no special attention to them, but they immediately began to make signs in relation to swapping their horses for my mule.  I merely pointed to the U.S. on the shoulder of the animal, indicating that it was not my property.  They quickly saw they couldn’t scare me, though I didn’t know but what they were making up their minds to kill me; finally, however, without any further demonstration they rode off one at a time, and left me, where I remained until my train came up.

When we made camp that afternoon a good-sized band of Cheyennes and Arapahoes gathered around with their usual salutations of “How?  How?” I suggested to the wagon-master to boil some old coffee-grounds after we had eaten our dinner, and with some sugar and crackers or something of that character, give them to the Indians, which was done.  In the afternoon we moved out on the road toward Kearney and ahead of us was a train going unloaded to the same place.  As we strung out on the trail I noticed that the chief of the band, I think he was known as “Hairy Bear” of the Cheyennes, and all of his warriors were riding along, one opposite nearly every driver.  I told the wagon-master that he had better stop the train and tell the Indians they must take either one end of the road or the other, as it was evident they were getting ready for a row.  Upon discovering that we were “up to” their little job, they went ahead.

At dark, after we had encamped again, the assistant wagon-master of the train in front came to us and told of a little scrap he had with these same Indians.  One of them at first undertook to snatch the handkerchief off his neck; another Indian had shot two or three arrows after a teamster, then they rode off.

Our train went on five miles, where we were going to camp, when a messenger was sent by the commanding officer at the fort suggesting that the two caravans camp together, which we did.  In the morning, when we started out, I rode ahead on my mule as usual, and when I had got about half-way to the fort I saw the white shoulder-blade of a buffalo setting up on end about fifty yards from the road.  I rode out and picked it up; it was standing on end with a little wisp of grass wrapped around it; on the face of it were three men painted red.  The broad end of the blade in the ground was marked out like a fort, with little black spots, meaning tracks of soldiers, and a man in black was there with his rifle drawn, and resting across one of the red men’s necks.  Another was shot below the shoulder-joint, and one had his arm broken.  Painted in red, right up toward the joint, was a wolf trotting from it.  This indicated that the Indians had had a fight; three of them had been wounded, one in the back, one in the neck, and one had his arm broken.  There were also three spears, the points of which were stuck in the ground, indicating that three Indians were dead and had no more use for the weapons.