ould lie altogether within the country of the Plain Crees. They inhabit
the prairies which extend from the Qu'Appelle to the South Saskatchewan,
a portion of territory which was formerly the land of the Assineboine,
but which became the country of the Crees through lapse of time and
chance of war. From the elbow of the South Branch of the Saskatchewan the
Cree nation extends in a west and north-west direction to the vicinity
of the Peace Hills, some fifty miles south of Edmonton. Along the entire
line there exists a state of perpetual warfare during the months of
summer and autumn, for here commences the territory over which roams the
great Blackfeet tribe, whose southern boundary lies be yond the Missouri
River, and whose western limits are guarded by the giant peaks of the
Rocky Mountains. Ever since these tribes became known to the fur-traders
of the North-west and Hudson Bay Companies there has existed this state
of hostility amongst them. The Crees, having been the first to obtain
fire-arms from the white traders, quickly-extended their boundaries, and
moving from the Hudson Bay and the region of the lakes overran the
plains of the Upper Saskatchewan. Fragments of other tribes scattered at
long intervals through the present country of the Crees attest this
conquest, and it is-probable that the whole Indian territory lying
between the Saskatchewan and the American boundary-line would have been
dominated over by this tribe had they not found themselves opposed by the
great Blackfeet nation, which dwelt along the sources of the Missouri.

Passing west from Edmonton, we enter the country of the Rocky Mountain
Stonies, a small tribe of Thickwood Indians dwelling along the source of
the North Saskatchewan and in the outer ranges of the Rocky Mountains,-a
fragment, no doubt, from the once-powerful Assineboine nation which has
found a refuge amidst the forests and mountains of the West. This tribe
is noted as possessing hunters and mountain guides of great energy and
skill. Although at war with the Blackfeet, collisions are not frequent
between them, as the Assineboines never go upon war-parties; and the
Blackfeet rarely venture into the wooded country.

Having spoken in detail of the Indian tribes inhabiting the line of
fertile country lying between Red River and the Rocky Mountains, it only
remains for me to allude to the Blackfeet with the confederate tribes of
Blood, Lurcees and Peagins. These tribes inhabit the great p