KIT University of California Berkeley BEQUEST OF HARVEY FERGUSSON s KIT CAH.SOU. LIFE OF KIT CARSON, THE GREAT WESTERN HUNTER AND GUIDE: COMPRISING WILD AND ROMANTIC EXPLOITS AS A HUNTER AND TRAPPE1 THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS; THRILLING ADVENTURES AND HAIRBREADTH ESCAPES AMONG THE INDIANS AND MEXICANS; HIS DARING AND INVALUABLE SERVICES AS A GUIDE TO SCOUTING AND OTHER PARTIES, ETC., ETC. WITH AN ACCOUNT OF VARIOUS GOVERNMENT EXPEDITIONS TO THE FAR WEST. BY CHARLES BURDETT. ILLUSTRATED. PHILADELPHIA: PORTER & COATE8, Copyright, 1865, by JOHN iu 1*0X7X7 PREFACE. IN offering to the public a revised and complete history of the most remarkable of American fron- tiersmen, we perform a pleasing task. All the at- tainable circumstances connected with his life, ad- ventures and death are fully set forth, and we offer this in confidence as a reliable 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 char- acter that is rarely found in one leading so daring and intensely wild a life, and cannot but contribute their share of lustre to the interesting records of the Far West. We regret that his modesty, equally proverbial with his daring, prompted him to with- hold 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, indomitable energy, and unfaltering 'courage as have been com- 3 4 PREFACE. municated by his friend and commander, Col. Fre- mont, who has invariably awarded to him all the best attributes of manhood, when opportunity af- forded. 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 exciting personal hazards, bold adventures, daring 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 adventure, and if those of an unhurtful and truthful character are not found, they are apt to be- take themselves to trashy and damaging literature. In this view, this work has a purpose which, we trust, will commend it to every family the land. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. of tlie narrative from what race descended his fame theater of his exploits nativity his father emi- grates to Missouri father's occupation Kit's appren- ticeship dissatisfaction with his trade joins an expedi- tion to Santa Fe surgical operation Santa Fe, its situation, business, style of buildings, water, appearance, altitude, scenery, population spends the winter at Taoa learns the Spanish language -joins a party bound to Missouri fe turns to Santa Fe becomes a teamster- El Paso, its grape culture, style of living of its people, name youth of traveler new occupation for the winter becomes interpreter for a trader 38 CHAPTER II. Chihuahua, cathedral, statues, public buildings, convent, mint, trade, age, population Carson longs for the prairie changes employment returns to Taos joins a party of hunters and trappers to punish the Indians result of the affray Indian style of fighting method of trapping for beaver beaver signs setting the traps bait- fastening the traps caution in setting the traps 21 (5) 6 CONTEXTS. CHAPTER III. Mi Oarson s qualifications for a trapper starts fct California desert in the route Mohave Indians, non-intercourse with whites, appearance, dress, ornaments, painting their bodies, money Mission San Gabriel, cattle, horses, sheep, mules, vineyards, income other Missions in Cal- ifornia, when founded, laborers Missions of Upper California Missionary subscriptions management of the fund Coinmandante-general the Monks golden age of the Missions 2fc CHAPTER IV. New Mexico and Arizona their desert prairies Carson in California traps on the San Joaquin the valley of the Sacramento 40 CHAPTER V. The Digger Indians, a description of them, and their mode of living Carson's visit to a ranclie in search of a cow- hid journey to the camp with his prize 45 CHAPTER VI. Carson at the Mission San Gabriel recovers sixty stolott horses after a tight with the Indians "Los Angelos" climate of California 54 CHAPTER VII. Visit to a ranche likes California, but likes buffalo better leaves Los Angclos, and traps on the Colorado in a tight place, but gets out of it , .. 66 CHAPTER VIII. Trapping with Young upon the Colorado captures cattle and horses from the Indians goes to Santa Fe, disposes of furs, and sows his wild oats coureurs des Lois, travels. CONTEXTS. 7 feftM dress, "habits joins Mr. Fitzpatrick trapping among the Nez Perces winters in the New Park punishes the Crow Indians for horse-stealing pursues and punishes rubbers of a cache flies from a party of sixty Indians,.. 76 CHAPTER IX. Hunts with two companions saving his money trading with Captain Lee pursues an Indian horse-thief and recovers the horses without assistance traps on the Laramie fight with two grizzlies description of the grizzly bear, his food traps among the Blackfeet un- successful attempt to chastise Blackfeet horse-thieves Carson is wounded Bridger's pursuit without finding them 83 CHAPTER X. Oarson, recovered, attends summer rendezvous on Green River description of the rendezvous camp, traders, charges- British Fur Comnapv the Indians bringing in furs appearance of Montreal at a fair for the Indians trappers and traders from the States purchases of the trappers, necessaries, luxuries, Indian wife 93 CHAPTER XI. Green River rendezvous again the backwoodsman Car- son the peace-maker Sherman the bully, his punish- ment cause of the duel trapping and parley with the Blackfeet on Humboldt River explores the desert- discovers the river afterwards