The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-02-02


with The disappserance Of the border"
has vanished = type of American manhood
fnat 9iII only hesoaftsr live II story, and Il
would requirs volumes to tel Of their re-
mnrkehse sdventures II IL vefs possible 1t
this late dats 70 colIsct III the facts N their
wonderful earesr.
Kit Carson. "Oid John Smith," Jim
Brjdeer. Colonel Saint vTain. MARVEL. the
Beuts, Boones and host Of famous from
tiessmen. who made the ssbordsr" ring
with deeds a. daring and whose exploits
are inde1fbiy woven In the history Of orr
country. are now I'll dead They died
with harness on and Tar beyond that
civilization which has now closed up the
gap 70 The vsry loot Of the Rockies. amid
which thare il nothing that would have
ben coneeufal 70 Them So they passed
sway whiie there Jet remained the silent
prairies, the solitude Of the mountains and
the noiseisss streams!
Il has bssn my fortune TO have known
intimately I'll those have mentioned, and
hsvs 81 me down 10
Summon from the vanished past
1he forms that once hare been,
o fhat they may appear 70 my mental
vision - knew them Tin the flesh.'
KIT CARSON.
Kit Carson, one Of the noblest Of the
brotherhood, until = few years ago--when
his remains wese removed TO Taos and nm
appropriate monument erected over them
--sIspt peacefully under the gnaried old
cottonWoods at FORT Lyon. on the Arkan-
sas, that Nile Of America. where he died In
lA6s II was fitting that. for . time ut least,
be should rest by that silent stream, every
mile Of whose gently flowing waters could
tell story Of his daring
Carson was below medium height, very
little diAlectic In expression Of thought,
and possessed the power Of reading =
mans character a. sight Upon that judg-
ment you stood or fell. There was moth
INK Of the desperate about him; he was
one Of natures nobicmen, and your table
would have been honored by his presence.
COLONEL sooxE.
Colonel A. G. Boone was another grand
old man. He was over six feet tall. straight
~ an arrow, finely educated, . delightful
sueonlesty and worthy grandson Of the inn
mortal pioneer Of Kentucky. He died 1t .
rips ago, in full posssssion Of all his facul-
ties In Denver only few years ago.
He knew more OF the plains and noun
tain tribes than any man Of his time. was
strongly urged by Western members Of
congress for commissioner Of Indian
affairs during President Grants second
administration, but be lacked the one es-
sential In our American system Of prefer
ment-hc WAS not . pOIitician--conse-
quenily failed of appointment to the posi-
ton for which he WAS 80 eminently quail
fed
Colonel Saint vrsin, . splendid reprssen.
tative Of the early French voyageur--every
inch = gcntleman--was one of the pioneers
in the ''trade" with then far or ANITA Fe
sixty-six years ago. He lies in IN pers-
bic cemetery at Mora, New MED that
quaint old town which was his homo for SO
many decades. and where he entertained
his host Of friends 50 royalty.
''uScLK John" SMITH.
Every one who travelled on the plains
during the period included between the
years 1910 almost half . century--re-
members ssOld John Smith. or "tfncie
John" Is be was Familiarity called. He
was celebrated ''trapper" and guide"
and had lived with the Chsyennes off and
on from boyhood, which tribe adopted him
long before the estab lishmsnt of the .sSan-
- Fe trail" or any such thing as 'sthe
commerce Of the prairics." He figured
only little less conspicuously in the his
tory of the border than Kit Carson. Lu-
cien r. Maxwell and other famous men OF
those times.
His resemblance to President johnson
Was astonishing.
Uncle John" was . characser-full OF
superstitions ~ q plantation negro. He
would never eat q quail. because some
forty years ago. just as he was about topull
the trigger OF his rifle to kill . buffalo he
had drawn a bead on. one OF those little
birds jumped on his front sight and inter
fcred with his aim. thus saving his life. as
he declared. for the tall grass was full OF
Indians, who killed two OF his comrades
who had discharged their pieces at the
buffalo.
he was one OF the principal guides and
interpreter during the celebrated winter
campaign Of General sheridan against the
allied Chcyeunes. Arapahoes and Kiowas
under the lead OF the dreaded sa-san-sa, In
ises-ssa He died the following summer ON
the Cheyenne reservation. in the Indian
territory. among the sribc that had adopted
him half century before.
rAss FINDER nRtpsKR
Jim Bridger was another of the famous
coterie especially distinguished for dlscov-
cry OF detiles through the intricate maxes
et the Rocky mountains in the early DAYS
Of intra-cantinent travel. one OF the north
ern passes" 81 which Is named i'm honor
OF him. He died at his bcshood home,
Western Missouri. . few years ago.
lie used 10 relate SOME curious expe-
rsenees of his life In the mountains. He
told OF pasrissed forest he had visited.
whore the birds were still sitting on the
limbs u the trees. all re,riiiesi. too. GEN
srai tsassln. an officer Of the old regular
army. who was stationed Mt Fort Gibson,
IN the Cherokee Nation. over halt = cen.
tury ago. said 10 me last summer. when I
met him ia Arkansas. that he asked
RTislger when be was a young man if he
hsd ever been in the valley 81 the great
Colorado. then . verf;ahe terra sacern.ta
Yes. SIR replsed Bridger. ..aaa there
where the peaches. oranges aud demons
bear ali the year round. It's tho only
place. too. I've ever seen where the moon
is always faliss
Rridrrr became absolutely blind besora
bis death. which occurred in the tussnesS Of
man 5 allotted perfoa ard IA the possession
Of ali his faculties. Nth that one exception.
At oae time, early sn the sixties, 3 While
the engineers u the Union Pacific were
temporarily IA Denver. then an insight.
ant place, they became somewhat cen.
fused in relation 10 where was the most
fe&sshsc roint in the mountains ever which
20 ran their iine. They sansEa Rrsagey
from ~. Louis.
Ia due time about two wsxkS~,hs Ola