i6 



RECREATION. 



guage, where he was going and what he 

 wanted. 



He replied, in what seemed to me the 

 easiest and most graceful signs I had ever 

 seen, that he was on his way to the Cache 

 La Poudre, to visit friends. 



I asked him if he was alone. He replied 

 that he was, and added that he had come 

 a long way; that he had no meat, and 

 was very hungry. I told the cook I 

 thought the Indian lied; that it was my 

 opinion he was in our camp as a spy, and 

 might soon return in a very different man- 

 ner. All of which I now believe the In- 

 dian fully understood. I had some other 

 conversation with him about hunting buf- 

 falo, going to war, etc., after which the 

 cook gave him his breakfast. 



After eating what seemed to me enough 

 to satisfy 2 hungry men, the Indian 

 mounted his pony and rode away, but in 

 the opposite direction from the Cache La 

 Poudre. This greatly increased our fears 

 for our safety. The cook, especially, was 

 greatly frightened, and I imagined I could 

 see his knees tremble. 



I again retired, after sending word by 

 the cook to the day herder to be on the 

 alert, and by no means to allow the mules 

 to wander too far from camp. I could not 

 sleep, however, and soon arising, sug- 

 gested to the cook that we would best for- 

 tify ourselves, as I fully believed we would 

 be attacked. We accordingly piled logs 

 around our tents, which afforded fair pro- 

 tection from any possible attack. My gun 

 was an old Spencer carbine, of 50 or 52 

 caliber, and when fired the ball traveled 

 so slowly that at a few hundred yards an 

 Indian would have plenty of time to dodge 

 the ball if he should see the smoke from 

 the gun when fired. On one occasion I 

 fired it, at a distance of 600 yards, at a 

 band of antelope, and on watching them 

 some seconds after firing, was surprised 

 to see 2 of them tumble over. I proposed 

 to exchange guns with the cook, his being 

 a modern Springfield, but he would not 

 hear of it. 



On the following morning, after giving 

 the day herder instructions and turning 

 the mules out of the corral, I had just re- 

 tired to my tent and rolled myself in my 

 blankets when I heard the clatter of a 

 horse's hoofs on the frozen ground, and 

 the voice of the herder exclaiming, in the 

 highest accent possible, 



Tn-di-ans! In-di-ans! ! In-di-ans! ! !" 



I leaped out at once, but was only in 

 time to see the herd disappearing over 

 the crest of the hill, with 9 Indians close 

 behind them, yelling like demons and 

 shaking their blankets at the frightened 

 animals. If it had been amusing to see 

 them kick and play, at times, it was much 

 more than amusing to see how quickly 



they climbed the hills and disappeared. I 

 would not have believed it possible for a 

 mule to run so fast had I not seen the 

 stampede with my own eyes. 



There were left standing around the cor- 

 ral, enjoying the morning sun, a number 

 of mules, 2 of which we secured as quickly 

 as possible. Neither the cook nor I had 

 a saddle, but we mounted hastily and all 3 

 of us started in pursuit. It was a foolish 

 thing to do, but we felt the loss of our 

 charge so keenly that I believe had we not 

 been fortunate enough to secure a mount 

 we would have started after the redskins 

 on foot. 



We urged our mounts forward as fast as 

 they could go, anxious to come up with 

 the Indians, but of course were unable to 

 do so. We followed the trail until after 

 noon, when, seeing the hopelessness of 

 further pursuit, we returned, reaching our 

 camp at one o'clock at night, about as 

 sore and as tired a trio as could be found 

 anywhere. I have since often thought 

 how fortunate for us that we were unable 

 to come up with the Indians. 



On our return we attempted to withdraw 

 poisoned arrows from 6 mules that had 

 given out and had been wounded by the 

 Indians; but we were unable to do so, as 

 the arrow points were too firmly imbedded 

 in the flesh. The poor mules afterward 

 died of their poisoned wounds. Two of 

 them tried to get back to camp, but were 

 too weak to do so and died on the way. 



After preparing a hasty meal we all re- 

 tired, and it seemed to me I had just gone 

 to sleep when I was awakened by the fa- 

 miliar voice of McCall, who, in decidedly 

 unpleasant language and accent, demanded 

 of me the whereabouts of the mules. It 

 transpired that while we were in pursuit 

 of the Indians, McCall and party had re- 

 turned. Finding the mules and us gone, 

 they naturally supposed we had run away 

 with our charge. Hastening to the post 

 they had reported the matter and had re- 

 turned with a party to follow us. 



After explaining to McCall the true sit- 

 uation, and that we were not the guilty 

 parties, we were informed we must take 

 the trail again. 



This time we were furnished saddles, h 1 - 

 2 of McCall's party remaining in camp, 

 and, mounted on animals that had only 

 been ridden 20 miles, we again started in 

 pursuit. The Indians then had 24 hours 

 the start of us, and our chance of coming 

 up with them, without a change of horses, 

 was a hopeless one. We pushed along, 

 however, until after nightfall, when we 

 came to a small stream, a tributary of 

 Horse creek. Southeast of Fort Laramie. 

 There we halted for the night. After un- 

 saddling we found the little stream was 

 frozen entirely dry at that place, and we 



