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KIT CARSON. 
 
THE LIFE OF 
 
 KIT CARSON 
 
 The Great Western Hunter and Guide 
 
 By CHARLES BURDETT 
 
 Author of "MARGARET MONCRIEFFE, THE 
 FIRST LOVE OF AARON BURR," "THE 
 BEAUTIFUL SPY," etc., etc. >€ ^< >< 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION 
 
 By G. MEECER ADAM 
 
 A. L. BURT COMPANY, J^ J^ ^ ^ 
 j» at J* PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK 
 
 Cs. 
 
Copyright, 1903, 
 'dY E. A. BEAINERD. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In offering to the public a revised and com- 
 plete history of the most remarkable of Amer- 
 ican fi'ontiersmen, we perform a pleasing task. 
 All the attainable cii'cumstances connected with 
 his life, adventures and death are fully set 
 forth, and we offer this in confidence as a re- 
 liable authority for the reader. 
 
 No one should hesitate to familiarize himself 
 with the exploits of the subject of this volume. 
 They evince a magnanimity and an uprightness 
 of character that is rarely found in one leading 
 so daring and intensely wild a life, and cannot 
 but contribute their share Of luster to the in- 
 teresting records of the Far West. We regret 
 that his modesty, equally proverbial with his 
 daring, prompted him to withhold many of the 
 exciting incidents of his career from the public. 
 
 We have compiled a portion of this work 
 from such official reports of his great skill, in- 
 domitable energy, and unfaltering courage as 
 
 iii 
 
iv PREFACE. 
 
 have been communicated by Ms friend and com- 
 mander, Colonel Fremont, who has invariably 
 awarded to him all the best attributes of man- 
 hood, when opportunity afforded. Added to 
 these, our hero had been prevailed upon by a 
 few of his friends to communicate some of the 
 records of the most important passages in his 
 extraordinary and eventful life, which are em- 
 bodied in this volume. 
 
 His has indeed been a life of peculiarly ex- 
 citing personal hazards, bold adventures, daiing 
 coolness, and moral and physical courage, such 
 as has seldom transpired in the world, and we 
 have been greatly impressed, in its preparation, 
 with the necessity for a thorough work of this 
 kind. All are aware that the young, and even 
 matured, often seek for books of wild adven- 
 ture, and if those of an unhurtful and truthful 
 character are not found, they are apt to betake 
 themselves to trashy and damaging literature. 
 In this view, this work has a purpose which, we 
 trust, will commend it to every family throujdi 
 out the land. 
 
lifTEODttCTOEY ifOf£. 
 
 What our modern age owes to men of the type of 
 Christopher (Kit) Carson as an early explorer and. 
 guide in the Far West, when that region was but lit- 
 tle known, and as a hunter and trapper \vhen the 
 recesses of the country were the abode almost entirely 
 of wild beasts and equally wild and savage tribes, 
 we are not always mindful of, though their history 
 forms a heroic and fascinating part of the national 
 annals. A marvellous change has now come over the 
 scenes of the exploits of these early Western scouts 
 and frontiersmen. Even Nature has experienced a 
 transformation : the wild and wondrous life of those 
 rough days has suffered a change ; its savage charms 
 have in the main disappeared, for the mountain lion 
 is now rarely met with, while the grizzly bear, as 
 Parkman tells us, " has shrunk from the face of man. 
 His ferocious strength is now no match for the re- 
 peating rifle: he seeks the seclusion of his den, and 
 has grown diffident and abated the truculence of his 
 more prosperous days. In place, moreover, of In- 
 dian tepees, with their trophies of dangling scalp- 
 locks, we have now towns and cities, and the resorts 
 of health and of pleasure-seekers." 
 
 xi 
 
xii INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 
 
 The story of Colonel Carson's intrepid life and 
 labors as mountaineer, trapper, and guide, related 
 by Mr. Burdett in the following pages, is full of 
 thrilling incident. The narrative includes the story 
 of his many Indian fights with Blackfeet, Comanches, 
 Utes, Navajoes, and Cheyennes, and his important 
 services in conducting General Fremont's various ex- 
 peditions across the Rockies into California, and 
 afterwards in acting as agent for the United States 
 Government in ISTew Mexico, Colorado, and Indian 
 Territory, and in the Civil War in expeditions 
 against the Confederates in Texas, and finally in 
 making peace with the Navajo Indians. All this is 
 told with graphic force and realistic description, as 
 are the early accounts of Carson's exciting buffalo 
 hunts, exploits in trapping and in the pursuit of the 
 fur trade, and his keen zest and adventurous experi- 
 ences in exterminating beaver. Not without interest, 
 also, are the famous hunter's many trading ventures, 
 including the purchase of some thousand sheep from 
 the ISTavajo Indians and proceeding with them to 
 Fort Laramie, thence, by way of the regular emi- 
 grant route to Salt Lake, across the mountains, on 
 the farther side of which he disposes of them in Cali- 
 fornia. Hardly less is the interest of the narrative 
 in treating of Carson's career as an officer in the 
 United States service during the Mexican war, as 
 well as in the Civil War, in the latter of which he 
 was rewarded with a brevet brigadier generalship. 
 But perhaps most important of all was the aid he 
 gave the National Government in his relations with 
 
INTRODUCTORY NOTE. xiii 
 
 the Indians of the Far West, whose tongue he spoke, 
 and was well known to, and feared by, them as a 
 mighty Indian fighter, though a man who could at 
 the same time make a favorable peace with them, 
 when the war-hatchet was thrown down and the calu- 
 met of peace was smoked by the smouldering camp- 
 fire. Throughout his early career in the then wilder- 
 ness stretches of Missouri, and in his adventurous 
 roving life on the Plains, Carson's experience taught 
 the great frontiersman many things of much bene- 
 fit to him later on ; but chiefly it developed in him 
 mighty resources and phenomenal self-reliance, be- 
 sides physical courage and hardihood, and gained for 
 him the knack of picking up an intimate knowledge 
 of Indian ways, and especially of the guile of native 
 hostiles, that was subsequently of infinite service in 
 his strenuous, diversified, and useful career. Added 
 to these characteristics he had the virtues of honor, 
 uprightness, and kindly feeling, as well as a frank 
 manner and transparent truthfulness, which had 
 their influence on all he came across, and, when death 
 came to him, at Fort Lyon, Colorado, in May, 1868, 
 won for his memory the benediction of those who 
 best knew him. 
 
 G. Meecee Adam. 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 As, for their intrepid boldness and stern 
 truthfulness, the exploits and deeds of the old 
 Danish sea-Mngs have, since the age of Canute, 
 been justly heralded in song and story ; so now, 
 by the world-wide voice of the press, this, their 
 descendant, as his name proves him, is brought 
 before the world : and as the stern integrity 
 of the exploits and deeds of the old Danes in 
 the age of Canute were heralded by song and 
 story ; so too, in this brief and imperfect mem- 
 oir, are those of one who by name and birth- 
 right claims descent from them. The subject 
 of the present memoir, Christopher Carson, 
 familiarly known under the appellation of Kit 
 Carson, is one of the most extraordinary men 
 of the present era. His fame has long been 
 established throughout this country and Europe, 
 as a most sMlfoI and intrepid hunter, trap- 
 
2 LIFE OF KIT CARSON, 
 
 per, guide, and pilot of the prairies and moun- 
 tains of the far West, and Indian fighter. But 
 his celebrity in these characters is far surpassed 
 by that of his individual personal traits of 
 courage, coolness, fidelity, kindness, honor, and 
 friendship. The theater of his exploits is ex- 
 tended throughout the whole western portion 
 of the territory of the United States, from the 
 Mississippi to the Pacific, and his associates 
 have been some of the most distinguished men 
 of the present age, to all of whom he has be- 
 come an object of affectionate regard and marked 
 respect. The narrative which follows will show 
 his titles to this distinction, so far as his modesty 
 (for the truly brave are always modest) has 
 permitted the world to learn anything of his 
 history. 
 
 It appears, from the various declarations of 
 those most intimate with Christopher Carson, as 
 well as from a biography published a number 
 of years before his death, that he was a native 
 of Madison County, Kentucky, and was born on 
 the 24th of December, 1809. Colonel Fremont 
 in his exhaustive and interesting Report of his 
 Exploring Expedition to Oregon and North 
 California, in 1843-44, says that Carson is a 
 native of Boonslick Comity, Missouri ; and from 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 3 
 
 his long association with the hunter, he prob- 
 ably makes the statement on Carson's own 
 authority. The error, if it is an error, may 
 have arisen from the fact stated by Mr. Peters, 
 that Carson's father moved from Kentucky to 
 Missouri, when Christopher was only one year 
 old. He settled in what is now Howard 
 County, in the central part of Missouri. 
 
 At the time of Mr. Carson's emigration, Mis- 
 souri was called Upper Louisiana, being a pai't 
 of the territory ceded to the United States by 
 France in 1803, and it became a separate State, 
 under the name of Missouri, in 1821. When 
 Mr. Carson removed his family from Kentucky, 
 and settled in the new territory, it Avas a wild 
 region, naturally fertile, thus favoring his views 
 as a cultivator ; abounding in wild game, and 
 affording a splendid field of enterprise for the 
 hunter, but infested on all sides with Indians, 
 often hostile, and always treacherous. 
 
 As Mr. Cai'son united the pursuits of fanner 
 and hunter, and lived in a sort of blockhouse 
 or fort, as a precaution against the attacks of 
 the neighboring Indians, his son became accus- 
 tomed to the presence of danger, and the ne- 
 cessity of eai-nest action and industry from his 
 earliest childhood. 
 
4 lU'fi Ot glf CAESOiJ. 
 
 At the age of fifteen, Kit Carson was ap' 
 prenticed to Mr. Workman, a saddler. This 
 trade requiring close confinement was, of 
 course, utterly distasteful to a boy already ac- 
 customed to the use of the rifle, and the stir- 
 ring pleasures of the hunter's life, and at the 
 end of two years, his apprenticeship was ter- 
 minated, for Kit, who, with his experience as 
 the son of a noted hunter, himself perfectly 
 familiar with the rifle, and, young as he was, 
 acknowledged to be one of the best and surest 
 shots, even in that State, where such merit pre- 
 dominated at that time over almost everj'^ other, 
 could not bear in patience the silent, sedentary 
 monotony of his life, voluntaioly abandoned the 
 further pursuit of the trade, and sought the 
 more active employment of a trader's life. 
 
 His new pursuit was more congenial. He 
 joined an armed band of traders in an expedi- 
 tion to Santa Fe', the capital of New Mexico. 
 This, at that period, (1826,) was rather a peril- 
 ous undertaking, on account of the Indian 
 tribes who were ever ready to attack a trading 
 caravan, when there was any prospect of over- 
 coming it. No attack was made on the party, 
 however, and no incident of importance oc- 
 curred, if we except the accident to one of the 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 5 
 
 teamsters who wounded himself by carelessly 
 handling a loaded rifle, so as to render it nec- 
 essary to amputate his arm. In this operation 
 Carson assisted, the surgical instruments being 
 a razor, an old saw, and an iron bolt heated 
 red hot, in order to apply the actual cautery. 
 Notwithstanding this rough surgery, the man 
 recovered* 
 
 In November (1826) the party arrived at 
 Sante Fe*, the capital, and the largest town in 
 the then Mexican province of New Mexico. 
 This place is situated on the Rio Chiuto, or 
 Santa Fe* river, an affluent of the Rio Grande, 
 from which it is distant about 20 miles. It 
 was then, as now, the great emporium of the 
 overland trade, which, since 1822, has been car- 
 ried on with the State of Missouri. The houses 
 are chiefly built of adobes^ or unbumt bricks, 
 each dwelling forming a square, with a court in 
 the center upon which the apartments open. 
 This mode of building, originally Moorish, pre- 
 vails in all the colonies settled by the Spaniards, 
 as well as in Old Spain, and the oriental coun- 
 tries. It makes each house a sort of fortress, as 
 General Taylor's troops learned to their cost at 
 
6 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 the siege of Monterey. The front entrance of 
 each house is large enough to admit animals 
 with their packs. 
 
 Santa Fe' is well supplied with cool water 
 from springs within its limits, and from foun- 
 tains above the city near the neighboring moun- 
 tain. The appearance of the place is inviting 
 and imposing, as it stajids on a plateau elevated 
 more than 7,000 feet above the sea, and near a 
 snow-capped mountain, which rises 5,000 feet 
 above the level of the town ; but the population 
 is said to be exceedingly depraved. The pres- 
 ent population is about 5,000 ; but at the time 
 of Carson's first visit, it was comparatively a 
 small town. 
 
 Soon after their arrival at Santa Fe, Carson 
 left the trading band, which he had joined when 
 he abandoned the saddlery business, or trade, 
 as the reader may choose to term it, and of 
 which we have previously spoken, and pro- 
 ceeded to Fernandez de Taos. In this place 
 Carson passed the winter of 1826-7, at the 
 house of a retired mountaineer. And it was 
 while residing there, that he acquired that thor- 
 ough familiarity with the Spanish language, 
 which, in after years, proved of such essential 
 service to him. In the spring he joined a party 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 7 
 
 bound for Missouri, but meeting another band 
 of Santa Fe* traders, lie joined them and returned 
 to that place. Here his services being no longer 
 required by the traders, he was again thrown 
 out of employment. He now engaged himseK 
 as teamster to a party bound to El Paso, a set- 
 tlement, or more properly a line of settlements, 
 embracing a population of about 5,000, situated 
 in the rich, narrow valley which extends 9 or 10 
 miles along the right bank of the Eio Grande, 
 in the Mexican State of Chihuahua, 350 miles S. 
 by W. of Santa Fe'. Here the grape is exten- 
 sively cultivated, and considerable quantities of 
 light wine and brandy (called by the traders 
 I^ass wine and Pass hrandy) are made. The 
 houses are like those of Santa Fe' built of 
 adobes with earthen floors. With abundance 
 of natural advantages, the people are content to 
 live without those appliances of civilized life, 
 considered indispensable by the poorest Amer- 
 ican citizens. Glazed vnndows, chairs, tables, 
 knives and forks, and similar every -day con- 
 veniences are unknown even to the rich among 
 the people of El Paso. The place is the chief 
 emporium of the trade between New Mexico 
 and Chihuahua, and its name, " the passage," is 
 derived from the passage of the river through a 
 
8 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 gorge or gap in the mountain just above the 
 town. 
 
 On his arrival at this place, young Carson 
 might justly be considered in view of his age 
 (not yet 18), more than an ordinary traveler. 
 He had arrived at a spot where everything was 
 strange to him. New people, new customs, a 
 new climate, a wine country, a population of 
 mixed breed, half Indian, half Spaniard — every- 
 thing wearing a foreign aspect; everything 
 totally different from his home in Missouri. 
 
 He did not remain long in this place, but re- 
 turned to Santa Fe*, whence he again found his 
 way to Taos, where he passed the winter in the 
 service of Mr. Ewing Young, in the humble 
 capacity of cook ; this he soon forsook for the 
 more pleasant and profitable position of Spanish 
 interpreter to a trader named Tramell, with 
 whom he, for the second time, made the long 
 journey to El Paso and Chihuahua. 
 
UFE OF KIT CARSON. 9 
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 
 CHiHUAHtTA, where Carsou had now arrived, 
 is the capital of the Mexican province bearing 
 the same name. It is situated on a small trib- 
 utary of the Conchos River, in the midst of a 
 plain. It is regularly laid out and well built ; 
 the streets are broad and some of them paved. 
 Like other cities built by the Spaniards, it has 
 its great public square, or Plaza Major, on one 
 side of which stands the cathedral, an imposing 
 edifice of hewn stone, built at a cost of $300,- 
 000. It is surmounted with a dome and two 
 towers, and has a handsome facade with statues 
 of the twelve apostles, probably the first stat- 
 ues that Carson had ever seen. Other public 
 buildings surround the square, and there is a 
 fountain in the middle. The city contains a 
 convent founded by the Jesuits, and an aque- 
 duct 3i miles long, supported by vast arches 
 and communicating with the river Chihuahua. 
 It has also its mint, and in the neighborhood 
 are silver mines with furnaces for smelting the 
 
10 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 ore. It carries on an extensive trade with the 
 United States by means of caravans to St. Louis 
 in Missouri, and San Antonio in Texas. It was 
 founded in 1691, and during the time when the 
 silver mines were in successful operation, it con- 
 tained 70,000 inhabitants. The population at 
 present is 14,000. 
 
 As he had come with one of the trading car- 
 avans in the service of Colonel Tramell as 
 Spanish interpreter, we might naturally expect 
 that, the engagement would be a permanent one. 
 But such was not the case. The monotony of 
 this life soon disgusted him, and after weary 
 wefik^, passed in comparative idleness, he longed 
 again for the freedom of the prairie and the 
 forest, and gladly abandoning the rather digni- 
 fied position of interpreter to Colonel Tramell, 
 entered into the service of Mr. Robert M. 
 Knight, in the more humble capacity of team- 
 ster in an expedition to the copper mines on the 
 river Gila, whence he soon after found his way 
 back to Taos. 
 
 It was during this visit to Taos that Carson 
 was first enabled to gratify the desire which he 
 had long entertained of becoming a regular 
 hunter and trapper. A party of trappers in the 
 service of Carson's old friend, Mr. Ewing Young, 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 11 
 
 had returned to Taos, having been beaten off 
 from their hunting and trapping grounds by a 
 hostile' band of Indians. Mr. Young raised a 
 party of forty men, for the double purpose of 
 chastising the Indians; and resuming the' busi- 
 ness of trapping, and Carson joined them. The 
 fact that he was accepted for this service was a 
 marked token of esteem for his valor, as well as 
 his skill in hunting, parties of this description 
 always avoiding the enlistment of inexperienced' 
 recruits, as likely to embarrass their operations 
 in the field. ' 
 
 The ostensible object of the expedition was 
 to punish the Indians, but its ultima;te purpose 
 was to trap for beavers. The Mexicans by an 
 express law had forbidden granting licenses to 
 any American parties, and in this instance a 
 circuitous route was chosen to conceal their real 
 design. 
 
 They did not fall in with the Indians of whom 
 they were in pursuit; until they had reached' 
 the head of one of the affluents of the Rio Gila; ' 
 called Salt River. Once iu presence of their 
 enemies they made short work with them, kill- 
 ing fifteen of their warriors, and putting the 
 whole band to rout. Such occurrences were by 
 no means unfrequent; as we shall see in the 
 
12 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 course of this narrative. A small body of 
 experienced hunters and trappers, confident in 
 their superior skill and discipline, never hesi- 
 tates to attack a greatly superior number of 
 Indians, and it was a rare thing that success 
 did not attend their daring. The Indian is not 
 fond of a "fair stand-up fight." He prefers 
 stratagem and ambush, and reverences as a 
 great " brave" the warrior who is most success- 
 ful in circumventing his enemies, and bringing 
 off many scalps without the loss of a man ; but 
 when a considerable number of Indians are 
 shot down in the first onset, the remainder 
 are very apt to take to flight in every direc- 
 tion. 
 
 We have said that Carson joined the party 
 of trappers under the command of Mr. Ewing 
 Young, and it may not be out of place to de- 
 scribe briefly the mode of life which parties in 
 that pursuit have to adopt, with a few remarks 
 upon the habits and haunts of the animal, for 
 whose sake men were then so willing to risk 
 their lives, and to undergo such hardships. 
 
 The method of trapping for beaver formerly 
 employed by the trappers in the western coun- 
 try is thus described by one who has had con- 
 siderable experience in the art ; and we quote 
 
LIFE OF Kit CAUSON. Ig 
 
 it as illustrating the severe training to which 
 Carson had voluntarily subjected himself : 
 
 " To be a successful trapper, required great 
 caution as well as a perfect knowledge of the 
 habits of the animal. The residence of the 
 beaver was often discovered by seeing bits of 
 green wood, and gnawed branches of the bass- 
 wood, slippery elm, and sycamore, their favor- 
 ite food, floating on the water, or lodged on 
 the shores of the stream below, as well as by 
 their tracks or foot-marks. These indications 
 were technically called heouoer sign. They were 
 also sometimes discovered by their dams, 
 thrown across creeks and small sluggish streams, 
 forming a pond in which were erected their 
 habitations. 
 
 " The hunter, as he proceeded to set his traps, 
 generally approached by water, in his canoe. 
 He selected a steep, abrupt spot in the bank 
 of the creek, in which a hole was excavated 
 with his paddle, as he sat in the canoe, suffi- 
 ciently large to hold the trap, and so deep as 
 to be about three inches below the surface of 
 the water, when the jaws of the trap were ex- 
 panded. About two feet above the trap, a 
 stick, three or four inches in length, was stuck 
 in the bank. In the upper end of this, the 
 
14 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 trapper excavated a small hole with his knife, 
 into which he dropped a small , quantity of the 
 essence, or perfume, which was. used to attract 
 the beaver to the spot. This stick was attached 
 by a string of horse hair to the trap, and with 
 it was pulled into the w^ter by thp beavey. 
 The reason for this was, that it ra,ight,n9t re- 
 main after the trap was sprung, and attract 
 other beavers to the spot, and thus prevent their 
 going to where there was aupther trap ready 
 for them. 
 
 " The scent, or essence, was made by min- 
 gling the fresh castor of the beaver, with an ex- 
 tract of the bark of the roots pf the spice-bush, 
 and kept in a bottle for use. The making of 
 this essence was held a profound secret, and 
 often sold for a considerable suru to the younger 
 trappers, by the older proficients in the, mys- 
 tery of beajver hunting. Where they had no 
 proper bait, they sometimes made use of the 
 fresh roots of sassafras, or spice-bush ; of both 
 these the beaver was very fond. 
 
 " It is said by old trappers that they will 
 smell the well-prepared essence the distance of 
 a mile. Their sense of smell is very acute, or 
 they would not so readily detect the yipinity of 
 man by the smell of his traiL The aroma of 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 15 
 
 the essence having attracted the animal into the 
 vicinity of the trap, in his attempt to reach it, 
 he has to climb up on to the bank where it is 
 sticking. This effort leads him directly over 
 the trap, and he is usually taken by one of the 
 fore legs. The trap was connected by a chain 
 of iron, six feet in length, to a stout line made 
 of the bark of the leathei"wood, twisted into a 
 neat cord, of fifteen or twenty feet. These were 
 usually prepared by the trappers at home or at 
 their camps, for cords of hemp or flax were 
 scarce in the days of beaver hunting. The end 
 of the line was secured to a stake driven into 
 the bed of the creek under water, and in his 
 struggles to escape, the beaver was usually 
 drowned before the aiTival of the trapper. 
 Sometimes, however, he freed himself by gnaw- 
 ing off his own leg, though this was rarely the 
 case. If there was a prospect of rain, or it was 
 raining at the time of setting the trap, a leaf, 
 generally of sycamore, was placed over the 
 essence stick, to protect it from the rain. 
 
 " The beaver being a very sagacious and cau- 
 tious animal, it requii'ed great care in the trapper 
 in his approach to its haunts to set his traps, that 
 no scent of his feet or hands was left on the 
 earth, or bushes that he touched. For this rea- 
 
16 LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 
 
 son he generally approached in a canoe. If he 
 had no canoe, it was necessary to enter the 
 stream thirty or forty yards below, and walk in 
 the water to the place, taking care to return in 
 the same manner, lest the beaver should take 
 alarm and not come near the bait, as his fear of 
 the vicinity of man was greater than his sense 
 of appetite for the essence. It also required 
 caution in kindling a fire near their haunts, as 
 the smell of smoke alarmed them. The firing 
 of a gun, also, often marred the sport of the 
 trapper, and thus it vdll be seen that to make a 
 successful beaver himter, required more qualities 
 or natural gifts than fall to the share of most 
 men." 
 
UFE OF KIT CABSON. 1? 
 
 CHAPTER m. 
 
 Carson's previous habits and pursuits had 
 eminently qualified him. to become an useful 
 and even a distinguished member of Mr. Young's 
 company of trappers. He had lived in the 
 midst of danger from his chUdhood. He was 
 familiar with the use of arms ; and several years 
 of travel and adventure had already 'given him 
 more knowledge of the western wilds in the 
 neighborhood of the region which was the scene 
 of their present operations, than was possessed 
 by many who had seen more years than himself. 
 Added to this, he had become well acquainted 
 with the peculiar character and habits of the 
 western Indians, who were now prowling around 
 their camp, and occasionally stealing their traps, 
 game, and animals. 
 
 The party pursued their business successfully 
 for some time on the Salt and San Francisco 
 rivers, when a part of them returned to New 
 Mexico, and the remainder, eighteen in number, 
 under the lead of Mr. Young, started for the 
 
Ig LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 valley of Sacramento, California, and it was to 
 this latter party Carson was attached. Their 
 route led them through one of the dry deserts 
 of the country, and not only did they suffer 
 considerably from the want of water, but their 
 provisions giving out, they were often happy 
 when they Coilld make a good dinner on horse- 
 flesh. Near the Canon of the Colorado they 
 encountered a party of Mohave Indians, who 
 furnished them with some provisions. Which 
 relieved them from the apprehension of imme- 
 diate want. 
 
 The Mohave Indians are thus described by a 
 recent visitor : 
 
 " These Indians are probably in as wild a 
 state of nature as any tribe on American terri- 
 tory. They have not had sufficient intercourse 
 with any civilized people to acquire a knowl- 
 edge • of their language, or their vices. It was 
 said that no white party had ever before passed 
 through theii' country without encountering 
 hostilities ; nevertheless they appear intelligent, 
 and to have naturally amiable dispositions. 
 The men are tall, erect, and well-proportioned; 
 their features inclined to European regularity ; 
 their eyes large, shaded by long la,shes, and 
 suri'ounded by circles of blue pigment, that add 
 
LIFE OF KIT CABSON. ,19 
 
 to tL^ir apparent size. The .aproji, or bi-eepli- 
 cloth for men, and a slio^t petticoat, mades of 
 strips of the inner bark of the cotton- wood, . foj" 
 women, are the only articles of dress dqenied irj- 
 dispensable ; but many of.thefemales.hayelong 
 robes, or cloaks, of fur. The young girls wear 
 bea,ds ; but when married, their phins are tat- 
 tooed with yertic9,l blue lines,, and they wear, a 
 necklace wi^ha single sea-shell in front,, curiously 
 wrought. These shells are very ancient, and 
 esteemed of great value. , . 
 
 "Fi-om time, to time they rode into the 
 camp, mounted on spiri|ted horses ; thejr bodies 
 and limbs painted and ojlqd, so as ]t.o, present the 
 appearance of highly-poHshed mahogany. The 
 dandips paint their faces perfectly blapk,, War- 
 riors add a streak of red across their forehead, 
 nose, and chin. Theii^ ornaments consist, of 
 leathern bracelets, adorned with bright buttons, 
 and worn on the left arm ; a, kind of tunic, 
 made of buckskin fringe, hanging front the 
 shoulders ; beautiful eagles' feathers, called 
 ' sormeh '— -Siometimes white, sometimes , of , a 
 crimson tint— tied to a lock, of, hair, and floating 
 from the top pf , the, head ; and, finally,, strings 
 of wampum, made of , fijrcular pieces of, shell, 
 with holes in the center, by which , they are 
 
go LIFE OF KIT CAJBSON. 
 
 strung, often to tlie length of several yards, and 
 worn in coils about tlie neck. These shell 
 beads, which they call ' pook,' are their substitute 
 for money, and the wealth of an indi^'idual ia 
 estimated by the ' pook ' cash he possesses." 
 
 Soon after leaving the Mohave Indians, Mr, 
 Young's party, proceeding westward, an-ived 
 at the Mission of San Gabriel, This is one of 
 these extensive establishments formed by the 
 Roman Catholic clergy in the early times of 
 California, which form so striking a feature in 
 the country. This Mission of San Gabriel, 
 about the time of Carson's visit, was in a flourish- 
 ing condition. By statistical accounts, in 1829, 
 it had 70,000 head of cattle, 1,200 horses, 
 3,000 mares, 400 mules, 120 yoke of working 
 cattle, and 254,000 sheep. From the vineyards 
 of the mission were made 600 barrels of wine, 
 the sale of which produced the income of up- 
 wards of $12,000. There were between twenty 
 and thirty such missions in California at that 
 time, of which San Gabriel Avas by no means 
 the largest. They had all been founded since 
 1769, when the fii'st, San Diego, was established. 
 The labor in these establishments was per- 
 formed by Indians converts, who received in 
 return a bare support, and a very small modi- 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 21 
 
 cum of what was called religious instruction. 
 Each mission had its Catholic priest, a few 
 Spanish or Mexican soldiers, and hundreds, 
 sometimes thousands of Indians. 
 
 The following interesting account of those of 
 Upper California, we transcribe from a, recent 
 work of high authority.* 
 
 " The missions of Upper California were in- 
 debted for their beginning and chief success to 
 the subscriptions which, as in the case of the 
 missionary settlements of the lower province, 
 were largely bestowed by the pious to promote 
 so grand a work as turning a great country to 
 the worship of the true God. Such subscrip- 
 tions continued for a long period, both in Old 
 and New Spain, and were regularly remitted 
 to the City of Mexico, where they were formed 
 into what was called ' The Pious Fund of Cali- 
 foimia? This fund was managed by the con- 
 vent of San Fernando and other trustees in 
 Mexico, and the proceeds, together with the 
 annual salaries allowed by the Crown to the 
 missionaries, were transmitted to California. 
 Meanwhile, the Spanish court scarcely interfered 
 
 * Annals of San Francisbo. By Frank Soul^, John H. 
 Gihon, and James Nisbet. New York, D. Appleton & 
 Co., 1855. 
 
22 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 with the t6mj)0tal governrnent of the country. 
 It was true that some of the ordinary civil offi- 
 ces aind establishments were kept up ; but this 
 was only in name, and oil too small a scale to 
 be of any practical importance. A coniman- 
 dante-general was appoitited by the Crown to 
 command the garrisons of the ptesidios ; but as 
 these were origiiially established soldy to pro- 
 tect the missions from the di'eaded violence df 
 hostile Indians, and to lend them, when neces- 
 sary, the carnal arm of offense, he was iibt al- 
 lowed to interfere in the temporal i-ule of the 
 FatheiB. He resided at Monterey, and his an- 
 nual SEilary was four thousand dollars. 
 
 "In every sense of' the word, then, these 
 monks were practically the sovereign rulers 6f 
 California — passiilg laws affecting not only 
 property, but even life and death — declaring 
 peace and war against their Indian neighbors 
 -^regulating, receiving, and spending the 
 finances at discretion— and, in addition, drawing 
 large annual subsidies not only froni the piblls 
 among the faithful over all Christendom, but 
 even from the Spanish monarchy itself, almost 
 as a tribute to their being a superior state. 
 This surely was the golden age of the missions 
 — a contented, peaceful, believing people, abun- 
 
liIFE OF KIT CARSON. 23 
 
 daat wealth for all. their wants, despotic will,, 
 and no responsibility but to their own con- 
 sciences and heaven! Their horn was filled to 
 overflowing; but soon an invisible and mer- 
 ciless hand; seized it, and slowly, and linger- 
 ingly, as if in malicious sport, turned it, over, 
 and spilled the. nectar of their life upon the 
 wastes of mankind, from whence it can never 
 again be collected. The , golden age of another 
 race, has now dawned, and with it the real 
 
 prosperity of the countiy. , . , ,, 
 
 " The missions were originally formed on the 
 same general plant, and they were planted at 
 such distances from each other, as to allow, 
 abundant room for subsequent, development. 
 They were either established on the sea-KJoast,. 
 or a few miles, inland. Twenty, or thirty miles 
 indeed seems all the distance . the missionaries. 
 had proceeded into the interior ; beyond which 
 narrow belt the country was unexplored and 
 unknown. . Each, mission had. a . considerable 
 piece of the best . land in the neighborhood set 
 aside for its agricultural and pastoral purposes, 
 which was commonly about fifteen miles square. 
 But besides, this selected territory, there was 
 generally much more vacani land lying between 
 the boundaries of the missions, and which, as 
 
2i LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 the increase of tlieir stocks required more space 
 for grazing, was gradually occupied by tte 
 flocks and kerds of the Fatkers, nearest to 
 whose mission lay tke previously unoccupied 
 district. Over tkese bounds the Fathers con- 
 ducted all the operations of a gigantic farm. 
 Their cattle generally numbered from ten 
 thousand to twenty thousand and their skeep 
 were nearly as numerous — tkougk some mis. 
 sions kad upwards of tkrice tkese numbers — 
 wkick fed over perkaps a hundred thousand 
 acres of fertile land. 
 
 " Near the center of such farms were placed 
 the mission buildings. These consisted of the 
 church — which was either built of stone, if that 
 material could be procured ia the vicinity, or 
 of adobes, which are bricks dried in the sun ; 
 and was as substantial, large, and richly deco- 
 rated an erection as the means of the mission 
 would permit, or the skill and strength of their 
 servants could construct. In the interior, pic- 
 tures and hangings decorated the walls ; while 
 the altars were ornamented with marble pillars 
 of various colors, and upon and near them 
 stood various articles of massy gold and silver 
 plate. A profusion of gilding and tawdry 
 sparkliug objects caught and pleased the eye 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 25 
 
 of the simple congregations. Around, or be- 
 side the church, and often in the form of a 
 square, were grouped the habitations of the 
 Fathers and their household servants, and the 
 various granaries and workshops of the people ; 
 whUe, at the distance of one or two hundred 
 yards, stood the huts of the Indians. The for- 
 mer buildings were constructed of adobes, and 
 covered with brick tiles, frail and miserable 
 materials at the best. The huts of the Indians 
 were occasionally made of the same materials, 
 but more commonly were formed only of a few 
 rough poles, stuck in the ground, with the 
 points bending towards the center like a cone, 
 and were covered with reeds and grass. An 
 adohe wall of considerable height sometimes en- 
 closed the whole village. The direction of the 
 affairs of the settlement was in the hands of 
 one of the Fathers, originally called a president, 
 but afterwards a, prefect,' and each prefect was 
 independent in his own mission, and practically 
 supreme in all its temporal, and nearly in all its 
 spiritual matters, to any human authority. 
 
 "Thus the Fathers might be considered to 
 have lived something in the style of the patri- 
 archs of the days of Job and Abraham. They 
 indeed were generally ignorant and unlettered 
 
26 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 men, knowing little more tlian the mechanical 
 rites of their church, and what else their man- 
 uals of devotion and the treasuries of the lives 
 of the saints taught them ; but they seem to have 
 been personally devout, self-denying, and benef- 
 icent in their own simple way. They thought 
 they did God service, and perhaps much more 
 the Indians themselves, in catching, taming, and 
 converting them to Christianity. That was their 
 vocation in the world, and they faithfully obeyed 
 its calls of duty. Towards the converts and 
 actually domesticated servants, they always 
 showed such an affectionate kindness as the 
 father pays to the youngest and most helpless 
 of his family. The herds and flocks of the 
 Fathers roamed undisturbed over numberless 
 hills and valleys. Their servants or slaves were 
 true born children of the house, who labored 
 lightly and pleasantly, and had no sense of free- 
 dom nor desire for change. A rude but boun- 
 teous hospitality marked the master's reception 
 of the solitary wayfarer, as he traveled from 
 mission to mission, perhaps bearing some scanty 
 news from the outer world, all the more wel- 
 come that the Fathers knew little of the subject, 
 and could not be affected by the events and 
 dangers of distant societies. All these things 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 27 
 
 have now passed away. The churches have 
 fallen into decay, deserted by the old worship- 
 ers, and poverty-stricken ; the ad.6be houses of 
 the Fathers are in ruins — and there is scarcely 
 any trace left of the slightly erected huts of the 
 Indians, who themselves have deserted their old 
 hearths and altars, and are silently, though 
 rapidly, disappearing from the land. But the 
 memory of the patriarchal times, for they were 
 only as yesterday, still remains fresh in the 
 minds of the early white settlers." 
 
 Mr. Young's party did not remain long to en- 
 joy the sumptuous fare at the Mission of San 
 Gabriel ; but pushed on to that of San Fer- 
 nando, and thence to the river and fertile valley 
 of Sacramento. In this neighborhood they 
 trapped for beaver, and Carson displayed his 
 activity and skill as a hunter of deer, elk, and 
 antelope. 
 
28 UFE OF KIT CABSON. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Only familiarity with one of like character, 
 by actually seeing it, can give a Just idea of the 
 country through which they were traveling. 
 Livingstone's descriptions of localities in Central 
 Africa might be transferred to our pages verba- 
 tim, to give a word-painting of the desiccated 
 deserts of what is now New Mexico and Ari- 
 zona. Carson's curiosity, as well as care to pre- 
 serve the knowledge for future use, led him to 
 note in memory, every feature of the wild land- 
 scape, its mountain chains, its desert prairies, 
 with only clumps of the poor artemisia for vege- 
 tation, its rivers, and the oases upon their banks, 
 where there were bottom-lands — nor were 
 beaver found elsewhere — with its river beds 
 whose streams had found a passage beneath 
 the surface of the earth, and each other general 
 feature that would attract the eye of the nat- 
 ural, rather than the scientific observer. 
 
 In our day, the note-book of the pioneer 
 Cumishiiig the data, the traveler carries a guide- 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 29 
 
 book to direct his course from point to point, 
 upon a well trodden road, to those places where 
 grass and water will furnish refreshment for his 
 animals, while he regales himself, not upon the 
 spare-rib of a starved mule, killed because it could 
 go no longer, but upon a variety of good things 
 from the well stocked larder of the pouches 
 of the saddle-bags his pack mule carries, or the 
 provision box of his wagon. Or, instead of the 
 meat-diet of the trapper, when he has been in 
 luck in a fertile locality, the traveler — ^not 
 trapper — of to-day, perhaps has shot a prairie 
 chicken, and prepares his dinner by making a 
 stew of it, which he consumes with hard bread 
 he has purchased at a station not ten miles 
 away. 
 
 Familiarity with the features of the country 
 does not restore the experience of the pioneer 
 of these vrilds. The Indian, now, is advised by 
 authority he seldom dares defy, to keep off the 
 roads of the emigrants ; and seldom does a 
 party leave the road for any great distance ; 
 nor are these roads infrequent, but the country 
 is intersected with them, and the guide-books 
 protect against mistake in taking the wrong di- 
 rection. The test of character, however, with 
 the trappers, was their ability to endure bard- 
 
80 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 ships when they had to be encountered ; and 
 to guard against them, when they could be 
 avoided, by a wise foresight in taking advan- 
 tage of every favor of fortune, and turning 
 each freak or whim of the wily dame to best 
 account. 
 
 Carson was delighted with California from 
 the first, and realizing intense satisfaction in 
 his position, yet a youth, on terms of easy 
 familiarity with the other seventeen old trappers, 
 especially selected for this expedition, circum- 
 stances conspired to call into play all the activ- 
 ities of his nature, and nothing intruded to 
 prevent his resigning himself to the impulses 
 of the time, and making the most of every occa- 
 sion that offered. 
 
 He had the confidence of Captain Young and 
 of all his men, who permitted him to do pre- 
 cisely as he chose, for they found him not only 
 intending always to do what was best, but pos- 
 sessed of foresight to know always " just the 
 things that ought to be done," almost without 
 effort, as it seemed to them. 
 
 After leaving the Mission of San Fernando, 
 Young's party trapped upon the San Joaquin, 
 but they found that another party of trappers 
 had been there before them, employed by the 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 31 
 
 Hudson Bay Company, in Oregon. There was, 
 however, room for them both, and they trapped 
 near each other for weeks. The friendly inter- 
 course kept up between the two parties, was 
 not only one of pleasant interchange of social 
 kindness, but in one sense was essentially use- 
 ful to Kit, who lost no opportunity of improv- 
 ing himself in the profession (for in those days 
 trapping was a profession) which he had 
 embraced, and he had the benefit of the experi- 
 ence by way of example, not only of his own 
 companions, but of those who were connected 
 with the greatest and most influential company 
 then in existence on this continent. It is 
 hardly necessary to say that he lost no oppor- 
 tunity of acquiring information, and it is quite 
 probable that he would, if called on, allow that 
 the experience acquired on this expedition was 
 among the most valuable of any which he had 
 previously gained. 
 
 When Mr. Young went to the Sacramento, 
 he separated from the Hudson Bay party. 
 The beautiful Sacramento, as its waters glided 
 toward the chain of bays that take it to the 
 ocean through the Bay of San Francisco out 
 at the Golden Gate, had not the aspect of the 
 eastern river's immediate tributaries of the 
 
32 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 Missouri. Its waters then were clear as crystal, 
 and the salmon floated beneath, glistening in 
 the sunlight, as the canoe glided through them. 
 
 The very air of this valley is luxurious ; and 
 in speaking of it, we will include the valley of 
 the San Joaquin, for both these streams run 
 parallel with the coast, the Sacramento from 
 the north, the San Joaquin from the south, and 
 both unite at the head of the chain of bays 
 which pour their waters into the Pacific. 
 
 The Sacramento drains nearly three hundred 
 miles of latitude, and the San Joaquin an hun- 
 dred and fifty miles of the country bounded by 
 the Sierra Nevada (snow mountains) on the 
 east, and the coast range on the west, the whole 
 forming a great basin, with the mountains 
 depressed on the north and south, but with no 
 outlet except through the Golden Gate. 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 33 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 No climate could be more congenial to a full 
 flow of animal spirits, than this region, where, 
 upon the vegetation of the rich black soil — 
 often twenty feet deep — game of the better 
 class in great abundance found support. Deer 
 in no part of the world was ever more plenty, 
 and elk and antelope bounded through the old 
 oak groves, as they may have done in Eden. 
 
 Carson had many opportunities of exploring 
 the country, which he gladly embraced, and 
 thus became familiar with many localities, the 
 knowledge of which was in after years of such 
 essential seivice to him and others. 
 
 There were many large tribes of Indians 
 scattered through this country, in these and 
 smaller valleys, beside those which the mis- 
 sions had attached to them. We know not that 
 any record has been kept of the names of these 
 tribes and their numbers ; but since the white 
 men intruded, they have melted away as did 
 earlier those east of the Mississippi 
 
34: LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 These Indians were all of the variety called 
 Diggers, but in better condition than we see 
 them, since the small remnants of large tribes 
 have adopted the vices of the white men, and 
 learned improvidence, by sometimes having 
 plenty without much toil ; so that they can 
 say to-day, " No deer, no acorn ; white man 
 come ! poor Indian hungry," as the happiest 
 style of begging. 
 
 A brief description of the Tlamath or Dig- 
 ger Indians, and their mode of living, may not 
 now be out of place, and having been visited 
 by Carson in his earlier years, may not be un- 
 interesting. We quote from the language of 
 one who has paid a recent visit to the tribe : 
 
 " There were a dozen wdgwams for the nearly 
 hundred that composed the tribe, one of which 
 was much larger than the rest, and in the center 
 of the group, the temple, or ' medicine lodge.' 
 As we entered, the bones of game consumed, 
 and other oifal lay about ; and to our inquiry 
 why they did not clear away and be more tidy, 
 only a grunt was returned. The men had gone 
 fishing, said the Indian women we addressed, 
 so we saw but two or three ; but in one wiff- 
 wam which we entered there were fourteen with 
 ourselves — ^the rest, besides the boy who went 
 
LIFE OF KIT CAESON, 35 
 
 before to announce us, were women and chil- 
 dren. 
 
 " We ascended a mound of earth, as it seemed, 
 about six feet high, and through a circular hole, 
 perhaps two feet and a half in diameter, de- 
 scended a perpendicular ladder about ten feet. 
 This opening, through which we entered, per- 
 formed the double office of door and window to 
 the space below, which was circular, about four- 
 teen feet across, with arrangements for sleeping, 
 like berths in a steamboat, one over another, on 
 two sides, suspended by tying with bark a rough 
 stick to upright posts, which served to hold the 
 sticks that sustained the roof. The whole was 
 substantially built, the covering being the earth 
 which was taken from the spot beneath, heaped 
 upon a layer of rushes, the floor of the wigwam 
 being four feet below the surface of the ground. 
 On the two sides of the wigwam not occupied 
 by the berths, were barrels filled with fish — 
 dried salmon, seeds, acorns, and roots. 
 
 " On hooks from the rush-lined ceiling hung 
 bags and baskets, containing such luxuries as 
 dried grasshoppers and berries. About the 
 berths hung deer skins and some skins of other 
 game, seemingly prepared for wear. There was 
 no appearance of other dress, yet in the berths 
 
36 LIFE OF KIT CARSOliT. 
 
 sat three women, braiding strips of deer-skin, 
 and attaching the braids to a string, in the form 
 of long fringe. Each of the women wore an 
 apron of this kind about the waist, and only the 
 dress of nature beside. The children were 
 dressed '■inpti/ris naturalibus.^ 
 
 " After stopping ten minutes, we were glad to 
 ascend to the open air, for a sickness came over 
 us from which we did not recover for several 
 hours. How human beings live in such an at- 
 mosphere we cannot tell, but this is the way 
 they habitate. 
 
 " When the grasshoppers were abundant, for 
 this insect is one of the luxuries of the Diggers, 
 they scoured the valley, gathering them in im- 
 mense quantities. This is done by first digging 
 holes or pits in the ground at the spot chosen. 
 Then the whole party of Indians, each with the 
 leafy branch of a tree, form a circle about it and 
 drive in the grasshoppers till they heap them 
 upon each other in the pits: water is then 
 poured in to drown them. Their booty gathered, 
 they proceed to another place and perform the 
 same operation. These insects are prepared for 
 food by kindling a fire in one of these pits, and 
 when it is heated, filling it with them and cov- 
 ering it with a heated stone, where they are left 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 37 
 
 to bake. They are now ready for use at any 
 time, and eaten with gusto, or they are pow- 
 dered, and mixed with the acorn meal in a kind 
 of bread, which is baked in the ashes." 
 
 To return to the camp of trappers, and wit- 
 ness one day's duties, may be gratifying to the 
 reader. With early dawn the traps are visited, 
 and the beaver secured. The traps are re-ad- 
 justed, and the game brought into camp — or 
 left to be skinned where it is if the camp is far 
 away. Meantime breakfast has been prepared 
 by one of the party ; others have looked after 
 the animals, relieving the watch, which is still 
 kept up lest a stampede occur while all are 
 sleeping. Carson could not be cook for the 
 party constantly, but takes his turn with the 
 rest, and by the nice browning of his steak, and 
 the delicacy of his acorn coffee, and the addi- 
 tion to their meal of roasted kamas root, he 
 proves the value of the apprenticeship of his 
 earlier years. He has a dish of berries, too, and 
 surprises the party with this tempting dessert, 
 as well as with the information that in his 
 rambles the day before he had dined with an 
 old Calif omian, with his wife and daughters, 
 and had the promise from them of a cow, if ho 
 would call for it on the morrow. 
 
38 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 Breakfast over, and the remains put by for 
 luncli at noon, Carson mounts his pony, and 
 riding a few miles down tlie bank, swims the 
 river, and dashing out among the kills with a 
 high, round mountain peak in view, still miles 
 away, is lost among the oak groves for a score 
 of miles, and at length emerges on Susan bay, 
 and doffs his hat and makes his bow to the 
 young Senorita who greets him at the door with 
 a smile of welcome. The sun is low; dinner 
 waits — hot bread, ^nd butter, and cheese, and 
 coffee, with sugar, are added to the venison and 
 beef, and Irish and sweet potatoes. Amid the 
 civilities and pleasant chat, the hour passes 
 happily, and Carson proposes returning to his 
 party. 
 
 The ladies will not allow him to depart. 
 Will he not accept the hospitality of their 
 mansion for a single night ? They do not urge 
 after one refusal, because his every feature in- 
 dicates the decision of his character. He must 
 go. His horse is brought — a young and beau- 
 tiful animal — and the cow, this object of his 
 second journey thither, given him in charge as 
 he mounts, with a rope attached to her horns, 
 by which to lead her. The full moon is rising, 
 on which he had calculated, as he told his host- 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 39 
 
 esses, and with words of pleasant compliment, 
 with which the Spanish language so much more 
 than ours abounds, and a Buenos noches^ senor, 
 from his entertainers, and Buenos noches, senoT' 
 itas, in return, he slowly winds his silent way 
 on and on through the oak groves and the wild 
 oats covering the hill-sides, hearing only the 
 song of the owl and the whippoorwill, the mu- 
 sic of the insects, and the whispering leaves, 
 but with ear ever open to detect the stealthy 
 tread of the monster of the wood and hills — the 
 grizzly bear. Off on the distant hill he sees 
 one, with a cub following her; but game is 
 plenty and deer is good enough food for her. 
 On, on he goes at slow pace, for he has a deli- 
 cate charge, and already is she restive from 
 very weariness, though his pace is slow. 
 
 Half his journey is completed as the gray of 
 dawn and the twinkle of the star of morning 
 relieves the tedium and anxiety of his loneli- 
 ness. He has made the circuit of the bay. 
 The river is before him as he descends the hill 
 which he has ascended for observation. Morn- 
 ing broadens. The flowers glow with varie- 
 gated beauty as he tramples them, and in some 
 patches the odor of the crushed dewy beauties 
 fiUs the air to satiety. 
 
40 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 A few miles more of travel and lie crosses 
 the river, and is again in the river-bottom where 
 the party have taken the beaver. He stops at 
 an Indian village, and dines from the liberal 
 haunch and the acorn bread the chief presents, 
 and with good feelings displayed on either side, 
 takes in his arms a young papoose, the digger's 
 picaninny, and salutes it with a kiss. Kit leaves 
 there a trifling, but to them, valuable memorial 
 of his visit, mounts his sorrel which is restive 
 under the slow gait to which he has restrained 
 him, takes the rope again which secures his 
 treasure, the cow, and plods towards home at 
 evening. The camp fire smokes in the distance, 
 while the few horses that remain are staked 
 about, and the sentinel paces up and down to 
 keep off the drowsiness induced by fatigue and 
 a hearty meat supper. The eastern and the 
 western horizon are lighted with pale silver by 
 the departing god of day, and the approaching 
 goddess of the night, and the still river divides 
 the plain, bounded only by the horizon, except 
 he look behind him. Such is the scene as, ap- 
 proaching, the sentinel raises his gun and gives 
 the challenge to halt. But the rest of the camp 
 are not yet sleeping, and a dozen voices shout 
 
LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 41 
 
 in the still evening a glad welcome to Carson, 
 for wliom they were not concerned, for they 
 well knew there was not one of the party so 
 well able to take cai-e of himself as he. 
 
LIFE OB' KIT CARSON. 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 Peters, in Ms " Life of Carson," tells the 
 story of two expeditions which Carson led 
 against the Indians, while they trapped upon 
 the Sacramento, which give proof of his cour- 
 age, and thorough education in the art of Indian 
 warfare, which had become a necessity to the 
 voyagev/r on the plains, and in the mountains of 
 the western wilds. With his quick discrimina- 
 tion of character, and familiarity with the habits 
 of the race, he could not but know the diggers 
 were less bold than the Apaches and Comanches, 
 with whom he was before familiar. 
 
 The Indians at the Mission San Gabriel were 
 restive under coerced labor, and forty of them 
 made their escape to a tribe not far away. 
 
