Christopher Carson

endez

Snake River.-The Blackfeet Marauders.-The Pursuit.-The Calumet.-The Battle.-Kit Carson wounded.-The Rencontre wi

d, is esteemed quite a delicacy. But one tail would not furnish sufficient food for three men. Fifteen days passed away before Kit Carson's little band was reunited wi

ream. There was here a green, smooth, expanded meadow; the pasturage was rich; a clear mountain stream rippled through it, fringed by noble forest trees. The vicinity afforded an abundance of game. Here they reared thei

were free from underbrush, and whose surface was carpeted with the tufted grass, were seen the huts of the mountaineers in every variety of the picturesque, and even of the grotesque. Some were formed of the well tanned robes of the buffalo; some of boughs, twigs and bark; some of massive log

very heart of the wilderness. Men of many nationalities were present, in every variety of grotesque costume; and not a few Indians were there, wit

eparated. The traders, with their horses loaded down with the furs, returned to the marts of

rriors had obtained rifles. The itinerant trader could not refrain from furnishing the Indians with guns and ammunition, at the exorbitant prices which the savages were ready to pay. It shows t

grew daily more and more desperate. The Indians seemed to be gathering from great distances, so as almost to surround the encampment. If any small party wandered a mile, to examine their traps, they were pretty sure to find the traps stolen, and to be fired upon from ambush. This state of affairs at length constrained them to quit the country. Like

er was setting in with much severity. The hill-tops were covered with snow; the streams were coated with ice; freezing blasts from the mountains swe

oring. A few hours' work reared their cosey huts. Fuel was cheap and abundant. The broadcloth for their clothing was already woven on the backs of buffaloes, bears, deer and wolves. Their own nimble hands speedily formed them into garments impervious to wind and cold. They had laid in quite a store of game, which the cold

iddle of February, while wintry blasts swept the hills, warmth, abundance and friendliness reigned in these sheltered, che

umerous band of warriors, crept, like wolves, into the grazing ground of the horses, and succeeded in seizing eighteen of them, with which they made off rapidly towards their own country. The

utes they were all mounted; a blanket their only baggage; their rifles and ammunition their only stores. The ground wa

riding before they were overtaken. Fortunately for the pursuers, there had been recently a heavy fall of snow, so that the Indians were under the necessity of breaking a path. Their party was so large that the white men were furnished with a clearly marked, well-trodden trail. This toil through the sn

far outnumbered him. The savages, seeing the impossibility of immediately gathering and mounting their horses for flight, cunningly sent a flag of truce to solicit a parley. According to their custom, this flag consisted

them. Through their interpreter they assumed an air of perfect innocence, affecting great surprise that the horses be

rbarian diplomatists, "to commit any dep

, their position, their weapons, and the nature of the ground upon which they had met, rendered the result of a battle very doubtful. It would not d

honor, which will bind the most abandoned men. Such was the smoking of the pipe of peace with the savages. A large fire was built. The two parties met around it. The calumet was lighted,

mals. Mr. Carson listened patiently and made no response, until they had talked themselves out. He then simply replied, that he was very happy to learn that the Indians were friendly in

he question at issue. But Mr. Carson was in no mood to be drawn into a profitless palaver. T

rsistence he said, "I can listen to no overtures of peace, until our horses are restored." Still the Indians hesitated to provoke a battle in which some of their warriors wo

But for the dread in which the savages stood of the powers of the white men, the advantages would have been in their favor ten to one. There were unerring marksmen on both sides. No one could expose himself to the aim of either party without almost certain death. Kit Carson and one of his companion

rson's gun. A bullet whizzed through the air, touched the bark of the tree, behind which nearly the whole of Carson's body was concealed, and severed one of the sinews of his shoulder, shattering a portion of the bone.

antly, holding the Indians at bay until night came. The night was bitter cold. The trappers could not light any fire,

hey did not doubt that the Indians would still fight desperately in defence, they did not fear that they would venture to pursue and to attack the trappers where they could choose their own ground. The trappers ther

the savages, and that he would have brought back all the horses. It was immediately decided, in general council, that another expedition of thirty men, under Captain Bridger, should pursue and chastise the thieves. This w

rections laden with furs. All were elated with their extraordinary prosperity. There is the spring hunting and the fall hunting. But there is a period in midsummer when the fur is valueless or cannot easily be taken. Game was then abundant, camping was a luxury. This was the time selected by the traders for their

st miraculous. As we have mentioned, these mountaineers were beyond the limits of the laws. There was no governmental protec

munity where law was recognized and could be enforced. And yet the same act occurring in t

y powerful frame, a bully and a braggadocio. Totally devoid of principle, and conscious of his muscular superiority, he was ever swaggering thro

the rendezvous, and probably whiskey was at the bottom of these troubles. Mr. Carson was quietly talking with some of his friends, in one part of the extended encampment, when the swaggering b

n his calm, unimpassioned way, and with

l. We have no disposition to quarrel with any one. But this conduct can no longe

There was an indescribable something in his soft words, which indicated that they came from a lion-like heart. The w

ary foe. The reputation also of Kit Carson, as an able and fearless man extended through the whole encampment. There was a moment of perfect silence, Shunan not uttering one word in reply. He then turned upon his

rested the attention of nearly the whole encampment. It was well known that when Carson and Shunan should meet on the hostile field, there was to be no vulgar rough and tussle fight, but a decisive conflict

barrassed in his movements when in the saddle, as when on the floor of his tent. Rapidly he rode down upon Shunan until

ulder with the muzzle not four feet from the heart of his intended victim. The life of Carson depended upon the fraction of a moment. We call him a lucky man; we should rather say, he was a wise man

passed through a second time above the elbow. The sudden shock caused the rifle to tilt a little upwards and thus saved the hero's life. Carson's face was severely burned by the powder, and the ball glanced over the top of his head, just cutting through the skin. The bully's rifle dropped

ilderness could bestow. The shattered bones of course could never recover their former strength. The weakest of those upon whom he formerly trampled, could n

ver alluded to it, but with a saddened countenance. Whenever the subject was referred to, he always expressed his h

t we find the following reference

, and strictly moral in his deportment." In a letter written from California in 1847

the same thing. He is always the

ls or encounters, except on one single occasion, which he sometimes modestly describes to his friends. The narrative is full

well, writes, in co

has been generally conceded, that no small share of the benefits derived from these explorations, was due to the sagacity, skill, experience, advice and labor of Christopher Carson. His sober habits, strict honor, and

topher Carson, those traits of manhood which are esteemed by the great and good to be the distinguishing ornaments of character. This acquaintance ripened into a friendship of the purest

ucation having been much neglected in his youth, he is deficient in theoretical learning. By natural abilities, however, he has greatly compensated for this defect. He speaks the French and Spanish langu