THE GEORGE CATLIN INDIAN GALLERY. 289 



space of fifteen minutes resulted in the total destruction of the whole herd, which in 

 all their strength and fury were doomed, like every beast and living thing else, to fail 

 before the destroying hands of mighty man. 



I had sat in trembling silence upon my horse, and witnessed this extraordinary scene, 

 which allowed not one of these animals to escape out of my sight. Many plunged off 

 upon the prairie for a distance, but were overtaken and killed ; and although I could 

 not distinctly estimate the number that were slain, yet I am sure that some hundreds 

 of these noble animals fell in this grand melee. 



The scene after the battle was over was novel and curious in the extreme ; the hunt- 

 ers were moving about amongst the dead and dying animals, leading their horses by 

 their halters, and claiming their victims by their private marks upon their arrows, 

 which they were drawing from the wounds in the animals' sides. 



Amongst the poor affrighted creatures that had occasionally dashed through the 

 ranks of their enemy and sought safety in flight upon the prairie (and, in some in- 

 stances, had undoubtedly gained it), I saw them stand awhile, looking back, when 

 they turned, and, as if bent on their own destruction, retraced their steps, and min- 

 gled themselves and their deaths with those of the dying throng. Others had fled 

 to a distance on the prairies, and for want of company, of friends or of foes, had 

 stood and gazed on till the battle scene was over, seemingly taking pains to stay, 

 and hold their lives in readiness for their destroyers, until the general destruction 

 was over, when they fell easy victims to their weapons, making the slaughter com- 

 plete. 



After this scene, and after arrows had been claimed and recovered, a general coun- 

 cil was held, when all hands were seated on the ground and a few pipes smoked, 

 after which all mounted their horses and rode back to the village. 



A deputation of several of the warriors was sent to the chief, who explained to him 

 what had been their success, and the same intelligence was soon communicated by 

 little squads to every family in the village, and preparations were at once made for 

 securing the meat. For this purpose some hundreds of women and children, to whose 

 lot fall all the drudgeries of Indian life, started out upon the trail which led them 

 to the battlefield, where they spent the day in skinning the animals and cutting up 

 the meat, which was mostly brought into the villages on their backs, as they tugged 

 and sweated under their enormous and cruel loads. 



I rode out to see this curious scene, and I regret exceedingly that I kept no memo- 

 randum of it in my sketch-book. Amidst the throng of women and children that had 

 been assembled, and all of whom seemed busily at work, were many superannuated 

 and disabled nags, which they had brought out to assist in carrying in the meat, and 

 at least one thousand semi-loup dogs and whelps, whose keen appetites and sagacity 

 had brought them out to claim their shares of this abundant and sumptuous supply. 



I staid and inspected this curious group for an hour or more, during which time 

 I was almost continually amused by the clamorous contentions that arose, and gener- 

 ally ended in desperate combats, both amongst the dogs and women, who stemed 

 alike tenacious of their local and recently acquired rights, and disposed to settle 

 their claims by " tooth and nail" — by manual and brute force. 



When I had seen enough of this I rode to the top of a beautiful prairie bluff, a mile 

 of two from the scene, where I was exceedingly amused by overlooking the route that 

 laid between this and the village, which was over the undulating green fields for 

 several miles that laid beneath me; over which there seemed a continual string of 

 women, dogs, aluil horses for the rest of the day, passing and repassing as they were 

 busily bearing home their heavy burdens to the village, and in their miniature ap- 

 pearance, which the distance gave them, not unlike to a busy community of ants as 

 they are sometimes seen sacking and transporting the treasures of a cupboard or the 

 sweets of a sugar-bowl. — G. C. 



410. Buffalo chase ; numerous group ; chasing with bows and lances. (No plate.) 

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