named for him 101 CHAPTER XII. Dreary prospect on the Humboldt Humboldt Lake sinks of other rivers overflow of Humboldt Lake and River station at the sink, the traders Humboldt Indians Fourth of July on the Humboldt Humboldt sinking land available for agriculture 011 this river 10S 8 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIII. MM Carson on the Humboldfc sufferings of the return party- Pyramid Circle a horse purchased for food buffalo hunt, meat jerked horses stolen by the Indians ex- tent of buffalo ranges buffalo upon the Platte in 1857, numbers, trails crossing the river, animals killed lid CHAPTER XIV. Carson traps with a party of a hundred in the Blackfcet country winter camp among the Crows Indian lodges winter life of the trappers fight with the Blackfeet Carson saves the life of a friend, dislodges the Indiana from a rocky fastness, and compels their flight no more molestation the rendezvous trade with the Navnjos Indians fort at Brown's Hole goes again against the Blackfeet, a thousand warriors assemble, retire without an engagement traps on the Salmon River among the Blackfeet, another fight, leaves their country Chinook and Flathcad Indians process of flattening the head.. 126 CHAPTER XV. Carson continues trapping the trade becomes unprofitable war of extermination upon the beaver, silk for hats prevents Carson's experience enables him to aid one who should explore in behalf of science knowledge of the country comes to Bent's Fort, forsaking trapping becomes hunter for the fort his employers his business reputation as a hunter fulfills the early hopes of him knowledge of the country regard shown him, especially by the Indians diplomatist between the Sioux and the Camanches marriage death of his wife takes his child to St. Louis for education changes at his old home reception at St. Louis meets Col. Fre- mont engages to guide Fremont's exploring party to the South Pass in tV Rocky Mountains 139 CONTEXTS. 9 CHAPTER XVI. MM Party of explorers starting style of encamping defense morning in camp ford of the Kansas India-rubber boat accident from overloading the boat Carson ill lies in camp on the prairie 152 CHAPTER XVII. Road over rolling prairie Pawnee country false alarm of the presence of Indians Carson rides to discover the cause coast of the Platte River party of trappers from Fort Laramie one of this party joins Fremont's company buffalo appearance of the herds feasting in the camp Carson's mishap in the hunt Carson, Maxwell, and Fremont join in the chase 157 CHAPTER XVIII. Fremont divides his party attempt to lasso a wild horse Maxwell prevents an Indian attack Indians on a buf- falo hunt return laden with meat Cheyenne village tripod support for their weapons Fremont entertained by the chief tribute to the Great Spirit on taking the pipe Jim Beckwith other settlers on the mountain streams St. Vrain's Fort Fort Laramie Carson's camp excitement in the company hostile intentions of the Indians preparations for continuing the explo- rations one of the command dismissed 167 CHAPTER XIX. The growth of Artemisia fate of the Indian party so much dreaded cache of wagons and other effect* value of Carson's aid to Fremont propriety of calling this an exploring party ascent to the South Pass- exploration up a tributary of Green River lake at its source continue to explore in the mountains Fremont climbs the highest summit why Carson was not with bim... .... 178 10 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XX JAM Party returns to Fort Laramie Carson remains- marriag joins Fremont a second exploring expedition object of the expedition Great Salt Lake Fremont's description current impressions in regard to the lake Beer Springs Hot Springs Standing Rock 188 CHAPTER XXI. A part of Fremont's men return East leave Fort Hall, en route for the valley of the Columbia difficulty of finding camping places Carson kills buffalo melan- choly looking country crossing Snake River fish- eating Indians refitting equipage at the Dalles pro- posed return route spirits of the party Tlamath Lake sufferings of the party 208 CHAPTER XXII. Fremont's story of the difficulties and exposures of his party hot springs explorations for grass mountain lake central ridge of the Sierra Nevada Indians talks by signs Indian guide encouragement afforded by Carson's descriptions of California provisions low Bnow deep animals weak Indian harangue guide deserts Carson recognizes Sacramento valley and the coast range taking the horses through the snow sleds for the baggage pine nuts the food of the Indians glorious sunrise 217 CHAPTER XXIII. Thunder storm view of the Sacramento, and Bay of San Francisco mauls to path the snow Carson saves Fre- mont from drowning rauid river, snow, grass, pines, live oak, mistletoe division of the party horses lost members of the party wander, return horses killed for food country improving in beauty arrival at Sutler's Fort description of a cache 237 CONTENTS. 