and his training in all the mysteries of frontier life, rendered him an
invaluable acquisition.

The perils to which they were exposed may be inferred from the fate which
some traders encountered soon after Kit Carson's party had accomplished
the journey. There were twelve traders returning from Santa Fe. To avoid
the Indians they took an extreme southern route. Day after day they toiled
along, encountering no savages. It was December, and in that climate mild
and serene. A caravan of twenty horses or mules travelling in single
file, leaves a trail behind which can easily be followed.

Our adventurers were on a treeless prairie, an ocean of land, where
nothing obstructed the view to the remote horizon. One beautiful morning,
just after they had taken their breakfast and resumed their march, they
perceived, not a little to their alarm, some moving object far in the
distance behind. It soon resolved itself into a band of several hundred
Indians, well mounted, painted and decorated in the highest style of
barbaric art. They were thoroughly armed with their deadly bows and arrows
and spears. It was indeed an imposing spectacle as these savage warriors
on their fleet steeds, with their long hair and pennons streaming in the
wind, came down upon them.

The little caravan halted and prepared for defence. There were twelve bold
hearts to encounter several hundred foes on the open prairie. They knew
that the main object of the Indians would be to seize the horses and mules
and effect a stampede with their treasure. This being accomplished they
would torture and murder the traders in mere wantonness. The savages had a
very salutary caution of rifles which could throw a bullet twice as far as
the strongest bow and the most sinewy arm could speed an arrow.