The remark of the chieftain proved that the signal fire, of which mention has been made, was not only meant for him, but that he read the message. It seems strange that so much could be told by the fashioning of the thin column of smoke rising from a small fire kindled on the crest of a slight elevation; but such means of telegraphy have been used by the American Indians for centuries, and the speed with which they send tidings across wide stretches of country almost surpasses belief. It is only a few years since that an important treaty was signed by the United States Government agents with a number of tribes in the West. The parties were so far removed from the nearest telegraph station that the news did not reach Washington until three days later; yet it was known to tribes four and five hundred miles distant the afternoon of the day of signing, and within a few hours after the signatures were written. The message was signalled from mountain peak to mountain peak, across wide stretches of prairie, and hundreds of warriors discussed the matter long before their chiefs set out for their distant homes.