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Show [ 174 ] 28 triggers; men in such cases generally act from instinct, ami a char~e from three hundred naked savage. is a circnm tance not well calculared to promote a. cool exrrci ·e of judament. .Ju t as he wa ~ a?ou~ to fire, M~xwell recoanised tltc lcadina lndian, and shoutcu to hun lll the lndtan 0 laugnagr, "Y1m'rc a fool, G~ od damn yon, .u1 on ' t yon 1w ow me ?' ' 'f.l 1 e sound of hi ow1J language seemed to shock the savage, and, swervmg his horse a lillie, he pas. ed ns like an arrow. ~lc wheeleJ, a. I ro~e ?Ut toward him and O'avc me his hand, , trikitlg hts breast aud exclaumng "Arapaho!"' The~y prO\'ed to be a village o f that .nat.w n, atno11g w I~ om Maxwelll1ad resided. as a trader a year or two prevwusly, and recogtllsed him accon.li ngly. We were soon in the midst of the band, answenng as well as we could a multitude of questions; of which the very first was, of what tribe were o11r I uuian companious who were comiug in the rear ? They sc0meu disappointed to know that they were Cheyculles, f~>r they had fully anticipated a grauu dance around a Pawnee scalp that night. The cllief showed us his village at a grove on the ri vcr six miles ahead, and poiuted ont a band of buffalo on the other side of the Pl:l.tte, immediately opposite us, which he said they were going to s urround. They had seen tile band early in the morning from their village, and hall been making a large circuit, to avoid giving them the wind, when they discovered ns. In a few minutes the wom~n came galloping 11p, astride on their horses, and naked. from their knees down, and the hips up. They followed the men, to assist in cutting up and carrying oti the meat. The wind was blowing direct I y across the river, aud the chief reClue ted us to halt where we were for a while, in order to avoid raising tile herd. We therefore unsaddled our hor,es, and sat down on the bauk to view the scene; and our uew acquaintances rode a few hundred yards lower down, and began cro siug the river. Scores of wild-looking uogs followed, looking like troops of wolves, and havitJO', in fact, but very little of the dog iu their composition. Some of them remaillcd with us, and I checked one of the men, whom I fouud aiming at one, which he was about to kill for a wo1f. The day had become very hot. The air was clear, wirh a very sl ight breeze; and uow, at 12 o'clock, while the barometer stood at 25.920~ tlw attached thermometer was at 108°. Onr Cheyennes had learned that wilh the Arapaho village were abont. twenty lodcres of their own, including their own families; they therefore immeufately commeuccd ma~{ing their toilette. After bathing in the river, tllcy iuve. ted them. elves 111 some handsome calico shirts, which I aCterwaru learned they ha~ tol en fr.o~ my own .men, and peut some time in arranging thetr htur ~ud pamt111g tllem scl~es wilh ~o mc vcrmiliou I bad given them .. Wlule they wer.e cn!Sag·~d 1u tlli sati,factory manner, one of their hu.lf-wdd llor es, to whtch the crowd of pranciug auimals which had jnst passed hall recalleu tl•te freedom of her ex istence anwnrr the wild droves 011 the prair.ie, suddenly dnshed into the !Jill at the ~op of her speed. She was thetr pack horse, an~ had 0 11 her b~1ck all the worldly wealth of our. poor Clteycu~lCs, all tlletr accoutrements, and all the little u rticlcs wl~tch ti!?Y had pt ck~·u up amoug us, with sonte few pr ·seltt!-i l had given th ~ Ill. J he loss whtch tltey seemed to r<>gret nwst W<'re th ei r spears and sltwld:;;, an~ some. tob'lcco which tltcy had rcc\'iVC(l (rollt 111e. However, t!Jey bure .'tall. Wtlh the philo ophy or Ull Indian, allCl lau~ltillgly conflllllcd thetr toilette. They appeareu, however, a lillie monifi t·d at the thought of r.cturuing to tlw vtllage in such a sorry plight. ·'Our peopl~ • . 