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

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  Speaker 1: Section twenty seven, Chapter sixteen, Part one of the Life
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  Speaker 1: and Adventures of Kit Carson. This is a LibriVox recording.
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  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
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  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
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  Speaker 1: by Phil Schmp. The Life and Adventures of Kit Carson
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  Speaker 1: by de Witt C. Peters. Section twenty seven, Chapter sixteen,
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  Speaker 1: Part one. A fresh campaign set on foot, Colonel Cook
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  Speaker 1: in command, Kit Carson goes as guide. The Apaches and
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  Speaker 1: Utahs leagued together the roughness of the country and the
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  Speaker 1: privations to which the command was exposed. The Indians overhauled
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  Speaker 1: a running fight, the advantages gained, the chase resumed. The
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  Speaker 1: Apaches resort to their old tricks. Colonel Cook is obliged
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  Speaker 1: to return to Aboquilloux, a Utah taken prison through mistake.
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  Speaker 1: Kit Carson goes to Taos and has a conference with
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  Speaker 1: the chiefs of the Utah nation. Cook's second scout. He
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  Speaker 1: is caught in a furious snowstorm and obliged to return
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  Speaker 1: to Rio Colorado. Major Brooks and reinforcements come to the rescue.
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  Speaker 1: Major Brooks on the lookout, but fails to find the
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  Speaker 1: Indians Carlton's expedition. Kit Carson goes with it as guide.
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  Speaker 1: The adventures met with kit Carson's prophecy comes true. The
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  Speaker 1: Mowachee band of Utah's summoned by Kit Carson to a
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  Speaker 1: grand council. Troubles brewing among these Indians. The Smallpox carries
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  Speaker 1: off their head men to retrieve the ground lost, and
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  Speaker 1: also to show the Hickoria Apaches that their recent victory
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  Speaker 1: had tended only to stimulate the movements of the Americans
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  Speaker 1: to a display of greater activity and energy. After a
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  Speaker 1: brief space of time, a large body of regular troops
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  Speaker 1: were made ready to take the field against them. The
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  Speaker 1: commander of this expedition was Colonel Cook of the second
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  Speaker 1: Regiment of the United States Dragoons. That officer chose for
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  Speaker 1: his principal guide, Kit Carson, whose peace duties as Indian
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  Speaker 1: agent had been abruptly arrested by the warlike attitude of
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  Speaker 1: some of his Indians. It was necessary also that kit
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  Speaker 1: Carson should be on the ground in case the Red
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  Speaker 1: Men were overtaken. In order to ascertain whether or no
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  Speaker 1: the Utahs were mixed up with the operations of the Apaches.
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  Speaker 1: A large branch of the former tribe were part and
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  Speaker 1: parcel of his agency, and the two nations were known
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  Speaker 1: to be on very friendly terms with each other. Consequently,
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  Speaker 1: it was surmised that they might be secretly and under
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  Speaker 1: disguise acting together in the war. Colonel Cook employed besides
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  Speaker 1: the troops of the line which were under his command,
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  Speaker 1: some forty men selected from among the Mexican and Pueblo Indians,
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  Speaker 1: whose duties were to act as spies and trailers. These
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  Speaker 1: Pueblos were selected for spies on account of their being
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  Speaker 1: familiar with Indian habits and their mode of warfare. They
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  Speaker 1: were taken from among the best hunters which the Pueblo
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  Speaker 1: villages could furnish. They presented themselves provided with their own horses, rifles,
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  Speaker 1: and in most cases with their own ammunition, and were
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  Speaker 1: supplied only with their rations of food. When it was practicable,
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  Speaker 1: they were allowed to kill game, and, being very expert
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  Speaker 1: at it, they seldom returned from a hunt open handed.
