had met, we would be likely to encounter; the chances which had befallen
them, would probably happen to us; and we looked upon their life as a
picture of our own. He informed us that the condition of the country had
become exceedingly dangerous. The Sioux, who had been badly disposed, had
broken out into open hostility, and in the preceding autumn his party had
encountered them in a severe engagement, in which a number of lives had
been lost on both sides. United with the Cheyenne and Gros Ventre Indians,
they were scouring the upper country in war parties of great force, and
were at this time in the neighborhood of the _Red Buttes_, a famous
landmark, which was directly in our path. They had declared war upon every
living thing that should be found westward of that point; though their
main object was to attack a large camp of whites and Snake Indians, who
had a rendezvous in the Sweet Water valley. Availing himself of his
intimate knowledge of the country, he had reached Laramie by an unusual
route through the Black hills, and avoided coming into contact with any of
the scattered parties. This gentleman offered his services to accompany us
as far as the head of the Sweet Water; but the absence of our leader,
which was deeply regretted by us all, rendered it impossible for us to
enter upon such arrangements. In a camp consisting of men whose lives had
been spent in this country, I expected to find every one prepared for
occurrences of this nature; but, to my great surprise, I found, on the
contrary, that this news had thrown them all into the greatest
consternation; and, on every side, I heard only one exclamation, '_Il
n'y aura pas de vie pour nous_.' All the night, scattered groups were
assembled around the fires, smoking their pipes, and listening with the
greatest eagerness to exaggerated details of Indian hostilities; and in
the morning I found the camp dispirited, and agitated by a variety of
conflicting opinions. A majority of the people were strongly disposed to
return; but Clement Lambert, with some five or six others, professed their
determination to follow Mr. Fremont to the uttermost limit of his journey.