OCR Text |
Show our enemies and had passed in this mean time no less than three hundred Indians, the most of whom had left the farm the day before and were halting on the way to learn more fully the fate of the American as they called me, and before sunset all my papers, clothes, etc. were returned to my possession. From that time hence I have been entirely dependant upon those poor untutored children of nature for life and sustenance. I have shared a liberal position of their meager hospitalities and crude sympathies in my bereavements, and though they were evidently conscious that they were unable to treat me as I had been accustomed, they have manifested a devotion to my person and a regard for my safety far in advance of their present knowledge of Christian civilization. When we left the Indian Settlement the season was mild and salubrious, but as early as the 9th inst.we encountered a severe snow storm, which pelted without mercy the naked skins of my straining escort. Also on the 12th and 13th in crossing the Green River mountains, we waded through snow knee deep, subjecting any party to the atmost degree of privation and suffering, yet throughout their attachment was unremitting, and they would often when around their campfires assure me that if any attempts were made to take my life, they would die in my defense. The weather is now becoming intensely cold and even as early as the 16ttL winter had set in with unusual severity, |