Thirty Years of Army Life on the Border ... With numerous illustrations

Front matter

[See p. 232. CROSSING THE KOOKY MOUNTAINS IN WINTER. THIRTY YEARS or ARMY LIFE ON THE BORDER. COMPRISING DESCRIPTIONS OF THE INDIAN NOMADS OF THE PLAINS; EXPLORATIONS OF NEW TERRITORY ; A TRIP ACROSS THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS IN THE WINTER; DESCRIPTIONS OF THE HABITS OF DIFFERENT ANIMALS FOUND IN THE WEST, AND THE METHODS OF HUNTING THEM; ■WITH INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF DIFFERENT FRONTIER MEN, &o., &o. BY COLONEL E. B. MAECY, TJ. S. A., AUTHOR OF "THE PRAIRIE TRAVELER." TOftJ Numerous illustrations. NEW YORK: HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE. 1866. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, by HARPER & BROTHERS, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York. INTRODUCTORY. In this age of many books, it is hardly possible that any new publication can need an apology or an explanation.

I have been persuaded by many friends that the contents of the book which is herewith presented to the public are not without value as records of a fast vanishing age, and as truthful sketches of men of various races, whose memory will shortly depend only on romance, unless some one who knew them shall undertake to leave outlines of their pecul iar characteristics. More than thirty years of service in the United States Army, a large portion of the time on the frontiers, on the prairies, or among the far Western mountains, have given me some experience in the life of the frontiersman, as well as made me the frequent companion of the hardy trappers, the pioneers, the advance-guards of civilization, while it has been necessary for me to meet on either friendly or hostile terms nearly all the aboriginal tribes of the prairies.

If any excuse were needed for the publication of sketches somewhat desultory and disconnected as these will prove, I am persuaded that excuse may be found in the simple fact that all these subjects of my description — men, condi tions of life, races of aboriginal inhabitants, and adventur ous hunters and pioneers — are passing away. A few years more, and the prairie will be transformed into farms, the INTRODUCTORY. X mountain ravines will be the abodes of busy manufactur ers, the aboriginal races will have utterly disappeared, and the gigantic power of American civilization will have taken possession of the land from the great river of the West to the very shores of the Pacific. It can not be entirely in vain that any one contributes that which he knows from personal experience, however little, to aid in preserving the memory of the people and the customs of the West in the middle of the nineteenth century.

Chapter I. The Indians Of The Plains

The Indians of the Plains not described in Bancroft's History. — Different in Habits from the Eastern Tribes. — First discovered by Coronado. — Similarity in Habits with the Arabs. — Pantomimic Language. — Characteristics of different Tribes Page 17 CHAPTER H. - COMANCHE INDIANS. Comanche Indians. — Local Subdivisions of the Tribe. — Nomads. — Diminnishing in Numbers. — Fear of visiting the Whites. — Courtship. — Polygamy. — Is-sa-keep. — Receiving Guests. — Council. — Singular Custom. — Propensity for Horse-racing. — Kickapoo Horse-race. — War Expeditions. — Method of Recruiting. — Mexican Prisoners. — Parker Family. — Treatment of Negroes. — Visit to the Fort. — Mourning Ceremonies. — Ideas of the Bible. — Opinion of the Whites. — Medicine Lodges. — Ideas of their own Importance. — Way to treat them. — Belief in the Deity 43 CHAPTER HI.

INDIAN WARFARE. Indian Warfare. — French Army in Algeria. — Turkish Method of Warfare. — Tracking Indians. — Telegraphing by Smokes. — Delawares, Shawnees, and Kickapoos. — Guides in the Great Desert. — The Khebir. — Delaware's Idea of the Compass. — Black Beaver. — Jealousy of his Wife. — Comanche's Ideas of the Whites. — John Bushman. — Marriage Relations. — Jim Ned. — Great Horse-thief. — Comanche Law. — Juan Galvan. — Kickapoos good Hunters. — Respect for Law 67 B CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IV. PUEBLO INDIANS.

Pueblo Indians.— Early Discovery.— Situations of their Towns.— Moquis. — Coronado's Expedition. — Visit to Santa Domingo. — Laguna. — Christmas Ceremonies.— Church Services.— Bird Orchestra.— Dances.— Moqui Villages.— Peculiar Dances.— Feasting.— Origin of the Moquis.— Marriage Ceremony. — Estufas. — Pottery. — Extensive Ruins. — Large Houses. — Casas Grandes Page 97

CHAPTER V.

