such a life would introduce him; for the exciting chase of the buffalo,
and the lucrative pursuits of the trapper, floating on distant streams in
the birch canoe, and loading his bark with rich furs, which ever commanded
a ready sale.

All these little settlements were clustered around some protecting fort. A
man, who was brought up in the remote West, furnishes the following
interesting incident in his own personal experience. It gives a very
graphic description of the alarms to which these pioneers were exposed:

"The fort to which my father belonged was three-quarters of a mile from
his farm. But when this fort went to decay and was unfit for use, a new
one was built near our own house. I well remember, when a little boy, the
family were sometimes waked up in the dead of night by an express, with
the report that the Indians were at hand. The express came softly to the
door and by a gentle tapping raised the family. This was easily done, as
an habitual fear made us ever watchful, and sensible to the slightest
alarm. The whole family were instantly in motion.

"My father seized his gun and other implements of war. My mother waked up
and dressed the children as well as she could. Being myself the oldest of
the children, I had to take my share of the burdens to be carried to the
fort. There was no possibility of getting a horse in the night to aid us.
Besides the little children we caught up such articles of clothing and
provisions as we could get hold of in the dark, for we durst not light a
candle or even stir the fire. All this was done with the utmost dispatch
and in the silence of death. The greatest care was taken not to awaken
the youngest child.

"To the rest it was enough to say _Indian_, and not a whisper was heard