 The mission demanded the return of these 
 fugitives, and being refused, gave battle to the 
 neighboring tribe, but were defeated. The 
 Padre sent to the trappers for assistance to com- 
 pel the Indians not to harbor their people. 
 Carson and eleven of his companions volunteered 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 43 
 
 to aid the mission, and the attack upon the 
 Indian village resulted in the destruction of a 
 third of its inhabitants, and compelled them to 
 submission. Captain Young found at this mis- 
 sion a trader to take his furs, and from them pur- 
 chased a drove of horses. Directly after his 
 return, a party of Indians contrived to drive 
 away sixty horses from the trappers, while the 
 sentinel slept at night. Carson with twelve men 
 were sent in pursuit. It was not difficult to 
 follow the fresh trail of so large a drove, yet he 
 pursued them a hundred miles, and into the 
 mountains, before coming up with them. The 
 Indians supposed themselves too far away to be 
 followed, and were feasting on the flesh of the 
 stolen horses they had slaughtered. Carson's 
 party arranged themselves silently and without 
 being seen, and rushing upon the Indian camp, 
 killed eight men, and scattered the remainder 
 in every direction. The horses were recovered, 
 except the six killed, and partly consumed, and 
 with three Indian children left in camp, they 
 returned to the joyful greetings of their friends. 
 Early in the autumn of 1829, Mr. Young and 
 his party of trappers set out on their return 
 home. On their route they visited Los Angeles, 
 formerly called Pueblo de los Angeles, "the 
 
44 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 city of the angels," a name which it received on 
 account of the exceedingly genial climate, and 
 the beauty of the surrounding country. It is 
 situated on a small river of the same name, 30 
 miles from its mouth, and on the road between 
 the cities of San Jose and San Diego. It is 
 about three hundred and fifty miles east of San 
 Francisco, and a hundred miles to the south. 
 
 Although to very many thousands of readers, 
 anything on the subject of the climate of Cali- 
 fornia may seem superfluous, yet there are as 
 many thousands who have no really distinct 
 idea of the country or the climate, and we 
 therefore quote from Eev. Dr. Bushnell, whose 
 article on those topics in the " New Englander," 
 in 1858, attracted justly such universal 
 attention : 
 
 " The first and most difficult thing to appre- 
 hend respecting California is the climate, upon 
 which, of course, depend the advantages of 
 health and physical development, the growths 
 and their conditions and kinds, and the mochis 
 operandi^ or general cast, of the seasons. But 
 this, again, is scarcely possible, without dismiss- 
 ing, first of all, the word climate, and substitut- 
 ing the plural, climates. For it cannot be said 
 of California, as of New England, or the Middle 
 
LIFE OP KIT CARSON. 45 
 
 States, that it has a climate. On the contrary, 
 it has a great mxiltitude, curiously pitched to- 
 gether, at short distances, one from another, 
 defying too, not seldom, our most accepted 
 notions of the effects of latitude and altitude 
 and the defenses of mountain ranges. The 
 only way, therefore, is to dismiss generalities, 
 cease to look for a climate, and find, if we can, 
 by what process the combinations and varieties 
 are made ; for when we get hold of the manner 
 and going on of causes, all the varieties are 
 easily reducible. 
 
 " To make this matter intelligible, conceive 
 that Middle California, the region of which we 
 now speak, lying between the head waters of 
 the two great rivers, and about four hundred 
 and fifty or five hundred miles long from north 
 to south, is divided lengthwise, parallel to the 
 coast, into three strips, or ribbons of about 
 equal width. First, the coastwise region, com- 
 prising two, three, and sometimes four parallel 
 tiers of mountains from five hundred to four 
 thousand, five thousand, or even ten thousand 
 feet high. Next, advancing inward, we have a 
 middle strip, from fifty to seventy miles wide, 
 of almost dead plain, which is called the great 
 valley ; down the scarcely perceptible slopes of 
 
46 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 whicH, from north to south, and south to north, 
 run the two great rivers, the Sacramento and 
 the San Joaquim, to join their waters at the 
 middle of the basin and pass off to the sea. 
 The third long strip, or ribbon, is the slope of 
 the Sierra Nevada chain, which bounds the 
 great valley on the east, and contains in its foot- 
 hills, or rather in its lower half, all the gold 
 mines. The upper half is, to a great extent, 
 bare granite rock, and is crowned at the sum- 
 mit, with snow, about eight months of the 
 year. 
 
 " Now the climate of these parallel strips 
 will be different almost of course, and subordi- 
 nate, local differences, quite as remarkable, will 
 result from subordinate features in the local 
 configurations, particularly of the seaward strip 
 or portion. For all the varieties of climate, 
 distinct as they become, are made by variations 
 wrought in the rates of motion, the courses, the 
 temperature, and the dryness of a single wind ; 
 viz., the trade wind of the summer months, which 
 blows directly inward all the time, only with 
 much greater power during that part of the day 
 when the rarefaction of the great central valley 
 comes to its aid ; that is, from about ten o'clock 
 in the morning to the setting of the sun. Con- 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 47 
 
 ceive such a wind, chilled by the cold waters 
 that have come down from the Northern Pacific, 
 perhaps from Behring's Straits, combing the tops 
 and wheeling round through the valleys of the 
 coastwise mountains, crossing the great valley 
 at a much retarded rate, and growing hot and 
 dry, fanning gently the foot-hills and sides of 
 the Sierra, still more retarded by the piling 
 necessary to break over into Utah, and the con- 
 ditions of the California climate, or climates, 
 will be understood with general accuracy. 
 Greater simplicity in the matter of climate is 
 impossible, and greater variety is hardly to be 
 imagined. 
 
 " For the whole dry season, viz., from May 
 to November, this wind is in regular blast, day 
 by day, only sometimes approaching a little 
 more nearly to a tempest than at others. It never 
 brings a drop of rain, however thick and rain- 
 like the clouds it sometimes drives before it. 
 The cloud element, indeed, is always in it. 
 Sometimes it is floated above, in the manner 
 commonly designated by the term cimid.. Some- 
 times, as in the early morning, when the -^nd 
 is most quiet, it may be seen as a kind of fog 
 bank resting on the sea-wall mountains or rcH- 
 ing down landward through the interstices of 
 
48 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 their summits. When the wind begins to hurry 
 and take on less composedly, the fog becomes 
 blown fog, a kind of lead dust driven through 
 the air, reducing it from a transparent to a semi- 
 transparent or merely translucent state, so that 
 if any one looks up the bay, from a point twenty 
 or thirty miles south of San Francisco, in the 
 afternoon, he will commonly see, directly abreast 
 of the Golden Gate where this wind drives in 
 with its greatest power, a pencil of the lead 
 dust shooting upwards at an angle of thirty or 
 forty degrees (which is the aim of the wind 
 prepaiing to leap the second chain of mountains, 
 the other side of the bay), and finally tapering 
 off and vanishing, at a mid-air point eight or 
 ten miles inland, where the increased heat of the 
 atmosphere has taken up the moisture, and re- 
 stored its complete transparency. This wind 
 is so cold, that one who will sit upon the deck 
 of the afternoon steamer passing up the bay, 
 will even require his heaviest winter clothing. 
 And so rough are the waters of the bay, land- 
 locked and narrow as it is, that sea-sickness is a 
 kind of regular experience, with such as are 
 candidates for that kind of felicity. 
 
 " We return now to the middle strip of the 
 great valley where the engine, or rather boiler 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 49 
 
 power, that operates the coast wind in a great 
 part of its velocity, is located. Here the heat, 
 reverberated as in a forge, or oven (whence 
 Gali—fornia ) becomes, even in the early spring 
 so much raised that the ground is no longer 
 able, by any remaining cold there is in it, to 
 condense the clouds, and rain ceases. A little 
 further on in the season, there is not cooling in- 
 fluence enough left to allow even the phenom- 
 ena of cloud, and for weeks together, not a 
 cloud will be seen, unless, by chance, the skirt 
 of one may just appear now and then, hanging 
 over the summit of the western mountains. 
 The sun rises, fixing his hot stare on the world, 
 and stares through the day. Then he returns 
 as in an orrery, and stares through another, in 
 exactly the same way. The thermometer will 
 go up, not seldom, to 100° or even 110°, and 
 judging by what we know of effects here in 
 New England, we should suppose that life 
 would scarcely be supportable. And yet there 
 is much less suffering from heat in this valley 
 tha;n with us, for the reason probably that the 
 nights are uniformly cool. The thermometer 
 goes down regularly with the sun, and one or 
 two blankets are wanted for the comfort of the 
 night. This cooling of the night is probably 
 
50 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 determined by the fact that the cool sea wind 
 sweeping through the upper air of the valley, 
 from the coast mountains on one side, over the 
 mountains and mountain passes of the Sierra 
 on the other, is not able to get down to the 
 ground of the valley during the day, because 
 of the powerfully steaming column of heat that 
 rises from it ; but as soon as the sun goes down, 
 it drops immediately to the level of the plain, 
 bathing it for the night with a kind of perpen- 
 dicular sea breeze, that has lost for the time a 
 great part of its lateral motion. The conse- 
 quence is that no one is greatly debilitated by 
 the heat. On the contrary, it is the general 
 testimony, that a man can do as much of men- 
 tal or bodily labor in this climate, as in any 
 other. And it is a good confirmation of this 
 opinion, that horses will here maintain a won- 
 derful energy, traveling greater distances, com- 
 plaining far less of heat, and sustaining their 
 spirit a great deal better than with us. It is 
 also to be noted that there is no special ten- 
 dency to fevers in this hot region, except in 
 what is called the tule bottom, a kind of sriant 
 bulrush region, along the most depressed and 
 marshiest portions of the rivers. 
 
 " Passing now to the eastern strip or portion, 
 
LIFE OP KIT CARSON. 51 
 
 the slope of the Nevada, the heat, except in 
 those deep cafions where the reverberation 
 makes it sometimes even insupportable, is quali- 
 fied in degree, according to the altitude. A 
 gentle west wind, warmer in the lower parts or 
 foothills by the heat of the valley, fans it all 
 day. At points which are higher, the wind is 
 cooler ; but here also, on the slope of the Neva- 
 da, the nights are always cool in summer, so cool, 
 that the late and early frosts leave too short a 
 space for the ordinary summer crop to mature, 
 even where the altitude is not more than 3,000 
 or 4,000 feet. Meantime, at the top of the 
 Sierra, where the west wind, piling up from 
 below, breaks over into Utah, travelers under- 
 take to say that in some of the passes it blows 
 with such stress as even to polish the rocks, by 
 the gravel and sand which it drives before it. 
 The day is cloudless on the slope of the Sierra, 
 as in the valley ; but on the top there is now 
 and then, or once in a year or two, a moderate 
 thunder shower. With this exception, as- re- 
 ferring to a part uninhabitable, thunder is 
 scarcely ever heard in California. The principal 
 thunders of California are underground. 
 
 " "We return now to the coast-wise mountain 
 region, where the multiplicity and confusion 
 
62 LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 
 
 of climates is most remarkable. Their variety 
 we shall find depends on the courses of the 
 wind currents, turned hither and thither by 
 the mountains ; partly also on the side any 
 gi\^en place occupies of its valley or mountain ; 
 and partly on the proximity of the sea. 
 Sprinkled in among these mountains, and more 
 or less enclosed by them, are valleys, large and 
 small, of the highest beauty. But a valley in 
 California means something more than a scoop 
 or depression. It means a rich land-lake, leveled 
 between the mountains, with a sharply defined, 
 picturesque shore, where it meets the sides and 
 runs into the indentations of the mountains. 
 What is called the Bay of San Francisco, is a 
 large salt water lake in the middle of a much 
 larger land-lake, sometimes called the San Jose 
 valley. It extends south of the city forty 
 miles, and northward among islands and moun- 
 tains about twenty-five more, if we include 
 what is called San Pueblo Bay. Three beauti- 
 ful valleys of agricultural country, the Petaluma, 
 Sonora, and Napa valleys, open into this larger 
 valley of the bay, on the north end of it be- 
 tween four mountain barriers, having each a 
 short navigable creek or inlet. Still farther 
 north is the Russian River valley, opening 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 53 
 
 towards the sea, and the Clear Lake valley and 
 region, which is the Switzerland of California. 
 East of the San Jose valley, too, at the foot of 
 Diabola, and up among the mountains, are the 
 large Amador and San Ramon valleys, also the 
 little gem of the Sunole. Now these valleys, 
 which, if we except the great valley of two 
 rivei"s, comprise the plow-land of Middle Cali- 
 fornia, have each a climate of its own, and pro- 
 ductions that correspond. We have only to 
 obsei-ve further, that the east side of any valley 
 will commonly be much warmer than the west ; 
 for the very paradoxical reason that the cold 
 coast-wind always blows much harder on the 
 other side or steep slope even, of a mountain, 
 opposite or away from the wind, than it does 
 on the side towards it, reversing all our notions 
 of the sheltering effects of mountain ridges." 
 
54 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 Dtmiira this brief tarry at Los Angeles, Car- 
 son had not been idle, but entirely without 
 thought that his confidence could be deemed 
 presumption, arranging his dress with as much 
 care as its character permitted, early in the 
 morning he mounted his horse — ^always in ex- 
 cellent trim — and rode to the residence of the 
 man he had been informed owned the best ranche 
 in the vicinity, and dismounting at the wicket 
 gate, entered the yard, which was fenced with 
 a finely arranged growth of club cactus ; and 
 passing up the gravel walk several rods, be- 
 tween an avenue of fig trees, with an occasional 
 patch of green shrubs, and a few flowers, he 
 stood at the door of the spacious old Spanish 
 mansion, which was built of adohe one story in 
 height and nearly a hundred feet in length, its 
 roof covered with asphaltum mingled with sand 
 — ^like all the houses in Los Angeles, a spring 
 of this material existing a little way from the 
 town. After waiting a few moments for an 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 55 
 
 answer to his summons, made with the huge 
 brass knocker, an Indian servant made his ap- 
 pearance, and ushered him to an elegantly fur- 
 nished room, Avith several guitars lying about 
 as if recently in use. The lordly owner of the 
 ranche soon appeared in morning gown and 
 slippers, the picture of a well-to-do old-time 
 gentleman, with an air evincing an acquaint- 
 ance with the world of letters and of art, such 
 as only travel can produce. 
 
 He asked the name of his stranger guest, as 
 Carson approaching addressed him, and at once 
 commenced a conversation in English, saying 
 with a look of satisfied pleasure, " I address you 
 in your native tongue, which I presume is agree- 
 able, though you speak very good Spanish ; " to 
 which Carson, much more surprised to hear his 
 native language so fluently spoken, than his host 
 was to be addressed in Spanish, replied, 
 
 " It is certainly agreeable to find you can 
 give me the information which, as an American, 
 I seek, in the language my mother taught me," 
 and at once they were on terms of easy famil- 
 iarity. 
 
 As it was early morning, his host asked Car- 
 son to take a cup of coffee wdth him, and con- 
 ducting him to the breakfast room, presented 
 
56 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 Mm to the family — a wife and several grown 
 sons and daughters. 
 
 Carson enjoyed the social part of this treat, 
 more than the tempting viands with which the 
 board was loaded. Though Spanish was the 
 language most used by the family, all spoke 
 English, and a young man from Massachusetts 
 was with them as a tutor to some of the younger 
 children. BreaMast over, the host invited him 
 to visit the vineyard, which he said was hardly 
 in condition to be exhibited, as the picking had 
 commenced two weeks before. He said his 
 yard, of a thousand varas, yielded him more 
 grapes than he could manage to dispose of, 
 though last year he had made several butts of 
 wine, and dried five thousand pounds of raisins. 
 The vines were in the form of little trees, so 
 closely had they been trinxmed, and were still 
 loaded with the purple clusters. Tasting them, 
 Carson justly remarked that he had never eaten 
 so good a grape. 
 
 " No," said his host, " I think not ; neither 
 have I, though I have traveled through Europe. 
 The valley of the Rhine, nor of the Tagus, pro- 
 duces anywhere a grape like ours. I think that 
 the Los Angeles grape is fit food indeed for 
 angels — ^is quite equal to the grapes of Eshcol — 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. ^ij 
 
 you remember the heavy clusters that were 
 found there, so that two men carried one be- 
 tween them on a pole resting upon their shoul- 
 ders. See that now," and he drew Carson to a 
 vine whose trunk was six inches through, and 
 yet it needed a prop to sustain the weight of 
 the two clusters of grapes it bore. 
 
 A species of the cactus, called the prickly 
 pear, enclosed the yineyard, and this really bore 
 pears, or a fruit of light orange color, in the 
 form of a pear, but covered with a down of 
 prickles. The Indian boy brought a towel, and 
 wiping the fruit until it shone, gave to Carson 
 to taste. It was sweetish, juicy, and rich, but 
 with less of flavor than a pear. Beyond the 
 vineyard were groves of fig and orange trees. 
 The figs were hardly ripe, being the third crop 
 of the season, while the oranges were nearly fit 
 for picking. The host said that his oranges 
 were better than usual this season, but he did 
 not know what he should do with them. He 
 was in the habit of shipping them to Santa 
 Barbara and Monterey, and thence taking some 
 to San Jose; but latterly oranges had been 
 brought to Monterey from the Sandwich Islands 
 by ships in the service of the Hudson Bay Com- 
 pany, returning from the China trade to the 
 
58 LIFE OF KIl CARSON. 
 
 mouth of the Columbia, which, arriving before 
 his were ripe, he found the fruit market fore- 
 stalled. 
 
 "This is the finest country the sun shines 
 upon," said he, " and we can live luxuriously 
 upon just what will grow on our own farms ; 
 but we cannot get rich. Our cattle will only 
 bring the value of the hides ; our horses are of 
 little value, for there are plenty running wild 
 which good huntsmen can take with the lasso ; 
 and, as for fruit, from which I had hoped to re- 
 alize something, the market is cut off by Yankee 
 competition. I think we shall have the Ameri- 
 cans with us before many years, and for my 
 part I hope we shall. The idea of Californians 
 generally, as well as of other Mexicans, that 
 they are too shrewd for them, is true enough ; 
 but certainly there is plenty of room for a large 
 population, and I should prefer that the race 
 that has most enterprise, should come and cul- 
 tivate the country with us." 
 
 Carson's youth commanded him to listen, 
 rather than to advance his own sentiments ; but 
 he expressed his pleasure at hearing his host 
 compliment the Americans, and said in reply, " I 
 have not been an extensive traveler, and have 
 chosen the life of a mountaiaeer, for a time 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 59 
 
 certainly ; but since I came to California, I am 
 half inclined to decide to make tMs my home 
 when I get tired of trapping. I like the hunt, 
 and have found game exceedingly plenty here, 
 but there is no buffalo, and I want that. Give 
 me buffalo, and I would settle in California." 
 
 He described to his host a buffalo hunt in 
 which he engaged with the Sioux Indians, be- 
 fore he left his father's home, at fifteen years of 
 age, and another later, since he came into the 
 mountains. He had hunted buffalo every year 
 since he was twelve years old. 
 
 The Don was charmed with the earnestness 
 and the frankness, and manifest integrity of the 
 youth, and turning his glance upon him, with 
 the slightly quizzical expression the face a Span- 
 iard so readily assumes, he inquired how many 
 buffalo he had ever killed. 
 
 " Not so many as I have deer, because I was 
 always in a deer country; but in the eight 
 years since I commenced going in the buffalo 
 ranges, I must have killed five hundred. The 
 hunter does not kill vdthout he wishes to use. 
 I was often permitted to take a shot at the 
 fl. Tiim a.la before I was able to help in dressing 
 them." 
 
 But Carson felt it might seem like boasting, 
 
60 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 for him to tell his own exploits, and changing 
 the theme, remarked, 
 
 " Your horses would make excellent buffalo 
 hunters, with the proper training, and I have 
 some at camp that I intend shall see buffalo. 
 But why do you not deal gently with them 
 when they are first caught, and keep the fire 
 they have in the herd? Pardon me, but I 
 think in taming your horses, you break their 
 spirits." 
 
 " My tutor has said the same, and I too have 
 thought so in regard to the Mexican style of 
 training our horses. We mount one just caught 
 from the drove, and ride him till he becomes 
 gentle from exhaustion. The French do not 
 train horses in that way, nor the English; I 
 have not been in the United States. Out cus- 
 tom is brought from Spain ; and it answers well 
 enough with us, where our horses go in droves, 
 and when one is used up, we turn him out and 
 take up another ; but when we take this animal 
 again, he is just as wild as at the first ; we can- 
 not afford to spend time on breaking him when 
 it must be done over again directly.'' 
 
 And so the two hours, which Carson had 
 allotted for his visit, passed in easy chat, and 
 when he took his leave, his host expressed his 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 61 
 
 thanks for his visit, and promised to return it 
 at the camp. 
 
 Carson did not again see his courteous host, 
 for early on the following morning, Mr. Young 
 found it necessary that he should get his men 
 away from Los Angeles as speedily as possible. 
 They had been indulging to excess in bad 
 liquors, and having none of the best feelings 
 towards the Mexicans, many quaiTels, some end- 
 ing in bloodshed, had ensued. 
 
 He therefore despatched Carson ahead with 
 a few men, promising to follow and overtake 
 him at the earliest moment, and waiting an- 
 other day, he managed to get his followers in 
 a tolerably sober condition, and succeeded, 
 though not without much trouble, in getting 
 away without the loss of a man, though the 
 Mexicans were desperately enraged at the 
 death of one of their townsmen, who had been 
 killed in a chance fray. In three days he 
 overtook Carson, and the party, once more re- 
 united, advanced rapidly towards the Colorado 
 River, his men working with a heartiness and 
 cheerfulness, resulting from a consciousness of 
 their misconduct at Los Angeles, which, but for 
 the prudent discretion of Young and Carson, 
 might have residted disastrously to all concerned. 
 
62 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 In nine days they were ready to commence 
 trapping on the Colorado, and in a short time 
 added here to the large stock of furs they had 
 brought from California. 
 
 Here while left in charge of the camp, with 
 only a few men, Carson found himself suddenly 
 confronted by several hundred Indians. They 
 entered the camp with the utmost assiirance, 
 and acted as though they felt the power of 
 -their mimbers. Carson at once suspected that 
 all was not right, and attempting to talk with 
 them, he soon discovered that, with all their 
 sang-froid^ each of them carried his weapons 
 concealed beneath his garments, and immedi- 
 ately ordered them out of camp. Seeing the 
 small number of the white men, the Indians 
 were not inclined to obey, but chose to wait 
 their time and do as they pleased, as they 
 were accustomed to do with the Mexicans. 
 They soon learned that they were dealing with 
 men of different mettle, for Carson was a man 
 not to be trifled with. 
 
 His men stood around him, each with his 
 rifle resting in the hollow of the arm, ready to 
 be dropped to deadly aim on the sign from 
 their young conmiander. Carson addressed the 
 old chief in Spanish (for he had betrayed his 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 63 
 
 knowledge of that language), and warned him 
 that though they were few, they were deter- 
 mined to sell their lives dearly. The Indians 
 awed, it would seem, by the bold and defiant 
 language of Carson, and finding that any 
 plunder they might acquire, would be pur- 
 chased at a heavy sacrifice sullenly vdthdrew, 
 and left the party to pursue their journey un- 
 molested. 
 
 Any appearance of fear would have cost the 
 lives of Carson and probably of the whole 
 party, but the Indian warriors were too chary 
 of their lives to rush into death's door unpro- 
 voked, even for the sake of the rich plunder 
 they might hope to secure. Carson's cool 
 bravery saved the trappers and all their effects ; 
 and this first command in an Indian engage- 
 ment is but a picture of his conduct in a hun- 
 dred others, when the battles were with weap- 
 ons other than the tongue. The intention of the 
 Indians had been to drive away the animals, first 
 causing a stampede, when they would become 
 lawful plunder, but they dared not undertake it. 
 
 The wily craftiness of the Indians induced 
 the necessity for constant vigilance against them, 
 and in the school this youth had been in all 
 his life, he had shown himself an apt scholar. 
 
64 LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 
 
 CHAPTER VIIl. 
 
 "While on the Colorado, Young's party dis- 
 covered a company of Indians (witli whom 
 they had had a previous skirmish), as they were 
 coming out from Los Angeles, and charging 
 suddenly among them, succeeded in taking a 
 large herd of cattle from them in the Indians' 
 own style. The same week an Indian party 
 came past their camp in the night, with a drove 
 of a hundred horses, evidently just stolen from 
 a Mexican town in Sonora. The trappers, with 
 their guns for their pillows, were ready in an 
 instant for the onslaught, and captured these 
 horses also, the Indians hurrying away for fear 
 of the deadly rifle. The next day they selected 
 such as they wanted from the herd, choosing of 
 course the finest, and turning the rest loose, to 
 be taken again by the Indians, or to become 
 the wild mustangs that roamed the plains of 
 Northern Mexico, in droves of tens of thou- 
 sands, and which could be captured and tamed 
 only by the use of the lasso. 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 65 
 
 Mr. Young and his party trapped down the 
 Oolorado and up the Gila with success, then 
 crossed to the vicinity of the New Mexican 
 copper mines, where they left their furs and 
 went to Santa Fe'. Having procured their 
 license to trade with the Indians about the cop- 
 per mines, they returned thither for their furs, 
 went back to Santa Fe* and disposed of them to 
 great advantage. The party disbanded with 
 several hundred dollars apiece, which most of 
 them expended as sailors do their earnings 
 when they come into port. Of course Carson 
 was hail fellow well met with them for a time. 
 He had not hitherto taken the lesson that all 
 have to learn, viz., that the ways of pleasure 
 are deceitful paths ; and to resist temptation 
 needs a large amount of courage — larger per- 
 haps than to encounter any physical danger ; 
 at least the moral courage it requires is of a 
 higher tone than the physical courage which 
 would carry one through a fight with a grizzly 
 bear triumphantly ; that the latter assists the 
 former ; indeed that the highest moral courage 
 must be aided by physical bravery, but that the 
 latter may exist entirely independently of the 
 former. 
 
 Carson learned during this season of hilarity 
 5 
 
66 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 the necessity of saying ]^o ! and he did so per- 
 sistently, knowing that if he failed in this he 
 would be lost to himself and to everything dear 
 in life. He was now twenty-one, and though 
 the terrible ordeal of poverty had been nobly 
 borne, and he had conquered, the latter ordeal 
 of temptation from the sudden possession of 
 what was to him a large sum of money, had 
 proved, for once, too much. And it is well for 
 him perhaps it was so ; as it enabled him to 
 sow his vsdld oats in early youth. 
 
 It is not improbable that some of this party 
 belonged to the class of Canadians called covr 
 r&wrs des hois, whose habits Mr. Irving thus 
 describes in his Astoria : 
 
 " A new and anomalous class of men gradu- 
 ally grew out of this trade. These were called 
 courewrs des hois, rangers of the woods ; orig- 
 inally men who had accompanied the Indians in 
 their hunting expeditions, and made themselves 
 acquainted with remote tracts and tribes ; and 
 who now became, as it were, pedlers of the wil- 
 derness. These men would set out from Mont- 
 real with canoes well stocked with goods, with 
 arms and ammunition, and would make their 
 way up the mazy and wandering rivers that in- 
 terlace the vast forests of the Canadas, coasting 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 67 
 
 the most remote lakes, and creating new wants 
 and habitudes among the natives. Sometimes 
 they sojourned for months among them, assimi- 
 latmg to their tastes and habits with the happy 
 facility of Frenchmen ; adopting in some degree 
 the Indian dress, and not unfrequently taking 
 to themselves Indian wives. 
 
 " Twelve, fifteen, eighteen months would often 
 elapse without any tidings of them, when they 
 would come sweeping their way down the Ot- 
 tawa in full glee, their canoes laden down with 
 packs of beaver skins. Now came their turn 
 for revelry and extravagance. ' You would be 
 amazed,' says an old writer already quoted, 
 ' if you saw how lewd these pedlers are when 
 they return; how they feast and game, and 
 how prodigal they are, not only in their clothes, 
 but upon their sweethearts. Such of them as 
 are married have the wisdom to retire to their 
 own houses ; but the bachelors do just as an 
 East Indiaman and pirates are wont to do ; for 
 they lavish, eat, drink, and play all away as 
 long as the goods hold out ; and when these 
 are gone, they even sell their embroidery, their 
 lace, and their clothes. This done, they ai'e 
 forced upon a new voyage for subsistence.'" 
 
 Many of these cowreurs des hois became so 
 
68 LIS'E OP KIT CARSON. 
 
 accustomed to the Indian mode of living, and 
 the perfect freedom of the wilderness, that they 
 lost all relish for civilization, and identified 
 themselves vdth the savages among vrhom they 
 dwelt, or could only be distinguished from them 
 by superior licentiousness. 
 
 In the autumn Carson joined another trapping 
 party under Mr. Fitzpatrick, whom we shall 
 have frequent occasion to mention hereafter. 
 They proceeded up the Platte and Sweet 
 Water past Goose Creek to the Salmon River, 
 where they wintered, like other parties, sharing 
 the good will of the Nez Perces Indians, and 
 having the vexations of the Blackfeet for a 
 constant fear. Mr. Fitzpatrick, less daring than 
 Carson, declined sending him to punish this tribe 
 for their depredations. 
 
 In the spring they came to Bear River, which 
 flows from the north to Salt Lake. Carson and 
 four men left Mr. Fitzpatrick here, and went 
 ten days to find Captain Gaunt in the place called 
 the New Park, on the head waters of the Arkan- 
 sas, where they spent the trapping season, and 
 wintered. While the party were wintering in 
 camp, being robbed of some of their horses by 
 a band of sixty Crow Indians, Carson, as usual, 
 was appointed to lead the party sent in pursuit 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 69 
 
 of the plunderers. With only twelve men he 
 took up the trail, came upon the Indians in one 
 of their strongholds, cut loose the animals, which 
 were tied within ten feet of the fort of logs in 
 which the enemy had taken shelter, attacked 
 them, killed five of their warriors, and made 
 good his retreat with the recovered horses ; an 
 Indian of another tribe who was with the trap- 
 pers bringing away a Crow scalp as a trophy.* 
 
 In the spring, while trapping on the Platte 
 River, two men belonging to the party deserted 
 and robbed a cache, or underground deposit of 
 furs, which had been made by Captain Gaunt in 
 the neighborhood. Carson, with only one com- 
 panion, went off in pursuit of the thieves, who, 
 however, were never heard of afterwards. 
 
 Not finding the plunderers, Carson and his 
 companion remained at the old camp on the 
 Arkansas, where the caclie had been made, until 
 they were relieved by a party sent out from the 
 United States with supplies for Captain Gaunt's 
 trappers. They were soon after joined by a 
 party of Gaunt's men, and started to his camp. 
 On their way they had repeated encounters with 
 Indians attempting to steal their horses, but 
 easily beat them ofE and saved their property. 
 • Cutta. CJonquest of California and New Mexico. 
 
70 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 On one occasion when Carson and the other trap 
 pers were out in search of bea/ver sign, they came 
 suddenly upon a band of sixty warriors well 
 armed and mounted. In the presence of such 
 a force their only safety was in flight. Amid 
 a shower of bullets from the Indian rifles, they 
 made good their escape. Carson considered this 
 one of his narrowest escapes. 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 71 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Ik the spring of 1832, Mr. Gaunt's party had 
 been unsuccessful, and were now upon a stream 
 where there was no beaver, therefore Carson 
 announced his intention of hunting on his own 
 account. Two of his companions joined him, 
 and the three for the whole season pursued 
 their work successfully, high up in the moun- 
 tain streams, while the Indians were down in 
 the plains hunting buffalo ; and taking their 
 fur to Taos, disposed of them at a remunera- 
 tive price. While the two former spent their 
 money in the usual way, Carson saved his hard 
 earnings which his companions were so reck- 
 lessly throwing away. This self -discipline, and 
 schooling himself to virtue and temperance, was 
 not without effort on the part of Kit Carson, 
 for he loved the good will and kindly civilities 
 of his companions ; but he knew also that he 
 could not have his cake and eat it too, and 
 chose to save his money and his strength for 
 future use. 
 
72 LIFE OP KIT CAllSON. 
 
 While remaining at Taos, Captain Lee, for- 
 merly of the United States army, now a part- 
 ner of Bent and St. Vrain, at Bent's Fort, 
 invited Carson to join an expedition which 
 he was arranging. Carson accepted his 
 offer, starting in October. Going northward 
 they came up with a party of twenty traders 
 and trappers, upon a branch of the Green 
 River, and all entered winter quarters here to- 
 gether. 
 
 Mr. Robideau had in his employ a Califor- 
 nian Indian, very skilful in the chase — ^whether 
 for game or for human prey — very courageous, 
 and able to endui-e the greatest hardships and 
 whose conduct hitherto had won the confidence 
 of all. This Indian had left clandestinely, tak- 
 ing with him six of Mr. Robideau's most valu- 
 able horses, which were worth at least twelve 
 hundred dollars. Mr. Robideau, determined to 
 recover them if possible, solicited Carson to 
 pursue and overtake the Indian. Kit asked his 
 employer, Mr Lee's, permission to serve Mr. 
 Robideau, which was readily granted, when he 
 at once prepared himself for hard riding and 
 sturdy resistance. 
 
 From a Utah village near he obtained an in- 
 telligent and brave young warrior to join him — 
 
LIFE OF KIT CAHSON. 73 
 
 for Carson's reputation for courage, skill, and 
 efficiency, were known to the tribes, and many 
 of its braves were attacked to him, and after- 
 wards proved that they cherished a lasting 
 friendship for him. 
 
 For a time the blindness of the trail com- 
 pelled them to go slowly, but once sure of its 
 direction, they pursued it with the utmost speed 
 down Green River, Carson concluding the In- 
 dian was directing his course toward California. 
 When they had gone a hundred miles on their 
 way, the Indian's horse was suddenly taken sick. 
 The Indian would not consent to continue the 
 pursuit, as Carson suggested, on foot, and he 
 therefore determined to go on alone, and put- 
 ting spurs to his horse resolved not to return 
 until he had succeeded in recovering Mr. Robi- 
 deau's property. With practised eye ever upon 
 the trail, he revolved in his mind the expert 
 skill he might need to exercise in encountering 
 the wily savage. This desperate expedition 
 Carson had boldly entered into, not with rash- 
 ness, but he had accepted it as an occasion that 
 demanded the hazard. At the distance of 
 thirty miles from where he left his Utah com- 
 panion, he discovered the object of his chase. 
 The Indian too had discovered him, and to pre- 
 
74 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 pare himself for the attack, turned to seek a 
 shelter whence he might fire and reload with- 
 out exposure to the shot from Carson's rifle — 
 which he had unslung when first he discovered 
 the Indian. 
 
 With his horse at full speed at the moment 
 the Indian reached his cover, Carson fired with 
 aim so true that the Indian gave one bound 
 and fell dead beside his horse, while his gun 
 went ofE at the same instant. No further par- 
 ticulars of description or speculation can add 
 to the interest of this picture. We leave it to 
 the imagination of the reader, as an illustra- 
 tion of the daring and fidelity of Kit Carson. 
 Collecting the horses, he soon had the pleasure, 
 after a few minor difficulties of presenting to 
 Mr. Robideau the six animals he had lost, in 
 as good condition as when they were stolen, 
 and of announcing to him the fact that there 
 lived one less rogue. 
 
 Soon after Carson's return to camp some 
 trappers brought them news that Messrs. Fitz- 
 patrick and Bridger were camped fifteen miles 
 from them. Captain Lee and Carson at once 
 concluded that to them they might sell their 
 goods. They started for their camp and were 
 as successful as they had hoped, for they sold 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 75 
 
 their whole stock of goods to this party, and 
 took their pay in furs. Their contract being 
 now completed, Carson joined Mr. Fitzpatrick 
 again in a trapping expedition, but did not 
 remain long with him, because the party was 
 too large to make it pay, or even to work har- 
 moniously together. With three men whom 
 he chose from the many who wished to join 
 him, Carson again commenced trapping on his 
 own account. They trapped all summer on 
 the Laramie, with unusual success. It was 
 while Carson was out on this trap that he had 
 the adventure with the grizzly bears,* which 
 he considered the most perilous that he ever 
 passed through. He had gone out from the 
 camp on foot to shoot game for supper, and 
 had just brought down an elk, when two griz- 
 zly bears came suddenly upon him. His rifle 
 being empty, there was no way of escape from 
 instant death but to run with his utmost speed 
 for the nearest tree. He reached a sapling 
 with the bears just at his heels. Cutting off 
 a limb of the tree with his knife, he used that 
 as his only weapon of defense. When the 
 bears climbed so as nearly to reach him, he 
 gave them smart raps on the nose, which sent 
 
 •Peters. 
 
76 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 them away growling ; but when the pain ceased 
 thej would return again only to have the raps 
 repeated. In this way nearly the whole night 
 was spent, when finally the bears became dis- 
 couraged, and retired from the contest. Wait- 
 ing until they were well out of sight, Carson 
 descended from his unenviable position, and 
 made the best of his way into camp, which he 
 reached about daylight. The elk had been 
 devoured by wolves before it could be found, 
 and his three companions were only too glad to 
 see him, to be troubled about breakfasting on 
 beaver, as they had supped the night before ; 
 for trappers in camp engaged in their busi- 
 ness had this resort for food when all others 
 failed. 
 
 Laramie River flows into the North Platte, 
 upon the south side. The country through 
 which it flows is open, yet the stream is bor- 
 dered with a variety of shrubbery, and in many 
 spots the Cottonwood grows luxuriantly, and for 
 this reason the locality is favorable for the 
 grizzly bear. 
 
 Baird says of this bear : " While the black 
 bear is the bear of the forest, the grizzly is the 
 bear of the chapparal, the latter choosing an 
 open country, whether plain or mountain, whose 
 
LlFfi OF KIT CAbSON. Y? 
 
 surface is covered with dense thickets of man- 
 zanita or shrub oak, which furnish hiin with his 
 favorite food, and clumps of service bushes," and 
 low cheiTy ; and whose streams are lined with 
 tangled thickets of low grape vine and wild 
 plumb." The grizzly is not so good at climb- 
 ing as the black bear, and can best manage by 
 resting upon his haunches and mounting with 
 his fore arms upon the bushes that he cannot 
 pull over, to gather the berries, of which he is 
 very fond, 
 
 " Only in a condition of hunger will he attack 
 a man unprovoked, but when he does, the 
 energy with which he fights, prevents the Indians 
 from seeking the sport of a hunt for the grizzly 
 bear. He is monarch of the plain, with only 
 their opposition, and has departed only before 
 the rifle of the white hunter. An Indian, who 
 would, alone, undertake to conquer a dozen 
 braves of another tribe, would shrink from at- 
 tacking a grizzly bear ; and to have killed one, 
 furnishes a story for a lifetime, and gives a 
 reputation that descends to posterity. The 
 mounted hunter can rarely bring his horse to 
 approach him near enough for a shot." 
 
 Soon after his encounter with the bears, Car- 
 son and his men were rejoiced by the arrival of 
 
78 LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 
 
 Captain Bridger, so long a mountaineer of note, 
 and with him his whole band. Carson and his 
 three companions joined with them and were 
 safe ; and now for the first time he attended the 
 summer rendezvous of trappers on the Green 
 Biver, where they assembled for the disposal of 
 their furs, and the purchase of such outfit as 
 they needed. 
 
 Carson for the Fall hunt joined a company of 
 fifty, and went to the country of the Blackfeet 
 at the head waters of the Missouri ; but the 
 Indians were so numerous, and so determined 
 upon hostility, that a white man could not leave 
 his camp without danger of being shot down ; 
 therefore, quitting the Blackfeet country, they 
 camped on the Big Snake River for winter 
 quarters. 
 
 During the winter months, the Blackfeet had 
 in the night run off eighteen of their horses, 
 and Kit Carson, with eleven men, was sent to 
 recover them, and chastise their temerity. They 
 rode fifty miles through the snow before coming 
 up with the Indians, and instantly made an at- 
 tempt to recover their animals, which were loose 
 and quietly grazing. 
 
 The Indians, wearing snow shoes, had the ad- 
 vantage, and Carson readily granted the parley 
 
LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 79 
 
 they asked. One man from each party advanced, 
 and between the contending ranks had a talk. 
 The Indians informed them that they supposed 
 they had been robbing the Snake Indians, and 
 did not desire to steal from white men. Of 
 course this tale was false, and Carson asked why 
 they did not lay down their anns and ask for a 
 smoke, but to this they had no reply to make. 
 However, both parties laid aside their weapons 
 and prepared for the smoke ; and the lighted 
 calumet was puffed by every one of the savages 
 and the whites alternately, and the head men of 
 the savages made several long non-committal 
 speeches, to which, in reply, the trappers came 
 directly to the point, and said they would hear 
 nothing of conciliation from them until their 
 property was returned. 
 
 After much talk, the Indians brought in five 
 of the poorest horses. The whites at once 
 started for their guns, which the Indians did at 
 the same time, and the fight at once commenced. 
 Carson and a comrade named Markland having 
 seized their rifles first, were at the lead, and se- 
 lected for their mark two Indians who were 
 near each other and behind different trees ; but 
 as Kit was about to fire, he perceived Mark- 
 land's antagonist aiming at him with death-like 
 
80 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 precision, while Markland had not noticed him, 
 and on the instant, neglecting his own adversary, 
 he sent a bullet through the heai't of the other 
 savage, but at the moment saw that his own 
 enemy's rifle was aimed at his breast. He was 
 not quite quick enough to dodge the ball, and 
 it struck the side of his neck, and passed through 
 his shoulder, shattering the bone. 
 
 Carson was thenceforward only a spectator 
 of the fight, which continued until night, when 
 both parties retired from the field of battle and 
 went into camp. 
 
 Carson's wound was very painful, and bled 
 freely, till the cold checked the flow of blood. 
 They dared not light a fire, and in the cold and 
 darkness, Carson uttered not a word of com- 
 plaint, nor did even a groan escape him. His 
 companions were earnest in their sympathy but 
 he was too brave to need it, or to allow his 
 wound to influence the course they should pur- 
 sue. In a council of war which they held, it 
 was decided that, as they had slain several In- 
 dians, and had themselves only one wounded, 
 they had best return to camp, as they were in 
 unfit condition to continue the pursuit. Arriv- 
 ing at camp, another council was held, at which 
 it was decided to send thirty men under Captain 
 
I 
 
 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 81 
 
 Bridger, to pursue and chastise these Blackfeet 
 
 thieves. This party followed the Indian trail 
 
 several days, but finally returned, concluding it 
 
 was useless to search further, as they had failed 
 
 to overtake them. 
 6 
 
82 LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The Spring hunt opened on the Green River, 
 and continuing there a while, the party went 
 to the Big Snake ; and after trapping with ex- 
 traordinary success for a few weeks, returned to 
 the Summer rendezvous, held again upon the 
 Grreen River. Meantime Carson had recovered 
 from his wound. 
 
 An unusually large number of trappers and 
 traders, with great numbers from the neighbor- 
 ing Indian tribes, assembled at this rendezvous, 
 made up of Canadians, Frenchmen, Dutchmen, 
 Spaniards, and many a backwoodsman, who 
 had lived upon the borders, perhaps, for three 
 generations, removing when a neighbor came 
 within ten miles, because nea/r neighbors were a 
 nuisance to him. Let us see the parties as they 
 come in, the leader, or the one to whom fitness 
 accords this position, having selected the spot 
 for the camp, so remote from every other, as to 
 have plenty of grass about it for the animals 
 of the party. Perhaps a tent is spread, at least, 
 everything is put in proper order, according to 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 83 
 
 the notions and the tastes of the men who make 
 lip the party ; for the camp is the home of its 
 members, and here they will receive visitors, 
 and exchange courtesies. 
 
 The party or parties that have made the 
 special arrangements for the rendezvous — ^tra- 
 ders with a full supply of goods — have spread 
 a large tent in a central spot of the general 
 encampment, where the whole company, save 
 those detained at each camp in charge of the 
 animals belonging to it, will assemble, at cer- 
 tain hours each day, the time upon which the 
 sales are announced to take place, and the ex- 
 changes commence. 
 
 The several parties arriving first, have been 
 obKged to wait until all expected for the sea- 
 son have arrived, because there is a feeling of 
 honor as well as a care for competition, that 
 compels the custom. The traders take furs or 
 money for their goods, which bring prices that 
 seem fabulous to those unaccustomed to the 
 sight or stories of mountain life. The charge, 
 of course, is made upon the ground of the ex- 
 pense and risk of bringing goods eight hundred 
 and a thousand miles into the wilderness, from 
 the nearest points in western Missouri and St. 
 Louis. 
 
84 LIFE OP KIT CARSON. 
 
 Irving opens his Astoria with the following : 
 " Two leading objects of commercial gain have 
 given birth to wide daring and enterprise in 
 the early history of the Americas : the precious 
 metals of the South and the rich peltries of the 
 North." When he wrote this, it was true of 
 the localities he named — the gold was not yet 
 an attraction, except in the south, and only the 
 British Fur Company in Canada had become an 
 object of history in this branch of trade. He 
 says, " While the fiery and magnificent Spaniard 
 influenced with the mania for gold, has extended 
 his discoveries and conquestsover those brilliant 
 countries, scorched by the ardent sun of the 
 tropics, the adroit Frenchman, and the cool 
 and calculating Briton, have pursued the less 
 splendid, but no less lucrative, traffic in furs, 
 amidst the hyperborean regions of the Canadas, 
 until they advanced even within the Arctic 
 Circle. 
 
 " These two pursuits have thus, in a manner 
 been the pioneers and precursors of civilization. 
 Without pausing on the borders, they have 
 penetrated at once, in defiance of difficulties and 
 dangers, to the heart of savage countries ; laying 
 open the, hidden secrets of the wilderness ; lead- 
 ing the way to remote regions of beauty and 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 85 
 
 fertility, tliat miglit have remained unexplored 
 for ages, and beckoning after tliem the slow 
 and pausing steps of agriculture and civilization. 
 It was the fur trade, in fact, that gave early- 
 sustenance and vitality to the great Canadian 
 provinces. 
 
 "Being destitute of the precious metals, 
 they were for a long time neglected by the 
 parent country. The French adventurers, how- 
 ever, who had settled on the banks of the St. 
 Lawrence, soon found that in the rich peltries 
 of the interior, they had sources of wealth that 
 might almost rival the mines of Mexico and 
 Peru. The Indians, as yet unacquainted with 
 the artificial value given to some descriptions 
 of furs, in civilized life, brought quantities of 
 the most precious kinds and bartered them 
 away for European trinkets and cheap commod- 
 ities. Immense profits were thus made by the 
 early traders, and the traffic was pursued with 
 avidity. 
 
 " As the valuable furs became scarce in the 
 neighborhood of the settlements, the Indians 
 of the vicinity were stimulated to take a wider 
 range in their hunting expeditions ; they were 
 generally accompanied on these expeditions by 
 some of the traders or their dependants, who 
 
86 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 shared in the toils and perils of the chase, and at 
 the same time, made themselves acquainted with 
 the best hunting grounds, and with the remote 
 tribes whom they encouraged to bring peltries 
 to the settlements. In this way the trade aug- 
 mented, and was drawn from remote quarters 
 to Montreal. Every now and then a large 
 body of Ottawas, Hurons, and other tribes who 
 hunted the countries bordering on the great 
 lakes, would come down in a squadron of light 
 canoes, laden vnth beaver skins and other spoils 
 of the year's hunting. The canoes would be 
 unladen, taken on shore, and their contents dis- 
 posed in order. A camp of birch bark would 
 be pitched outside of the town, and a kind of 
 primitive fair opened with that grave cere- 
 monial so dear to the Indians. 
 
 " Now would ensue a brisk traffic with the 
 merchants, and all Montreal would be alive 
 with naked Indians, running from shop to 
 shop, bargaining for arms, kettles, knives, axes, 
 blankets, bright-colored cloths, and other 
 articles of use or fancy ; upon all which, the 
 merchants were sure to clear two hundred per 
 cent. 
 
 " Their wants and caprices being supplied, 
 they would take leave, strike their tents, launch 
 
LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 87 
 
 their canoes, and ply their way up the Ottawa 
 to the lakes." 
 
 Later, the French traders, cowrm/rs des hois, 
 penetrated the remote forests, carrying such 
 goods as the Indians required, and held rendez- 
 vous among them, on a smaller scale, but similar 
 to the one Carson had attended, so far as the 
 Indian trade was concerned. But the Yankee 
 element of character preponderated among the 
 traders and trappers from the States ; besides 
 the greater difficulty and expense necessarily 
 incurred to reach the hunting grounds by land 
 than in canoe, called into the work only men of 
 energy and higher skill than the employees, 
 mostly French, in the service of the Hudson 
 Bay Fur Company, and a score of smaller par- 
 ties, each owning no authority outside itself, 
 adopted the plan of these summer encampments, 
 during the season when the fur of the beaver 
 and the otter was not good, as an arrangement 
 for mutual convenience ; and the Indians of 
 this more southern section availed themselves of 
 the occasion, for their own pleasure and profit, 
 and to the advantage and satisfaction of the 
 traders, whose prices ruled high in proportion 
 to the difficulty of transit, as well as the mono- 
 poly in their hands of the articles deemed 
 
88 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 necessar}'' to the trapper's dress, culinary estab- 
 listment, and outfit. These consisted of a 
 woolen shirt, a sash or belt, and with some 
 stockings, coffee, and black pepper, and salt, 
 unless he could supply himself from the licks 
 the buffalo visits ; with tin kettle, and cup, and 
 frying pan; the accouterments of the horse, 
 saddle and pack-saddle, bridle, spurs, and horse- 
 shoes ; with material for bait ; and last, but not 
 least, tobacco, which, if he did not use, he car- 
 ried to give to the Indians — ^made up not only 
 the necessaries, but the luxuries, which the 
 Indian and the white man indulged in, and for 
 which, at such times, they paid their money or 
 their furs. 
 
 Perhaps the trapper took an Indian wife, 
 and then she must be made fine with dress, 
 denoting the dignity of her position as wife of 
 a white man, and presents must be given to 
 the friends of his bride. This was usually an 
 expensive luxury, but indulged in most fre- 
 quently by the French and Canadian trappers, 
 many of whom are now living quietly upon 
 their farms in Oregon and California, and the 
 numerous valleys of the West. Indeed we 
 might give the names of many a mountain 
 ranger, and pioneer of note, first a trapper, who 
 
LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 89 
 
 still lives surrounded by his Indian wife and 
 their children, and finds himself thus connected 
 with this people, having their utmost confidence, 
 chosen the chief of his tribe, and able to care 
 for them as no one not in such association 
 could. 
 
 At almost any point upon Green River the 
 grass upon the bottom lands is sufficient for a 
 night's encampment for a small party ; but at 
 the place selected for the rendezvous, in the 
 space of two or three miles upon either side of 
 the river, the bottom spreads out in a broad 
 prairie, and the luxuriant growth of grass, with 
 the country open all about it, made the spot 
 desirable for a large encampment. 
 
&0 LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Early in tlie summer the grass is green, but 
 later it is hay made naturally, root and branch 
 dried on the ground — there is no sod — and this, 
 though less agreeable, is more nutritious for the 
 animals than fresh grass, 
 
 A scattered growth of fine old trees furnishes 
 shade at every camp, and immediately about 
 the great tent they afPord protection from the 
 sun to parties of card-players, or a "Grocery 
 stand," at which the principal article of sale is 
 " whisky by the glass ; " and perhaps, further 
 on is a monte table, parties from several Indian 
 tribes, and the pioneer of semi-ci\dlization — the 
 backwoodsman — has come in " with his traps," 
 a few bags of flour, and possibly some cheese 
 and butter, and the never failing cask of whis- 
 ky. Perhaps his wagon is the grocery stand, 
 to which we have just alluded. Without ex- 
 tenuation, these encampments were grand occa- 
 sions of which a few descriptions may be found 
 written at the time by men of science and in- 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 91 
 
 tellectual culture, like Sir "Wm, Stewart, who 
 traveled upon these plains for pleasure, or the 
 Rev. Samuel Parker, who happened at a Green 
 River rendezvous, in 1835, while on his way to 
 the CohimLia River, under the auspices of the 
 American Board of Commissioners for Foreign 
 Missions. This was long before Brigham Young 
 came West — before his scheme of religious 
 colonization had its birth. 
 
