by the horrid war-whoop; or, perhaps,
have a bullet or an arrow whistling about their ears, in the midst of
one of their beaver banquets. In this way they are picked off, from time
to time, and nothing is known of them, until, perchance, their bones are
found bleaching in some lonely ravine, or on the banks of some nameless
stream, which from that time is called after them. Many of the small
streams beyond the mountains thus perpetuate the names of unfortunate
trappers that have been murdered on their banks.

A knowledge of these dangers deterred Captain Bonneville, in the present
instance, from detaching small parties of trappers as he had intended;
for his scouts brought him word that formidable bands of the Banneck
Indians were lying on the Boisee and Payette Rivers, at no great
distance, so that they would be apt to detect and cut off any
stragglers. It behooved him, also, to keep his party together, to guard
against any predatory attack upon the main body; he continued on his
way, therefore, without dividing his forces. And fortunate it was that
he did so; for in a little while he encountered one of the phenomena of
the western wilds that would effectually have prevented his scattered
people from finding each other again. In a word, it was the season of
setting fire to the prairies. As he advanced he began to perceive great
clouds of smoke at a distance, rising by degrees, and spreading over the
whole face of the country. The atmosphere became dry and surcharged
with murky vapor, parching to the skin, and irritating to the eyes. When
travelling among the hills, they could scarcely discern objects at the
distance of a few paces; indeed, the least exertion of the vision was
painful. There was evidently some vast conflagration in the direction
toward which they were proceeding; it was as yet at a great distance,
and during the day they could only see the smoke rising in larger and
denser volumes, and rolling forth in an immense canopy. At night the
skies were all glowing with the reflection of unseen fires, hanging in
an immense body of lurid light high above the horizon.

Having reached Gun Creek, an important stream coming from the left,
Captain Bonneville turned up its course, to traverse the mountain and
avoid the great bend of Snake River. Being now out of the range of the
Bannecks, he sent out his people in all directions to hunt the antelope
for present supplies; keeping the dried meats for places where game