* KED KIVER EXPEDITION. Red River Expedition. — Order. — Early Efforts to explore it. — Navigable Portion. — Copper Ores. — New Ore. — Dr. Hitchcock's Opinion. — Great Gypsum Belt. — Cause of bad Taste in the Water. — Witchita Mountains. — Extent of Choctaw Reservation. — Beautiful Country. — Visit of Witchetaws. — Buffaloes. — Comanche Trails. — Buffalo Chase. — Panther killed. — Unaccountable Appearance of Water. — South Winds. — Encamping. — Head of North Fork. — Visit to Canadian River. — Mirage. — Head of Salt Fork. — Lano-Estacado. — Prairie Dog Town. — Leaving the Train. — Bad Water. — Suffering from the Effects of bad Water. — Reach the Head of the main Fork of Red River. — Beautiful Scenery. — Bears. — Remarkable Canon 114

CHAPTER VI.

Turning homeward. — Peculiar Basin. — Another Panther killed. — Witchita Mountains. — Mount Scott. — Buffalo Chase. — Witohetaw Villages. — Fine Soil. — Reported Massacre. — Mexican Prisoners. — Accused of Horse-stealing. — Arrival at Fort Arbuckle. — Anxiety of Friends. — Review of Characteristics of the Country passed over. — Ranges of the Indians 154

CHAPTER VII. INDIAN RESERVATIONS.

Arrival at Fort Belknap. — Troubles of the Small Tribes of Texas. — Jose Maria. — Council. — Major Neighbors. — Wolf Dance. — Comanche Visit to the Tonkawas. — Admiration for the Major's Wardrobe. — Enlists in a War Expedition. — Little Witchita River. — Big Witchita River. — Perilous Position of Major Neighbors. — Head of Big Witchita. — Bad Water. — Reach Brazos River. — Head of the Brazos. — Abundance of Game. — Ketumsee. — Clear Fork of the Brazos. — Council. — Location of the Reservations. — Summary. — Double Mountain Fork. — Mesquit Tree. — Mesquit Gum. — Civilizing Comanches CONTENTS. XV CHAPTER vni. WINTER EXPEDITION OVER THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. Winter Expedition over the Rocky Mountains. — Objects of the Expedition. — General Scott's Opinions. — Leaving Fort Bridger. — Desertion of Indian Guide. — Descending Mountain. — Singular Corral. — Reach Grand River. — Ute Indians. — Commence the Ascent of the Rocky Mountains. — Snow. — Cache Luggage. — Mules giving out and dying. — Provisions consumed. — Commence eating Mules. — Ptarmigan. — Getting lost. — New Guide. — Excellent Conduct of the Soldiers. — Destitute Condition. — Bivouac. — Reach the Summit of the Mountains. — Send Messengers to Fort Massachusetts. — Return of the Messengers. — Joy of the Party. — Mariano. — Overeating. — Arrival at Fort Massachusetts. — Arrival at Taos. — Comparative Qualities oftlifferent Animals in Snow Page 224

CHAPTER IX. RETURN TRIP TO UTAH.

Return Trip to Utah. — Route of the March. — Organization of the Party. — Order to Halt. — Fontaine-qui-bouille. — Herd of Elk. — Arrival of Re-enforcements. — Terrible Snow-storm. — Stampede. — Storms. — Platte River. — Denver City. — Arrival at Fort Bridger. — Entrance into Salt Lake City. — Scarcity of Mormons. — Salt Lake. — Bathing. — Mormon Industry. — Proclamation by Brigham Young. — Mormon Depredations. — Order of Daniel H. Wells. — Interview with Captain Van Vliet. — Tone of the Pulpit and Press. — Benediction by Heber Kimball 251

CHAPTER X. UNEXPLORED TERRITORY.

Unexplored Territory. — Lack of geographical Information in 1849. — Wagon Road from Fort Smith. — New Road from Dona Ana. — Great Canon of the Colorado. — Visit of the Spaniards.— Mr. Kern's Opinions. — Tall Race of Men. — Height of the Canon. — Attempts to explore it. — Splendid Scenery. — Mineral Considerations. — Method for exploring the Canon suggested 276

CHAPTER XI. HUNTING.

