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ELEVEN YEARS
IN THE
ROCKY MOUNTAINS
AND
LIFE ON THE FRONTIER.
By FRANCES F. VICTOR.
ALSO
A History of the Sioux War,
AND A LIFE OF
GEN. GEORGE A. CUSTER
WITH FULL ACCOUNT OF HIS LAST BATTLE.
ILLUSTRATED BY ENGRAVINGS AND MAPS.
PUBLISHED BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY.
COLUMBIAN BOOK COMPANY,
HARTFORD, CONN.
1877.
COPYRIGHT BY
Columbian Book Company.
1877.
PART I.
MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES
AND
FRONTIER LIFE.
INTRODUCTION.
When the author of this book has been absorbed in theelegant narratives of Washington Irving, reading andmusing over Astoria and Bonneville, in the cozy quiet ofa New York study, no prescient motion of the mind evergave prophetic indication of that personal acquaintancewhich has since been formed with the scenes, and evenwith some of the characters which figure in the works justreferred to. Yet so have events shaped themselves thatto me Astoria is familiar ground; Forts Vancouver andWalla-Walla pictured forever in my memory; while suchjourneys as I have been enabled to make into the countryeast of the last named fort, have given me a fair insightinto the characteristic features of its mountains and itsplains.
To-day, a railroad traverses the level stretch betweenthe Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains, along which,thirty years ago, the fur-traders had worn a trail by theirannual excursions with men, pack-horses, and sometimeswagons, destined to the Rocky Mountains. Then, theyhad to guard against the attacks of the Savages; and inthis respect civilization is behind the railroad, for now, asthen, it is not safe to travel without a sufficient escort.To-day, also, we have new Territories called by severalnam