The running of the horses that have
broken loose; the snorting, stamping, and rearing of those which remain
fast; the howling of dogs; the yelling of Indians; the scampering of
white men, and red men, with their guns; the overturning of lodges, and
trampling of fires by the horses; the flashes of the fires, lighting up
forms of men and steeds dashing through the gloom, altogether make
up one of the wildest scenes of confusion imaginable. In this way,
sometimes, all the horses of a camp amounting to several hundred will be
frightened off in a single night.
The night passed off without any disturbance; but there was no
likelihood that a war party of Blackfeet, once on the track of a camp
where there was a chance for spoils, would fail to hover round it. The
captain, therefore, continued to maintain the most vigilant precautions;
throwing out scouts in the advance, and on every rising ground.
In the course of the day he arrived at the plain of white clay, already
mentioned, surrounded by the mineral springs, called Beer Springs, by
the trappers. Here the men all halted to have a regale. In a few moments
every spring had its jovial knot of hard drinkers, with tin cup in hand,
indulging in a mock carouse; quaffing, pledging, toasting, bandying
jokes, singing drinking songs, and uttering peals of laughter, until it
seemed as if their imaginations had given potency to the beverage, and
cheated them into a fit of intoxication.
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