about noon
On overtaking the herd after breakfast , Quarternight cut out a fat two year old stray heifer , and he and I assisted our guests to drive their beef several miles toward their village . Finally bidding them farewell , we returned to the herd , when the outfit informed us that Flood and The Rebel had ridden on ahead to look out a crossing on the Salt Fork . From this move it was evident that if a passable ford could be found , our foreman intended to abandon the established route and avoid the big Indian encampment . On the return of Priest and Flood about noon , they reported having found an easy ford of the Salt Fork , which , from the indications of their old trails centring from every quarter at this crossing , must have been used by buffalo for generations . After dinner we put our wagon in the lead , and following close at hand with the cattle , turned off the trail about a mile above our noon camp and struck to the westward for the crossing . This we reached and crossed early that evening , camping out nearly five miles to the west of the river . Rain was always to be dreaded in trail work , and when bedding down the herd that night , we had one of the heaviest downpours which we had experienced since leaving the Rio Grande .