 There is now — has been for years — a trading 
 post, where a Canadian Frenchman and an 
 American partner with Indian wives, have pro- 
 vided entertainment or furnished supplies to 
 emigrants and Indians. It is near the Green 
 River crossing, on the road from the South Pass 
 to great Salt Lake City, via Fort Bridger. 
 
 Amid the motley company it might be ex- 
 pected that quarrels would arise, and disorderly 
 conduct, grovring out of the feuds among the 
 tribes of Indians. These were kept in abey- 
 ance as much as possible, and already Carson's 
 popularity with them enabled him to act the 
 part of peacemaker between them and the 
 quarrelsome whites, as well as between each 
 other, for many of them recognized him as the 
 brave who had led excursions, whose success 
 they had felt and suffered, and even though 
 
92 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 leader of victorious parties against themselves, 
 they admired his prowess still ; for the party of 
 Blackfeet came to the rendezvous under the 
 protection of the white flag, and for the time, 
 no one more truly buried the hatchet than Car- 
 son, though just recovered from a wound given 
 by a party of that tribe, which had nearly cost 
 him his life, and of which we have written in a 
 previous chapter. 
 
 There was belonging to one of the trapping 
 parties a Frenchman by the name of Shuman, 
 known at the rendezvous as " the big bully of 
 the mountains," exceedingly annoying on ac- 
 count of his boasts and taunts, a constant exciter 
 of tumult and disorder, especially among the 
 Indians. Bad enough at any time, with the 
 means now for intoxication, he was even more 
 dangerous. 
 
 The habits of the mountaineers, without law 
 save such as the exigency of the moment de 
 manded, required a firm, steady hand to rule 
 Carson had feared the results of this man's laW' 
 lessness, and had often desired to be rid of him, 
 but he had not as yet found the proper oppor 
 tunity. The mischiefs he committed grew worse 
 and worse, and yet for the sake of peace they 
 were borne unresistingly 4.t length an op- 
 
LIFE OP KIT CARSON. 93 
 
 portunity offered to try his courage. One day 
 Shuman, boasting of his exploits, was partic- 
 ularly insolent and insulting towards all Amer- 
 icans, whom he described as only fit to be 
 whipped with switches. Carson was in the 
 crowd, and immediately stepped forward, say- 
 ing, " I am an American, the most inconsiderable 
 one among them, but if you wish to die, I will 
 accept your challenge." 
 
 Shuman defied him. He was sitting upon 
 his horse, with his loaded rifle in his hand. 
 Carson leaped upon his horse with a loaded pis- 
 tol, and both rushed into close combat. Tbey 
 fired, almost at the same moment, but Carson an 
 instant before his boasting antagonist. Their 
 horses' heads touched, Shuman's ball just graz- 
 ing Carson's cheek, near the left eye, and cut- 
 ting off some locks of his hair. Carson's ball 
 entered Shuman's hand, came out at the wrist, 
 and passed through his arm above the elbow. 
 The bully begged for his life, and it was spared ; 
 and from that time forward, Americans were 
 no more insulted by him. 
 
 If, as in other duels, we were to go back to 
 remoter causes, and find in this too, the defense 
 of woman — a Blackf oot beauty — whom Shuman 
 had determined to abuse, which Carson's in- 
 
94 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 terference only had prevented, for tlie sake of 
 truth, of honor, and virtue, as against insolence, 
 falsehood, and treachery, although the girl did 
 belong to a tribe that was treacherous ; we shall 
 be but giving a point to the story that it needs 
 for completeness, and show Carson in the ex- 
 alted manliness and fidelity of his character. 
 
 The trappers made arrangements at the ren- 
 dezvous for the fall hunt ; and the party who 
 were so fortunate as to secure Carson's services, 
 went to the Yellowstone River, in the Blackfeet 
 country, but met with no success. Crossing 
 through the Crows' country to the Big Horn 
 River, they met the party of Blackfeet return- 
 ing from Green River. Carson held a parley 
 with them, as was his custom whenever it was 
 safe to go to an Indian camp. He told them he 
 had seen none of their people, and that the 
 tomahawk was buried if they were faithful to 
 him. " But," said he, " the Crows are my 
 friends, and while I am with them, they must be 
 yours." 
 
 On the Big Horn, too, their success was no 
 better, and Carson did not meet his Crow 
 friends. On the Big Snake, too, which they 
 next visited, the result was the same. 
 
 They here met a party from the Hudson 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 95 
 
 Bay Company, led by a Mr. McCoy. Carson 
 and five of his companions accepted the oit'er 
 he made them, and went with him to the Hum- 
 boldt River, trapping with little success from its 
 source to the desert where it loses itself, and 
 where the termini of several other large rivers 
 are all within a day's ride, according to the 
 statement of residents at this point. Captain 
 McCoy said to Carson, as he and two of the 
 company started off upon the desert, 
 
 " Do not be gone longer than to-morrow 
 night, and if you strike a stream where there 
 is beaver — there must be water between here 
 and those snow mountains — we will trap a few 
 days longer." 
 
 On they rode over the artemisia plain till 
 the lake was out of view from an eminence 
 which Carson climbed ; then struck a tract of 
 country entirely destitute of every sign of ani- 
 mal or vegetable life, with surface as smooth as 
 the floor for miles in extent, then broken by a 
 ridge a few feet high, like the rim to a lake, 
 whose bottom they had passed, to plunge 
 immediately upon another like it, Math perhaps 
 a white and glistening crystallization spread 
 thinly over it. 
 
 Carson knew he must be upon the celebrated 
 
96 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 Mud Lakes of which he had heard, and of 
 which he had seen miniature specimens further 
 east. Over these lake bottoms of earth, that 
 broken, seemed like mingled sand and ashes, 
 but which bore the tread of their horses, and 
 over which they seemed to fly rather than to 
 step, so fragrant and exhilarating was the at- 
 mosphere, they traveled thirty miles, then 
 struck the artemisia plains again, only there 
 was less of even this worthless production for 
 the next ten miles than he had seen before for 
 a long distance. 
 
 Through a heavy sand the weary horses 
 plod, for they had come forty or fifty miles 
 beneath a burning sun without food and with- 
 out water. On they ride, for rest and refresh- 
 ment to themselves was not to be thought of 
 till they have it for the animals. The river is 
 gained ! a broad, deep current of water, muddy 
 like that of the Platte, supplies the moisture to 
 the trees, whose tops ascend only a few feet 
 above the desert level, and whose trunks rise 
 from green meadows but little above the sur- 
 face of the water. The bottom lands are nar- 
 row, and the abrupt bank descends to the water 
 perpendicularly twenty feet or more, seemingly 
 of clayey earth, so soft, the water constantly 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 97 
 
 wore upon it, and evidently the river channel 
 was settling, as the years advanced. There 
 were no signs of beaver, and, from the nature 
 of the banks, there would be none, unless high 
 up on the stream. 
 7 
 
98 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 CHAPTER XIL 
 
 CAPTAm McCoy had calculated that he would 
 soon find game in the country through which 
 his route lay, and therefore he had turned over 
 to Carson, and the division of the party under 
 his command, nearly all the food which was 
 left, but this was insufficient to give them full 
 meals for more than three days. Their pros- 
 pect was a dreary one indeed, for at the earlier 
 season of coming down the river, they had 
 not half enough to eat, even with the few bea- 
 ver they had taken, to add to the supply, and 
 even this was now denied them. And now, 
 that the reader may understand Carson's posi- 
 tion, we invite him to enjoy with us a few of 
 the incidents passed through, and views ob- 
 served in our passage up this river, which the 
 untraveled eastern man would find so entirely 
 new, and the man of travel and of letters would 
 find so full of interest, as did the man whose 
 name the river bears, for it was named by Fre- 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 99 
 
 mont, after Carson, whom lie had learned to 
 love and respect, long before he reached it. 
 We shall speak especially of the features of 
 this country, common to so much that lies be- 
 tween the civilizations of the Atlantic and the 
 Pacific slopes, though the latter was not a civili- 
 zation ; and when from the desert Carson gazed 
 with admiration at the snow mountains, he 
 surmised, as he afterwards realized through 
 hunger, cold, danger, and suffering, that this 
 was the chain of mountains whicb separated 
 him from California. 
 
 At the station-house, upon the lake, called 
 the sink of the Humboldt, we were told that 
 the Humboldt did not connect vnth this lake 
 except in tbe spring season, after the rains, and 
 that for the last two years it had not been 
 connected even at that time ; and that in the 
 autumn one could pass, between the lake and 
 the limit of the marsh in which th.e river loses 
 itself, upon dry ground ; and that the sinks, 
 or the margins of the lakes or marshes in 
 which the Carson, the Walker, and the Susan 
 Rivers, neither of them less than a hundred 
 miles in length, and some of them several 
 hundred, in the wet season empty or lose 
 themselves, were all within the limit of a 
 
100 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 single day's ride, and in the direct vicinity of 
 tlie desert upon which the reader last saw 
 Carson. 
 / It was the evening of the second of July, 
 during a rain storm, (an unusual occurrence at 
 this season of the year, no traveler having ever 
 reported a similar one so far as we had heard,) 
 that, weary, and wet, and cold, we found our 
 way in the dark to this river in the wilderness. 
 The house of the traders at the sink was made 
 of logs, with two rooms — the logs having been 
 drawn from the mountains, forty miles distant. 
 There was no timber in sight, and nothing that 
 was green except some grass about the lake, 
 which we were told was poison, and on examin- 
 ing, we found it encrusted with a crystallization 
 of potash, left on it by the subsiding water in 
 which the grass had started. 
 
 During the wet season, the water of the lake 
 overflows its banks, and the banks of the river 
 are also overflowed, while the Avater standing 
 upon the surface of the ground is strongly 
 impregnated with potash, not only near the 
 sink, but far up the stream, nearly to its source, 
 the same cause existing, though only in occa- 
 sional spots is it exhibited to the same degree 
 as about the lake. It is not improbable that 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 101 
 
 some immense coal formation might have been 
 consumed here in some remote past age, though 
 that is a matter for more scientific examination 
 than becomes this work. 
 
 But, to leave speculation ; the occupants of 
 the station, whilom trappers in the mountains, 
 furnished barley for our animals, and we might 
 have purchased coffee, or a rusty gun, or bad 
 whisky, but little else, for their regular sup- 
 plies for the emigrants, who were soon expected 
 to arrive, had not yet come in. The parties 
 bound east had passed, and the Mormons, with 
 their herds of cattle for the California markets, 
 had been met beyond the desert. A party of 
 Pah Utah or Piete Indians, a tribe of Diggers, 
 were hanging about the encampment, and pos- 
 sibly had caused the stampede of the Mormon 
 oxen, which one of their herdsmen had reported 
 to us as occurring here. The traders on the 
 plains are charged with conniving at such ex- 
 peditions of the Indians, and of sharing with 
 them the plunder. These traders may not have 
 been privy to anything of the kind, but certain 
 it is they always stood ready to purchase the 
 worn-out stock of the overland emigi-ants, much 
 of which is worthless to cross the desert, after 
 the prior fifteen hundred miles of traveL 
 
102 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 This is made a lucrative business, as will be 
 readily imagined, when the number of animals 
 driven over is taken into consideration, which 
 has amounted to a hundred thousand annually, 
 by this route, during several of the years since 
 the quest for gold. 
 
 The traders said they had twenty-five hun- 
 dred horses and as many oxen, in charge of 
 herdsmen in the mountain valley. Shrewd 
 men they were, one of them with an eye we 
 would not warrant to look out from a kindly 
 soul. 
 
 Miserable Avretches were these Humboldt 
 Diggers, with scarcely a trace of humanity in 
 their composition, for they have not improved 
 since Carson first met them, many years ago. 
 The old chief was delighted with a lump of 
 sugar, which one of our party gave him. He 
 wore a long coat made of rabbit skins, warm 
 and durable, strips of the skin with the hair 
 out being wound around a deerskin thong, and 
 these rolls woven into a garment, but the rest of 
 the party were nearly naked. 
 
 Passing Lassen's meadows where the party 
 lunched at a spring, indicated, as we approached, 
 by a growth of willows, and striking upon 
 the artemisia plain that constitutes the larger 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 103 
 
 portion of tHe river valley, when about fifty 
 miles from tlie station, we left the road by a 
 blind trail, and approached the river, descend- 
 ing to the bottom land by a precipitous bluff 
 thirty feet in height. The mountains ap- 
 proached close on the opposite side of the 
 river, probably a mile distant, and enclosed us 
 in a semicircle, while the bluff was lined with 
 a scattered growth of alders. 
 
 It rained, was raining violently when we 
 halted, and stretching a rope from alder to 
 alder, with a blanket thrown over it, we thus 
 made a tent, and established ourselves cosily 
 to spend here the nation's Sabbath-day, the 4th 
 of July. 
 
 The rain turned into snow towards evening, 
 and covered the mountains to their base, but 
 melting as it fell where we were encamped, and 
 •with, the cooing of the doves which filled the 
 alders, the croaking of the frogs in the marsh 
 next the river, and the patter of the rain upon 
 the bushes, we had other music — nature's deep 
 bass — ^in a constant roaring sound, like that of old 
 ocean at full tide on a sand beach of the open 
 coast of the Pacific ; or like the sound of Niag- 
 ara, heard half a mile away, but there was no 
 discoverable cause. 
 
104 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 Going a mile up and down the river from the 
 camp — ^if there is up and down to a dead river 
 — we still heard the sound, the same in tone 
 and power. Our Wyandotte — a member of the 
 party who had crossed the plains with Col. Fre- 
 mont — suggested that it was " the Humboldt 
 sinking." 
 
 All the day of the 4th of July we rested 
 here, with our animals in clover, amid the snow 
 which reached even to the foot of the moun- 
 tains opposite, and the dirge played for us by 
 the unseen hand. It was a quiet, still sweetly 
 sad day — pleasant in memory, and such an one 
 as we shall never spend again — so far from 
 civilized humanity, and in a place so remote 
 from human footsteps, it seemed a natural 
 wonder which had never been properly examined 
 and explained. 
 
 Sooner than the old trappers anticipated, will 
 the Humboldt be lined with farms, and the 
 little mountain valleys filled vrith grazing herds, 
 and the church spire and the cross upon an un- 
 assuming building in the center of a six-mile- 
 square prairie, indicate the advance of civiliza- 
 tion. Yet, except in the mud-lake localities, 
 there is no tract of country that can well be 
 more unpromising than that about the Hum- 
 
LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 105 
 
 boldt ; and not many years will elapse before 
 science will make plain and palpable that 
 wonder of tlie world, " the sinking of the 
 Humboldt" 
 
106 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Theough the country we have thus briefly 
 described, Carson and his men had trapped, 
 taking some small game, intending to return late 
 in the season when the cold of this high alti- 
 tude, with the sun low, was becoming terribly 
 severe, while the grass was dead, and the birds 
 of passage had all departed. Their prospects 
 were cheerless and unpromising, nor were they 
 at all improved after they left the Humboldt ; 
 for their route lay through an artemisia desert, 
 varied only by an occasional little valley, where 
 springs of water in the early season had induced 
 the growth of grass. 
 
 On reaching Goose Creek, they found it fro- 
 zen, so that there was no possibility of finding 
 even roots, to satisfy their hunger. Though to- 
 day this is the trail of California emigration, with 
 plenty of grass, for a great portion of the way, 
 in its season ; now all was desolate, and inured 
 as they were to hardship, Carson's men had 
 
LIFE OF k!iT CARSON. 107 
 
 never before suffered so mucli from Jjunger, nor 
 did their animals fare mucli better. Captain 
 McCoy had taken with him all not needed by 
 Carson's party, because he could give them food, 
 and it was fortunate for them he had adopted 
 this course. 
 
 The magnificent mountain scenery on the 
 route could scarcely excite admiration or re- 
 mart from this company of hungry, toil-worn 
 men ; even that unique exhibition of nature's 
 improvised ideality, done in stone — ^pyramid 
 circle — with its pagodas, temples, obelisks, and 
 altars, within a curiously wrought rock wall, 
 they only wished were the adohe walls and 
 houses of Fort Hall. However, nothing daunted 
 by the dreary prospect before them, they here 
 bled their horses, and drank the precious 
 draught, well knowing they were taking the wind 
 from the sails upon which they must rely to 
 waft them into port, if they ever reached it. 
 
 The next day, they were meditating the 
 slaughter of one of their horses, when a party 
 of Snake Indians fortunately came in sight. 
 They had been out on the war trail, and re- 
 turning, had little food, but Carson managed to 
 purchase a fat horse, which they killed at once, 
 and thus managed to live luxuriously till they 
 
108 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 reached tlie fort, able now to walk and give the 
 horses the advantage of their diet. 
 
 Epicureans of civilization, when the squeam- 
 ishness of an appetite, perverted by too delicate 
 fare, is invited to such a repast, may rest assured 
 that they know not the satisfaction such fare 
 afforded to Kit Carson and his party. Horse 
 beef was sweeter food to these starving men, 
 than epicures had ever tasted. 
 
 After recruiting for a few days at the fort, 
 and learning that there were large herds of the 
 game, which they gloried most in hunting, the 
 buffalo, near by, Carson and his party started 
 for the stream on which they could be found, 
 and were not long in discovering a large herd 
 of fine fat buffalo. Stretching lines on which 
 to hang the strips, they killed, and dressed, and 
 cut ; and soon had dried all the meat their 
 animals could carry, when they returned to the 
 fort. 
 
 Three days before reaching the fort, a party 
 of Blackfeet Indians were again upon their trail, 
 and watching for their return. 
 
 On the third morning after their arrival. Just 
 as day dawned, two of the Indians came past 
 their camp to the corral of the fort in which 
 their animals were confined, let down the bars 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. lo9 
 
 and drove them all away ; the sentinel, think- 
 ing the Indians were men of his party who had 
 come to relieve his watch, had gone into camp 
 and was soundly sleeping before the animals 
 were missed. By this time the Indians had 
 driven them many miles away, and as a similar 
 ruse had been played upon the people at the 
 fort a few days before, by which all their ani- 
 mals were run off, there was no possibility of 
 giving chase. 
 
 Of course there was now no alternative but 
 to wait the return of Captain McCoy from Walla 
 Walla, which he did in about four weeks, bring- 
 ing animals enough to supply Carson and his 
 party, besides the men at the fort, which had 
 been obtained of the Kiowas, or Kaious Indians, 
 in Oregon. These Indians range between the 
 Cascade and the Rocky Mountains, in what is 
 now the eastern portion of Washington and 
 Oregon Territories, living by the chase, and 
 owning immense herds of horses, of which the 
 ehiei of this tribe owned ten thousand. In this 
 same locality the Indian bands, reported by the 
 parties of trappers in the American Fur Com- 
 pany, had abundance of horses, with which they 
 hunted deer, " ringing or surrounding them, and 
 running them down in a circle." But while an- 
 
110 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 telope, and elk, and deer, as well as beaver, 
 were abundant, their locality was not frequented 
 by the bufPalo, its ranges being further toward 
 the south and west. 
 
 Many suppose that buffalo never existed west 
 of the Rocky Mountains ; but to attempt a cor- 
 rection of this impression with our readers is 
 no longer necessary, as we have seen Carson kill- 
 ing them on the Salmon River, on the Green 
 River, and lastly, in the valley of a stream that 
 flows into the Salmon. 
 
 From Baird's General Repository, published 
 in 1857, we quote: 
 
 "It will perhaps excite surprise that I in- 
 clude the buffalo in the fauna of the Pacific 
 States, as it is common to imagine that the 
 buffalo has always been confined to the Atlantic 
 slopes, because it does not now extend beyond 
 the Rocky Mountains. This is not true. They 
 once abounded on the Pacific." 
 
 This animal has not been found in California 
 nor in Oregon, west of the Cascade Mountains, 
 within the present generation of men, and the 
 limit of its ranges, narrowing every year, is now 
 far this side of the Rocky Mountains. Really 
 a wild animal, incapable of being domesticated, 
 as the country is more and more traversed, he 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. m 
 
 retires — is killed by thousands by tlie hunter — 
 and seems destined, as really as the Indian race, 
 to become extinct. Could either be induced to 
 adopt the modes of life which residence among 
 the races of civilized men requires, their exist- 
 ence might be prolonged perhaps for centuries, 
 but there seems to be no care, on the part of 
 anybody who has the power, to preserve either 
 the Indian or the buffalo as a distinct race of 
 man, and quadruped. 
 
 A writer who reports his trip from California 
 in the summer of '57, by Humboldt Eiver and 
 Fort Laramie, says : 
 
 " I watched for buffalo, expecting to see them 
 in the valleys of the streams, the head-waters 
 of the Platte. But the hundred miles upon the 
 Sweet-water revealed no buffalo; upon the 
 North Platte above Laramie there were none, 
 and on the Fort Kearney we looked in vain for 
 this noble game. If we had been a wagon party, 
 and therefore confined to the road, this would 
 not have surprised us, as the immense emigra- 
 tion to California first, to Salt Lake next, and 
 the United States army following, might be 
 supposed to have driven them away. Then, too. 
 Colonel Sumner had been through, and with a 
 war party of three hundred mounted riflemen, 
 
112 LIFE OP KIT CARSON. 
 
 had followed the Cheyennes from Fort Laramie 
 south to the head-waters of the Arkansas. But 
 we frequently left the road for days together, in 
 pursuit of game and the finer scenery of the im- 
 mediate river valley, or the hills as it happened. 
 
 "Only until three days after passing Fort 
 Kearney, did the glad sight greet us. 
 
 " In the broad bottom — ten miles at least be- 
 tween the hills that shut in the river valley — 
 they were scattered thickly and quietly grazing. 
 
 " In two hours after coming in sight of them, 
 we pitched our camp upon the river bank, and 
 were soon prepared for the hunt. Though ten 
 thousand were in sight, we had not yet ap- 
 proached within half a mile of one, so shy are 
 they, moving oS when we came in sight. 
 
 "The Platte was three-quarters of ,a mile 
 vride where we were camped, and above and 
 below us were nimierous trails running from 
 the river back into the hills. These were like 
 the cow-paths running to a spring in a New 
 England pasture. We camped about three 
 o'clock, and soon after the buffalo upon one 
 side of the stream commenced moving towards 
 the river by these paths, and following each 
 other close to wade across it in a continuous 
 line by half a dozen paths in sight from where 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 113 
 
 we were. These moving lines of huge animals 
 were continued till slumber closed our eyes, at 
 ten o'clock in the evening, and we knew not 
 how much longer. 
 
 " Having no fresh animals, and only one that 
 had not made the distance from the other side 
 the Sierra Nevada within the last fifty days, we 
 could not hunt by the chase. Accordingly, 
 with nicely loaded double barreled rifle, we 
 crept through the under-brush that lined the 
 bank above us, and came near a line of buffalo 
 crossing the river, and choosing our opportunity, 
 as the animal pauses from the brisk trot before 
 plunging into the stream, we were able to take 
 good aim, and soon had lodged a ball in the 
 breast of a fine cow, who with a bound leaped 
 into the water, but was not able to proceed, nor 
 needed the other shot which we lodged in the 
 brain, to float her down the stream. 
 
 " Calling help, we had her dressed directly, 
 and the nicest steaks upon the coals already 
 kindled at the camp, and found them exceed- 
 ingly delicious — of course more so from the fact 
 that we had taken it. Others of the party came 
 in without success ; some had shot at a buffalo, 
 others had got a sight of one, and at two of 
 the crossings the line was broken temporarily 
 
114 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 by an unsuccessful attempt to kill an animal, 
 but without hurting him. Most of us had no 
 practise with this kind of game, though they 
 had killed grouse, and some of them had shot 
 antelope during our journey. But now their 
 guns would not go off, or they shot too high, or 
 could not get near enough. Just at dark, how- 
 ever, the old gentleman came in for help. His 
 French rifle — a gun of Revolutionary times — 
 had done execution, and a big bull was the 
 prize he announced. We invited him to our 
 prepared repast, but ' no ! he would sup to-night 
 upon his own game, he thanked us.' Of course 
 he had the tongue from the animal he killed, 
 nor were the tender-loin and other choice bits 
 bad eating, and taking the tongue ourselves, 
 with the rest of the party, (of ten,) we managed 
 to carry away in the morning nearly all of the 
 cow that we had not already eaten. 
 
 " All night long the bellowing from the other 
 side the river greeted our tired senses. The 
 situation was novel, and really in imagination, 
 quite teiTific. "Would they return across the 
 river and stampede our animals ? We got a 
 little sleep before midnight, but not much later. 
 
 " In the morning the buffalo were indeed re- 
 turning in the style they went, but as we rode 
 
LIFE OP KIT CARSON. 115 
 
 on over their track, the lines were always bro- 
 ken, and the animals scattered before we could 
 approach them, and only once did we come 
 within pistol shot of any of them ; nor did the 
 rest of the party do any better. 
 
 " Of course we might have done it had we 
 made this our business ; but we were hasten- 
 ing from the El Dorado after a four years' ab- 
 sence from our homes. So much for our ex- 
 tmvporized buffalo hunting. In twenty-four 
 hours after striking them, we had passed the 
 buffalo, and saw no more of them. As we esti- 
 mated it, we had seen in that time at least fifty 
 thousand ; we had crossed the trail of fifteen 
 lines of them crossing the river after we left 
 camp this morning." 
 
 We have quoted this to show the way in 
 which travelers — emigrants now — ^meet the 
 buffalo. Sometimes a huge drove of them over- 
 run an emigi-ant party ; but this seldom occurs, 
 nor do parties often see more of them than did 
 the one we have just presented, though usually 
 they see them for a longer time. So much have 
 the times changed since Carson was a trapper. 
 
116 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 With fresh animals, and men well fed and 
 rested, McCoy and Carson and all their party- 
 soon started from Fort Hall, for the rendezvous 
 again upon Green River, where they were de- 
 tained some weeks for the arrival of other par- 
 ties, enjoying as they best might the occasion 
 and preparing for future operations. 
 
 A party of an hundred was here organized, 
 with Mr. Fontenelle and Carson for its leaders, 
 to trap upon the Yellowstone and the head- 
 waters of the Missouri. It was known that 
 they would probably meet the Blackfeet in 
 whose grounds they were going, and it was 
 therefore arranged, that, while fifty were to 
 trap and furnish the food for the party, the 
 remainder should be assigned to guard the 
 camp and cook. There was no disinclination 
 on the part of any to another meeting with the 
 Blackfeet, so often had they troubled members 
 of the party, especially Carson, who, while he 
 could be magnanimous towards an enemy, would 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 117 
 
 not turn aside from his course, if able to cope 
 with him ; and now he was in a company which 
 justly felt itself strong enough to punish the 
 " thieving Blackfeet," as they spoke of them, 
 he was anxious to pay off some old scores. 
 
 They saw nothing, however, of these In- 
 dians ; but afterwards learned that the small- 
 pox had raged terribly among them, and that 
 they had kept themselves retired in mountain 
 valleys, oppressed -with fear and severe disease. 
 
 The winter's encampment was made in this 
 region, and a party of Crow Indians which was 
 with them camped at a little distance, on the 
 same stream. Here they had secured an 
 abundance of meat, and passed the severe 
 weather with a variety of amusements in which 
 the Indians joined them in their lodges, made 
 of buffalo hides. These lodges, very good 
 substitutes for houses, are made in the form of 
 a cone, spread by the means of poles spreading 
 from a common center, where there was a hole 
 at the top for the passage of the smoke. These 
 were often twenty feet in height, and as many 
 feet in diameter where they were pinned to the 
 ground with stakes. In a large village the 
 Indians often had one lodge large enough to 
 hold fifty persons, and within were performed 
 
118 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 their war dances around a fire made in the cen- 
 ter. During the palmy days of the British Fur 
 Company, in a lodge like this, only made, instead, 
 of birch-bark, Irving says the Indians of the 
 north held their " primitive fairs," outside the 
 city of Montreal, where they disposed of their 
 furs. 
 
 There was one drawback upon conviviality 
 for this party, in the extreme difficulty of get- 
 ting food for their animals ; for the food and 
 fuel so abundant for themselves did not suffice 
 for their horses. Snow covered the ground, 
 and the trappers were obliged to gather willow 
 twigs, and strip the bark from cottonwood 
 trees, in order to keep them alive. The inner 
 bark of the cottonwood is eaten by the Indians 
 when reduced to extreme want. Besides, the 
 cold brought the buffalo down upon them in 
 large herds, to share the nourishment they had 
 provided for their horses. 
 
 Spring at length opened, and gladly they again 
 commenced trapping ; first on the Yellowstone, 
 and soon on the head-waters of the Missouri, 
 where they learned that the Blackfeet were 
 recovered from the sickness of last year, which 
 had not been so severe as it was reported, and 
 that they were stiU anxious and in condition for 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. II9 
 
 a fight, and were encamped not far from their 
 present trapping grounds. 
 
 Carson and five men went forward in ad- 
 vance " to reconnoiter," and found the village 
 preparing to remove, having learned of the 
 presence of the trappers. Hurrying back, a 
 party of forty-three was selected fi'om the whole, 
 and they unanimously selected Carson to lead 
 them, and lea\Tng the rest to move on with the 
 baggage, and aid them if it should be necessary 
 when they should come up vdth the Indians, 
 they hastened forward, eager for a battle. 
 
 Carson and his command were not long in 
 overtaking the Indians, and dashing among 
 them, at the first fire killed ten of their braves, 
 but the Indians rallied, and retreated in good 
 order. The white men were in fine spirits, and 
 followed up their first attack with deadly result 
 for three fuU hours, the Indians making scarce 
 any resistance. Now theii' firing became less 
 animated as their ammunition was getting low, 
 and they had to use it with extreme caution. 
 The Indians, suspecting this from the slackness 
 of their fire, rallied, and with a tremendous 
 whoop turned upon their enemies. 
 
 Now Carson and his company could use their 
 small anns, which produced a terrible efEect 
 
120 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 and which enabled them again to drive back 
 the Indians. They rallied yet again, and 
 charged with so much power, and in such num- 
 bers, they forced the trappers to retreat. 
 
 During this engagement, the horse of one of 
 the mountaineers was tilled, and fell with his 
 whole weight upon his rider. Carson saw the 
 condition of the man, with six warriors rushing 
 to take his scalp, and reached the spot in time 
 to save his friend. Leaping from the saddle, he 
 placed himself before his fallen companion, 
 shouting at the same time for his men to rally 
 around him, and with deadly aim from his rifle, 
 shot down the foremost warrior. 
 
 The trappers now rallied about Carson, and 
 the remaining five warriors retired, without 
 the scalp of their fallen foe. Only two of them 
 reached a place of safety ; for the well aimed 
 fire of the trappers leveled them with the earth. 
 
 Carson's horse was loose, and as his comrade 
 was safe, he mounted behind one of his men, 
 and rode back to the ranks, while, by general 
 impulse, the firing upon both sides ceased. 
 His horse was captured and restored to him, 
 but each party, now thoroughly exhausted, 
 seemed to wait for the other to renew the at* 
 tack. 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 121 
 
 While resting in this attitude, the other 
 division of the trappers came in sight, but the 
 Indians, showing no fear, posted themselves 
 among the rocks at some distance from the 
 scene of the last skirmish, and coolly waited 
 for their adversaries. Exhausted ammunition 
 had been the cause of the retreat of Carson and 
 his force, but now with a renewed supply, and 
 an addition of fresh men to the force, they ad- 
 vanced on foot to drive the Indians from their 
 hiding places. The contest was desperate and 
 severe, but powder and ball eventually con- 
 quered, and the Indians, once dislodged, scat- 
 tered in every direction. The trappers consid- 
 ered this a complete victory over the Blackf eet, 
 for a large number of their warriors were 
 killed, and many more were wounded, while 
 they had but three men killed, and a few se- 
 verely wounded. 
 
 Fontenelle and his party now camped at the 
 scene of the engagement, to recruit their men 
 and bury here their dead. Afterward they 
 trapped through the whole Blackfeet country, 
 and with great success ; going where they 
 pleased without fear or molestation. The In- 
 dians kept off their route, evidently having ac- 
 quaintance with Carson and his company 
 
122 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 enough to last tliem their lifetime. With the 
 smallpox and the white man's rifles the war- 
 riors were much reduced, and the tribe which 
 had formerly numbered thirty thousand was 
 already decimated, and a few more blows, like 
 the one dealt by this dauntless band, would 
 suffice to break its spirit, and destroy its power 
 for future evil. 
 
 During the battle with the trappers, the 
 women and children of the Blackfeet village 
 were sent on in advance, and when the engage- 
 ment was over, and the braves returned to them 
 so much reduced in numbers, and without a 
 single scalp, the big lodge that had been erected 
 for the war dance was given up for the wounded, 
 and in hundreds of Indian hearts grew a bit- 
 ter hatred for the white man. 
 
 An express, despatched for the purpose, an- 
 nounced the place of the rendezvous to Fonts- 
 nelle and Carson, who were now on Green 
 Eiver, and with their whole party and a large 
 stock of furs, they at once set out for the place 
 upon Mud River, to find the sales commenced 
 before their arrival, so that in twenty days they 
 were ready to break up camp. 
 
 Carson now organized a party of seven, and 
 proceeded to a trading post called Brown's 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 123 
 
 Hole, where he joined a company of traders to 
 go to the Navajoe Indians. He found this 
 tribe more assimilated to the white man than 
 any Indians he had yet seen, having many fine 
 horses and large flocks of sheep and cattle. 
 They also possessed the art of weaving, and 
 their blankets were in great demand through 
 Mexico, bringing high prices, on account of 
 their great beauty, being woven in flowers with 
 much taste. They were evidently a remnant of 
 the Aztec race. 
 
 They traded here for a large drove of fine 
 mules, which, taken to the fort on the South 
 Platte, realized good prices, when Carson went 
 again to Brown's Hole, a narrow but pretty 
 valley about sixteen miles long, upon the Colo- 
 rado Eiver. 
 
 After many offers for his services from other 
 parties, Carson at length engaged himself for 
 the winter to hunt for the men at this fort, and 
 as the game was abundant in this beautiful 
 valley, and in the canon country further down 
 the Colorado, in its deer, elk, and antelope, re- 
 minding him of his hunts upon the Sacramento, 
 the task was a delightful one to him. 
 
 In the Spring, Carson trapped with Bridger 
 and Owens with passable success, and went to 
 
124 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 the rendezvous upon Wind River, at the head 
 of the Yellowstone, and from thence, with a 
 large part of the trappers at the rendezvous, 
 to the Yellowstone, where they camped in the 
 vicinity for the winter, without seeing their old 
 enemy, the Blackfeet Indians, until midwinter, 
 when they discovered that they were near their 
 principal stronghold. 
 
 A party of forty was selected to give them 
 battle, with Carson, of course, for their captain. 
 They found the Indians already in the field, to 
 the number of several hundred, who made a 
 brave resistance, until night and darkness ad- 
 monished both parties to retire. In the moi-n- 
 ing, when Carson and his men went to the spot 
 whither the Indians had retired, they were not 
 to be found. They had given them a " wide 
 berth," taking their all away with them, even 
 their dead. 
 
 Carson and his command returned to camp, 
 where a council of war decided that as the In- 
 dians would report, at the principal encamp- 
 ment, the terrible loss they had sustained, and 
 others would be sent to renew the fight, it was 
 wise to prepare to act on the defensive, and use 
 eveiy precaution immediately ; and accordingly 
 a sentinel was stationed on a lofty hill near by, 
 
LIFE OP KIT CARSON. l25 
 
 who soon reported that the Indians were upon 
 the move. 
 
 Their plans matured, they at once threw up 
 a breastwork, under Carson's direction, and 
 waited the approach of the Indians, who came 
 in slowly, the first parties waiting for those be- 
 hind. After three days, a full thousand had 
 reached the camp, about half a mile from the 
 breastwork of the trappers. In their war paint 
 — stripes of red across the forehead, and down 
 either cheek — ^with their bows and arrows, 
 tomahawks, and lances, this army of Indians 
 presented a formidable appearance to the small 
 body of trappers who were opposed to them. 
 
 The war dance was enacted in sight and hear- 
 ing of the trappers, and at early dawn the In- 
 dians advanced, having made every preparation 
 for the attack. Carson commanded his men to 
 reserve their fire till the Indians were near 
 enough to have every shot tell ; but seeing the 
 strength of the white men's position, after a 
 few ineffectual shots, the Indians retired, camped 
 a mile from them, and finally separated into two 
 parties, and went away, leaving the trappers to 
 breathe more freely, for, at the best, the en- 
 counter must have been of a desperate char- 
 acter. 
 
126 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 They evidently recognized the leader who 
 had before dealt so severely with them, in the 
 skill with which the defense was arranged, and 
 if the name of Kit Carson was on their lips, 
 they knew him for both bravery and magna- 
 nimity, and had not the courage to offer him 
 battle. 
 
 Another winter gone, saddlery, moccasin- 
 making, lodge-building, to complete the repairs 
 of the summer's wars and the winter's fight, 
 all completed, Carson with fifteen men went, 
 past Fort Hall, again to the Salmon River, and 
 trapped part of the season there and upon Big 
 Snake and Goose Creeks, and selling his furs 
 at Fort Hall, again joined Bridger in another 
 trapping excursion into the BlacHeet country. 
 
 The Blackfeet had molested the traps of an- 
 other party who had arrived there before them 
 and had driven them away. The Indian as- 
 sailants were still near, and Carson led his party 
 against them, taking care to station himself and 
 men in the edge of a thicket, where they kept 
 the savages at bay all day, taking a man from 
 their number with nearly every shot of their 
 well directed rifles. In vain the Indians now 
 attempted to fire the thicket ; it would not burn, 
 and suddenly they retired, forced again to 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 127 
 
 acknowledge defeat at the hands of Kit Carson, 
 the " Monarch of the prairies." 
 
 Carson's party now joined with the others, 
 but concluding that they could not trap suc- 
 cessfully with the annoyance the Indians were 
 likely to give- them, as their force was too small 
 to hope to conquer, they left this part of the 
 country for the north fork of the Missouri. 
 
 Now they were with the friendly Flatheads, 
 one of whose chiefs joined them in the hunt, 
 and went into camp near them, with a party of 
 his braves. This tribe of Indians, like several 
 other tribes which extend along this latitude to 
 the Pacific, have the custom which gives them 
 their name, thus described by Irving, in speak- 
 ing of the Indians upon the Lower Columbia, 
 about its mouth. 
 
 " A most singular custom," he says, " prevails, 
 not only among the Chinooks, but among most 
 of the tribes about this part of the coast, which 
 is the flattening of the forehead. The process 
 by which this deformity is effected, commences 
 immediately after birth. The infant is laid in 
 a wooden trough, by way of cradle. The end 
 on which the head reposes is higher than the 
 rest. A padding is placed on the forehead of 
 the infant, with a piece of bark above it, and is 
 
128 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 pressed down by cords which pass through holes 
 upon the sides of the trough. As the tightening 
 of the padding and the pressure of the head to 
 the board is gradual, the process is said not to 
 be attended with pain. The appearance of the 
 infant, however, while in this state of compres- 
 sion is whimsically hideous, and ' its little black 
 eyes,' we are told, ' being forced out by the 
 tightness of the bandages, resemble those of a 
 mouse choked in a trap.' 
 
 " About a year's pressure is sufficient to pro- 
 duce the desired effect, at the end of which time, 
 the child emerges from its bandages, a complete 
 flathead, and continues so through life. It must 
 be noted, however, that this flattening of the 
 head has something in it of aristocratic signifi- 
 cance, like the crippling of the feet among the 
 Chinese ladies of quality. At any rate, it is the 
 sign of freedom. No slave is permitted to be- 
 stow this deformity upon the head of his chil- 
 dren ; all the slaves^ therefore, are roundheads." 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 129 
 
 CHAPTEE XV. 
 
 In the spring, Kit Carson proposed a differ- 
 ent plan of operations ; lie went to hunt on the 
 streams in the vicinage of his winter's camp with 
 only a single companion. The Utah Indians, 
 into whose country he came, were also friends 
 of Carson, and, unmolested in his business, his 
 efforts were crowned with abundant success. 
 He took his furs to Robideau Fort, and with a 
 party of five went to Grand River, and thence 
 to Brown's Hole on Green River for . the 
 winter. 
 
 In the following spring he went to the Utah 
 country, to the streams that flow into Great 
 Salt Lake on the South, which was rich in furs 
 and of exceeding beauty, with the points of 
 grand old snow mountains ever in sight, around 
 him. 
 
 Prom here he went to the New Fork, and as 
 it was afterward described by a party for Avhom 
 Carson was the guide, we shall not give the 
 description at this point of our narrative. Again 
 
130 LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 
 
 lie trapped among the Utahs, and dispwed of 
 his furs at Eobideau Fort ; but now the prices 
 did not please him. Beaver fur was at a dis- 
 count, and the trade of the trapper becoming 
 unprofitable. 
 
 Baird, in his general report upon mammals, 
 uses the following language, which is appropri- 
 ate in this connection : 
 
 " The beaver once inhabited all of the globe 
 lying in the northern temperate zone ; yet from 
 Europe, China, and all the eastern portion of 
 the United States, it has been entirely extermi- 
 nated, and a war so universal and relentless has 
 been waged upon this defenseless animal, his 
 great intelligence has been so generally opposed 
 by the intelligence of man, it has seemed certain, 
 unless some kind providence should interpose, 
 that the castor, like its congener, the Castorides, 
 would soon be found only in a fossil state. 
 
 "Happily that providence did interpose, 
 through a certain ingenious somebody, who first 
 suggested the use of silk in the place of fur for 
 the covering of hats. The beaver were not yet 
 exterminated from Western America, and now, 
 since they are not " worth killing," in those in- 
 hospitable regions, where there is no encourage- 
 ment for American enterprise or cupidity, we 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 131 
 
 may hope that the beaver will there retain ex- 
 istence, in a home exclusively their own. 
 
 " The price of beaver skins had so much 
 diminished that they were offered to some of 
 the party at twenty-five cents by the bale." 
 
 Carson had pursued the business of trapping 
 for eight years, and his life had been one of un- 
 ceasing toil, of extreme hardship, full of danger, 
 yet withal full of interest. More than this, 
 while the lack of early scientific training had 
 prevented him from making that record of his 
 travels, which would have given the world the 
 benefit of his explorations, he had treasured in 
 his memory the knowledge of localities, of their 
 conditions, and seasons, and advantages, which, 
 in the good time coming, would enable him to 
 associate his labors with another, who possessed 
 the scientific attainments which Carson lacked, 
 and who with Carson's invaluable assistance 
 would come to be known world-wide as a bold 
 explorer, and who, but for Carson's experience, 
 where such experience was a chief requisite to 
 success, might have failed in his first efforts in 
 the grand enterprise entrusted to him. 
 
 Carson knew the general features of the 
 country, its mountains, plains, and rivers, and 
 the minor points of animal and vegetable pro- 
 
132 Llf^ OF Krr CARSON. 
 
 ductions, from the head -waters of the " mon- 
 arch of rivers," to the mouth of the Colorado, 
 and from the southern Arkansas to the Colum- 
 bia, better, perhaps, than any one living, though 
 yet but twenty-five years of age. 
 
 We left Carson at Eobideau Fort, tired of the 
 pursuit of trapping, as soon as it had become 
 unprofitable, and while there, he arranged with 
 three or four other trappers to come down to 
 Bent's Fort. The trip was like others made at 
 this season, through a country where the rifle 
 would supply food for the party, and arriving 
 at Bent's Fort, where his name was already 
 well known, Carson could not long be idle. He 
 engaged himself to Messrs. Bent and St. Vrain, 
 as hunter to the fort, preferring this by far to 
 the idea of seeking employment nearer civilized 
 life. Indeed no situation could have pleased 
 him better, if we may judge from the fact that 
 he continued in it for eight years, and until the 
 connection with his employers was broken by 
 the death of one of the partners. Colonel Bent. 
 
 Governor Bent, since appointed to the office 
 of chief magistrate of New Mexico, by the United 
 States Government, had been kiUed by Mexi- 
 can Indians, and was universally mourned by 
 Americans and Indians wherever he was known. 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. I33 
 
 Mr. St. Vrain, the other partner, was active dur- 
 ing the Mexican war, since the date of which 
 we write, still lives, and is esteemed, as a father, 
 by many an early mountaineer. Carson owed 
 him gratitude for Mndly sympathy and words 
 of counsel, when yet a youth he was com- 
 mencing his mountaia life, and Dr. Peters, the 
 first biogi'apher of Kit Carson, dedicates his book 
 to Colonel St. Vrain, asserting that he was the 
 first to discover and direct Carson's talents to 
 the path in which they were employed. For 
 both of these gentlemanly proprietors, Carson 
 cherished a warm friendship, nor was there ever 
 an unpleasant occurrence between them. 
 
 When game was plenty, he supplied the 
 forty mouths to be filled with ease, but when it 
 was scarce, his task was sometimes difficult, but 
 skill and experience enabled him to triumph 
 over every obstacle. 
 
 It is not strange that with such long experi- 
 ence Carson became the most skilful of hunt- 
 ers, and won the name of the " Nestor of the 
 Rocky Mountains." Among the Indians he had 
 earned the undisputed title of " Monarch of the 
 Prairies." 
 
 But while he killed thousands of elk, deer 
 and antelope, nor disdained the rabbit and the 
 
ISi LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 grouse, and took the wild goose on tlie wing, of 
 all the game of beast or bird, he liked the best 
 to hunt the buffalo, for there was an excite- 
 ment in the chase of that noble animal which 
 aroused his spirits to the highest pitch of ex- 
 citement. 
 
 Assuredly, Christopher Carson's ^'s " a life 
 out of the usual routine, and checkered with 
 adventures which have sorely' tested the cour- 
 age and endurance of this wonderful man." 
 Colonel St. Vrain, in the preface to Peters' Life 
 of Carson, says : 
 
 " Entering upon his life work at the age of 
 seventeen, choosing now to think for himself, 
 nor follow the lead of those who would detain 
 hinli^in a quiet life, while he felt the restless fire 
 ' in his bones,' that forbade his burying his 
 energy in merely mechanical toil, he had yet 
 been directed in his choice, by the fitness for 
 it the pursuits of youth had given, and spurn- 
 ing the humdrum monotony of the shop, gave 
 himself entirely to what would most aid him 
 in attaining the profession he had chosen. We 
 must admire such spirit in a youth, for it augurs 
 well for the energy and will power of the man- 
 hood ; therefore, when the biographer says of 
 Christopher Carson, that the neighbors who 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 135 
 
 laaew him predicted an uncommon life in the 
 child with whom they hunted, and conceded to 
 him positions, as well as privileges, that were 
 not accorded to common men, with his life till 
 thirty-three before us, we feel that he has ful- 
 filled the hope of early promise, with a noble 
 manhood." 
 
 We have followed Carson's pathway, without 
 much of detail, to the localities where he prac- 
 tised the profession he had chosen, until we 
 saw him leave it because it ceased longer to af- 
 ford compensation for his toil, and during as 
 long a period we have written of his quiet pur- 
 suit of the, to him, pleasant, but laborious life 
 of a hunter ; unless we must class the latter 
 eight years with the former, and assume each 
 as a part of the profession he had chosen. 
 
 In all, with perhaps the exception of a few 
 weeks at Santa Fe, when still in his minority, 
 we have found him ever strong to resist the 
 thousand temptations to evil with which his 
 pathway was beset, and which drew other men 
 away. Strong ever in the maintenance of the 
 integrity of his manhood, even when the con- 
 vivial circle and the game had a brief fascination 
 for him, they taught him the lesson which he 
 needed to learn, that only by earnest resistance, 
 
136 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 can evil be overcome ; and thus he was enabled 
 to admonish others against those temptations 
 vrhich had once overcome even his powers of 
 resistance ; and so he learned to school himself 
 to the idea, that good comes ever through the 
 temptation to evil to all those who have the 
 ■courage to extract it. 
 
 We have followed him up and down all the 
 streams of our great central western wilds, and 
 indicated the store of geographic knowledge 
 which he had acquired by hard experience be- 
 fore they were known so far to any one besides ; 
 and then for eight years more we have seen 
 that this knowledge was digested and reviewed 
 in the social circle with other mountain trappers, 
 and beside the lonely mountain river, and 'neath 
 the wild, steep cliff ; or on the grassy bottom, 
 or the barren plain, and in the less sterile places 
 where the sage hen found a covert, and up 
 among the oak openings, and in the gigantic 
 parks, where, as a hunter, he revisited old 
 haunts. 
 
 In all his toilsome and adventurous enter- 
 prises, while he sought to benefit himself, he 
 never turned away, nor failed to lend a helping 
 hand to a needy, suffering brother, or to encour- 
 age one who needed such a lesson, to turn his 
 
LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 137 
 
 yoTitli to the most account ; and if affectionate 
 regard is a recompense for such service, he had 
 his compensation, as he passed along the path 
 he had marked out for himself, not from the 
 white man alone, but from the Indian who 
 everywhere came to look upon Kit Carson as 
 his friend. 
 
 The Comanches, the Arapahoes, the Utahs, 
 and the Cheyennes, besides several smaller 
 tribes, knew him personally in the hunt, and he 
 had sat by their camp fires, and dandled their 
 children, and sung to them the ditty, 
 
 "What makes the lamb love Mary so ? 
 The eager children cry ; 
 Why Mary loves the lamb, you know, 
 And that's the reason why." 
 
 The Indians feared, and reverenced, and 
 loved him, and that this latter may be proved 
 to the reader we relate the following story of 
 private history, nor will it be esteemed out of 
 taste: 
 
 The powerful Sioux had come from the north 
 beyond their usual hunting grounds, and had 
 had skirmishes with several Indian bands, some 
 of whom sent for Carson to the Upper Arkan- 
 sas to come over and help them drive back the 
 
138 LIFE OP KIT CARSON. 
 
 Sioux. As the larder at the fort was full, he 
 consented to go with the war-painted Comanche 
 messengers to a camp of their tribe, united with 
 a band of Arapahoes. They told him the Sioux 
 had a thousand warriors and many rifles, and 
 they feared them, but knew that the " Monarch 
 of the Prairies " could overcome them. Carson 
 sat in council with the chiefs, and finally, in- 
 stead of encouraging them to fight, persuaded 
 them to peace, and acted so successfully the 
 part of mediator, that the Sioux consented to 
 retire from the hunting grounds of the Co- 
 manches when the season was over, and they 
 separated without a collision. 
 
 It was while engaged as hunter for Messrs. 
 Bent and St. Vrain, Carson took to himself an 
 Indian wife, by whom he had a daughter stUl 
 living, and who forms the connecting link be- 
 tween his past hardships and his present great- 
 ness ; for that he is emphatically a great man, 
 the whole civilized world has acknowledged. 
 
