colored man, called Banks, had a
barbershop that stood up on blocks. The boys told him he must run for
Mayor in opposition. They told him he must have a speech, so taught him
one which said, "Down, Down, Down!" and he was to stand in the door and
deliver this. Just as he got to the last "Down" these wags put some
timbers under the little building and gently turned it over in the sand.
It took them half a day to get it up and get everything settled again,
but in a town where nothing exciting was going on, this was deemed worth
while.

If you had half a pint of whiskey in those days, and were willing to
trade with the Indians, you could get almost anything they had, but
money meant nothing to them.

I remember seeing tame buffalo hitched to the Red River carts. They
seemed to have much the same disposition as oxen, when they were tame.
The oxen on the Red River carts were much smaller than those of today
and dark colored. The most carts I remember having seen passing along at
one time, was about one hundred. These carts were not infrequently drawn
by cows. The drivers were very swarthy, generally dressed in buckskin
with a bright colored knit sash about the waist and a coonskin cap with
a tail hanging down behind or a broad brimmed hat.

In '51 I built a mill at Elk River. Lane was the only white man living
there. It was right among the Winnebagoes. They were harmless, but the
greatest thieves living. They came over to our camp daily and would
steal everything not nailed down. We used to feed them. We had a barrel
full of rounds of salt pork. By rounds of pork, I mean pork that had
been cut clear around the hog. It just fitted in a big barrel. Eli
Salter was cooking for us. One night he had just put supper on the
table. It was bread, tea and about twenty pounds of pork--about two
rounds. There were seven of us and just as we were sitting down, four
squaws came in. Nowadays they sing, "All Coons look Alike to me," but at
this time all squaws looked alike to us. We could never tell one from
the other. They ate and ate and ate. Eli said, "They seemed like rubber
women." The table was lighted with tallow dips, four of them. Just as
Salter was going to pick up that pork, each squaw like lightning wet her
fingers and put out the candles. When we got them lighted again, them
squaws and the pork was together, but not where we were. We just charged
it to profit and loss.

Among them Indians was Ed, the greatest thief of all.