And I'm not comparing coyotes with West Philly pigeons. In some ways, Twain's West had advantages like a postal system. And so on. I know this is a touchy subject, especially among those who champion welfare and such, but the implications of dangerous locals can't be ignored. Let's compare and contrast the methodology of ambush in each era.
Twain describes the accounts of locals who continued to find arrowheads for years after the affair.
In Roughing It, Twain warns that transport on foot was not advised, due to the risk of scalpings and robbery. In West Philly, the Penn police encourage students to walk in groups and take Escort service. While scalpings are considered de'classe' today, the risk of trigger happy gun-totin' robbers is still there. Hey, maybe it's not ironic that Penn cops are still armed with weapons that sheriffs used in Twain's time. In other ways too, not much has changed.