 The mother died soon after her birth, and 
 Carson feeling that his rude cabin was scarcely 
 the place to rear his child, determined, when 
 of a suitable age, to take her to St. Louis, and 
 secure for her those advantages of education 
 which circumstances had denied to him; and 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. ]39 
 
 accordingly, when his engagement at the fort 
 had expired, he determined to go to St. Louis 
 for that purpose, embracing on the route the 
 opportunity of visiting the home of his boyhood, 
 which he had not seen for sixteen years. 
 
 Of course he found everything changed. 
 Many of those whom he had known as men 
 and heads of families, were now grown old, 
 while more had died off ; but by those to whom 
 he was made known, he was recognized with a 
 heartiness of welcome which brought tears to 
 his eyes, though his heart was saddened at the 
 changes which time had wrought. His fame 
 had preceded him, and his welcome was there- 
 fore doubly cordial, for he had more than veri- 
 fied the promise of his youth. 
 
 Thence he proceeded to St. Louis, with the 
 intention of placing his daughter at school, but 
 here, to his great amazement, he found himself 
 a lion ; for the advent of such a man in such a 
 city, which had so often rung with his deeds 
 of daring and suffering, could not be permitted 
 to remain among its citizens unknown or unrec- 
 ognized. He was courted and feted, and, 
 though gratified at the attentions showered 
 upon him, found himself so thoroughly out of 
 his element, that he longed to return to more 
 
HQ LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 pleasant and more familiar scenes, his old hunt- 
 ing grounds. 
 
 Having accomplished the object of his visit 
 to St. Louis, in placing his daughter under 
 proper guardianship, he left the city, carrying 
 with him pleasing, because merited remem- 
 brances of the attentions paid to him, and leav- 
 ing behind him impressions of the most favor- 
 able character. 
 
 Soon after he reached St. Louis, he had the 
 good fortune to fall in Avith Lieutenant Fremont, 
 who was there organizing a party for the ex- 
 ploration of the far western country, as yet un- 
 known, and who was anxiously awaiting the 
 arrival of Captain Drips, a well-kno^vn trader 
 and trapper, who had been highly recommended 
 to him as a guide. 
 
 Kit Carson's name and fame were familiar as 
 household words to Fremont, and he gladly 
 availed himself of his proffered services in lieu 
 of those of Captain Drips. It did not take long 
 for two such men as John C. Fremont and Kit 
 Carson to become thoroughly acquainted with 
 each other, and the accidental meeting at St. 
 Louis resulted in the cementing of a friendship 
 which has never been impaired, — ^won as it was 
 on the one part by fidelity, truthfulness, iuteg- 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 141 
 
 rity, and courage, united to vast experience and 
 consummate skill in the prosecution of the duty 
 he had assumed — on the other by every quality 
 which commands honor, regard, esteem, and 
 high personal devotion. 
 
 And now Carson's life has commenced in 
 earnest, for heretofore he has only been fitting 
 himself to live. His name is embodied in the 
 archives of our coimtry's history, and no one 
 has been more ready to accord to him the credit 
 he so well earned, as has he who had the good 
 fortune to secure, at the same time, the services 
 of the most experienced guide of his day, and 
 the devotion of a friend. 
 
 Lieutenant Fremont had instructions to ex- 
 plore and report upon the country lying between 
 the frontiers of Missouri and the South Pass in 
 the Rocky Mountains, on the line of the Kansas 
 and Great Platte Rivers, and with his party, 
 leaving St. Louis on the 22d of May, 1842, 
 by steamboat for Chouteau's Landing on the 
 Missouri, near the mouth of the Kansas, at a 
 point twelve miles beyond at Chouteau's trading 
 post, he encamped there to complete his arrange- 
 ments for this important expedition. 
 
142 LU'E 0^ KIT CARSON. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Fremont was delayed several days at Cliou> 
 teau°8 Landing, by the state of the weather, 
 which prevented the necessary astronomical 
 observations, but finally all his arrangements 
 being completed, and the weather permitting, 
 the party started in the highest spirit, and filled 
 with anticipations of an exciting and adventur- 
 ous journey. 
 
 He had collected in the neighborhood of St. 
 Louis twenty-one men, principally Creole and 
 Canadian voyagews, who had become familiar 
 with prairie life in the service of the fur com- 
 panies in the Indian country. Mr. Charles 
 Preuss, a native of Germany, was his assistant 
 in the topographical part of the survey. L. 
 Maxwell, of Kaskaskia, had been engaged as 
 hunter, and Christopher Carson as guide. 
 
 Mr. Cyprian Chouteau, to whose- kindness, 
 during their stay at his house, all Avere much 
 indebted, accompanied them several miles on 
 their way, until they met an Indian, whom he 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 143 
 
 had engaged to conduct them on the first thirty 
 or forty miles, where he was to consign them 
 to the ocean prairie, which stretched, without 
 interruption, almost to the base of the Rocky 
 Mountains. 
 
 During the journey, it was the customary 
 practise to encamp an hour or two before sun- 
 set, when the carts were disposed so as to form 
 a sort of barricade around a circle some eighty 
 yards in diameter. The tents were pitched, 
 and the horses hobbled and turned loose to 
 graze ; and but a few minutes elapsed before 
 the cooks of the messes, of which there were 
 four, were busily engaged in preparing the 
 evening meal. At nightfall, the horses, mules, 
 and oxen were driven in and picketed — ^that is, 
 secured by a halter, of which one end was tied 
 to a small steel-shod picket, and driven into 
 the ground ; the halter being twenty or thirty 
 feet long, which enabled them to obtain a little 
 food during the night. "When they had 
 reached a part of the country where such a 
 precaution became necessary, the carts being 
 regularly arranged for defending the camp, 
 guard was mounted at eight o'clock, consisting 
 of three men, who were relieved every two 
 hours ; the morning watch being horse guard 
 
144 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 for the day. At daybreak, the camp was 
 roused, the animals turned loose to graze, and 
 breakfast generally over between six and 
 seven o'clock, when they resumed their march, 
 making regularly a halt at noon for one or 
 two hours. Such was usually the order of the 
 day except when accident of country forced 
 a variation, which, however, happened but 
 rarely. 
 
 They reached the ford of the Kansas late in 
 the afternoon of the 14th, where the river was 
 two hundred and thirty yards wide, and com- 
 menced immediately preparations for crossing. 
 The river had been swollen by the late rains, 
 and was sweeping by with an angry current, 
 yellow and turbid as the Missouri. Up to 
 this point, the road traveled was a remarkably 
 fine one, well beaten and level — the usual 
 road of a prairie country. By this route, the 
 ford was one hundred miles from the mouth 
 of the Kansas River, on reaching which several 
 mounted men led the way into the stream, to 
 swim across. The animals were driven in after 
 them, and in a few minutes all had reached 
 the opposite bank in safety, with the exception 
 of the oxen, which swam some distance down 
 the river, and, returning to the right bank, 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 145 
 
 were not got over until the next morning. In 
 the meantime, the carts had been unloaded and 
 dismantled, and an india-rubber boat, which 
 had been brought for the survey of the Platte 
 Eiver, placed in the water. The boat was 
 twenty feet long and five broad, and on it were 
 placed the body and wheels of a cart, with the 
 load belonging to it, and three men with pad- 
 dles. 
 
 The velocity of the current, and the incon- 
 venient freight, rendering it difficult to be 
 managed, Basil Lajeunesse, one of the best 
 swimmers, took in his teeth a line attached to 
 the boat and swam ahead in order to reach a 
 footing as soon as possible, and assist in draw- 
 ing her over. In this manner, six passages 
 had been successfully made, and as many carts 
 with their contents, and a greater portion of the 
 party, deposited on the left bank ; but night 
 was drawing near, and in his great anxiety to 
 complete the crossing before darkness set in, 
 he put on the boat, contrary to the advice of 
 Carson, the last two carts with their loads. 
 The consequence was, the boat was capsized, 
 and everything on board was in a moment 
 floating d6wn stream. They were all, how- 
 ever, eventually recovered, but not without 
 
 lO 
 
14:6 LI^'B OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 great trouble. Carson and Maxwell, who had 
 been in the water nearly all the succeeding day, 
 searching for the lost articles, were taken so 
 ill in consequence of the prolonged exposure, 
 the party was obliged to lie by another day to 
 enable them to reci-uit, for to proceed without 
 them would have been folly. 
 
 The dense timber which sun'ounded their 
 camp, interfering with astronomical observa- 
 tions, and the wet and damaged stores requiring 
 exposure to the sun, the tents were struck 
 early the next day but one after this disaster, 
 and the party moved up the river about seven 
 miles, where they camped upon a handsome 
 open prairie, some twenty feet above the 
 water, and where the fine grass afforded a lux- 
 urious repast to the weary animals. They lay 
 in camp here two days, during which time the 
 men were kept busy in drying the provisions, 
 painting the cart covers, and otherwise com- 
 pleting their equipage, until the afternoon 
 when powder was distributed to them, and 
 they spent some hours in firing at a mark, as 
 they were now fairly in the Indian country, 
 and it began to be time to prepare for the 
 chances of the wilderness. 
 
LIFE OP KIT CARSON. 147 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Leaving the river bottom, the road which 
 was the Oregon trail, past Fort Laiamie, ran 
 along the uplands, over a rolling country, upon 
 which were scattered many boulders of red 
 sandstone, some of them of several tons weight ; 
 and many beautiful plants and flowers enlivened 
 the prairie. The barometer indicated fourteen 
 hundred feet above the level of the sea, and the 
 elevation appeared to have its influence on 
 vegetation. 
 
 The country became more broken, rising still 
 and covered everywhere with fragments of 
 silicious limestone, strewn over the earth like 
 pebbles on the seashore ; especially upon the 
 summits and exposed situations ; and in these 
 places but few plants grew, while in the creek 
 bottoms, and ravines, a great variety of plants 
 flourished. 
 
 For several days they continued their jour- 
 ney, annoyed only by the lack of water, and 
 at length reached the range of the Pawnees 
 
148 LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 
 
 who infested that part of the country, stealing 
 horses from companies on their way to the 
 mountains, and when in sufficient force, openly 
 attacking them, and subjecting them to various 
 insults ; and it was while encamped here, that 
 a regular guard was mounted for the first time, 
 but the night passed over without annoyance. 
 
 Speaking of the constant watchfulness re- 
 quired when in the neighborhood of hostile or 
 thieving Indians, Fremont says, 
 
 " The next morning we had a specimen of 
 the false alarms to which all parties in these 
 wild regions are subject. Proceeding up the 
 valley, objects were seen on the opposite hills, 
 which disappeared before a glass could be 
 brought to bear upon them. A man, who was 
 a short distance in the rear, came spurring up 
 in great haste, shouting, Indians ! Indians ! 
 He had been near enough to see and count 
 them, according to his report, and had made 
 out twenty-seven. I immediately halted ; arms 
 were examined and put in order ; the usual 
 preparations made; and Kit Carson, springing 
 upon one of the hunting horses, crossed the 
 river, and galloped oif into the opposite prairies, 
 to obtain some certain intelligence of their 
 movements. 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 149 
 
 " Mounted on a fine horse, without a saddle, 
 and scouring bareheaded over the prairies, Kit 
 was one of the finest pictures of a horseman I 
 have ever seen. A short time enabled him to 
 discover that the Indian war party of twenty- 
 seven consisted of six elk, who had been gazing 
 curiously at our caravan as it passed by, and 
 were now scampering off at full speed. This 
 was our first alarm, and its excitement broke 
 agreeably on the monotony of the day. At 
 our noon halt, the men were exercised at a 
 target ; and in the evening we pitched our 
 tents at a Pawnee encampment of last July. 
 They had apparently killed buffalo here, as 
 many bones were lying about, and the frames 
 where the hides had been stretched were yet 
 standing." 
 
 Leaving the fork of the " Blue," upon a high 
 dividing ridge, in about twenty-one miles they 
 reached the coast of the Platte, or Nebraska 
 Eiver as it is called, a line of low hills, or the 
 break from the prairie to the river bottom. 
 Cacti here were numerous, and the amorpha, 
 remarkable for its large and luxuriant purple 
 clusters, was in full bloom. From the foot of 
 the coast, two miles across the level bottom, 
 brought them to the shore of the river twenty 
 
150 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 miles below the head of Grrand Island, and 
 more than three hundred f roni the mouth of the 
 Kansas. The elevation of the Platte valley 
 here was about two thousand feet above the 
 level of the sea. 
 
 The next day they met a party of fourteen, 
 who had started sixty days before from Fort 
 Laramie, in barges laden with furs for the 
 American Fur Company, hoping to come down 
 the Platte without difficulty, as they left upon 
 the annual flood, and their boats drew only 
 nine inches of water. But at Scott's bluffs, 
 one hundred and thirty miles below Fort Lar- 
 amie, the river became so broad and shallow, 
 and the current so changeful among the sand- 
 bars, that they abandoned their boats and 
 cached their cargoes, and were making the rest 
 of their journey to St. Louis on foot, each with 
 a pack as large as he could carry. 
 
 In the interchange of news, and the re- 
 newal of old acquaintanceships, they found 
 wherewithal to fill a busy hour. Among them 
 Fremont had found an old companion on the 
 northern prairie, a hardened and hardly served 
 veteran of the mountains, who had been as 
 much hacked and scarred as an old moustache 
 of Napoleon's " old guard." He flourished in 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 151 
 
 tte sobriquet of La Tulipe, and Ms real name no 
 one knew. Finding that lie was going to the 
 States only because his company was bound in 
 that direction, and that he was rather more 
 willing to return with Fremont, he was taken 
 again into his service. 
 
 A few days more of travel, whose monotony 
 was not relieved by any incident worth narrat- 
 ing, brought the party in sight of the buffalo, 
 swanning in immense numbers over the plains, 
 where they had left scarcely a blade of grass 
 standing. "Mr. Preuss," says Fremont, "who 
 was sketching at a little distance in the rear, had 
 at first noted them as large groves of timber. 
 In the sight of such a mass of life, the traveler 
 feels a strange emotion of grandeur. We had 
 heard from a distance a dull and confused mur- 
 muring, and when we came in view of their dark 
 masses, there was not one among us who did not 
 feel his heart beat quicker. It was the early 
 part of the day, when the herds are feeding ; 
 and everywhere they were in motion. Here 
 and there a huge old bull was rolling in the 
 grass, and clouds of dust rose in the air from 
 various parts of the bands, each the scene of 
 some obstinate fight. Indians and buffalo make 
 the poetiy and life of the prairie, and our camp 
 
152 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 was full of tteir exhilaration. In place of the 
 quiet monotony of the march, relieved only by 
 the cracking of the whip, and an ' avance done ! 
 enfant de grace ! ' shouts and songs resounded 
 from every part of the line, and our evening 
 camp was always the commencement of a feast, 
 which terminated only with our departure on 
 the following morning. At any time in the 
 night might be seen pieces of the most delicate 
 meat, roasting en appolas^ on sticks around the 
 fire, and the guard were never without company. 
 With pleasant weather, and no enemy to fear, 
 an abundance of the most excellent meat, and 
 no scarcity of bread or tobacco, they were en- 
 joying the oasis of a voyageur's life." 
 
 ^hree cows were killed on that day, but a 
 serious accident befell Carson in the course of 
 the chase, which had nearly cost him his life. 
 Kit had shot one, and was continuing the chase 
 in the midst of another herd, when his horse 
 fell headlong, but sprang up and joined the fly- 
 ing band. Though considerably hurt, he had 
 the good fortune to break no bones ; and Max- 
 well, who was mounted on a fleet hunter, cap- 
 tured the runaway after a hard chase. He was 
 on the point of shooting him, to avoid the loss 
 of his bridle (a handsomely mounted Spanish 
 
LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 153 
 
 one), when .he found tha,t his horse was able to 
 comei:p with him. 
 
 This mishap, however, did not deter Kit from 
 his favorite pursuit of buft'alo-hunting, for on 
 the following day, notwithstanding his really 
 serious accident, we find him ready and eager 
 for another chase. Fremont in his narrative 
 thus relates the occurrence : — 
 
 " As we were riding quietly along the bank, 
 a grand herd of buffalo, some seven or eight 
 hundred in number, came crowding up from the 
 river, where they had been to drink, and com- 
 menced crossing the plain slowly, eating as they 
 went. The wind was favorable ; the coolness 
 of the morning invited to exercise ; the ground 
 was apparently good, and the distance across 
 the prairie (two or three miles) gave us a fine 
 opportunity to charge them before they could 
 get among the river hills. It was too fine a 
 prospect for a chase to be lost ; and halting for 
 a few moments, the hunters were brought up 
 and saddled, and Kit Carson, Maxwell, and I, 
 started together. They were now somewhat 
 less than half a mile distant, and we rode easily 
 along until within about three hundred yards, 
 when a sudden agitation, a wavering in the 
 band, and a galloping to and fro of some which 
 
154 LIFE OP KIT CARSON. 
 
 were scattered along the skirts, gave us the in- 
 timation that we were discovered. We startea 
 together at a hand gallop, riding steadily abreast 
 of each other, and here the interest of the chase 
 became so engrossingly intense, that we were 
 sensible to nothing else. We were now closing 
 upon them rapidly, and the front of the mass 
 was already in rapid motion for the hills, and 
 in a few seconds the movement had communi- 
 cated itself to the whole herd. 
 
 " A crowd of bulls, as usual, brought up the 
 rear, and every now and then some of them 
 faced about, and then dashed on after the band 
 a short distance, and turned and looked again, 
 as if more than half inclined to stand and fight. 
 In a few moments, however, during which we 
 had been quickening our pace, the rout was 
 universal, and we were going over the ground 
 like a hurricane. When at about thirty yards, 
 we gave the usual shout (the hunter's pas de 
 charge)., and broke into the herd. We entered 
 on the side, the mass giving way in every direc- 
 tion in their heedless course. Many of the bulls, 
 less active and less fleet than the cows, paying 
 no attention to the ground, and occupied solely 
 with the hunter, were precipitated to the earth 
 with great force, rolling over and over with the 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 155 
 
 violence of the shoct, and hardly distinguish- 
 able in the dust. We separated on entering, 
 each singling out his game. 
 
 " My horse was a trained hunter, famous in 
 the west under the name of Proveau, and with 
 his eyes flashing, and the foam flying from his 
 mouth, sprang on after the cow like a tiger. 
 In a few moments he brought me alongside of 
 her, and rising in the stirrups, I fired at the 
 distance of a yard, the ball entering at the ter- 
 mination of the long hair, and passing near the 
 heart. She fell headlong at the report of the 
 gun, and, checking my horse, I looked around 
 for my companions. 
 
 " At a little distance. Kit was on the ground, 
 engaged in tying his horse to the horns of a 
 cow which he was preparing to cut up. Among 
 the scattered bands, at some distance below, I 
 caught a glimpse of Maxwell ; and while I was 
 looking, a light wreath of white smoke curled 
 away from his gun, from which I was too far 
 to hear the report. Nearer, and between me 
 and the hills, towards which they were direct- 
 ing their course, was the body of the herd, and 
 giving my horse the rein, we dashed after them. 
 A thick cloud of dust hung upon their rear, 
 which filled my mouth and eyes, and nearly 
 
156 LIFE OF KIT CARSON, 
 
 smothered me. In the midst of this I could 
 see nothing, and the buffalo were not distin- 
 guishable until within thirty feet. 
 
 " They crowded together more densely still 
 as I came upon them, and rushed along in 
 such a compact body, that I could not obtain 
 an entrance — the horse almost leaping upon 
 them. In a few moments the mass divided to 
 the right and left, the horns clattering with a 
 noise heard above everything else, and my 
 horse darted into the opening. 
 
 " Five or six bulls charged on us as we dashed 
 along the line, but were left far behind ; and 
 singling out a cow, I gave her my fire, but 
 struck too high. She gave a tremendous leap, 
 and scoured on swifter than before. I reined 
 up my horse, and the band swept on like a tor- 
 rent, and left the place quiet and clear. Our 
 chase had led us into dangerous ground. A 
 prairie-dog village, so thickly settled that there- 
 were three or four holes in every twenty yards 
 square, occupied the whole bottom for nearly 
 two miles in length. Looking around, I saw 
 only one of the hunters, nearly out of sight, 
 and the long dark line of our caravan crawling 
 along, three or four miles distant." 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 157 
 
 CHAPTER XVin. 
 
 The encampment of the party on the 4th of 
 July was a few miles from where the road 
 crosses over to the north fork of the Platte, 
 where a grand dinner was prepared, toasts 
 drank, and salutes fired ; and it was here Fre- 
 mont decided to divide his party, wishing, him- 
 self, to explore the south fork of the Platte, as 
 far as St. Vrain's Fort ; and taking with him 
 Maxwell and two others of his men, and the 
 Cheyenne Indians, whose village was upon 
 this river, he left the rest of the party to pro- 
 ceed under the direction of Clement Lambert 
 up the north fork to Fort Laramie, where they 
 were to wait his arrival, as he intended to cross 
 the country between the two forts. 
 
 Buffalo were still plenty upon Fremont's 
 route, and the Indians with him made an un- 
 successful attempt to lasso the leader of a drove 
 of wild horses, which they passed. They met 
 a band of two or three hundred Arapahoe 
 Indians, and were only saved from an attack 
 
158 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 by Maxwell, who secured a timely recognition 
 from the old chief who led the party, which 
 proved to be from a village among whom he 
 had resided as a trader, and whose camp the 
 chief pointed out to them some six miles dis- 
 tant. They had come out to surround a band 
 of buffalo which was feeding across the river, 
 and were making a large circuit to avoid giving 
 them the wind, when they discovered Fre- 
 mont's party, whom they had inistaken for 
 Pawnees. In a few minutes the women came 
 galloping up, astride of their horses, and naked 
 from their knees down, and the hips ap. They 
 followed the men to assist in cutting up and 
 carrying o£E the meat. 
 
 The wind was blowing directly across the 
 river, and the chief having requested Fremont 
 to remain where he then was, to avoid raising 
 the herd, he readily consented, and having un- 
 saddled their horses, they sat down to view the 
 scene. The day had become very hot, the ther- 
 mometer standing at 108°. The Indians com- 
 menced crossing the river, and as soon as they 
 were upon the other side, separated into two 
 bodies. 
 
 Fremont thus describes this exciting hunt, 
 or massacre, as the reader may choose to des- 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 159 
 
 ignate it, and his subsequent visit to the Ara- 
 pahoe village : 
 
 " One party proceeded directly across the 
 prairie, towards the hills, in -an extended line, 
 vi^hile the other went up the river ; and in- 
 stantly, as they had given the wind to the herd, 
 the chase commenced. The buffalo started for 
 the hiUs, but were intercepted and driven back 
 toward the river, broken and running in every 
 direction. The clouds of dust soon covered the 
 whole scene, preventing us from having any but 
 an occasional view. It had a very singular 
 appearance to us at a distance, especially when 
 looking Mdth the glass. 
 
 " We were too far to hear the report of the 
 guns, or any sound, and at eveiy instant, 
 through the clouds of dust, which the sun made 
 luminous, we could see for a moment two or 
 three buffalo dashing along, and close behind 
 them an Indian with his long spear, or other 
 weapon, and instantly again they disappeared. 
 The apparent silence, and the dimly seen figures 
 flitting by with such rapidity, gave it a kind of 
 dreamy effect, and seemed more like a picture 
 than a scene of real life. 
 
 " It had been a large herd when the cerne 
 commenced, probably three or four hundred in 
 
160 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 number ; but though I watched them closely, 
 I did not see one emerge from the fatal cloud 
 where, the work of destruction was going on. 
 After remaining here about an hour, we re- 
 sumed our journey in the direction of the village. 
 
 " Gradually, as we rode on, Indian after In- 
 dian came dropping along, laden with meat ; 
 and by the time we had reached the lodges, the 
 backward road was covered with the returning 
 horsemen. It was a pleasant contrast with the 
 desert road we had been traveling. Several 
 had joined company with us, and one of the 
 chiefs invited us to his lodge. 
 
 " The village consisted of about one hundred 
 and twenty -five lodges, of which twenty were 
 Cheyennes ; the latter pitched a little apart 
 from the Arapahoes. They were disposed in a 
 scattering manner on both sides of a broad, 
 irregular street, about one hundred and fifty 
 feet wide, and running along the river. As we 
 rode along, I remarked near some of the lodges 
 a kind of tripod frame, formed of three slender 
 poles of birch, scraped very clean, to which were 
 affixed the shield and spear, with some other 
 weapons of a chief. All were scrupulously 
 clean, the spear head was burnished bright, and 
 *lae shield white and stainless. It reminded me 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 161 
 
 of the days of feudal chivalry ; and when, as I 
 rode by, I yielded to the passing impulse, and 
 touched one of the spotless shields with the 
 muzzle of my gun, I almost expected a grim 
 warrior to start from the lodge and resent my 
 challenge. 
 
 *' The master of the lodge spread out a robe 
 for me to sit upon, and the squaws set before 
 us a large wooden dish of buffalo meat. He 
 had lit his pipe in the meanwhile, and when it 
 had been passed around, we commenced our 
 dinner while he continued to smoke. Grradu- 
 ally, five or six other chiefs came in, and took 
 their seats in silence. When we had finished 
 our host asked a number of questions relative 
 to the object of our journey, of which I made 
 no concealment ; telling him simply that I had 
 made a visit to see the country, preparatory to 
 the establishment of military posts on the way 
 to the moimtains. 
 
 " Although this was information of the 
 highest interest to them, and by no means 
 calculated to please them, it excited no expres- 
 sion of surprise, and in no way altered the grave 
 courtesy of their demeanor. The others listened 
 and smoked. 1 remarked, that in taking the 
 pipe for the first time, each had turned the stem 
 
 II 
 
162 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 upward, with a rapid glance, as in offering 
 to the Great Spirit, before he put it in his mouth." 
 
 Riding near the river, Fremont and Maxwell 
 had an interview with Jim Beckwith, who had 
 been chief of the Crow Indians, but had left 
 them some time before, and was now residing 
 in this river bottom, with his wife, a Spanish 
 woman from Taos. They also passed a camp 
 of four or five New Englanders, with Indian 
 wives — a party of independent trappers, and 
 reached St. Vrain's Fort on the evening of July 
 10th, where they were hospitably entertained 
 by Mr. St. Yrain, and received from him such 
 needed assistance as he was able to render. 
 Maxwell was at home here, as he had spent the 
 last two or three years between the fort and 
 Taos. 
 
 On the evening of the fifteenth, they arrived 
 at Fort Laramie, a post of the American Fur 
 Company, near the junction of the Laramie 
 Creek with the Platte River, which had quite a 
 military appearance, with its lofty walls white- 
 washed and picketed, and large bastions at the 
 angles. A cluster of lodges belonging to the 
 Sioux Indians was pitched under the walls. He 
 was received with great hospitality by the gen- 
 tleman in charge of the fort, Mr. Boudeau, 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 163 
 
 having letters of introduction to him from the 
 company at St. Louis, and it is hardly necessary 
 to say that he was hospitably received and most 
 kindly treated. He found Carson with the 
 party under his command camped on the bank 
 near the fort, by whom they were most warmly 
 welcomed, and in the enjoyment of a bountiful 
 supper, which coffee and bread converted almost 
 into a luxury, they forgot the toils and suffer- 
 ings of the past ten days. 
 
 The news brought by Mr. Preuss,- who it will 
 be remembered was with Carson's party, was 
 as exciting as it was unpleasant. He had learned 
 that the Sioux, who had been badly disposed, 
 had now broken out into open hostilities, and 
 his informant, a well-known trapper, named 
 Bridger, had been attacked by them, and had 
 only defeated them after serious losses on both 
 sides. United with the Cheyennes and Gros 
 Ventre Indians, they were scouring the country 
 in war parties, declaring war upon every living 
 thing which should pass the Red Buttes / their 
 special hostility being, however, directed 
 against the white men. In fact the country 
 was swarming with hostile Indians, and it was 
 but too evident that any party who should at- 
 tempt to enter upon the forbidden grounds, must 
 
164 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 do SO at the certain hazard of their lives. Of 
 course such intelligence created great emotion 
 throughout the camp, and it formed the sole 
 subject of conversation and discussion during 
 the evenings around the camp fires. 
 
 Speaking of this report, and the effect pro- 
 duced upon his men, Fremont uses the following 
 language : 
 
 " Carson, one of the best and most experi- 
 enced mountaineers, fully supported the opinion 
 given by Bridger of the dangerous state of the 
 country, and openly expressed his conviction 
 that we could not escape without some sharp 
 encounters with the Indians. In addition to 
 this, he made his will ; and among the circum- 
 stances which were constantly occurring to in- 
 crease their alarm, this was the most unfortu- 
 nate ; and I found that a number of my party 
 had become so much intimidated that they 
 had requested to be discharged at this place." 
 
 Carson's apprehensions were fully justified by 
 the circumstances sun-ounding them ; and while 
 we might have omitted the above quotation, as 
 tending to exhibit him in a false light, doubt- 
 less unintentionally, we choose rather to say a 
 few words which will rob the insinuation of its 
 sting. 
 
LIteE OF KIT CARSON. 16S 
 
 While there was reason to expect an en- 
 counter with Indians, in whom it was reported 
 the spirit of revenge was cherished towards 
 the whites, more than ever it had been before, 
 and whom numbers and acquisition of firearms 
 rendered really formidable foes, he felt that the 
 pai'ty with whom he- was now associated, were 
 not the men upon whom he could rely with 
 certainty in an engagement against such terrible 
 odds. In the days of his earlier experiences, 
 the old trappers with him were men who had 
 as little fear as himself, and were also ex- 
 perienced in such little affairs, for such they 
 considered them. Now, except Maxwell, an old 
 associate, and two or three others, the men of 
 the party were half paralyzed with fear at 
 the prospect which this report presented to 
 them ; and it was the knowledge of their fear, 
 which they made no attempt to conceal, which 
 excited in his mind apprehensions for the worst, 
 for he did not choose to guide others into danger 
 recklessly, even if he had no care for him- 
 self. 
 
 Headlong rashness, which some might mis- 
 take for courage, was not a trait of his character ; 
 but the voice of a whole country accords to him 
 cool bravery, presence of mind, and courage to 
 
lerS LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 meet whatever danger forethought could not 
 guard against. 
 
 With a party of men like those he had led 
 several times against the Blackfeet, nothing 
 could have persuaded him to turn back from 
 any enterprise which he had undertaken, from 
 a fear of hostile Indians. Of course he could 
 not state his reason for his apprehensions even 
 to his employer, because it would reflect upon 
 his ability to arrange for such an enterprise, 
 or his courage to conduct it to a successful ter- 
 mination, neither of which he could doubt ; and 
 it is therefore with something of regret we read 
 in an oiRcial report, emanating from one who 
 owed more to Kit Carson, of the fame and 
 reputation so Jiistly earned, than to any other 
 living man, the assei-tion that Carson, stimulated 
 by fear, made his will. The best contradiction 
 which can be afforded is found in the fact that, 
 notwithstanding his a/pprehensions^ he did ac- 
 company the party, discharging with his usual 
 zeal, ability, and fidelity, the duties which de- 
 volved upon him ; and we have yet to learn 
 that Kit Carson ever shrunk from any danger. 
 
 His reputation has, however, outlived this 
 covert insinuation, and we presume that no man 
 on this continent would hesitate to award to 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 167 
 
 Kit Carson the highest attributes of moral and 
 physical courage. 
 
 " During our stay here," says Fremont in con- 
 tinuation, " the men had been engaged in making 
 numerous repairs, arranging pack-saddles, and 
 otherwise preparing for the chances of a rough 
 road and mountain travel, all of which Carson 
 had superintended, urging upon the men that 
 their comfort and their safety required it. All 
 things of this nature being ready, I gathered 
 them around me in the evening, and told them 
 that I had determined to proceed the next day. 
 They were all well armed. I had engaged the 
 services of Mr. Bissonette as interpreter, and 
 had taken, in the circumstances, every possible 
 means to insure our safety. In the rumors we 
 had heard, I believed there was much exaggera- 
 tion, and then they were men accustomed to 
 this kind of life, and to the country ; and that 
 these were the dangers of everyday occurrence, 
 and to be expected in the ordinary course of 
 their service. They had heard of the unsettled 
 condition of the country before leaving St. 
 Louis, and therefore could not make it a reason 
 for breaking their engagements. Still i was 
 unwilling to take with me, on a service of 
 some certain danger, men on whom I could not 
 
168 LIFE OF KR CARSON. 
 
 rely ; and as I had understood that there were 
 among them some who were disposed to cow- 
 ardice, and anxious to return, they had but to 
 come forward at once, and state their desire, 
 and they would be discharged with the amount 
 due to them for the time they had served." To 
 their honor, be it said, there was but one among 
 them who had the face to come forward and 
 avail himself of the permission. I asked him 
 some few questions, in order to expose him to 
 the ridicule of the men, and let him go. The day 
 after our departure, he engaged himself to one 
 of the forts, and set off with a party to the 
 Upper Missoui'i. 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. X69 
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 As our explorers advanced, one of the most 
 prominent features of the country was the 
 abundance of artemisia growing everywhere, 
 on the hills and in the river bottoms, in twisted 
 wiry clumps, filling the air with the odor of 
 mingled camphor and spirits of turpentine, and 
 impeding the progress of the wagons out of the 
 beaten track. 
 
 They met a straggling party of the Indians 
 which had followed the trail of the emigrants, 
 and learned from them that multitudes of 
 grasshoppers had consumed the grass upon the 
 road, so that they had found no game, and 
 were obliged to Mil even their horses, to ward 
 off starvation. Of course danger from these 
 Indians was no longer to be apprehended, 
 though the prospect was a gloomy one, but 
 new coxirage seemed to inspire the party when 
 the necessity of endurance seemed at hand. 
 
 The party now followed Carson's advice, 
 given at Fort Laramie, to disencumber them- 
 
170 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 selves of all unnecessary articles, and accord- 
 ingly ttey left their wagons, concealing them 
 among low shrubbery, after they had taken 
 them to pieces, and made a cache of such other 
 effects as they could leave, among the sand heaps 
 of the river bank, and then set to work to mend 
 and arrange the pack-saddles and packs, the 
 whole of which was superintended by Carson, 
 and to him was now assigned the office of 
 guide, as they had reached a section of the 
 country, with a great part of which long resi- 
 dence had made him familiar. Game was 
 found in great abundance after they reached 
 the river bottom, off the traveled road, both 
 upon the Platte and after they crossed over the 
 divide to the S^eet Water. i 
 
 Speaking of the gorge where the Platte 
 Eiver issues from the Black Hills, changing its 
 character abruptly from a mountain stream to 
 a river of the plain, Fremont says, " I visited 
 this place with my favorite man, Basil Lajeu- 
 nesse ;" and this extraordinary expression, left 
 unexplained, would lead the casual reader to 
 believe or think that Carson had lost the con- 
 fidence of the official leader of the party. 
 
 It has seemed to us, in reading Fremont's 
 narrative of this first expedition to the Rocky 
 
LIFK OF KIT CAESON. 171 
 
 Mountains, that in view of some failures to 
 achieve what was sought, and to avoid what 
 was suffered, Carson's advice, given Avith a 
 larger experience, and with less of impetuosity, 
 than that of the young Huguenot's, would, if 
 followed, have secured different results, both 
 for the comfort of the party, and the benefit 
 of science ; and while those of like tempera- 
 ment were chosen for companions by Lieuten- 
 ant Fremont, it detracts nothing from his rep- 
 utation for scientific analysis and skill, or for 
 high courage, but only gives to Carson the de- 
 served meed of praise to say, his was the hand 
 that steadied the helm, and kept the vessel on 
 her way, at times when, without his judgment, 
 sagacity, and experience, it must have been 
 seriously damaged, if not destroyed ; and with 
 this balance wheel, a part of his machinery, the 
 variety of difficulties that might have defeated 
 the scientific purpose of the expedition, or have 
 made it the last Fremont would desire, or the 
 Government care to have him undertake, were 
 avoided; and no one inquired to know the 
 cause. 
 
 It often happens that the quiet, simpler offi- 
 ces of life become imperative, and first duties, to 
 one who feels that all the qualifications fitting 
 
172 LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 
 
 for more honorable place, are possessed by bim, 
 in mucb larger measure than by tbe occupant of 
 the higher official position, — as men are wont to 
 esteem it — and, as there is no explanation given, 
 nor, by declaration, even the fact stated that 
 this was true now in respect to Christopher 
 Carson, we shall give no reason, further than to 
 say, that the care of finding suitable places for 
 camping, of seeing that the party were all in, 
 and the animals properly cared for, their sad- 
 dles in order, and the fastenings secure ; of find- 
 ing game, and watching to see that the food is 
 properly expended, so that each supply shall 
 last till it can be replenished ; of seeing that the 
 general property of the party is properly guard- 
 ed, and a variety of other matters, which per- 
 tain to the success of an enterprise like this, and 
 without which it must be a failure, could not 
 all be borne by Fremont ; and while he had 
 assigned to each his position in the labor of 
 the camp, the place of general care-taker, which 
 comes not by appointment, fell naturally to the 
 lot of Carson ; and such supervision was cheer- 
 fully performed though it brought no other re- 
 ward than the satisfaction of knowing that the 
 essential elements of success were not neglected. 
 Shall we not then deem him worthy of all 
 
LIFE OF KIT CAESON. I73 
 
 praise for being content to occupy such a posi- 
 tion ? Employed to guide tlie party, he had 
 hoped to share the confidence of its leader, but 
 the latter had already other friends, jealous of 
 his attentions ; he had another hunter, jealous 
 of his own reputation in his profession, and of 
 his knowledge of the country ; then there were 
 two youths in the party, one of whom wished 
 to be amused and both to be instructed ; and in 
 becoming the general providence of the party, 
 which is scarcely thought of, because it seems 
 to come of itself, we find the reason why Fre- 
 mont's first narrative shows Carson so little like 
 the brave, bold hunter we have know,n him 
 hitherto. We allude to two lads, one a son of 
 the Hon. T. H. Benton, who accompanied him 
 out during a portion of his first expedition, and 
 for whom it is evident he made many sacrifices. 
 
 Buffalo were numerous, and they saw many 
 tracks of the grizzly bear among the cherry 
 trees and currant bushes that lined the river 
 banks, while antelope bounded fitfully before 
 them over the plains. 
 
 But the reader is already familiar with this 
 condition of things in the country, because the 
 hero of our story has been here before, and to 
 apply the term explorer here to Fremont, and 
 
1Y4 LIFE OP KIT CARSON. 
 
 to call this an exploring expedition, seems 
 farcical, only as we remember that there had 
 not been yet any written scientific description 
 of this region, so long familiar to the trappers, 
 and to none more than Carson. 
 
 They had now approached the road at what 
 is called the South Pass. The ascent had been 
 so gradual, that, with all the intimate knowl- 
 edge possessed by Carson, who had made this 
 country his home for seventeen years, they 
 were obliged to watch very closely to find the 
 place at which they reached the culminating 
 point. This was between two low hills, rising 
 on either hand fifty or sixty feet. 
 
 Approaching it from the mouth of the 
 Sweet Water, a sandy plain, one hundred and 
 twenty miles long, conducts, by a gradual and 
 regular ascent, to the summit, about seven 
 thousand feet above the sea ; and the traveler, 
 without being reminded of any change by toil- 
 some ascents, suddenly finds himself on the 
 waters which flow to the Pacific Ocean. By 
 the route they had traveled, the distance from 
 Fort Laramie was three hundred and twenty 
 miles, or nine hundred and fifty from the mouth 
 of the Kansas. 
 
 They continued on till they came to a tribu- 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 175 
 
 tary of the Green River, and then followed 
 the stream up to a lake at its source in the 
 mountains, and had here a view of extraordi- 
 nary magnificence and grandeur, beyond what 
 is seen in any part of the Alps, and here, beside 
 the placid lake, they left the mules, intending 
 to ascend the mountains on foot, and measure the 
 altitude of the highest point. 
 
 Fremont had wished to make a circuit of a 
 few miles in the mountains, and visit the sources 
 of the four great streams, the Colorado, the 
 Columbia, the Missouri, and the Platte, but 
 game was scarce, and his men were not accus- 
 tomed to their entirely meat fare, and were dis- 
 contented. 
 
 With fifteen picked men, mounted on the 
 best mules, was commenced the ascent of the 
 mountains, and amid views of most romantic 
 beauty, overlooking deep valleys with lakes 
 nestled in them, surrounded by precipitous 
 ridges, hundreds of feet high, they wound their 
 way up to the summits of the ridges, to descend 
 again, and plod along the valley of a little 
 stream on the other side. 
 
 For two days they continued upon their mules, 
 through this magnificent region, when the peak 
 appeared so near, it was decided to leave the 
 
176 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 mules beside a little lake, and proceed on foot ; 
 and as the day was warm, some of the party left 
 their coats. But at night they had reached the 
 limit of the piney region, when they were ten 
 thousand feet above the waters of the Gulf of 
 Mexico, and still the peak rose far above them, 
 so that they camped without suffering, in a little 
 green ravine, bordered with plants in bloom, 
 and the next morning continued the ascent. 
 Carson had led this day, and succeeded in 
 reaching the summit of a snowy peak, supposed 
 to be the highest, but saw from it the one they 
 had been seeking, towering eight hundred or a 
 thousand feet above him. They now descended 
 ofE the snow and sent back for mules, and food, 
 and blankets, and by a blazing fire all slept 
 soundly until morning. 
 
 Carson had understood that they had now 
 done with the mountains, and by directions had 
 gone at daybreak to the camp, taking with him 
 all but four or five men, who were to remain 
 with Fremont, and take back the mules and in- 
 struments. But after their departure, the pro- 
 gram was changed, and now understanding 
 the topography of the coimtry better, the 
 party left, continued with the mules as far as 
 possible, and then on foot over chasms, leaping 
 
LIFE OF KIT CAE80N. 177 
 
 from point to point of crags, until they came, 
 witli extreme difficulty, in tlie intense cold and 
 rarefied air, to the height of the crest, and 
 Fremont stood alone upon the pinnacle, and 
 able to tell the story of this victory of Science 
 to the world. He had been sick the day before, 
 and Carson could not urge the prosecution of 
 the enterprise, to reach the highest point, when 
 the leader of the expedition was too ill to climb 
 the summit, and therefore had not objected to 
 the arrangement of returning to the camp. 
 
 But we have nothing more to say. The reader 
 of the story, as Fremont tells it, wishes there 
 were evidences of higher magnanimity, which 
 are wanting. Carson finds no fault, seems to 
 notice none. He performed faithfully the duty 
 assigned to him, utters no complaint, but is con- 
 tent in carrying out a subordinate's first obliga 
 tion, that of obeying orders. 
 
 13 
 
178 LI^E OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Fremont succeeded, but not without much 
 danger and suflPering, in reaching the highest 
 peak of the Rocky Mountains, and waved over 
 it his country's flag, in triumph. The return 
 trip to Fort Laramie was not marked by any 
 incident of special note, and Carson's services 
 being no longer reqxiired, he left his commander 
 here, and set out for New Mexico. In 1843, he 
 married a Spanish lady, and his time was occa- 
 sionally employed by Messrs. Bent and St. Vrain, 
 his old and tried friends. 
 
 While thus engaged at Bent's Fort he learned 
 that his old commander and friend had passed 
 two days before, on another exploring expedi- 
 tion, and being naturally anxious to see again 
 one to whom he was so strongly attached, he 
 started on his trail, and after following it for 
 seventy miles, came up with him. The meeting 
 was mutually pleasing, but resulted quite con- 
 trary to Carson's anticipations, for, instead of 
 merely meeting and parting, Fremont, anxious 
 
LIFE OP KIT CARSON. 179 
 
 to regain tlie services of one whose experience, 
 judgment, and courage had been so well tried, 
 persuaded him to join, this second expedition 
 and again we find him launched as guide and 
 hunter. 
 
 Carson was at once despatched to the fort 
 with directions to procure a supply of mules, 
 which the party much needed, and to meet him 
 with the animals at St. Train's Fort. This was 
 accomplished to Fremont's entire satisfaction. 
 The object of this second exploration was to 
 connect the survey of the previous year with 
 those of Commander Wilkes on the Pacific coast, 
 but Fremont's first destination was the Great 
 Salt Lake, which has since become so famous in 
 the annals of our country. 
 
 Fremont's description of this journey, and 
 of his passage across the lake in a frail india- 
 rubber boat, which threatened at every moment 
 destruction to the entire party, is so true to life, 
 and so highly interesting, we quote it entire. 
 The party reached, on the 21st of August, the 
 Bear River, which was the principal tributary 
 of the lake, and from this point we quote Fre- 
 mont's words : 
 
 " We were now entering a region which, for 
 us, possessed a strange and extraordinary in- 
 
180 LIFE OP KIT CAESON. 
 
 terest. We were upon the waters of the fa- 
 mous lake which forms a salient point among 
 the remarkable geographical features of the 
 country, and around which the vague and su- 
 perstitious accounts of the trappers had thrown 
 a delightful obscurity, which we anticipated 
 pleasure in dispelling, but which, in the mean- 
 time, left a crowded field for the exercise of 
 our imagination. 
 
 " In our occasional conversations with the few 
 old hunters who had visited the region, it had 
 been a subject of frequent speculation ; and the 
 wonders which they related were not the less 
 agreeable because they were highly exaggerated 
 and impossible. 
 
 " Hitherto this lake had been seen only by 
 trappers, who were wandering through the 
 country in search of new beaver streams, car- 
 ing very little for geography ; its islands had 
 never been visited ; and none were to be found 
 who had entirely made the circuit of its shores 
 and no instrumental observations, or geograph- 
 ical survey of any description, had ever been 
 made anywhere in the neighboring region. It 
 was generally supposed that it had no visible 
 outlet ; but, among the trappers, including those 
 in my own camp, were many who believed that 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 181 
 
 somewliere on its surface was a teriible whirl- 
 pool, through which its waters found their way 
 to the ocean by some subterranean communica- 
 tion. All these things had been made a fre- 
 quent subject of discussion in our desultory 
 conversations around the fires at night ; and 
 my own mind had become tolerably well filled 
 with their indefinite pictures, and insensibly 
 colored with their romantic descriptions, which, 
 in the pleasure of excitement, I was well dis- 
 posed to believe, and half expected to realize. 
 
 " In about six miles' travel from our encamp- 
 ment, we reached one of the points in our jour- 
 ney to which we had always looked forward 
 with great interest — the famous Beer Springs, 
 which, on account of the effervescing gas and 
 acid taste, had received their name from the 
 voyageurs and trappers of the country, who, in 
 •the midst of their rude and hard lives, are fond 
 ■of finding some fancied resemblance to the lux- 
 uries they rarely have the goo<i forttme to enjoy. 
 
 " Although somewhat disa.ppointed in the ex- 
 pectations which various d escriptions had led 
 me to form of unusual beauity of situation and 
 scenery, I found it altogeti ber a place of very 
 great interest ; and a travel Ler for the first time 
 in a, volcaxiic re^Q^ r^fflaii is in a constant ex- 
 
182 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 citement, and at every step is arrested by some- 
 thing remarkable and new. There is a confu- 
 sion of interesting objects gathered together in 
 a small space. Around the place of encamp- 
 meiit the Beer Springs were numerous ; but, aa 
 far as we could ascertain, were entirely confined 
 to that locality in the bottom. In the bed of 
 the river, in front, for a space of several hundred 
 yards, they were very abundant ; the effervesc- 
 ing gas rising up and agitating the water in 
 countless bubbling columns. In the vicinity 
 round about were numerous springs of an en- 
 tirely different and equally marked mineral 
 character. In a rather picturesque spot, aboiit 
 1,300 yards below our encampment and im- 
 mediately on the river bank, is the most re- 
 markable spring of the place. In an opening 
 on the rock, a white column of scattered water 
 is thrown up, in form like B.jeird'eau, to a vari- 
 able height of about three feet, and, though it 
 is maintained in a constant supply, its greatest 
 height is attained only at regular intervals, ac- 
 cording to the action of the force below. It is 
 accompanied by a subterranean noise, which, 
 together with the motion of the water, makes 
 very much the impression of a steamboat in 
 motion; and, without knovnng that it had been 
 
LIFE OP KIT CARSON. 183 
 
 already previously so called, we gave to it the 
 name of the Steamboat Spring, The rock 
 through which it is forced is slightly raised in 
 a convex manner, and gathered at the opening 
 into an urn-mouthed form, and is evidently 
 formed by continued deposition from the water, 
 and colored bright red by oxide of iron. 
 
 " It is a hot spring, and the water has a pun- 
 gent, disagreeable metallic taste, leaving a burn- 
 ing effect on the tongue. Within perhaps two 
 yards of the jet-d'eau, is a small hole of about 
 an inch in diameter, through which, at regular 
 intervals, escapes a blast of hot air with a light 
 wreath of smoke, accompanied by a regular 
 noise. 
 
 " As they approached the lake, they passed 
 over a country of bold and striking scenery and 
 through several 'gates,' as they called certain 
 narrow valleys. The ' standing rock ' is a huge 
 column, occupying the center of one of these 
 passes. It fell from a height of perhaps 3,000 
 feet, and happened to remain in its present up- 
 right position. 
 
 " At last, on the 6th of September, the ob- 
 ject for which their eyes had long been strain- 
 ing was brought to view. 
 
 "•S^t. 6. — ^This time we reached the butte 
 
184 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 without any difficulty; and, ascending to the 
 summit, immediately at our feet beheld the ob- 
 ject of our anxious search, the waters of the In- 
 land Sea, stretching in still and solitary grand- 
 eur far beyond the limit of our vision. It 
 was one of the great points of the exploration ; 
 and as we looked eagerly over the lake in 
 the first emotions of excited pleasure I am 
 doubtful if the followers of Balboa felt more 
 enthusiasm when, from the heights of the 
 Andes, they saw for the first time the great 
 Western Ocean. It was certainly a magnificent 
 object, and a noble terminus to this part of our 
 expedition; and to travelers so long shut up 
 among mountain ranges, a sudden view over 
 the expanse of silent waters had in it something 
 sublime. Several large islands raised their 
 high rocky heads out of the waves ; but 
 whether or not they were timbered was still 
 left to our imagination, as the distance was too 
 great to determine if the dark hues upon them 
 were woodland or naked rock. During the 
 day the clouds had been gathering black over 
 the mountains to the westward, and while we 
 were looking, a storm burst down with sudden 
 fury upon the lake, and entirely hid the islands 
 from our view. 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. X85 
 
 " On the edge of the stream a favorable spot 
 was selected in a grove, and, felling the timber, 
 we made a strong corral^ or horse-pen, for the 
 animals, and a little fort for the people whc» 
 were to remain. We were now probably in 
 the country of the Utah Indians, though none 
 reside upon the lake. The india-rubber boat 
 was repaired with prepared cloth and gum, and 
 filled with air, in readiness for the next day. 
 
 " The provisions which Carson had brought 
 with him being now exhausted, and our stock 
 reduced to a small quantity of roots, I deter- 
 mined to retain with me only a sufficient num- 
 ber of men for the execution of our design; 
 and accordingly seven were sent back to Fort 
 Hall, under the guidance of Frangois Lajeu- 
 nesse, who, having been for many years a 
 trapper in the country, was an experienced 
 mountaineer. 
 
