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26 - Life and Adventures of Kit Carson by DeWitt C. Peters · Life and Adventures of Kit Carson

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  Speaker 1: Section twenty five, chapter fifteen of the Life and Adventures
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  Speaker 1: of Kit Carson. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox
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  Speaker 1: recordings are in the public domain. For more information or
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  Speaker 1: to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Dion
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  Speaker 1: joins The Life and Adventures of Kit Carson by de
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  Speaker 1: Witt C. Peters, Section twenty five, Chapter fifteen, Part two.
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  Speaker 1: Besides the many dangers to his flock which a person
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  Speaker 1: runs the risk of, both from the numerous accidents to
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  Speaker 1: which it is liable and the unwelcome visits of the
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  Speaker 1: Indians when thus traveling, there are others which may occasionally
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  Speaker 1: happen to his own person. He may be, while standing guard,
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  Speaker 1: suddenly attacked and bitten by a mad wolf. On this
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  Speaker 1: event occurring, he is almost certain to be seized with
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  Speaker 1: that terrible and we might as well add incurable disease hydrophobia,
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  Speaker 1: which renders him a most pitiful object to behold from
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  Speaker 1: a human being so recently respected and beloved by his companions.
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  Speaker 1: A person thus unfortunate is suddenly changed into an object
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  Speaker 1: most dreaded and detested. A party of Mexicans in charge
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  Speaker 1: of a large herd of sheep a few years since
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  Speaker 1: were bound to California. One night, a large, ferocious wolf
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  Speaker 1: entered the camp and been a man in the leg.
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  Speaker 1: Symptoms of hydrophobia very soon set in, and in a
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  Speaker 1: short time the victim was a confirmed case of the disease.
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  Speaker 1: His comrades had no proper means of taking care of
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  Speaker 1: and transporting him, as they were hundreds of miles from
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  Speaker 1: the nearest house. They were superstitious and believed that all
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  Speaker 1: would die if they kept the man's company any longer. Accordingly,
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  Speaker 1: they drove a stake in the ground to which they
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  Speaker 1: inhumanly secured him, and after depositing a small allowance of
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  Speaker 1: provisions near by, they left him to die. Human bones
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  Speaker 1: were afterwards found near the identical bought where it was
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  Speaker 1: said this unfortunate incident happened, which afforded strong circumstantial evidence
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  Speaker 1: that the man had eked out a miserable existence soon
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  Speaker 1: after he was deserted by his so called friends, and
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  Speaker 1: also that the truth of this story rested upon strong probability.
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  Speaker 1: When the Americans first obtained possession of New Mexico, sheep
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  Speaker 1: could be bought at the rate of twenty five cents
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  Speaker 1: per head. The reason of this was the want of
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  Speaker 1: a market and the ease with which they were raised.
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  Speaker 1: Cheapness of labor also assisted in reducing their value. The
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  Speaker 1: wool of these sheep was rather coarse, resembling hair more
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  Speaker 1: than wool. The only use in which it was employed
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  Speaker 1: was for manufacturing blankets, rough carpet, and in filling mattresses.
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  Speaker 1: The valley of the Rio Grande is wonderful as a
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  Speaker 1: sheep growing country. The mountain districts also cannot be excelled
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  Speaker 1: in this respect. Their fitness for grazing is best exemplified
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  Speaker 1: by their abounding in the famous rocky mountain sheep. In
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  Speaker 1: many respects, this animal resembles the chamois. They live on
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  Speaker 1: the tops of the highest peaks, eat the tenderest grass,
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  Speaker 1: and produce the finest flavored mutton in the world. One
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  Speaker 1: of their heads, with the horns, often weighs one hundred pounds.
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  Speaker 1: To shoot them requires all of an experienced hunter's skill,
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  Speaker 1: and when he has brought down one of these trophies,
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  Speaker 1: he feels he has done more than if he had
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  Speaker 1: killed ten deer. The sight of one of these mountain sheep,
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  Speaker 1: as perched on a high rocky peak, is beautiful the
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  Speaker 1: hostile Indians are the main drawback in New Mexico to
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  Speaker 1: the successful raising of sheep. The usual modus operande employed
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  Speaker 1: by Mexican herders, who cannot be surpassed in their vocation,
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  Speaker 1: to which they appear to take intuitively, although many of
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  Speaker 1: them serve an apprenticeship at it, which begins with early
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  Speaker 1: life and ends only by death, is to send a
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  Speaker 1: youth who leads a girl in advance of the flock.
