kind of caution was necessary. Ammunition was only
to be had in small quantities, and arms only at second
hand. The stringent laws and customs compelled
cunning, treachery, and deceit. We used all these.
If there was any other course open, I failed, and still
fail, to see it. We were preparing means to feed the
half-starved children of the forest. We were pre
paring, if necessary, to defend homes that were older
than the ancestral halls of earls or kings.
I went over to Deadwood, ten miles away, among my acquaintances, entered into many kinds of em ployment at different places, and procured most of the desired supplies. Indians carried them to the camp by night.
Soon we were ready to return. Horses were needed. I always kept my own horse and saddle, which was either with me or in some wood near by; but an Indian seen with a horse in the valleys then was liable to be shot down the first time he got out of sight of a house, and plundered. He would hazard about as much by the attempt to purchase a horse provided he exhibited the necessary purchase money.
The whites whenever in an Indian country helped themselves to game or anything else they needed without asking anyone. These few Indians were now in a white settlement and needed horses. It is a poor rule that will not work both ways. The test rule was to be applied.
Every year the whites were entering the Indians forests, and destroying more game than the
