22 



AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 



where dotted with small bands of buffalos; which were so numerous on one 

 occasion that they darkened the plains to the west of us as far as the eye 

 could reach. They were given no peace by the skin hunters, several parties 

 of whom we met on the range. The skins then sold for two dollars each at 

 the nearest railroad station. Once a small band of buffalo, stampeded by 

 these hunters, sent us to our wagon for safety, the herd passing on both 

 sides of us almost within arm's reach. 



On returning from the buffalo hunt we packed the collections we had 

 accumulated at Fort Hays and shipped them East, part to Rochester for 

 preparation and part direct to the museum at Cambridge. July 3 we took 

 the train for Denver, and at daylight the next morning obtained our first 

 view of the Rocky Mountains, the snowfields on the higher peaks coming 

 clearly into view with the rising of the sun. We spent two days at Denver, 

 outfitting for a wagon trip into the mountains, and left for South Park 

 on the afternoon of July 6, camping the first night on Turkey Creek, just 

 behind the first range of foothills. While in Denver we had noticed a band 

 of about 300 Ute Indians, encamped on the outskirts of the city, who had 

 come in to receive their annual supplies from the United States Government, 

 and to barter their robes and other furs with the people of Denver. They 

 swarmed through the town on horseback, men, women and children, clad 

 in their native costumes, their faces painted, and their persons decorated 

 with beads and brass and tin trinkets. They were nearly all bare-headed, 

 their coarse jet black hair reaching usually to their shoulders. Some wore 

 hats, or hats and coats, and a few full suits of white man's clothes, but 

 usually a deer skin or a woolen blanket wrapped about them was the princi- 

 pal article of clothing. It was our first sight of the red man in his native 

 splendor and naturally these Indians greatly interested us. But great was 

 our disgust to find that they had left Denver for the mountains just ahead 

 of us and were encamped only a few hundred yards beyond the place we 

 had chosen for our own camp. While they might be 'honest Indians' our 

 guide deemed it best for us to keep a sharp lookout for our horses and other 

 belongings. We decided to stay in camp in the morning till they passed on. 

 They broke camp early and we did not anticipate meeting them again. 

 In this we were disappointed, for we found they had gone only a few miles 

 and again encamped. Thus we passed and repassed each other's camps for 

 several days, until we decided to remain for some time at a point that 

 offered good collecting, in the hope that they would continue on their 

 journey and we should be rid of their visits. But this plan failed, as we 

 again overtook them and they later became once more a nuisance. They 

 were friendly, indeed quite too familiar, and inveterate beggars, particu- 

 larly for tobacco and matches. 



