eprived them of all their animals.
This was the result of carelessness on the part of one of the men,
which, under the circumstances, was excusable. The party had encamped
just without the pickets of the Fort, but had taken the precaution to
secure their horses and mules while they slept, by placing them in the
_corral_[12] belonging to the station. A sentinel was put upon duty
over the corral, in order to make everything doubly secure. In the
latter part of the night, nearly at daybreak, the sentinel saw two
persons advance and deliberately let down the bars leading into the
yard and drive out the animals. He mistook these men for two of
his companions who were authorized to take the herd out to graze.
Concluding, therefore, without going to them, that he was relieved,
he sought his resting-place and was soon fast asleep. In the morning,
anxious inquiries were made for the horses and mules, when a
very short investigation revealed the truth of matters. It was,
undoubtedly, very fortunate for the sentinel that he fell into the
error alluded to. It was very apparent that the two advanced Indians
who let down the bars were backed up by a strong party. The signs
of Indians, discovered afterwards, proved this beyond a doubt. Their
reserve party were posted where the least resistance on the part of
the sentinel would have been followed by his quick and certain death.
This successful theft was, no doubt, considered by the Indians a cause
for great rejoicing. It may have formed the basis of promoting the
brave who planned and directed it, as the animals had been obtained
without the loss of a man or even the receiving of a wound. The
parties living at the Fort were equally as poorly off for horses
and mules as were now the trappers. The same Indians had recently
performed the same trick upon them. The loss was most severely felt by
the trappers, inasmuch as they had not a single animal left upon which
to give chase. Nothing remained for them to enact, except a stoical
indifference over their loss and await the return of McCoy, who had
agreed, after finishing his business at Fort Walla Walla, to rejoin,
them at Fort Hall.

[Footnote 12: _Corral_, a barnyard.]

This tribe of Indians, the Blackfeet, whose meddlesome dispositions
have so frequently brought them in contact with Kit Carson in such and
dissimilar affairs, occupy the country on the Yellow Stone River and
about the head waters of the Missouri. There are other tribes