The Copper Heads principally traded with the Russian posts, and made trips to them several times a year. They also sent an expedition twice a year to the Red River settlement, and from there to St. Paul. All the dried meats, furs and other articles are packed on the backs of ponies and elks or carried by women and such captives as are in the keeping of the tribe. The mode of packing on the backs of women is for a belt, three fingers wide, to be passed across the forehead and lie down the back. The pack is placed so as to rest on the bottom of the belt and lie on the shoulders and neck. The bearer is obliged to stoop forward in walking, and the back is frequently bent from this cause. Being a captive, I was sometimes compelled to carry a load but about fifteen pounds less than my own weight, and the squaws have to carry within about twenty pounds of their own weight. From the Russians we obtained blankets, powder, rifles and other necessary articles in exchange for furs and dried meats. Among other things purchased of the Russians the tribe possessed a compass and a watch, enclosed in a copper case. They learned the use of the compass sufficiently to enable them to travel by its aid. The lodges are made of poles stuck in the ground and tied together at the top so as to leave a hole in the center. Furs and skins are then fastened around and made tight, except at the entrance. A fire is built in the center of the lodge and the members of the lodge creep in and sleep with their feet to the fire and their heads to the side of the lodge. In traveling, when the snow is on the ground and the party do not take the lodge fixtures along, the snow is stamped down and blanket spread on the hardened snow. On this the Indian lies down and rolls himself up in the blanket. With this mode of sleeping there is no danger of taking cold. When the snow is very deep and light the hunters wear wide snow shoes to prevent their sinking at every step. The ponies are also shod with wide moccasins stuffed with hair when the snow is so deep that they cannot travel with ease.