The Holbrook news., 1912-05-31

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 EZ gers. The sham per - - ished in the desert,
 but the genuine march d the trail unhurt The story of the rail Is the story of great frontiers men There were giants in those lays. Strong men and weddings were attracted by the pot of gold which he rainbow stories of the trail To- sated in Santa Fe. the end of the trail, where the rainbow touched the ground The weddings fell by the weary way tide or fled back to the silken com forts of civilization. The strong stay cd. Courage was a characteristic. Fear was foreign to the frontiersmen- They knew how to fight, to fight at close range, and to fight hard. They aid not know much about books, but they knew of men and the open sky and the trail. They lived out of floors. They were honest. Hide my Eold?" said one old-timer talking over his yesterdays, q never hid my gold. No thieves travelled in the caravans" They were hospitable. They would share the last pipeful of tobacco. Dan- Eerous as was the life the early trav- elers upo nthe trail necessarily led, they found fascination in the very dan ger. q would like to go again" said Judge John D. Hurley, one of the In- dian fighters of yesterday, rising from his chair and tapping with his cane the elm under which we had been seated. He seemed 30 years young in- stead of 85 years old. T certainly would go again If the railroad had not taken away the danger and spoiled the fun"
 The most conspicuous figure among the frontiersmen on the trail was Kit Carson-"Gen. Carson" as he is spok- sn of, almost with reverence, by Daniel L. Taylor, six times mayor of Trinidad, Colo, who has given R5,0O0 to erect a statue to Carson in that bustling border town. Kit Car son lived and died upon the trail and was there buried. The automobile travellers, following the old trail, found reminders of this foremost frontiers man from Franklin, Mo, to Taos, N. M. Ready and willing to talk of Kit Carson were the old-timers who had known him. "Of all the great men on the trail" said Mayor Taylor, who knew him intimately for years. Gen Carson was the chief" Not all the old-timers agred with Mayor Taylor. Exit Carson was not an extraordinary man" said Capt. Smith H. Simpson of Taos. There were many others who were better and older Indian fighters. It was Gen John C. Fremont's re- ports that made Kit Carson's reputa- tion-"
 It is not strange that the trail abounds with stories of Kit Carson and his adventures. In Howard coun- ty, Missouri, where the trail really be- gan, he lived as lad. At Pawnee Rock he had his first fight with the Indians. At various posts on the trail he was stationed as Indian agent. He married on the trail. His body, buried Lyon on the trail His body, buried first at Las Animas, on the trail, was and in a cemetery in this quaint Span Ish town in the mountains now rests. Kit Carson was part and parcel of the old trail and much of the romance of the trail is fnterwoven with his name. He was only IT years old when he left his fathers home in Howard coun- ty, Missouri, to join Santa Fe Cara van. From that time until his death on the Arkansas river in 1868 the San ta Fe trail was his home. Many stor- les are told of Carson, some of which are doubtless apocryphal, but all H. Iustrate the character. At Great Bend, on the Arkansas river, he amputated a mans arm to save his life, using as Instruments all that were available, a razor, a saw and the king bolt of wagon. At Bent's Fort he was the chief hunter for eight years. provid- ing game for food for the 40 men in the fort. He was on intimate terms with the Indians, who admiredl re- spected and feared him. He could make peace as well as war. 'The Sioux, one of the most numerous and warlike tribes" relates Mayor Fay Tor, had encroached upon the hunt ing grounds of the southern Indians, and the latter had many a skirmish with them on the banks of the Arkan- sas river along the trail Carson, who was in the upper valley of the river, was sent for to come down to help them drive the obnoxious Sioux back to their own stamping ground. He left Fort Bend and went with the party of Comanche messengers to the main camp of that tribe and the Arapahoes, with whom they had united Upon his arrival he was. told