In the old days, when an Indian bought a gun 

 from a trader, he would stack beaver skins aroilnd 

 the arm until the pile was level with the muzzle. 

 The gun then belonged to him, and the trader took 

 the skins. But it is interesting to know that in these 

 days of invention and science, the flint-lock has held 

 its own ground ; and that in the great country that 

 lies along the Arctic ocean, roar of black powder 

 still startles the caribou herds, and rumbles along 

 the mountain sides. 



After the Civil War, guns underwent another 

 change. As we are all familiar with modern arms, 

 it is not necessary to describe the different patterns. 

 The modern gun has, however, given us two 

 important points: that single-shot rifles are unsur- 

 passed for accuracy, and that smokeless powder is 

 superior to the black powder. 



The story of the settling of the West is one 

 long list of valorous deeds. 



The frontiersmen and Indian fighters were a 

 hard and unruly class of men; but this is true of 

 every community where " might makes right, " and 

 where the only law is the survival of the fittest. 

 Even the so-called " bad men " were often men who 

 killed in self-defence, and who possessed many rude 

 virtues. 



These men were always armed. In serious 

 work, in the open, they used the rifle, but for close 

 quarters they preferred the pistol. The pistol is, 



72 



