ding post to be found in the wide territory of the Hudson Bay Company.
Every precaution known to the traders has been put in force to prevent
the possibility of surprise during "a trade." Bars and bolts and places
to fire down at the Indians who are trading abound in every direction; so
dreaded is the name borne by the Black feet, that it is thus their
trading post has been constructed. Some fifty years ago the Company had
a post far south on the Bow River in the very heart of the Blackfeet
country. Despite of all precautions it was frequently plundered And at
last burnt down by the Blackfeet, and since that date no attempt has ever
been made to erect another fort in their country.

Still, I believe the Blackfeet and their confederates are not nearly so
bad as they have been painted, those among the Hudson Bay Company who are
best acquainted with them are of the same opinion, and, to use the words
of Pe to-pee, or the Perched Eagle, to Dr. Hector in 1857, "We see but
little of the white man," he said, "and our young men do not know how to
behave; but if you come among us, the chiefs will restrain the young men,
for we have power over them. But look at the Crees, they have long lived
in the company of white men, and nevertheless they are just like dogs,
they try to bite when your head is turned--they have no manners; but the
Blackfeet have large hearts and they love to show hospitality." Without
going the length of Pe-to-pee in this estimate of the virtues of his
tribe, I am still of opinion that under proper management these wild
wandering men might be made trusty friends. We have been too much
inclined to believe all the bad things said of them by other tribes, and,
as they are at war with every nation around them, the wickedness of the
Blackfeet'has grown into a proverb among men. But to go back to the
trading house. When the Blackfeet arrive on a trading visit to the
Mountain House they usually come in large numbers, prepared for a brush
with either Crees or Stonies. The camp is formed at some distance from
the fort, and the braves, having piled their robes, leather, and
provisions on the backs of their wives or their horses, approach in long
cavalcade. The officer goes out to meet them, and the gates are closed.
Many speeches are made, and the chief, to show his "big heart," usually
piles on top of a horse a heterogeneous mass of buffalo robes, pemmican,
and dried meat, and hands horse and all he carries over to the t