154 



RECREATION. 



were to pick up the rest of our party, 

 and this was no easy job, for the 

 snow was falling thick around us. 

 We knew the location of several big 

 pine trees relative to our road, and 

 as there was no wind the snow fell 

 on the ground evenly, leaving what 

 is known as a " blind trail," which 

 with great care on the part of the 

 trailer can be followed. 



It is customary for the chief to start 

 out on the trail afoot, following the de- 

 pression with his eye if light enough, 

 and if not, with his bare hand in the 

 snow. After the first half hour if 

 his hand does not freeze it becomes 

 warm and comfortable. He also 

 feels for the sides of the path with 

 his feet. This is slow work, if alone, 

 and to increase the speed the chief 

 has two followers, each walking 

 twenty paces behind the other, and 

 behind them come the horses and 

 hunters. All three try to keep the 

 trail, but should the first lose it he 

 calls out " lost," and waits till the 

 second and third have passed on 

 when he takes the place of No. 3. 



If No. 1 is found off, No. 2 claims 

 first place. The buck who can hang 

 to the trail on a stormy night or 

 day without losing his position, is 

 regarded in much the same light as 

 is the captain of a successful foot- 

 ball team in the east. 



After plodding along for about an 

 hour, in the the most oppressive si- 

 lence you can imagine, broken only 

 by an occasional " lost " from the 

 trailers, as they silently filed past 

 each other, a black mass ahead of 

 us turned into the traders' store, 

 and from out of the storm came the 

 cabalistic word "skookum" (all's 

 well). We knew it was from friends 

 in the lead although we could not 

 seethem. On we plodded, until finally 

 we came to the edge of a deep canyon 

 and heard the rush of a small creek. 

 Down we went until we saw a black 

 line that looked about as broad as 

 my hand. This was the running 

 water in the bottom of the canyon. 

 We halted and arranged our packs 

 for the climb. The opposite wall 

 was almost perpendicular, but some 



hard work on the part of our horses 

 and great care on our part landed 

 us on the top of it in due time. 



Then we heard dogs barking and 

 soon saw the Indian camp across the 

 Spokane river. The stock was un- 

 saddled and our packs ferried over 

 in the " dug-out." Stubbie swam like 

 a duck, but the mare is ugly in cold 

 water and by the look of her eye I 

 knew she meant to give us trouble, 

 so I swam Stubbie with the Indian 

 ponies and lead the mare from the 

 u dug-out." She went in up to her 

 belly and then squared for a plunge. 

 I called out to the squaw : 



"Close nanich " (look out); tried 

 to ward off the blow, but was too 

 late. The mare hit the side of the 

 canoe and half filled it with water. One 

 of the squaws went overboard with me. 

 Cold! Great Scott! how cold the 

 water was, as I sat in it holding Bess 

 by the head. " Musa quash!" (pad- 

 dle hard) I yelled, and the " lady " 

 in the bow of the canoe made the 

 water boil with her paddle, while the 

 one in the water, swimming as only 

 a squaw can swim, pushed the canoe 

 to the farther shore, a distance of 

 20 yards. 



I gave the halter-shank to the 

 young squaw, who lead Bess up to 

 the lodge of Lot, chief of the 

 Spokanes, whose hunting party we 

 had now joined. I followed, stepped 

 into one of the old buffalo-skin lodges 

 of the plains Indian, and found my 

 friend Sherwood who had joined us 

 at the traders' store. 



Sherwood is a character peculiar to 

 the frontier. He had been with Gen- 

 eral Scott's army to the city of 

 Mexico, with Walker to Nicaragua 

 as a filibuster, and later became 

 assistant engineer in the United 

 States Navy, which he left because 

 his ship was to winter at Mare Is- 

 land, San Francisco, and six months 

 in one place would bring no excite- 

 ment with it. The " gold rush " to 

 the upper Columbia river was then 

 on, so my friend invested in a burro 

 and started north, traveling from 

 tribe to tribe, learning the language 

 of each and gaining the respect and 



