Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 1.djvu/394

360 among birds that flock for a migration. All who constituted the company from any one point had simply selected the same jumping off place.

When the grass had grown abundant enough to furnish subsistence for their stock and draft animals, those who were ready with their outfit would begin to file out on the prairie trails converging upon the main Oregon road. After having traveled a day or two a halt was called by those in advance to await the coming up of others who proposed to undertake the same trip with themselves. The American instinct for organization would then assert itself, and there was occasion for its activity. They were in an Indian country. It was not wise to tempt the predatory propensities of the savages by too much straggling in their traveling or by too much unwariness in guarding their cattle and horses. In order to avoid molestation by prowling bands of Pawnees, Otoes, Cheyennes and Sioux, through whose ranges the trail east of the Rockies passed, it was necessary to travel in companies of some size and with such discipline as to be able to establish an effective guard at night and to make some demonstration of force when encountering considerable bands of Indian warriors.

There was much economy, too, in bunching their several droves of loose stock into a single herd, in having a single lookout for selecting camping places, in the help that each would receive in case of accidents that all were liable to. Very essential, too, were organization and discipline when they came to a bank of a large stream across which their trail led. With the earlier migrations before printed guide books were available, organization was necessary to secure the services of. a pilot. The first large migrations those of 1843 and 1844, and even of 1845 erred in attempting to go as one compact body. The difficulty of securing adequate