Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1876 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER III. THE CROW TRIBE. A Pew pleasant days we lingered at Fort Ellis, much enjoying the kind hospitality of General and Mrs. Sweitzer and the officers of the garrison; discussing hunting and shooting, trapping bears, stalking elk or trailing Eedskins; listening to awful tales, which I trust were a little highly-coloured, of Indian devilry and cunning, how they creep upon you unawares, how they impale you on a young pine-tree, and leave you there to squirm your life out in writhing agonies, or lay you, stripped naked, flat on your back on the ground, your arms and legs extended, and, lighting a small fire on your stomach, dance round you in enjoyment of the spectacle. Wild stories, too, we heard of weary marches; of want of food and want of water; of hazardous scouting expeditions; and of awful sufferings in winter snows, when men lost their toes and fingers, or fared like the carpenter in the voyage through the Straits of Magellan, who, 'thinking to blow his nose, did cast it into the fire.' Perhaps some fastidious lair one may think the carpenter in question must have been a vulgar person. Any one who has been to a cold climate will, however, allow that if you blow your nose at all, you must use the implements of nature, not of art. So we chatted, spun yarns, played billiards, and drove about, while Jack, by no means idle, was purchasing stock at Bozeman; and, finally, everything being nearly ready, I left orders for the outfit to proceed direct to Boteler's Eanch, and started off myself to have a look at the Crow Agency. The distance from Fort Ellis to the Agency is about thirty miles. The road is easy and not very remarkable in any way. The canon or gorge by which it breaks through the first range of mountains is rather fine, ...