29 [ 174 J will Jangh .at. us," said one of them," retnrning to the village on foot, in~ tea<l of dn VIII'" back a drove of Pawnee horses." I Ie U('nwndeu to know if .1 loved my ~orr~l huuter very nmch; to which I rrplicd, he was the object of IllY most llllellsc affection. Far from bcill O' able to O'ivc I wa~ I . . f 0 ' mys' fIll wallt o horse, ; <111d any · uggc~tion · of parting wirh tlw few I had valuable, was nwt wirh n peremptory refusal. ln the mean tinw, the slnught ~· was about to commt· uc~' ou tltc other side. 'o soon as tlwy reached 1t, the IIJdwns ,cparated Into two boJi<'s. On<' party proceeded dir •ctly arross the prairie, toward rho hill.s, in an t'Xlc11ded li11n, while the o t II e r w c 11 t 11 p l he r i v c r ; un d i 11 s t a 11 t I y <1 t I H' y h n <..1 o i v c 11 t h e w i 11 d to 1 he lterd, the chase comtuctrccd. The buflitll) sturtcd f(>r tl1c llil l.s, hnt wt'rc iJ~te rc~JHt'd ;1!1d driven back towaru 1he rivN, b1oken and nmui110' itt cvt'IY. dtrcctrorl. ~he clouds of dust _oor1 co.vl•reu lite whole ~Cl'llt', prcv<•ttti 11g us from llavwg any but an occastOtlnl vww. It lwcl a very ~it,rrn l ar flJ)- J . t1 pcarnr1ce to us at a< r-.,tallr<', especially when look1t1g- witlt tile gla:--s. \Ve were too f:n to hear the rvp<;>rl of the guns, or any ~ouwl; and at eV('JY Illf-. tatll, throur,.!J the clouds of du t which the Still 111adc lull.itiOUs, we could sec for a lltOtliC tlt two or tltrt·c bufl'alo dnslliwr aluiJ fY, a11d riPsc behiuc. l them :11_1 Indian with,l~is lo ng spcar,.nr otlter ~V'l'HlH~Il, nu<.l iu~tanrly n~a~11 tl1c•y d.tsuppenwd . . _I lte nppa~·c11l stll•rJcr, :1nd the d11nly ~~ · <'ll figun·s flttt11tg hy wJtlt ~llt'll 1'\.lptJtty, guv(' 1t a kit1d of dreatlly dl'cct, a1 1d seemed more like a pic111re than a sce11e of real li fe. 1t had been a lurgc herd wh(•tt the CC'rne cnumJellcr.d, probab ly three or four ~ llltl(.lred in tlll11lbcr; but, tl1ougl1 I watclwd them· closely, I did not sec 011e emcr~c> from the ~ata l cloud wl1cre tlte worl of de::-tructil)n was going Oil. Afrer remainu~ g here abont an hour, we resumed our journey in the Jircction of tlw village. Gradt~al l y, as we rode on, ltH.lian aflcr lt ulian came dropping along, laden w111l tneat; ar1t.l by th•~ titlll! we hat.l ueared the lod:...rt , the back ward ro~td . wa. cov<'rcd wilh tltc returmng horsenlCil. Jl w;Js n piL•n:-;,uJt co11trast wu.h tllC' d •scrt road we had heeu travelling. Severnlbiid joiuccl comp:wy .wll ll us! a11d oue of tl1e chief...; i11V1teJ us to his Jod~e. The vi llage ('()JJ ~l.~.lCU\ o( about Ollf' hulldre.d ata.l l\~(~Jity-Jivo loug('s, or which twenty ,'~_etc Cltcy('JJ~H's; tl1e.lat1er pllcll.d a ltttlc :tpart from the Arnpu.hocs .. J ti('Y were dtspnsed 111 a cattenug mntllll'r on bntll ~idt' ot' a broad Jrrcg11lar :::;tn·et about otiC llu'ndred o11d fif'ty feet widP :111d ntttlliJJO' . I ' 0 n ~o11g tlw ~· tvcr. As we IOU(~ :t/. ng, I rrmarked near some of the lodg('S a k11H.l of tnpnd fl<llll(', fomH'd nl tlll'<'e ~lcude!· pnles of btrch , :::; rnped very clean, to w.llicll Wl'l'e allixt •d tlte slucld n.11d , pcnr, with some ollter wenp ons o~ a du >f. All w re ~crnp nlou!:ily clctttl, the spear II •au wns bnrni~hed hnght, a11d the shield white a11d stainlt'ss. It f<'llliudcd nw of the ?ay~ of feud al cltivalry; a11d when, as I roue hr, 1 yil•ldcu to tlte pns~iug l mpul~e, ami IOitclted ntw of the spotl(',s lticlds wuh the muzzle of my guu, I aln1ost cx1wcted a grim warrior to ~ti:lrt from Lite lod~e <ltHI rc,eut ruy cllilllellf!e. The ma,ter of the loJge spread out a robe t'or n1e to sit upon. :111d the squaws set lH'f(>re n a Iaroe woodt~n <Jish of bntralo m('at. lie lwd lit !tis pipe in the mean while~ ami ''.:hen it h<Hl been JHlSSt'd arntllld, we coumrcnced o11r diuncr wltilc lte contimwd to ~moke. Grad- . ttally, five or ix other cllie ls came in, m1u took tltc·ir s€'at~ in :-iiPncc. \\' her• .we hncl finis~~ed, o11r l1ost asked a uutubt·r of <Jncstion relative to 1~e oi 1Ject of our JOilrtlcy, of which I made uo concl'almtlll; t~lltng him s1mply that 1 had made a vi.sit to see the couutry, preparatory to the cs- |
