Litchfield enquirer. [volume] (Litchfield, Conn.) 1829-current, 1846-07-02
From NensOnt's Expedition to tie Rocky
Mountains.
A DESPERATE ADVENTURE.

A DESPERATE ADVENTURE.
While entertained on the 24lh April, at a
spring near the Spanish trail, we were sur
prised by the sudden appearance among Us
of two Mexicans, man and boys the name
of the man was Andreas Fuentas, and that
Of the boy "a handsome lad III years old
Pablo Hernandez. With a cavalcade of A.
bout 30 horses, they had come from Publa
do los Angelica, near the Pacific; had lost
halftheir animals, stolen by Indians, and
now sought my camp for aid. Carson and
Godney, two of my men, volunteered to pur-
sue them, with the Mexican; and well
mounted, the three set out on the trail. 10
the evening Fuentas returned, bis horse hav-
ing failed, but Carson and Godney had con-
linucd in the pursuit.
In the afternoon of the next day a war
whoop was heard, such as Indians make
when returning from victorious enterprise;
and soon Carson and Godney appeared, dfi-
wing before them band of horses, recogni-
zed by Fuentas to be part of those they had
lost. Two bloody scalps, dangling from the
end of Godney's gun, announced that they
had overtaken the Indians, as well as the
horses. They had continlted the pursuit a.
lone, after FueLtas had left them, and tow
ards nighlfall entered the mountains into
which the trail led. After sunset the moon
gave light, and they followed the trail by
moonlight until late in the night, when il
entered a narrow defile, and was difficult TO
follow. Here they lay from midnight till
mUrning. At daylight they resumed the
pursuit, and at sunrise discovered the hor-
SEES; and Immediately dismounting and ty-
ing up their own, they crept cautiously to
rising ground which interviewed, from the
crest of which they perceived the encamp-
ment Of lodges close by. They proceeded
quietly, and had got within 30 or 40 yards
of their object, when movement among the
holS eS discovered them to the Indians
Giving the war-whoop, they instantly char
ged into camp, regardless of the numbers
which the four lodges might contain. The
Indians received them with fight of ar
rows shot from their long bows, one of
which passed through Godney's shirt collar
barely passing the neck. Our men fired
their rifles upon steady aim and rushed in.
Two Indians were stretched upon the ground
fatally pierced with bullets the rest fed,
except lad who was captured. The scalps
Of the fallen were stripped off; but in the
process. one Of them, who had two balls
through his pody, sprang to his feet, the
blood streaming from his skinned head, and
uttered hideons howl. The trightful spec
tacle appalled, the stoMt hearts of our men,
but they did what humanity required and
quickly terminated the agonies of the CORY
savage. They were now masters of the
mountains, with fine spring, and apparent
safe from all invasions. Great prepara-
tions hadbeen made for feasting large par
ty. for it was a very proper place for rendez-
vouS, and the celebration of such orgies as
robbers of the desert would delight in. Sew
eral Of the best horses had been killed, skin
ned and cut up-for, the Indians living in
mountains and only coming into the plains
to rob and murder, make no other use of hor-
ses than to eat them. Large earthen YES
sells were on the fire, boiling and stewins the
horse beef and several baskets containing
fifty or sixty moccasins indicating the pres
ence or expectation Of large party. They
released the boy, who had given strong evil
dence of the stoiciSm or something else of
the savage character by commencing his
breakfast upon horSe's head, as soon as he
found he was not to be killed, but tied as a
prisoner.
Their object being accomplished, our
men gathered all the surviving horses, fif.
teen in number, and returned upon their
trail and rejoined us at our camp in the at.
| ternoon of the same day. They had rode
about 100 miles in pursuit and return, and
all in thirty hours. The time, place, objec,
| and numbers considered, this expedition Of
Carson and Godney may be considered a.
mong the boldest and most disinteres.ed
which the annals of western adventure, Sc
full of daring deeds, can present. Two
men in savage wilderness, pursue, day and
night, an unknown body Of Indians into the
defles of an unknown mountain-attack
them on sight without counting Numbers,
and defeat them in an instant-and for
what ?-to punish the robbers of the desert,
and revenge the wrongs of Mexicans whom
they did not know. / repeat, it was Car.
son and Godney who did this-the former
an American, born in Boon's Lick county,
Missouri, the latter Frenchman, born in
st. Louis. and both trained 10 the western
enterprise from early life.