480 Expedition to- the 



prepare us in some measure for an unpleasant occurrence, we 

 all thought too likely to happen, which was no other than a 

 serious attack from the Indians, to be made according to their 

 custom at that highly unseasonable hour of the morning. 



Since leaving the Missouri, we had never indulged a dis- 

 position to sluggishness, accustoming ourselves to rise every 

 morning long before the sun, but we still found we left that 

 small spot of earth, on which we had rested our limbs and 

 which had become warm and dry by the heat of our bo- 

 dies with as much reluctance, as we have felt at quitting 

 softer beds. 



The mode of rallying now prescribed, was the following: 

 immediately after an alarm should be given, the party should 

 seize their arms, and form in front of the tents, in the rear 

 of the line of packs, and await any orders that might be 

 given. The sentinel giving the alarm, should proceed to the 

 tent of the officers, in order to acquaint them with the cause. 

 Major Long and Captain Bell should reconnoitre about the 

 encampment, and if practicable ascertain the real occasion of 

 the alarm. Farther movements to be regulated as the emer- 

 gency might require. 



This alarm was the occasion of our starting on the morn- 

 ing of the 26th at an earlier hour than usual. We rode on 

 through the same uninteresting and dreary country as before, 

 but were constantly amused at observing the motions of the 

 countless thousands of bisons, by which we were all the time 

 surrounded. The wind happening to blow fresh from the south, 

 the scent of our party was borne directly across the Platte, 

 and we could distinctly note every step of its progress through 

 a distance of eight or ten miles, by the consternation and 

 terror it excited among the buffaloe. The moment the 

 tainted gale infected their atmosphere, they ran with as much 

 violence as if pursued by a party of mounted hunters, and 

 instead of running from the danger, turned their heads 



