Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1882-06-16

the buffalo liver and Shumy went on
frying slap-jacks, while the other boys
were skinning and cleaning the ante
lope. Some Of us pitched into what we
thought nice, savory supper when pres
emily Shumy's tin dippcr struck some
thing in the bottom of the batter pan
and hauling It out found the aforesaid
old, nasty slipper. Shumy being weak
stomached fellow was the first to throw
up and then myself and all the rest
around the board got suddenly very un-
well and followed suit with Shumy.-
When the Boss and other follows got
through cleaning the antelope and came
up where we were and asked US what
was the matter, Caldwell Wright, ma.
tive of Bladensburg, and quite funny,
witty fellow laughingly made reply some
thing after this sort "Shu-my. shoe-fry.
shoo-ay don't bother me. . =
Although this was bitter dose TO swal-
low we all survived and the next morn.
ing made hearty breakfast off antelope.
buffalo meat and slap Jacks, and on this
day too we came upon an Indian camp
numbering perhaps five hundred persons,
old and young. They had with them
quite double that number of horses, or
rather Indian or mustang ponies, some
of them very pretty colored, we'll put to.
gether and in fine condition, the rest,
however, poor and in bad plight. They
wero here following in tho wake Of
great number Of buffaloes returning it
seems from the north and now on the
south of the emigrant trail and Platte.
The men were out there, and had been
for several days killing buifaloes near
here. The two Indians with us the day
before we're of this crowd. We saw
numbers of the women and old men
bringing in buffalo meat on a kind of
drag, drawn by ponies lead or driven
along The drag consisted Of pole on
each side Of the horse with cross pieces
tied behind to hold the meat and hitched
to some kind of horse collar or yoke
made OF green hide. They were said
to be of the Blackfeet tribe. The rest
of the old men, women and children
were engaged in drying the meat for
future uses. They seemed to cut the
meat in small pieces, clean out all the
bone and then hang it on poles raised up
on forked sticks so that tho sun and air
could get we'll at it. No flies seemed
to be around at all-the air was so rare
fed and pure here and indeed almost
every mile Of our route since leaving
Fort Kearney that nothing that died
seemed to decay or rot or got ay-blown.
We often picked up the carcass, or rather
the dried bones, still holding their ana
tomcal position within the dried skin
and by means of props had them stand
in the road looking as if still alive and
making a show Of resistance to approach
ing cattle oh, the bones Of oil kinds Of
creatures, even of human beings, We
saw on this trip lying bleaching 10 the
sun. Often have | thought since il
had but thousandth part of them
gathered here at home in pile my for
tune would be made
These Indians were also making n
kind of dried hash or sausage, 1 forge,
their name for it, and prepared it after
this fashion: The lean meat with about
an equal proportion of fat was chopped
up quite fine and then sewed up in bag
made of green buffalo hide. The bag
held about bushel of this chopped stuff,
into which no salt or other condiment
was put; the sack was then hung up ia
the sun, and after very short time the
preparation was 30 thoroughly dried and
hardened-thc contraction Of the green
hide helping in this latter respect-that
you could not cut tho stuff with knife,
but had TO break it with tomahawk or
axe, and to eat tho same had to make
soup of it. We did this with some of
it, and with salt and pepper added made
palatablo dish
We saw nothing further Of either buff
faloes or Indians for several days, but
when VIC did sec them again the hills.
dales, bluffs. ravines everywhere foot
hold could be gotten, that is on the south
Of us, for the rear Of the herd had
crossed the cmigrant trail, was black
with buffaloes as far as the eye could
reach in that direction, and to the south
west of us we saw them aud the Indians
in pursuit. There must have been ten
or fifteen thousand at least. These were
the last bulaloes We met with on the
trip.
The Boss has now left our little party
and gone ahead to ovcrtako the cattle
train before crossing Laramie river and
getting into or rather on the Black Hills.
The Laramie he knew was very high at
this season Of the year and dangerous to
cross, and he believed, as was doubtless
true, that his presence, when the train
was crossing the same, would save
large per cent. Of the inevitable loss Of
cattle there; and then too he was anx-
ious TO learn what loss in this regard had
already been sustained, for he was far
more concerned about that than about
any other loss or mishap possible TO either
man or beast, as the reader will be sat
is6ed before | get through. He did not
overtake tho train until reaching Lara
mic, where he found them waiting with
other trains the completion Of a rope
ferry over the said waters, by the garri-
son in the fort there. The fort, it will
be remembered have already stated, is
situated in the forks Of tho Laramie and
Platte
After waiting until our party came up,
and indeed day or two longer, by
which time the ferry was ready to cross
the wagons, horses, mules and oxen, the
Boss, in keeping with his go-ahead char
acter, was the first to make use OF it.
and getting all these across safely, start
cd his cattle into and crossed the Lara
mic with the loss of only eight head
very lucky venture as compared with
other droves following, and considering
the terribly dangerous condition Of the
river.
All this is prosy matter, and tiresomo
to tho reader, | know, but as | have I'M
dertaken to describe the through trip"
its scenes aud incidents, as near at least