 " We formed now but a small family. With 
 Mr. Preuss and myself, Carson, Bemier, and 
 Basil Lajeunesse had been selected for the 
 boat expedition — the first ever attempted on 
 this interior sea; and Badau, with Derosier, 
 and Jacob (the colored man), were to be left 
 in charge of the camp. We were favored with 
 most delightful weather. To-night there was 
 
186 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 a brilliant sunset of golden orange and green, 
 which left the western sky clear and beauti- 
 fully pure ; but clouds in the east made me lose 
 an occultation. The summer frogs were singing 
 around us, and the evening was very pleasant, 
 with a temperature of 60° — a night of a more 
 southern autumn. For our supper, we had 
 yampah, the most agreeably flavored of the 
 roots, seasoned by a small fat duck, which had 
 come in the way of Jacob's rifle. Around our 
 fire to-night were many speculations on what 
 to-morrow would bring forth ; and in our busy 
 conjectures we fancied that we should find 
 every one of the large islands a tangled wilder- 
 ness of trees and shrubbery, teeming with game 
 of every description that the neighboring region 
 afforded, and which the foot of a white man or 
 Indian had never violated. Frequently, during 
 the day, clouds had rested on the summits of 
 their lofty mountains, and we believed that we 
 should find clear streams and springs of fresh 
 water ; and we indulged in anticipations of the 
 luxurious repasts with which we were to in- 
 demnify ourselves for past privations. Neither, 
 in our discussions, were the whirlpool and other 
 mysterious dangers forgotten, which Indian and 
 hunters' stories attributed to this unexplored 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 187 
 
 lake. The men had discovered that, instead of 
 being strongly sewed (like that of the preceding 
 year, which had so triumphantly rode the 
 canons of the Upper Great Platte), our present 
 boat was only pasted together in a very insecure 
 manner, the maker having been allowed so little 
 time in the construction that he was obliged to 
 crowd the labor of two months into several 
 days. The insecurity of the boat was sensibly 
 felt by ns ; and mingled with the enthusiasm 
 and excitement that we all felt at the prospect 
 of an undertaking which had never before been 
 accomplished, was a certain impression of dan- 
 ger, sufficient to give a serious character to our 
 conversation. The momentary view which had 
 been had of the lake the day before, its great 
 extent, and rugged islands, dimly seen amidst 
 the dark waters in the obscurity of the sudden 
 storm, were well calculated to heighten the idea 
 of undefined danger with which the lake was 
 generally associated. 
 
 " 8ept. 8. — ^A calm, clear day, with a sun- 
 rise temperature of 41°. In view of our pres- 
 ent enterprise, a part of the equipment of the 
 boat had been made to consist of three air- 
 tight bags, about three feet long, and capable 
 each of containing five gallons. These had been 
 
188 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 filled with water the night before, and were 
 now placed in the boat, with our blankets and 
 instruments, consisting of a sextant, telescope, 
 spy-glass, thermometer, and barometer. 
 
 " In the course of the morning we discovered 
 chat two of the cylinders leaked so much as ta 
 require one man constantly at the bellows, to 
 keep them sufficiently full of air to support the 
 boat. Although we had made a very early 
 start, we loitered so much on the way — stopping 
 every now and then, and floating silently along, 
 to get a shot at a goose or a duck — that it was 
 late in the day when we reached the outlet. 
 The river here divided into several branches, 
 filled with fluvials, and so very shallow that it 
 was with difficulty we could get the boat along, 
 being obliged to get out and wade. We en- 
 camped on a low point among rushes and young 
 willows, where there was a quantity of drift- 
 wood, which served for our fires. The evening 
 was mild and clear ; we made a pleasant bed of 
 the young willows ; and geese and ducks enough 
 had been killed for an abundant supper at 
 night, and for breakfast next morning. The 
 stillness of the night was enlivened by millions 
 of water-fowl. 
 
 " 8^t. 9. — ^The day was clear and calm ; 
 
LIFE OP KIT CARSON. 189 
 
 the thermometer at sunrise at 49°. As is usual 
 with the trappers on the eve of any enterprise, 
 our people had made dreams, and theirs hap- 
 pened to be a bad one — one which always pre- 
 ceded evil — and consequently they looked very 
 *gloomy this morning ; but we hurried through 
 our breakfast, in order to make an early start, 
 and have all the day before us for our adven- 
 ture. The channel in a short distance became 
 so shallow that our navigation was at an end, 
 being merely a sheet of soft mud, with a few 
 inches of water, and sometimes none at all, 
 forming the low-water shore of the lake. All 
 this place was absolutely covered with flocks of 
 screaming plover. We took off our clothes, and, 
 getting overboard, commenced dragging the 
 boat — ^making, by this operation, a very curi- 
 ous trail, and a very disagreeable smell in 
 stirring up the mud, as we sank above the 
 knee at every step. The water here was still 
 fresh, with only an insipid and disagreeable 
 taste, probably derived from the bed of fetid 
 mud. After proceeding in this way about a 
 mile, we came to a small black ridge on the 
 bottom, beyond which the water became sud- 
 denly salt, beginning gradually to deepen, and 
 the bottom was sandy and firm. It was a re- 
 
190 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 markable division, separating the fresh water 
 of the rivers from the briny water of the lake, 
 which was entivelj satv/rated with common salt. 
 Pushing our little vessel across the narrow 
 boundary, ^ve sprang on board, and at length 
 were afloat on the waters of the unknown 
 sea. 
 
 " We did not steer for the mountainous 
 islands, but directed our course towards a 
 lower one, which it had been decided we should 
 first visit, the summit of which was formed 
 like the crater at the upper end of Bear River 
 valley. So long as we could touch the bottom 
 with our paddles, we were very gay ; but grad- 
 ually, as the water deepened, we became more 
 still in our frail batteau of gum cloth distended 
 with air, and with pasted seams. Although 
 the day was very calm, there was a consider- 
 able swell on the lake ; and there were white 
 patches of foam on the surface, which were 
 slowly moving to the southward, indicating the 
 set of a current in that direction, and recalling 
 the recollection of the whirlpool stories. The 
 water continued to deepen as we advanced ; 
 the lake becoming almost transparently clear, 
 of an extremely beautiful bright green color ; 
 and the spray, which was thrown into the boat 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 191 
 
 and over our clothes, was directly converted 
 into a crust of common salt, which covered 
 also our hands and anns. ' Captain,' said Car- 
 son, who for some time had been looking sus- 
 piciously at some whitening appearances out- 
 side the nearest islands, ' what are those yon- 
 der ? — won't you just take a look with the 
 glass ? ' We ceased paddling for a moment, 
 and found them to be the caps of the waves 
 that were beginning to break under the force 
 of a strong breeze that was coming up the 
 lake. The form of the boat seemed to be an 
 admirable one, and it rode on the waves like a 
 water bird ; but at the same time, it was ex- 
 tremely slow in its progress. When we were 
 a little more than half way across the reach, 
 two of the divisions between the cylinders 
 gave way, and it required the constant use of 
 the bellows to keep in a sufficient quantity of 
 air. Tor a long time we scarcely seemed to 
 approach our island, but gradually we worked 
 across the rougher sea of the open channel, into 
 the smoother water under the lee of the isl- 
 and, and began to discover that what we took 
 for a long row of pelicans, ranged on the beach, 
 were only low clift's whitened with salt by the 
 spray of the waves ; and about noon we reached 
 
192 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 the shore, the transparency of the water ena- 
 bling us to see the bottom at a considerable 
 depth. 
 
 "The cliffs and masses of rock along the 
 shore were whitened by an incrustation of salt 
 where the waves dashed up against them ; and 
 the evaporating water, which had been left in 
 holes and hollows on the surface of the rocks, 
 was covered with a crust of salt about one- 
 eighth of an inch in thickness. 
 
 " Carrying with us the barometer and other 
 instruments, in the afternoon we ascended to 
 the highest point of the island — a bare, rocky 
 peak, 800 feet above the lake. Standing on the 
 summit, we enjoyed an extended view of the 
 lake, enclosed in a basin of rugged mountains, 
 which sometimes left marshy flats and extensive 
 bottoms between them and the shore and in 
 other places came directly down into the water 
 with bold and precipitous bluffs. 
 
 "As we looked over the vast expanse of 
 water spread out beneath us, and strained our 
 eyes along the silent shores over which hung 
 so much doubt and uncertainty, and which 
 were so full of interest to us, I could hardly 
 repress the almost irresistible desire to continue 
 our exploration ; but the lengthening snow on 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. I93 
 
 the mountains was a plain indication of the ad- 
 vancing season, and our frail linen boat appeared 
 so insecure that I was unwilling to trust our 
 lives to the uncertainties of the lake. I there- 
 fore unwillingly resolved to terminate our sur- 
 vey here, and remain satisfied for the present 
 with what we had been able to add to the un- 
 known geography of the region. We felt pleas- 
 ure also in remembering that we were the first 
 who, in the traditionary annals of the country, 
 had visited the islands, and broken, with the 
 cheerful sound of human voices, the long soli- 
 tude of the place. 
 
 " I accidentally left on the summit the brass 
 cover to the object end of my spy -glass ; and 
 as it will probably remain there undisturbed 
 by Indians, it will furnish matter of speculation 
 to some future traveler. In our excursions 
 about the island, we did not meet with any kind 
 of animal ; a magpie, and another larger bird, 
 probably attracted by the smoke of our fire, 
 paid us a visit from the shore, and were the 
 only living things seen during our stay. The 
 rock constituting the cliffs along the shore 
 where we were encamped, is a talcous rock, or 
 steatite, with brown spar. 
 
 " At sunset, the temperature was 70**. We 
 13 
 
194 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 had arrived just in time to obtain a meridian 
 altitude of the sun, and other observations were 
 obtained this evening, vphich place our camp in 
 latitude 41° 10' 42", andlongtitudell2° 21' 05" 
 from Greenwich. From a discussion of the 
 barometrical observations made during our stay 
 on the shores of the lake, we have adopted 4,200 
 feet for its elevation above the Gulf of Mexico. 
 In the first disappointment we felt from the dis- 
 sipation of our dream of the fertile islands, I 
 called this Disappointment Island. 
 
 " Out of the driftwood we made ourselves 
 pleasant little lodges, open to the water, and, 
 after having kindled large fires to excite the 
 wonder of any straggling savage on the lake 
 shores, lay down, for the first time in a long 
 journey, in perfect security ; no one thinking 
 about his arms. The evening was extremely 
 bright and pleasant ; but the wind rose during 
 the night, and the waves began to break heavily 
 on the shore, making our island tremble. I 
 had not expected in our inland journey to hear 
 the roar of an ocean surf ; and the strangeness 
 of our situation, and the excitement we felt in 
 the associated interests of the place, made this 
 one of the most interesting nights I remember 
 during our long expedition. 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 195 
 
 " In the morning, the surf was breaking heav- 
 ily on the shore, and we were tip early. The 
 lake was dark and agitated, and we hurried 
 through our scanty breakfast, and embai-ked — 
 having first filled one of the buckets with water 
 from which it was intended to make salt. The 
 sun had risen by the time we were ready to 
 start; and it was blowing a strong gale of wind, 
 almost directly off the shore, and raising a con- 
 siderable sea, in Avhich our boat strained very 
 much. It roughened as we got away from the 
 island, and it required all the efforts of the men 
 to make any head against the wind of the sea ; 
 the gale rising with the sun ; and there was 
 danger of being blown into one of the open 
 reaches beyond the island. At the distance of 
 half a mile from the beach, the depth of 
 water was sixteen feet, with a clay bottom ; but, 
 as the working of the boat was veiy severe labor, 
 and during the operation of sounding, it was 
 necessary to cease paddling, during which the 
 boat lost considerable way, I was unwilling to 
 discourage the men, and reluctantly gave up my 
 intention of ascertaining the depth and character 
 of the bed. There was a general shout in the 
 boat when we found ourselves in one fathom, 
 and we soon after landed on a low point of mud, 
 
196 LIFE OP KIT CARSON. 
 
 where we unloaded the boat, and carried the 
 baggage to firmer ground." 
 
 Roughly evaporated over the fire, the five 
 gallons of water from this lake yielded fourteen 
 pints of very fine-grained and very white salt, 
 of which the whole lake. may be regarded as a 
 saturated solution. 
 
 On the 12th they resumed their journey, re- 
 turning by the same route, and at night had a 
 supper of sea-gulls, which Carson killed near 
 the lake. 
 
 The next day they continued up the river, 
 hunger making them very quiet and peaceable, 
 and there was rarely an oath to be heard in the 
 camp — not even a solitary enfant de ga/rce. It 
 was time for the men with an expected supply 
 of provisions from Fitzpatrick to be in the 
 neighborhood ; and the gun was fired at evening, 
 to , give notice of their locality, but met with 
 no response. 
 
 They killed to-day a fat young horse, pur- 
 chased from the Indians, and were very soon 
 restored to gaiety and good humor. Fremont 
 and Mr. Preuss, not having yet overcome the 
 prejudices of civilization, did not partake, pre- 
 femng to turn in supperless. 
 
 The large number of emigrants constantly 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 197 
 
 encamping here had driven the game into the 
 mountains, so that not an elk or antelope was 
 seen upon the route ; but an antelope was pur- 
 chased from an Indian, for a little powder and 
 some ball, and they encamped early to enjoy an 
 abundant supper; which, while not yet pre- 
 pared, was interrupted by the arrival of a trap- 
 per, who startled and rejoiced all by announc- 
 ing the glad news, that Mr. Fitzpatrick was in 
 camp a little way from them, with a plentiful 
 supply of provisions, flour, rice, dried meat, and 
 even butter. 
 
198 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 CHAPTER XXL 
 
 The difficulty, in view of the approaching 
 winter season, of supporting a large party, de- 
 termined Fremont to send back a number of 
 the men who had become satisfied that they 
 were not fitted for the laborious service and 
 frequent privation to which they were necessa- 
 rily exposed, and which there was reason to 
 believe would become more severe in the 
 further extension of the voyage. They were 
 accordingly called together, and after being 
 fully informed as to the nature of the duties 
 imposed upon them, and the hardships they 
 would have to undergo, eleven of the party 
 consented to abandon Fremont, and return ; but 
 Carson was not one of these. 
 
 Taking leave of the homeward party, they 
 resumed their journey down the valley, the 
 weather being very cold, and the rain coming 
 in hard gusts, which the Avind blew directly in 
 their faces. They forded the Portneuf in a 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON, I99 
 
 storm of rain, the water in the river being fre- 
 quently up to the axles. 
 
 Fremont in his official report thus enumerates 
 some of the difficulties and sufferings the party- 
 had to encounter : 
 
 " September 27. — It was now no longer pos- 
 sible, as in our previous journey, to travel reg- 
 ularly every day, and find at any moment a 
 convenient place for repose at noon, or a camp 
 at night; but the halting places were now 
 generally fixed along the road, by the nature 
 of the country, at places where, with water, 
 there was a little scanty grass. Since leaving 
 the American falls, the road had^ frequently 
 been very bad ; and many short, steep ascents 
 exhausting the strength of our worn-out ani- 
 mals, requiring always at such places the assist- 
 ance of the men to get up each cart, one by 
 one ; and our progress with twelve or fourteen 
 wheeled carriages, though light and made for 
 the purpose, in such a rocky country, was /ex- 
 tremely slow. 
 
 " Carson had met here three or four bufPalo 
 bulls, two of which were killed. They were 
 among the pioneers which had made the exper- 
 iment of colonizing in the valley of the Co- 
 lumbia. 
 
200 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 " Opposite to the encampment, a subterranean 
 river bursts out directly from the face of the 
 escarpment, and falls in white foam to the river 
 below. The main river is enclosed with mural 
 precipices, which form its characteristic feature, 
 along a great portion of its course. A melan- 
 choly and strange-looking country — one of 
 fracture, and violence, and fire. 
 
 " We had brought with us when we sepa 
 rated from the camp a large gaunt ox, in ap- 
 pearance very poor ; but, being killed to-night, 
 to the great joy of the people, he was found to 
 be remarkably fat. As usual at such occur- 
 rences, the evening was devoted to gaiety and 
 feasting; abundant fare now made an epoch 
 among us ; and in this laborious life, in such a 
 country as this, our men had but little else to 
 enjoy." 
 
 On arriving at the ford where the road crosses 
 to the right bank of Snake River, au Indian 
 was hired to conduct them through the ford, 
 which proved impracticable ; the water sweep- 
 ing away the howitzer and nearly drowning the 
 mules. Fortunately they had a resource in a 
 boat, which was filled with air and launched ; 
 and at seven o'clock were safely encamped on 
 the opposite bank, the animals swimming across, 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 201 
 
 and the carriage, howitzer, and baggage of the 
 camp being carried over in the boat. 
 
 It was while at Fort Boise where Fremont 
 first met Mons, Payette, an employee of the Hud- 
 son Bay Co., that he came across the" Fish- 
 eating Indians," a class lower if possible in the 
 scale of humanity than the " Diggers." He says : 
 
 " Many little accounts and scattered histo- 
 ries, together with an acquaintance which I 
 gradually acquired of their modes of life, had 
 left the aboriginal inhabitants of this vast 
 region pictured in my mind as a race of people 
 whose great and constant occupation was the 
 means of procuring a subsistence. 
 
 " While the summer weather and the salmon 
 lasted, they lived contentedly and happily, 
 scattered along the different streams where the 
 fish were to be found ; and as soon as the win- 
 ter snows began to fall, little smokes would be 
 seen rising among the mountains, where they 
 would be found in miserable groups, starving 
 out the winter ; and sometimes, according to the 
 general belief, reduced to the horror of cannibal- 
 ism — the strong, of course, preying on the weak. 
 Certain it is, they are driven to an extremity for 
 food, and eat every insect, and every creeping 
 thing, however loathsom e and repulsi ve. Snails, 
 
202 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 lizards, ants — all are devoured with the read- 
 iness and greediness of mere animals." 
 
 The remainder of the overland journey, until 
 they reached Nez Perce, one of the trading 
 establishments of the Hudson Bay Company, 
 was not marked by any incident bringing Car- 
 son into special notice. 
 
 Having now completed the connection of his 
 explorations with those of Commander Wilkes, 
 and which was the limit of his instructions 
 Fremont commenced preparations for his re 
 turn, Carson being left at the Dalles with direc 
 tions to occupy the people in making pack 
 saddles, and refitting the equipage ; while 
 Fremont continued his journey to the Mission, a 
 few miles down the Columbia River, where he 
 passed a few days in comparative luxury. 
 
 The few days of rest, added to an abundance 
 of wholesome food, had so far recruited the 
 party, that they were soon prepared to encoun- 
 ter and conquer the difficulties of this overland 
 journey in mid- winter. Three principal objects 
 were indicated by Fremont for exploration and 
 research, and which, despite the obstacles which 
 the season must so surely interpose, he had de- 
 termined to visit. 
 
 The first of these points was the Tlcmiath 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 203 
 
 Lake, on the table-land between the head of 
 Fall River, which comes to the Columbia, and 
 the Sacramento, which goes to the bay of San 
 Francisco ; and from which lake a river of the 
 same name makes its way westwardly direct to 
 the ocean. 
 
 From this lake their course was intended to 
 be about southeast, to a reported lake called 
 Mary's, at some days' jom-ney in the Great 
 Basin ; and thence, still on southeast, to the 
 reputed Suena/ventura River, which has had a 
 place in so many maps, and countenanced the 
 belief of the existence of a great river flowing 
 from the Rocky Mountains to the bay of San 
 Francisco. From the Buenaventura, the next 
 point was intended to be in that section of the 
 Rocky Mountains which includes the heads of 
 Arkansas River, and of the opposite waters of 
 the Californian Gulf ; and thence down the 
 Arkansas to Bent's Fort, and home. This was 
 the projected line of return — a great part of it 
 absolutely new to geographical, botanical, and 
 geological science — and the subject of reports 
 in relation to lakes, rivers, deserts, and savages, 
 hardly above the condition of mere wild ani- 
 mals, which inflamed desire to know what this 
 terra incognita really contained. 
 
204 LIFE OF KIT CARSON, 
 
 It was a serious enterprise at the commence- 
 ment of winter to undertake the traverse of 
 such a region, and with a party consisting only 
 of twenty-five persons, and they of many nations 
 —American, French, German, Canadian, Indian, 
 and colored — and most of them young, several 
 being under twenty-one years of age. All 
 knew that a strange country was to be ex- 
 plored, and dangers and hardships to be en- 
 countered ; but no one blenched at the pros- 
 pect. On the contrary, courage and confidence 
 animated the whole party. Cheerfulness, read- 
 iness, subordination, prompt obedience, charac- 
 terized all ; nor did any extremity of peril and 
 privation, to which they were afterwards 
 exposed, ever belie, or derogate from, the fine 
 spirit of this brave and generous commence- 
 ment. 
 
 For the support of the party, he had pro- 
 vided at Vancouver a supply of provisions for 
 not less than three months, consisting princi- 
 pally of flour, peas, and tallow — the latter being 
 used in cooking ; and, in addition to this, they 
 had purchased at the mission some California 
 cattle, which were to be driven on the hoof. 
 They had one hundred and four mules and 
 horses — ^part of the latter procured from the 
 
LIFE OP KIT CARSON. 205 
 
 Indians about the mission ; and for the susten- 
 ance of which, their reliance was upon the grass 
 which might be found, and the soft porous 
 wood, whi :!h was to be substituted when there 
 was no grass. 
 
 Mr. Fitzpatrick, with Mr. Talbot and the 
 remainder of the party, arrived on the 21st; and 
 the camp was now closely engaged in the labor 
 of preparation. Mr. Perkins succeeded in ob- 
 taining as a guide, to the Tlamath Lake, two 
 Indians — one of whom had been there, and bore 
 the marks of several wounds he had received 
 from some of the Indians in the neighborhood. 
 
 Tlamath Lake, however, on examination, 
 proved to be simply a shallow basin, which for 
 a short period of the time of melting snows, 
 is covered with water from the neighboring 
 mountains; but this probably soon runs off, 
 and leaves for the remainder of the year a green 
 savannah, through the midst of which the river 
 Tlamath, which flows to the ocean, winds its 
 way to the outlet on the southwestern side. 
 
 After leaving Tlamath Lake the party headed 
 for Mary's Lake, which, however, after incred- 
 ible sufferings and hardships, they failed to dis- 
 cover, but they found one which was appropri- 
 ately christened " Pyramid Lake," and here the 
 
206 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 record of toils, dangers and sufferings, undergone 
 by the whole party, can only be told in the 
 language of him, who cheerfully toiled and 
 suffered with those under his command, and it 
 is not too much to say, that with the exception 
 of the " Strain expedition," across the Isthmus 
 of Darien, no party of men have ever lived to 
 narrate such sad experiences. We therefore let 
 Fremont, in his own modest way, tell the tale of 
 his own and his companions' sufferings. 
 
LIFE OF KIT CABSON. 207 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. . 
 
 ** January 3, — A fog, so dense that we could 
 not see a hundred yards, covered the country, 
 and the men that were sent out after the horses 
 were bewildered and lost ; and we were conse- 
 quently detained at camp until late in the day. 
 Our situation had now become a serious one. 
 We had reached and run over the position 
 where, according to the best maps in my pos- 
 session, we should have found Mary's Lake or 
 river. We were evidently on the verge of the 
 desert which had been reported to us ; and the 
 appearance of the country was so forbidding, 
 that I was afraid to enter it, and determined 
 to bear away to the southward, keeping close 
 along the mountains, in the full expectation of 
 reaching the Buenaventura River. This morn- 
 ing I put every man in the camp on foot — my- 
 self, of course, among the rest — and in this 
 manner lightened by distribution the loads of 
 the animals. 
 
 " Ja/nua/ry 4. — ^The fog to-day was still more 
 
208 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 dense, and tLe people again were bewildered 
 We traveled a few miles around the M'estern 
 point of the ridge, and encamped where there 
 were a few tufts of grass, but no water. Our 
 animals now were in a very alarming state, and 
 there was increasing anxiety in the camp. 
 
 " January 5. — Same dense fog continued, and 
 one of the mules died in camp this morning. 
 We moved to a place where there was a little 
 better grass, about two miles distant. Taplin, 
 one of our best men, who had gone out on a 
 scouting excursion, ascended a mountain near 
 by, and to his great surprise emerged into a 
 region of bright sunshine, in which the upper 
 parts of the mountain were glowing, while be- 
 low all was obscured in the darkest fog. 
 
 '■'■ January &. — The fog continued the same, 
 and with Mr. Preuss and Carson, I ascended the 
 mountain, to sketch the leading features of the 
 country, as some indication of our future route, 
 while Mr. Fitzpatrick explored the country be- 
 low. In a very short distance we had ascended 
 above the mist, but the view obtained was not 
 very gratifying. The fog had partially cleared 
 off from below when we reached the summit ; 
 and in the southwest comer of a basin communi- 
 cating with that in which we had encamped, 
 
LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 209 
 
 we saw a lofty colunm of smoke, 16 miles dis- 
 tant, indicating the presence of hot springs. 
 There, also, appeared to be the outlet of those 
 draining channels of the country ; and, as such 
 places afforded always more or less grass, I de- 
 termined to steer in that direction. The ridge 
 we had ascended appeared to be composed of 
 fragments of white ■ granite. We saw here 
 traces of sheep and antelope. 
 
 " Entering the neighboring valley, and cross- 
 ing the bed of another lake, after a hard day's 
 travel over ground of yielding mud and sand, 
 we reached the springs, where we found an 
 abundance of grass, which, though only tolera- 
 bly good, made this place, with reference to the 
 past, a refreshing and agreeable spot. 
 
 " This is the most extraordinary locality of 
 hot springs we had met during the journey. 
 The basin of the largest one has a circumference 
 of several hundred feet ; but there is at one ex- 
 tremity a circular space of about fifteen feet in 
 diameter, entirely occupied by the boiling water. 
 It boils up at irregular intervals, and with much 
 noise. The water is clear, and the spring deep ; 
 a pole about sixteen feet long was easily im- 
 mersed in the center, but we had no means of 
 forming a good idea of the depth. 
 14 
 
210 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 " Taking with me Godey and Carson, I made 
 to-day a thorough exploration of the neighbor- 
 ing valleys, and found in a ravine in the border- 
 ing mountains a good camping place, where was 
 water in springs, and a sufficient (quantity of 
 grass for a night. Overshadowing the springs 
 were some trees of the sweet cotton- wood, which, 
 after a long interval of absence, we saw again 
 with pleasure, regarding them as harbingers of 
 a better country. To us, they were eloquent of 
 green prairies and buffalo. We found here a 
 broad and plainly marked trail, on which there 
 were tracks of horses, and we appeared to have 
 regained one of the thoroughfares which pass 
 by the watering places of the country. On the 
 western mountains of the valley, with which this 
 of the boiling spring communicates, we remarked 
 scattered cedars — probably an indication that 
 we were on the borders of the timbered regior 
 extending to the Pacific. We reached the 
 camp at sunset, after a day's ride of about forty 
 miles. 
 
 '•'' Jamiary 10. — We continued our reconnois- 
 sance iahead, pursuing a south direction in the 
 basin along the ridge ; the camp following 
 slowly after. On a large trail there is never 
 any doubt of finding suitable places for encamp 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 211 
 
 ments. We reached the end of the basin, where 
 we found, in a hollow of the mountain which 
 enclosed it, an abundance of good bunch grass. 
 Leaving a signal for the party to encamp, we 
 continued our way up the hollow, intending to 
 see what lay beyond the mountain. The hol- 
 low was several miles long, forming a good 
 pass, the snow deepening to about a foot as we 
 neared the summit. Beyond, a defile between 
 the mountains descended rapidly about two 
 thousand feet ; and, filling up all the lower space, 
 was a sheet of green water, some twenty miles 
 broad. It broke upon our eyes like the ocean. 
 The neighboring peaks rose high above us, and 
 we ascended one of them to obtain a better 
 view. The waves were curling in the breeze, 
 and their dark green color showed it to be a 
 body of deep water. For a long time we sat 
 enjoying the view, for we had become fatigued 
 with mountains, and the free expanse of moving 
 waves was very grateful. It was set like a gem 
 in the mountains, which, from our position, 
 seemed to enclose it almost entirely. At the 
 western end it communicated with the line of 
 basins we had left a few days since ; and on the 
 opposite side it swept a ridge of snowy moun- 
 tains, the foot of the great Sierra. Its position 
 
212 LIFE OP KIT CAESON. 
 
 at first inclined us to believe it Mary's Lake, 
 but the rugged mountains were so entirely dis- 
 cordant witli descriptions of its low rushy 
 shores and open country, that we concluded it 
 some unknown body of water ; which it after- 
 wards proved to be. 
 
 " We saw before us, in descending from the 
 pass, a great continuous range, along which 
 stretched the valley of the river; the lower 
 parts steep, and dark with pines, while above 
 it was hidden in clouds of snow. This, we felt 
 instantly satisfied, was the central ridge of the 
 Sierra Nevada, the great California mountain, 
 which only now intervened between us and the 
 waters of the bay. We had made a forced 
 march of 26 miles, and three mules had given 
 out on the road. Up to this point, with the ex- 
 ception of two stolen by Indians, we had lost 
 none of the horses which had been brought 
 from the Columbia River, and a number of these 
 were still strong and in tolerably good order. 
 We had now sixty-seven animals in the band. 
 
 " We had scarcely lighted our fires, when the 
 camp was crowded with nearly naked Indians. 
 There were two who appeared particularly in 
 telligent — one, a somewhat old man. He told 
 me that, before the snows fell, it was six sleeps 
 
LIFE OF KIT C ARSON. 213 
 
 to the place wLere the whites lived, but that 
 now it was impossible to cross the mountain on 
 account of the deep snow ; and showing us, as 
 the others had done, that it was over our 
 heads, he urged us strongly to follow the 
 course of the river, which he said would con- 
 duct us to a lake in which there were many- 
 large fish. There, he said, were many people ; 
 there was no snow on the ground ; and we 
 might remain there until spring. From their 
 descriptions, we were enabled to judge that we 
 had encamped on the upper water of the Sal- 
 mon-trout Eiver. It is hardly necessaiy to 
 say that our communication was only by signs, 
 as we understood nothing of their language ; 
 but they spoke, notwithstanding, rapidly and 
 vehemently, explaining what they considered 
 the folly of our intentions, and urging us to go 
 down to the lake, Tah-ve, a word signifying 
 snow, we very soon learned to know, from its 
 frequent repetition. I told him that the men 
 and the horses were strong, and that we would 
 break a road through the snow ; and spreading 
 before him our bales of scarlet cloth and trink- 
 ets, showed him what we would give for a 
 guide. It was necessary to obtain one, if pos- 
 sible; for I had determined here to attempt 
 
214 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 the passage of the mountain. Pulling a bunch 
 of grass from the ground, aiter a short discus- 
 sion among themselves, the old man made us 
 comprehend, that if we could break through 
 the snow, at the end of three days we would 
 come down upon grass, which he showed us 
 would be about six inches high, and where the 
 ground was entii'ely free. So far he said he 
 had been in hunting for elk ; but beyond that 
 (and he closed his eyes) he had seen nothing ; 
 but there was one among them who had been 
 to the whites, and, going out of the lodge, he 
 returned with a young man of very intelligent 
 appearance. Here, said he, is a young man who 
 has seen the whites with his own eyes ; and he 
 swore, first by the sky, and then by the ground, 
 that what he said was true. With a large pres- 
 ent of goods, we prevailed upon this young 
 man to be our guide, and he acquired among us 
 the name Melo — a word signifying friend, 
 which they used very frequently. He was thinly 
 clad, and nearly barefoot ; his moccasins being 
 about worn out. We gave him skins to make 
 a new pair, and to enable him to perform his 
 undertaking to us. The Indians remained in 
 camp during the night, and we kept the guide 
 and two others to sleep in the lodge with us — 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON, 215 
 
 Carson lying across the door, and having made 
 them comprehend the use of our firearms." 
 
 Fremont here, after a consultation with some 
 Indians who came into his camp, made up his 
 mind to attempt the passage of the mountains 
 at every hazard. He therefore, to quote his 
 own words, called his men together, and '' re- 
 minded them of the beautiful valley of the 
 Sacramento, with which they were familiar 
 from the descriptions of Carson, who had been 
 there some fifteen years ago, and who, in our 
 late privations, had delighted us in speaking of 
 its rich pastui'es and abundant game, and drew 
 a vivid contrast between its summer climate, 
 less than a hundred miles distant, and the fall- 
 ing snow around us. I informed them (and 
 long experience had given them confidence in 
 my observations and good instruments) that 
 almost directly west, and only about seventy 
 miles distant, was the great farming establish- 
 ment of Captain Sutter — a gentleman who had 
 formerly lived in Missouri, and, emigrating to 
 this country, had become the possessor of a 
 principality. I assured them that, from the 
 heights of the mountain before us, we should 
 doubtless see the valley of the Sacramento 
 River, and vdth one eif ort place ourselves again 
 
216 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 in the midst of plenty. The people received this 
 decision with the cheerful obedience which had 
 always characterized them ; and the day was 
 immediately devoted to the preparations neces- 
 sary to enable us to carry it into efEect. Leg- 
 gins, moccasins, clothing — all were put into the 
 best state to resist the cold. Our guide was 
 not neglected. Extremity of suffering might 
 make him desert ; we therefore did the best we 
 could for him. Leggins, moccasins, some arti- 
 cles of clothing, and a large green blanket, in 
 addition to the blue and scarlet cloth, were 
 lavished upon him, and to his great and evident 
 contentment. He arrayed himself in all his 
 colors ; and clad in green, blue, and scarlet, he 
 made a gay-looking Indian ; and, with his vari- 
 ous presents, was probably richer and better 
 clothed than any of his tribe had ever been before. 
 " I have already said that our provisions 
 were very low ; we had neither tallow nor 
 grease of any kind remaining, and the want of 
 salt became one of our greatest privations. 
 The poor dog which had been found in the 
 Bear River valley, and which had been a com- 
 pagnon de voyage ever since, had now become 
 fat, and the mess to which it belonged re- 
 quested permission to kill it. Leave was 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 217 
 
 granted. Spread out on the snow, the meat 
 looked very good ; and it made a strengthening 
 meal for the greater part of the camp. 
 
 " The people were unusually silent ; for every 
 man knew that our enterprise was hazardous, 
 and the issue doubtful. 
 
 " The snow deepened rapidly, and it soon be- 
 came necessary to break a road. For this serv- 
 ice, a party of ten was formed, mounted on 
 the strongest horses ; each man in succession 
 opening the road on foot, or on horseback, imtil 
 himself and his horse became fatigued, when he 
 stepped aside ; and, the remaining number pass- 
 ing ahead, he took his station in the rear. ■ 
 
 " The camp had been all the day occupied in 
 endeavoring to ascend the hill, but only the 
 best horses had succeeded ; the animals, gener- 
 ally, not having sufficient strength to bring 
 themselves up without the packs ; and all the 
 line of road between this and the springs was 
 strewed with camp stores and equipage, and 
 horses floundering in snow. I therefore imme- 
 diately encamped on the ground with my own 
 mess, which was in advance, and directed Mr. 
 Fitzpatrick to encamp at the springs, and send 
 all the animals, in charge of Tabeau, with a 
 strong guard, back to the place where they had 
 
218 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 been pastured the night before. Here was a 
 small spot of level ground, protected on one 
 side by the mountain, and on the other shel- 
 tered by a little ridge of rock It was an open 
 grove of pines, which assimilated in size to the 
 grandeur of the mountain, being frequently six 
 feet in diameter. 
 
 " To-night we had no shelter, but we made a 
 large fire around the trunk of one of the huge 
 pines ; and covering the snow with small 
 boughs, on which we spread our blankets, so^n. 
 made ourselves comfortable. The night wls 
 very bright and clear, though the thermometer 
 was only at 10°. A strong wind which sprang 
 up at sundown made it intensely cold ; and this 
 was one of the bitterest nights during the journey. 
 
 " Two Indians joined our party here ; and 
 one of them, an old man, immediately began to 
 harangue us, saying that ourselves and animals 
 would perish in the snow; and that, if we 
 would go back, he would show us another and 
 a better way across the mountain. He spoke 
 in a very loud voice, and there was a singular 
 repetition of phrases and arrangement of words, 
 which rendered his speech striking, and not 
 unmusical. 
 
 "We had now begun to understand some 
 
LITE OF KIT CARSON. 219 
 
 words, and, with the aid of signs, easily com- 
 prehended the old man's simple ideas. ' Eock 
 upon rock — rock upon rock — snow upon snow 
 — snow upon snow,' said he ; ' even if you get 
 over the snow, you will not be able to get 
 down from the mountains.' He made us the 
 sign of precipices, and showed us how the feet 
 of the horses would slip, and throw them off 
 from the narrow trails which led along their 
 sides. Our Chinook, who comprehended even 
 more readily than ourselves, and believed our 
 situation hopeless, covered his head with his 
 blanket, and began to weep and lament. 'I 
 wanted to see the whites,' said he ; 'I came 
 away from my own people to see the whites, 
 and I wouldn't care to die among them ; but 
 here' — and he looked around into the cold night 
 and gloomy forest, and, dravdng his blanket 
 over his head, began again to lament. 
 
 " Seated around the tree, the. fire illumina- 
 ting the rocks and the tall bolls of the pines 
 round about, and the old Indian haranguing, 
 we presented a group of very serious faces. 
 
 " February 5. — The night had been too cold 
 to sleep, and we were up very early. Our 
 guide was standing by the fire with all his finery 
 on ; and seeing him shiver in the cold, I threw 
 
220 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 on his shoulders one of my blankets. We 
 missed him a few minutes afterwards, and 
 never saw him again. He had deserted. His 
 bad faith and treachery were in perfect keep- 
 ing with the estimate of Indian character, which 
 a long intercourse with this people had gradu- 
 ally forced upon my mind. 
 
 " While a portion of the camp were occupied 
 in bringing up the baggage to this point, the 
 remainder were busied in making sledges and 
 snow-shoes. I had determined to explore the 
 mountain ahead, and the sledges were to be 
 used in transporting the baggage. 
 
 "Crossing the open basin, in a march of 
 about ten miles we reached the top of one of 
 the peaks, to the left of the pass indicated by 
 our guide. Far below us, dimmed by the dis- 
 tance, was a large, snowless valley, bounded on 
 the western side, at the distance of about a 
 hundred miles; by a low range of mountains, 
 which Carson recognized with delight as the 
 mountains bordering the coast. 'There,' said 
 he, 'is the little mountain — ^it is fifteen years 
 ago since I saw it ; but I am just as sure as if I 
 had seen it yesterday.' Between us, then, and 
 this low coast range, was the valley • of the Sac- 
 ramento; and no one who had not accompa- 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 22] 
 
 nied us through the incidents of our life for the 
 last few months, conld realize the delight with 
 which at last -we looked down upon it. At the 
 distance of apparently thirty miles beyond us 
 were distinguished spots of prairie ; and a dark 
 line, which could be traced with the glass, was 
 imagined to be the course of the river ; but we 
 were evidently at a great height above the 
 valley, and between us and the plains extended 
 miles of snovry fields and broken ridges of pine- 
 covered mountains. 
 
 " It was late in the day when we turned to- 
 wards the camp ; and it grew rapidly cold as it 
 drew towards night. One of the men became 
 fatigued, and his feet began to freeze, and build- 
 ing a fire in the trunk of a dry old cedar, Mr. 
 Fitzpatrick remained with him until his clothes 
 could be dried, and he was in a condition to 
 come on. After a day's march of twenty miles, 
 we straggled into camp, one after another, at 
 nightfall ; the greater number excessively 
 fatigued, only two of the party having ever 
 traveled on snow-shoes before. 
 
 " All our energies were now directed to get- 
 ting our animals across the snow ; and it was 
 supposed that, after all the baggage had been 
 drawn with the sleighs over the trail we had 
 
222 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 made, it would be suflSciently hard to bear ova 
 animals. 
 
 " At several places, between this point and 
 the ridge, we had discovered some grassy spots, 
 where the wind and sun had dispersed the snow 
 from the sides of the hills, and these were to 
 form resting places to support the animals for 
 a night in their passage across. On our way 
 across, we had set on fire several broken stumps 
 and dried trees, to melt holes in the snow for 
 the camp. Its general depth was five feet ; but 
 we passed over places where it was twenty feet 
 deep, as shown by the trees. 
 
 "With one party drawing sleighs loaded with 
 baggage, I advanced to-day about four miles 
 along the trail, and encamped at the first grassy 
 spot, where we expected to bring our horses. 
 Mr. Fitzpatrick, with another party, remained 
 behind, to form an intermediate station between 
 us and the animals. 
 
 " Putting on our snow-shoes, we spent the 
 afternoon in exploring a road ahead. The glare 
 of the snow, combined with great fatigue, had 
 rendered many of the people nearly blind ; but 
 we were fortunate in having some black silk 
 handkerchiefs, which, worn as veils, very much 
 relieved the eye. 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 223 
 
 " In the evening I received a message from 
 Mr Fitzpatrict, acquainting me with the utter 
 failure of his attempt to get our mules and 
 horses over the snow — the half -hidden trail had 
 proved entirely too slight to support them, and 
 they had broken through, and were plunging 
 about or lying half buried in snow. He was 
 occupied in endeavoring to get them back to his 
 camp ; and in the mean time sent to me for 
 further instructions, I wrote to him to send 
 the animals immediately back to their old pas- 
 tures ; and, after having made mauls and shovels, 
 turn in all the strength of his party to open and 
 beat a road through the snow, strengthening it 
 with branches and boughs of the pines. 
 
 " Februa/ry 12. — ^We made mauls, and worked 
 hard at our end of the road all the day. The 
 wind was high, but the sun bright, and the 
 snow thawing. We worked down the face of 
 the hill, to meet the people at the other end. 
 Towards sundown it began to grow cold, and 
 we shouldered our mauls, and trudged back to 
 camp. 
 
 " Februa/ry 13. — We continued to labor on 
 the road ; and in the course of the day had the 
 satisfaction to see the people working down the 
 face of the opposite hill, about three miles dis- 
 
224 LIFE OF KIT CAESOIS. 
 
 tant. During the morning we had the pleas- 
 ure of a visit from Mr. Fitzpatrick, with the 
 information that all was going on well. A 
 party of Indians had passed on snow-shoes, who 
 said they were going to the western side of the 
 mountain after fish. This was an indication 
 that the salmon were coming up the streams ; 
 and we could hardly restrain our impatience as 
 we thought of them, and worked with increased 
 vigor. 
 
 '' I was now perfectly satisfied that we had 
 struck the stream on which Mr. Sutter lived, 
 and turning about, made a hard push, and 
 reached the camp at dark. Here we had the 
 pleasure to find all the remaining animals, 57 in 
 number, safely arrived at the grassy hill near 
 the camp ; and here, also, we were agreeably 
 surprised with the sight of an abundance of 
 salt. Some of the horse guard had gone to a 
 neighboring hut for pine nuts, and discovered 
 unexpectedly a large cake of very white fine- 
 grained salt, which the Indians told them they 
 had brought from the other side of the moun- 
 tain ; they used it to eat with their pine nutSj 
 and readily sold it for goods. 
 
 " On the 19th, the people were occupied in 
 making a road and bringing up the baggage ; 
 
LIFE OF KIT CAESON, 225 
 
 and, on the afternoon of the next day, Febru- 
 ary 20, 1844, we encamped with the animals 
 and all the materiel of the camp, on the summit 
 of the Pass in the dividing ridge, 1,000 miles 
 by our traveled road from the Dalles of the 
 Columbia. 
 
 ^'•February 21. — We now considered our- 
 selves victorious over the mountain; having 
 only the descent before us, and the valley under 
 our eyes, we felt strong hope that we should 
 force our way down. But this was a case in 
 which the descent was riot facile. Still, deep 
 fields of snow lay between, and there was a 
 large intervening space of rough-looking moun- 
 tains, through which we had yet to wind our 
 way. Carson roused me this morning with an 
 early fire, and we were all up long before day, 
 in order to pass the snow fields before the sim ' 
 should render the crust soft. We enjoyed this 
 morning a scene at sunrise, which, even here, 
 was unusually glorious and beautiful. Immedi- 
 ately above the eastern mountains was repeated 
 a cloud-formed mass of purple ranges, bordered 
 with bright yellow gold ; the peaks shot up into 
 a narrow line of crimson cloud, above which 
 the air was filled with a greenish orange ; and 
 over aU was the singular beauty of the blue 
 
226 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 sky. Passing along a ridge which commanded 
 the lake on our right, of which we began to 
 discover an outlet through a chasm on the west, 
 we passed over alternating open ground and hard- 
 crusted snow-fields which supported the animals, 
 and encamped on the ridge after a journey of 
 six miles. The grass was better than we had 
 yet seen, and we were encamped in a clump of 
 trees, twenty or thirty feet high, resembling 
 white pine. 
 
U£E OF SIX CABSON. 227 
 
 CHAPTER XXin. 
 
 ** We had hard and doubtful labor yet before 
 us, as the snow appeared to be heavier where 
 the timber began further down, with few open 
 spots. Ascending a height, we traced out the 
 best line we could discover for the next day's 
 march, and had at least the consolation to see 
 that the mountain descended rapidly. The day 
 had been one of April ; gusty, with a few occa- 
 sional flakes of snow ; which, in the afternoon, 
 enveloped the upper mountains in clouds. We 
 watched them anxiously, as now we dreaded a 
 snow-storm. Shortly afterwards we heard the 
 roll of thunder, and looking toward the valley, 
 found it all enveloped in a thunder-storm. For 
 us, as connected with the idea of summer, it had 
 a singular charm ; and we watched its progress 
 with excited feelings until nearly sunset, when 
 the sky cleared off brightly, and we saw a shin- 
 ing line of water directing its course towards 
 another, a broader and larger sheet. We kne^v 
 that these could be no other than the Sacra- 
 
228 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 mento and the bay of San Francisco ; but, after 
 our long wandering in rugged mountains, where 
 so frequently we had met with '"lisappointment, 
 and where the crossing of every ridge displayed 
 some unknown lake or river, we were yet al- 
 most afraid to believe that we were at last to 
 escape into the genial country of which we have 
 heard so many glowing descriptions, and dreaded 
 again to find some vast interior lake, whose 
 bitter waters would bring us disappointments. 
 On the southern shore of what appeared to be 
 the bay, could be traced the gleaming line 
 where entered another large stream ; and again 
 the Buenaventura rose up in our mind. 
 
 " Carson had entered the valley along the 
 southern side of the bay, but the country then 
 was so entirely covered with water from snow 
 and rain, that he had been able to form no 
 correct impression of watercourses. 
 
 "We had the satisfaction to know that at 
 least there were people below. Fires were lit 
 up in the valley just at night, appearing to be 
 in answer to ours ; and these signs of life 
 renewed, in some measure, the gaiety of the 
 camp. They appeared so near, that we judged 
 them to be among the timber of some of the 
 neighboring ridges ; but, having them coTls^aBtl5 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 229 
 
 in view day after day, and night after night, 
 we afterwards found them to be fires that had 
 been kindled by the Indians among the tulm'es^ 
 on the shore of the bay, eighty miles distant. 
 
 "Axes and matds were necessary to-day to 
 make a road through the snow. Going ahead 
 with Carson to reconnoiter the road, we reached 
 in the afternoon the river which made the out- 
 let of the lake. Carson sprang over, clear across 
 a place where the stream was compressed among 
 rocks, but the parfieche sole of my moccasin 
 glanced from the icy rock, and precipitated me 
 into the river. It was some few seconds before 
 I could recover myself in the current, and Car- 
 son, thinking me hurt, jumped in after me, and 
 we both had an icy bath. "We tried to search 
 a while for my gun, which had been lost in the 
 fall, but the cold drove us out ; and making a 
 large fire on the bank, after we had partially 
 dried ourselves we went back to meet the camp. 
 We afterwards found that the gun had been 
 slung under the ice which lined the banks of 
 the creek. 
 
 " The sky was clear and pure, with a sharp 
 wind from the northeast, and the thermometer 
 ■ 2° below the freezing point. 
 
 " "We continued down the south face of the 
 
23C LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 mountain ; our road leading over dry ground, 
 we were able to avoid the snow almost entirely. 
 In the course of the morning, we struck a foot- 
 path, which we Avere generally able to keep • 
 and the ground was soft to our animals' feet, 
 being sandy or covered with mold. Green 
 grass began to make its appearance, and oc- 
 casionally we passed a hill scatteringly covered 
 with it. The character of the forest continued 
 the same ; and, among the trees, the pine with 
 sharp leaves and very large cones was abundant, 
 some of them being noble trees. We measured 
 one that had ten feet diameter, though, the 
 height was not more than one hundred and 
 thirty feet. All along, the river was a roaring 
 torrent, its fall very great ; and, descending with 
 a rapidity to which Ave had long been strangers, 
 to our great pleasure oak trees appeared on the 
 ridge, and soon became very frequent ; on these 
 I remarked unusually great quantities of mis- 
 tletoe. 
 
 " The opposite mountain side was very steep 
 and continuous — unbroken by ravines, and 
 covered with pines and snow ; while on the side 
 we were traveling, innumerable rivulets poured 
 down from the ridge. Continuing on, we 
 halted a moment at one of these rivulets, to ad 
 
LIFE OP KIT CARSON. 231 
 
 mire some beautiful evergreen trees, resembling 
 live oak, whicli shaded- the little stream. They 
 were forty to fifty feet high, and two in diam- 
 eter, with a uniform tufted top ; and the sum- 
 mer green of their beautiful foliage, with the 
 singing birds, and the sweet summer wind which 
 was whirling about the dry oak leaves, nearly 
 intoxicated us with delight ; and we hurried on, 
 filled with excitement, to escape entirely from 
 the horrid region of inhospitable snow, to the 
 perpetual spring of the Sacramento. 
 
 " February 25. — Believing that the difficulties 
 of the road were passed, and leaving Mr. Fitz- 
 patrick to follow slowly, as the condition of the 
 animals required, I started ahead this morning 
 with a party of eight, consisting (with myself) 
 of Mr. Preuss, and Mr. Talbot, Carson, Derosier, 
 Towns, Proue, and Jacob. We took with us 
 some of the best animals, and my intention was 
 to proceed as rapidly as possible to the house of 
 Mr. Sutter, and return to meet the party with a 
 supply of provisions and fresh animals. 
 
 " Near nightfall we descended into the steep 
 ravine of a handsome creek thirty feet wide, 
 and I was engaged in getting the horses up 
 the opposite hill, when I heard a shout from 
 Carson, who had gone ahead a few hundred 
 
232 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 yards — :' Life yet,' said he, as he came up, ' life 
 yet ; I have found a hillside sprinkled with 
 grass enough for the night.' We drove along 
 our horses, and encamped at the place about 
 dark, and there was just room enough to make 
 a place for shelter on the edge of the stream. 
 Three horses were lost to-day — Proveau ; a fine 
 young horse from the Columbia belonging to 
 Charles Towns ; and another Indian horse which 
 carried our cooking utensils ; the two former 
 gave out, and the latter strayed off into the 
 woods as we reached the camp : and Derosier, 
 knowing my attachment to Proveau, volunteered 
 to go and bring him in. 
 
 " Carson and I climbed one of the nearest 
 mountains ; the forest land still extended ahead, 
 and the valley appeared as far as ever. The 
 pack-horse was found near the camp, but De- 
 rosier did not get in. 
 