11 CHAPTER XXIY. VAQtt Carson at hoinj in Taos decides to commence farming preparations Fremont requests his service tor a third expedition meeting at Bent's Fort head-waters Great Salt Lake expedition divides Horse-Thief In- dians the skirmish 250 CHAPTER XXV. Arrival at Slitter's Fort command of Gen. Castro to leave the country his march against Fremont Fremont de- parts for Oregon Indians instigated by the Mexicans, Fremont's march against them he returns to California another Indian fight , 264 CHAPTER XXVI. Loss to Fremont's party Carson's attack upon Indian village start for the Sacramento Fremont's campaign against the Mexicans captures Sonoma calls Ameri- can settlers into his service Gen. Castro leaves San Francisco Fremont garrisons Sutter's Fort marches to Monterey Commodore Sloat in possession hoists the flag of the United States 273 CHAPTER XXVII. I remont marches on, and occupies Los Angelos appointed Governor of California Carson starts for Washington as bearer of dispatches unexpected meeting with Apache Indians meets the expedition of Gen. Kearney returns to California as guide 280 CHAPTER XXVIII. March to California Mexicans intercept Kearney's troops American attack on the Mexican force disastrous result Carson and Lieut. Beale reach San Diego re- infoi cements sent by Com. Stockton capture of Los Angelos Mexicans surrender to Fremont want of harmony in the American camps 286 12 CONTEXTS. CHAPTER XXIX. MM Graphic description of the entrance into Monterey, of Fre- mont, Carson, and party indiscretions of American officers Kearney's dispatch to the War Department Fremont's extraordinary ride 302 CHAPTER XXX. Fremont visits his Mariposa purchase grand hunt and ball the fandango Carson and Beale ordered to Wash- ington kind reception appointed to a lieutenancy- encounter with Camanches arrival at Los Angelos sent to the Tejon Pass again to Washington arrival at home the warlike Apaches Carson entertains Fre- mont and suffering explorers 315 CHAPTER XXXI. Dreadful sufferings endured by Fremont and party error in engaging a guide Fremont's letter to his wife hor- rible details 330 CHAPTER XXXII. Mr. Carvalho's narrative cravings of hunger disgusting food considered a delicacy Death of Mr. Fuller Car- son joins Col. Beale as guide the Apache and Camanche Indians 341 CHAPTER XXXIII. Jiirson and Maxwell's settlement exploits in defense of his neighbors encounter with the Cheyennes rescue.. 341 CHAPTER XXXIV. Grand trapping expedition the Mountain Parks Pike's Peak Carson drives sheep to California San Francisco appointed Indian Agent habits- services in New Mexico his death at Fort Lyon summing up 369 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. CHAPTER I. As, for their intrepid boldness and stern truthfulness, the exploits and deeds of the old Danish sea-kings, 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 me- moir, are those of one who by name and birth- right claims descent from them. The subject of the present memoir, Christopher Carson, fa- miliarly known under the appellation of Kit Carson, is one of the most extraordinary men (13) 14 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. of the present era. His fame has long been es- tablished throughout this country and Europe, as a most skillful and intrepid hunter, trap- per, guide, and pilot of the prairies and moun- tains of the far West, and Indian fighter. But liis celebrity in these characters is far sur- passed by that of his individual personal traits of courage, coolness, fidelity, kindness, honor, and friendship. The theatre of his exploits is extended throughout the whole western portion of the territory of the United States, from tho 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 aa his modesty (for the truly brave are always modest) has permitted the world to learn any- thing of his history. It appears, from the various declarations of those most intimate with Christopher Carson, as well as from a biography published a num- ber 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 Re- port of his Exploring Expedition to Oregon LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 15 and North California, in 1843-44, says that Carson is a native of Boonslick county, Mis- souri ; and from his long association with the hunter, he probably makes the statement on Carson's own authority. The error, if it is an Frror, 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 Mis- souri. At the time of Mr. Carson's emigration, Mis- souri was called Upper Louisiana, being a part 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 was 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 Mi Carson united the pursuits of farmer *nd hunter, and lived in a sort of block-house 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- 16 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. cessity of earnest action and industry from earliest childhood. At the age of fifteen, Kit Carson \vas ap prenticed to Mr. Workman, a saddler. This trade requiring close confinement, was, of course, utterly distasteful to a bey already ac- customed to the use of the rifle, and the stir- ring pleasures of the hunter's life, and at tho end of two years, his apprenticeship was ter- minated, for Kit, who, with his experience as the son of a ntted hunter, himself perfectly fa- miliar 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 every other, could not bear in patience the silent, sedentary monotony of his life, voluntarily abandoned the further pursuit of the trade, and sought the more acti VQ 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 JS T ew 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- LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 17 curred, if wo except the accident to one of the teamsters who wounded himself by carelessly handling a loaded rifle, so as to render it ne- cessary to amputate his arm. In this opera- tion 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 Santa 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 carried on with the State of Missouri. The houses are chiefly built of adobes, or uaburnt bricks, each dwelling forming a square, with a court in the centre upon which the apartments open. This mode of building, originally Moor- ish, prevails in all the colonies settled by the Spaniards, as well as in Old Spain, and the oriental countries. It makes each house a sort of fortress, as General Taylor's troops learned to their cost at the siege of Monterey. 