them.

It is worthy of note, that the scalp of a white man, either through
policy or fear, is treated with more charity than that of an Indian. The
warrior who won it is entitled to his triumph if he demands it. In such
case, the war party alone dance round the scalp. It is then taken down,
and the shagged frontlet of a buffalo substituted in its place, and
abandoned to the triumph and insults of the million.

To avoid being involved in these guerillas, as well as to escape
from the extremely social intercourse of the Crows, which began to be
oppressive, Montero moved to the distance of several miles from their
camps, and there formed a winter cantonment of huts. He now maintained a
vigilant watch at night. Their horses, which were turned loose to graze
during the day, under heedful eyes, were brought in at night, and shut
up in strong pens, built of large logs of cotton-wood. The snows, during
a portion of the winter, were so deep that the poor animals could find
but little sustenance. Here and there a tuft of grass would peer above
the snow; but they were in general driven to browse the twigs and tender
branches of the trees. When they were turned out in the morning, the
first moments of freedom from the confinement of the pen were spent in
frisking and gambolling. This done, they went soberly and sadly to work,
to glean their scanty subsistence for the day. In the meantime the men
stripped the bark of the cotton-wood tree for the evening fodder. As the
poor horses would return toward night, with sluggish and dispirited air,
the moment they saw their owners approaching them with blankets filled
with cotton-wood bark, their whole demeanor underwent a change. A
universal neighing and capering took place; they would rush forward,
smell to the blankets, paw the earth, snort, whinny and prance round
with head and tail erect, until the blankets were opened, and the
welcome provender spread before them. These evidences of intelligence
and gladness were frequently recounted by the trappers as proving the
sagacity of the animal.

These veteran rovers of the mountains look upon their horses as in some
respects gifted with almost human intellect. An old and experienced
trapper, when mounting guard upon the camp in dark nights and times
of peril, gives heedful attention to all the sounds and signs of the
horses. No enemy enters nor approaches the camp without attracting their
notice, and their movements not only give a vague al