In the early days of the frontier, the following method was sometimes employed to rid a camp of wolves.  Several fishhooks were tied together by their shanks, with a sinew, and the whole placed in the centre of a piece of tempting fresh meat, which was dropped where the bait was most likely to be found by the prowling beasts.  The hooks were so completely buried in the meat as to prevent their being shaken off by the animal that seized the bait.  It is an old trapper’s belief that a wolf never takes up a piece of food without shaking it well before he attempts to eat it, so that when the unlucky animal had swallowed the wicked morsel, he commenced at once to howl most horribly, tear his neck, and run incontinently from the place.  As wolves rarely travel alone, but are gregarious in their habits, the moment the brute has swallowed the bait and commenced to run, all make after him.  His fleeing is contagious, and they seldom come back to that spot again.  Sometimes the pack will run for fifty miles before stopping.

One night, while encamped on the Platte, five of their horses were missing when daylight came.  At first they thought the Indians had run them off; but, on second thought, Captain Williams argued that the animals could not have been stolen.  If the Indians had been able to take the five, they could as easily have taken the whole herd.  This induced the men to go out and institute a search for the missing animals.  Their trail, made very plain by the dew, was soon found in the grass, and soon all were returned to camp.  The horses had cleared themselves of their hobbles, and were going off in the direction of their far-away home, and it was not until dark that the camp was reached.  Thus a whole day was lost, but as they were yet within comparatively safe distance of the river, no harm resulted from their carelessness.  Now greater caution must be observed, for their journey was to be a long one; it led through a region occupied by hostile tribes who would watch them with an energy possible only to the North American savage.  The Indians would waylay them in every ravine, watch them every moment from the hilltops for the purpose of gaining an advantage, hoping always to surprise them, steal their horses, and take their scalps if possible.

From that day the company adopted new tactics; they travelled until an hour before sundown, then halted, unsaddled their animals, and picketed them out to graze.  In the meantime their supper was prepared, the fires lighted, and, after resting long enough for their horses to have filled themselves, generally after dark, they were brought in, saddled, the fires were renewed, and the company would start on for another camp eight or ten miles away, before again halting for the night.  Of course, at the new camp no fires were kindled, and the men rested in security from a possible attack by the savages.