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  Speaker 1: From some strange and unaccountable reason, the sheep will follow
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  Speaker 1: after him, even to the crossing of rivers whose currents
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  Speaker 1: are deep and swift. The shepherds, with their dogs to
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  Speaker 1: assist them when necessary, allow the herd to scatter over
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  Speaker 1: his face, varying in its size, but always allowing sufficient
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  Speaker 1: area so that the animals can move on at their ease,
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  Speaker 1: and at the same time be able to feed. The
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  Speaker 1: danger above all others, that is, to be apprehended and
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  Speaker 1: guarded against while thus traveling is crowding. For in this manner,
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  Speaker 1: when journeying through deep gorges in the mountains and over
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  Speaker 1: the precipitous banks of rivers, hundreds of sheep can be
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  Speaker 1: and not unfrequently are smothered. When this crowding commences, it
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  Speaker 1: is next to impossible to arrest it. A sort of
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  Speaker 1: panic prevails over the entire herd, and they rush on
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  Speaker 1: one on top of another, until a mass of dead
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  Speaker 1: and dying is thus piled up, made or else until,
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  Speaker 1: as most frequently happens, a bridge of carcasses is formed
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  Speaker 1: over which the survivors pass in safety. The Indians who
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  Speaker 1: inhabit the country on the various routes to California, have
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  Speaker 1: a strong predilection for mutton, which is a fact to
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  Speaker 1: bear in mind when migrating with this sort of property.
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  Speaker 1: Such accidents as having a few sheep bitten by rattlesnakes,
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  Speaker 1: and also a certain percentage becoming footsore and breaking down
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  Speaker 1: from fatigue, are common to every herd that crosses the
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  Speaker 1: Rocky Mountains. Economy in living is the great fundamental principle
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  Speaker 1: among the lower classes of the Mexicans. Therefore, when a
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  Speaker 1: sheep is going to die from fatigue or any simple disease,
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  Speaker 1: natural death is anticipated by the herders with the aid
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  Speaker 1: of a hunting knife, and the meat, being dressed and cooked,
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  Speaker 1: is unhesitatingly eaten by them. Next to the Mexican shepherd.
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  Speaker 1: His dog, although he is not generally a handsome acta,
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  Speaker 1: is found to be ever faithful in guarding the flocks.
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  Speaker 1: The greatest enemy to the herds is the wolf, and
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  Speaker 1: in keeping them at bay and preventing their inroads by night,
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  Speaker 1: the dog is capable of performing valuable service. Hence, no
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  Speaker 1: band of sheep should cross the plains and mountains without
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  Speaker 1: a full complement of them. It was at one of
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  Speaker 1: the frontier towns of California that kit Carson disposed of
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  Speaker 1: his flock. There. Having heard of the rapid and marvelous
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  Speaker 1: growth of San Francisco, he made up his mind to
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  Speaker 1: verify these reports with his own eyes, for he was
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  Speaker 1: well acquainted with its ancient aspect. San Francisco had since
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  Speaker 1: the year eighteen forty eight to grow under the impulse
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  Speaker 1: of the gold fever. Kit Carson remembered it as Spanish
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  Speaker 1: settlement as it existed in eighteen forty five six seven,
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  Speaker 1: then containing not over two hundred inhabitants. In eighteen forty seven,
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  Speaker 1: the first gold discovery was made at Sutter's Fort. In
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  Speaker 1: two months thereafter, about two hundred and fifty thousand dollars
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  Speaker 1: in gold dust were carried into the town the next
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  Speaker 1: two months six hundred thousand dollars more. In February eighteen
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  Speaker 1: forty nine, a population of the town was two thousand.
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  Speaker 1: In the six months following it increased to five thousand.
