raded
half-breeds, and the squaw man--white men with Indian wives--who were
at that time either French or Spanish; also the fearless hunters and
trappers with nerves of steel, outdoing the bravest Indian in daring
and the toughest grizzly in endurance. It is a matter of record that
these men of iron were capable and some did amputate their own limbs.
A knife sharpened as keen as a razor's edge would cut the flesh;
another hacked into a saw would separate the bones and sensitive
marrow; while an iron heated to white heat seared up the arteries and
the trick was done. There was no anesthetic in those days.

There were also the cattle and mule thieves who lived in the bluffs,
miles from the trail of white men, a tough lot of desperadoes,
believing in the adage "Dead men tell no tales."

There were the ranchmen at intervals of twenty, fifty and a hundred
miles, who sold to the pilgrims supplies, such as canned goods,
playing cards, whiskey of the vilest type, and traded worn-out cattle,
doctored to look well for a few days and then give out, thus cheating
freighters and pilgrims alike.

These adobe ranches were built of sod cut in lengths of from two to
four feet, four inches in thickness and eighteen inches in width and
laid grass side down. The side walls were laid either single or
double, six feet in height, with the end walls tapering upward. A long
pole was then placed from peak to peak and shorter poles from side
walls to ridge pole. Four inches of grass covered the poles and the
same depth of earth completed the structure making the best
fortifications ever devised; no bullet was able to penetrate their
sides nor could fire burn them. The poles used for building these
adobe ranches were in most cases hauled two hundred miles and in some
cases three hundred miles.

WILD ANIMALS OF THE WEST

On a graceful slope roamed immense herds of buffalo, bands of elk,
thousands of antelope, herds of black-and white-tail deer and the
large gray wolf. Coyotes about the size of a shepherd dog would
assemble on the high bluffs or invade the camp and make night hideous
by their continuous and almost perfect imitation of a human baby's
cry, making sleep impossible. The prairie dog, the fierce rattlesnake,
and the beautiful little white burrowing-owl, occupied the same hole
in the ground, making a queer family combination. Contrary to the
belief of all dwellers and travelers of the plains in that day,
Colonel Roosevelt claims i