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THE MISSOURI RIVER JOURNALS 



127 



owner. We thought the matter was ended, but Mr. Cul- 

 bcrtson told us that either the horse or the Chippcway 

 would be caught and brought back. The latter had 

 mounted a fine horse which he had brought with him, and 

 was leading the other away, when presently a gun was 

 heard out of the fort, and Mr. C. ran to tell us that 

 the horse of the Chippeway had been shot, and that the 

 rider was running as fast as he could to Fort Mortimer. 

 Upon going out we found the horse standing still, and the 

 man running; we went to the poor animal, and found that 

 the ball had passed through the thigh, and entered the 

 belly. The poor horse was trembling like an aspen ; he at 

 last moved, walked about, and went to the river, where he 

 died. Now it is curious that it was not the same Assini- 

 boin who had sold the horse that had shot, but another of 

 their party; and we understand that it was on account of 

 an old grudge against the Chippeway, who, by the way, 

 was a surly-looking rascal. The Assiniboins brought eight 

 or ten horses and colts, and a number of dogs. One of 

 the colts had a necklace of" pommes blanches," at the end 

 of which hung a handful of Buffalo calves' hoofs, not more 

 than I inch long, and taken from the calves before birth, 

 when the mothers had been killed. Harris and I took a 

 ride in the wagon over the Mauvaises Terres above the 

 fort, in search of petrified wood, but though we found 

 many specimens, they were of such indifferent quality that 

 we brought home but one. On returning we followed a 

 Wolf path, of which there are hundreds through the sur- 

 rounding hills, all leading to the fort. It is curious to 

 see how well they understand the best and shortest roads. 

 From what had happened, we anticipated a row among the 

 Indians, but all seemed quiet. Mr. C gave us a good 

 account of Fort McKenzie. I have been examining the 

 fawn of the Long-tailed Deer of this country, belonging to 

 old Baptiste; the man feeds it regularly, and the fawn fol- 

 lows him everywhere. It will race backwards and for- 



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