Game in the area became scarce, and the carcasses of what they had killed were beginning to stink. A lesser chief by the name of Big Rain determined that the next day they would move camp. Heralds announced it, and the following morning the women began packing before dawn. Wizened old wives directed the younger women as in teams they folded the tipi hides, lashed the long poles to their horses, and secured the tipis to those. As always, the very frail, the elderly, and toddlers were placed in these travois as well, the toddlers with safety cages of willow constructed over them. Excited children mounted ponies in twos and threes, eager to ride to a place they had never seen before. Babies less than six months were carried in the arms of their mothers, who were tied securely to their horses.
