Thus a party of forty men would sometimes be accompanied by more than two hundred horses.

Horses were cheap, and their food on the rich prairies cost nothing.

But it was necessary to guard the animals with the greatest care, for the Indians were continually watching for opportunities to steal them.
Soon after Mr.Young, whose party it will be remembered now consisted of eighteen men, had made his purchase of horses, in preparation for a return, as the animals were feeding on the open prairie, a band of Indians succeeded one night in stealing sixty of them, and with their booty, like the wind they fled towards the valleys of the Snow mountains.

Such a cavalcade of horses in one band, travelling over the turf of the prairie, would leave a trail behind which could easily be followed.

The number of the Indian thieves was not known, though the boldness of the robbery and their tracks indicated that the band must have been large.
Twelve men were immediately detached to pursue the gang.