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branches, deer sprang up to the right and left. At length
we caught a glimpse of the prairie beyond, emerged upon
it, and saw, not a plain covered with encampments and
swarming with life, but a vast unbroken desert stretching
away before us league upon league, without bush or tree,
or any living thing. We drew rein and gave to the
winds our sentiments concerning the whole aboriginal race
of America. Our journey was worse than vain. For my-
self, I was vexed beyond measure; as I well knew that a
slight aggravation of my disorder would render this false
step irrevocable, and make it impossible to accomplish
effectually the object which had led me an arduous jour-
ney of between three and four thousand miles.

12

And where were the Indians? They were mustered in
great numbers at a spot about twenty miles distant, where
at that very moment they were dancing their war dances.
The scarcity of buffalo in the vicinity of La Bonté's camp,
which would render their supply of provisions scanty and
precarious, had probably prevented them from assembling
there; but of all this we knew nothing until some weeks
after.

13

Shaw lashed his horse and galloped forward. I, though
much more vexed than he, was not strong enough to adopt
this convenient vent to my feelings; so I followed at a quiet
pace. We rode up to a solitary old tree, which seemed the
only place fit for encampment. Half its branches were dead,
and the rest were so scantily furnished with leaves that they
cast but a meagre and wretched shade. We threw down our
saddles in the strip of shadow cast by the old twisted trunk,
and sat down upon them. In silent indignation we re-
mained smoking for an hour or more, shifting our saddles
with the shifting shadow, for the sun was intolerably hot.

-177-

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Publication Information: Book Title: The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life. Contributors: Francis Parkman - author, Frederic Remington - illustrator. Publisher: Little Brown. Place of Publication: Boston. Publication Year: 1892. Page Number: 177.
    
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