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Show 132 THE CALIFORNIA AND OREGON TRAIL . place. On the back of the horse are pil~d various. articles .of th luggage ; e basket also is well f.i lled W. ith domestiC utensils, or, qu1· te as 01r1. ten , with a litter of pu pp1 s, a brood of small children, or a superannuated old man. Number s of those cu. n·o us ve h1' c 1e .s~ called, in the bastard lang uage of the country, L ' travaux, were now splashing together through the strcamr Among them swam countless dogs,. often burdened with minia~ ture travaux; and dashing forward on horseback through the throng came the supe rbly~form e d warriors, the slender figure of some lynx-eyed boy clinging fast behind them. Tho women sat perched on the pack-saddles, adding not a little to the load of the already overburdened horses. The confusion was pro~ digious. The dogs yelled and howled in chorus; the puppies in the travaux set up a dismal whine as the watBr invaded their comfortable retreat; the little black-eyed children, from o e year of age upward, clung fast with both handP to the edge of their basket, and looked over in alarm at the water ru shing so near them, sputtering and making wry mouths as it splashed against their faces. Some of the dogs, en cum ben~d by their load, were carried down by the current, yelping piteously; and the old squaws would rush into the water, seize their favorites by the neck, and drag them out. As earh horse gained the bank, he scrambled up as he could. Stray horses and colts came among the rest, often breaking away at full peed through the crowd, followed by the old hags, screaming, after their fashion, on all occasions of excitement. Buxom young squaws, blooming in all the charms of vermilion, stood her e and there on the bank, holding aloft their master's lance, as a signal to collect the scattered portions of his household. In a few moments the crowd melted away; each family, with its horses SCENES AT FORT LARAMIE. 133 and equipage, filing off to the plain at the rear of the fort ; and here, in the space of half an hour, arose sixty or seventy of their tapering lodges. Their horses were feeding by hundreds over the surrounding prairie, and their dogs were roaming every where. The fort was full of men, and the children were whooping and yelling incessantly under the walls. These new-comers were scarcely arrived, when Bordeaux was running across the fort, shouting to his squaw to bring him his spy-glass. The obedient Marie, the very model of a squaw, produced the instrument, and Bordeaux hurried with it up to the wall. Pointing it to the eastward, he exclaimed, with an oath, that the families were coming. But a few moments elapsed before the heavy caravan of the emigrant wagons could be seen, steadily advancing from the hills. They g ained the river, and without turning or pausing plunged in; they passed through, and slowly ascending the opposing bank, kept directly on their way past the fort and the Indian village, until, gaining a spot a quarter of a mile distant, they wheeled into a circle. For some time our tranquillity was undisturbed. The emigrants were preparing their encampment; but no sooner was this accomplished, than Fort Laramie was fairly taken by storm. A crowd of broad-brimmed hats, thin visages, and staring eyes, appeared suddenly at the gate. Tall awkward men, in brown homespun; women with cadaverous faces and long lank figures, came thronging in together, and, as if inspired by the very demon of curiosity, ransacked every nook and corner of the fort. Dismayed at this invasion, we withdrew in all speed to our chamber, vainly hoping that it might prove an inviolable sanctuary. . The emigrants prosecuted their investigations with untiring vigor. They penetrated the rooms, or |