Old Indian trails

The author recounts fieldwork and extended travel across northwestern mountain and plains country, joining a government expedition, crossing the divide, and living among a Blackfoot band that adopts him. He documents daily life, ceremonies (including the Beaver Bundle and the Sun Dance), hunting and fishing excursions, medicines and healing practices, dances and songs, and detailed botanical and wildlife observations, often illustrated with photographs. Interwoven are legends, ritual rules, and accounts of the night sky, with recurring reflections on how new roads, hotels, and settlement altered traditional nomadic ways.