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Show II 42 opllltOll given by Uridger of the dangero us state or the C?Untry, and openly expressed hi.s convtetto.tl that we Cl~lt.hl 110t c~~ap~ W1thou.t o~e sharp encounters w11ll the ItH.ltan ~. l11 adullwn 10 tlus, be t~wde l~t s wtll; and among the circ u m~tances winch. were coustantly ~ccur rm g to mcrca e their a larm this was the most nnfortunate; anu I fnuuu that a number of my pa rty llau become ::-o much. in limiuatcd: tlw.~ they had rcqu?stcd to be di:-:ctwrged at this place. I dtt.Jctl ~o-day. at l• or.t ~latre, .whtch ltas bcctt mcnrioned a situated at the Jlln ctton o{ Lar<.ltnto nver wtth the Ne. braska. ll ere I heard a coufirlllatiou of the statements given above. The party of warriors, w hi ell had s.ta rtccl a few days sin~c _on the tr.ail of the cmi;:;ra11ts, was expecteu hark 111 fourteen days, t.o JO!ll the vtllage with which their families aud the old men bad remall\cd. The arrival of the latt er was hourly expected ; and some Iudians have just come iu who lind left them on the Laralllie fork, abo nt t wcnty mile.· above. Mr. J3i ·so nette, one of the traders helollging to Fort Platte, urgcu the propriety of takina with me an int erpreter a11d two or three old men of the village ; in whicl~ case, he thought there would be little or 110 haz~rd i1.1 encounter. ing any of the war parties. Tile principal danger was Ill bemg attacked before they should know who we were. They had a confused idea of the tllltllbers and power of our people, and dreaded to brina upon th emselves the military force of the United States. This ac tttleman~ who spoke the language fiueutly, o{fered his services to accot~pany me so far as the Red Buttes. lie was desirous to join the large party ou its retmn, for purposes of trade, and it would suit his views, as w~ll as my own, to go with us to the Bttttes; beyond which point it would be impossible to prevail on a Sioux to venture, on account of their fear of the Crows. From Fort Laramie to the Red Bnt.tcs, by the ordiuary road is one l}undred aud thirty -five n1iles; and, though only on the threshold of danger, it seemed better to secure tile 5erviccs of an inter- u preter for the partial distancr., than to have none at all. So far as frequent interrupt iou from the Indians woul<l allow, we occu· pied ourselves iu making some astronomical calculations, and bringing up the general map to this stage of onr journey; but tlte tent was generally occupied by a successiou of om ceremonious vi iters. Sonw came for prese 11ts, aud others for information ot' our object in coming to the co untry; now aud th<.m, onP- would dart np to the tent on horseback, jerk olf his trappings, and stand silen tly at the door, holding his horse by the halter, ~ignit'ying his de ·ire to trade. Occ:tsionally a ... avagc wonlu ... tulle in with an invitarion to a fea ·t of honor, a dog fca t, a tJd deliberately sit down and wait quietly nntil I was ready to accompany l1itU. I went to one; the women and children were sitting ontside tl1e lodge, and we rook our seats on buffalo robes spread around. The dog was in a. large pot over the fire, in the miclclle of the lodge, and im·nediately ou our arrival was dished up in large wooden bowls, one of which was hanJ.ed to each. The flesh appeared very glutinous, with something of tht:! flavor aud ap· pcarat1ce of mutton. Feel in~ sometn ing move bcbi t!u we, I looked round, aud found th~t I ?ad takc11 my scat amoug a litter of fat young puppies. ~ad I been tHce m such matters, the prl'jt tdiccs of civilization ruigbt have lllterfereJ with my tranqnillity; bnt, forttlllately-. I am uot of delicate nerves, and continued quietly to empty my platter. The weather was cloudy at eve11it1g, witll a moderato south wind, and the thermometer at 6 o'clod{ 85°. I was disappointed iu my hope of ob· 43 [ 174 J taining an observatwu .of an occult::ttion, which took place nbo nt mi<Jnight. The moon brought With her heavy banks of clouds, through which !