2 * Peters. 18 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 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 neighbouring mountain. The appearance of the place is in- viting and imposing, as it stands on a plateau elevated more than 7000 feet above the sea, and near a snow capped mountain, which rises 5000 feet above the level of the town ; but the population is said to be exceedingly depraved. The present population is about 5000 ; but at the time of Carson's first visit, it was compar- atively 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 w r e have previously spoken, and pro- ceeded to Fernandez de Taos. In this placo Carson passed the winter of 1826-7, at tho house of a retired mountaineer. And it was while residing there, that he acquired that tho- rough familiarity with the Spanish language, which, in after years, proved of such essential service to him. In the spring he joined a party bound for Missouri, but meeting another band of Santa Fe traders, he joined them arid LIFE OF CHRISTOPHEE CARSON. JO returned to that place. Here his services be- ing no longer required by the traders, he was again thrown out of employment. He now engaged himself as teamster to a paity bound to El Paso, a settlement, 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 Rio Grande, in the Mexican State of Chihuahua, 350 miles S. by W. of Santa Fe. Here the grape is extensively cultivated, and considerable quantities of light wine and bran- dy, (called by the traders Pass wine and Pass branch/,) 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 appli- ances of civilized life, considered indispensable by the poorest American citizens. Glazed win- dows, chairs, tables, knives and forks, and sim- ilar every day conveniences are unknown even to the rich among the people of El Paso. The place is the chief emporium of the trade be- tween New Mexico and Chihuahua, and its name, " the passage" is derived from the pass- age of the river through a gorge or gap in the mountain just above the town. On his arrival at this place, young Carsou 20 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER 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 ev- erything 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 Tram- ell, with whom he, for the second time, made the long journey to El Paso and Chihuahua CHAPTER 11. CHIHUAHUA, where Carson 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 impos- ing edifice of hewn stone, built at a cost of $300,000. It is surmounted with a dome and two towers, and has a handsome fagade with statues of the twelve apostles, probably the first statues 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 nem'hborhooa ( 21 ) 22 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOff. are silver mines with furnaces for melting the ore. It carries on an extensive trade with tho 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 oper- ation, it contained 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 ex- pect that the engagement would be a perma nent one. But such was not the case. The monotony of this life soon disgusted him, and after weary weeks passed in comparative idle- ness, he longed again for the freedom of the prairie and the forest, and gladly abandoning the rather dignified position of interpreter to Colonel Tramell, entered into the service of Mr. Robert M. Knight, in the more humble capacity of teamster 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 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOX. 23 Young, 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 business 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, par- ties of this description always avoiding the en- listment 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 ultimate 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 in 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 course of this narrative. A small body of 24 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. experienced hunters and trappers, confident in their superior skill and discipline, never hesi- tates to attack a greatly superior number of Jndians, and it was a rare tMng that success did not attend their daring. The Indian is not fond of a "fair stand up fight." He prefers fjtratagem 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 direction. 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 re- marks upon the habits and haunts of the ani- mal, for whose sake men were then so willing to risk their lives, and to undergo such hard- ships. 