their bravery and skill. Barricades were thrown up and the best
men stationed as sentinels. One of them hastened to the top of an
adjoining hill, which commanded an extensive view of the surrounding
country.

The sentinel had been in position but a short time when he signalled
to his friends the approach of a large body of Indians. The hunters
immediately began strengthening their defences, and before the
redskin arrived, they had rendered their position almost impregnable
against any force that could be gathered in the country.

As the Blackfeet approached, the sentinel hurried down from the
hill and joined the main body. Shortly after, the advance party of
Blackfeet came in sight and made a reconnaissance which apprised
them of the nature of the defences. They did not fire a shot but
waited until the arrival of the main band.

When that came in sight, it was enough to strike dismay into every
heart. There were few if any less than a thousand warriors. Dr.
Peters, the biographer of Carson, says:

"It was a sight which few white men of the American nation have
looked upon. Arrayed in their fantastic war costume and bedaubed
with paint, armed with lances, bows and arrows, rifles, tomahawks,
knives, etc., some mounted and some on foot, they presented a wild
and fearful scene of barbaric fancy.

"Soon after their last company had reported, the frightful war
dance, peculiar to the American savages, was enacted in sight of the
trappers' position. The battle songs and shouts which accompanied