o, and his
quaint description of life there in that remote period of the extreme
frontier is very amusing. Its truth has often been confirmed by Uncle
John Smith, who was my guide and interpreter in the Indian expedition of
1868-69, only two decades after Garrard's experience.

Rosalie, a half-breed French and Indian squaw, wife of the carpenter,
and Charlotte, the culinary divinity, were, as a Missouri teamster
remarked, "the only female women here." They were nightly led to the
floor to trip the light fantastic toe, and swung rudely or gently in the
mazes of the contra-dance, but such a medley of steps is seldom seen
out of the mountains--the halting, irregular march of the war-dance,
the slipping gallopade, the boisterous pitching of the Missouri
backwoodsman, and the more nice gyrations of the Frenchman; for
all, irrespective of rank, age, or colour, went pell-mell into
the excitement, in a manner that would have rendered a leveller of
aristocracies and select companies frantic with delight. And the airs
assumed by the fair ones, more particularly Charlotte, who took pattern
from life in the States, were amusing. She acted her part to perfection;
she was the centre of attraction, the belle of the evening. She treated
the suitors for the pleasure of the next set with becoming ease and
suavity of manner; she knew her worth, and managed accordingly. When the
favoured gallant stood by her side waiting for the rudely scraped tune
from a screeching fiddle, satisfaction, joy, and triumph over his rivals
were pictured on his radiant face.

James Hobbs, of whom I have already spoken, once gave me a graphic
description of the annual feast of the Comanches, Cheyennes, and
Arapahoes, which always took place at Big Timbers, near Fort William.

Hobbs was married to the daughter of Old Wolf, the chief of the
Comanches, a really beautiful Indian girl, with whom he lived faithfully
many years. In the early summer of 1835, he went with his father-in-law
and the rest of the tribe to the great feast of that season. He stated
that on that occasion there were forty thousand Indians assembled, and
consequently large hunting parties were sent out daily to procure food
for such a vast host. The entertainment was kept up for fifteen days,
enlivened by horse races, foot races, and playing ball. In these races
the tribes would bet their horses on the result, the Comanches generally
winning, for they are the best riders in the world. By the t