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  Speaker 1: In the early part of the year eighteen fifty, the
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  Speaker 1: population had increased to nearly twenty thousand. In eighteen fifty two,
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  Speaker 1: according to the census, it was thirty four thousand, eight
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  Speaker 1: hundred and seventy The first settlement made at San Francisco
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  Speaker 1: was commenced in the year seventeen seventy six. The place
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  Speaker 1: was then called Erba Buena or good Herb, from the
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  Speaker 1: fact that an herb of that name, which was supposed
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  Speaker 1: to have great medicinal value, grew in rich luxuriance over
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  Speaker 1: the surrounding country. The houses were at first built of
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  Speaker 1: adobe's or sun dried bricks. It is now one of
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  Speaker 1: the most important cities on the Western continent. As Kit
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  Speaker 1: Karson neared this great emporium of California, possessed of some
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  Speaker 1: of the details of its astonishing growth, and remembering it
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  Speaker 1: as it existed when its inhabitants could be easily counted
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  Speaker 1: in an hour, he was perfectly astonished to behold the
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  Speaker 1: great changes which a few short years had produced. Had
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  Speaker 1: it not been for the immovable landmarks about the city
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  Speaker 1: and the familiar scenery of the bay, he would have
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  Speaker 1: been entirely at a loss in considering that this was
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  Speaker 1: the spot called San Francisco, which he had visited in
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  Speaker 1: former years. This metropolis, however, like all others, presented few
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  Speaker 1: attractions to kit Carson's vision, further than its objects of curiosity,
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  Speaker 1: which were a source of interest and amusement to him.
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  Speaker 1: When he had finished sightseeing, he was ready and anxious
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  Speaker 1: to be on his way to New Mexico. Previous to
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  Speaker 1: his setting out, he went on business to Sacramento City.
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  Speaker 1: While there he received a message from his friend and
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  Speaker 1: partner Maxwell, asking him to wait until till the latter
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  Speaker 1: could come in with a herd of sheep from Carson River,
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  Speaker 1: when they would join forces and return home together. Kit
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  Speaker 1: carson stay in California was shortened by the annoyance, as
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  Speaker 1: he considered it, of being made a lion. His society
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  Speaker 1: was constantly courted by men whom he had never seen.
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  Speaker 1: He was passed free on steamboats and to all places
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  Speaker 1: of public amusement, and in fact the people, in acknowledging
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  Speaker 1: his worth, treated him with marked distinction. He was pointed
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  Speaker 1: out wherever he went as a man who had then
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  Speaker 1: the state great service. This reward of his merit was
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  Speaker 1: indeed a just tribute to his worth. Kit felt himself
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  Speaker 1: highly honored and favored, but he did not expect or
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  Speaker 1: wish such attention. He felt himself to be a humble
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  Speaker 1: individual who had honestly and faithfully performed his duty as
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  Speaker 1: it had been assigned to him, and his modesty would
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  Speaker 1: not allow him to ask or be willing to receive
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  Speaker 1: any other than the unexpressed opinion of the people. There
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  Speaker 1: was some men, there always are such persons in every community,
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  Speaker 1: who sought his company, expecting to hear him boast of
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  Speaker 1: his deeds and proclaim himself a hero such as had
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  Speaker 1: never before existed. But what must have been their surprise
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  Speaker 1: on seeing his unassuming bearing, his disregard of notoriety, and
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  Speaker 1: his anxiety to escape that popularity which they themselves would
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  Speaker 1: have highly prized. Tired by the anxiety and hard work
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  Speaker 1: of bringing his property over a long and dangerous journey
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  Speaker 1: to a good market, he had looked for rest and retirement,
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  Speaker 1: but instead he was everywhere, sought out and made conspicuous,
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  Speaker 1: And here we pause to speak of the noble qualities
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  Speaker 1: of moral character and good judgment evinced by Kit Carson.
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  Speaker 1: On this occasion of his eventful life, he found himself
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  Speaker 1: surrounded with the choice spirits of the new El Dorado,
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  Speaker 1: his name a prestige of strength and position, and his
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  Speaker 1: society courted by everybody. The siren voice of pleasure failed
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  Speaker 1: not to speak in his ear her most flattering invitations.
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  Speaker 1: Good fellowship took him incessantly by the hand, desiring to
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  Speaker 1: lead him into the paths of dissipation. But the gay vortex,
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  Speaker 1: with all its brilliancy, had no attractions for him. The
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  Speaker 1: wine cup, with its sparkling arguments, failed to convince his calm,
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  Speaker 1: earnestness of character that his simple habits of life needed remodeling.
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  Speaker 1: To the storm, however, he was exposed, but like a
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  Speaker 1: good ship during the gale, he weathered the fierce blast
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  Speaker 1: and finally took his departure from the new city of
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  Speaker 1: a day, with his character untarnished, but nevertheless leaving behind
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  Speaker 1: him many golden opinions, with a hurried farewell, and many
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  Speaker 1: kind remembrances of the good people of California. He left
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  Speaker 1: their great city to return to a home where he
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  Speaker 1: was certain to find a life better suited to his taste.
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  Speaker 1: Money getting had no charm for him. Had he chosen
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  Speaker 1: to accept some of the offers made him while then
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  Speaker 1: in San Francisco, he could easily have amassed an immense fortune.