 " We began to be xmeasy at Derosier's absence, 
 fearing he might have been bewildered in the 
 woods. Charles Tovras, who had not yet re- 
 covered his mind, went to swim in the river, as 
 if it was summer, and the stream placid, when it 
 was a cold mountain torrent foaming among the 
 rocks. We were happy to see Derosier appear 
 in the evening. He came in, and sitting down 
 
LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 233 
 
 by. the fire, began to tell us where lie had been. 
 He imagined he had been gone several days, and 
 thought we were still at the camp where he had 
 left us ; and we were pained to see that his 
 mind was deranged. It appeared that he had 
 been lost in the mountain, and hunger and 
 fatigue, joined to weakness of body, and fear of 
 perishing in the mountains had crazed him. The 
 times were severe when stout men lost their 
 minds from extremity of suffering, — ^when horses 
 died — and when mules and horses, ready to die 
 of starvation, were killed for food. Yet there 
 was no murmuring or hesitation. In the mean 
 time Mr. Preuss continued on down the river, 
 and unaware that we had encamped so early in 
 the day, was lost. When night arrived and he 
 did not come in, we began to understand what 
 had happened to him ; but it was too late to 
 make any search. 
 
 " Ma/rch 3. — ^We followed Mr. Preuss's trail 
 for a considerable distance along the river, un- 
 til we reached a place where he had descended 
 to the stream below and encamped. Here we 
 shouted and fired guns, but received no answer ; 
 and we concluded that he had pushed on down 
 the stream. I determined to keep out from the 
 river, along which it was nearly impracticable 
 
234 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 to travel with animals, until it should form a 
 valley. At every step the country improved in 
 beauty ; the pines were rapidly disappearing, 
 and oaks became the principal trees of the for- 
 est. Among these, the prevailing tree v^^as the 
 evergreen oak (vv^hich, by vray of distinction, we 
 shall call the live oak); and with these, occurred 
 frequently a new species of oak, bearing a long, 
 slender acorn, from an inch to an inch and a 
 half in length, which we now began to see 
 formed the principal vegetable food of the in- 
 habitants of this region. In a short distance 
 we crossed a little rivulet, where were two old 
 huts, and near by were heaps of acorn hulls. 
 The ground round about was very rich, cov- 
 ered with an exuberant sward of grass; and 
 we sat down for a while in the shade of the 
 oaks, to let the animals feed. We repeated our 
 shouts for Mr. Preuss ; and this time we were 
 gratified with an answer. The voice grew rap- 
 idly nearer, ascending from the river, but when 
 we expected to see him emerge, it ceased en- 
 tirely. We had called up some straggling In- 
 dian — the first we had met, although for two 
 days back we had seen tracks — who, mistaking 
 us for his fellows, had been only undeceived 
 by getting close up. It would have been pleas- 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 233 
 
 ant to witness his astonishment ; he would not 
 have been more frightened had some of the old 
 mountain spirits they are so much afraid of sud- 
 denly appeared in his path. Ignorant of the 
 character of these people, we had now addi. 
 tional cause of uneasiness in regard to Mr. 
 Preuss ; he had no arms with him, and we be- 
 gan to think his chance doubtful. Occasion- 
 ally we met deer, but had not the necessary 
 time for hunting. At one of these orchard 
 grounds, we encamped about noon to make an 
 effort for Mr. Preuss. One man took his way 
 along a spur leading into the river, in hope to 
 cross his trail ; and another took our own back. 
 Both were volunteers; and to the successful 
 man was promised a pair of pistols — not as a 
 reward, but as a token of gratitude for a ser- 
 vice which would free us all from much anx- 
 iety." 
 
 It was not until the 6th, and after a continu- 
 ation of the most incredible sufferings, already 
 narrated, that the party reached Sutter's Fort, 
 where, it is needless to say, they were warmly 
 and cordially received by that gentleman, — and 
 to close this stirring narrative, we will only add, 
 as an evidence of the terrible sufferings to 
 which they had been subjected, that out of 
 
236 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 sixty-seven horses and mules, with which the 
 expedition was commenced, only thirty-three 
 reached the valley of the Sacramento, and they 
 had to be led. In quoting above from Fre- 
 mont's narrative, a continuous record has not 
 been kept, as we have used only such portions 
 as contain the narrative of incidents directly 
 connected with the expedition, and of which, 
 though scarcely mentioned throughout, save in 
 the most incidental manner, Carson might well 
 say, and with pride, magna pa/rs fui. 
 
 In the course of this narrative we have fre- 
 quently used the word cache, and a brief inter- 
 pretation of its meaning, we are sure, vdll not be 
 uninteresting to the uninitiated. 
 
 A cache is a term common among traders 
 and hunters, to designate a hiding place for 
 provisions and effects. It is derived from the 
 French word cacher, to conceal, and originated 
 among the early colonists of Canada and Louis- 
 iana ; but the secret depository which it desig- 
 nates was in use among the aboriginals long be- 
 fore the intrusion of the white men. It is in 
 fact, the only mode that migratory hordes have 
 of preserving their valuables from robbery, dur- 
 ing their long absences from their villages or 
 accustomed haunts on hunting expeditions, or 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 237 
 
 during the vicissitudes of war. The utmost 
 skill and caution are required to render these 
 places of concealment invisible to the lynx eye 
 of an Indian. 
 
 The first care is to seek out a proper situation, 
 which is generally some dry low bank of clay, 
 on the margin of a water-course. As soon as 
 the precise spot is pitched upon, blankets, 
 saddle-cloths, and other coverings are spread 
 over the surrounding grass and bushes, to pre- 
 vent foot tracks, or any other derangement ; 
 and as few hands as possible are employed. 
 A circle of about two feet in diameter is then 
 nicely cut in the sod, which is carefully removed, 
 with the loose soil immediately beneath it, and 
 laid aside in a place where it will be safe from 
 anything that may change its appearance. The 
 uncovered area is then digged perpendicularly 
 to the depth of about three feet, and is then 
 gradually widened so as to form a conical 
 chamber six or seven feet deep. 
 
 The whole of the earth displaced by this 
 process, being of a different color from that on the 
 surface, is handed up in a vessel, and heaped 
 into a skin or cloth, in which it is conveyed to 
 the stream and thrown into the midst of the 
 current, that it may be entirely carried ofE. 
 
238 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 Should tlie cache not be formed in the vicinity 
 of a stream, the earth thus thrown up is canied 
 to a distance, and scattered in such a manner as 
 not to leave the minutest trace. The cave be- 
 ing formed, is well lined Avith dry grass, bark, 
 sticks, and poles, and occasionally a dried hide. 
 The property intended to be hidden is then laid 
 in, after having been well aired : a hide is 
 spread over it, and dried grass, brush, and 
 stones thrown in, and trampled down until the 
 pit is filled to the neck. The loose soil which 
 had been put aside is then brought, and rammed 
 down firmly, to prevent its caving in, and 
 is frequently sprinkled with water to destroy 
 the scent, lest the wolves and bears should be 
 attracted to the place, and root up the concealed 
 treasure. 
 
 When the neck of the cache is nearly level 
 with the surrounding surface, the sod is again 
 fitted in with the utmost exactness, and any 
 bushes, stocks, or stones, that may have origin- 
 ally been about the spot, are restored to their 
 former places. The blankets and other cover- 
 ings are then removed from the surrounding 
 herbage : all tracks are obliterated : the grass 
 is gently raised by the hand to its natural posi- 
 tion, and the minutest chip or straw is scrupu- 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 239 
 
 lously gleaned up and thrown into the stream. 
 After all is done, the place is abandoned for 
 the night, and, if all be right next morning, is 
 not visited again, until there be a necessity for 
 reopening the cache. Four men are sufficient 
 in this way to conceal the amount of three tons 
 weight of merchandise in the course of two 
 daya 
 
240 LIFE OF KIT CAKSON. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXIV. 
 
 Carson liad passed the autumn and winter 
 with his family, in the society of old compan- 
 ions, amid various incidents amusing to the 
 reader if they were detailed, because so unlike 
 the style of life to which he has been accus- 
 tomed, the particulars of which we must how- 
 ever leave to his imagination, aiding it by some 
 general description of the customs of tlie 
 country and locality. 
 
 The town of Taos is the second in size in 
 New Mexico (Santa Fe claiming of right to be 
 first), with very little regard to beauty in its 
 construction, the houses being huddled upon 
 narrow streets, except in the immediate vicinity 
 of the plaza^ on which are located the church 
 and the better class of houses ; and where, as 
 in all Mexican towns, the marketing is carried 
 on. It is situated in the center of the valley of 
 Taos, which is about thirty miles long, and 
 fifteen broad, and surrounded by mountains, 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 241 
 
 upon whose tops snow lies during the greater 
 part of the year. 
 
 The valley appears to be a plain, but is in- 
 tersected by many ravines, which flow into the 
 Rio Grande on its western side. There is no 
 timber, but in the mountains it is abundant, 
 and of excellent quality. The population in 
 the whole valley numbers scarcely more than 
 ten thousand, and as their farming operations 
 require but a portion of the soil, the larger 
 part of the land is still wild, and grazed only 
 by horses, cattle, and sheep, which are raised 
 in large numbers. 
 
 They are obliged to expend much labor upon 
 their crops, as the climate is too dry to mature 
 them without irrigation ; and yet in their com- 
 munity of interest, in a country without fences, 
 they find much satisfaction in rendering kind 
 offices to each other ; and social life is more cul- 
 tivated than in communities whose interests are 
 more separate. The high altitude, and dryness 
 of the atmosphere, render the climate exceed- 
 ingly healthful, rather severe in Avinter, but 
 very mild and salubrious in summer, so that 
 disease is scarcely known in the valley. 
 
 The dress of the people has changed very 
 much since the population became partially 
 
242 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 Americanized, so that often the buctsk'm pants 
 have given place to cloth, and the blanket to 
 the coat, and the moccasin to the leathern 
 shoe, and the dress of the women has under- 
 gone as great a change. They are learning to 
 employ American implements for agriculture, 
 instead of the rude Egyptian yoke fastened to 
 the horns of the oxen ; and the plow com- 
 posed of a single hooked piece of timber, and 
 the ax that more resembles a pick, than the 
 ax of the American woodsman ; and the cart, 
 whose wheels are pieces sawed from the butt 
 end of a log, with a hole bored for the axle, 
 whose squeaking can be heard for miles, and 
 which are themselves a sufficient burden with- 
 out any loading. Their diet is simple, as it is 
 with all Mexicans, consisting of the products of 
 the locality, with game, which is always to be 
 included in a bill of fare such as Carson would 
 furnish ; com, and wheat, and peas, beans, eggs, 
 pumpkins, and apples, peats, peaches, plums, 
 and grapes, constitute the principal products of 
 their culture. Their great source of enjoyment 
 is dancing, and the fandango is so much an in- 
 stitution in a town of the size of Taos, that, 
 during the winter, scarcely a night passes with- 
 out a dance. This is doubtless familiar to the 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 243 
 
 reader, as the acquisition of California has in- 
 troduced a knowledge of the customs of its 
 natives to every eastern household. 
 
 In the spring of 1845, Carson had decided to 
 commence the business of farming at Taos, and 
 had made the necessary arrangements for build- 
 ing a house, and for stocking and planting, when 
 an express arrived from Colonel Fremont, bring- 
 ing despatches to remind him of his promise to 
 join a third exploring expedition, in case he 
 should ever undertake another, and to designate 
 the place where he would meet the party Fre- 
 mont was organizing. 
 
 Before parting with Fremont in the previous 
 summer, Fremont had secured the promise from 
 Carson, that he would again be his guide and 
 companion, should he ever undertake another 
 expedition ; but Carson was not expecting its 
 execution at this time, and yet, though it would 
 entail severe loss on him to make a hasty sale 
 of his possessions, and arrange for leaving his 
 family, he felt bound by his promise, as well as 
 by his attachment to Fremont, and at once 
 closing up his business, together with an old 
 friend by the name of Owens, who had become, 
 as it were, a partner with him in his enterprise 
 of farming, they having been old trapping 
 
244 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 friends, they repaired together to the point des- 
 ignated for joining the exploring party, upon 
 the upper Arkansas, at Bent's Fort, where they 
 had last parted from Fremont. 
 
 The meeting was mutually satisfactory, and 
 with Fremont were MaxweE, an old and well- 
 tried friend, and a Mr. Walker, who had been 
 in Captain Bonneville's expedition to the Colum- 
 bia, and in other trapping parties in California 
 and vicinity, so that with other mountain men, 
 whose names are less known, but every man of 
 whom was Carson's friend, Fremont's corps 
 was more efficient for the present service, than 
 it had been in either of the former expeditions. 
 
 After some months spent in examining the 
 head- waters of the great rivers which flow to 
 either ocean, the party descended at the begin- 
 ning of winter to the Great Salt Lake, and in 
 October encamped on its southwestern shore, in 
 view of that undescribed cotmtry which at that 
 time had not been penetrated, and which vague 
 and contradictory reports of Indians repre- 
 sented as a desert without grass or water. 
 
 Their previous visit to the lake had given it 
 a somewhat familiar aspect, and on leaving it 
 they felt as if about to commence their journey 
 anew. Its eastern shore was frequented by 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 245 
 
 large bands of Indians, but here they had 
 dwindled down to a single family, which was 
 gleaning from some hidden source enough to 
 support life, and drinking the salt water of a 
 little stream near by, no fresh water being at 
 hand. This offered scanty encouragement as to 
 what they might expect on the desert beyond. 
 
 At its threshold and immediately before 
 them was a naked plain of smooth clay surface, 
 mostly devoid of vegetation — the hazy weather 
 of the summer hung over it, and in the dis- 
 tance rose scattered, low, black and dry-looking 
 mountains. At what appeared to be fifty miles 
 or more, a higher peak held out some promise 
 of wood and water, and towards this it was 
 resolved to direct their course. 
 
 Four men, with a pack animal loaded with 
 water for two days, and accompanied by a 
 naked Indian — ^who volunteered for a reward 
 to be their guide to a spot where he said there 
 was grass and fine springs — were sent forward 
 to explore in advance for a foothold, and verify 
 the existence of water before the whole party 
 should be launched into the desert. Their way 
 led toward the high peak of the mountain, on 
 which they were to make a smoke signal in the 
 event of finding water. About sunset of the 
 
246 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 second day, no signal having been seen, Fre. 
 mont became uneasy at the absence of bis men, 
 and set out with the whole party upon their 
 trail, traveling rapidly aU the night. Towards 
 morning one of the scouts was met returning. 
 
 The Indian had been found to know less 
 than themselves, and had been sent back, but 
 the men had pushed on to the mountains, where 
 they found a running stream, with wood and 
 sufficient grass. The whole party now lay 
 down to rest, and the next day, after a hard 
 march, reached the stream. The distance 
 across the plain was nearly seventy miles, and 
 they called the mountain which had guided 
 them Pilot Peak. This was their first day's 
 march and their first camp in the desert. 
 
 A few days afterwards the expedition was 
 divided into two parties — the larger one under 
 the guidance of "Walker, a well-known moun- 
 taineer and experienced traveler, going around 
 to the foot of the Sierra Nevada by a circuitous 
 route which he had previously traveled, and 
 Fremont, with ten men, Delawares and whites, 
 penetrated directly through the heart of the 
 desert. 
 
 Some days after this separation, Fremont's 
 party, led by Carson, while traveling along the 
 
LIFE OP KIT CARSON. ^i? 
 
 foot of a mountain, the arid country covered 
 with dwarf shrubs, discovered a volume of 
 smoke rising from a ravine. Riding cautiously 
 up, they discovered a single Indian on the 
 border of a small creek. He was standing 
 before a little fire, naked as he was born, 
 apparently thinking, and looking at a small 
 earthen pot which was simmering over the fire, 
 filled with the common ground squirrel of the 
 country. Another bunch of squirrels lay near 
 it, and close by were his bow and arrows. He 
 was a well-made, good-looking young man, 
 about twenty-five years of age. Although so 
 taken by surprise that he made no attempt to 
 escape, and evidently greatly alarmed, he re- 
 ceived his visitors with forced gaiety, and 
 offered them part of his jpot au feu and his 
 bunch of squirrels. He was kindly treated 
 and some little presents made him, and the 
 party continued their way. 
 
 His bow was handsomely made, and the ar- 
 rows, of which there were about forty in his 
 quiver, were neatly feathered, and headed with 
 obsidian, worked into spear-shape by patient 
 labor. 
 
 After they had separated, Fremont found 
 that his Delawares had taken a fancy to the 
 
248 LIFE OF KIT CARSON, 
 
 Indian's bow and arrows, and carried them off. 
 They carried them willingly back, when they 
 were reminded that they had exposed the poor 
 fellow to almost certain starvation by depriving 
 him, in the beginning of winter, of his only 
 means of subsistence, which it would require 
 months to replace. 
 
 One day the party had reached one of the 
 lakes lying along the foot of the Sierra Nevada, 
 which was their appointed rendezvous with 
 their friends, and where, at this season, the 
 scattered Indians of the neighborhood were 
 gathering, to fish. Turning a point on the lake 
 shore, a party of Indians, some twelve or four, 
 teen in number, came abruptly in view. They 
 Avere advancing along in Indian file, one fol- 
 lowing the other, their heads bent forward, with 
 eyes fixed on the ground. As the two parties 
 met, the Indians did not turn their heads or 
 raise their eyes from the ground, but passed 
 silently along. The whites, habituated to the 
 chances of savage life, and always uncertain 
 whether they should find friends or foes in 
 those they met, fell readily into their humor, 
 and they too passed on their way without word 
 or halt. 
 
 It was a strange meeting: two parties of 
 
LIFE OP KIT CARSON. ^49 
 
 such different races and different countries, 
 coming abruptly upon each other, with every 
 occasion to excite curiosity and provoke ques- 
 tion, pass in a desert without a word of inquiry 
 or single remark on either side, or without 
 any show of hostility. 
 
 Walker's party joined rremont at the ap- 
 pointed rendezvous, at the point where Walker's 
 Kiver discharges itself into the lake, but it was 
 now mid-winter, they were out of provisions — 
 and there was no guide. The heavy snows 
 might be daily expected to block up the passes 
 in the great Sierra, if they had not already 
 fallen, and with all their experience it was con- 
 sidered too hazardous to attempt the passage 
 with the matei^iel of a whole party ; it was ar- 
 ranged therefore that Walker should continue 
 with the main party southward along the Sierra, 
 and enter the valley of the San Joaquin by 
 some one of the low passes at its head, where 
 there is rarely or never snow. Fremont under- 
 took, with a few men, to cross directly westward 
 over the Sierra Nevada to Sutter's Port, with 
 the view of obtaining there the necessaiy sup- 
 plies of horses and beef cattle with which to 
 rejoin his party. 
 
 After some days' travel, leaving the Mercedes 
 
250 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 River, they had entered among the foothills of 
 the mountains, and were journeying through a 
 beautiful country of undulating upland, openly 
 timbered with oaks, principally evergreen, and 
 watered with small streams. 
 
 Traveling along, they came suddenly upon 
 broad and deeply- worn trails, which had been 
 freshly traveled by large bands of horses, ap- 
 parently coming from the settlements on the 
 coast. These and other indications warned 
 them that they were approaching villages of the 
 Horse-Thief Indians, who appeared to have just 
 returned from a successful foray. With the 
 breaking up of the missions, many of the In- 
 dians had returned to their tribes in the moun- 
 tains. Their knowledge of the Spanish lan- 
 guage, and familiarity with the ranches and 
 towns, enabled them to pass and repass, at 
 pleasure, between their villages in the Sierra 
 and the ranches on the coast. They very soon 
 availed themselves of these facilities to steal 
 and run off into the mountains bands of horses, 
 and in a short time it became the occupation of 
 all the Indians inhabiting the southern Sierra 
 Nevada, as well as the plains beyond. 
 
 Three or four parties would be sent at a time 
 from different villages, and every week was 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 251 
 
 signalized by the carrying-off of hundreds of 
 horses, to he killed and eaten in the interior. 
 Repeated expeditions had been made against 
 them by the Calif ornians, who rarely succeeded 
 in reaching the foot of the mountains, and were 
 invariably defeated when they did. 
 
 As soon as this fresh trail had been discov- 
 ered, four men, two Delawares with Maxwell 
 and Dick Owens, two of Fremont's favorite 
 men, were sent forward upon the trail. The 
 rest of the party had followed along at their 
 usual gait, but Indian signs became so thick, 
 trail after trail joining on, that they started 
 rapidly after the men, fearing for their safety. 
 After a few miles' ride, they reached a spot 
 which had been the recent camping ground of 
 a village, and where abundant grass and good 
 water suggested a halting place for the night, 
 and they immediately set about unpacking 
 their animals and preparing to encamp. 
 
 While thus engaged, they heard what seemed 
 to be the barking of many dogs, coming appar- 
 ently from a village, not far distant ; but they 
 had hardly thrown off their saddles when they 
 suddenly became aware that it was the noise 
 of women and children shouting and crying ; 
 and this was sufficient notice that the men who 
 
252 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 had been sent ahead had fallen among un- 
 friendly Indians, so that a fight had already 
 commenced. 
 
 It did not need an instant to throw the sad- 
 dles on again, and leaving four men to guard 
 the camp, Fremont, with the rest, rode off in 
 the direction of the sounds. 
 
 They had galloped but half a mile, when 
 crossing a little ridge, they came abruptly in 
 view of several hundred Indians advancing on 
 each side of a knoll, on the top of which were 
 the men, where a cluster of trees and rocks 
 made a good defense. It was evident that they 
 had come suddenly into the midst of the Indian 
 village, and jumping from their horses, with 
 the instinctive skill of old hunters and moun- 
 taineers as they were, had got into an admira- 
 ble place to fight from. 
 
 The Indians had nearly surrounded the knoll, 
 and were about getting possession of the horses, 
 as Fremont's party came in view. Their wel- 
 come shout as they charged up the hill, was 
 answered by the yell of the Delawares as they 
 dashed down to recover their animals, and the 
 crack of Owens' and Maxwell's rifles. Owens 
 had singled out the foremost Indian who went 
 headlong down the hill, to steal horses no more. 
 
LIFE OP KIT CARSON. 253 
 
 Profiting by the first surprise of the Indians, 
 and anxious for the safety of the men who had 
 been left in camp, the whites immediately re- 
 treated towards it, checking the Indians with 
 occasional rifle shots, with the range of which 
 it seemed remarkable that they were acquainted. 
 
 The whole camp were on guard until daylight. 
 As soon as it was dark, each man crept to his 
 post. They heard the women and children re- 
 treating towards the mountains, but nothing 
 disturbed the quiet of the camp, except when one 
 of the Delawares shot at a wolf as it jumped 
 over a log, and which he mistook for an Indian. 
 As soon as it grew light they took to the most 
 open ground, and retreated into the plain. 
 14 
 
254 LIFE OF KIT CAKSON. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 The record of Fremont and Carson's journey 
 through this region of country, abeady so 
 thoroughly explored at such great hazard, and 
 accompanied with such unheard-of sufferings, 
 would be but a repetition of what has already 
 been written, for they were again driven to 
 mule meat, or whatever else chance or Provi- 
 dence might throw in their way, to sustain life. 
 In every need — ^in every peril — in every quarter 
 where coolness, sagacity, and skill were most re- 
 quired, Carson was ever first, and his conduct 
 throughout cemented, if possible, more firmly 
 the friendship between him and his young com- 
 mander. 
 
 They reached, at last, Sutter's Fort, where 
 they were received with the hospitality which 
 has made Mr. Sutter's name proverbial ; and 
 leaving his party to recruit there, Fremont 
 pushed on towards Monterey, to make known 
 to the authorities there the condition of his 
 party, and obtained permission to recruit and 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 255 
 
 procure the supplies necessary for the pros© 
 cution of his exploration. 
 
 Journeying in the security of this permission, 
 he was suddenly arrested in his march, near 
 Monterey, by an officer at the head of a body 
 of cavalry, who bore him a violent message from 
 the commanding officer in California — Gen. 
 Castro — commanding him to retire instantly 
 from the country. 
 
 There was now no alternative but to put 
 himself on the defensive, as he had come to the 
 country for an entirely peaceable purpose, and 
 it was not in the blood of Americans to submit 
 to dictation. The direction of travel was there- 
 fore changed ; a strong point was selected and 
 fortified as thoroughly as could be with the 
 means at their command, which work was 
 hardly completed before General Castro, at the 
 head of several hundred men, arrived and es- 
 tablished his camp within a few hundred yards 
 and in sight of the exploring party, evidently 
 under the mistaken idea that he could intimi- 
 date them by his numbers. 
 
 Though the Americans were but forty in 
 number, every man had already seen service, 
 and the half score of old traders and trappers, 
 who had been leaders in many an Indian fight, 
 
256 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 made the party, small as it was, quite equal 
 to that of the tenfold greater number of the 
 Mexicans; for the men, equally with their 
 leader, were determined to maintain their 
 rights, and, if need be, to sacrifice their lives in 
 defense of the cause of American citizens in 
 Mexico; for in the three days dui^ng which 
 they lay there encamped, expresses came in from 
 the American citizens in Monterey, warning 
 them of their danger, and announcing, too, the 
 probability of a war with Mexico, and urging 
 the propriety that every American should unite 
 in a common defense against the Mexican au- 
 thorities. 
 
 At the end of three days the council which 
 Fremont now called, agreed with him, that the 
 Mexican General had no intention of attacking 
 them, and that it was the more pnident course 
 to break up camp, push on to the Sacramento 
 River, and endeavor at Lawson's trading post 
 to obtain the needed outfit for their return 
 homeward through Oregon, as further explora- 
 tion in southern California seemed out of the 
 question ; and because, as an officer in the 
 United States service, Fremont felt he could 
 not commence, or willingly court, hostility with 
 the Mexican authorities — ^besides, all the Amer- 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 257 
 
 lean residents in the country were equally in 
 peril ; and if the event of war pressed upon 
 them, preparation was needed, and should be 
 made at once. 
 
 In council Fremont found Carson ready for 
 such, as for every emergency ; and, around the 
 camp fires, where the subject was discussed, 
 every man was ready for the affray; and while 
 willing to retire and wait the command of the 
 leader evinced no disposition to avoid it. 
 
 The party remained ten days at Lawson's 
 post, when information was brought that the 
 Indians were in arms at the instigation of the 
 Mexicans, as it was supposed, and were advanc- 
 ing to destroy the post, and any other American 
 settlement; and it was soon rumored that a 
 thousand waniors were collected, and on their 
 way to aid in this purpose. The time had now 
 come for action, and, with five men from the 
 post, Captain Fremont and his command, with 
 Carson for his Lieutenant, by choice of the party, 
 as well as of its leader, took up their march 
 against the savages, in aid of their countrjonen. 
 
 They had no difficulty in finding the Indian 
 war-party, and immediately made the attack, 
 which was responded to with vigor by the In- 
 dians, and contested bravely; but, of course, 
 
 17 
 
258 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 with inability to conquer. The red men were 
 defeated with terrible slaughter, and learned 
 here the lesson not forgotten for many years, that 
 it was useless to measure their strength with 
 white men. 
 
 Carson was, of course, as was his invariable 
 custom, in the thickest of the fight, and when 
 it was over, and the Indians had retired, cowed 
 and defeated, ventured the opinion that they 
 had received a lesson which would not be re- 
 quired to be repeated in many years. 
 
 This victory won, and present danger from 
 these Indians thus avoided, the party returned 
 to Lawson's post, where, having completed 
 their outfit, they turned their backs on Mexican 
 possessions, and started northward, Fremont 
 looking to Oregon as the field of his future 
 operations, intending to explore a new route to 
 the Wah-lah-math settlements. 
 
 While on that journey, Carson being as ever 
 his guide, companion, and friend, the party 
 was suddenly surprised by the appearance of 
 two white men, who, as all knew from experi- 
 ence, must have incurred the greatest perils and 
 hazards to reach that spot. 
 
 They proved to be two of Mr. Fremont's old 
 voyagev/rs, and quickly told their story. They 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 259 
 
 were part of a guard of six men conducting a 
 United States officer, who was on his trail with 
 despatches from "Washington, and whom they 
 had left two days back, while they came on to 
 give notice of his approach, and to ask that as- 
 sistance might be sent him. They themselves 
 had only escaped the Indians by the swiftness 
 of their horses. It was a case in which there 
 was no time to be lost, nor a mistake made. 
 Mr. Fremont determined to go himself; and 
 taking ten picked men, Carson of course ac- 
 companying him, he rode down the western 
 shore of the lake on the morning of the 9th, 
 (the direction the officer was to come,) and made 
 a journey of sixty miles without a halt. But to 
 tneet men, and not to miss them, was the difficult 
 point in this trackless region. It was not the 
 case of a high-road, where all travelers must 
 meet in passing each other : at intervals there 
 were places — defiles, or camping grounds — 
 where both parties might pass ; and watching 
 for these, he came to one in the afternoon, and 
 decided that, if the party was not killed, it 
 must be there that night. He halted and en- 
 camped ; and, as the sun was going down, had 
 the inexpressible satisfaction to see the four 
 men approaching. The officer proved to be 
 
260 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 Lieutenant Gillespie, of the United States Ma- 
 rines, wLo had been despatched from Washington 
 the November previous, to make his way by 
 Vera Cruz, the City of Mexico, and Mazatlan, 
 to Monterey, in Upper California, deliver de- 
 spatches to the United States consul there ; and 
 then find Mr. Fremont, wherever he should be. 
 
 Carson, in a letter to the "Washington Union 
 in June, 1847, thus describes the interview, and 
 the events consequent upon it : 
 
 " Mr. Gillespie had brought the Colonel let- 
 ters from home — the first he had had since 
 leaving the States the year before — and he was 
 up, and kept a large fire burning until after 
 midnight ; the rest of us were tired out, and 
 all went to sleep. This was the only night in 
 all our travels, except the one night on the 
 island in the Salt Lake, that we failed to keep 
 guard ; and as the men were so tired, and we 
 expected no attack now that we had sixteen in 
 the party, the Colonel didn't like to ask it of 
 them, but sat up late himself, Owens and I 
 were sleeping together, and we were waked at 
 the same time by the licks of the ax that 
 killed our men. At first, I didn't know it was 
 that ; but I called to Basil, who was on that side 
 —'What's the matter there ?— What's that 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 261 
 
 fuss about ? ' — he never answered, for he was 
 dead then, poor fellow, and he never knew 
 what killed him — his head had been cut in, in 
 his sleep; the other groaned a little as he 
 died. The Delawares (we had four with us) 
 were sleeping at that fire, and they sprang up 
 as the Tlamaths charged them. One of them 
 caught up a gun, which was unloaded; but, 
 although he could do no execution, he kept 
 them at bay, fighting like a soldier, and didn't 
 give up until he was shot full of arrows — 
 three entering his heart ; he died bravely. As 
 soon as I had called out, I saw it was Indians 
 in the camp, and I and Owens together cried 
 out " Indians." There were no orders given ; 
 things went on too fast, and the Colonel had 
 men with him that didn't need to be told their 
 duty. The Colonel and I, Maxwell, Owens, 
 Godey, and Stepp, jumped together, we six, 
 and ran to the assistance of our Delawares. I 
 don't know who fired and who didn't ; but I 
 think it was Stepp's shot that killed the 
 Tlamath chief; for it was at the crack of 
 Stepp's gun that he fell. He had an English 
 half-ax slung to his wrist by a cord, and there 
 were forty arrows left in his quiver — the most 
 beautiful and warlike arrows I ever saw. He 
 
262 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 must have been the bravest man among them, 
 from the way he was armed, and judging by 
 his cap. When the Tlamaths saw him fall, 
 they ran ; but we lay, every man with his rifle 
 cocked until daylight, expecting another at- 
 tack. 
 
 " In the morning we found by the tracks 
 that from fifteen to twenty of the Tlamaths 
 had attacked us. They had killed three of our 
 men, and wounded one of the Delawares, who 
 scalped the chief, whom we left where he fell. 
 Our dead men were carried on mules ; but, after 
 going about ten miles, we found it impossible 
 to get them any farther through the thick tim- 
 ber, and finding a secret place, we buried them 
 under logs and chunks, having no way to dig 
 a grave. It was only a few days before this 
 fight that some of these same Indians had 
 come into our camp ; and, although we had 
 only meat for two days, and felt sure that wc 
 should have to eat mules for ten or fifteen days 
 to come, the Colonel divided with them, and 
 even had a mule unpacked to give them some 
 tobacco and knives." 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 263 
 
 CHAPTEE XXVL 
 
 Those wlio have not been in similar dangers 
 cannot properly appreciate the feelings of the 
 survivors, as they watched vrith their dead and 
 performed for them the last sad rites. Fre- 
 mont had lost Lajeunesse, whom they all loved, 
 and the other two, Crane and the Delaware 
 Indian, were not less brave than he. The In- 
 dians had watched for Lieutenant Gillespie, 
 but in Fremont's coming up while three were 
 taken, more were saved, and the benefit to the 
 country, and perhaps the safety to Fremont's 
 whole force was secured by the receipt of the 
 despatches, and this early rencontre. None 
 had apprehended danger that night, being, as 
 they erroneously supposed, far removed from 
 the Tlamath country, and equally far from the 
 point where they already had encountered and 
 defeated the red men. The Indians never 
 again found Fremont's party off guard, for the 
 events of this night proved a serious and mel- 
 ancholy, as well as a sufficient lesson. That 
 
264 LlfE OF KIT CABSON. 
 
 they cherished revenge, is not to be wondered 
 at, nor that they vowed to seek it at the 
 earliest opportunity, as it was now known that 
 war had been declared with Mexico, for such was 
 the tenor of Lieutenant Gillespie's information. 
 Fremont determined to return to California, 
 and choosing to give his men a chance for re- 
 venge before doing so, he traveled around 
 Tlamath Lake, and, camping at a spot nearly 
 opposite where his three men had been killed, 
 the next morning sent Carson on in advance, 
 with ten chosen men, and with instructions 
 that, if he discovered a large Indian village, 
 without being seen himself, he should send 
 back word, and that he would hasten on with 
 the rest of the party and give them battle ; but 
 if this could not be done, to attack the village 
 himself, if he thought the chances were equal. 
 
 Of course Carson and his men were parties 
 to this advice, choosing the situation of danger 
 because only in that way could they revenge 
 the death of their comrades. 
 
 They were not long in finding a trail, which 
 they followed to a village of fifty lodges, in 
 each of which were probably three warriors. 
 The village was in commotioij, which indicated 
 that they had discovered Carson and his party ; 
 
LIFE OP KIT CARSON. 265 
 
 SO that no time could be lost, and Carson and 
 his comrades at once determined to take ad- 
 vantage of the confusion in which the Indian 
 camp seemed to be, by making a sudden charge. 
 The Indians had their families to defend, and 
 were brave in proportion as that motive is an 
 incentive to activity, therefore the attack of the 
 white men was received and met with despera- 
 tion. But a panic of fear seized them, owing to 
 the suddenness of the attack, and they fled, 
 leaving behind them all their possessions, while 
 the victors pursued and shot them down with- 
 out mercy, and when the victory was declared 
 complete by their leader Carson, they returned 
 to the richly-stored village. In all their travels 
 and adventures, they had never seen an Indian 
 village in which the lodges were more tasteful 
 in their workmanship and their decorations, or 
 which were better supplied with utensils of con- 
 venience. The wigwams were woven of the 
 broad leaves of a kind of flag which was highly 
 combustible. Carson therefore ordered that 
 they should be burned, having first visited them 
 to see that their contents were so arranged as 
 to be consumed in the conflagration. The work 
 was completed in a few moments, and Fremont, 
 seeing the smoke, knew that Carson was en- 
 
266 LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 
 
 gaged with the Indians, and hastened forward 
 to render him any needed assistance. But he 
 arrived only to hear the report of his lieuten- 
 ant and to have the gloom of the whole party 
 dispelled by the news of the victory accom- 
 plished ; and to move on a little for an encamp- 
 ment, and a talk in regard to their future opera- 
 tions. 
 
 The next day all started for the valley of 
 the Sacramento, and were four days out from 
 their camp when they came to a point on the 
 river where it passes through a deep canon, 
 through which the trail would take them, but 
 Carson advised to avoid this gorge, and they 
 were wise in doing so, as Tlamath Indians were 
 concealed there, intending to cut oft' the party 
 of white men. Disappointed that they had lost 
 their prey, the Indians came out from this am- 
 bush, and were immediately dispersed by Carson 
 and Godey, and a few others, who made a 
 charge upon them. But one old Indian, in- 
 spired probably by revenge for some friend lost, 
 stood his ground, and with several arrows in his 
 mouth waited the attack Le courted. Carson 
 and Godey advanced, and when within shooting 
 distance, were obliged to dodge rapidly to avoid 
 the arrows leveled at them. The Indian was 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON, 267 
 
 behind a tree, and only by cautiously advancing 
 while dodging the death he was sending from 
 his bow, did Carson gain a position where he 
 was able to aim a bullet at his heart. The 
 beautiful bow and still unexhausted quiver that 
 Carson took from this Indian, he presented to 
 Lieutenant Gillespie on his return to camp. 
 
 They were in the locality where game was 
 scarce, not being able to find any, the whole 
 party went supperless that night and breakfast- 
 less next morning, but the next day they found 
 some game, and came, after severe traveling for 
 some days longer, safely in to Peter Lawson's 
 Fort, where they rested and hunted a week, 
 and then moved lower down on the Sacramen- 
 to, and again camped. But his men were rest- 
 less from inactivity, and Fremont decided it was 
 no longer wise to wait for positive instructions, 
 as the war was probably commenced ; he there- 
 fore sent a party of his force to take the little 
 town and fort at Sonoma, which had but a 
 weak garrison. They captured General Valle- 
 jos here with two captains and several cannon, 
 and a quantity of arms. The whole force united 
 at Sonoma, and learning that the Mexicans and 
 Americans in the south were engaged in open 
 hostility, Fremont was preparing to join them, 
 
268 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 calling in all the Americans in the vicinity to 
 come to his command, when a large Mexican 
 force, despatched by General Casti'o from San 
 Francisco, with orders to drive the Americans 
 out of the country, came into the vicinity, and 
 took prisoners and killed two men, whom Fre- 
 mont had sent out as messengers to the Ameri- 
 can settlers, to inform them that Sonoma was 
 taken, and that they could fly thither for safety. 
 
 The captain of this party of Mexicans, hear- 
 ing that Fremont and his forces were anxious 
 to attack him, lost all courage and fled, to be 
 pursued by the party of explorers, who followed 
 them closely for six days, and captured many 
 horses which they had abandoned in their 
 fright. But finding they could not overtake 
 them, Fremont returned to Sonoma, and the 
 party of Mexicans continued their march to Los 
 Angeles, where Greneral Castro joined them. 
 
 Around Fremont's party, the American citi- 
 zens now rallied in gi-eat numbers — nearly all 
 who were in the country — knowing that their 
 time to aid in its emancipation had arrived. 
 Fremont left a strong garrison at Sonoma,* and 
 went to Sutter's Fort, where he left his prison- 
 ers, General Vallejos and the two captains, and 
 an American, a brother-in-law of General Val- 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 269 
 
 lejos, and having put the fort under military- 
 rules, with all his mountain men, started to 
 take possession of Monterey. But he had been 
 anticipated in this work by Commodore Sloat, 
 who was in port with the American squadron, 
 and who left soon after Fremont's arrival. Com- 
 modore Stockton assuming the command. 
 
 While at Sonoma, Fremont and his moun- 
 tain men, with the American settlers, had de- 
 clared the Independence of California, and 
 assumed the Bear Flag, which he gallantly 
 tendered to Commodore Sloat, and the flag of 
 the United States was hoisted over his camp. 
 
270 LIFB OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIL 
 
 With Carson as his constant adviser, as he 
 was now his acknowledged friend, Fremont 
 here obtained the use of the ship Cyanne, to 
 convey himself and his command to San Diego, 
 where they hoped to be able to obtain animals, 
 and march upon the Mexicans under General 
 Castro, who was then at Los Angeles, leaving 
 their own for the use of Commodore Stockton 
 and his marines, who were to meet them at that 
 place. 
 
 With the Americans who joined him at San 
 Diego, all of them pioneers of the true stamp, 
 inured to hardships, hard fare, and Indian 
 fights, Fremont's command numbered one hun- 
 dred and fifty men, who started for Los Angeles, 
 with perfect confidence in their own success, 
 though the force of the enemy was seven or 
 eight hundred. 
 
 Fremont camped a league from this beautiful 
 to^vn, to await the arrival of the Commodore, 
 who soon joined him, vdth " as fine a body of 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 271 
 
 men as I ever looked upon," to quote Carson's 
 own words, and the forces tlius united marched 
 at once upon Los Angeles, which they found 
 deserted, as General Castro dared not risk a 
 battle with such men as he knew Fremont com- 
 manded. 
 
 After this, Fremont was appointed Governor 
 of California by Commodore Stockton, and re- 
 turned to Monterey and the northern portion 
 of the country, while the Commodore went to 
 San Diego, as that was a better port than San 
 Pedro, the port of Los Angeles ; and General 
 Castro returned to the possession of Los An- 
 geles. 
 
 Meantime, Carson, with a force of fifteen men, 
 was despatched to make the overland journey 
 to Washington, as the bearer of important des- 
 patches. He was instructed to make the journey 
 in sixty days if possible, which he felt sure of 
 being able to accomplish, though no one knew, 
 better than he did, the difficulties he might ex- 
 pect to encounter. 
 
 When two days out from the copper mines 
 of New Mexico, he came suddenly upon a vil- 
 lage of Apache Indians, which his quick wit 
 enabled him to elude. He rode forward in his 
 path, as if unmindful of their presence, and 
 
272 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 halted in a wood a few yards from the village, 
 whicli seemed to disconcert the inhabitants, 
 unused to being approached with so much bold- 
 ness, as they had never been treated in that 
 manner by the Mexicans. He here demanded 
 a parley, which was granted, and he told them 
 that his party were simply travelers on the road 
 to New Mexico, and that they had come to their 
 village for an exchange of animals, as theirs 
 were nearly exhausted. 
 
 The Indians were satisfied with his explana- 
 tion ; and Carson, choosing as his camping- 
 ground a suitable spot for defense, traded with 
 the Apaches to advantage, and at an early hour 
 on the following morning resumed his journey, , 
 glad to be thus easily rid of such treacherous, 
 thieving rascals. A few more days of travel 
 brought him to the Mexican settlements, and 
 near to his own home and family. The party 
 had been, for some time, short of provisions, as 
 their haste in traveling did not allow them to 
 stop to hunt, and on the route — desert much 
 of the way — ^there had been little game ; and 
 now, mth only a little corn which they ate 
 parched, they were glad of relief, which Carson 
 readily obtained from friends at the first ranche 
 lie entered ; for though the country was at war 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 273 
 
 with the United States, Carson was a Mexican 
 as much as an American, having chosen their 
 country for his home, and taken a wife from 
 their people. He was pursuing his course 
 towards Taos, when, across a broad prairie, he 
 espied a speck moving towards him, which his 
 eagle eye soon discerned could not belong to 
 the country. As it neared him, and its form 
 became visible, hastening on, he met an expe- 
 dition sent out by the United States Govern- 
 ment to operate in California, under the com- 
 mand of General Kearney, to which officer he 
 lost no time in presenting himself, and narrated 
 to him his errand, and the state of affairs in 
 California, with the most graphic fidelity. 
 Kearney was extremely glad to meet him, and 
 after detaining him as long as Carson thought 
 it wise to remain, proposed to Carson to return 
 with him, while he should send the despatches 
 to Washington by Mr. Fitzpatrick — with whom 
 Carson had a familiar acquaintance ; and know- 
 ing how almost invaluable his services would 
 be to General Kearney, Carson gave the ready 
 answer, " As the General pleases," trusting en- 
 tirely to his fidelity in the matter, and as the 
 exchange was a self-denial to him, he had no 
 
 occasion to weigh the motives that might influ- 
 i8 
 
274 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 ence a man like General Kearney in the affair 
 of the despatches, or the good that his presence 
 with them might be to himself when he should 
 arrive in Washington, but while he would have 
 been glad to have met his family, he cared for 
 the honor of having done his duty. 
 
LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 275 
 
 CHAPTEE XXVIII. 
 
 On the IStli of October, General Kearney took 
 up his march from his camp upon the Rio 
 Grande, having Christopher Carson for his 
 guide, with instructions to lead the party by 
 the most direct route to California: and so 
 ably did Carson fulfil this official duty, so un- 
 expectedly imposed upon him, that, with their 
 animals in good condition still, they camped 
 within the limit of California on the evening of 
 the third of December, and the next morning 
 advanced towards San Diego. 
 
 But the Mexicans were not unapprised of 
 the approach of American troops, and spies 
 sent out by General Castro, to meet Kearney's 
 force, were surprised and brought into camp 
 by a scout which Carson attended. Compelled 
 to give information, they said that the Mexi- 
 can forces under its general were planning an 
 attack upon the Amei'icans before they could 
 join their California allies. Carson, with the 
 
276 LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 
 
 understanding lie liad of General Kearney, and 
 his knowledge of guerilla warfare, would have 
 advised another route, to evade the Mexican 
 troops and avoid a battle, until the weaiy and 
 newly arrived soldiery had had some rest, and 
 the assistance and advice of those who knew 
 the last movements of the Mexicans, could 
 make a battle more effectual with less of risk 
 than now ; but General Kearney was impatient 
 for an encounter with the stupid Mexicans, as 
 he deemed them, and only learned by experi- 
 ence that the Californians were superior to 
 those he had known in other of the Mexican 
 States, both in courage and natural tact, and in 
 their military order and discipline, as the story 
 will fully show. 
 
 He kept on his course until he approached 
 within fifteen miles of the Mexican camp, 
 where he halted, and despatched a party to 
 reconnoiter. They reported on their return, 
 that the enemy were strongly fortified in an 
 Indian village ; but in making the observation 
 the scout had been discovered and pursued 
 back to camp. 
 
 General Kearney determined to make an 
 immediate attack, and commenced his march at 
 one o'clock in the morning, with no rest that 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 27Y 
 
 night for his animals or for his men ; and 
 weary and hungry before day, when within a 
 mile of Castro's camp the advance guard of the 
 Americans came upon the advance guard of the 
 Mexicans, which had been stationed to prevent 
 a surprise. 
 
 This Mexican guard slept in their dress, 
 ready at a five minutes' warning to mount in 
 their saddles, which were their pillows, while 
 their horses were tied to feed close around 
 them. The sound of the trumpet commanded 
 first a rapid trot, then a gallop, and the fifteen 
 Americans imder Captain Johnson with Kit 
 Carson, of course, for his next officer, had a brisk 
 fight with this Mexican outpost, but failed to 
 stampede their animals, as each Mexican mounted 
 his own horse immediately and the guard drew 
 back into camp. Captain Johnson and Carson 
 were now joined by Captain Moore with twenty 
 five Americans, a force that had united with 
 Kearney's since he came into California, when 
 Moore ordered an attack upon the center of the 
 Mexican force, in order to divide it, and cause 
 confusion in the Mexican ranks. 
 
 The command of forty men were within a 
 hundred yards of the enemy, and Carson among 
 the foremost, when his horse suddenly fell and. 
 
278 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 threw its rider, who was not seriously injured ; 
 but the stock of his gun was shivered to splin- 
 ters, and his position one of exceeding danger, 
 as the whole body of dragoons went galloping 
 over him. When he could arise from the ground, 
 he saw a dead horseman lying near, whom he 
 relieved of gun and cartridge box, and again 
 mounting his horse, upon whose bridle he had 
 managed to retain his hold, he was speedily in 
 the thickest of the fight, where the contest was 
 becoming desperate. 
 
 Captain Johnson and several of the soldiers in 
 the advance had already been killed, and prob- 
 ably only the fall of his horse had saved 
 Carson's life, but he was now able to assist 
 Moore and his men to dislodge the Mexicans, 
 and oblige them to retreat. The Americans 
 pursued them, but as there were only forty in 
 the whole of General Kearney's command who 
 were mounted on horses, and the mules which 
 were ridden by the rest had become at once 
 unmanageable when the firing commenced, their 
 success was not complete. The horses they had 
 were wild, having been captured by Captain 
 Davidson and Kit Carson since their ai-rival in 
 California, from a party of Mexicans bound for 
 Sonora, so that even Moore's party had become 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 279 
 
 scattered in the chase, and the pursuit accom- 
 plished very little. 
 
 The Mexicans immediately discovered the 
 condition of the Americans, and turning back, 
 recommenced the fight, which had been nearly 
 a bloodless victory until now, but soon became 
 for the Americans a terrible slaughter. Every 
 moment some dragoon yielded his life to the 
 bullet or the deadly blow of an exasperated 
 Mexican, and of the forty dragoons on horses 
 thirty were either killed or severely wounded. 
 Captain Moore, whom Carson calls, " as brave a 
 man as ever drew the breath of life," was already 
 among the killed. As fast as the American 
 soldiers could come up, they joined the battle, 
 but the Mexicans fought with a bravery unsur- 
 passed, and seemed to carry all before them. 
 
 General Kearney now drew his sword, and 
 placed himself at the head ,of his remaining 
 forces, and though severely wounded, attempted 
 to again force the Mexicans to retreat, while 
 Lieutenant Davidson came up with two moun- 
 tain howitzers ; but before he could unlimber 
 them for use, the men who were working them 
 were shot down, and the lasso, thrown with 
 unerring aim, had captured the horses attached 
 to one of them, and the gun was taken to the 
 
280 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 ranks of the enemy, who, for some reason, 
 could not make it go off, or the American 
 howitzer, at the distance of three hundred yards, 
 would have done execution against those who 
 had brought it thousands of miles to this point, 
 to have it turned against them ; though Lieu- 
 tenant Davidson had nearly lost his life in the 
 attempt to save it, but to no purpose. 
 
 The Americans were now obliged to take 
 refuge at a point of rocks that offered, near 
 where they had been defeated, for they had but 
 two officers besides Carson, who were not either 
 killed or wounded ; and here they Avaited for 
 the Mexicans, but they did not again venture 
 an attack. 
 
 The fighting had continued throughout the 
 entire day ; both sides were weary and spent, and 
 night closed over this scene of battle, without 
 any positive result to either party. General 
 Kearney must now attend to the wounded, and 
 all night the camp was occupied in the sad 
 work of burying its dead, and alleviating the 
 agony of the sufferers ; while, at the same 
 time, a close watch was kept for the enemy, 
 who were constantly receiving reinforcements, 
 of Indians as well as Mexicans, from the 
 country around. A council of war was held, 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 281 
 
 wtidi at once decided it was best to advance 
 toward San Diego in the morning, with the 
 hope of soon receiving additions to their forces. 
 General Kearney had despatched three men to 
 San Diego, with messages to Commodore Stock- 
 ton, and before the battle commenced, they had 
 come back within sight of their comrades, when 
 they were taken prisoners by the enemy ; and 
 whether they had succeeded in getting through 
 to San Diego, General Kearney did not know. 
 Early in the morning, the command was again 
 upon its way, with the following order of 
 march : Carson, with twenty-five still able- 
 bodied men, formed the advance, and the re- 
 mainder, a much crippled band of soldiers, 
 followed in the trail that he had made. Their 
 march was continued all the morning, in the 
 constant expectation of an attack from the 
 Mexicans, who were also moving on, sometimes 
 out of sight in the valleys^ and sometimes seen 
 from the neighboring hills. When the first 
 opportunity occurred, Genera,l Kearney de- 
 manded a parley, and arranged to exchange a, 
 lieutenant, whose horse had been shot from un- 
 der him during the battle and who had conse- 
 quently fallen into the hands of the Americans, 
 for one of the express messengers the Mexicans 
 
282 LIFE OP KIT CARSON. 
 
 were detaining ; but it availed nothing, for the 
 expressman stated that, finding it impossible to 
 reach San Diego, he and his companions had 
 returned, when they were captured by the 
 Mexicans. 
 
