apparently confirmed by the absence of the Blackfeet from
the Rocky Mountain House this season, and also from the fact of the arms
in question (repeating rifles) being found in possession of these
Indians. The town of Benton on the Missouri River has long been noted for
supplying the Indians with arms and ammunition; to such an extent has
this trade been carried on, that miners in Montana, who have suffered
from Indian attack, have threatened on some occasions to burn the stores
belonging to the traders, if the practice was continued. I have already
spoken of the great extent of the Blackfeet country; some idea of the
roamings of these Indians may be gathered from a circumstance connected
wit the trade of the Rocky Mountain House. During the spring and summer
raids which the Blackfeet make upon the Crees of the Middle Saskatchewan,
a number of horses belonging to the Hudson Bay Company and to settlers
are yearly carried away. It is a general practice for persons whose
horses have been stolen to send during the fall to the Rocky Mountain
House for the missing animals, although that station is 300 to 600 miles
distant from the places where the thefts have been committed. If the
horse has not perished from the ill treatment to which he has been
subjected by his captors, he is usually found at the above-named station,
to which he has been brought for barter in a terribly worn out condition.
In the Appendix marked B will be found information regarding the
localities occupied by-the Indian tribes, the names of the principal
chiefs, estimate of numbers in each tribe, and other information
connected with the aboriginal inhabitants, which for sake of clearness I
have arranged in a tabular form.

It now only remains for me to refer to the last clause in the
instructions under which I acted, before entering into an expression of
the views which I have formed upon the subject of what appears necessary
to be done in the interests of peace and order in the Saskatchewan.
The fur trade of the Saskatchewan District has long been in a declining
state, great scarcity of the richer descriptions of furs, competition of
free traders, and the very heavy expenses incurred in the maintenance of
large establishments, have combined to render the district a source of
loss to the Hudson Bay Company. This loss has, I believe, varied annually
from 2000 to 6000 pounds, but heretofore it has been somewhat
counter-balanced by the fact that the Inland Tr