"The Indians all seemed a melancholy people. They sometimes asked embarrassing questions. Perhaps, when some young girl accompanied us, they spoke to my husband in the sign language, in which he was versed. Once they inquired if the young lady was his other wife. The blush of the girl so amused us that our laugh rang out among them and seemed to be a sound they knew nothing of. They sat on the ground for hours, gambling for iron, brass, and silver rings, but always glum and taciturn. The tallest Indian of them all, Long Soldier, grew to be very cunning when he learned what a curiosity he was. He would crouch down at our approach, and only at the sight of a coin as a “tip” would he draw up his seven feet of height.
The Ree scouts entertained their chief, Star-of-the-North, during the summer. We were all asked to the feast and all formally presented to the distinguished stranger, who could not comprehend why he was expected to shake hands with women. After going through what he found was courtesy among the whites, he offered us a place around the circle. Taking a bone from the meat broiling before the fire, he offered it to the general."