-ihe scarce ly made her a ppearar1ce J.uring the night. The mornit1g of the 1 tit was cloudy and cttlm, th thermonJCter at 6 o'clock at G4°. About 9, with a moderate wind frotn the west a srorm of rain carne on, accotup~nicd by sharp thunder and lightniug, w'hiclt lnstcu ab_ou~ an hom. Dunug the day the c.xpectcd village arrived, co11 ist ing pnuc1pull~ of old men, womcu, and chllu ren. They had a considerable number of hor. es, and large troops of do~s. Tit ·ir lodaes were nitched ncar the fort, and ottr camp was constautly crow<led wi~l lt1d inn~ 0 {' all sizes, from mo ruit~g uu tilnig ht ; a.t which t~me some of the soldiers generally ca~ne to unve tlwm all ofJ to the vtll<1gc. 1\'fy 1 nt was the only place whtcll they re. pccted. Here only can1e the chiefs and men of dis tiuction, an<l generally otiC of them remaitted to drive' away tile women alld child ren. The llttutcrous strange instrurue11t~, appl ied to still strnnl)'er usc::::, excited awe and admiration atuono· then1, :tud tho e which I u;cd in talking with the snn and tars they looked upo11 with especial reve rence, as mysterions thiua of·' great medicine." or the three barometers which I had broualtt with n1c tlllls fa r successfully. I f'ounu that two were out of or~er, an<l speut the. greater part of the I Vth in repairing them~ n operatwn. of no small 0tlficnlry in the tuidst ~f the incessant interruptiOns to whtch 1 was snb.JCCted. We had the ttllsfortnne to break ltero a Jarge ti.JCrmometer, grau uatcd to show fi fths of a degree, which I used to a certatn tile .tempcr~t nre of b?il ing water,aucl with which I had pro111ised myself 'orne Itlte restma expenmeuts in the motuJ ta itiS. We h:.1.d but one remaining, on which the graduation extended su1licientlv hiah · aud rhis was too snwll (or exac~ observations. During our stay ht' re, ~h~ men had been engaged Jn mak111~ nnmeron · repairs, nrrattaiua pack saddlt's an-1 I . . b t; . • , u ot 1eny1se prep~l'lng for the .chances of a rough road and mountain travel. All t~nngs of tll1 nature be1ug Tl'ady, I aathcred them arou nd me in the ~;·enlllg, anu told tileUl that "I had deternlillcd to proceed tile llCXt day. l h~y were all well ll l'lued. I had engaged tltc services of .. Mr. Bissonette as '.ntcrpreter, a t~d had taken, in the circnmst::wces, every possible means to Insure our a_fcty. Jn the rumor~ we bad hcnrd, I believed there was ~~.nch exaggeration, aud then they were men accustomed to this kind of Ide and to !he cou11t ry ; aml that the o were tile dallgm·s of every day occurrence, ant..l to be expecrcd iu the ordinary course of tltcir service. They h<.td ht'a rd of the unsettled condition of the coutttry before leaving St. Lou ts, and therefore could not nwke it a reasou fo r urcaki na their engage t.ncitt s. Still, I was unwilling to take with me. 011 a service of some certum danger, men on whom l could not rely; and as I had understood th at. there were amoug them 0 111c who were disposed to cowardice, and an~tott to retur11, they !tad but to come forw ard at ouce, aud state their des1 r~, aut..l they would be dischnr~ed with the n.n1ou nt dll!) to them for tbe ttrn0 tltey bad served." To their ltonor be it said. tltcre was but OIJO amon.g ~hem who hud the fitce to come fo rward and avail himself of the perm.JS~Ion . .r a ked him some few qucsr io ns, in order to expo e him to Lhe .r~~tcnl~~ ol tlte men, a1.1d let him go. The .day after our departure, he eng,'>'ed.lnmse!f to 011e _ot the forts, c.~ nd ~C't oll_ with a party for the Upper Mt~:sourt. f dtd not thmk that tile ltu at ton of the country jnstified me in ~alung om y~n llg companions, Messrs. Brant ami. Bct ttnn, aloug with us. 11 case of nnsfortune, it would have becu thought, at the least, an act of |