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  Speaker 1: But his home had now the greater allurements, and a
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  Speaker 1: legitimate business gave him the certainty of comfort, the power
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  Speaker 1: merely which wealth assumes kit Carson never has desired to grasp.
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  Speaker 1: The time had nearly arrived for the appearance of Maxwell.
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  Speaker 1: He finally joined kit Carson. When the two immediately engaged
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  Speaker 1: in the very profitable work of the disposing of their sheep.
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  Speaker 1: The market proved to be quite active, so much so
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  Speaker 1: that they disposed of their entire flock at high cash
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  Speaker 1: values without the least difficulty. The speculation thus proved to
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  Speaker 1: be highly satisfactory to all concerned. In a monetary point
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  Speaker 1: of view, the adventure proved to be the most fortunate
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  Speaker 1: in which kit Carson had been engaged. Heretofore money had
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  Speaker 1: been a second consideration with kit Carson. He had directed
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  Speaker 1: his enery, jies and attention to almost everything or at
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  Speaker 1: least to many things. Besides its accumulation. The sum which
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  Speaker 1: he had received for the important services rendered both two
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  Speaker 1: government officers and private individuals, had been expended on the
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  Speaker 1: wants of his family and on his suffering friends and countrymen.
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  Speaker 1: A trifling amount had always sufficed to satisfy his own
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  Speaker 1: immediate desires. The calls upon his purse at the end
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  Speaker 1: of each year had left therefore but little which he
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  Speaker 1: could call his own. The snug sum now at his disposal,
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  Speaker 1: Kit Carson determined to lay by, and serving as a
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  Speaker 1: nucleus around it. He has since accumulated enough amply to
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  Speaker 1: supply those comforts which will tend, in his old age
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  Speaker 1: to make him happy. Maxwell and Carson decided to return
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  Speaker 1: to their homes by the Southern Route, which runs through
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  Speaker 1: the country on and adjacent to the Rio Hila. Maxwell
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  Speaker 1: determined to take a steamer down the coast as far
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  Speaker 1: as Los Angeles, distant from San Francisco, about three hundred
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  Speaker 1: and fifty miles, and used his best endeavors to persuade
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  Speaker 1: his friend Kit Carson to accompany him in this. However,
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  Speaker 1: he failed. Already one cruise over a part of the
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  Speaker 1: ocean route which Maxwell contemplated making had been made by
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  Speaker 1: Kit Carson in eighteen forty six, and which had so
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  Speaker 1: sickened him of sea life that he resolved never to
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  Speaker 1: travel on salt water again. While it was in his
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  Speaker 1: power to obtain a mule to assist him in journeying
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  Speaker 1: by land, Maxwell by his water conveyance, reached Los Angeles
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  Speaker 1: fifteen days in advance of Kit Carson, and employed himself
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  Speaker 1: in making the necessary preparations for their trip to New Mexico.
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  Speaker 1: When Kit rejoined his companion, everything was in readiness for
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  Speaker 1: them to proceed on their route, and in a day
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  Speaker 1: or so afterwards they started. Everything favored them until they
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  Speaker 1: reached a village belonging to some Pimo Indians and located
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  Speaker 1: on the Rio Hila. Here the grass became suddenly very scarce.
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  Speaker 1: They learned from these Indians that the season had been
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  Speaker 1: unusually dry, and that if they attempted to proceed on
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  Speaker 1: their regular trail, they would do so at the risk
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  Speaker 1: of losing their animals by starvation. While undecided as to
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  Speaker 1: which was the best course to pursue, Kit Carson informed
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  Speaker 1: the party that he would guide them over a new route, which,
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  Speaker 1: though difficult and rough to travel he felt confident would
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  Speaker 1: afford sufficient forage to answer all their purposes at once.
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  Speaker 1: The men agreed to be governed by their experienced friend's advice,
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  Speaker 1: and having signified to them their willingness to do so,
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  Speaker 1: they resumed their march, following up the Riohila until they
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  Speaker 1: came to the mouth of the San Pedro, when they
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: struck out out the latter for three days, and then
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  Speaker 1: parted with it to risk the chances of reaching at
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  Speaker 1: the end of each day the small mountain creeks that
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  Speaker 1: lay on their contemplated route. After traveling in as direct
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  Speaker 1: a course as the nature of the county tree would admit,
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  Speaker 1: they arrived seasonably at the copper mines of New Mexico.