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 it as illustrating the severe training to which Carson had voluntarily subjected himself: LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 25 v To be a successful trapper, required great Co. Aion as well as a perfect knowledge of tho 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 beaver 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, lie 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 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 26 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 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 water by the beaver. The reason for this was, that it might not re- main after the trap was sprung, and attract other beavers to the spot, and thus prevent their going to where there was another trap ready for them. " The scent, or essence, was made by mingling the fresh castor of the beaver, with an extract of the bark of the roots of 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 sum to the younger trappers, by the older proficients in the mys- tery of beaver 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 vicin- ity of man by the smell of his trail. The aroma of the essence having attracted the ani- mal into the vicinity of the trap, in his attempt to reach it, he has to climb up on to the bank where it is ^ticking. This effort leads him di- LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOX. 27 rectly over the trap, and he is usually taken by one of the fore legs. The trap was con- nected by a chain of iron, six feet in length, to a stout line made of the bark of the leather- 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 es- cape, the beaver was usually drowned before the arrival of the trapper. Sometimes, how- ever, he freed himself by gnawing 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 required great care in the trap- per 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 reason 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 28 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOJC. 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 tho sport of the trapper, and thus it will be seen that to make a successful beaver hunter, re- quired more qualities or natural gifts than falJ to the share of most meu." CHAPTER III. CARSON'S previous habits and purs a its had eminently qualified him to become an iueful and even a distinguished member of Mr Young's company of trappers. He had lived in the midst of danger from his chiMhoood. He was familiar with the use of arms ; and several years of travel and adventure had al ready given him more knowledge of the west- ern wilds in the neighborhood of the region which w r as the scene of their present opera- tions, than was possessed by many who had seen more years than himself. Added to this, he had become well acquainted with the pecu- liar character and habits of the western In- dians, who were now prowling around their camp, and occasionally stealing their traps, game, and animals. The party pursued their business success- fully for some time on the Salt and San Fran- cisco rivers, when a part of them return <} still river divides the plain, bounded only !?/ the horizon, except he look behind him. Such is the scene as, approaching, the sentinel raises his gun and gives the chal- lenge to halt. But the rest of the camp are not yet sleeping, and a dozen voices shout LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOff. 53 in the still evening a glad welcome to Car- son, for whom they were not concerned, for they well knew there was not one of the party so well able to take care of himself a* be CHAPTER VI. PETEHS, in his " 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 In- dian warfare, which had become a necessity to the wyageur on the plains, and in the moun- tains of the western wilds. With his quick discrimination of character, and familiarity with the habits of the race, he could not but know the diggers were less bold than the Apaches and Camanches, 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 awa\ 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 compel the Indians not to harbor their people. Carson (54) LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 55 and eleven of his companions volunteered to aid the mission, and the attack upon the In- dian village resulted in the destruction of a third of its inhabitants, and compelled them to submission. Capt. Young found at this mission a trader to Kke his furs, and from them purchased 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 slaugh- tered, 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 re- turn home. On their route they visited Lo* 5G LIFE OF CHftlSTOPHEK CAKS05. Angelos, formerly called Pueblo de los AA gelos, " the 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 ^lom 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 hun- dred 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 w r e therefore quote from Rev. Dr. Bushnell, whose article on those topics in the "New Eng- lander," in 1858, attracted justly such univer- sal 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 modus operandi, or general cast, of the seasons. But this, again, is scarcely possible, without dis- missing, first of all, the word climate, and sub- stituting the plural, climates. For it cannot be LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CAUSOX. 