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  Speaker 1: Their peaceful mode of life prevented them from engaging in
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  Speaker 1: any deep league with the hostile Indians. But yet there
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  Speaker 1: is no doubt that when the different tribes were at
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  Speaker 1: war with the whites, the Pueblos harbored the warlike Indians
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  Speaker 1: and supplied them, in many instances with such articles they
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  Speaker 1: stood most in need of. Their policy in thus acting
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  Speaker 1: might have been to retain the friendship of these Indians
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  Speaker 1: and thus prevent their committing any depredations on themselves. The
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  Speaker 1: Pueblos may have taken advantage of the state of affairs
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  Speaker 1: when war existed, and doubtless frequently did under disguise of
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  Speaker 1: the enemy, becoming guilty of crimes which could easily have
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  Speaker 1: been proven against them. The Mexicans have often tried to
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  Speaker 1: criminate the Pueblos for thus acting, but they have proceeded
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  Speaker 1: with such bungling policy that it has seldom happened that
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  Speaker 1: anything criminal has been definitely proven against them. If a
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  Speaker 1: part of them have thus acted, there is not the
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  Speaker 1: least doubt but that the majority are guiltless. They are
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  Speaker 1: as a body loyal to the government of the United States,
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  Speaker 1: but not so much from love of the Americans as
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  Speaker 1: from being shrewd. They know it is for self interest
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  Speaker 1: to keep good friends with the strongest power. On these
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  Speaker 1: war scouts, they rendered valuable service, and in this light
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  Speaker 1: have long been regarded with favor by the Whites. The
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  Speaker 1: command of these forty Mexicans and Pueblo Indians was conferred
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  Speaker 1: upon James H. Quinn, a well known and prominent citizen
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  Speaker 1: of New Mexico. This gentleman became intimately associated with the
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  Speaker 1: territory of New Mexico soon after that country was annexed
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  Speaker 1: by the United States. In politics, military life, farming, and
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  Speaker 1: mercantile pursuits. He was most actively engaged, and by his
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  Speaker 1: talents and industry, took a prominent position and became an
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  Speaker 1: influential member of society. He had some faults, who as not,
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  Speaker 1: but his unexpected death came so suddenly upon his friends
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  Speaker 1: that they could only think of him for the many
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  Speaker 1: good qualities both of his head and heart. Hence his
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  Speaker 1: faults were most willingly passed over in silence, all things
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  Speaker 1: being in readiness, the command entered upon the pursuit of
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  Speaker 1: the Indians. They marched from Taos ten miles north to
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  Speaker 1: a stream called a Roya Hondo. Thence following the banks
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  Speaker 1: of this stream down through its deep and rocky canyon,
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  Speaker 1: they came to Rio del Norte. On the first name stream,
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  Speaker 1: there was a small, unattractive settlement which bears the same
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  Speaker 1: name several years since there was a large distillery in
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  Speaker 1: full operation at this place. The establishment was owned by
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  Speaker 1: an American and was very extensive. The building was celebrated
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  Speaker 1: as being the place where several Americans were slaughtered by
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  Speaker 1: the Mexicans during the revolution, in which Governor Bent lost
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  Speaker 1: his life heretofore spoken of. On the plain which is
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  Speaker 1: contiguous with the south bank of the Royal Honda, there
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  Speaker 1: are to be found the remains of a large Aztec town,
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  Speaker 1: which was, at some remote period the largest settlement inhabited
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  Speaker 1: by that interesting people to be found in northern New
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  Speaker 1: Mexico at the present day. Can be seen the size
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  Speaker 1: in almost the number of houses which formed the town,
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  Speaker 1: which are very numerous. The building material as here used
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  Speaker 1: by the Aztecs was small cobblestones, which undoubtedly were mixed
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  Speaker 1: with mud and thus formed the structure. Pieces of pottery, flint,
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  Speaker 1: arrow points, stone pipe, and rude tools have been from
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  Speaker 1: time to time found on the side of the town,
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  Speaker 1: going to prove that the people were not wandering in
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  Speaker 1: their habits, but that instead they occupy their time in farming,
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  Speaker 1: raising cattle and mining. The wild. Indians may have murdered
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  Speaker 1: the inhabitants and then destroyed the town, or civil war
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  Speaker 1: and pestilence might have caused it to become deserted, when
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  Speaker 1: as a natural result it fell to decay. The most
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  Speaker 1: plausible theory to entertain is the former, as every old
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  Speaker 1: Mexican town of the North contains relics which could not
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  Speaker 1: have been designed merely in case of emergency. Not one
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  Speaker 1: of these towns in olden times was without a large well,
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  Speaker 1: which in most instances was bountifully supplied with water. In
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  Speaker 1: time of peace, these extensive reservoirs were covered over and
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  Speaker 1: concealed from view, and therefore but few strangers could be
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  Speaker 1: made aware of their existence. On the breaking out of war,
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  Speaker 1: these wells were thrown open for public use, and being
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  Speaker 1: located in the center of the towns, the inhabitants escaped
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  Speaker 1: that danger in procuring water, which necessarily would have surrounded
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  Speaker 1: them in case they had been obliged, as they are now,
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  Speaker 1: to bring it from the neighboring streams. As time rolled
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  Speaker 1: on and danger was lessened, these wells were almost forgotten
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  Speaker 1: until the timber which covered them rotted and allowed their
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  Speaker 1: fragments and the earth to cave in. When the object
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  Speaker 1: of digging these reservoirs became apparent. It is an established
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  Speaker 1: fact in history that the town of Taos once withstood
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  Speaker 1: a long and fearful siege, but finally escaped, as did
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  Speaker 1: its people uninjured. The besieging party in this instance was
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  Speaker 1: composed of the Indians of the Plains. They were present
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  Speaker 1: to the number of many thousand, and were at last
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  Speaker 1: compelled to depart, as is supposed in consequence of their provisions.
