s, those who heard him thought that he was making up stories, or
that he had been out of his head while traveling and had thought he saw
such wonders.

But after many long years the wonderful place which we call Yellowstone
Park was found, and in it were boiling and spouting springs. People
knew then that Colter had been telling the truth, and that he had
traveled through the Yellowstone country.

[Illustration: A Geyser.]

LORETTO AND HIS WIFE.

In old times white men had not made settlements in the country near the
Rocky Mountains. Tribes of Indians fought one another over that whole
region. A few bold white men, fond of wild life, lived there, in order
to hunt and trap the animals that bear furs. But they themselves were
always in danger of being hunted by the Indians.

The Indians called Blackfeet and those called Crows were at war; They
stole each other's horses at every chance, and the Indians of each
tribe were always seeking to kill those of the other.

In one of their attacks on the Blackfeet, the Crows carried off an
Indian girl. One of the bold trappers of the Rocky Mountains was a
Mexican. His name was Loretto. He visited a Crow village once, and saw
this girl. He fell in love with the captive, and bought her from the
Crows. Whether he paid for her in horses or in beaver skins, I do not
know. But from a slave of the enemies of her tribe she was changed to
the wife of a white man who loved her.

Loretto was hired to trap for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. This
company bought furs from the Indians of the Far West. They sent large
parties to the mountains every year with guns, knives, hatchets,
blankets, and other things, which they traded to the Indians for skins.

Loretto was marching over the plains with a party of trappers belonging
to this company. He had his young Blackfoot wife and his baby with him.
The white men were much afraid of the Blackfoot Indians. The company
that Loretto was with examined every ravine that they passed, for fear
that the Indians would surprise them.

One day a band of the Blackfoot tribe appeared on the prairie, but they
kept near some rocks to which they could easily retire. They made signs
of friendship. The trappers also made friendly signs. Then the
Blackfeet sent out a party with a pipe of peace. The white men sent out
a party to meet them. They smoked the pipe in the open ground between
the two companies. This is the Indian way of making peace.

Of cou