Year: 1867

At night-he steals what In the day he spies


Then hurries of his tullicunis to meet


Eating as they kiln killing as they eat.


He then once more his lovely squaw beholds


Enjoys connubial bliss, nor thirsts for gold


TO steals not half his natural desire


Tis his delight to set house on fire,


' And shoot the inmates who attempt to hee.
> Old Beelzebub bears him company"


In their personal habits, they are mosi
, disgusting. One instance will suffice


Sitting near my tent at c. Z. Smith
one day, on the ground, were two
J. squaws, one of whom was making hel
= fingers do the work of O fine comb Oh
, the others head. AS my attention had
L been called to the habit, l watched
b them closely and discovered the
}. operator eat the fruit of her researche.
G amongst the uncombed locks of her nc


less degraded sister, with apparently a:
4 much relish as you would exhibit oyel


favorite dish.


Their fondness for tobacco, sugar
bright colored garments, trinkets and
beads, has been the means of enriching


many traders. have seen buffalo robes
, bought with q trifling quantity of su.
gar, or q square Of red flannel, and heard
of tuo being bought for plug Of to.
bacco. The train with which came down
from c. +. Smith brought three thou.
sand robes-the purchase of one party
bound for the States, the cost of each, a
: st. Louis, not being more than six dol
lars, which will net the handsome pretit
of eighteen or twenty Thousand dollars.
All around us is vast abundance of
) game, but owing to the determined
hostility of the Indians up to the pres
ent time, we have not enjoyed the sports
of the chase to any great extent. Now,
however, that hostilities have ceased in
view OF the council to be held ut Lara
mie on the 18th (next Sunday,) small
parties 60 out and return to regale us
with buffalo, bear. elk, antelope, sage
hens, and othet game. AS write, three
of my men are engaged in the sport Of
harting antelope, many of which are
in sight Of my camp. Yesterday they
brought fine one, piece of which /
enjoyed for my breakfast.


This abundance of game is what
makes the Indian 50 loth-and naturally
SOTO give up this country to the white
man. 1t is his last resort, and to it he
has been driven by the acquisitiveAess
of the whites, who would wrest it from
his possession as they have already done
further east. Uncle Sam is rich
enough" to give them the $4,000 square
miles proposed by some, and the voice
of both citizens and soldiers who have
been on the ground is unit in favor of
it. As to avenging the atrocities which
have been committed, the only mode is
determination, and this can only be ac-
complished by a prolonged warfare,
which, considering the number of troops
required and the enormous expense of
transporting supplies, would cost more
than it would to maintain all the In
dians of the West, besides deluge of
blood, and the opening of a drama of
barbarities which would appal the civ
ilized world. No, rather let them be
gradually civilized by intermarriage
with those whose tastes incline that
way, as has been done heretofore; and
then christianize them by the same
means which have been used in heather
countries, and even in our own country
among some tribes of their brethren.
"Charity begins at home" and while, as
nation, such stupendous efforts arc
made for the conversion OF the savages
of other lands, let not the heather of our
own shores be forgotten. What vast
amount more of good would be done by
the expenditure in this way of the tlrO
hundred thousand dollars required to
maintain the quartermaster's depart
ment of our single post for the current
year and the uakROun amount required
to maintain military posts in the Indian
country, numerous as they are, would, it
seems to me, be enough to convert the
world, if properly expended. AS it is,
a fec, traders and contractors, are being
enriched at the expense of the many,
and neither good nor harm is done the
Indian, as far as his relations with the
Government are concerned.


We are now busily engaged in laying
in supplies of fuel, lumber, hay and
coal for the winter. One of these expe-
ditions, the hay contract, calls me with
guard to the camp l now occupy. Our
tour of duty of this kind continues
variously from five TO twenty-five days,
as circumstances require. My station,
(the hay field, y is about four miles south
of the fort, where am encamped and
fortified in a valley near the head of
Shell creek, and my duty is to protect
the men who are engaged in harvesting.
With a force of some sixteen hands, the
aid of three moving machines, and
about a hundred head Of cattle, they
are able to deliver at the garrison daily
from thirteen to eighteen tons, at the
nice compensation of hundred dollars
per ton.


West of my camp abeut a mile is the
base of the Big Horn mountains, the
tops of which are now covered with
in hn a
wind is from the direction of the noun
tains, we suffer with the heat during
the day; but the nights and mornings
are always more or less cool. The plan
of my fort is that of the old noun
taineers and trappers. First, dug
circular hole fifteen feet in diameter, and
on the outer edge built q perpendicu
lar wall of sod, using the earth thrown
out to form parapet on the outside.
thus continued digging. and building
until the wall reached the height of
mans eye, and then, throwing a large
piece of timber across it, built
roof, the rafters of which all
projecting from the center and
resting upon the outer edge of the
wall, form a support for the roof and at
the same time the intervals between
them at the outer ends serve as loop
holes through which a man may shoot
without any prob ability of himself be-
ing shot. r.


After covering the roof with earth to
prevent it being fired from the outside.
dug and walled up an entrance, tor
tuous in it's course, and just wide
enough for enc person to pass in and
out at time. So that if attacked at
any time we can all get into this little
city ofrefuge, and withstand the charge
of an indefinite number of redskins.
They might, if in sufficient numbers,
starve us few days, until We could get
relief from our main post, but they
could not whip us out nor burn us ont.


As intimated before, though, we en-
tertain no apprehension of molestation,
at least until some days after the
council at Laramie, and hope, none then.
We all agree with the distinguished
General who has so truthfully said that
1--WE can have either war or peace as we
please" and hope that no unwise action
upon the part of those appointed to
treat with them, will precipitate upon
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