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  Speaker 1: Giving out reasoning from analogy, is no more than proper
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  Speaker 1: to suppose that if the early settlements of the Mexicans
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  Speaker 1: were thus annoyed, the case of the Aztecs must have
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  Speaker 1: been still harder, and that, being overcome by numbers, they
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  Speaker 1: were necessitated to succumb and hence or swept by the
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  Speaker 1: Indians of the Plains from the face of the earth,
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  Speaker 1: leaving but a dim outline of their oath ancient grandeur.
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  Speaker 1: The party found the stream very much swollen by the
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  Speaker 1: melting of the snows in the mountains when they arrived
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  Speaker 1: at its forting place. Notwithstanding a torrent rolled before them,
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  Speaker 1: the command was of necessity given to cross. There was
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  Speaker 1: no shrinking without a single murmur. The entire command set
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  Speaker 1: themselves about the perilous task. The bed of the river
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  Speaker 1: at this place is rocky and shelving at low water.
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  Speaker 1: These facts offer no great obstacle in crossing. The case
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  Speaker 1: is very different when the torrent has reached high water mark.
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  Speaker 1: Then a single step will often plunge horse and rider
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  Speaker 1: into the angry waters beyond their depth. Kit Carson boldly
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  Speaker 1: took the lead, and before the infantry at all passed
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  Speaker 1: the horses of the dragoons had to be sent back
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  Speaker 1: to assist them. To facilitate this fording, kit Carson crossed
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  Speaker 1: and recrossed the stream at least twenty times. No serious
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  Speaker 1: accident occurred, although three of the dragoons came near being
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  Speaker 1: swept down the current, which at the time was very
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  Speaker 1: swift and strong. Had they gone below the fording place,
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  Speaker 1: they would most assuredly have been drowned, as the river
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  Speaker 1: there takes a fearful leap through a cut in the rocks.
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  Speaker 1: Having safely gained the opposite shore, the men found that
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  Speaker 1: their labors had but just commenced. In front of them
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  Speaker 1: stood a precipice that was, at the least calculation six
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  Speaker 1: hundred feet in height of solid rock and almost perpendicular
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  Speaker 1: up this ascent, the command had to mount by following
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  Speaker 1: a zigzag trail with much troubled and toil. The summit
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  Speaker 1: of the height was reached when they once more commenced
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  Speaker 1: their journey over a diversified country made up of plains
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  Speaker 1: and ravines. No grass or water was found until the
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  Speaker 1: expedition arrived at a small Mexican town called Ciboletta. Here
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  Speaker 1: an encampment was formed for one night, and here their
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  Speaker 1: animals were to have their last rations of corn and forage.
