'thoubles in the wigwam.* 83 



that he threatened more than once to resign. 

 Truly, tliere is not a hatter school for testing a 

 man's temper, than the command of a pro- 

 miscuous caravan of independent traders. 

 The rank of captaui is, of course, but Uttle 

 more than nominal. Every proprietor of a 

 two-horse wagon is apt to assume as much 

 authority as the commander hmiself, and to 

 issue his orders without the least consultation 

 at head-quarters. It is easy then to conceive 

 that the captaui has anything but an enviable 

 berth. He is expected to keep order while 

 fe w are disposed to obey — loaded with exe- 

 crations for every mishap, whether acciden- 

 tal or otherwise; and when he attempts 

 to remonstrate he only renders himself ridicu- 

 lous, being entirely without power to enforce 

 his commands. It is to be regretted that some 

 system of * maritime law' has not been intro- 

 duced among these traders to secure subordi- 

 nation, which can never be attained wliile the 

 commander is invested with no lej^al author- 

 ity. For my own part, I can see no reason 

 "why the captain of a prairie caravan should 

 not have as much power to call his men to ac- 

 count for disobedience or mutiny, as the cap- 

 tain of a ship upon the high seas. 



After following the course of the Cimarron 

 for two days longer, we at length reached a 

 place called the * Willow Bar,' where we took 

 the usual mid-day respite of two or three 

 hours, to afford the animals time to feed, and 

 our cooks to prepare dinner. Our wagons 

 were regularly 'formed,' and the animals 



