Relations between emigrants using the trails and Indians were inconsistent during the migration period. Although hostile acts and violent confrontation did occur, they have been overemphasized in trail history. During the early migration period of the 1840s, documentation records Indians helping emigrants with treacherous river crossings, giving directions, conducting peaceful trading, and providing food. Native populations apparently did not view the small numbers of emigrants as a threat, even though they were trespassing on tribal lands. Chief Washakie and his Shoshones were well known for their kindness and illegible text. The California Gold Rush period, with its large increase in emigrant numbers, seems to mark the beginning of ill feelings and openly hostile acts. Large emigrant numbers disturbed the game herds on which Indians heavily depended, emigrants cut all the available wood, and their livestock overgrazed the trail corridor. Confrontations increased, and paying tribute to cross tribal lands became common. Indians suffered heavier losses than emigrants did. In the twenty-year period from 1840 to 1860, only 362 emigrants were killed by Indians. Large groups of emigrants were seldom attacked, and most deaths resulted when individuals were out hunting or exploring. An emigrant was much more likely to die from disease, be run over by a wagon, trampled in a stampede, accidentally shot, or drowned while crossing a river.