Mr. Roubidoux said: "Last winter
you made four trips for us; now every extra trip you make this
winter we will give you fifty dollars extra, apiece," which we
thought a great layout.
We started out with thirty-two pack animals and the same Mexican
boy as assistant that we had the previous winter.
While passing through the Comanche country we met a young man of
that tribe with whom I was on good terms, having done him a favor
during the war between his tribe and the Utes, for which he felt
very grateful to me. After learning where we were going, he said:
"Look out for the Sioux, for they have killed lots of white people
this fall near Pawnee Rock." But he did not tell us that his tribe
and the Sioux were at war.
When we had passed nearly through the Comanche country we thought
they were all west of us, for we saw where a large band of Indians
had crossed the road going South. This we did not exactly
understand, for we well knew that neither the Comanches nor Kiowas
had hunt-parties out this time of year, as the buffalo were moving
South, and the Indians could kill all they wanted near the
villages.
It was about noon when we crossed the Indian trail and that was
the general topic of conversation the balance of the day. If they
had been on foot we could easily have told what tribe they
belonged to by their moccasin tracks, but they all being on
horseback left us to guess.
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