Hunting. — Its Benefits to the Soldier. — Disposition of Fire-arms. — Namaquas. — Tracking. — Horse Tracks. — Elk Hunt. — Faculties of Indians. — Deer Hunting. — Rifles. — Antelope. — Bear. — Lassoing Grizzlies. — Amateur Sportsman. — Big -Horn. — Buffalo. — Rapidly diminishing. — H. H. Sibley's Remarks. — Range of the Buffalo. — Chasing on Horseback. — CONTENTS. XVI Stalking. — Winter Hunting. — The Beaver. — The Prairie Dog. — Hints to Sportsmen Page 283

CHAPTER XII. PIONEERS OF THE WEST.

Pioneers of the West. — Frontier Settlers. — Night at a Log Cabin. — Effects of drinking Mint Juleps. — Ayoung Cadet's Arrival at West' Point. — Prairie Belle. — Texas Surveyor. — Dinner in Arkansas. — Night in Arkansas. — New Use of Tea. — Yankee Curiosity illustrated. — Propensity for roaming. — Meeting a Fellow-statesman in Mexico. — An old Acquaintance. — Southern Curiosity. — Virginia Hospitality. — Perversion of the English Language. — Arrival in the Settlements in 1849. — A Texas Clergyman's Experience. — Frontier Settlers of Texas. — Major Neighbors's Experience. — The Six-man Team. — Texas Volunteers. — Recuperative Character of the Frontiersman illustrated 356

CHAPTER XIII. MOUNTAINEERS.

Mountaineers. —Jim Bridger. — His Troubles with the "Danites." — Sir George Gore. — Tim Goodale and Jim Baker. — Bear Fight. — Singular Duel.— Mariano.— Mr. Clyburn.— His Adventures in the Mountains. — His Return to the Settlements.— Narrow Escape on Rock River.-— Indian Law 399

CHAPTER XIV. CAPTAIN MARTIN SCOTT.

Captain Martin Scott.— The Coon Story.— The Bear-hunter.— The Horse-race.— Courting Days.— Rifle and Pistol Shooting.— His Duel.— Expedition with Explorers.— Hunting in Texas Wonderful Dog.— "Tally Ho !" — Return Home to Bennington. — His Death THIRTY YEARS OF ARMY LIFE ON THE BORDER. CHAPTEK I. THE INDIANS OF THE PLAINS. The Indians of the Plains not described in Bancroft's History. — Different in Habits from the Eastern Tribes. — First discovered by Coronado. — Similarity in Habits with the Arabs. — Pantomimic Language. — Characteristics of different Tribes. In the third volume of Bancroft's History of the United States may be found a very circumstantial, comprehensive, and reliable account of the aborigines, who, from the time of the advent of Europeans, have inhabited that portion of our territory lying east of the Mississippi Eiver, and the author, in this connection, has presented many highly in teresting facts relative to their habits, languages, institutions, and religions ; but, with the exception of a brief allu sion to the partially civilized eastern Sioux or Dacotahs, he as yet has said nothing concerning the Comanche, Kio way, Cheyenne, and other numerous and warlike tribes that range over the great plains west of the Mississippi.

Several years' service in the district of country frequented by this peculiar type of the Indian race has frequently thrown me in contact with different tribes, and thereby afforded me good opportunities for observing their peculiarities and habits, and for collecting the facts which follow. Whatever common anatomical or phrenological characteristics physiologists may have detected in the skulls of the great families of the Algonquin, Iroquois, Cherokee, or B* DISCOVERY OF THE PRAIRIE INDIANS. 18 Catawba tribes, and those of the natives on the Pacific Coast, yet between the habits, languages, and institutions of the Bed Men who roam over the Blains, and those of the Indians so elaborately described by our distinguished histo rian, there exists as wide a contrast as can be found be tween the Bedouins of the desert and the denizens of London, Paris, or New York.

The earliest information we have of the prairie tribes is contained in Castenada's account of the daring expedition of Coronado, which was sent out from Cicuya, New Mexico, in search of the "golden city" of Quivera, during the summer of 1541. After marching for several days, the party encountered "an Arab people called Querechos, who lived in buffalo skin tents, and subsisted exclusively on the raw flesh of those animals." Continuing their march in an easterly di rection, the Spaniards reached extensive plains, covered with countless herds of buffalo and their erratic enemies, the Indian nomads of the prairies. These people had no horses then, but they possessed great numbers of dogs, which were used to transport their luggage as they follow ed the migrations of the buffalo. They were a mild, peaceable race of people, who extended to the Spaniards the warmest hospitality and friendship, and they were not ad dicted to those horrible practices which prevailed among some of the Indians in New Mexico and Sonora.