57 paid of California, as of New England, or the Middle States, that it has a climate. On the contrary, it has a great multitude, curiously pitched together, at short distances, one from another, defying too, not seldom, our most ac- cepted notions of the effects of latitude and al- titude and the defences of mountain ranges. The only way, therefore, is to dismiss general- ities, cease to look for a climate, and find, if we can, by what process the combinations and va- rieties are made ; for when we get hold of the manner and going on of causes, all the varie- ties 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 ribands of about equal width. First, the coast-wise re- gion, comprising two, three, and sometimes four parallel tiers of mountains from five hun- dred to four thousand, five thousand, or even ten thousand feet high. Next, advancing in- ward, we have a middle strip, from fifty to sev- enty miles wide, of almost dead plain, which is called the great valley ; dbSvn the scarcely per- 68 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON". ceptible slopes of 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 riband, 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 summit, 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 dry ness of a single wind ; viz., the trade w r ind 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. Conceive such a wind, LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOX. 59 chilled by the cold waters that have come down from the Northern Pacific, perhaps from Beh- ring's Straits, combing the tops and wheeling round through the valleys of the coastwiso mountains, crossing the great valley at a much retarded rate, and growing hot and dry, fan- ning gently the foot-hills and sides of the Sierra, still more retarded by the piling necessary to break over into Utah, and the conditions of the California climate, or climates, will be un- derstood with general accuracy. Greater sim- plicity in the matter of climate is impossible, and greater variety is hardly to be imagined. " For the whole dry season, Adz., from May to November, this wind is in regular blast, day by day, only sometimes approaching a lit- tle 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 be- fore it. The cloud element, indeed, is always in it. Sometimes it is floated above, in the manner commonly designated by the term cloud. Sometimes, as in the early morning, when the wind is most quiet, it may be seen as a kind of fog bank resting on the sea-wall mountains or rolling down landward through the interstices of their summits. When the wind begins to hurry and take on less compos- 60 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON p.dly, 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 shoot- ing upwards at an angle of thirty or forty de- grees, (which is the aim of the wind preparing 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 tho great valley where the engine, or rather boiler power, that operates the coast wind in a great part of its velocity, is located. Here the heat, LIFE 01 CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 61 reverberated as in a forge, or oven (whence Call fornid) 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 ]N T ew England, we should suppose that life would scarcely be supportable. And yet there is much less suffering from heat in this valley than 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 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 62 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOU. 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 tide bottom, a kind of giant I ul rush region, along the most depressed and marshiest portions of the rivers. " Passing now to the eastern strip or portion, the slope of the Nevada, the heat, except in those deep canons where the reverberation makes it sometimes even insupportable, is (qualified in degree, according to the altitude. LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 03 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 prin- cipal thunders of California are underground. " We return now to the coast- wise mountain region, where the multiplicity and confusion of climates is most remarkable. Their variety we shall find depends on the courses of tho wind currents, turned hither and thither by the mountains ; partly also on the side any given place occupies of its valley or mountain; 61 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. and partly on the proximity of the sea. Sprinkled in among these mountains, and more or less inclosed 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 mountains, about twenty-five more, if we include what is called San Pueblo Bay. Three beautiful valleys of agricultural country, the Petaluma, Sonora, and .Napa valleys, open into this larger valley of the bay, on the north end of it, between four mountain barriers, having each a short navigable creek or inlet. Still farther north is the Russian River val- ley, opening towards the sea, and the Clear Lake valley and region, which is the Switzer- land of California. East of the San Jose val- ley, too, at the foot of Diabola, and up among the mountains, are the large Amador and Sail Ramon valleys, also the little gem of t l ie LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 65 Sunole. Now these valleys, which, if we ex- cept the great valley of the two rivers, com- prise the plow-land of Middle California, have each a climate of its own, and productions that correspond. We have only to observe further, that the east side of any valley will commonly he much warmer than the west ; for the very paradoxical reason that the cold coast-wind