Before we started that morning, Jim said to me, “Keep a sharp look out for Buffalo when you get near the next water, for if there are no Indians there, you will be sure to find Buffalo, and tomorrow being Sunday we will lay over a day and rest up, and if we can have some fresh meat I think everyone will enjoy it.”

I answered that if there were any Buffalo in that part of the country, I would surely find them, “for, besides the treat the Buffalo will be to us, we can have another Coyote dance.”

Jim clapped his hands and, laughing, replied, “Yes, Will, I’ll be dog gorned if we won’t, for the Coyotes will howl to beat any band if you can kill a few Buffalos.”

I and my scouts pulled out at once, and to my surprise I did not see an Indian track all that day.  When I was within three or four miles of the place where we were to camp, I commenced to see signs of Buffalo, so I signaled all the other scouts to come to me.  As soon as they came, I showed them the tracks of the Buffalo in the sand, and then I told them that we would scatter out and go in abreast, keeping about a hundred yards apart, and keep a sharp look out, and if either of us see any Buffalo, signal to the rest of us to come, “for, we are going to lay over in this camp tomorrow, and we want some Buffalo meat to feast on.”

We saw no Buffalo until we were almost to the camping ground.  Then one of the men discovered a herd of perhaps twenty-five cows and calves in a little valley close to the place where we were going to camp.

As soon as he saw them, he signaled to the balance of us, and we got to him as quickly as possible.  On examination of the valley, we found that there was only one way the Buffalos could get out, and that was the way they went in, which led down to where our camp would be that night.  There were not more than eight or ten acres in the whole valley, and it was almost surrounded by high bluffs, and the only outlet which was not more than thirty paces wide led directly to the spot where we intended to camp over Sunday.

I told the men to dismount and tie their horses to some Sage brush that was near and go down to a little grove of trees that stood at the mouth of the valley.

“I will ride in among them and try to separate the herd so we can get as many of them as possible, and aim to kill the smallest of the band as they pass you.  If I am successful in separating the band, and you can get two shots at them, we will get all the meat we want.  I will try to hold all the calves until the cows are out of the valley, and when the last cow is out, all you men rush and close the opening, and then we will have lots of sport killing the calves.”