The manner by which this destruction of the snake tribe has been carried out, was brought to my notice when I was crossing Lake Erie. Near the west shores of the lake there were several islands which had been infested with reptiles to such an extent as to make it dangerous for men to land upon them. A resident who had lived for many years upon the adjacent shore, and who happened to be on board the steamer when we passed near one of the largest of the islands, told me that in order to clear the ground a large number of hogs were landed upon it, and within a short time the island was made perfectly safe. It was observed that they rushed immediately forward and when close to the snakes they dropped upon their knees and commenced to devour them with the greatest avidity. The darting of the fangs upon them did not seem to have the slightest injurious effect. It is therefore probable that this strange invulnerability of the hog is due to the thickness of its hide, and the close stiff bristles which prevent the penetration of the poison.
On the prairies, the explorers mention their having seen, besides buffaloes, deer, hares, wolves, eagles, buzzards and ravens. I saw several herds of antelopes and a few wolves: one of them belonging to the coyote species was observed in the evening to be prowling round the huts of settlers at the forks of the Platte. It was caught and forthwith dispatched. It was a good sized wolf with a thick coat of shaggy iron-grey hair and looked fierce and savage. On the banks of the southern branch of the river near this spot I joined an American companion in an expedition to look for prairie grouse. We found them amongst the brushwood in considerable numbers, but the birds were wild and it was difficult to get within range of them. The Platte at this part was nearly three thousand feet above the sea.
On the desert, at a height of seven thousand feet, I saw antelopes grazing upon the prairie grass which was growing abundantly and afforded ample supplies of food for them. Wolves were also on these plains skulking in the vicinity doubtless hoping to appease their hunger before many hours had elapsed. These wide and lofty table lands were the ancient hunting grounds of the Dakotas and Cheyennes.
It was getting late upon a fine winter’s evening when our coach crossed the brow of a hill and we caught sight of the calm blue waters of the Great Salt Lake surrounded by snow-covered mountains. It was a quiet scene of singular beauty. The skies were brilliant with the glowing effects caused by the rays of the declining sun. It was nearly dark when we arrived at the City of the Mormons and our horses were pulled up at the door of an attractive little inn which Brigham Young had provided for the accommodation of strangers.
After quitting the prosperous lands of Utah on my way to California I stopped in the centre of that part of the American desert situated near the borders of Oregon and bounded on the west by the ranges of the Sierra Nevada. It was my object to visit a tribe of Shoshones who were then encamped in the neighbourhood. I found them dwelling on a dreary and exposed plateau in the midst of a region covered with small black volcanic stones and fragments (or flakes) of obsidian, with which an old arrow head maker was busily engaged fashioning the rude weapons required by the tribe. It was the middle of December. The winter was cold, and the country around looked bleak and desolate.
The Indians were in wigwams made of saplings or withies, bent over in such a manner as to form the shape of a semi-circle or a low rounded beehive. They resembled, in their construction and size, the temporary huts used by wandering bands of Chippewas upon the shores of Lake Superior. The interiors of these rude and miserable lodges were not inviting. Squalor, dirt and gloom were present to the eye, and influenced the mind.
Indian, Salt Lake Valley, Utah.
The men differed to some extent from all other Indians that I had seen, and were in appearance like the Asiatics in the southern Provinces of China, and had not the massive heads and aquiline features of the Dakotas or Pawnees; they were also of a more debased type. This, however, may have been the result of many centuries of struggles against starvation and exposure to the severe weather that must be experienced in the deserts upon which they wander. Outside the main part of the encampment there was a small group of wigwams, which I found to be occupied by Utes, a tribe even more degraded and wretched than the Shoshones.
The Utes, or Digger Indians, have always been considered to be the lowest in civilization of all the American tribes. It has been thought that they may be the descendants of outcasts, but this opinion does not seem to be based upon sufficient evidence. There are good reasons for believing that they are allied in race and language with the Shoshones, and they are apparently treated by them on terms of friendship and equality.