The chronicle=news., 1913-05-30

Canada. When the new traders
came. came trouble. and the ",rrarh-
crous red man" began to resent hi,
wrong Of him. to be sure but per
hgps not .n,!,oiy unhuiuan.
Ar nearly M I can make sur. OF
dates IN the absurd ThGdcmontad-s
which masquerade aa bi1grspEcTs of
Kit Carson. II WAS the fpring OF 1924
that II" started out ON HE first r-Iiiy
long journey Into th. unknowu. \
party of American ,IApprrS ard trad
"rs had been attacked by indian, aud
driven. with the loss OF most Of their
property. Ewing Young. an AmrT!-
IAN living In New Mexico. nrSHnIEci
an .Nr-ndi'!on which proposed not
Only 'o. punish these indIsny. but TO
So trapping far into the Northwest,
III, Carson. then 10 years old. went
with the party aud saw here his nrti
Indian fight. Thc white. Killed some
fifteen OF the indians wiih.u, losing
a man ~ their avn number; and not
long after. the expedition divided
part OF 1t went back. by devious
rou'-S. to New Mexico EiGhtcra
m"n Wen, On with Youns XII Car.
son was with this latter sroup-onr
might expect ,aai. They worked
through the mountains. untharl-i. in
spite u: tn" fact Tim, many white mrn
had passed that way mrforc: aud
crossed tn. Colorado river ai,oy" the
Grand canon. They were nigh to
starving her" but some MchaV" In.
dians snld them u hors". which they
proceeded 'o eat with ~ much relish
ns any red man of ih" Nest. eau
max. ncllhcr head nor tail u! III.
geography Of their warfcrinrs for
'hc n-v'- f-~ -s.,'-~s sis Z. 4a....
fashion they got M through the Me-
,asin deserts. across the Sierra Ne
yrdas. aud down into the valley o'
the Sacramento. Here. they sold
their fufs to 4 trading schooner.
and bought horses for the return trip
They we're good hots-s. Tie iraisnt
thought Ho. aud promptly annexed
everyone that was loose.
Bear in mind that all til, eighteen
Mcn of the party wrr. experienced
p'ninsm.n and Manufacturers: aud
thar Xii Carson. the youngest Of tn.
lot. MAS not y", "a years of age. Vet
Kit Carson WAS tnc onr chosen to lead
the expedition for the recovery Of
ih. homes. his show that the quiet
lad had made an impression on his
fellow. He jus,i'ici the choice.
With eleven men he followed til. In
dinns for 100 miles. overlook the In.
when they thought themselves secure.
and 10y sudden attack. killed eight
OF the red stoc..iiftcrs. and drove
away the rest. SIX OF the fati.st
horses had been killed and roasted.
but the rest were brought back safe
iy.
Th. party got back 10 Santa +" In
April. 1890. The trip had ncticd them
s:i.oo". How this was distributed.
have no means of knowing: bu;
either the profits more likely the
life. seemed good to Kit Carson. For
tho next four years. he led shc iif. Of
u tfappcr. ! fancy there wcr. few
parts of the Rocky Mountains south
of Montana which he diG not visit.
He had the eye for country which be-
longs to one raised in the open. and
region once seen was forthwith
mapped and filed away in his brain
for reference whenever necessary.
II would he casy to fiil the par"
with stories of Carson's exploits dur
ing this period. Part of these stories
would be true. and most o! them
would be interesting. One. which
seems better attcs'cd than most. tells
how during the return from Califor-
mia. he bluffed and outwittci u band
of Indians who had come to the camp
to rob the whites. They pretended
to be friends. and Kit let them think
the prctcnsc was accepted. until sud
denly the six white men in the camp
each covered a chief with his riflc.
and ordered the rest OF the Indians
to yamoosc. They had to obey. or
lose six of their chief men: and when
the main band mad gone a satisfac-
tory distance, the chiefs were ordered
to follow.
The one certain thing which can
be Cleaned from a study OF the in
Vulnerable stories of the man Is the
character of Carson. lie seems to
have been u veriiabie Odysscus of the
plains: crafty. wise. lravc. sober. al
ways in full command OF himself
fond of display on the few occas-
ions when display could be made. For
sixteen years of his life, his rifle
furnished practically all his food.
and for years together during that