In the first place, she must have a horse for her own
riding; but no jaded, sorry, earth-spirited hack, such as is
sometimes assigned by an Indian husband for the transportation of
his squaw and her pappooses:
The wife of a free trader must have
the most beautiful animal she can lay her eyes on. And then, as
to his decoration: headstall, breast-bands, saddle and crupper
are lavishly embroidered with beads, and hung with thimbles,
hawks' bells, and bunches of ribbons. From each side of the
saddle hangs an esquimoot, a sort of pocket, in which she bestows
the residue of her trinkets and nick-nacks, which cannot be
crowded on the decoration of her horse or herself. Over this she
folds, with great care, a drapery of scarlet and bright-colored
calicoes, and now considers the caparison of her steed complete.
"As to her own person, she is even still more extravagant. Her
hair, esteemed beautiful in proportion to its length, is
carefully plaited, and made to fall with seeming negligence over
either breast. Her riding hat is stuck full of parti-colored
feathers; her robe, fashioned somewhat after that of the whites,
is of red, green, and sometimes gray cloth, but always of the
finest texture that can be procured. Her leggings and moccasins
are of the most beautiful and expensive workman-ship, and fitted
neatly to the foot and ankle, which with the Indian woman are
generally well formed and delicate.
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