They "jerked" or dried the meat, and made the pemmican, at that early period, in precisely the same manner as it is prepared at the present day by the half-breeds upon the Bed Biver of the North, and they still continue to use the dogs as pack animals. From this it appears that the Indians seen by the Spanish explorers were the same type of aborigines as are now found roaming over the vast prairies of North America, and with HABITS OF THE NATIVES. 19 the exception of the changes incident to the introduction of the horse, their habits and manner of living in the six teenth century were precisely the same as they are at the present moment. The whimsical caprices of fashion hold no tyrannical sway over their beaux and belles. Thev are not obliged to send three thousand miles to ascertain what particular colored ribbon would be authorized to adorn a bonnet during the succeeding month, or what special style of neck-tie would meet the approbation of the beau monde in Paris.

The material and cut of their gar ments to-day are precisely the same as they were three hundred years ago ; indeed, so uniform and permanent is their method of conducting all the affairs of life, that an expert has only to examine the remains of an old camp fire, or even a moccasin, in order to determine what partic ular tribe of Indians passed that way. The habits of all the prairie tribes assimilate very closely to each other in some respects, as, for example, they all follow the buffaloes ; use the bow and arrow, lance and shield ; take the war-path, and fight their battles mounted on horse back, in the open prairie; transport their lodges and all their worldly effects wherever they go ; never till the ground, but subsist exclusively on fresh-meat diet. All use the sweat or medicine lodges, and religiously believe in the efficacy of incantations and jugglery in curing diseases, preparing for war, the chase, etc.

On the contrary, the na tives of the Eastern States, from the time of the first discovery of the country, lived in permanent villages, where they cultivated fields of corn, and possessed strong attach ment for their ancestral abodes and sepulchres. Seldom wandering far from home, they did not use horses, but al ways made their war and hunting expeditions on foot, and sought the cover of trees on going into action. In their treatment of prisoners of war there has been ARABS AND PRAIRIE INDIANS. also a very marked dissimilarity. The Eastern aborigines, although they put their victims to tortures of the most appalling character, seldom, if ever, violated the chastity of the females ; while, on the contrary, the prairie Indians do not put their prisoners to death by prolonged tortures, but invariably compel the females to submit to their lewd em braces.

I have known of several well-authenticated in stances where their barbarous treatment of females has proved this conclusively. As there seems to be a most striking physical similitude between the deserts of Arabia, and the steppes of Central Asia, and the prairie mesas of our own country, a marked resemblance is also observed in the habits and customs of the respective inhabitants. The Arabs of the desert, the Tartar tribes, and the aboriginal occupants of the prairies, are alike wanderers, having no permanent abiding-places, transporting their lodges or tents wherever they go, and where these are pitched there are their homes. They alike permit no authorities to control them but such as receive the unanimous sanction of the masses, and the rule of their leaders is guided by the counsels of their wise old men, who in many instances allay dissensions and curb the impetuos ity of ambitious younger warriors, whose thirst for fame would otherwise involve the nation in protracted wars.

Their government is essentially patriarchal, guided by wise and fraternal councils. They are insensible to the wants and luxuries of civilization, and know neither poverty nor riches, vice or virtue, and are alike exempt from the de plorable vicissitudes of fortune. Theirs is a happy state of social equality, which knows not the perplexities of po litical ambition or the crimes of avarice. They are alike the most expert horsemen in the world, and possess the same fond attachment for the animal. I once made an ef fort to purchase a favorite horse from a chief of one of the BEDOUIN HORSE. ■11 bands of the Southern Comanches (Se-na-co), and offered him a large price, but he could pot be persuaded to part with him. He said the animal was one of the fleetest in their possession, and if he were to sell him it would prove a calamity to his whole band, as it often required all the speed of this animal to insure success in the buffalo chase ; that his loss would be felt by all his people, and he would be regarded as very foolish ; moreover, he said (patting his favorite on the neck), "I love him very much."

The like estimation in which the horse is held among the Eastern nomads is illustrated in a very interesting story related by Mr. W. C. Prime in his " Boat Life in Egypt and Nubia." He says : " Speaking of horses as we rode along, one of the governor's officers told me a story of an old sheik of the Bedouins that I have seen in print in two or three forms, but never precisely in this : "He was old and poor. The latter virtue is common to his race. He owned a tent, a Nubian slave, and a mare ; nothing else. The mare was the fleetest animal on the des ert. From the Nile to the Euphrates fame of this animal had gone out, and kings had sought in vain to own her. The love of the Bedouin for his horse is not that fabled af fection that we read of in books. This love is the same affection that an American nabob has for his gold, or rather that a poor laborer has for his wages.