 The Mexicans had been maneuvering all 
 day, and toward evening, as the Americans 
 were about going into camp by a stream of 
 water, came down upon them in two divisions, 
 making a vigorous charge. The Americans 
 were obliged to retire before such vastly 
 superior niimbers, and marched in order to a 
 hill a little distance oft', where they halted to 
 give the Mexicans battle ; but the latter, seeing 
 the advantage of the position, drew off to a 
 neighboring height, where they commenced and 
 continued a deadly cannonade upon the Ameri- 
 cans. A party of Americans was sent to dis- 
 lodge them, which they accomplished, and the 
 whole force of the Americans went over to 
 occupy that position, as they were compelled to 
 make a resting place somewhere, because it was 
 no longer possible for them to continue their 
 march, with the Mexican force ready at any 
 time to fall upon them. Upon this hill there 
 was barely water enough for the men, and to 
 take the horses to the stream could not be 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON, 283 
 
 thought of, for the Mexicans would surely cap 
 ture them ; nor had they any food left, except 
 as they killed and ate their mules. 
 
 The condition of the party had become ex- 
 tremely desperate, and the war council that 
 was called discussed a variety of measures, 
 equally desperate with their condition, for im- 
 mediate relief, until, when the rest had made 
 their propositions, Carson again showed him- 
 self " the right man in the right place," and 
 when all besides were hopeless, was the salva- 
 tion of his party. He rose in the council and 
 said: 
 
 " Our case is a desperate one, but there is yet 
 hope. If we stay here, we are all dead men ; 
 our animals cannot last long, and the soldiers 
 and marines at San Diego do not know of our 
 coming. But if they receive information of 
 our position, they would hasten to our rescue. 
 There is no use in thinking why or how we are 
 here, but only of our present and speedy es- 
 cape. I will attempt to go through the Mexi- 
 can lines, and will then go to San Diego, and 
 send relief from Commodore Stockton." 
 
 Lieutenant Beale, of the United States Navy, 
 at once seconded Carson, and volunteered to 
 accompany him. 
 
284 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 Lieutenant Beale is now widely known for 
 Ms valuable services to the country, and, as an 
 explorer, lie has few equals in the world. 
 
 The writer is informed that he is now deeply 
 interested in a wagon road across the country 
 by the route he had just crossed, at the time 
 of which we write. His life has been full of 
 strange adventures, since he left the service of 
 the seas. 
 
 General Kearney immediately accepted the 
 proposal of Carson and Lieutenant Beale, as his 
 only hope, and they started at once, as soon as 
 the cover of darkness was hung around them. 
 Their mission was to be one of success or of 
 death to themselves and the whole force. Car- 
 son was familiar with the custom of the Mexi- 
 cans, as well as the Indians, of putting their 
 ear to the ground to detect any sound, and 
 knew, therefore, the necessity of avoiding the 
 slightest noise. As this was not possible, 
 wearing their shoes, they removed them, and 
 putting them under their belts, crept on over 
 the bushes and rocks, with the greatest caution 
 and silence. 
 
 They discovered that the Mexicans had three 
 rows of sentinels, whose beats extended past 
 each other, embracing the hill where Kearney 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 285 
 
 and his command were held in siege. They 
 were, doubtless, satisfied that they could not 
 be eluded. But our messengers crept on, often 
 so near a sentinel as to see his figure and 
 equipment in the darkness ; and once, when 
 within a few yards of them, one of the senti- 
 nels had dismounted and lighted his cigarette 
 with his flint and steel. Kit Carson seeing this, 
 as he lay flat on the ground, had put his foot 
 back and touched Lieutenant Beale, a signal to 
 be still as he was doing. The minutes the 
 Mexican was occupied in this way seemed hours 
 to our heroes, who expected they were discov- 
 ered ; and Carson affirms that they were so still 
 he could hear Lieutenant Beale's heart pulsate, 
 and in the agony of the time he lived a year. 
 But the Mexican finally mounted his horse, and 
 rode oif in a contrary direction, as if he were 
 guided by Providence, to give safety to these 
 courageous adventurers. For full two miles 
 Kit Carson and Lieutenant Beale thus worked 
 their way along, upon their hands and knees, 
 turning their eyes in every direction to detect 
 anything which might lead to their discovery, 
 and having passed the last sentinel, and left the 
 lines sufficiently behind them, they felt an im- 
 measurable relief in once more gaining their feet. 
 
286 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 But their shoes were gone, and in the ex- 
 citement of the journey", neither of them had 
 thought of their shoes since they first put them 
 in their belts ; but they could speak again, and 
 congratulate each other that the imminent 
 danger was past, and thank heaven that they 
 had been aided thus far. But there were still 
 abundant difficulties, as their path was rough 
 with bushes, from the necessity of avoiding the 
 well-trodden trail lest they be detected ; and 
 the prickly pear covered the ground, and its 
 thorns penetrated their feet at every step ; and 
 their road was lengthened by going around out 
 of the direct path, though the latter would have 
 shortened their journey many a weary mile. 
 All the day following they pursued their jour- 
 ney, and on still, without cessation, into the 
 night following, for they could not stop until 
 assured that relief was to be furnished to their 
 anxious and perilous conditioned fellow-sol- 
 diers. 
 
 Carson had pursued so straight a course, and 
 aimed so correctly for his mark, that they en- 
 tered the town by the most direct passage, and 
 answering " friends " to the challenge of the 
 sentinel, it was known from whence they came, 
 and they were at once conducted to Commo- 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 287 
 
 dore Stockton, to whom they related the errand 
 on which they had come, and the further par- 
 ticulars we have described. 
 
 Commodore Stockton immediately detailed a 
 force of nearly two hundred men, and with his 
 usual promptness, ordered them to seek their 
 besieged countrymen by forced marches. 
 
 They took with them a piece of ordnance, 
 which the men were obliged to draw themselves, 
 as there were in readiness no animals to be 
 had. Carson did not return with them, as his 
 feet were in a terrible condition, and he needed 
 to rest or he might lose them, but he described 
 the position of General Kearney so accurately, 
 that the party to relieve him would find him 
 with no difficulty ; and yet, if the Commodore 
 had expressed the wish, he would have under- 
 taken to conduct the relief party upon its 
 march. 
 
 Lieutenant Beale was partially deranged for 
 several days, from the effects of this severe serv- 
 ice, and was sent on board the frigate lying in 
 port for medical attendance; but he did not 
 fully recover his former physical health for 
 more than two years ; but he never spoke re- 
 gretfully of an undertaking, which was not ex- 
 celled by any feat performed in the Mexican war. 
 
288 LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 
 
 The reinforcement reached General Kearney 
 witliout a collision with the Mexicans, and very 
 soon all mar(;hed to San Diego, where the 
 wounded soldiers received medical attendance. 
 
 We have spoken of the superionty of char- 
 acter of the California Mexicans over that of 
 the inhabitants of the other Mexican States. 
 The officials appointed at the Mexican capital 
 for this State were treated deferentially or cav- 
 alierly, as they consulted or disregarded the 
 wishes of the people, and often it happened 
 that a Grovernor-General of California was put 
 on board a ship at Monterey, and directed to 
 betake himself back to those who sent him. 
 
 California was so remote from the headquar- 
 ters of the general government, that these things 
 were done with impunity, for it would have 
 been difficult to send a force into the State 
 that could subdue it, with its scattered popula- 
 tion, and if laws obnoxious to them were en- 
 acted, and they violated them, or expelled an 
 official who proposed their enforcement, it was 
 quietly overlooked. Managing their own af- 
 fairs in this way, a spirit of independence and 
 bold daring had been cultivated, especially since 
 the time when our story of California life com- 
 menced in Carson's first visit to that State, nor 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 289 
 
 had the intercourse with Americans hitherto 
 lessened these feelings, for the California Mex- 
 icans admired the Americans, as they called 
 them, and cultivated good fellowship with them 
 generally ; so that we see when the Bear Flag 
 and Independence of the State became the 
 order under Fremont and his party, many of 
 its leading citizens came at once into the ar- 
 rangement, or were parties in it at the first. 
 
 Had the conquest and government of the 
 country been conducted wholly by Fremont, it 
 would have exhibited very little expenditiire 
 of life, for conciliation and the cultivation of 
 kindly feeling was the policy he pursued ; in- 
 deed, with Carson as prime counselor, whose 
 wife at home in Taos owned kindred with this 
 people as one of the same race, how could it 
 have been otherwise ! though as Americans and 
 citizens of the United States, in whose employ 
 they acted, first allegiance was ever cheerfully 
 accorded to their country, by Carson equally 
 with Fremont, as the history of California most 
 fully proves. 
 
 The United States forces at San Diego were 
 not in condition to again take the field, until a 
 number of weeks had elapsed, when a command 
 of six hundred had been organized for the pur- 
 
 19 
 
290 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 pose of again capturing Los Angeles, where 
 the Mexican forces were concentrated, and 
 General Kearney and Commodore Stockton 
 were united in conducting it, and in two days 
 arrived within fifteen miles of the town, near 
 where the Mexican army, to the number of 
 seven hundred, had established themselves 
 strongly upon a hill beside their camp, and 
 between whom and the Americans flowed a 
 stream of water. 
 
 General Kearney ordered two pieces of ar- 
 tillery planted where they would rake the po- 
 sition of the Mexicans, which soon forced them 
 to break up their camp, when General Kearney 
 and Commodore Stockton immediately marched 
 into the town, but only to find it destitute of 
 any military control, as the Mexican army had 
 gone northward to meet Colonel Fremont who 
 had left Monterey with a force of four hundred 
 Americans, to come to Los Angeles. 
 
 The Mexicans found Colonel Fremont, and 
 laid down their arms to him, probably prefer- 
 ring to give him the honor of the victory rather 
 than General Kearney, though if this was or 
 was not the motive, history now sayeth not. 
 Colonel Fremont continued his march and came 
 to Los Angeles, and as the fighting for the 
 
LIFE OP KIT CARSON. 291 
 
 present certainly was over, he and Hs men 
 rested here for the winter, where Carson, who 
 had been rendering all the aid in his power to 
 General Kearney, now gladly joined his old 
 commander. 
 
 The position of the American forces, had the 
 camps been harmonious, was as comfortable 
 and conducive to happiness dunng the winter 
 as it was possible for it to be, and the Mexican 
 citizens of Los Angeles had been so conciliated, 
 the time might have passed pleasantly. But, 
 as we have intimated, General Kearney had a 
 general contempt for the Mexicans, and his 
 position in the camp forbade those pleasant 
 civilities which had commenced in San Diego 
 before his arrival, and would have been prose- 
 cuted in Los Angeles, to the advantage of 
 all concerned ; for, as many of the men in Fre- 
 mont's camp were old residents of the country, 
 and known and respected by the Mexican 
 citizens, with whom some of them had con- 
 tracted intimate social relations, it is not 
 wonderful that the Mexican officers and sol- 
 diers chose to lay down their arms to him and 
 his command. Fremont had beside, at the 
 instigation of Carson as well as of his own 
 inclination, taken every reasonable opportunity 
 
292 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 to gratify their love of social life, by joining in 
 their assemblies as opportunity offered; and 
 for this, as well as his magnanimous courage, 
 we can appreciate their choice in giving him 
 the palm of victory. 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 29o 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Events transpire rapidly when a country is 
 in a state of revolution. Early in March of 
 '46 the little party of explorers received the 
 "first hostile message " from General Castro — 
 the Commandant General of California — which, 
 though really a declaration of war, upon a 
 party sent out by the United States Govern- 
 ment on a purely scientific expedition, had 
 been received and acted upon by Fremont with 
 moderation, and actual wai- had not been de- 
 clared until July, when Sonoma was taken, and 
 the fliig of independence hoisted on the fourth 
 of that month, and Fremont elected Governor 
 of California. 
 
 While hearing indefinitely of these events. 
 Commodore Sloat, who, with the vessels be- 
 longing to his command, was Ijdng at Mon- 
 terey, had hoisted the flag of the United 
 States over that city, anticipating any com- 
 mand to do so on the part of his government, 
 and anticipating also the action of the com- 
 
294 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 mander of the British ship of war, sent for a 
 similar purpose, which arrived at Monterey on 
 the 19th of July, under the command of Sir 
 George Seymour ; one of whose officers, in_ a 
 book published by him after his return to 
 England, describes the entrance of Fremont 
 and his party into Monterey as follows : 
 
 " During our stay in Monterey," says Mr. 
 Walpole, " Captain Fremont and his party ar- 
 rived. They naturally excited curiosity. Here 
 were true trappers, the class that produced 
 the heroes of Fenimore Cooper's best works. 
 These men had passed years in the vdlds, living 
 upon their own resources ; they were a curious 
 set. A vast cloud of dust appeared first, and 
 thence in long file emerged this wildest wild 
 party. Frem ont rode ahead, a spare, active-look- 
 ing man, with such an eye ! He was dressed 
 in a blouse and leggings, and wore a felt hat. 
 After him came five Dela^vare Indians, who 
 were his body-guard, and had been with him 
 through all his wanderings; they had charge 
 of two baggage horses. The rest, many of them 
 blacker than the Indians, rode two and two, the 
 rifle held by one hand across the pommel of the 
 saddle. Thirty-nine of them are his regular 
 men, the rest are loafers picked up lately ; his 
 
LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 295 
 
 original men are principally backwoodsmen, 
 from the State of Tennessee and the banks of 
 the upper waters of the Missouri. He has one or 
 two with him who enjoy a high reputation in 
 the prairies. Kit Carson is as well known there 
 as 'the Duke' is in Europe. The dress of 
 these men was principally a long loose coat of 
 deer skin, tied with thongs in front ; trowsers 
 of the same, of their own manufacture, which, 
 when wet through, they take ofp, scrape well 
 inside with a knife, and put on as soon as dry ; 
 the saddles were of various fashions, though 
 these and a large drove of horses, and a brass 
 field-gun, were things they had picked up 
 about California. They are allowed no liquor, 
 tea and sugar only ; this, no doubt, has much 
 to do with their good conduct ; and the disci- 
 pline, too, is very strict. They were marched 
 up to an open space on the hills near the town, 
 under some large fires, and there took up their 
 quarters, in messes of six or seven, in the open 
 air. The Indians lay beside their leader. One 
 man, a doctor, six feet six high, was an odd- 
 looking fellow. May I never come under his 
 hands ! " 
 
 Commodore Stockton had arrived the same 
 day with Fremont and Carson and their c®m 
 
296 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 mand, and under Mm Fremont Lad been ap 
 pointed General in Chief of the California 
 forces, with Carson for his first Lieutenant; 
 Stockton assuming the civil office of Governor 
 of the country. This had been deemed a 
 measure of necessity, from the fact that the 
 California Mexicans had not yet learned, from 
 the Mexican authorities, the actual declaration 
 of vrar between the United States and Mexico ; 
 and therefore looked upon the operations of 
 the Americans as the acts of adventurers for 
 their own aggrandizement ; and yet, with all 
 the intensity of feeling such ideas aroused, 
 Fremont and Carson had won their admiration 
 and their hearts, by the rapidity of their 
 movements, their sudden and effective blows, 
 and the effort by despatch to avoid all cruelty 
 and bloodshed as far as possible. 
 
 In this way had San Diego, San Pedro, Los 
 Angeles, Santa Barbara, and the whole coun- 
 try, as the Mexican authorities declared, come 
 into the possession of Commodore Stockton 
 and General Fremont, as a conquered territory, 
 taken in behalf of the United States ; and the 
 whole work been completed in about sixty days 
 from the time the first blow was struck ; and 
 when all was accomplished, and the conquest 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 297 
 
 complete, Carson started upon Ms errand to 
 communicate the intelligence to the general 
 government at Washington; with the knowl- 
 edge that all the leading citizens of California, 
 native as well as the American settlers, were 
 friendly to Fremont, and on his account to 
 Commodore Stockton. 
 
 During the three months of Carson's absence, 
 events had transpired that made it necessary 
 to do this work over again, resulting in a 
 measure from the indiscretions of American 
 officers, which induced insurrection on the part 
 of the Mexicans. The arrival of General 
 Kearney with United States troops still further 
 excited them, and produced results which were 
 everything but pleasant to Fremont and Com- 
 modore Stockton, tie details of which we for- 
 bear to give, simply saying that Carson's re- 
 gard for Fremont showed itself by his return 
 to his service, and doing all that he could to 
 forward his interests, and in his often attend- 
 ing him in his excursions, Fremont's com- 
 mand was an independent battalion ; and con- 
 cerning the last and final contest, Greneral Kear- 
 ney thus wrote to the War Department : 
 
 " This morning, Lieutenant-Colonel Fremont, 
 of the regiment of mounted riflemen, reached 
 
298 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 here with four hundred volunteers from the 
 Sacramento ; the enemy capitulated with him 
 yesterday, near San Fernando, agreeing to lay 
 down their arms ; and we have now the prospect 
 of having peace and quietness in this country, 
 which I hope may not be interrupted again." 
 
 It was during Carson's absence, en route for 
 Washington, that Fremont accomplished the 
 most extraordinary feat of physical energy and 
 endurance ever recorded. We find it in the 
 "National Intelligencer," of November 22, 1847, 
 and quote it entire, as illustrating not only the 
 physical powers of human endurance produced 
 by practise and culture, but the wonderful 
 sagacity and enduring qualities of the Califor- 
 nia horses : 
 
 "The ExTRAOBDEsrAEY Ride of Lieut.-Col. 
 Fbemont, his Feiend Don" Jesus Pico, and 
 HIS Servant, Jacob Dodsok, feom Los An- 
 geles to Monterey and Back in Maeoh, 
 1847. 
 
 "This extraordinary ride of 800 miles in 
 eight days, including all stoppages and near two 
 days' detention — a whole day and a night at 
 Monterey, and nearly two half-days at San Luis 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 299 
 
 Obispo — having been brought into evidence be- 
 fore the Army Court Martial now in session in 
 this city, and great desire being expressed by 
 some friends to know how the ride was made, I 
 herewith send you the particulars, that you may 
 publish them, if you please, in the National In- 
 telligencer, as an incident connected with the 
 times and affairs under review in the trial, of 
 which you give so full a report. The circum- 
 stances were first got from Jacob, afterwards 
 revised by Colonel Fremont, and I drew them 
 up from his statement. 
 
 " The publication will show, besides the horse- 
 manship of the riders, the power of the Califor- 
 nia horse, especially as one of the horses was 
 subjected, in the course of the ride, to an extraor- 
 dinary trial, in order to exhibit the capacity 
 of his race. Of course this statement will make 
 no allusion to the objects of the journey, but 
 be confined strictly to its performance. 
 
 " It was at daybreak on the morning of the 
 22d of March, that the party set out from La 
 Ciudad de los Angeles (the city of the Angels) 
 in the southern part of Upper California, to 
 proceed, in the shortest time, to Monterey on 
 the Pacific coast, distant full four hundred miles. 
 The way is over a mountainous country, much 
 
300 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 of it uninhabited, with no other road than a 
 trace, and many defiles to pass, particularly the 
 maritime defile of el liincon or Punto Grordo, 
 fifteen miles in extent, made by the jutting of a 
 precipitous mountain into the sea, and which 
 can only be passed when the tide is out and the 
 sea calm, and then in many places through the 
 waves. The towns of Santa Barbara and San 
 Luis Obispo, and occasional ranches, are the 
 principal inhabited places on the route. Each 
 of the party had three horses, nine in all, to take 
 their turns under the saddle. The six loose 
 horses ran ahead, without bridle, or halter, and 
 required some attention to keep to the track. 
 When wanted for a change, say at the distance of 
 twenty miles, they were caught by the lasso^ 
 thrown either by Don Jesus or the servant Jacob, 
 who, though born in Washington, in his long 
 expeditions with Colonel Fremont, had become 
 as expert as a Mexican with the lasso, as sure as 
 the mountaineer with the rifle, equal to either 
 on horse or foot, and always a lad of courage 
 and fidelity. 
 
 " None of the horses were shod, that being a 
 practise unknown to the Californians. The most 
 usual gait was a sweeping gaUop. The first day 
 they ran one hundred and twenty-five nxiles, 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON, 301 
 
 passing the San Fernando mountain, the defile of 
 the Rincon, several other mountains, and slept at 
 the hospitable ranche of Don Thomas Eobberis, 
 beyond the town of Santa Barbara. The only 
 fatigue complained of in this day's ride, was in 
 Jacob's right arm, made tired by throwing the 
 lasso, and using it as a whip to keep the loose 
 horses to the track. 
 
 " The next day they made another one hun- 
 dred and twenty-five miles, passing the formi- 
 dable mountain of Santa Barbara, and counting 
 upon it the skeletons of some fifty horses, part 
 of near double that number which perished in 
 the crossing of that terrible mountain, by the 
 California battalion, on Christmas day, 1846, 
 amidst a raging tempest, and a deluge of rain 
 and cold more killing than that of the Sierra 
 Nevada — ^the day of severest suffering, say Fre- 
 mont and his men, that they have ever passed. 
 At sunset, the party stopped to sup with the 
 friendly Captain Dana, and at nine at night San 
 Luis Obispo was reached, the home of Don 
 Jesus, and where an affecting reception awaited 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Fremont, in consequence of 
 an incident which occurred there that history will 
 one day record; and he was detained till 10 
 o'clock in the morning receiving the visits of 
 
302 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 the inhabitants, (mothers and children included,) 
 taking a breakfast of honor, and waiting for a 
 relief of fresh horses to be brought in from the 
 surrounding country. Here the nine horses 
 from Los Angeles were left, and eight others 
 taken in their place, and a Spanish boy added 
 to the party to assist in managing the loose 
 horses. 
 
 " Proceeding at the usual gait till eight at 
 night, and having made some seventy miles, 
 Don Jesus, who had spent the night before 
 with his family and friends, and probably with 
 but little sleep, became fatigued, and proposed 
 a halt for a few hours. It was in the valley of 
 the Salinas (salt river called Bxiena Ventv/ra 
 in the old maps,) and the haunt of marauding 
 Indians. For safety during their repose, the 
 party turned off the trace, issued through a 
 canon into a thick wood, and laid down, the 
 horses being put to grass at a short distance, 
 with the Spanish boy in the saddle to watch. 
 Sleep, when commenced, was too sweet to be 
 easily given up, and it was half-way between 
 midnight and day, when the sleepers were 
 aroused by an estampedo among the horses, and 
 the calls of the boy. The cause of the alarm 
 was soon found, not Indians, but white bears — ■ 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 303 
 
 this valley being their great report, and the 
 place where Colonel Fremont and thirty-five of 
 his men encountered some hundred of them the 
 summer before, killing thirty upon the groun<r^ 
 
 " The character of these bears is well known, 
 and the bravest hunters do not like to meet 
 them without the advantage of numbers. On 
 discovering the enemy. Colonel Fremont felt for 
 his pistols, but Don Jesus desired him to lie 
 still, saying that ' people could scare bears ; ' and 
 immediately hallooed at them in Spanish, and 
 they went off. Sleep went off also ; and 
 the recovery of the horses frightened by the 
 bears, buUding a rousing fire, making a break- 
 fast from the hospitable supplies of San Luis 
 Obispo, occupied the party till daybreak, when 
 the journey was resumed. Eighty miles, and 
 the afternoon brought the party to Monterey. 
 
 " The next day, in the afternoon, the party 
 set out on their return, and the two horses rode 
 by Colonel Fremont from San Luis Obispo, being 
 a present to him from Don Jesus, he (Don Je- 
 sus) desired to make an experiment of what 
 one of them could do. They were brothers, 
 one a grass younger than the other, both of the 
 same color, (cinnamon,) and hence called el- 
 caMahf or los ccmalos, (the cinnamon or the cin- 
 
304 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 namons.) The elder was to be taken for the 
 trial ; and the journey commenced upon him at 
 leaving Monterey, the afternoon well advanced. 
 Thirty miles under the saddle done that even- 
 ing, and the party stopped for the night. In 
 the morning, the elder canalo was again under 
 the . saddle for Colonel Fremont, and for ninety 
 miles he carried him without a change, and 
 without apparent fatigue. It was still thirty 
 miles to San Luis Obispo, where the night was 
 to be passed, and Don Jesus insisted that canalo 
 could do it, and so said the horse by his looks 
 and action. But Colonel Fremont would not put 
 him to the trial, and, shifting the saddle to the 
 younger brother, the elder was turned loose to 
 run the remaining thirty miles without a rider. 
 He did so, immediately taking the lead and 
 keeping it all the way, and entering San Luis in 
 a sweeping gallop, nostrils distended, snuffing 
 the air, and neighing with exultation at his re- 
 turn to his native pastures ; his younger brother 
 all the time at the head of the horses under the 
 saddle, bearing on his bit, and held in by his 
 rider. The whole eight horses made their one 
 hundred and twenty miles each that day, (after 
 thirty the evening before,) the elder cinnamon 
 m-aking ninety of his under the saddle that day, 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 305 
 
 besides thirty under the saddle the evening be- 
 fore ; nor was there the least doubt that he 
 would have done the whole distance in the same 
 time if he had continued under the saddle. 
 
 "After a hospitable detention of another 
 half a day at San Luis Obispo, the party set 
 out for Los Angeles, on the same nine horses 
 which they had rode from that place, and made 
 the ride back in about the same time they had 
 made it up, namely, at the rate of 125 miles a 
 day. 
 
 "On this ride, the grass on the road was the 
 food for the horses. At Monterey they had 
 barley ; but these horses, meaning those trained 
 and domesticated^ as the canalos were, eat al- 
 most atiything of vegetable food, or even drink, 
 that their master uses, by whom they are petted 
 and caressed, and rarely sold. Bread, fruit, 
 sugar, coffee, and even wine, (like the Persian 
 horses,) they take from the hand of their mas- 
 ter, and obey with like docility his slightest in- 
 timation. A tap of the whip on the saddle 
 springs them into action ; the check of a thread 
 rein (on the Spanish bit) would stop them : and' 
 stopping short at. speed they do not jostle the 
 rider or throw him forward. They leap on any- 
 thing — man, beast, or weapon, on which their 
 20 
 
306 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 master directs them. But this description, so 
 far as conduct and behavior are concerned, of 
 course only applies to the trained and domes- 
 ticated horse. " 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 307 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 DuEiNG the autumn of 1846, Fremont had 
 had no time to visit his Mariposa purchase ; 
 but in the winter, while at Los Angeles, in- 
 viting Carson and Godey and two of his Dela- 
 ware Indians, and his constant attendant Dob- 
 son, to take a tramp with him for hunting, in 
 the time of sunny skies in February, he ex- 
 tended his hunt thither, and accomplished the 
 discovery that he had a well-wooded and well- 
 watered — ^for California well watered — tract of 
 land, of exceeding beauty, clothed, as it was at 
 this season, with a countless variety of flowering 
 plants, these being the grasses of the country, 
 and seemingly well adapted for tillage, certainly 
 an excellent spot for an immense cattle ranche. 
 They killed deer and antelope and smaller 
 game, and with the lasso captured a score of 
 wild horses from a drove of hundreds that fled 
 at their approach ; returning to Los Angeles 
 within a week from the time of their departure, 
 laden with the spoils of the chase. 
 
 Nor could these busy men refuse the kindly 
 
308 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 hospitalities tendered them by the old and 
 wealthy natives of Los Angeles. We have 
 described their style of life as Carson had vpit- 
 nessed it in 1828 ; and now at a ball given by 
 Don Pio Pico — for thefamdango of the Mexi- 
 can is a part of his life, and with all his re- 
 verses of fortune it must come in for its place 
 — Carson and Fremont are of course guests, 
 and Lieutenant Gillespie, and some other of 
 the American officers. As the company was a 
 mixed one, we will not attempt a description, 
 but quote from Bayard Taylor's California, a 
 scene of a similar kind at the close of the Con- 
 stitutional Convention, about two years later 
 when, with the discovery of gold, California 
 had a population sufficient to demand a State 
 government, and made one for herself, and 
 prepared to knock for admission into the Union 
 of States. In this Convention were the old 
 fathers of California, American army officers, 
 and some more recent arrivals ; and well was it 
 for California that the steps for the organization 
 of her State government were taken so early, 
 when the fact of Mexicans and natives having 
 a claim was not ignored, as it might have been 
 at a later date by the reckless adventurers who 
 thronged the golden shore. 
 
LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 309 
 
 But it is only the ball at the close of the 
 Convention we propose to describe, at which 
 Colonel Fremont and David C. Broderick were 
 present, as members of the Convention. 
 
 " The morning Convention was short and ad- 
 journed early yesterday, on account of a ball 
 given by the Convention to the citizens of Mon- 
 terey. The members, by a contribution of $25 
 each, raised the sum of $1,100 to provide for 
 the entertainment, which was got up in re- 
 turn for that given by the citizens about four 
 weeks since. 
 
 " The Hall was cleared of the forms and 
 tables, and decorated with young pines from 
 the forest. At each end were the American 
 colors tastefully disposed across the boughs. 
 Then chandeliers, neither of bronze or cut-glass, 
 but neat and brilliant withal, poured their light 
 upon the festivities. At eight o'clock — the 
 fashionable hour in Monterey — the guests began 
 to assemble, and in an houi- afterward the Hall 
 was crowded with nearly all the Californian 
 and American residents. There were sixty 
 ladies present, and an equal number of gentle- 
 men, in addition to the members of the Con- 
 vention. The dark-eyed daughters of Mon- 
 terey, Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara mingled 
 
310 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 in pleasing contrast with the fairer bloom of the 
 trans-Nevadian belles. The variety of feature 
 and complexion was fully equaled by the 
 variety of dress. In the whirl of the waltz, a 
 plain, dark, nun-like robe would be followed by 
 one of pink satin and gauze ; next, perhaps, a 
 bodice of scarlet velvet, with gold buttons, and 
 then a rich figured brocade, such as one sees on 
 the stately dames of Titian. 
 
 " The dresses of the gentlemen showed con- 
 siderable variety, but were much less pictur- 
 esque. A complete ball-dress was a happiness 
 attained only by a fortunate few, many appear- 
 ing in borrowed robes. 
 
 " The appearance of the company, neverthe- 
 less, was genteel and respectable ; and perhaps 
 the genial, unrestrained social spirit, that pos- 
 sessed all present, would have been less, had 
 there been more uniformity of costume. 
 General Riley was there in full uniform, with 
 the yellow sash he wore at Contreras ; Majors 
 Canby, Hill, and Smith, Captains Burton, and 
 Kane, and the other officers stationed at Mon- 
 tery, accompanying him. In one group might 
 be seen Captain Sutter's soldierly mustache and 
 blue eye, in another the erect figure and quiet, 
 dignified bearing of General Vallejos ; Don 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 3H 
 
 Peblo de la Guerra, witli Ms handsome, aristo- 
 cratic features, was tLe floor manager, and 
 gallantly discharged his office. Conspicuous 
 among the members were Don Miguel de Rod- 
 razena and Jacinto Rodriguez, both polished 
 gentlemen and deservedly popular. Domin- 
 guez, the Indian member, took no part in the 
 dance, but evidently enjoyed the scene as much 
 as any one present. The most interesting figure 
 to me was that of Padre Remisez, who, in his 
 clerical cassock, looked on until a late hour. If 
 the strongest advocate of priestly gravity and 
 decorum had been present, he could not have 
 found in his heart to grudge the good old padre 
 the pleasure that beamed from his honest coun- 
 tenance. 
 
 " The band consisted of two violins and two 
 guitars, whose music made up in spirit what it 
 lacked in skUl, They played, as it seemed to 
 me, but three pieces alternately, for waltz, con- 
 tra-dance, and quadrille. The latter dance was 
 evidently an unfamiliar one, for once or twice 
 the music ceased in the middle of the figure. 
 The etiquette of the dance was marked by that 
 grave, stately courtesy, which has been handed 
 down from the old Spanish times. The gentle- 
 men invariably gave the ladies their hand to 
 
312 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 lead tliem to their places on the floor ; in the 
 pauses of the dance both panties stood motion- 
 less side by side, and at the conclusion the lady 
 was gravely led back to her seat. 
 
 " At twelve o'clock suppfer was announced. 
 The Court room in the lower story had been 
 fitted lip for the purpose, and as it was not 
 large enough to admit all the guests, the ladies 
 were first conducted thither, and waited upon 
 by a select committee. The refreshments con- 
 sisted of turkey, roast-pig, beef, tongue, and 
 'pates^ with wines and liquors of various sorts, 
 and coffee. A large supply had been provided, 
 but after everybody was served, there was not 
 much remaining, i The ladies began to leave 
 about two o'clock, but an hour later the dance 
 was still going on with spirit." 
 
 The dance at the home of Pico was after 
 the same fashion — and similar to those we have 
 mentioned as the constant amusement of the 
 people at Taos, where Carson resided, and in 
 all the Mexican cities. 
 
 But Carson was too valuable an aid to be 
 long allowed to be idle. In March, 1847, he 
 was ordered to be the bearer of important des- 
 patches to the War Department at "Washington, 
 and Lieutenant Beale was directed to accom- 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON, 313 
 
 pany him with despatches for the Department 
 of the Navy. The latter was still so much an 
 invalid as to require Carson to lift him on and 
 off his horse for the first twenty days of the 
 journey, but Carson's genial spirits and kindly 
 care, wath the healthful exercise of horseman- 
 ship, recovered him rapidly ; and the country 
 was so well known to Carson that they avoided 
 collisions with the Indians by eluding their 
 haunts ; except once upon the Gila, when they 
 were attacked in the night, and a shower of 
 arrows sent among them as they lay in camp, 
 from which his men had escaped, being injured 
 by holding their pack-saddles before them. They 
 stopped briefly at Taos, and pursued their 
 journey so rapidly that the two thousand five 
 hundred miles on horseback, and the fifteen 
 hundred by railroad, were accomplished in less 
 than three months. 
 
 The incidents of such a journey had become 
 every-day scenes to Carson, so that their nar- 
 ration would seem to him a waste of words on 
 the part of his biographer. And yet the emo- 
 tions with which he witnessed, for the first 
 time, the monument of advancing civilization 
 in the Eastern cities, and the zest with which 
 he enjoyed the social comforts of the hospitality 
 
314 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 afforded him at the homes of Lieutenant Beale 
 and Colonel Benton, can be better imagined than 
 described. He had taken but a small supply 
 of provisions from Los Angeles, lest it should 
 be cumbersome to him, and as the road lay 
 often through a countr}'- destitute of game, there 
 had been fasting on the way, sometimes days 
 together ; but his party, which he had selected, 
 making their ability to endure such an enter- 
 prise a leading quality of commendation to 
 him, bore all without a murmur ; stimulated 
 by the one impulse, of reaching their homes and 
 friends, while Carson cared to secure the ap- 
 probation of those whom he served, and the 
 consciousness of having been an honor to his 
 country. 
 
 Colonel Benton met him at St. Louis, and 
 reaching Washington, Mrs. Fremont was at the 
 depot to take him to hers and her father's home. 
 She waited for no introduction, but at once ap- 
 proached him, calling him by name, and telling 
 him she should have known him from her hus- 
 band's description. After a brief tarry in 
 Washington, a lion himself and introduced to 
 all the lions, he departed with Lieutenant Beale 
 for St. Louis, but business detained the latter 
 who went later by sea ; while Carson, whom 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 315 
 
 President Polk had made a Lieutenant in the 
 army, mth fifty troops under his command to 
 take through the Comanche country, again com- 
 menced his journey across the prairies, having a 
 battle with these Indians as was expected, for 
 they were at war with the whites. 
 
 This did not occur, however, until near the 
 Rocky Mountains, near the place called " The 
 Point of Rocks," on the Santa Fe trail, which 
 place is regarded as one of the most dangerous 
 in the New Mexican country, because affording 
 shelter for ambush at a place where the travel 
 has to pass a spur of rocky hillSj at whose base 
 is found the water and camp-ground travelers 
 seek, and where unwritten history counts many' 
 a battle. 
 
 Arriving here, Carson found a company of 
 United States volunteers, and went into camp 
 near them. Early in the morning the animals 
 of the volunteer company were captured by a 
 band of Indians, while the men were taking 
 them to a spot of fresh pasture. The herders 
 were without arms, and in the confusion the 
 cattle came into Carson's camp, who, vrith his 
 men, were ready with their rifles, and recaptured 
 the cattle from the Indians, but the horses of 
 the picketing party were successfully stampeded. 
 
316 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 Several of the ttieves had been mortally 
 wounded, as the signs after their departure 
 showed, but the Indian custom of tying the 
 wounded upon their horses, prevented taking 
 the Indian's trophy of victory, the scalp, and 
 the object of the Indians in their assaults. The 
 success of the Arab-like Comanches is well 
 illustrated by this skirmish, giving best assurance 
 that Carson, who was never surprised in this 
 whole journey, possessed that element of cau- 
 tion so requisite in a commander in such a coun- 
 try. 
 
 Of the two soldiers whose turn it had been 
 to stand guard this morning, it Avas found that 
 one was sleeping when the alarm was given, 
 and when it was reported to Carson, he at once 
 administered the Chinook method of punish- 
 ment — the dress of a squaw — ^for that day, and 
 resuming his journey, arrived safely in Santa 
 Fe, where he left the soldiers, and hired sixteen 
 men of his own choosing, to take with him the 
 remainder of the journey, as he had been or- 
 dered at Fort Leavenworth. To his great joy, 
 his family were here to meet him, as he had 
 requested. Upon Virgin River, he had to com- 
 mand the obedience of Indians who came into 
 his camp and left it tardily, by firing upon them. 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 317 
 
 which required some nerve and experience in a 
 leader of so small a party, while the Indians 
 numbered three hundred warriors. They ar- 
 rived at Los Angeles without further incident 
 than the killing and eating of two mules, to eke 
 out their scanty subsistence, in the destitution 
 of game and time to hunt it ; whence Carson 
 proceeded to Monterey, to deliver his despatches 
 at headquarters, and returned to the duty 
 assigned to him as an acting Lieutenant in the 
 United States Army, in the company of drag- 
 oons under Captain Smith, allowing him no time 
 to recruit ; and soon he was sent with a com- 
 mand of twenty-five dragoons, to the Tejon 
 Pass, to examine the papers and cargoes of In- 
 dians passing this point, the route which most 
 of the Indian depredators took in passing in 
 and out of California ; and here he did much 
 good service during the winter. 
 
 In the spring he again went overland to 
 "Washington with despatches, meeting no serious 
 difficulty till he came to the Grand River, where 
 in the time of spring flood he was obliged to 
 construct a raft, and the second load over was 
 swamped, the men barely saving their lives, 
 w^hich rendered his party destitute of comforts 
 in their onward journey, but arriving at Taos 
 
318 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 he stopped with his family, and at Ms own 
 home gave hivS men a few days to recruit, and 
 himself the luxury of intercourse with his 
 family and friends, which no one enjoyed more 
 than Christopher Carson. 
 
 They had encountered several hundred In- 
 dians of the Apaches and Utahs, whom Carson 
 told he had nothing to give, and upon whom 
 the appearance of his men gave assurance they 
 would make little by attacking. At Santa Fe, 
 Carson learned that his appointment as Lieu-' 
 tenant by the President had not been confirmed 
 by the Senate, and his friends advised him not 
 to carry the despatches any further ; but Car- 
 son was not to be deterred from doing his duty 
 because the honor he deserved was not accorded 
 to him, saying that " as he had been selected 
 for an important trust, he should do his best to 
 fulfil it, if it cost him his life ; " and he pro- 
 ceeded to Washington, feeling that if ill-usage 
 had reached him in connection with Fremont, to 
 whom he had been of so much service, it was 
 no more than he might have expected ; as, for 
 many months past, political considerations and 
 rivalries had been seen by him to govern the 
 actions of certain men, instead of a care for the 
 best interests of the country. He had seen men 
 
LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 319 
 
 in command of troops in the prairies who had 
 the least possible knowledge of the country, 
 and especially of Indian warfare. He would 
 have advised that frontier men be chosen for 
 such appointments, rather than those simply 
 educated in the schools and entirely unaccus- 
 tomed to endure privations, but if others neg- 
 lected the wiser course, that was no reason why 
 he should not do his duty. 
 
 Learning that the Comanches were upon the 
 Santa ¥& road, several hundred strong, he re- 
 duced his escort to ten choice mountain men, 
 and determined upon making a trail of his own 
 returned to Taos, and struck over to the head- 
 waters of the Platte, and past Fort Kearney to 
 Leavenworth, where he left his escort and pro- 
 ceeded alone to Washington, and delivering his 
 despatches as directed, returned immediately to 
 Leavenworth, and thence to Taos, where he ar- 
 rived in October ; and was again at home and 
 free from the burdens and responsibilities of 
 public life, with the settled purpose of making 
 a protracted stay, and providing himself with a 
 permanent home. 
 
 Perhaps there is no tribe of Indians besides 
 the Seminoles in Florida, that have given the 
 United States more trouble than the Apaches, 
 
320 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 in the time that we have held the claim of their 
 country; and the best proof of their bravery 
 may be found in the fact that the warriors 
 nearly all die in battle. Living in a country as 
 healthy as any in the world, and constantly 
 occupied in hunting buffalo, or Mexicans and 
 whites, with whom they are at war, they are 
 exceedingly regardful of their national honor, 
 and as their mountain retreats are almost in- 
 accessible, they have the advantage of regular 
 troops, and almost of old mountaineers, only as 
 the latter can equal them in numbers. 
 
 Colonel Beale was occupying this department 
 at the time of which we write, and engaged in 
 an effort to chastise the Apaches under Clico 
 Velasquez^ their exceedingly bloodthirsty and 
 cruel chief, whose habit was to adorn his dress 
 with the finger bones of the victims he had 
 slaughtered. Colonel Beale took charge of the 
 command himself, and employed Carson as his 
 guide. They crossed snow mountains to search 
 for the Indians, and returning came upon a 
 village, which they attacked, and captured a 
 large amount of goods and two of the chiefs of 
 the tribe, with whom Colonel Beale had a long 
 talk, and then dismissed to return to their tribe, 
 hoping thus to convince them of the magna- 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 321 
 
 nimity of the United States Government, wlien 
 the command returned to Taos to recruit He 
 troops. 
 
 Meantime Carson entertained, at his own 
 home in Taos, Fremont and his party of suffer- 
 ing explorers, who were making a winter survey 
 of a pass for a road to California, and by taking 
 a difficult mountain pass, had lost all their mules 
 and several of their party. Science is not all 
 that is needed for such undertakings, and as 
 labor and learning should act in copartnership, 
 to be most effective, so theoretic and practical 
 skill should be associated in any effort of dif- 
 ficulty, as this trip of Colonel Fremont, without 
 an experienced niountaineer for a guide, proved 
 to him and his men, some of whom had fed upon 
 the others who had starved. 
 
 21 
 
322 LIFE OF KIT CARSOM. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXL 
 
 In tlie last chapter, we left Fremont in the 
 hospitable mansion of his old and tried friend 
 Carson, after one of the most extraordinary 
 journeys ever performed by any man who sur- 
 vived to tell its horrors ; and as the names of 
 Carson and Fremont are inseparably cemented 
 in history, as in friendship, and as the former 
 had often endured sufferings almost as great 
 as those of his old commander and friend, we 
 shall be pardoned if we allude to this journey 
 at some length. There is no earthly doubt that 
 had Carson been the guide, many valuable lives 
 of noble, glorious men might have been spared, 
 and sufferings on the part of those who survived 
 this disastrous expedition, almost too horrible 
 for belief, avoided. 
 
 Colonel Fremont, in a letter written to his wife 
 from Taos, the day after his arrival there in a 
 famishing condition, and having lost one full 
 third of his party by absolute starvation and 
 freezing, mentions that at Pueblo he engaged 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 323 
 
 as a guide, an old trapper of twenty-five years' 
 experience, named "Bill "Williams," and lie 
 frankly admits that tlie " error of Ms journey 
 was committed in engaging this man." 
 
 In narrating some of the incidents of this 
 terribly disastrous journey, we shall use, of 
 course, the language of those best qualified to 
 depict its horrors, i. e., Colonel Fremont, and 
 Mr. Carvalho, a gentleman of Baltimore, who 
 accompanied the expedition as daguerreotypist 
 and artist. 
 
 Colonel Fremont, in his letter to his wife, 
 treats of the subject generally, but when we 
 quote from the narrative of Mr. Carvalho, we 
 think our readers will admit that such a record 
 of human suffering and human endurance, 
 added to such an exhibition of moral and physi- 
 cal courage, has never been paralleled. 
 
 Colonel Fremont writes (speaking first of 
 Williams the guide) : 
 
 " He proved never to have in the least 
 known, or entirely to have forgotten, ihe whole 
 region of countrj'^ through which we were 
 to pass. We occupied more than half a month 
 in making the journey of a few days, blunder- 
 ing a tortuous way through deep snow which 
 already began to choke up the passes, for 
 
324 LIf'E Of KIT CARSON. 
 
 which we were obliged to waste time in search- 
 ing. About the 11th December we found 
 ourselves at the North of the Del Norte Canon, 
 where that river issues from the St. John's 
 Mountain, one of the highest, most rugged 
 and impracticable of all the Rocky Mountain 
 ranges, inaccessible to trappers and hunters 
 even in the summer time. 
 
 " Across the point of this elevated range our 
 guide conducted us, and having still great con- 
 fidence in his knowledge, vr6 pressed onwards 
 with fatal resolution. Even along the river 
 bottoms the snow was already belly deep for 
 the mules, frequently snowing in the valley 
 and almost constantly in the mountains. The 
 cold was extraordinary ; at the warmest hours 
 of the day (between one and two) the ther- 
 mometer (Fahrenheit) standing in the shade 
 of only a tree trunk at zero ; the day sunshiny, 
 with a moderate breeze. We pressed up 
 towards the summit, the snow deepening ; and 
 in four or five days we reached the naked 
 ridges which lie above the timbered country, 
 and which form the dividing grounds between 
 the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. 
 
 " Along these naked ridges it storms nearly 
 all winter, and the winds sweep across them 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. ^-2r> 
 
 with remorseless fury. On our first attempt 
 to cross we encountered a pouderie (dry snow 
 driven thick through the air by violent vnnd, 
 and in which objects are visible only at a short 
 distance), and were driven back, having some 
 ten or twelve men variously frozen, face, hands, 
 or feet. The guide became nigh being frozen 
 to death here, and dead mules were already 
 lying about the fires. Meantime, it snowed 
 steadily. The next day we made mauls, and 
 beating a road or trench through the snow 
 crossed the crest in defiance of the pouderie 
 and encamped immediately below in the edge 
 of the timber. 
 
 " Westward, the country was buried in deep 
 snow. It was impossible to advance, and to 
 turn back was equally impracticable. "We 
 were overtaken by sudden and inevitable ruin 
 and it was instantly apparent that we should 
 lose every animal. 
 
 " I determined to recross the mountain more 
 towards the open country, and haul or pack 
 the baggage (by men) down to the Del Norte. 
 With great labor the baggage was transported 
 across the crest to the head springs of a little 
 stream leading to the main river. A few days 
 were sufficient to destroy our fine band of mules. 
 
326 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 They generally kept huddled together, and as 
 they froze, one would be seen to tumble down, 
 and the snow would cover him ; some times 
 they would break off and rusli down towards 
 the timber until they were stopped by the 
 deep sno^\•, Avhere they were soon hidden by 
 the ■pouderie. 
 
 " The courage of the men failed fast ; in fact, 
 I have never seen men so soon discouraged by 
 misfortune as we were on this occasion ; but, 
 as you know, the party was not constituted 
 like the former ones. But among those who 
 deserve to be honorably mentioned, and who 
 behaved like what they were — men of the old 
 exploring party, — were Godey, King, and Tap- 
 lin ; and first of all Godey. 
 
 "In this situation, I determined to send in 
 a party to the Spanish settlements of New 
 Mexico for provisions and mules to transport 
 our baggage to Taos. With economy, and 
 after we should leave the mules, we had not 
 two weeks' provisions in the camp. These 
 consisted of a store which I had reserved for a 
 hard day, macaroni and bacon. From among 
 the volunteers I chose King, Brackenridge, 
 Creutzf eldt, and the guide Williams ; the party 
 under the command of King. In case of the 
 
LIFE OP KIT CARSON. 327 
 
 least delay at tte settlements, he was to send 
 me an express. 
 
 "Day after day passed by, and no news from 
 onr express party. Snow continued to fall 
 almost incessantly on tlie mountain. The 
 spirits of the camp grew lower. Prone laid 
 down in the trail and froze to death. In a sun- 
 shiny day, and having with him means to make 
 a fire, he threw his blankets down in the trail 
 and laid there till he froze to death. After 
 sixteen days had elapsed from King's depar- 
 ture, I became so uneasy at the delay that I 
 decided to wait no longer. I was aware that 
 our troops had been engaged in hostilities with 
 the Spanish Utahs and Apaches, who range iu 
 the North River valley, and became fearful 
 that they (King's party) had been cut off by 
 these Indians ; I could imagine no other acci- 
 dent. Leaving the camp employed with the 
 baggage and in charge of Mr. Vincenthaler, I 
 started down the river with a small party con- 
 sisting of Godey (with his young nephew), Mr. 
 Preuss and Saunders. We carried our arms 
 and provision for two or three days. In the 
 camp the messes had provisions for two or 
 three meals, more or less ; and about five 
 pounds of sugar to each man. Failing to meet 
 
S28 LIFE OP KIT CARSON. 
 
 King, my intention was to make the Red Kiver 
 settlement about twenty-five miles north of 
 Taos, and send back the speediest relief possi- 
 ble. My instructions to the camp were, that 
 if they did not hear from me within a stated 
 time, they were to follow down the Del 
 Norte. 
 
 " About sunset on the sixth day, we discov- 
 ered a little smoke, in a grove of timber oflE 
 from the river, and thinking perhaps it might 
 be our express party on its return, we went to 
 see. This was the twenty-second day since they 
 had left us, and the sixth since we had left the 
 camp. We found them — three of them-^ 
 Creutzfeldt, Brackenridge, and Williams — thfe 
 most miserable ^objects I have ever seen. I did 
 not recognize Creutzf eldt's features when Brack- 
 enridge brought him up to me and mentioned 
 his name. They had been starving. King had 
 starved to death a few days before. His re- 
 mains were some six or eight miles above, near 
 the river. By aid of the horses, we carried these 
 three men with us to Red River settlement, 
 which we reached (Jan. 20), on the tenth even- 
 ing after leaving our camp in the mountains, 
 having .traveled through snoAv and on foot one 
 hundred and sixty miles. 
 
LIFE OP KIT CAESON. 329 
 
 " The morning after reaching the Red River 
 town, Godey and myself rode on to the Rio 
 Hondo and Taos, in search of animals and 
 supplies, and on the second evening after that 
 on which we had reached Red River, Godey 
 had returned to that place with about thirty 
 animals, provisions, and four Mexicans, with 
 which he set out for the camp on the following 
 morning. 
 
 " You will remember that I had left the 
 camp with occupation sufficient to employ them 
 for three or four days, after which they were 
 to follow me down the river. Within that time 
 I had expected the relief from King, if it was 
 to come at all. 
 
