— 138 — 
Journey from Jife in the mountains. He has a spare, bony figure, a 
to the South 
Fork 
face full of expression, and white hair; his whole de- 
meanor reveals strong passions. We remained in the 
neighborhood of the forts for about three days. In 
the meanwhile I had my horse shod. For want of 
shoes it had become quite lame. Among the news of 
the day which we heard in the forts we were most in- 
terested in the account of a recent battle between the 
Pawnees and the Sioux, wherein only one of the latter 
was killed, while about eighty Pawnees lost their 
scalps. The victorious Sioux were still roving about 
the South Fork, and were very much embittered 
against all whites, because the man they lost was 
thought to have been killed by a white man who was 
with the Pawnees. We were therefore advised to 
abandon our plan of further following the South Fork 
and to strike out for the Arkansas. The evening be- 
fore our departure, several owners of the forts ar- 
rived, bringing a new cargo of goods from the United 
States. Goods are usually transported to this place 
in great ox teams, and the same road is taken which 
we are about to follow to the boundary of Missouri. 
