Our idea in traveling that way was that
in case we should meet a band of Sioux, these young Indians would
tell them we were their friends, and no matter how bitter they
felt toward us they would pass on.
We traveled three days before we saw any Sioux. It was our custom
to always stop and unpack and let our horses rest and feed about
an hour.
That day we had just unpacked and turned our horses loose to feed
and were ready to eat a cold lunch, when we looked up the ridge
and saw twenty Sioux Indians coming down the ridge in the
direction of our camp. I told one of the Indians that we had
better go and meet them. He said he would go and for me to stay in
camp. I told him to tell them to come down to camp and get
something to eat. So he started off in a trot to meet them, and
when he came up to them he stood and talked with them for some
time, after which they turned and rode off in another direction.
When the Indian boy returned I asked him why they did not come
down to camp and have some dinner. He said they had plenty to eat
and were in a hurry.
Jim Bridger said to me in our own language: "If we had not had
those young Kiowas with us by this time we would have been in a
hurry, too." These were the last Sioux we saw on the whole trip.
When we returned to the fort and reported our troubles to Col.
Bent and Mr. Roubidoux, they felt very bad over the loss of the
Mexican boy, Hasa, but they complimented us on the way we had
managed.
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