hich
they again set out for Santa Fe.

It was really too late in the season; they succeeded, however, in
reaching the crossing of the Arkansas without any difficulty, but there
a violent snowstorm overtook them and they were compelled to halt, as
it was impossible to proceed in the face of the blinding blizzard. On
an island[14] not far from where the town of Cimarron, on the Santa Fe
Railroad, is now situated, they were obliged to remain for more than
three months, during which time most of their animals died for want
of food and from the severe cold. When the weather had moderated
sufficiently to allow them to proceed on their journey, they had no
transportation for their goods and were compelled to hide them in pits
dug in the earth, after the manner of the old French voyageurs in the
early settlement of the continent. This method of secreting furs and
valuables of every character is called caching, from the French word "to
hide." Gregg thus describes it:

The cache is made by digging a hole in the ground, somewhat
in the shape of a jug, which is lined with dry sticks,
grass, or anything else that will protect its contents
from the dampness of the earth. In this place the goods
to be concealed are carefully stowed away; and the aperture
is then so effectually closed as to protect them from
the rains. In caching, a great deal of skill is often
required to leave no sign whereby the cunning savage may
discover the place of deposit. To this end, the excavated
earth is carried some distance and carefully concealed,
or thrown into a stream, if one be at hand. The place
selected for a cache is usually some rolling point,
sufficiently elevated to be secure from inundations.
If it be well set with grass, a solid piece of turf is
cut out large enough for the entrance. The turf is
afterward laid back, and, taking root, in a short time
no signs remain of its ever having been molested.
However, as every locality does not afford a turfy site,
the camp-fire is sometimes built upon the place, or the
animals are penned over it, which effectually destroys
all traces.

Father Hennepin[15] thus describes, in his quaint style, how he built a
cache on the bank of the Mississippi, in 1680:

We took up the green s