His horse is his life. He can rob, plunder, kill, and destroy ad libitum if he have a fleet steed. If he have none, he can do nothing, but is the prey of every one who has. Acquisition is a prominent feature of Arab character, but accumulation is not found in the brain of a son of Ishmael. The reason is obvious. If he have wealth he has nowhere to keep it. He would be robbed in the night. He would, indeed, have no desire to keep it ; for the Bedouin who murders you for a shawl, or a belt, or some gay trapping, will give it away the next day. NUBIAN SLAVE. " Living this wandering life, the old sheik was rich in this one mare, which was acknowledged to be the fleetest horse in Arabia. "Ibrahim Pasha wished the animal, as his father had wished before him. He sent various offers to the old sheik, but in vain.

At length he sent a deputation, with five hundred purses (a purse is five pounds), and the old man laughed at them. " 'Then,' said Ibrahim Pasha, 'I will take your mare.' " ' Try it.' " He sent a regiment into the desert, and the sheik rode around them, and laughed at them, and the regiment came home. " At last the sheik died from a wound received in a fray with a neighboring tribe. Dying, he gave to his Nubian slave all that he had — this priceless mare — and the duties of the blood revenge. " The faithful slave accepted both, and has ever since been the terror of the Eastern desert. Yearly he comes down like a hawk on the tents of that devoted tribe, and leaves a ball or a lance in man or woman. No amount of blood satisfies his revenge; and the mare and the black rider are as celebrated in Arabia as the wild huntsman in European forests, and much better known."

The only property of these people, with the exception of a few articles belonging to their domestic economy, consists entirely in horses and mules, of which they possess great numbers. These are mostly pillaged from the Mexicans, as is evident from the brand which is found upon them. The most successful horse-thieves among them own from fifty to two hundred animals. In their political and domestic relations there is also a similarity to the Old World nomads. They are governed by a chief, the tenure of whose office is hereditary so long WAR EXPEDITIONS. 23 as his administration meets the approbation of his followers. He leads them to war, and presides at their delibera tions in council ; but should he disgrace himself by any act of cowardice or maladministration, they do not hesitate to depose him and place a more competent man in his stead.

Their laws are such as are adapted to their peculiar situa tion, and are sanctioned by the voice of the people. Their execution is vested in the subordinate chiefs, or captains, as they are called, and they are promptly and rigidly enforced. In respect to the rights of property, their code is strictly Spartan. They are perhaps as arrant freebooters as can be found upon the face of the earth ; and they regard stealing from strangers as perfectly legitimate and honorable, and that man who has been most successful in this is the most highly honored by his tribe ; indeed, a young man who has not made one or more of these expeditions into Mexico is held in but little repute. In evidence of this, I was told by an old chief of the Northern Comanches, called Is-sa keep, that he was the father of four sons, who he said were as fine young men as could be found ; thatthey were a great source of comfort to him in his old age, and could steal more horses than any young men in his band.

As these forays are often attended with much toil and danger, they are called "war expeditions." It not unfre quently happens that but six or eight young men set out upon one of thes"e adventures, and the only outfit each re quires is a horse, with the war equipments, consisting of the bow and arrows, lance and shield, with occasionally a gun. Thus prepared, they set out upon a journey of a thousand miles or more, through a perfectly wild and deso late country, dependent for subsistence wholly upon such game as they may chance to find. They make their way to the northern provinces of Mexico, where they lie in wait near some hacienda until a favorable opportunity offers to BOW AND ARROW. sweep down upon a solitary herdsman, and, with the most terrific yells, drive before them all the animals they desire.

Wo to the panic-stricken ranchero who fails to make a precipitate retreat, as they invariably kill such men as of fer the slightest impediment to their operations, and take women and children prisoners, whom they hold in bondage of the most servile character. They are sometimes absent from their tribes two years or more before their success is sufficient to justify their returning with credit to them selves. The use of the bow, which is the favorite arm and con stant appendage of the prairie Indian, and which he makes use of exclusively in hunting the buffalo, is taught the boys at a very early age ; and by constant and careful practice, they acquire a degree of proficiency in the art that renders them, when grown up to manhood, formidable in war, as well as successful in the chase. Their bows are made of the tough and elastic wood of the " bois d'arc," or Osage orange (Madura aurantiaca), strengthened and re-enforced with the sinews of the deer wrapped firmly around them, and strung with a cord made of the same material.

