Elk and deer and bear and buffalo and smaller animals were
being jerked and dried at every house, and every larder was filled to
the brim. There could be no lack of food the coming winter, the settlers
said, and they spoke with some pride of their care and providence.
The village was gaining in both comfort and picturesqueness. Tanned
skins of the deer, elk, buffalo, bear, wolf, panther and wild cat hung
on the walls of every house, and were spread on every floor. The women
contrived fans and ornaments of the beautiful mottled plumage of the
wild turkey. Cloth was hard to obtain in the wilderness, as it might be
a year before a pack train would come over the mountains from the east,
and so the women made clothing of the softest and lightest of the
dressed deer skin. There were hunting shirts for the men and boys,
fastened at the waist by a belt, and with a fringe three or four inches
long, the bottom of which fell to the knees. The men and boys also made
themselves caps of raccoon skin with the tail sewed on behind as a
decoration. Henry and Paul were very proud of theirs.
The finest robes of buffalo skin were saved for the beds, and Ross gave
warning that they should have full need of them.
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