twinkle in
her eye: "Don't you dare tell them men folks I was a-scairt!" I knew
just how she felt.

Everything was up in the air over the Fourth of July celebration that we
intended to stage. It was to be a combination of Frontier Days, Wild
West Show, and home talent exhibition. Indians came from the various
reservations; cow-hands drifted in from the range; tourists collected
around the edges; the rangers were there; and every guide that could be
spared from the trail bloomed out in gala attire. We women had cooked
enough grub to feed the crowd, and there was a barrel of lemonade, over
which a guard was stationed to keep the Indians from falling in head
first.

The real cowboys, unobtrusive in their overalls and flannel shirts,
teetered around on their high-heeled tight boots and gazed open-mouthed
at the flamboyance of the Fred Harvey imitations. Varied and unique
remarks accompanied the scrutiny. Pretty soon they began to nudge each
other and snicker, and I saw more than one of them in consultation with
the rangers. I felt in my bones that mischief was brewing.

The usual riding and roping and tying stunts were pulled off, and in the
afternoon the Indians were challenged to race horses with the white
boys. The race was for half a mile and back, around the curve of a
hillside. Off they went amid the wildest war-whoops and cowboy yells I
ever heard. The Indians had the advantage, since they burdened their
mounts with neither saddle nor bridle. Stretched flat along the pony's
back, the rider guided him by knee pressure and spurred him to victory
by whistling shrilly in a turned back ear. I was amused to see how the
wily Indians jockeyed for the inside of the track, and they always got
it too. Not a white man's horse won a dollar in the race. It might have
been different, probably would have, in an endurance race, for Indian
horses are swift only in short runs. They never have grain, and few of
them have as much water as they need.

Just before the sports ended, White Mountain announced that some of the
cowboys had brought a badger into Headquarters with them and that they
had another one located. If they succeeded in capturing it, there would
be a badger fight at the Fred Harvey mess hall that night--provided no
gambling or betting was done. Since the show was to be put on by the
cowboys, they themselves should have the honor of picking the men
fortunate enough to hold the ropes with which the badgers would be tied