bt a very nice man, and there may
have been other things that he understood better than cattle, for he
did ask a great many simple, innocent questions. Our replies, however,
might have been condensed into a few simple statements. We had, we
related, been over five months on the trail; after the first month,
tender-footed cattle began to appear from time to time in the herd, as
stony or gravelly portions of the trail were encountered,--the number
so affected at any one time varying from ten to forty head. Frequently
well-known lead cattle became tender in their feet and would drop back
to the rear, and on striking soft or sandy footing recover and resume
their position in the lead; that since starting, it was safe to say,
fully ten per cent of the entire herd had been so affected, yet we had
not lost a single head from this cause; that the general health of the
animal was never affected, and that during enforced layovers nearly
all so affected recovered. As there were not over twenty-five
sore-footed animals in the herd on our arrival, our explanation was
sufficient and the herd was accepted. There yet remained the counting
and classification, but as this would require time, it went over until
the following day. The cows had been contracted for by the head, while
the steers went on their estimated weight in dressed beef, the
contract calling for a million pounds with a ten per cent leeway over
that amount.

I was amongst the first to be interviewed by the Indian agent, and on
being excused, I made the acquaintance of one of two priests who were
with the party. He was a rosy-cheeked, well-fed old padre, who
informed me that he had been stationed among the Blackfeet for over
twenty years, and that he had labored long with the government to
assist these Indians. The cows in our herd, which were to be
distributed amongst the Indian families for domestic purposes, were
there at his earnest solicitation. I asked him if these cows would not
perish during the long winter--my recollection was still vivid of the
touch of squaw winter we had experienced some two weeks previous. But
he assured me that the winters were dry, if cold, and his people had
made some progress in the ways of civilization, and had provided
shelter and forage against the wintry weather. He informed me that
previous to his labors amongst the Blackfeet their ponies wintered
without loss on the native grasses, though he had since taught them to
make hay, and in