e was the "graining-block," a log of wood with the bark
stripped off and perfectly smooth, set obliquely in the ground, on which
the hair was removed from the deerskins which furnished moccasins and
dresses for both herself and her husband. Then there were stretching
frames on which the skins were placed to undergo the process of
"dubbing"; that is, the removal of all flesh and fatty particles
adhering to the skin. The "dubber" was made of the stock of an elk's
horn, with a piece of iron or steel inserted in the end, forming a sharp
knife. The last process the deerskin underwent before it was soft and
pliable enough for making into garments, was the "smoking." This was
effected by digging a round hole in the ground, and lighting in it an
armful of rotten wood or punk; then sticks were planted around the hole,
and their tops brought together and tied. The skins were placed on this
frame, and all openings by which the smoke might escape being carefully
stopped, in ten or twelve hours they were thoroughly cured and ready for
immediate use.

The beaver was the main object of the hunter's quest; its skins were
once worth from six to eight dollars a pound; then they fell to only one
dollar, which hardly paid the expenses of traps, animals, and equipment
for the hunt, and was certainly no adequate remuneration for the
hardships, toil, and danger undergone by the trappers.

The beaver was once found in every part of North America, from Canada
to the Gulf of Mexico, but has so retired from the encroachments of
civilized man, that it is only to be met with occasionally on some
tributary to the remote mountain streams.

The old trappers always aimed to set their traps so that the beaver
would drown when taken. This was accomplished by sinking the trap
several inches under water, and driving a stake through a ring on the
end of the chain into the bottom of the creek. When the beaver finds
himself caught, he pitches and plunges about until his strength is
exhausted, when he sinks down and is drowned, but if he succeeds in
getting to the shore, he always extricates himself by gnawing off the
leg that is in the jaws of the trap.

The captured animals were skinned, and the tails, which are a great
dainty, carefully packed into camp. The skin was then stretched over
a hoop or framework of willow twigs and allowed to dry, the flesh and
fatty substance adhering being first carefully scraped off. When dry, it
was folded into a square s