They are not more than one half the length of the old English long-bow, which was said to have been sixteen hands' breadth in length. The arrows are twenty inches long, of flexible wood, with a triangular point of iron at one end, and two feathers, intersecting each other at right angles, at the opposite extremity. At short distances the bow, in the hands of the Indian, is effective, and frequently throws the arrow entirely through the huge carcass of the buffalo. In using this instrument, the Indian warrior protects himself from the missiles of an enemy with a shield of circular form, covered with two thicknesses of hard, undressed buf falo hide, separated by a space of about an inch, which is stuffed with hair ; this is fastened to the left arm by two INDIAN WOMEN. 25 bands, in such a manner as not to interfere with the free use of the hand, and offers such resistance that a rifle-ball will not penetrate it unless it strikes perpendicular to the surface.

They also make use of a war-club, made by bend ing a withe around a hard stone of about two pounds "weight, which has been previously prepared with a groove in which the withe fits, and is thereby prevented from slip ping off. The handle is about fourteen inches long, and bound with buffalo hide. The men are about the medium stature, with bright, cop per-colored complexions and intelligent countenances, in many instances with aquiline noses, thin lips, black eyes and hair, with but little beard. They never cut the hair, but wear it of very great length, and ornament it upon state occasions with silver and beads. Their dress consists of leggins and moccasins, with a cloth wrapped around the loins. The body is generally naked above the middle, ex cept when covered with the buffalo robe, which is a con stant appendage to their wardrobe.

The women are short, with crooked legs, and are obliged to crop their hair close to their heads. They wear, in addition to the leggins and moccasins, a skirt of dressed deer-skin. They also tattoo their faces and breasts, and are far from being as good look ing as the men. Notwithstanding these people are hospitable and kind to strangers, and apparently amiable in their dispositions, yet, when a warrior conceives himself injured, his thirst for revenge knows no satiety. Grave and dignified in his deportment, and priding himself upon his coolness of tem per and the control of his passions, yet, when once pro voked, he, like the majority of his race, is implacable and unrelenting ; an affront is laid up and cherished in his breast, and nothing can efface it from his mind until ample reparation has been made.

He has no idea of forgiveness : INDIAN TOILET. I the insult must be atoned for by blood. With other tribes, quarrels can often be settled by presents to the injured party ; but with the prairie Indians, the law of equity is such that no reconciliation can take place until the reproach is wiped out with the blood of their enemy. They make no use of money except for ornaments. Like other tribes, they are fond of decking themselves with paint, beads, and feathers ; and the young warrior often spends more time at his toilet than the most conceited coxcomb that can be found in civilized life. Bright red and blue are their favorite colors ; and vermilion is an important article in the stock of goods of one of their traders. This they always carry about their persons ; and whenever they expect to meet strangers, they always (provided they have time) make their toilet with care, and paint their faces.

Some few of their chiefs who have visited their Great Father at Washington have returned strongly impressed with the numerical pow er and prosperity of the whites ; but the great majority of them, being entirely ignorant of every thing that relates to us, and a portion of them having never even seen a white man, believe the prairie Indians to be the most powerful people in existence; and the relation of facts which conflict with this notion, by their own people, to the masses of the tribes at their prairie firesides, only subjects the narrator to ridicule, and he is set down as one whose brain has been turned by the necromancy of the pale-faces, and is thenceforth regarded as wholly unworthy of confidence. The Northern and Middle Comanches, as well as the Ki oways, Cheyennes, Sioux, and other tribes, subsist almost exclusively upon the flesh of the buffalo, and are known among the Indians as "buffalo eaters;" and they are gen erally found upon the trails of those animals, migrating with them from place to place, as the seasons come around, over those vast and inhospitable plains of the West, which HEALTH OF THE PRAIRIES. are, for the most part, not susceptible of cultivation, and seem destined in the future, as in the past, to be the abode of these wandering savages.

This barren district, however, exhibits one characteristic which compensates for many of its asperities, as, perhaps, no part of the habitable globe is more favorable to health and the continuation of human existence than this. Free from marshes, stagnant water, great bodies of timber, and all other sources of poisonous malaria, and open to every wind that blows, this immense grassy expanse is purged from impurities of every kind, and the air imparts a force and vigor to the body and mind which repays the occupant in a great measure for his de privations. Nature, which almost every where exhibits some compensation to man for great hardships, has here conferred upon him health, the first and best of her gifts. It is a fact worthy of remark that man, in whatever situation he may be placed, is influenced in his modes of existence, his physical and moral condition, by the natural re sources of climate, soil, and other circumstances around him, over the operations of which he has no control.