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  Speaker 1: The sale of these latter articles proved a windfall too,
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  Speaker 1: and made glad the hearts of the inhabitants of that settlement,
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  Speaker 1: for the money which they received in exchange for their
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  Speaker 1: produce was the largest sum they had ever possessed. Thus,
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  Speaker 1: in more ways than one, these campaigns in the mountains
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  Speaker 1: cause good results. These settlements on the remote frontiers of
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  Speaker 1: the territory of New Mexico are composed of very poor people, who,
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  Speaker 1: for many years, succeeding their first efforts on establishing their
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  Speaker 1: small farms, find great difficulty in doing more than to
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  Speaker 1: feed themselves. Their distance from markets such as Taos affords
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  Speaker 1: prevents them from transporting thither more than their small surplus
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  Speaker 1: of grain. But as in this case, on thus finding
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  Speaker 1: many hungry horses and mules to feed their cornstocks and
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  Speaker 1: wheat straw come into demand and bring them in a
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  Speaker 1: renunration in ready money in sums which they have not
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  Speaker 1: even dreamed of before. The only difficulty in trading with
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  Speaker 1: such people is to fix a fair price on their produce,
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  Speaker 1: for they are so fearful of not receiving enough that
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  Speaker 1: they often overshoot the mark, and charged so much as
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  Speaker 1: to prevent other expeditions of the same sort from visiting them.
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  Speaker 1: With a few dollars in their pockets. Thus gained from
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  Speaker 1: the party, these Mexicans for once felt themselves rich men.
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  Speaker 1: Early on the subsequent day, the whole force was again
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  Speaker 1: in motion and continued an active march for two days
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  Speaker 1: over a rough country. At last kit Carson struck the
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  Speaker 1: Indian trail. The course was instantly made to suit this trail.
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  Speaker 1: When the party marched on two days more at a
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  Speaker 1: rapid pace. On the second day's march, the Indians were overhauled.
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  Speaker 1: The band of Apaches had been jogging on slowly, and
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  Speaker 1: consequently their animals were in good order. The case was
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  Speaker 1: far different with their pursuers. Their horses were much used
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  Speaker 1: up by overwork and privations. Thus, when their strength was
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  Speaker 1: most needed, it was found wanting. The Indians espied the
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  Speaker 1: soldiers in time to make good their flight, but not
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  Speaker 1: quick enough to save the lives of all their warriors.
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  Speaker 1: Several of them were killed and many more wounded. They
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  Speaker 1: also lost a few of their horses and nearly all
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  Speaker 1: their camp equipage. The roughness of the section of the
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  Speaker 1: country where they were overtaken assisted the Savages in escaping,
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  Speaker 1: notwithstanding every effort was made by the Americans to prevent
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  Speaker 1: their leaving so easily. Kit Carson, when describing these events, says,
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  Speaker 1: to Captain Sykes, who commanded the infantry, is due the
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  Speaker 1: greatest amount of praise for the part he acted in
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  Speaker 1: our adventures. When his men were almost broken down, with
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  Speaker 1: sore feet, long and difficult marches, want of provisions, the
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  Speaker 1: coldness of the weather, and with their clothing nearly worn out,
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  Speaker 1: and when they were on the point of giving up
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  Speaker 1: with despair, they were prevented from doing so by witnessing
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  Speaker 1: the noble example set them by their captain. He showed
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  Speaker 1: them what a soldier's duty really was, and this so
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  Speaker 1: touched their pride that they hobbled along as if determined
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  Speaker 1: to follow him until death relieved them from their sufferings.
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  Speaker 1: Although this officer had a riding animal at his disposal,
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  Speaker 1: yet never for once did he mount him, but instead
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  Speaker 1: he lent the horse to some deserving soldier who was
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  Speaker 1: on the point of succumbing to overwork. When the Indian
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  Speaker 1: village was discovered, he cheered his men from a limping
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  Speaker 1: walk into a sort of run, and dashing through a
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  Speaker 1: swollen mountain stream that was nearly up to their arm
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  Speaker 1: pits and full of floating ice. He was with his
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  Speaker 1: company the foremost in the attack. Two soldiers of Captain
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  Speaker 1: Syke's company were wounded, and one of them afterwards died.
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  Speaker 1: The other man was severely injured, but eventually recovered. The Indians,
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  Speaker 1: on being routed, were pursued through a deep canyon for
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  Speaker 1: about four miles. A few who had been previously wounded
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  Speaker 1: were overtaken and slain. Night now came on. Therefore the
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  Speaker 1: men had to give up the chase, and on returning
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  Speaker 1: to their own encampment, they found their friends had located
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  Speaker 1: it on the same ground which the Indians had occupied
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  Speaker 1: when they were first discovered. The next morning, the surviving
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  Speaker 1: wounded man, with an escort, was sent back to the
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  Speaker 1: nearest military post so that he could receive proper attention.
