est of the Missouri River, never had the benefits of the
government trading establishments, but were left to the tender mercies
of the old plainsmen and trappers.

Until the railroad reached the mountains, when the march of a wonderful
immigration closely followed, usurping the lands claimed by the savages,
and the latter were driven, perforce, upon reservations, the winter
camps of the Kiowas, Arapahoes, and Cheyennes were strung along the
Old Trail for miles, wherever a belt of timber on the margin of the
Arkansas, or its tributaries, could be found large enough to furnish
fuel for domestic purposes and cottonwood bark for the vast herds of
ponies in the severe snow-storms.

At these various points the Indians congregated to trade with the
whites. As stated, Bent's Fort, the Pueblo Fort, and Big Timbers were
favourite resorts, and the trappers and old hunters passed a lively
three or four months every year, indulging in the amusements I have
referred to. They were also wonderful story-tellers, and around their
camp-fires many a tale of terrible adventure with Indians and vicious
animals was nightly related.

Baptiste Brown was one of the most famous trappers. Few men had seen
more of wild life in the great prairie wilderness. He had hunted with
nearly every tribe of Indians on the plains and in the mountains, was
often at Bent's Fort, and his soul-stirring narratives made him a most
welcome guest at the camp-fire.

He lived most of his time in the Wind River Mountains, in a beautiful
little valley named after him "Brown's Hole." It has a place on the maps
to-day, and is on what was then called Prairie River, or Sheetskadee,
by the Indians; it is now known as Green River, and is the source of the
great Colorado.

The valley, which is several thousand feet above the sea-level, is about
fifteen miles in circumference, surrounded by lofty hills, and is aptly,
though not elegantly, characterized as a "hole." The mountain-grass is
of the most nutritious quality; groves of cottonwood trees and willows
are scattered through the sequestered spot, and the river, which enters
it from the north, is a magnificent stream; in fact, it is the very
ideal of a hunter's headquarters.

The temperature is very equable, and at one time, years ago, hundreds
of trappers made it their winter quarters. Indians, too, of all the
northern tribes, but more especially the Arapahoes, frequented it to
trade with the white men.

Baptiste Brow