the unerring rifle, pointed at the trembling deer. Saddlery is an
honorable employment; but saddlery never made a greater mistake than
when it strove to hitch to its traces the bold impulse, the wild
yearning, the sinewy muscle of Kit Carson. Harness-making was so
irksome to his ardent temperament and brave heart, that he resolved to
take advantage of the first favorable opportunity and quit it forever.
With him, to resolve has ever been followed by action. During the
latter part of his stay with Mr. Workman, many stories of adventures
in the Rocky Mountains reached the ear of the youthful Kentuckian in
his Missouri home. The almost miraculous _hyperbole_ which flavored
the narratives were not long in awakening in his breast a strong
desire to share in such stirring events. The venturesome mind at last
became inspired. He determined to go; and, giving his restless spirit
full sway, in 1826, joined a party bound for his boyish fancy-pictures
of the Elysian Fields. The leader of this expedition required no
second request from young Carson before enrolling his name on the
company-list. The hardy woodsman saw stamped upon the frank and open
countenance of the boy who stood before him those sterling qualities
which have since made his name a household word. These formed a
passport which, on the spot, awakened the respect and unlocked the
hearts of those whose companionship he sought.

The work of preparation was now commenced by the different parties to
the expedition. All of the arrangements having been finally completed,
the bold and hardy band soon started upon their journey. Their route
lay over the vast, and then unexplored territory, bounded by the Rocky
Mountains on the one side, and the Missouri River on the other. Before
them lay, stretched out in almost never-ending space, those great
prairies, the half of which are still unknown to the white man.
Crossing the plains in 1826 was an entirely different feat from what