 ligent of their duty ; and, no doubt, there are often weighty inducements 

 presented to them to shut their eyes, close their ears, and avert their faces, 

 to let the guilty pass unmolested. It seems almost impossible that a blind 

 man, retaining the senses of smell, taste and hearing, could remain igno- 

 rant of a thing so palpably plain. The alcohol is put into waggons, at 

 Westport or Independence, in open day-light, and taken into the territory, 

 in open day light, where it remains a week or more awaiting the arrival of 

 its owners. Two Government 'agents reside at Westport, while six or 

 eight companies of Dragoons are stationed at Fort Leavenworth, ostensibly 

 for the purpose of protecting the Indians and suppressing this infamous 

 traffic, — and yet it suffers no diminution from their vigilance! What 

 faithful public officers ! How prompt in the discharge of their whole 

 duty ! 



These gentlemen cannot plead ignorance as an excuse. They well 

 know that alcohol is one of the principal articles in Indian trade — this fact 

 IS notorious — no one pretends to deny it; not even the traders themselves — 

 and yet, because no one takes the trouble to produce a specimen of the 

 Idnd of freight taken, more or less, by all mountain companies, and fokce 

 them to see, taste^ touch, and smell, they affect ignorance ! It is thus the 



