Saint Mary's beacon., 1879-06-26

About the irst Of November, when
the snimsls have got their Winter coats.
and far Is ''in season. " the. Indian trap
per lays out hts trapping walk for the
Winter, along which he places line of
traps from ten 10 fifteen miles in lengsh.
Once or twice = week be makes the
round Of This walk. and gathers such
furs = may be caught. Nest of the
iner fnrs are taken by means of The
Wbsaen aeAd-iAlE end steel traps of ~
riOus sizes, The larger fur-besring ami
mails being either shot. caught in snaFes
or killed by the poisoned bait.
Towards the latter end Of March The
Indian trapper leaves the hunting
grounds, and makes a journey to the
forts with the product Of their Winters
totI. Here they come, moving through
the forest, motley throng. The braves
march in front, too proud and lazy 10
carry anything but their guns, and moi
always doing even that. After them
come the squaws bending under loads
driving dogs, or hauling hand sleds with
meat, furs, tanned deer skins and In
fants. The puppy dog and inevitable
baby never fail in Indian lodge or pro-
cession. The cheerful spectacle Of the
two packed together upon the back off
woman is not Of inirequent occurrence,
Day after day the mOngrel party jour
neys on. until the fort is reached. Then
comes the trade. The trader separates
the furs into lots. placing the standard
valuation upon each. Then he adds
the amount together, and informs the
trapper that he has got sixty or seven
iy "skins." At the same time hands
hls customer sixty or seventy little bats
of wood, so that the latter may know
by returning these in payment for the
goods for which he really barters his
furs, just how fast his funds decrease
The first act Of the Indian is to cancel
the debt contracted for advances at the
beginning Of the season; then he look.
round upon the bales of cloth, blankets
etc., and after . small while conclude.
to have long white capote for his tod
ding boy The price 10 told him snt
be hands back ten Of his little pieces o.
wood. then looks about him for some.
thing else. Every thing is carefully
examined, and with each purchase there
is q contest. over the spparant inequali-
~ between the amount received and
that given. In the Indians opinion, one
skin should pay for one article Of mer-
chandise, no matter what the value o
the latter may be. And he insists, too
upon selecting the skin. The steelyard
and weighing balance are his especial
objects Of dislike. He does not know
what medicine that is. That his tea
and sugar should be balanced against q
bIt Of iron, conveys no idea Of the rela.
tive values OF peltries and merchandise
to him. He insists upon making the
balance swing even betweeh the ira.
der's goods and his own furs, until 9
new light is thrown upon the question
Of steelyards and scales by the accep-
tance Of his proposition. Then, when
he finds his fine furs balanced against
heavy blankets, he concludes to abide
by the old method Of letting the white
trader decide the weight in his own
way; for it is clear the steelyard is a
very great medicine, which no brave
can understand.
When the trapper has spent all hIs
little pieces Of wood, and asks Cor fnrth.
er advances, he is allowed to draw any
reasonable amount; for, contrary to the
rule Of civilized life, . debt is seldom
lost save by the death OF :he Indian.
He may change his place Of abode hun.
deeds Of miles, bot he still has only a
company's pose at which TO trade. The
company has always been good friend
to him and has, and be pays when he
can. He knows that when he lIqui-
dates his old debt, he can contracta new
one just as big. No attempt was made
to cheat HIM, and there never will be.
When he Is i'll he goes TO the nearest
fort, and is cared for and attended until
be RECEIVERS. When he does hIs duty
wen he gets a present. and he never
performs any labor without receiving fair
compensation. Such humane treatment
strongly binds the Indian and half
20 the cOmpany.-H. M. Robinson, IN
HazPer's .Magazine for jane.