the surroundings, the western pioneer differed not a whit from his brother that was left behind when he turned his face to the west. What he absorbed became a part of his own broader nature-was communicated in part to his children through inheritance and association-and when he or they returned to the old homestead, this was seen by those who had in long years worn more deeply the ruts in which they still moved. The early settler on the prairie at once became a husbandman and a live-stock man. He began immediately to care for his family and the dumb beasts, his friends, by which he was surrounded. He never donned the linsey hunting-shirt, buckskin leggins, bullet-pouch, powder-horn, rifle and knife in belt of the pioneer in the heavy forests farther east. His beef was not had from the canebrake, nor his pork fatted on the mast, and only to be taken by the hunter's craft. He did not need to study the arts of the wild Indian that he might secure a living in a land that nature had prepared for civilized husbandry. On the contrary, he carried with him to his new home his love of order, decency and comfort, and one of his early efforts was to join his neighbors in the erection of the pioneer church and school-house. He had few " pioneer" customs.
If he came to the land of promise with a family carriage, it might be a long time before he would give it other shelter than a straw-covered shed. One of his "customs" was to leave his farm implements in the field where last used, or in the open yard near his primitive barn, to rust and rot in rain and sun. This expensive custom was one of the pioneer's most burdensome taxes. His faith in the possibilities of his soil and climate were such that he soon became wasteful in his customs of careless feeding and failure to shelter his live stock. Some of the early winters were mild and open. He had too much respect for the institutions of his chosen land to imply by his conduct that he had no confidence in the weather. He therefore paid the fickle maiden the compliment of expecting mild winters. It goes without saying that he was at times greatly surprised as well as disappointed. This would indicate that it is the custom of the pioneer to be hopeful beyond any reasonable warrant.
It was the custom of the pioneer's wife and daughters to bring with them their best habits, and to wear and practice them as they had done in the old home. The prospector or home-seeker was therefore often surprised at the resources of the thrifty mistress of the humble prairie shanty or the village cabin. If she had been long away from the old orchards and fruit gardens, and the first supply were exhausted, she supplemented the more substantial fare by portions of that which came from the forest, the wild prairie and her garden ; plums, crabapples, raspberries, strawberries, melons, made great variety of excellent dishes, and dainties grew and multiplied under skillful manipulation with hospitable intent. So, also, the old bilks and satins were saved with care and worn with pardonable pride. They might not be possessed by all, but for that reason they were all the more to be prized. And thus when the pioneers met for worship, public discussion, or in the social circle, they came together in form as did those of a less primitive civilization. It was the custom of the country. Incongruous and absurd incidents, connected with pardonable display of finery, might occur. Time and wear may have borne heavily upon some articles of apparel which could not readily be supplied; and though native taste and ingenuity were in many cases to be implicitly trusted, there were occasionally seen those of whom it might be truly said that