It was not so easy when the question of firing their guns was concerned. The flint was fastened to the heavy hammer, and, in falling, was supposed to strike the steel plate provided for this purpose, when a spark might be looked for. This, falling into the powder placed in the little cavity known as the "pan," brought about the explosion. But, frequently, this small amount of powder would be jostled from its receptacle, and this would cause a failure at perhaps a most critical time. Many a settler in those days lost his life by just this accident; and frequent disappointments during a hunt for game could be traced to the same cause. NOTE 3 (PAGE 44) Contact with the natives made the early settlers quite proficient in deciphering Indian picture writing, so they were able to read fairly well many communications passing between parties of those who possibly might be reckoned their deadly enemies. This method of using crude designs to convey the sense of a communication, or even the history of a tribe or family, was often carried out by fanciful pictures decorating the skin of which the teepee was made. In such fashion many of the gallant deeds of the chief or warrior to whom the wigwam belonged were perpetuated. Really, little common sense alone is needed to decipher most of these picture writings. Once the key had been found, they become as plain as print. Smoke stands for fires; the sun is easily seen on the horizon, or high above it, though toward the west, it may be; horses; deer with antlers; men walking, running, or crawling; and similar designs become plainly decipherable; and in this manner the story that is intended to be conveyed can be traced out. It is an interesting study, and many who belong to Boy Scout troops have found considerable entertainment in pursuing the fascinating work. NOTE 4 (PAGE 50) Among all the Indian tribes found upon the North American Continent when the pioneers surged toward the setting sun, none has interested the historian so much as the Mandans, sometimes called the "White Indians," because their skins differed so much from that of other tribes. All sorts of wild theories have been offered as an explanation of the wide difference existing between this tribe and others. It is true that they buried their dead as did the rest of the tribes west of the Mississippi, using scaffolds that the wolves might not get to the bodies; and there were many other habits that stamped them true Indians. At the same time historians, who had lived among them, find a similarity in many of their words and customs to the Welsh people; and it has always been believed by many that, long ago, a boat containing Welsh sailors was wrecked in the Gulf of Mexico after a tropical hurricane, and that, ascending the mighty river, the whites married into some Indian tribe, so that eventually the Mandans came into existence.