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  Speaker 1: The pursuit at an early hour was then resumed by
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  Speaker 1: the soldiers, taking the fresh trail of the Indians. Away.
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  Speaker 1: Went both parties through valleys, canyons, and over snow clad
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  Speaker 1: mountains untiled. In the end, the Americans saw that it
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  Speaker 1: was impossible to overtake the red men, who began to
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  Speaker 1: break up into squads of two and three and scatter
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  Speaker 1: in every direction. During the latter days of the chase,
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  Speaker 1: the routes which the Indians traveled were the worse they
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  Speaker 1: could select, their object being entirely to use up the
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  Speaker 1: animals of their pursuers, who were thus vigorously driving them
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  Speaker 1: from one aunt to another. Very often at night, the
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  Speaker 1: soldiers would find themselves bivouacked but a short distance from
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  Speaker 1: the place which they had left on the previous morning.
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  Speaker 1: And this happened when not once during the whole day
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  Speaker 1: had they missed the trail or ceased traveling. But the
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  Speaker 1: fact was that the enemy were so familiar with the
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  Speaker 1: country that they made these crooked trails with impunity. Finally,
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  Speaker 1: the Indians saw that in this trial of muscles and
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  Speaker 1: nerves they gained nothing and could not thus shake off
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  Speaker 1: their pursuers, but that it was now necessary for them
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  Speaker 1: to try other expedients. Therefore they separated to meet again
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  Speaker 1: at some preconcerted rendezvous. On this occasion, as so often Heretofore,
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  Speaker 1: the Apaches did not belie the character formed of them
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  Speaker 1: by some of our most experienced military men, and of
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  Speaker 1: which we have often spoken, viz. That they have no
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  Speaker 1: equals for endurance, and such a thing as overtaking them,
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  Speaker 1: when once put to flight, is almost out of the
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  Speaker 1: category of the white man's feats, there being nothing more
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  Speaker 1: that could be accomplished by the pursuit. Consequently, Colonel Cook
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  Speaker 1: ordered his men to face about, and they, having done so,
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: he made a direct march at Equilloux, a Mexican village
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: that is located on the Rio Chammel, a tributary of
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  Speaker 1: the Rio del Norte. The design he had in going
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  Speaker 1: there was to recruit his men and animals. Their sufferings
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: had been severe. Although performing constantly more than double duty,
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: the entire command was put upon half allowance of food,
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: and that little could not be properly cooked. For this reason,
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: the trials and hardships which they experienced were of no
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: ordinary character. The town of Abiquillou, where Colonel Cook arrived,
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  Speaker 1: is about sixty miles northwest of Santa Fe, and a
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  Speaker 1: traveler can make a journey through the valleys from one
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  Speaker 1: town to the other. It stands next to Taos in
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  Speaker 1: point of magnitude and importance in the matter of townships
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  Speaker 1: in the north of New Mexico. The scenery about this
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: settlement is very attractive, and as it lies on the
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: borders of the Utah Indian country, it is frequently visited
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  Speaker 1: by these Indians. The neighbors of the Utahs, the Navajos,
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: occasionally make their appearance in the town. The Mexicans of Abiquillou,
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: from their continued intercourse with the bands of the Utah Indians,
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  Speaker 1: are more or less linked in with them, and in
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  Speaker 1: time of war, the Americans can place but little confidence
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  Speaker 1: in the inhabitants of Abiquillou. On this account. The grazing
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  Speaker 1: and farming facilities of the country adjacent to this town
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  Speaker 1: are quite progressive, and were it not for the Indians,
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  Speaker 1: its resources would be much more rapidly developed than they
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  Speaker 1: are now. Utah was originally part of the territory of
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: Upper California. The United States came into possession of it
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  Speaker 1: by the Treaty with Mexico in eighteen forty eight. The
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  Speaker 1: population is chiefly Mormon. The new territory, as set off
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  Speaker 1: by the United States in eighteen fifty, includes an area
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  Speaker 1: of one hundred and eighty seven thousand, nine hundred and
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  Speaker 1: twenty three square miles or one hundred and twenty millions
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  Speaker 1: two hundred and seventy thousand and seven hundred and twenty acres.
