sufficiently elevated to be protected from any kind of inundation, and
the arrangement is so excellent, that it is very seldom that the traders
lose anything in their cachette, either by the Indians, the changes of
the climate, or the natural dampness of the earth.

In the spring of 1820, a company from Franklin, in the west of Missouri,
had already proceeded to Santa Fé, with twelve mules loaded with goods.
They crossed prairies where no white man had ever penetrated, having no
guides but the stars of Heaven, the morning breeze from the mountains,
and perhaps a pocket compass. Daily they had to pass through hostile
nations; but spite of many other difficulties, such as ignorance of the
passes and want of water, they arrived at Santa Fé.

The adventurers returned to Missouri during the fall; their profit had
been immense, although the capital they had employed had been very
small. Their favourable reports produced a deep sensation, and in the
spring of the next year, Colonel Cooper and some associates, to the
number of twenty-two, started with fourteen mules well loaded. This time
the trip was a prompt and a fortunate one; and the merchants of St.
Louis getting bolder and bolder, formed, in 1822, a caravan of seventy
men, who carried with them goods to the amount of forty
thousand dollars.

Thus began the Santa Fé trade, which assumed a more regular character.
Companies started in the spring to return in the fall, with incredible
benefits, and the trade increasing, the merchants reduced the number of
their guards, till, eventually, repeated attacks from the savages
obliged them to unite together, in order to travel with safety.

At first the Indians appeared disposed to let them pass without any kind