The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-05-15
Capt. Drannan's Story
of Kit Carson's
Death.
THE FATAL ARROW
A Blackfoot Indian Shot
Him in the
Shoulder.

In the fall of 1857 1 met Kit Carson
and Jim Bridger at Taos, N. NJ, with
the intention of going into district
which is now Montapa and trap on
some new ground where we would find
plenty of beaver and otter, writes Capt.
w. F. Drannan, the old scout and trap
per, in the Chicago Record.
We pulled out from Taos, going by
way of the spot on which Denver now
stands and on down Ash hollow. Near
Ash hollow we met Gen. Harvey, the
veteran Indian fighter. 1 had not met
the general before, but Carson and
Bridge- were intimately acquainted
with him. The general insisted that we
stay ali night with him, so we unpacked
our animals, staked them out to grass
and went to the generals headquarters
for the night.
That night at the supper table the
conversation naturally drifted on the
subject of Indian fighting. The general
said that he had been in hard luck
with his scouts that season, telling how
MANY he had lost. and insisted that
Bridger and Carson should go to work
for him there and then. They told the
general they had given up such work
as that long ago.
/ had been at work for Col. Elliott
for two or three summers and when
left the colonel that fall he had given
me letters of recommendation. I never
had shown those letters to any one
except Uncle Kit Carson. During this
conversation L pulled out the letters
and handed them to the general. He
read them very carefully and passed
them back to me, saying:
Young man, I'll put you to work
tomorrow morning; these letters are
good enough to carry you anywhere"
Carson objected and the general tried
to persuade Carson to let me go TO
work for him, but not being very anx-
ious to do so, Carson would not give
his consent We pulled out again next
morning, going across the Bad Lands
and striking the Yellowstone river
near where it empties into the Missouri.
There we met a. lot of trappers who
were working for the Hudson Bay COM
pany. They were pretty nearly all
French Canadians. We inquired about
the head of the Missouri river in regard
to trapping grounds. None of them
could give us any information in regard
to the country. They all claimed tnat
there were no Indians there to inter-
fere with us, but l believe that they
knew better. We wanted to get into
the country known now as Bozeman
valley.
We had no trouble until we struck
the top of the divide leading down to
Bozeman valley. There we made a
camp for the night. The next morning
we were late in getting started, and
while we were packing up our pack
animals we were attacked by about
twenty Blackfoot Indians. They killed
two Of our animals but none of us
was hurt. 1t was a pretty fierce little
battle for a few minutes. After it was
all over Carson said to Bridger:
"Jim, this is your fight, and We'll call
this 'Bridger's pass The pass goes
by that name to this day.
When we got into Bozeman valley
which was the second day after the
battle. / think it was as fine looking a
hunting and trapping ground as l ever
had seen. 1 never saw more beaver
than were in the streams there and 1
think no trap had been set in that
country. But Indian signs were thick
and plenty.
That night Kit Carson and I went to
the top of a little butte not far away
from camp and from the top of this
butte we counted seven different In
dian camps within a radius of five
was and reported what We had seen.
Carson,s advice was to get out of the
place and go to Fort Hall, where we
might get plenty of trappers and be
strong enough to protect ourselves.
The next morning we pulled out from
this camp. We had an open country
until we struck the East Gallatin river.
This stream was completely hidden
from view by cottonwood trees and
1Aan n
one right after another. We were
obliged to find buffalo trail in order
to cross with our animals At the first
crossing Bridger took the lead. He had
got only about two lengths of his horse
into the water when the Indians raised
a yell on the opposite side Of the stream
and swarm of arrows came from the
thickets. We fired on them at once and
I saw three Indians fall. Bridger
backed out and we got on open ground
as quickly as possible. We started up
the stream to find another crossing and
probably Travelled five miles before we
found it.
This time we were more successful
but after crossing the stream the In
dians attacked US. They were a small
body, however, and did us no harm.
We went out on the divide between the
East and West Gallatin river picked a
advantage
Of the ground, and camped for the
night.
After it was dark Carson went to look
for place where we could cross the
West Gallatin. He did not return until
near midnight. never saw the man
look so discouraged as he did that night
when he came back. In fact it was the
first time in my life 1 had ever seen
Carson weaken in the least. He said
Boys, if we get out of here alive it
will be the biggest luck in the world.
They are everywhere and We have got
to cut our way through in the morning.
That brush on the West Gallatin is full
of the red devils and the best thing we
can do now is to get to that stream in
the morning about daylight. If we get
across that stream we will be COM
paratively safe for awhile"
1t was broad daylight next morning
when we got to the stream. Carson took
the lead. each Of us having eight pack
horses when we started out, tailed sin
gle file.
When Carson started across the
stream we had not seen an Indian. Just
as his saddle horse had got out of the
water, however, the Indians raised a
yell and began shooting at Carson's
horses with their bows and arrows.
His last horse fell in the mud and
water. mortally wounded. The water
was two to three feet deem. OF course