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  Speaker 1: Near the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada Range, there
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: are several lakes which receive the waters of the eastern
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: slope of these Leviathan Mountains. One of these lakes bears
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: the name of Kit Carson, having been named Carson Lake
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  Speaker 1: by Colonel Fremont. In one respect, this country has the
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  Speaker 1: characteristics seldom met with in any part of the globe.
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  Speaker 1: Large numbers of lakes and rivers have no outlets. Such
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  Speaker 1: is the fact in regard to Carson Lake. The only
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  Speaker 1: means by which their waters are reduced is by evaporation.
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  Speaker 1: The great Salt Lake of Utah, to the traveler, is
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  Speaker 1: of great interest. It may well be called the Dead
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  Speaker 1: Sea of Utah, as has been seen. Colonel Cook and
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: party were now halted at the Mexican village on the
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: Rio Chauma, a tributary of the Rio Grande or del Norte.
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: The party that had been sent back with the wounded man,
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: while on their journey, met and captured an Indian, supposing
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: him to be an Apache. They deprived him of his
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: horse and arms, and otherwise treated him as a prisoner.
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: While they were en route, the Indian made his escape
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: and joined his tribe. This captive, they afterwards learned, was
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: a Utah, whose tribe had the external appearances of being
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: friendly towards the Whites, although there were existing good reasons
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: for doubting their sincerity. Colonel Cook, fearing that such treatment
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: might offer the Utahs a plausible excuse for openly declaring
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: war or determined to clear himself of censure by making
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: such reparation as was in his power. Accordingly, he despatched
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: kit Carson to the headquarters of his agency in order
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: to settle matters. On reaching Taos, kit Carson sent an
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: expressman to the Utah village with the request that their
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: chiefs would come and have a talk with him. They
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: obeyed his summons, and when they were seated in council
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: with their father, kit he explained to them how that
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: the soldiers had taken prisoner their brave through mistake and ignorance.
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: He informed them that his countrymen did not wish to
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: do their tribe any injury, and he trusted that they
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: would overlook the affair, advising them that the best way
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: to show to the white men that their intentions were
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: honest would be by not rendering aid to the Apaches.
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: He said that he had not sent for them through fear,
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: as their warriors were but a handful when compared to
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: the soldiers of their great father. But the main object
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: always to be held in view in their deliberations was
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: to cultivate friendship, as the country was large enough for
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: both parties to live in. The Indians replied that they
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: were satisfied with the explanation made to them, and declared
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: that their hearts were not in the least inimicable towards
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: the Whites. On hearing this, kit Carson restored to them
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: the captured property, and also made to the chiefs themselves
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: a few useful presents. Colonel Cook after granting a sufficient
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: rest to his men and obtaining supplies at Abiquilloux started
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: out again to haunt the hikarias he was so fortunate
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: soon after as to find a fresh trail, and in
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: hot haste followed it for several days, when unfortunately he
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: was caught in a furious snowstorm, which obliterated the tracks
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: of the Indians, besides otherwise greatly damaging his resources. The
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: fair prospects of a successful termination to the expedition being
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: so suddenly frustrated, the commander had no other alternative oguntum,
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: but to return. This he did by going to the
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: Rito Colorado, a small town that lay on route. Here,
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: the command was joined by Major Brooks of the third
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: Regiment of the U. S Infantry, who had marched to
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: the relief of Colonel Cook with reinforcements. As soon as
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: the necessary preparations were gone through with another scout was
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: undertaken under the charge of this last named officer. While
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: Colonel Cook and his men retired from their active service.
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: Major Brooks, without much difficulty, struck upon a recent path
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: made by the enemy, and on it gave them chase.
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: The Indians were making their own way to the Utah country,
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: and on arriving there, the plans of the Major were
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: completely balked owing to the great numbers of fresh trails
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: that he discovered in those parts. They were so numerous
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: that they had crossed and recrossed one another at all points,
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: and were so similar that his best guides could not
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: distinguish the one made by the Apaches from those belonging
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: to the Utahs. The result was that his command, after
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: being in the field for fifteen days, was compelled to
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: return without accomplishing anything. These two nations, the Utahs and Apaches,
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: have been so long intimate that many of their habits
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: and customs are the same, and very often it requires
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: them to speak their respective languages before they can be recognized.
