5. The women or squaws did all the hard work. They planted and tilled
the fields, cooked the food, and made the clothes. The babies were put
into little bark cradles, which were sometimes hung from the branches of
trees, and were rocked to and fro by the wind.

6. The Red men were nearly always at war, either amongst themselves or
against the white men. In battle they were very crafty and skilful.
Those who fell into their hands were sometimes treated very cruelly.

7. Before the Red men went on the "warpath" they painted their faces, so
as to frighten their foes. Then they took up their bows and hatchets,
and, following their leader, strode silently away.

8. The Red men did not care to fight in the open. They always tried to
catch their foes asleep or to take them by surprise.

9. In those days the land was full of deer and other wild animals. On
the great plains where the wheat now grows huge herds of bison used to
feed.

10. The Red men hunted the bison on their swift little ponies. When they
were close to the animals they shot at them with arrows. If the arrows
missed their mark, the Red men killed the bison with their knives.

[Illustration: {Red men on horseback hunting bison}]

11. When the white men came they hunted the bison with guns, and soon
killed them off. Only a few bisons remain, and these are now kept in
parks.