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Show 28 ALONG LODGE POLE CREEK. within pistol range ; so away I dashed, my horse participa ting in the excitement, and running with a swiftness that astonished me ; but I soon saw how useless it was, for the antelope was travelling at the rate of two miles to my one. They are killed in large number by the Indians, and their meat dried for food, while their skins are tanned and dressed, and traded like the deer ( buck) skin, but are not con sidered so valuable. Quite a number of young antelopes were caught by the soldiers, and taken along by the ladies as pets ; but they all died or were abandoned because of the difficulty in carrying them, and the scarcity of milk upon which they require to be fed. The antelope zoolog ically considered, ranges between a goat and a deer. They are much more gracefully formed than the former, and while they are quite as pretty as the latter, they are fleeter animals. Along Lodge Pole Creek, as elsewhere on the plains, the little prairie dog abounds. This animal has really no resemblance to a dog, but having a sharp bark like one is called so in consequence. Its shape is more like a squirrel, and it belongs to that family. It has not the long tail, however, and their average size is about twice that of the little animal it resembles. They are by no means solitary in their habits, but hundreds of them are found together in their * l towns." They bore into the ground, and throw the loose earth into little round piles beside the holes. A large number of these holes, near together, constitute a prairie- dog town or village, as it is called. Some of them are spread out over many acres of ground. They have the reputation of selecting strange bed- fellows, and it it is said an owl, a snake, and a prairie- dog will occupy the same hole. I cannot vouch for the truthfulness of this from personal observation. On one occasion I came nearly shooting myself, and did shoot my horse, while attempting to fire at an impudent little fellow who sat on the pile of dirt by his hole, not five rods away, barking as the soldiers marched by. Not being able to make my horse stand until I could get a good aim, |