always blows much harder on the side or steep slope even, of a mountain, opposite or away from the wind, than it does on the side to- wards it, reversing all our notions of the shel- tering effects of mountain ridges." * CHAPTER VII. this brief tarry at Los Angelos, 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 ranclie 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 grecu shrubs, and a few flowers, he stood at the door of the spacious old Spanish mansion, which was built of adobe 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 Angelos, a spring of this material existing a little way from the (66) LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOtf. 67 town. After waiting a few moments for an answer to his summons, made with the hugo brass knocker, an Indian servant made his ap- pearance, and ushered him to an elegantly fur- nished room, with several guitars lying about as if recently in use. The lordly owner of the ranche soon appeared in morning gown and slip- pers, the picture of a well to do old time gen- tleman, with an air evincing an acquaintance 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 ad- dress you in your native tongue, which I pre- sume is agreeable, though you speak very good Spanish ;" to which Carson, much more sur- prised 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 Ameri- can, I seek, in the language my mother taught me," and at once they were on terms of easy familiarity. As it was early morning, his host asked Carson to take a cup of coffee with him, and 63 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. conducting him to the breakfast room, pre- sented him 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 Massachu- setts was with them as a tutor to some of the younger children. Breakfast 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 be- fore. He said his yard, of a thousand varas, yielded him more grapes than he could man- age to dispose of, though last year he had made several butts of wine, and dried five thou- sand pounds of raisins. The vines were in the form of little trees, so closely had they been trimmed, 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 Eu- rope. The valley of the Rhine, nor of the Ta- gus, produces anywhere a grape like ours. I think that the Los Angelos grape is fit food indeed for angels is quite equal to the grapes LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 69 of Eslicol you remember the heavy clusters that were found there, so that two men carried one between them on a pole resting upon their shoulders. See that now," and he drew Car- son 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 vineyard, 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 Bar- bara 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 Company, returning from the China trade to 70 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. the mouth of the Columbia, which, arriving before his were ripe, he found the fruit market forestalled. " 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 realize something, the market is cut off by Yankee competition. I think we shall have the Americans with us before many years, and for my part I hope we shall. The idea of Californians generally, as well as of other Mex irans, 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 cultivate 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 Lost compliment the Americans, and said in reply, " I have not been an extensive traveler, and have chosen the life of a mountaineer, for a time certainly ; but since I came to Califor- LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 71 ma, I am half inclined to decide to make this my home when I get tired of trapping. 1 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 set- tle in California." lie described to his host a buffalo hunt in which he engaged with the Sioux Indians, before 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 Spaniard so readily assumes, he inquired how manv 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 docs not ki}l without he wishes to use. I was often permitted to take a shot at the animals before I was able to help in dressing them." But Carson felt it might seem like boasting, 72 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER 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 havo some at camp that I intend shall see buffalo. 13 ut 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. Our custom 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 cannot 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 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 73 his thanks for his visit, and promised to re- turn 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 Angelos as speedily as possi- ble. They had been indulging to excess in bad liquors, and having none of the best feelings towards the Mexicans, many quarrels, some ending 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 rn- other day, he managed to get his followers in a tolerably sober condition, and succeeded, though not without much trouble, in gett-mg 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 Angelos, which, but for the prudent discretion of Young and Car- son, might have resulted disastrously to all concerned. ?% LlFJ? OF CHRISTOPHER CARSCN. i>i 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 assurance, and acted as though they felt the power of their numbers. 