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  Speaker 1: While pursuing this experimental journey, kit Carson, who was well
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  Speaker 1: acquainted with the general outline of the country but was
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  Speaker 1: not equally conversant with it in reference to the certainty
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  Speaker 1: of finding eligible camping sites where wood, water, and grass
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  Speaker 1: presented themselves in abundance, was frequently made the subject of
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  Speaker 1: a tantalizing joke by the men of the party. Occasionally,
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  Speaker 1: his memory would not solve the question what is the
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  Speaker 1: next course? He had neither map chart nor compass, and
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  Speaker 1: depended entirely upon old landmarks. Occasionally the resemblance of different
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  Speaker 1: mountains one to another would serve to embarrass him. For
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: a time, he would become doubtful as to the exact
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  Speaker 1: course to pursue. At such moments, the mischievous dispositions of
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  Speaker 1: the men would get the better of their judgment, and
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  Speaker 1: they would exert their lungs in shouting to him as
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  Speaker 1: he spurred his writing animal to keep out of the
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  Speaker 1: sound of their raillery. He was not always successful in this,
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  Speaker 1: and occasionally a few sentences reached him, like the following Hurrah,
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  Speaker 1: I say, are you the famous Kit Carson who knows
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  Speaker 1: this country so well? Are you really a good pilot?
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  Speaker 1: Or are you lost? These and similar expressions saluted Kit's ear,
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  Speaker 1: a language to which he had not been heretofore accustomed,
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: as some impediment such as a fallen tree, a rock,
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: a swamp, or a creek state for a brief period
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: his progress, thus allowing the party to approach within speaking distance.
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  Speaker 1: The remarks might have temporarily chafed Spirit, but he had
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  Speaker 1: too much good sense to allow his friends to see
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  Speaker 1: that they had gained any advantage over him, He rode
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  Speaker 1: boldly on and answered their raillery with silence. He knew, however,
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  Speaker 1: very well, that his turn would come, and when he
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  Speaker 1: had brought them in safety to a spot with which
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  Speaker 1: all were familiar, he turned the tables on them by
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: retorting to their questions in a playful manner, which made
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  Speaker 1: their future interpretation of his occasional doubts less sweeping in
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  Speaker 1: its conclusions, Kit succeeded in guiding the party safely to
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  Speaker 1: the copper mines, from whence their route was plain. From
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  Speaker 1: the copper mines, the party traveled through to the Rio
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  Speaker 1: del Norte. This river is eighteen hundred miles in length
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  Speaker 1: and forms the boundary line between Texas and Mexico. It
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: takes its rise in the rocky mountains and empties into
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  Speaker 1: the Gulf of Mexico. It is navigable for small steamers,
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  Speaker 1: sloops and schooners for a distance of about four hundred
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  Speaker 1: and fifty miles from its mouth. About nine hundred miles
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  Speaker 1: from its mouth there is a spot where the river
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  Speaker 1: is only about three or four feet deep. Here the
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: Apache and Camanche Indians always cross when in their depredatory
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: tramps in the Mexico Leaving the Rio grab Or del Norte,
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  Speaker 1: the party pursued their homeward route through the settlements of
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  Speaker 1: the Rio Abajo and Santa Fe, and finally reached House
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  Speaker 1: on the twenty third day of December eighteen fifty three.
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  Speaker 1: Soon the party entered the territory of New Mexico, kit
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  Speaker 1: Carson accidentally met the Mormon delegate to Congress. That person
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: informed kit Carson that the appointment of an Indian agent
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  Speaker 1: had been conferred upon him. On learning this piece of intelligence,
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  Speaker 1: Kit was much elated. He felt that the office was
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: perfectly suited to his tastes, and he was honestly impressed
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  Speaker 1: with the belief that he was capable of performing the
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  Speaker 1: duties of this office and of accomplishing much good. His
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: happiness and pride were heightened by thinking that finally his
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: services had met the approbation of his government, the substantial
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: proof of which was the offering to him of an
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: important trust without solicitation on his part. Immediately on arriving
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  Speaker 1: at Taos, he wrote an answer to the authorities at Washington,
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  Speaker 1: in which he expressed his willingness to serve the government
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  Speaker 1: and the pleasure he felt in accepting the office at
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: the same time he sent the necessary bond required of
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: persons who hold disappointment. Hardly had kit Carson been ushered
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  Speaker 1: into his new duties before the Hikaria Apaches, who formed
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  Speaker 1: one of the tribes of his agency, began to show
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  Speaker 1: new signs of dissatisfaction by committing various kinds of outrages
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  Speaker 1: on the property and lives of the citizens of the
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: northern part of New Mexico. To arrest them in their
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: career and make them amenable for the crimes which they
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: had already committed, Lieutenant Bell of this second regiment of
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: the United States Dragoons was sent in quest of them.
