It was he who told them now and then of a new region where the crop of bones was not yet fully gathered.

It was he who showed them how to care for the little number of animals which they began to gather about them; and who, in short, gave to them full knowledge of the best ways of exacting a subsistence from the land which they had invaded.
One morning Franklin, thinking to have an additional buffalo robe for the coming winter, and knowing no manner in which he could get the hide tanned except through his own efforts, set about to do this work for himself, ignorant of the extent of his task, and relying upon Curly for advice as to the procedure.
Curly sat on his horse and looked on with contempt as Franklin flung down the raw skin upon the ground.
"You've shore tackled a bigger job than you know anything about, Cap," said he, "and, besides that, it ain't a job fittin' fer a man to do.
You ought to git some squaw to do that for you." "But, you see, there aren't any squaws around," said Franklin, smiling.
"If you'll tell me just how the Indians do it I'll try to see how good a job I can make of it." Curly shifted his leg in his saddle and his cud in his mouth, and pushing his hat back on his forehead, assumed the position of superintendent.
"Well, it'll take you a long time," said he, "but I 'low it ain't no use tellin' you not to begin, fer you'll just spile a good hide anyhow.
First thing you do, you stretch yer hide out on the ground, fur side down, and hold it there with about six hundred pegs stuck down around the edges.

It'll take you a week to do that.

Then you take a knife and scrape all the meat off the hide.

That sounds easy, but it'll take about another week.