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, bat chose to wait their time and do as they pleased, as they were accustomed to do with the Mexicans. They soon learned that they wore 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 commander. Carson addressed the old chief in Spanish, (for he had betrayed his knowledge of that language,) and warned ' ' '-\l 'T' 1 P : S GARSON GOES AHEAD WITH THE PARTY. LIFE OF CHKISTOPHEK CARSOX. 7o him that though they were few, they were de- termined to sell their lives dearly. The In- dians awed, it would seem, by the bold and de- fiant language of Carson, and finding that any plunder they might acquire, would be pur* chased at a heavy sacrifice, sullenly withdrew, 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 engagement is but a picture of his conduct in a hundred others, when the battles were with weapons other than the tongue. The inten- tion of the Indians had been to drive away the animals, first causing a stampede, w r hen 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. CHAPTER VIII. WHILE on the Colorado, Young's party dis- covered a company of Indians, (with whom they had had a previous skirmish,) as they were coming out from Los Angelos, and charging suddenly among them, succeeded in taking a large herd of cattle from them in the Indians' own style. The same w r eek 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, ir. droves of tens of thou- sands, and which could be captured and tamed only by the use of the lasso. 4 (76) LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 77 Mr. Young and his party trapped down the Colorado 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 there 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 w r ith 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 the necessity of saying No ! and he did so per- 78 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. sistently, knowing that if he failed in this h 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 or- deal 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 wild oats in early youth. It is not improbable that some of this party belonged to the class of Canadians called cour- eurs des bois, whose habits Mr. Irving thus de- scribes in his Astoria : " A new and anomalous class of men gradu- ally grew out of this trade. These were called coureurs des bois, rangers of the woods ; orig- inally men who had accompanied the Indians in their hunting expeditions, and made them- selves acquainted with remote tracts and tribes ; and who now became, as it were, pedlers of the wilderness. These men would set out from Montreal with canoes well stocked with goods, with arms and ammunition, and would make their way up the mazy and wandering rivers that interlace the vast forests of the Canadas, coasting the most remote lakes, and creating new wants and habitudes among the natives. LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOX. 79 Sometimes they sojourned for months among them, assimilating to their tastes and habits with the happy facility of Frenchmen ; adopt- ing in some degree the Indian dress, and not unfrequently taking to themselves Indian wi yes. " 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 are forced upon a new voyage for subsistence." Many of these coureurs des bois became so accustomed to the Indian mode of living, and the perfect freedom of the wilderness, that 80 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. they lost all relish for civilization, and identi- fied themselves with the savages among whom they dwelt, or could only be distinguished from them by superior licentiousness. In the autumn Carson joined another trap- ping party under Mr. Fitzpatrick, whom wo shall have frequent occasion to mention here- after. 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 In- dians, and having the vexations of the Black- feet 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 Arkansas, where they spent the trapping season, and wintered. While tho 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 of the plun- derers. With only twelve men he took up the trail, came upon the Indians in one of LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 81 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 tro- l*y* In the spring, while trapping on the Platte River, two men belonging to 1 he 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 companion, went off in pursuit of the thieves, who, however, were never heard of afterwards, Xot finding the plunderers, Carson and his companion remained at the old camp on the Arkansas, where the cache had been made, until they were relieved by a party sent out from the United States with supplies for Cap- tain 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 re- peated encounters with Indians attempting to steal their horses, but easily beat them off and saved their property. On one occasion when Carson and the other * Cuti. Conquest of California and New Mexico. 82 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. trappers were out in search of leaver 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. Carsjn considered this one of his narrowest escapes. CHAPTER IX. IN 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 recklessly throwing away. This self-disci- pline, and schooling himself to virtue and tem- perance, was not without effort on the part