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: But usually the Utahs are cleaner and better dressed than
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: their faithful allies, the Apaches, whom they use in time
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: of war and peace as tools. After allowing a sufficient
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: time for the Apaches to collect and reorganize so that
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: they would be more accessible, a third expedition was made
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: ready and placed under the command of Major Carlton of
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: the first Regiment of the United States Dragoons. Major Carlton
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: employed as his guide Kit Carson this command at first
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: traveled to the north one hundred miles until it reached
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: Fort Massachusetts. Here it halted for one day until the
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: final arrangement could be finished. Major Carlton then divided his party,
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: sending one division, which consisted of his spy company under
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: Captain Quinn, to examine the country to the west side
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: of the White Mountains, while he took it upon himself
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: to inspect the territory on the east side of the
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: same range. Captain Quinn followed up the Valley of San Luis.
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: When he reached the Moscow Pass, he turned off through
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: it in order to get into the Wet Mountain Valley,
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: where it had been previously agreed upon that he should
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: meet with and report progress to his commanding officer. The
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: Moscow Pass is a narrow opening in the White Mountains,
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: which latter is but another name for a branch of
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: the Rocky Chain. This pass has been traversed by Colonel
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: Saint Vrain many years ago with wagons, but at the
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: present time such a feat would prove to be an impossibility,
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: as the mountain streams have washed down large rocks and
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: other obstacles which now present difficulties which simply men and
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: animals cannot overcome. The pass itself is but a few
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: miles in length. It is but a deep cut through
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: very lofty mountains. Its sides are rocky, craggy, and very rough,
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: defying in many places the most experienced climber to ascend them.
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: It is a favorite route which the Apaches delight to
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: take when hotly pursued, as it offers them the saving
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: of many miles of difficult and circuitous traveling when they
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: wished to reach the open prairies. On reaching the place
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: of rendezvous, Carlton, while in the Sangree, decreased a pass.
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: By the aid of his guide Kit Carson discovered a
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: trail made by three of the enemy, and on following
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: it up, it was found to join the main path
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: on the Huerfano Creek. On the arrival of Quinn, who
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: had discovered signs which indicated the direction the Indians were taking,
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: a conference was called when all the old guides and
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: spies of the party agreed in believing they were on
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: the right sand. The skill shown by these men accustomed
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: to the business of tracking Indians, either for friendly or
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: warlike purposes, is often truly wonderful, and especially it is
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: so to a person brought up in a civilized community
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: only familiar with the reports of such things. The age
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: of the trail, the haunts the red men are bound
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: to their object in going there, The numbers on the trail,
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: and the tribe or tribes to which they belong, can,
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: in the majority of cases be told with the greatest accuracy.
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: It is by philosophizing on minute things which in ordinary
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: life would be considered mere trifles and hardly worth the consideration,
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: that this knowledge is arrived at. Thus, it takes but
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: a minimum amount of wisdom to realize that a spear
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: of grass, when trodden upon, is usually crushed to the earth.
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: But few reflect that the attempt is made by nature
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: to restore the blade to its naturally upright position, and
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: in doing so, requires a certain period of time to
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: accomplish the task. This process, to the trailer, is an
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: index by which he judges the age of the visit
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: made by the Indians to that section of the country.
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: The shape of the soul of the mocksin, or the
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: carvings on arrows when they are found, which not unfrequently happens,
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: and many other like things are sure signs in guiding
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: the experience its trailer to the particular party he is seeking.
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: Carlton and his men became flushed with the prospects of
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: success on finding the main trail, and they lost no
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: time in following it up. For six days they made
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: rapid progress, and at the end of that time espied
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: the Indians encamped on Fisher's Peak in the Raton Mountains.
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: Although the mountain was none the easiest to climb, yet
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: the soldiers went at its performance with a determination that
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: brought them upon the Indians before they could collect their
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: animals and be off, And the consequence was that many
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: a brave woyur then and there drew his last breath. However,
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: the most of the Indians ran away, but were pursued,
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: and a few were overtaken and shot. End of Section
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: twenty seven, Chapter sixteen, Part one