own. On the
rugged face of the rock itself human conceit had graven human names, and
to be precise as to the date of their foolishness, had added day, month,
and year.

While speaking of days, months, and years it may not be amiss to say
that regarding the latter division of time the caravan was fortunate.
Troubles between Indians and whites developed slowly during the history
of the Trail, from the earlier days of the fur trains and the first of
the traders' caravans, when Indian troubles were hardly more than an
occasional attempted theft, in many cases successful, but seemingly
without that lust for blood on both sides which was to come later. After
the wagon period begun there was a slight increase, due to the need
which certain white men found for shooting game. If game were scarce,
what could be more interesting when secure from retaliation by the
number of armed and resolute men in the caravans, than to pot-shoot some
curious and friendly savage, or gallantly put to flight a handful of
them? The ungrateful savages remembered these pleasantries and were
prone to retaliate, which caused the death of quite a few honest and
innocent whites who followed later. The natural cupidity of the Indian
for horses, his standard of wealth, received a secondary urge, which
later became the principal one, in the days when theft was regarded as a
material reward for killing. While they may have grudged these periodic
crossings of the plains as a trespass, and the wanton slaughter of their
main food supply as a constantly-growing calamity, they still were
keener to steal quietly and get away without bloodshed, and to barter
their dried meat, their dressed hides, their beadwork, and other
manufactures of their busy squaws than to engage in pitched battle at
sight. Had Captain Woodson led a caravan along that same trail twenty or
thirty years later, he would have had good reason to sweat copiously at
the sight of so many dashing savages.

The captain knew the Indian of his day as well as a white man could. He
knew that they still depended upon trading with the fur companies, with
free trappers and free traders, and needed the white man's goods and
good will; they wanted his trinkets, his tobacco to mix with their inner
bark of the red willow; his powder, muskets, and lead, and, most of all,
his watered alcohol. He knew that a white man could stumble into the
average Indian camp and receive food and shelter, especially among those
t