number of animals in it; I have no idea that they could all have been
corralled in the State of Rhode Island, or Delaware, at one time. If
they had been, they would have been so thick that the pasturage would
have given out the first day. People who saw the Southern herd of
buffalo, fifteen or twenty years ago, can appreciate the size of the
Texas band of wild horses in 1846.

At the point where the army struck the Little Colorado River, the stream
was quite wide and of sufficient depth for navigation. The water was
brackish and the banks were fringed with timber. Here the whole army
concentrated before attempting to cross. The army was not accompanied by
a pontoon train, and at that time the troops were not instructed in
bridge building. To add to the embarrassment of the situation, the army
was here, for the first time, threatened with opposition. Buglers,
concealed from our view by the brush on the opposite side, sounded the
"assembly," and other military calls. Like the wolves before spoken of,
they gave the impression that there was a large number of them and that,
if the troops were in proportion to the noise, they were sufficient to
devour General Taylor and his army. There were probably but few troops,
and those engaged principally in watching the movements of the
"invader." A few of our cavalry dashed in, and forded and swam the
stream, and all opposition was soon dispersed. I do not remember that a
single shot was fired.

The troops waded the stream, which was up to their necks in the deepest
part. Teams were crossed by attaching a long rope to the end of the
wagon tongue passing it between the two swing mules and by the side of
the leader, hitching his bridle as well as the bridle of the mules in
rear to it, and carrying the end to men on the opposite shore. The bank
down to the water was steep on both sides. A rope long enough to cross