ing wind had been blowing when they left the parent stream,
annoying in a way a stranger to the river never would have dreamed.
There being no permanence to the channels, no fixity to the numerous
bars, no accurate knowledge covering the additions to the terrible,
destroying snags lurking under the surface, the pilot literally had to
read his way every yard and to read it anew every trip. All he had to go
by was the surface of the water, and it told him a true tale as long as
it was reasonably placid. From his high elevation he looked down into
the river and learned from it where the channel lay; and from arrow-head
ripples and little, rolling wavelets, where the snags were, for every
one close enough to the surface to merit attention was revealed by the
telltale "break" on the water. Let a moderate wind blow and his task
became harder and more of a gamble; but even then, knowing that the
waves run higher over deeper water, he still could go ahead; but above
a certain strength the wind not only baffled his reading, but gave such
a sidewise drift to the shallow-draft, high-riding vessel that he could
not hope to take it safely through some of the narrower channels. Rain
or hail, which turned the surface into a uniform area of disturbance,
instantly closed his book; and in this event he had no recourse except
to lie snugly moored to the south bank and wait until the weather
conditions changed. Sometimes these waits were for a few hours,
sometimes for a day or more; and when the persistent southwest prairie
gales blew day and night, moving great clouds of sand with them, the
boat remained a prisoner until they ceased or abated.

There was good reason for choosing that south bank, for the stronger
winds almost invariably came from that direction during the navigation
season, and the bank gave a pleasing protection. While lying moored,
idleness in progress did not mean idleness all around, for the boilers
ate up great quantities of wood, and in many cases the fuel yards were
the growing trees and windfalls on the banks. Once the boat was moored
the crew leaped ashore and became wood-choppers, filling the fuel boxes
and stacking the remainder on shore for future use. In a pinch green
cottonwood sometimes had to be used, but it could be burned only by
adding pitch or resin.

Nowhere on the river was a navigation mark, for nowhere was the channel
permanent enough to allow one to be placed. It was primitive, pioneer
navigation