were to ride behind those wise-looking animals
and in that gorgeously painted wagon! It seemed
almost like a living creature to me, this new
vehicle with four legs, and the more so when we
got out of axle-grease and the wheels went along
squealing like pigs!

The boys found a great deal of innocent fun in
jumping from the high wagon while the oxen
were leisurely moving along. My elder brothers
soon became experts. At last, I mustered up
courage enough to join them in this sport. I was
sure they stepped on the wheel, so I cautiously
placed my moccasined foot upon it. Alas! before
I could realize what had happened, I was under
the wheels, and had it not been for the neighbor
immediately behind us, I might have been run
over by the next team as well.

This was my first experience with a civilized
vehicle. I cried out all possible reproaches on
the white man's team and concluded that a dog-
travaux was good enough for me. I was really
rejoiced that we were moving away from the
people who made the wagon that had almost
ended my life, and it did not occur to me that I
alone was to blame. I could not be persuaded to
ride in that wagon again and was glad when we
finally left it beside the Missouri river.