 " They remained where I had left them seven 
 days, and then started down the river. Manuel 
 — ^you will remember Manuel, the Cosumne 
 Indian — gave way to a feeling of despair after 
 they had traveled about two miles, begged 
 Haler to shoot him, and then turned and made 
 his way • back to the camp ; intending to die 
 there, as he doubtless soon did. They followed 
 our trail down the river — twenty-two men they 
 were in all. About ten miles below the camp, 
 Wise gave out, threw away his gun and 
 blanket, and a few hundred yards further fell 
 
330 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 over into the snow and died. Two Indian 
 boys, young men, countrymen of Manuel, were 
 behind. They rolled up Wise in his blanket, 
 and buried him in the snow on the river 
 bank. No more died that day — none the 
 next. Carver raved during the night, his im- 
 agination wholly occupied with images of many 
 things which he fancied himself eating. In 
 the morning he wandered off from the party, 
 and probably soon died. They did not see him 
 again. 
 
 " Sorel on this day gave out, and lai4 down 
 to die. They built him a fire, and Morin, who 
 was in a dying condition, and snow-blind, re- 
 mained. These two did not probably last till 
 the next morning. That evening, I think, Hub- 
 bard killed a deer. They traveled on, getting 
 here and there a grouse, but probably nothing 
 else, the snow having frightened off the game. 
 Things were desperate, and brought Haler to 
 the determination of breaking up the party, in 
 order to prevent them from living upon each 
 other. He told them ' that he had done all he 
 could for them, that they had no other hope 
 remaining than the expected relief, and that 
 their best plan was to scatter and make the best 
 of their way in small parties down the river. 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 33I 
 
 That, for his part, if he was to be eaten, he 
 would, at all events, be found traveling when 
 he did die.' They accordingly separated. 
 
 " With Mr. Haler continued five others and 
 the two Indian boys. Rohrer now became 
 very despondent ; Haler encouraged him by 
 recalling to mind his family, and urged him to 
 hold out a little longer. On this day he fell 
 behind, but promised to overtake them at 
 evening. Haler, Scott, Hubbard, and Martin 
 agreed that if any one of them should give 
 out, the others were not to wait for him to die, 
 but build a fire for him, and push on. At 
 night, Kern's mess encamped a few hundred 
 yards from Haler's, with the intention, accord- 
 ing to Taplin, to remain where they were until 
 the relief should come, and in the meantime to 
 live upon those who had died, and upon the 
 weaker ones as they should die. "With the 
 three Kerns were Cathcart, Andrews, McKie, 
 Stepperfeldt, and Taplin. 
 
 "Ferguson and Beadle had remained to- 
 gether behind. In the evening, Rohrer came 
 up and remained with Kern's mess. Mr. Haler 
 learned afterwards from that mess that Rohrer 
 and Andi'ews wandered off the next day and 
 died. They say they saw their bodies. In the 
 
332 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 morning Haler's party continued on. After a 
 few hours, Hubbard gave out. They built him 
 a, fire, gathered him some wood, and left him 
 without, as Haler says, turning their heads to 
 look at him as they went off. About two' miles 
 f urthei-, Scott — you remember Scott — who used 
 to shoot birds for you at the frontier — gave out. 
 They did the same for him as for Hubbard, and 
 continued on. In the afternoon, the Indian boys 
 went ahead, and before nightfall met Godey 
 with the relief. Haler heard and knew the guns 
 which he fired for him at night, and starting 
 early in the morning, soon met him. I heard 
 that they all cried together like children. Haler 
 turned back with Godey, and went with him to 
 where they had left Scott. He was still alive, 
 and was saved. Hubbard was dead — still warm. 
 From Kern's mess they learned the death of An- 
 drews and Eohrer, and a little above, met Fer- 
 guson, who told them that Beadle had died the 
 night before." 
 
 Such is the portion of the brief, but thrilling, 
 narrative of this extraordinary and disastrous 
 journey, as detailed in a familiar letter by Col- 
 onel Fremont to his wife ; but Mr. Carvalho 
 gives in detail some of the particulars of the 
 horrors which overtook them, all through the 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 333 
 
 unfortunate error of engaging as guide a man 
 who either knew nothing, or had forgotten all 
 he had ever known, of the localities which the 
 party designed and hoped to reach. 
 
334: LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIL 
 
 We quote now from the closing part of Mr. 
 Carvalho's narrative : 
 
 '' At last we are drawn to the necessity of kill- 
 ing our brave horses for food. To-day the first 
 sacrifice was made. It was with us all a solemn 
 event, rendered far more solemn however by the 
 impressive scene which followed. Colonel Fre- 
 mont came out to us, and after referring to the 
 dreadful necessities to which his men had been 
 reduced on a previous expedition, of eating each 
 other, he begged us to swear that in no extrem- 
 ity of hunger would any of his men lift his hand 
 against, or attempt to prey upon, a comrade ; 
 sooner let him die with them than live upon 
 them. They all promptly took the oath, and 
 threatened to shoot the first one that hinted or 
 proposed such a thing. 
 
 " It was a most impressive scene, to witness 
 twenty-two men on a snowy mountain, with 
 bare heads, and hands and eyes upraised to 
 heaven, uttering the solemn vow, ' So help me 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 335 
 
 God ! ' — and the valley echoed, ' So help me 
 God ! ' I never, until that moment, realized the 
 awful situation in which I was placed. I re- 
 membered the words of the Psalmist, and felt 
 perfectly assured of my final safety. They 
 wandered in tlie wilderness in a solita/ry way ; 
 they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and 
 thirsty their soulfainteth within them, and they 
 cried unto tlie Lord in their i/rouhle, and he deliv- 
 ered them out of their distresses. 
 
 ***** 
 
 " When an animal gave out, he was shot down 
 by the Indians, who immediately cut his throat, 
 and saved all the blood in our camp kettle. 
 This animal was divided into twenty-two parts. 
 Two parts for Colonel Fremont and his cook, 
 ten parts for the white camp, and ten parts for 
 the Indians. Colonel Fremont hitherto messed 
 with his officers ; at this time he requested that 
 they would excuse him, as it gave him pain, and 
 called to mind the horrible scenes which had 
 been enacted during his last expedition — ^he 
 could not see his officers obliged to partake of 
 such disgusting food. 
 
 " The rule he adopted was that one animal 
 should serve for six meals for the whole party. 
 If one gave out in the meantime, of course it 
 
336 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 was an exception; but otherwise, on no con- 
 sideration was an animal to be slaughtered, for 
 every one that was killed, placed a man on foot, 
 and limited our chances of escape from our pres- 
 ent situation. If the men chose to eat up their 
 six meals all in one day, they would have to go 
 without until the time arrived for killing an- 
 other. It frequently happened that the white 
 camp was without food from twenty-four to 
 thirty-six hours, while Colonel Fremont and the 
 Delawares always had a meal. The latter re- 
 ligiously abstained from encroaching on the 
 portion allotted for another meal, while many 
 men of our camp, I may say all of them, not 
 content with their portion, would, to satisfy the 
 cravings of hunger, surreptitiously purloin from 
 their pile of meat, at different times, sundry 
 pieces, thus depriving themselves of each other's 
 allowance. My own sense of right was so sub- 
 dued by the sufferings I endured by hunger, 
 and walking almost barefooted through the 
 snow, that while going to guard one night, I 
 stole a piece of frozen horse liver, ate it raw, 
 and thought it, at the time, the most delicious 
 morsel I ever tasted. 
 
 " The entrails of the horse were ' well shaken ' 
 (for we had no water to wash them in) and 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 337 
 
 boiled with snow, producing a higMy flavored 
 soup, which the men considered so valuable and 
 delicious that they forbade the cook to skim the 
 pot for fear any portion of it might be lost. 
 The hide was divided into equal portions, and 
 with the bones roasted and burnt to a crisp. 
 This we munched on the road ; but the men 
 not being satisfied with the division of the meat 
 by the cook, made him turn his back, while 
 another took up each share separately, and in- 
 quired who should have it. When the snows 
 admitted it, we collected the thick leaves of a 
 species of cactus which we also put in the fire 
 to burn oflE the prickles, and ate. It then re- 
 sembled in taste and nourishment an Irish potato 
 peeling. We lived in this way for nearly fifty 
 days, traveling from Grand River across the 
 divide to Green River, and over the first range 
 of the Wahsach Mountains, on foot, Colonel Fre- 
 mont at our head, tramping a pathway for his 
 men to follow. He, as well as the rest of the 
 party, towards the last was entirely barefoot — 
 some of them had a piece of raw hide on their 
 feet, which, however, becoming hard and stiff 
 by the frost, made them more uncomfortable 
 than walking without any, 
 
 " Yesterday, Mr. Oliver Fidler, of St, Louis, 
 22 
 
338 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 who had been on foot for some weets, suddenly 
 gave oat. Our engineers and myself were with 
 him. He found himself unable to proceed — 
 the snow was very deep, and his feet were 
 badly frozen. He insisted that we should leave 
 him, and hasten to camp for relief ; not being 
 able to render him any assistance by remain- 
 ing, we wrapped his blankets around him and 
 left him on the trail. In vain we searched for 
 material to build him a fire — nothing was 
 visible but a wild waste of snow ; we were also 
 badly crippled, and we did not arrive in camp 
 until ten o'clock at night, at which time it began 
 snowing furiously. We told Colonel Fremont of 
 Mr. Fuller's situation, when he sent a Mexican 
 named Frank, with the two best animals and 
 cooked horsemeat, to bring Mr. Fuller in. There 
 was not a dry eye in the whole camp that 
 night — ^the men sat up anxiously awaiting the 
 return of our companions. 
 
 " At daylight, they being still out, Colonel 
 Fremont sent three Delawares, mounted, to look 
 for them. About ten o'clock one of them re- 
 turned with the Mexican and two mules. Frank 
 was badly frozen, he had lost the track, and be- 
 wildered and cold, he sank down holding on to 
 the animals, where he was found by the Dela- 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 339 
 
 ware during the afternoon. Tlie two Delawares 
 supporting Mr. Fuller were seen approaching. 
 He was found awake, but almost dead from the 
 cold and faintness. Colonel Fremont personally 
 rendered him all the assistance in his power. 
 So did all of us — ^for he was beloved and re- 
 spected by the whole camp for his gentlemanly 
 beh avior and his many virtues. Colonel Fremont 
 remained at this dreary place near three days, 
 to allow poor Fuller time to recruit — and after- 
 wards assigned to him the best mxile to carry 
 him, while two of the men walked on either 
 side to support him. A portion of our scanty 
 food was appropriated at every meal from each 
 man's portion to make Mr. Fuller's larger, as he 
 required sustenance more than they did. 
 
 "On the 7th February, almost in sight of 
 succor, the Almighty took him to himself: 
 he died on horseback — his two companions 
 wrapped him in his India rubber blanket and 
 laid him across the trail. We arrived next day 
 at Parawan. After the men had rested a little, 
 we went, in company with three or four of the 
 inhabitants of Parawan, to bury our deceased 
 friend. His remains had not been disturbed 
 during our absence." 
 
 In the month of February, and soon after 
 
340 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 Fremont's arrival and departure, Colonel Beale 
 again solicited Carson to be his guide while 
 he paid a visit to a large village of Indians con- 
 gregated on the Arkansas, for the purpose of 
 carrying out a stipulation of the treaty with 
 Mexico, that the captives the Indians retained 
 in the territory ceded to the United States 
 should be returned to Mexico. He found four 
 tribes congregated, to the number of two thou- 
 sand, for the purpose of meeting their agent, an 
 experienced mountaineer, who informed Colonel 
 Beale that it would be useless to attempt to en- 
 force the provisions of the treaty here, especially 
 when so many Indians were together, and suc- 
 ceeded in persuading him to desist from the 
 use of force against them. 
 
 These Indians had been accustomed to deal- 
 ing with poorly clad Mexican soldiers, and the 
 sight and bearing of Colonel Beale and Carson 
 and the men under their command, must have in- 
 duced a respect for the government they repre- 
 sented, so that they did not consider the expe- 
 dition as without good result. 
 
 The Comanche Indians could not well have 
 been induced to fulfil the provisions of the 
 treaty with Mexico, especially as they were not 
 a party to it, for in the very many years past, 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 341 
 
 it had been their custom to make incursions 
 upon the Mexican settlements and parties of 
 travelers, and to capture their cattle and take 
 their goods, besides bringing away as many 
 children as possible, in order that the girls pro- 
 cured in this way should, when grown, marry 
 the braves of the tribe ; till now at least a third 
 of the blood of the tribe was Mexican. This 
 amalgamation had become more extensive in 
 this than in any of the other New Mexican 
 tribes. 
 
 The Apache is smaller in stature and more 
 closely built than the Comanche ; less skilled in 
 horsemanship, but equally brave, with beauti- 
 ful symmetry of form, and " muscles as hard as 
 iron," with an elasticity of movement that 
 shows a great amount of physical training, and 
 an eye that reveals the treachery of their char- 
 acter. 
 
3i2 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 Arriving again in Taos, to carry into effect 
 at once the resolution he had formed of estab- 
 lishing for himself a permanent home, he joined 
 his old friend Maxwell in the purpose of occu- 
 pying a beautifully romantic mountain valley, 
 fifty miles east of Taos, called by the Indians 
 Kayedo, which would long since have been set- 
 tled by the Mexicans, only it was very much 
 exposed to Indian depredations. 
 
 Through the center of this valley flows a 
 broad mountain stream, and, for the loveliness 
 of the scenery, or the fertility of its broad, 
 sloping basin, or the mountain supply of tim- 
 ber, there can scarcely be found a .spot to 
 equal it. Carson and Maxwell established a 
 settlement about mid-way in the valley ; and at 
 the present date, have an imposing little vil- 
 lage, in which the houses of Carson and Max- 
 well are prominent by reason of their greater 
 dimensions, and indicate to the trader a styl? 
 
LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 343 
 
 of plenteous comfort, wHcli, wHle it might of- 
 fend the pale-faced denizen of our most fash- 
 ionable thoroughfares, the traveler, who has 
 learned to love nature and health, gazes upon 
 with pleasiu'e, and gladly tarries to enjoy the 
 patriarchal hospitality, and the sumptuous, al- 
 most regal luxury of their hunter occupants, 
 who " count their horses and their cattle by the 
 hundreds," and whose thousand sheep are on 
 the hills ; whose larder is replenished from the 
 still countless herds of prairie oxen which roam 
 through those magnificent plains, and the lesser 
 bands of speed-defying, beauteous quadrupeds 
 of the hills, and the fleet climbers of the rocks 
 and big-homed mountain cliffs, and the flocks 
 that build their eyrie in their crags, all of which 
 are occupants of the sheep-pastures of these 
 chevaliers of the wilderness, and in whose court- 
 yards may be seen specimens of this game, of 
 which they are not ashamed ; for a young Car- 
 son has lassoed a little grizzly, while antelope 
 and young fawn feed from his sister's fingers. 
 
 Here too the Indian braves fear not to come 
 and call the master of the mansion, Father, — 
 "Father Kit," is his long time appellation — 
 and they have learned to look on him and his, 
 with all that reverence and fondness with 
 
344 LIFE OF KIT CARSON, 
 
 which grateful children look upon a worthy 
 sire. 
 
 Carson cannot tarry at his pleasant home, 
 much more than to care for its necessary super- 
 intendence, for his life is the propei-fcy of the 
 public ; and to the quiet settlement of the In- 
 dians into the condition which is happiest for 
 them, so far as it can be secured in the condi- 
 tion of the country and their own habitudes, is 
 the work to which he has wisely devoted him- 
 self. He has given to the Indians the best 
 years of his ever busy life, and gives them 
 still, neglectful of immediate personal comfort 
 — or rather finding highest satisfaction in doing 
 what is fittest he should do, because it is the 
 work in which he can accomplish the most 
 good. 
 
 In the vicinity of the home of Carson, and 
 that of his friend Maxwell, are gathered a 
 number of their old comrades — men of the 
 mountains, who have survived the m.ultitudi- 
 nous and conflicting events which have come 
 over the spirit of the Yankee, and the activities 
 of the Yankee nations, since the business of 
 trapping first became for her hardy sons a lu- 
 crative employment ; and here, in the society of 
 each other, and the conscious security of pro- 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 345 
 
 tection for each other, in a locality congenial to 
 their tastes, with occasional old time occupa- 
 tions, and where the rivalries of their predi- 
 lections can fee still indulged, and quietly main- 
 tained, they are ever ready after every test to 
 concede to Christopher Carson the palm of be- 
 ing first as a hunter, first as an experienced 
 traveler and guide through the mountain coun- 
 try, whether it be by a route he has, or one he 
 has never befoi'e traveled. 
 
 The stories of his exploits in defense of his 
 neighbors and friends, and to recover from the 
 Indians property they had stolen, since he left 
 the service of the Army of the United States, 
 would of themselves fill a volume, and we have 
 space to allude to but a very few. 
 
 A Mrs. White, the wife of a merchant of 
 Santa Fe, had been taken captive with her 
 child, (which was soon killed before her eyes), 
 by a party of Apaches, who had shot her hus- 
 band, and all the men of his company, before 
 capturing her. A party of New Mexicans was 
 at once organized to pursue the Indian band, 
 and effect Mrs. White's release if possible. 
 The guidance of this party was entrusted to 
 a neighbor by the name of Watkins Leroux, 
 rather than to Carson. They found the Apache 
 
34^ LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 murderers, and Carson was advancing fore^ 
 most to attack them, when lie discovered that 
 the rest of the party were not following ; con- 
 sequently he had to retire, and when the com- 
 mander ordered the attack to be made, it was 
 too late, for the Indians had murdered Mrs. 
 White and were preparing to escape by flight. 
 Carson tells this story with all the generous 
 -magnanimity a great soul exercises in speaking 
 of a failure on the part of a rival ; admitting 
 that, if liis advice had been followed, they 
 might have saved Mrs. White, but affirming 
 that the command " did what seemed to it the 
 best, and therefore no one has any right to find 
 fault." 
 
 This occurred in the autumn of eighteen hun- 
 dred and forty-nine, directly after the commence- 
 ment of the settlement of Rayedo. 
 
 ]!^ear the close of the following winter, all 
 the animals belonging to the party of ten drag- 
 oons which had been stationed there to pro- 
 tect the settlement, were run oif by the ma- 
 rauding Apaches, and the two herders having 
 them in charge were wounded. Early the fol- 
 lowing morning, Carson and three of the set- 
 tlers with the ten dragoons, started in pursuit, 
 discovered the Indians — twenty well-armed 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. Sil 
 
 warriors — and four of the party being obliged 
 to stop, because their animals had given out, 
 the remaining ten rode down the Indians, who 
 might themselves have escaped but for their 
 persistence in retaining the stolen horses, which 
 were all recaptured except four, while five of 
 the warriors were killed, and several more 
 wounded. This expedition was planned and 
 executed under the direction of Carson, and the 
 fact that he was their leader gave every man 
 confidence, as they knew that vsdth him an en- 
 gagement implied success or death. 
 
 The next spring Carson went to Fort Laramie 
 with a drove of horses and mules, making the 
 journey successfully and pleasantly in company 
 with Timothy Goodell, another old mountaineer, 
 being the observed of all observers to the large 
 numbers of overland emigrants to California 
 whom he met at the fort, where Goodell left 
 him to go to California. 
 
 Carson found a Mexican to attend him upon 
 his return, and taking a circuitous course, he 
 managed to avoid the Apaches ; often traveling 
 by moonlight, and taking their animals into a 
 quiet nook, and climbing a tree for a little sleep 
 during the day, they finally reached the Mexican 
 settlements in safety. 
 
348 LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 
 
 The days of tlie following summer winged 
 their happy flight with great rapidity, while 
 Carson was directing and aiding in his farm- 
 ing, and, of course, pursuing his favorite em- 
 ployment of hunting, ever returning from a 
 hunt with his horse laden with deer or ante- 
 lope, wild turkey and ducks, or perhaps a half 
 score or more of prairie chickens, to complete 
 the list. Only once was his work interrupted 
 by the harsher business of chastising offenders 
 against justice, and this time the guilty parties 
 were two white men. 
 
 A party of desperadoes, so frequently the 
 nuisance of a new country, had formed a plot 
 to murder and rob two wealthy citizens, whom 
 they had volunteered to accompany to the set- 
 tlements in the States, and were already many 
 miles on their way, when Carson was infonned 
 of the nefarious design. In one hour he had 
 organized a party, and was on his way in quick 
 pursuit, taking a more direct route to intercept 
 the party, and endeavoring at the same time to 
 avoid the vicinity of the Indians, who were 
 now especially hostile, but of whose move- 
 ments Carson was as well informed as any one 
 could be. In two days out from Taos, they 
 came upon a camp of United States recruits, 
 
LIFE OP KIT CARSON. 349 
 
 whose officer volunteered to accompany him 
 with twenty men, Avhich offer was accepted, 
 and by forced marches they soon overtook the 
 party of traders, and at once arrested Fox, the 
 leader of the wretches, and then proceeded to 
 inform Messrs. Brevoort and Weatherhead of 
 the danger which they had escaped ; and they, 
 though at first astounded by the disclosure, had 
 noticed many things to convince them that the 
 plot would soon have been put in execution. 
 
 Taking the members of their party whom 
 they knew were trusty, they at once ordered 
 the rest, thirty-five in number, to leave imme- 
 diately, except Fox, who remained in charge of 
 Carson, to whom the traders were abundant in 
 their thanks for his timely interference in their 
 behalf, and who refused every offer of recom- 
 pense. 
 
 Fox was taken to Taos, and imprisoned for 
 a number of months ; but as a crime only in 
 intent was difficult to be proved, and the adobe 
 walls of their houses were not secure enough 
 to retain one who cared to release himself, Fox 
 was at last liberated, and went to parts unknown. 
 
 On the return of Messrs. Brevoort and 
 Weatherhead from St. Louis, they presented 
 Carson with a magnificent pair of pistols, upon 
 
350 LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 
 
 whose silver mounting were inscribed such 
 words as would laconically illustrate his noble 
 deed, and the appreciation of the donors of the 
 great service rendered. 
 
 The summer following was consumed in an 
 excursion for trade, on behalf of himself and 
 Maxwell, and a visit to the home of his daugh- 
 ter, now married in St. Louis ; and which was 
 prosecuted without incident worthy of note, 
 until he came to a Cheyenne village on the 
 Arkansas, upon his return. This village had 
 received an affront from the oflScer of a party 
 of United States troops bound to New Mexico, 
 who had whipped one of their chiefs, some ten 
 days before the arrival of Carson ; and to have 
 revenge upon some one of the whites, was now 
 the passion of the whole tribe. 
 
 The conduct of this officer is only a specimen 
 of that which thousands have exercised toward 
 the Indians of the different tribes; and the 
 result is the same in all cases. Carson's was 
 the first party to pass the Indian village after 
 this insult; and so many years had elapsed 
 since he was a hunter at Bent's Fort, and so 
 much had this nation been stirred by their 
 numberless grievances, that Carson's name was 
 no longer a talisman of safety to his party, nor 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 351 
 
 even of respect to himself, in their then state of 
 excitement; and as Carson went deliberately 
 into the war council, which the Indians were 
 holding on the discovery of his party, having 
 ordered his men to keep their force close to- 
 gether, the Indians supposing he could not 
 understand them, continued to talk freely of 
 the manner of capturing the effects, and killing 
 the whole party, and especially himself, whom 
 they at once concluded was the leader. When 
 Kit had heard all their plans, he coolly ad- 
 dressed them in the Cheyenne language, telling 
 them who he was, his former association with 
 and kindness to their tribe ; and that now, he 
 should be glad to render them any assistance 
 they might need ; but as to their having his 
 scalp, he should claim the right of saying a 
 word. The Indians departed, and Carson went 
 on his way ; but there were hundreds of the 
 Cheyennes in sight upon the hills, and though 
 they made no attack, Carson knew he was in 
 their power, nor had they given up the idea of 
 taking his train. His cool deliberation kept 
 his men in spirits, and yet, except upon two 
 or three of the whole fifteen, he could place 
 no reliance in an emergency. At night the men 
 and mules were all brought within the circle 
 
362 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 of wagons, grass was cut with their sheath, 
 knives, and brought into the mules, and as 
 large a guard was placed as possible. When 
 all was quiet, Carson called outside the camp 
 with him a Mexican boy of the party, and ex- 
 plaming to him the danger which threatened 
 them, told him it was in his power to save the 
 lives of the company, and giving him instruc- 
 tions how to proceed, sent him on alone to 
 Rayedo, a journey of nearly three hundred 
 miles, to ask an escort of United States troops 
 io be sent out to meet him, telling the brave 
 young Mexican to " put a good many miles 
 between him and the camp before morning ; " 
 and so he started him, vnth a few rations of 
 provisions, without telling the rest of the party 
 that such a step was necessary. This boy had 
 long been in Carson's service, and was well 
 known to him as faithful and active, so that he 
 had no doubts as to the faithful execution of 
 the trust confided to him ; and in a wild coun- 
 try like New Mexico, with the outdoor life 
 and habits of its people, a journey like the one 
 on which he was despatched, was not an unusual 
 occurrence : indeed, in that country, parties on 
 foot often accompany those on horse, for days 
 together, and do not seem to feel the fatigue. 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 353 
 
 Carson now returned to the camp to watch all 
 night himself ; and at break of day they were 
 again upon the road. No Indians appeared un- 
 til nearly noon, when five warriors came gallop- 
 ing toward them. As they came near enough 
 to hear him, Carson ordered them to halt, and 
 approaching, told them that the night before, 
 he had sent a messenger to Eayedo, to inform 
 the troops that their tribe were annoying him ; 
 and if he or his men were molested, terrible 
 punishment would be inflicted by those who 
 would surely come to his relief. The Indians 
 replied, that they would look for the moccasin 
 tracks, which they probably found, and Carson 
 considered this the reason that induced the 
 whole Aollage to pass away toward the hills 
 after a little time, evidently seeking a place of 
 safety. The young Mexican overtook the party 
 of troops whose officer had caused the trouble, 
 to whom he told his story, and failing to secure 
 sympathy, he continued to Eayedo, and pro- 
 cured thence immediate assistance. Major Grier 
 despatched a party of troops, under Lieutenant 
 E.. Johnston, which, making rapid marches, met 
 Carson twenty-five miles below Bent's Fort ; 
 and, though they encountered no Indians, the 
 effect of the quick transit of troops from one 
 23 
 
354 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 part of the country to another, could not be 
 other than good, as a means of impressing the 
 Indians with the effective force of the United 
 States troops. 
 
LU'E OF KIT CAfiSON. 355 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 Eighteen years had elapsed, full of eventful 
 history — especially the last ten — since Carson 
 had renounced the business of trapping, and 
 of late there had been an almost irrepressible 
 longing once more to try his skill at his old 
 employment, in company with others who had 
 been, -with himself, adepts at the business. 
 Accordingly he and Maxwell, by a great effort, 
 succeeded in collecting sixteen more of their 
 old companions, and taking care to provide 
 themselves abundantly with all the necessaries 
 for such a service, and with such added articles 
 of comfort as the pleasurable character of the 
 excursion dictated, they started, with Carson at 
 the head of the band, " any one of whom would 
 have periled his life for any other, and having 
 voted that the expedition should be one for hard 
 work, as when they trapped for gain long ago," 
 they dashed on across the plains, till they came 
 to the South Platte, and upon its well remem- 
 bered waters, formed their camp and set their 
 
356 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 traps, having first apprised themselves, by the 
 " signs," that the beaver vrere abundant. In- 
 deed, so long ago had trapping gone into disuse, 
 that the hunt proved successful beyond their 
 anticipations, and they worked down this 
 stream, through the Laramie plains to the New 
 Park, on to the Old Park, and upon a large 
 number of the streams, their old resorts, and re- 
 turned to Rayedo with a large stock of furs, 
 having enlivened the time by the recital to each 
 other of many of the numberless entertaining 
 events which had crowded upon their lives 
 while they had been separated. 
 
 Would not the reader like to have made this 
 excursion with them, and witnessed the infinite 
 zest with which these mature and experienced 
 men entered again upon what seemed now to 
 them the sport of their earlier years ? They 
 made it, as much as possible, a season of enjoy- 
 ment. One of the party had lassoed a grizzly, 
 but, finding it inconvenient to retain him, he 
 had been shot, and bear steaks, again enjoyed 
 together, had been a part of the Fourth of July, 
 treat they afforded their visitors, the Sioux In- 
 dians. As we have but little further oppor- 
 tunity, we will quote Fremont's description of 
 the Mountain Parks, for the sake of giving the 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 357 
 
 reader an idea of the locality of this last trap- 
 ping enterprise of Kit Cai-son : 
 
 " Our course in the afternoon brought us to 
 the main Platte River, here a handsome stream, 
 with a uniform breadth of seventy yards, ex- 
 cept where widened by frequent islands. It 
 was apparently deep, with a moderate current, 
 and wooded with groves of large willow. 
 
 " The valley narrowed as we ascended, and 
 presently degenerated into a gorge, through 
 which the river passed as through a gate. We 
 entered it, and found ourselves in the New 
 Park — a beautiful circular valley of thirty miles 
 diameter, walled in all round with snowy moun- 
 tains, rich with water and with grass, fringed 
 with pine on the mountain sides below the snow 
 line, and a paradise to all grazing animals. 
 The Indian name for it signifies " cow lodge^'' of 
 which our own may be considered a transla- 
 tion ; the enclosure, the grass, the water, and the 
 herds of buffalo roaming over it, naturally pre- 
 senting the idea of a park, 7,720 feet above tide 
 water. 
 
 " It is from this elevated cove^ and from the 
 gorges of the surrounding mountains, and some 
 lakes within their bosoms, that the Great Platte 
 River collects its first waters, and assumes ita 
 
358 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 first form ; and certainly no river has a more 
 beautiful origin. 
 
 " Descending from the pass, we found our- 
 selves again on the western waters ; and halted 
 to noon on the edge of another mountain val- 
 ley, called the Old Park, in which is formed 
 Grand River, one of the principal branches of 
 the Colorado of California. We were now 
 moving Math some caution, as, from the trail, 
 we found the Arapahoe village had also passed 
 this way. As we were coming out of their 
 enemy's country, and this was a war ground, 
 we were desirous to avoid them. After a long 
 afternoon's mai-ch, Ave halted at night on a 
 small creek, tributary to a main fork of Grand 
 Eiiver, which ran through this portion of the 
 valley. The appearance of the country in the 
 Old Park is interesting, though of a different 
 character from the New ; instead of being a 
 comparative plain, it is more or less broken in- 
 to hills, and surrounded by the high mountains, 
 timbered on the lower parts with quaking asp 
 and pines. 
 
 "We entered the Bayou Salada, (South 
 Park,) and immediately below us was a green 
 valley, through which ran a stream ; and a 
 short distance opposite rose snowy mountains, 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON, 359 
 
 whose summits were formed into peaks of 
 naked rock. 
 
 " On tlie following day we descended the 
 stream by an excellent buffalo trail, along the 
 open grassy bottom of the river. On our 
 right, the bayou was bordered by a mountainous 
 range, crested with rocky and naked peaks; 
 and below it had a beautiful park-like charac- 
 ter of pretty level prairies, interspersed among 
 low spurs, wooded openly with pine and quak- 
 ing asp, contrasting well with the denser pines 
 which swept around on the mountain sides. 
 
 "During the afternoon, Pike's Peak had been 
 plainly in view before us. 
 
 " The next day we left the river, which con- 
 tinued its course towards Pike's Peak ; and 
 taking a southeasterly direction, in about ten 
 miles we crossed a gentle ridge, and, issuing 
 from the South Park, found ourselves involved 
 among the broken spurs of the mountains which 
 border the great prairie plains. Although 
 broken and extremely rugged, the countiy was 
 very interesting, being well watered by numer- 
 ous affluents to the Arkansas River, and cov- 
 ered with grass and a variety of trees." 
 
 Carson had disposed of his furs, and was 
 again quietly attending to his ranche, when he 
 
360 LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 
 
 heard of the exorbitant prices for which sheep 
 were selling in California, and determined to 
 enter upon a speculation. lie had already vis- 
 ited the Navajos Indians, and thither he went 
 again, and in company with Maxwell and an- 
 other mountaineer, purchased several thousand 
 sheep ; and with a suitable company of trusty 
 men as shepherds, took them to Fort Laramie, 
 and thence by the regular emigrant route, past 
 Salt Lake to California, and arriving without 
 any disaster, disposed of them in one of the 
 frontier towns, and then went down to the Sac- 
 ramento valley, td witness the change which 
 had come over old familiar places ; not that 
 the mining did not interest him ; he had seen 
 that before in Mexico, but he had not seen the 
 cities which had sprung into existence at a 
 hundred points, in the foot-hills of the Sierras, 
 nor had he seen San Francisco, that city of 
 wondrous growth, which now contained thirty- 
 five thousand inhabitants. 
 
 But for the remembrance of the hills on 
 which the city rested, Carson would not have 
 known the metropolis of California, as the spot 
 where in '48 " the people could be counted in an 
 hour." In San Francisco he met so many old 
 friends, and so many, who, knowing him from 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 361 
 
 tiie histoiy of his deeds, desired to do him 
 honor, that the attentions he received, while it 
 gratified his ambition, were almost annoying. 
 
 Tired by the anxiety and hard work of bring- 
 ing his property over a long and dangerous jour- 
 ney to a good market, he had looked for rest 
 and retirement ; but instead, he was everywhere 
 sought out and made conspicuous. 
 
 He found himself surrounded with the choice 
 spirits of the new El Dorado ; his name a pres- 
 tige of strength and position, and his society 
 courted by everybody. The siren voice of 
 pleasure failed not to speak in his ear her most 
 flattering invitations. Good-fellowship took 
 him incessantly by the hand, desiring to lead 
 him into the paths of dissipation. But the gay 
 vortex, with all its brilliancy, had no attractions 
 for him ; the wine cup, with its sparkling ar- 
 guments, failed to convince his calm earnestness 
 of character, that his simple habits of life needed 
 remodeling. To the storm, however, he was ex- 
 posed ; but, like a good ship during the gale, 
 he weathered the fierce blast, and finally took 
 his departure from the new city of a day, with 
 his character untarnished, but nevertheless leav- 
 ing behind him many golden opinions. 
 
 Some newspaper scribbler, last autumn, an- 
 
362 LIFR OF KIT UARSON. 
 
 nounced the death of Carson, and said, in con- 
 nection, " His latest and most remarlcahle exploit 
 on the plains was enacted in 1853, when he 
 conducted a drove of sheep safely to California." 
 Probably the writer was one of those whose 
 eager curiosity had met a rebuff, in the quiet 
 dignity with which Carson received the officious- 
 ness of the rabble who thronged around him on 
 that visit. Not that he appreciated honor less, 
 but that its unnecessary attachments were ex- 
 ceedingly displeasing to him. 
 
 In this terribly fast city, where the monte 
 table, and its kindred dissipations, advertised 
 themselves without a curtain, and where to in- 
 dulge was the rule rather than the exception, 
 Carson was able to stand fire, for he had been 
 before now tried by much greater temptations. 
 
 In the strange commingling of people from 
 all quarters of the globe, whom Carson wit- 
 nessed in San Francisco, he saw but a slight ex- 
 aggeration of what he had often witnessed in 
 Santa Fe, — and indeed, for the element of va- 
 riety, in many a trapping party, not to name thie 
 summer rendezvous of the trappers, or the ex- 
 ploring parties of Colonel Fremont. To be sure 
 the Chinamen and the Kanackers were a new 
 feature in society. But whether it be in the 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 363 
 
 many nationalities represented, or in the pleas- 
 ures they pursued, except that in San Francisco 
 there was a lavishness in the expenditure of 
 wealth commensurate with its speedier ac- 
 cumulation, there was little new to him, and 
 while he saw its magic growth with glad sur- 
 prise, the attractions this city offered could not 
 allure him. Nor could the vista it opened up 
 of a chance to rise into position in the advanc- 
 ing struggles for political ascendency, induce 
 one wish to locate his home in a spot so want- 
 ing in the kindly social relationships; for he 
 had tried the things and found them vanity and 
 vexation of spirit, and now he yearned for his 
 mountain home, and the sweet pastoral life 
 which it afforded in his circle of tried friends. 
 
 He saved the money he had secured by the 
 sale of his flocks, and went down overland to 
 Los Angeles to meet Maxwell, who took the 
 trip by sea, which Carson having tasted once, 
 could not be persuaded to try again, and there 
 renewing his outfit, and visiting again some of 
 its honored citizens, they started homeward, 
 and had a pleasant passage till they reached 
 the Gila River, where grass became so scarce that 
 they were compelled to take a new course in 
 order to find food for their horses ; but Carson 
 
364 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 Lad no difficulty in pursuing a measurably 
 direct course, and without encountering a snow 
 storm, often terribly severe In the mountains of 
 this interior country, lie reached Taos on the 
 third of December 1853. 
 
 He here received the unexpected information 
 that he had been appointed Indian agent for 
 New Mexico, and immediately wrote and sent 
 to Washington the bonds of acceptance of this 
 office. And now commences Carson's official 
 career, in a capacity for which he was better 
 fitted than any other person in the Territory. 
 
 Long had the Indians in his vicinity called 
 him " father," but now he had a new claim to 
 this title, for he was to be to them the almoner 
 of the bounty of the United States Grovernment. 
 There was immediate call for the exercise of 
 the duties of his office (for the Indians of New 
 Mexico had all buried the tomahawk and calu- 
 met), in visiting and attempting to quiet a band 
 of Apaches, among whom he went alone, for 
 they all knew him, and secured from them plenty 
 of promises to do well ; but he had scarcely left 
 them, before they were tired of the self-imposed 
 restraint, and renewedly continued their depreda- 
 tions, and several serious battles were fought 
 with them by the United States troops, the first 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 365 
 
 having proved unsuccessful, but never was 
 success wanting when the commander of United 
 States dragoons had placed his confidence in the 
 advice, and followed the suggestions of Kit Car- 
 son, who was admitted by them to be the prince 
 of Indian fighters — though he never tolerated 
 cruelty or the expenditure of life when there was 
 no imperious necessity, but yet regarded severe 
 measures better than a dawdling policy. 
 
 There had been serious fights in New Mexico 
 in 1846, while Carson was away with Fremont ; 
 and it was better so, as the Mexicans were his 
 blood and kin; yet, in the change of authority, 
 he fully sympathized. But now, the enemy was 
 the different tribes of Indians, and in the capac- 
 ity of Agent for them, Carson chose to impress 
 them with the power of the government for 
 which he acted for their own good, that they 
 might be induced to desist from their plunder- 
 ing, and be prepared for the influences and prac- 
 tises of civilization ; and all the victories secured 
 over them were due, as history truly records, 
 "To the aid of Kit Carson," " With the advice 
 of Kit Carson ; " and never once is his name 
 associated with a defeat ; for, if he made a part 
 of an expedition, a condition must be, that such 
 means should be employed as he knew would 
 
866 LIFE OP KIT CARSON. 
 
 accomplish the end desired ; for he did not 
 choose, by one single failure, to give the Indians 
 a chance to think their lawlessness could escape 
 its merited retribution. 
 
 Nor yet did Carson ever advise that confi- 
 dence in the promises of the Indians vrhich was 
 not backed by such exhibition of power as to 
 command obedience ; knowing that with these 
 children of the forest, schooled in the arts of 
 plunder, and the belief that white men and 
 white men's property were an intrusion on their 
 huntifig grounds, and therefore lawful prey — ■ 
 this was and is their law — non-resistance would 
 not answer, and only stern command, backed by 
 the rifle, ever has secured obedience — though 
 they appreciate the kindnesses done by those 
 friends who have such reliance. But it was Car- 
 son's opinion that the country cannot be safe 
 while the Indians roam over it in this vdld way, 
 or until they are located on lands devoted to 
 them and theirs for permanent homes, and are 
 compelled to settle upon and cultivate the soil, 
 when he thinks they will come, by careful teach- 
 ing, to display sentiments of responsibility for 
 their own acts. 
 
 There is little doubt that, had Carson been 
 appointed Superintendent of Indian Affairs for 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. , 367 
 
 the department of New Mexico, the reliance 
 sometimes placed on treaties would have been 
 discarded, and measures taken at an earlier date, 
 to locate the Apaches and Comanches and TJtahs, 
 which might have been accomplished with less 
 expenditure of blood and of treasure ; but he 
 quietly pursued his business, relying upon the 
 influence which his knowledge and skill had 
 given him to induce his superiors in official 
 authority to undertake such measures as seemed 
 to him the wisest. 
 
 The headquarters of his Indian agency were 
 at Taos, and while he spent as much of his time 
 as possible at Eayedo, the duties of his office 
 compelled the larger part of it at Taos. The 
 thousand kindly acts he was able to perform 
 for the Indians, by whom he was constantly 
 surrounded, had secured such regard for him- 
 self that he needed no protection where he 
 was known — and what Indian of New Mexico 
 did not know him ? He went among them, 
 and entertained them as the children of his 
 charge, having their unbounded confidence and 
 love. 
 
 Every year, in the heyday of the season, Car- 
 son continued the custom of a revival of earlier 
 associations, by indulging, for a few days, or 
 
368 LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 
 
 perhaps weeks, in the chase ; and was joined in 
 these excursions by a goodly company of his old 
 compeers, as well as later acquired friends, and 
 men of reputation and culture, from whatever 
 quarter of the world, visiting the territory ; and 
 especially by a select few of the braves of the 
 Indian tribes under his charge. These were 
 seasons of grateful recurrence, and their pleasures 
 were long anticipated amid the wearisome duties 
 of his office. 
 
 The incidents of his everyday life, interven- 
 ing his appointment as Indian agent and the re- 
 bellion, Avould furnish an abundance of material 
 for a romance even stranger than fiction. A life 
 so exciting as that among the Indians and brave 
 frontiersmen, and a name so renowned as that 
 of Christopher Carson, could not but attract 
 and concenter wild and romantic occurrences. 
 His life during these years is inseparably con- 
 nected with the history of the Territory of New 
 Mexico, which, could it be given to the public 
 in all its copious and interesting details, would 
 unquestionably concede to him all the noblest 
 characteristics in man. 
 
 The treaties between the United States and 
 the Indians, during the term of his appointment, 
 were mainly the result of his acquaintance with 
 
LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 369 
 
 the Indians, his knowledge of their character, 
 and his influence over them. Nor did the Gov- 
 ernment fail to recognize his valuable services. 
 During the rebellion, and while serving prin- 
 cipally in New Mexico, where he distinguished 
 himself by his untiring prosecution of hostilities 
 with his savage foes, then at war with the Gov- 
 ernment, he was promoted from rank to rank, 
 until he finally reached that of Brevet Brigadier- 
 General. 
 
 In a report to the National headquarters, 
 dated at Camp Florilla, near Fort Canby, N. M., 
 January 26, 1864, we find the following detailed 
 account of operations in New Mexico : 
 
 "The culminating point in this expedition 
 has been reached at last by the very successful 
 operations of our troops at Canon de Chelly. 
 Colonel Kit Carson left Fort Canby on the sixth 
 instant with a command of four hundred men, 
 twenty of whom were mounted. He had a 
 section of mountain artillery with him, and 
 taking the road via Puebla, Colorado, he started 
 for Canon de Chelly. He gave orders to Captain 
 Pheiffer with his command of one hundred men 
 to enter the canon at the east opening, while he 
 himself intended to enter it at the ' mouth,' or 
 west opening, and by this movement he expected 
 
 24 
 
370 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 that both columns would meet in the canon on 
 the second day, as it was supposed to be forty 
 miles in length. 
 
 " Captain Pheiffer's party proceeded two days 
 through the canon, fighting occasionally ; but al- 
 though the Indians frequently fired on them from 
 the rocky walls above, the balls were spent long 
 before they reached the bottom of the canon, 
 which, in many places, exceeded one thousand 
 five hundred feet in depth. It was a singular 
 spectacle to behold. A small detachment of 
 troops moving cautiously along the bottom of 
 one of the greatest canons on the globe (the 
 largest is in Asia, I believe), and firing volleys 
 upward at hundreds of Navajoes, who looked, 
 on the dizzy height above them, like so many 
 pigmies. As they advanced the canon widened 
 in places, and various spots of cultivated land 
 were passed, where wheat, maize, beans, melons, 
 etc., had been planted last year ; while more 
 than a thousand feet above their heads they 
 beheld neat-looking stone houses built on the 
 receding ledges of rocks, which reminded the be- 
 holder of the swallows' nests in the house eaves, 
 or on the rocky formation overhanging the * sea- 
 beat caves.' Further on, an orchard contain- 
 ing about six hundred peach-trees was passed, 
 
LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 371 
 
 and it was evident that the Indians had paid 
 great attention to their culture. 
 
 " On the second day a party from Colonel Car- 
 son's column met the Captain in the canon, and 
 returned with him to Colonel Carson's camp. A 
 party from the Colonel's command had, in the 
 meantime, attacked a party of Indians, twenty- 
 two of whom were killed. This had a dispirit- 
 ing effect on many others, who sent in three of 
 their number under a white flag. Colonel Car- 
 son received them, and assured them that the 
 Government did not desire to exterminate them, 
 but that, on the contrary, the President wished 
 to save and civilize them ; and to that end Gen- 
 eral Carlton had given him instructions to send all 
 the Navajoes who desired peace to the new res- 
 ervation on the Rio Pecos, where they would 
 be supplied with food for the present, and be 
 furnished with implements, seeds, etc., to culti- 
 vate the soil They departed well-satisfied, and 
 Colonel Carson immediately ordered Captain 
 A. B. Carey, Thirteenth United States Infantry, 
 with a battalion to enter the canon, and make 
 a thorough exploration of its various branches, 
 and at the same time to be in readiness to chas- 
 tise any body of hostile Navajoes he might en- 
 counter, and to receive all who were friendly, 
 
372 i'lFE OF KIT CAESON. 
 
 and who wished to emigrate to the new reser- 
 vation. Captain Carey during a passage of 
 twenty-four hours through a branch of the 
 canon hitherto unexplored, made an exact geo- 
 graphical map of this terrible chasm, and dis- 
 covered many side canons hitherto unknown. 
 About one hundred Indians came in to him and 
 declared that 'the Navajo nation was no more ;' 
 that they were tired of fighting and nearly 
 starved, and that they wished to be permitted 
 to advise their friends and families in the moun- 
 tains ; many of whom were willing to leave the 
 land forever, and go to a country where they 
 would be cared for and protected. They said 
 they understood agriculture, and were certain 
 they would make comfortable homes on the 
 Pecos. This was, of course, only the opinion 
 of some ; others would prefer to remain and cul- 
 ture the sril on which they were born, and live 
 at peace with the territoiy. However, the latter 
 were positively informed that unless they were 
 willing to remove they had better not come in, 
 and, moreover, that the troops would destroy 
 every blade of corn in the country next summer. 
 " On the 20th of January Colonel Carson 
 came to Fort Canby, and about six hundred 
 Indians had collected there ; but when the 
 
LIFE OP KIT CARSON. 373 
 
 wagons arrived to remove them only one hun- 
 dred wished to go, and the remainder desired 
 to return to their villages and caves in the 
 mountains, on pretense of bringing in some 
 absent member of their families. Colonel Car- 
 son very nobly and generously permitted them 
 to choose for themselves ; but told them if 
 ever they came in again they should be sent to 
 Borgue Redondo, whether willing or not. Col- 
 onel Carson himself took the Indians to Santa 
 Fe, and will remain absent about a month. 
 Since his departure many Indians came in and 
 agreed to go to the reservation. 
 
 " I think the Colonel foresaw this, as no per- 
 son understands Indian character better than he 
 does. Captain A. B. Carey, Thirteenth Infantry, 
 commanding in his absence, will see that all 
 Indians coming in will be removed, and, I think, 
 before April next, if the present good feeling 
 exists, we shall have accomplished the removal 
 of the entire tribe. Captain A. B. Carey, after 
 successfully marching through the canon and 
 noting its topography, reached Fort Canby on 
 the eighteenth instant, and relieved Captain 
 Francis M'Cabe, First New Mexico Cavalry, 
 who commanded in the absence of Colonel Kit 
 Carson. 
 
374 LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 
 
 " As the Navajo expedition is now entirely 
 successful, it is but justice to the officers and 
 men of the First Cavalry of New Mexico, and 
 to Colonel Christopher Carson and his staff to say 
 that they have all acted with zeal and devotion 
 for the accomplishment of that great desidera- 
 tum — the removal of the Navajoes. Cut off 
 from the enjoyments of civilized life, deprived 
 of its luxuries, comforts, and even many of its 
 necessaries, and restricted to the exploration of 
 a wilderness and the castigation of an army of 
 savages, who defied them, and endeavored to 
 find a shelter among the cliffs, groves, and 
 canons of their country ; in pursuing them to 
 their haunts they have encountered appalling 
 difficulties, namely : want of water, grass, and 
 fuel ; often exposed to the merciless fury of the 
 elements, and to the bullets and arrows of a 
 hidden foe. In the face of these difficulties they 
 have discovered new rivers, springs, and moun- 
 tains in a re^on hitherto unexplored, and pene- 
 trated by companies into the very strongholds 
 of the enemy, who fled farther west as our 
 columns advanced, and on various occasions the 
 dismounted cavalry have, by rapid and unpar- 
 alleled night marches, surprised that enemy, 
 capturing his camp and securiag his flocks and 
 
LIFE OP KIT CARSON. 375 
 
 herds, at a time when he imagined himself far 
 beyond our reach, and really when he occupied 
 a country never before trodden by the foot of a 
 white man. 
 
 " Much of the credit is due to the perseverance 
 and courage of Colonel Kit Carson, command- 
 ing the expedition, whose example excited all 
 to great energy, and inspired great resolution ; 
 but it may not be oat of place to remark that it 
 is now demonstrated beyond a doubt that, while 
 the troops of New Mexico have long borne the 
 Imputation of being the best cavahy, they have 
 proved themselves in the present campaign to 
 be the best infantry in the world. 
 
 " General James H. Carlton, who knows, per- 
 haps, and understands the material for an army 
 as well as any General in our army, has directed 
 the formation of a New-Mexican Brigade, and 
 when the savage foe is removed, that Brigade, 
 commanded by Brigadier-General Kit Carson, 
 would surely reflect credit on the Territory and 
 on the Department Commander." 
 
 After the close of the war Christopher Carson 
 continued in the employ of the Government, 
 rendering such services as only one equally 
 skilled and experienced could render, until his 
 death. He died at Fort Lyon, Colorado, on the 
 
376 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 
 
 23d of May, 1868, from the effects of the rupture 
 of an artery, or probably an aneurism of an 
 artery, in the neck. But a few weeks previous 
 he had visited Washington on a treaty mission, 
 in company with a deputation of red men, and 
 made a tour of several of the Northern and 
 Eastern cities. 
 
 In his death the country has lost the most 
 noted of that intrepid race of mountaineers, 
 trappers, and guides that have ever been the 
 pioneers of civilization in its advancement west- 
 ward. As an Indian fighter he was matchless. 
 His rifle, when fired at a redskin, never failed 
 him, and the number that fell beneath his aim^ 
 who can tell ! (The identical rifle which Carson 
 used in all his scouts, during the last thirty-five 
 years of his life, he bequeathed. Just previous to 
 his death, to Montezuma Lodge, A. F. and A. M., 
 Santa Fe, of which he was a member.) The 
 country will always regard him as a perfect 
 representative of the American frontiersman, 
 and accord to him the most daring valor, con- 
 sistent kindliness, perseverant energy and truth- 
 fiilness which that whole great territory, that 
 we must still regard as lying between the ci\'ili- 
 zations, is capable of furnishing, 
 
 THE END.