h to join them in
this sport. I was sure they stepped on the wheel, so I cautiously
placed my moccasined foot upon it. Alas! before I could realize what had
happened, I was under the wheels, and had it not been for the neighbor
immediately behind us, I might have been run over by the next team as
well.

This was my first experience with a civilized vehicle. I cried out
all possible reproaches on the white man's team and concluded that a
dog-travaux was good enough for me. I was really rejoiced that we were
moving away from the people who made the wagon that had almost ended my
life, and it did not occur to me that I alone was to blame. I could not
be persuaded to ride in that wagon again and was glad when we finally
left it beside the Missouri river.

The summer after the "Minnesota massacre," General Sibley pursued our
people across this river. Now the Missouri is considered one of the most
treacherous rivers in the world. Even a good modern boat is not safe
upon its uncertain current. We were forced to cross in buffalo-skin
boats--as round as tubs!

The Washechu (white men) were coming in great numbers with their big
guns, and while most of our men were fighting them to gain time, the
women and the old men made and equipped the temporary boats, braced with
ribs of willow. Some of these were towed by two or three women or men
swimming in the water and some by ponies. It was not an easy matter to
keep them right side up, with their helpless freight of little children
and such goods as we possessed.

In our flight, we little folks were strapped in the saddles or held in
front of an older person, and in the long night marches to get away from
the soldiers, we suffered from loss of sleep and insufficient food. Our
meals were eaten hastily, and sometimes in the saddle. Water was not
always to be found. The people carried it with them in bags formed of
tripe or the dried pericardium of animals.

Now we were compelled to trespass upon the country of hostile tribes
and were harassed by them almost daily and nightly. Only the strictest
vigilance saved us.

One day we met with another enemy near the British lines. It was a
prairie fire. We were surrounded. Another fire was quickly made, which
saved our lives.

One of the most thrilling experiences of the following winter was a
blizzard, which overtook us in our wanderings. Here and there, a family
lay down in the snow, selecting a place where it was not likely to drift