a-chuck-ee was made happy by the gift of a dozen strings
of glass beads, and the chief also kindly accepted a few trinkets and a
contribution of tobacco, and provisions, after which he made the
company understand that for a consideration payable in cotton prints,
tobacco, salt pork, and flour, he himself and his trusted braves would
become escort to the train in order to protect its cattle from harm,
and its wagons from the pilfering hands of his tribesmen. His offer was
accepted, with the condition that he should not receive any of the
promised goods until the last wagon was safe beyond his territory. This
bargain was faithfully kept, and when we parted from the Indians, they
proceeded to immediate and hilarious enjoyment of the unwonted luxuries
thus earned.

We were now in line with spring storms, which made us victims of
frequent downpours and cyclonic winds. The roads were heavy, and the
banks of streams so steep that often the wagons had to be lowered by
aid of rope and chain. Fortunately our people were able to take these
trying situations philosophically, and were ever ready to enjoy the
novelties of intervening hours of calm and sunshine.

The staid and elderly matrons spent most of their time in their wagons,
knitting or patching designs for quilts. The younger ones and the girls
passed theirs in the saddle. They would scatter in groups over the
plains to investigate distant objects, then race back, and with song
and banter join husband and brother, driving the loose cattle in the
rear. The wild, free spirit of the plain often prompted them to invite
us little ones to seats behind them, and away we would canter with the
breeze playing through our hair and giving a ruddy glow to our cheeks.

Mr. Edwin Bryant, Mr. and Mrs. Thornton, and my mother were
enthusiastic searchers for botanical and geological specimens. They
delved into the ground, turning over stones and scraping out the
crevices, and zealously penetrated the woods to gather mosses, roots,
and flowering plants. Of the rare floral specimens and perishable
tints, my mother made pencil and water-color studies, having in view
the book she was preparing for publication.

On ascending the bluff overlooking the Big Blue, early on the afternoon
of the twenty-sixth of May, we found the river booming, and the water
still rising. Driftwood and good sized logs were floating by on a
current so strong that all hope of fording it vanished even before its
depth w