302 
FOREST AND STREAM 
by a couple of cross pieces three or fourt feet 
long, securely lashed to the poles to prevent 
slipping. The lodge poles were slender young 
pines, with the bark carefully peeled from them, 
and were used in setting up the skin lodges 
whenever an encampment was made. The 
smaller ends were always discolored with 
smoke, as were the tops of the lodges as seen 
when set up. 
On the two cross pieces spoken of, were tied . 
other pieces forming a rude platform, on which 
were piled furs and robes, cooking utensils, 
baskets, wooden dishes, and in short, whatever 
portable property the owner of the lodge 
possessed. The drag of the ends of the poles 
on the ground made the hauling of the travois 
heavy work, and no great loads could be taken; 
but the sick, the very old, and often young 
children, were transported in this manner. As 
there were eight or ten poles required for each 
lodge, there would be as many as four or five 
ponies hitched in this manner, if needed, for 
one lodge. Most of the children, even little 
things four or five years old, or even younger, 
rode ponies which they guided themselves, or 
they were mounted behind some older person. 
I noticed one little boy less than two years of 
age I should judge, sitting in a basket tied on 
the top of a pile of household goods, his head 
and shoulders coming just above the edge of 
the basket, and in his arms he hugged a black 
and white puppy, with as much devotion as a 
little paleface of his age might have done. As 
we passed, his solemn expression never changed, 
but his little black beady eyes were fixed in¬ 
tently upon us with a look which told us no 
more of his opinion of us than that of the 
puppy he held. 
There was no order in their march that was 
apparent, loose ponies mingling continually 
among those which were ridden or packed or 
harnessed, while dogs were any and everywhere. 
The entire company was strung along for half 
a mile or more, and while we were passing them 
no attention whatever was paid to us. Most 
of the warriors had guns in their hands. I 
saw one or two “Henry” repeaters, a weapon 
from which the Winchester was evolved. 
The Winchester model 1866, a first class gun 
in ail respects, had not yet come into general 
use on the plains, or at least the Indians had 
not been able to procure them. The men were 
fine looking specimens of their race; their black 
hair hanging in two braids in front of the 
shoulders, bound round with the skin of some 
small animal, a weasel or martin; two or three 
long feathers were thrust through the hair on 
the tops of their heads. The squaws had their 
hair done up in much the same manner as the 
men, but wore no feathers. I judged they were 
Sioux, but the driver did not know, and no 
questions were asked. 
Our roads were parallel for but a short dis¬ 
tance ; and then they swung off to the south¬ 
ward and we to the northwest, not at all to 
our regret, although there was seldom any 
trouble with Indians traveling with their women 
and children. Our course for the remainder of 
the day was a continual rise, seldom, however, 
at any considerable gradient; the ravines, and 
some of the hillsides were sprinklered with 
cedars and scrub pines; a band of antelope 
bounded away from a little valley where they 
had been feeding; and once several black tail 
deer were scared out from a patch of very large 
sage brush, five or six feet high, where they 
had been lying down. The air grew colder as 
we reached a highter altitude; and I was glad 
to take my place inside the coach, early in the 
evening, before daylight was gone. The stage 
stations were all lighted with candles, the old 
“Star” brand, which every prospector of that 
and earlier dates remembers; and we devised a 
way of making the interior of the coach more 
cheerful, after darkness set in, until we wanted 
to sleep. One of our number had taken some 
candle ends from the candle sticks at the last 
station, and proceeded to tie one with twine to 
one of the iron uprights which supported the 
coach roof, of which there were four, two on 
each side of the entrance to the middle seat. 
It could not possibly do any harm, except to 
distribute the grease liberally in the vicinity 
when the vehicle gave a lurch, and we did not 
mind a little thing like that. 
It was much more cheerful when we could see 
Elk Feeding in the Snow. 