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: He found them on the Red River and at once
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: commenced operations against them. At first, these red men were
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: equally ready to break a lance in combat with their foes,
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: but after the soldiers had made two charges and penetrated
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: through and through their ranks, they were, although in superior numbers,
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: glad to give up the mastership of the field and
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: run away. In this fight, the Apaches lost, by his
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: being killed one of their great chiefs. Besides many warriors
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: on the side of the soldiers, two men were killed
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: and several seriously wounded. A short time after the news
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: of this skirmish had reached Hollows, kit Carson found it necessary,
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: in order to attend to some official business, to proceed
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: to Santa Fe. But just as he was on the
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: point of setting out, he was informed that a large
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: party of these Hikoria Apaches had recently arrived at a
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: place in the mountains only about twenty miles from Tallows,
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: and there were in camp. With the view of pacifying
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: them if it was possible. Kit Carson immediately posted thither,
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: and with no small degree of peril attending his movements,
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: for he went unattended and among Indians, who were at
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: the time very bitter against the Whites. He confronted their
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: head men in their den. He needed no introduction, for
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: during many years he had been well known to them.
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: Therefore he proceeded at once to business. After passing through
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: the usual Indian salutations, he commenced by haranguing them in
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: a style that most pleases their fancy, thereby fixing their
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: attention on what he was saying. Among other things. He
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: forewarned them that the course they were pursuing, if persisted in,
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: would prove the cause of their being exterminated. As their
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: great father, the President, had at his disposal thousands of
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: soldiers to replace those who fell in battle, while when
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: their warriors were killed they could not immediately place others
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: in their moccasins. When a warrior was killed, they were
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: compelled to wait until their children grew up. He added
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: that the Great Father loved his red children, and through him,
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: whose servant he was, who wished to give them annuities
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: and otherwise aid them in living at peace. These Indians,
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: on learning that kit Carson was their agent, expressed great pleasure,
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: and at his earnest solicitation, came forward and professed frenchhip.
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: So little reliance, however, was to be placed in this
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: tribe that kit Carson doubted their sincerity. Although he exacted
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: every pledge which he thought would in the least tend
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: to bind them to their promises, he feared they would
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: not prove true. Having finished his business, Kit bent his
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: way to Santa Fe. But he had not more than
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: reached there before he heard that the Higharias had already
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: become tired of the restraints which he had placed upon them,
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: and had broken out in open defiance of the authorities.
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: From this time onward, So thick and fast did their
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: wicked crimes increase that coercive measures became necessary to put
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: them down. This finally resulted in as sanguinary a battle
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: being fought between a small band of soldiers and this tribe.
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: As was ever recorded. A rapid sketch of it must
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: suffice to illustrate to the reader what kind of a
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: fight this was, and what plucky fellows the apaches are.
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: Lieutenant J. W. Davidson, with a command of sixty men
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: belonging to F and I Companies of the first Regiment
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: of the United States Dragoons, was ordered out to seek
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: and act against these red men. Both the soldiers and
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: their officers were renowned for their bravery and experience in
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: Indian mode of warfare. Hence more than ordinary deeds were
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: expected to be performed by them. The result was shown
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: that they did not disappoint any reasonable expectation. Lieutenant Davidson
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: marched to the Ambuddha Mountains, which range lies between fifteen
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: and twenty miles southwest of Taos, as he had been
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: informed by good authority that the Indians were to be
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: found there. On reaching the mountains, he soon came upon
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: the savages and found them fully prepared to meet him.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: They had selected their ground with great skill. The sight
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: which they had chosen was upon a high elevation, and
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: at the first glance, to get at them appeared to
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: be an impossibility on account of the roughness of the country.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: If the Indians had hunted over the whole of the
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: Rocky mountains, they could not have hit upon a place
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: that offered them so many advantages for the use to
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: which they intended to put it. But as the Red
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: men had by great labor reached the tops of the crags,
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: therefore the soldiers resolved not to be outdone, even if
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: they had to be the assaulting party. And of Section
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: twenty five, Chapter fifteen, Part two, recording by Dion Joins
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: Salt Lake City, Utah,