Journey up 
poseshe ne 
—70— 
of -which we took a supply with us. As we stayed 
Prairie. he. there the rest of the day, several races took place be- 
Look 
tween our horses and those of the fort; and of course 
there was betting and swapping of horses. I swapped 
my horse, which was somewhat run down by the jour- 
ney and thin, for a swift, well fed Indian horse 
trained to hunt buffalo. The Indian horses are said 
to have come originally from Mexico. They are of 
a small breed, and seldom can be called handsome; 
but they are very swift and hardy, and as they know 
no food save grass, are much more suitable for such a 
journey than American horses, which usually grow 
lean on mere grass. Still American horses, because 
they are larger and handsomer, are much sought after 
by whites and Indians, and, when once they are accli- 
mated, are superior. 
The distance from the boundary of Missouri to 
Fort Laramie, according to our daily reckoning, 
amounts to 755 miles, and was made by us in six 
weeks. All distances here can of course only be ap- 
proximated. For this purpose we repeatedly counted 
the steps made in a given time, and found our average 
rate to be three miles an hour. 
