After a time the sameness of the city grew tiresome, and when another trapper outfit was preparing for the west, the most of them would be ready to come back to the life that was life to them. The joy of returning to the haunts of the mountains was theirs, and happiness beamed from the countenances, as they danced, capered and sang about the camp getting ready for the journey. And here at old Fort Mitchell, they were ready once more for the perils and pleasures of the profession.

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

BRADY ISLAND TRAGEDY -- FRENCH BOAT SONG-- TIM BRIDGER MEETS SIR GEORGE GORE

The men who manned the boats that navigated the shallow and dangerous western waters were, like the campers, almost invariably French-Creoles, and emotional, romantic characters added to the picturesqueness of events, making trapper history distinctive. It was an epoch in the taming of the wilderness.

In the spring high waters, occasionally a fleet of boats were made ready at old Fort Mitchell, as formerly at Ft. Laramie for the journey to the white settlements. The boats were loaded with two or three packs of beaver each, and usually manned by two men each.

French language was much in use by the Americans, who in the main disdained the happy-go-lucky French camp attaches. They were frequently referred to as "Le Foux" or the fools, but laughter and song were unyielding to the shafts of ridicule, and whenever a fleet of boats cast off from the old fort, the splash of paddle, or the movement of poles were to the rhythm of French boat songs with which the air was filled. The following is given by Chittendon as one of the favorites :