Chihuahua, where Carson had now arrived, is the capital of the Mexican
province bearing the same name. It is situated on a small tributary of
the Conchos river, in the midst of a plain. It is regularly laid out and
well built; the streets are broad and some of them paved. Like other
cities built by the Spaniards, it has its great public square, or Plaza
Major, on one side of which stands the cathedral, an imposing edifice of
hewn stone, built at a cost of $300,000. It is surmounted with a dome
and two towers, and has a handsome façade with statues of the twelve
apostles, probably the first statues that Carson had ever seen. Other
public buildings surround the square, and there is a fountain in the
middle. The city contains a convent founded by the Jesuits, and an
aqueduct 3-1/2 miles long, supported by vast arches and communicating
with the river Chihuahua. It has also its mint, and in the neighborhood
are silver mines with furnaces for melting the ore. It carries on an
extensive trade with the United States by means of caravans to St. Louis
in Missouri, and San Antonio in Texas. It was founded in 1691, and
during the time when the silver mines were in successful operation, it
contained 70,000 inhabitants. The population at present is 14,000.
As he had come with one of the trading caravans in the service of
Colonel Tramell as Spanish interpreter, we might naturally expect that
the engagement would be a permanent one. But such was not the case. The
monotony of this life soon disgusted him, and after weary weeks passed
in comparative idleness, he longed again for the freedom of the prairie
and the forest, and gladly abandoning the rather dignified position of
interpreter to Colonel Tramell, entered into the service of Mr. Robert
M. Knight, in the more humble capacity of teamster in an expedition to
the copper mines on the river Gila, whence he soon after found his way
back to Taos.
It was during this visit to Taos that Carson was first enabled to
gratify the desire which he had long entertained of becoming a regular
hunter and trapper. A party of trappers in the service of Carson's old
friend, Mr. Ewing Young, had returned to Taos, having been beaten off
from their hunting and trapping grounds by a hostile band of Indians.
Mr. Young raised a party of forty men, for the double purpose of
chastising the Indians, and resuming the business of trapping, and
Carson joined them. The fact that he was accepted for this service was a
marked token of esteem for his valor, as well as his skill in hunting,
parties of this description always avoiding the enlistment of
inexperienced recruits, as likely to embarrass their operations in the
field.
The ostensible object of the expedition was to punish the Indians, but
its ultimate purpose was to trap for beavers. The Mexicans by an express
law had forbidden granting licenses to any American parties, and in this
instance a circuitous route was chosen to conceal their real design.
They did not fall in with the Indians of whom they were in pursuit,
until they had reached the head of one of the affluents of the Rio Gila,
called Salt River. Once in presence of their enemies they made short
work with them, killing fifteen of their warriors, and putting the whole
band to rout. Such occurrences were by no means unfrequent, as we shall
see in the course of this narrative. A small body of experienced
hunters and trappers, confident in their superior skill and discipline,
never hesitates to attack a greatly superior number of Indians, and it
was a rare thing that success did not attend their daring. The Indian is
not fond of a "fair stand up fight." He prefers stratagem and ambush,
and reverences as a great "brave," the warrior who is most successful in
circumventing his enemies, and bringing off many scalps without the loss
of a man; but when a considerable number of Indians are shot down in the
first onset, the remainder are very apt to take to flight in every
direction.
We have said that Carson joined the party of trappers under the command
of Mr. Ewing Young, and it may not be out of place to describe briefly
the mode of life which parties in that pursuit have to adopt, with a few
remarks upon the habits and haunts of the animal, for whose sake men
were then so willing to risk their lives, and to undergo such hardships.
The method of trapping for beaver formerly employed by the trappers in
the western country, is thus described by one who has had considerable
experience in the art; and we quote it as illustrating the severe
training to which Carson had voluntarily subjected himself:
"To be a successful trapper, required great caution as well as a perfect
knowledge of the habits of the animal. The residence of the beaver was
often discovered by seeing bits of green wood, and gnawed branches of
the bass-wood, slippery elm, and sycamore, their favorite food, floating
on the water, or lodged on the shores of the stream below, as well as by
their tracks or foot-marks. These indications were technically called
_beaver sign_. They were also sometimes discovered by their dams, thrown
across creeks and small sluggish streams, forming a pond in which were
erected their habitations.
"The hunter, as he proceeded to set his traps, generally approached by
water, in his canoe. He selected a steep, abrupt spot in the bank of the
creek, in which a hole was excavated with his paddle, as he sat in the
canoe, sufficiently large to hold the trap, and so deep as to be about
three inches below the surface of the water, when the jaws of the trap
were expanded. About two feet above the trap, a stick, three or four
inches in length, was stuck in the bank. In the upper end of this, the
trapper excavated a small hole with his knife, into which he dropped a
small quantity of the essence, or perfume, which was used to attract
the beaver to the spot. This stick was attached by a string of horse
hair to the trap, and with it was pulled into the water by the beaver.
The reason for this was, that it might not remain after the trap was
sprung, and attract other beavers to the spot, and thus prevent their
going to where there was another trap ready for them.
"The scent, or essence, was made by mingling the fresh castor of the
beaver, with an extract of the bark of the roots of the spice-bush, and
kept in a bottle for use. The making of this essence was held a profound
secret, and often sold for a considerable sum to the younger trappers,
by the older proficients in the mystery of beaver hunting. Where they
had no proper bait, they sometimes made use of the fresh roots of
sassafras, or spice-bush; of both these the beaver was very fond.
"It is said by old trappers that they will smell the well-prepared
essence the distance of a mile. Their sense of smell is very acute, or
they would not so readily detect the vicinity of man by the smell of his
trail. The aroma of the essence having attracted the animal into the
vicinity of the trap, in his attempt to reach it, he has to climb up on
to the bank where it is sticking. This effort leads him directly over
the trap, and he is usually taken by one of the fore legs. The trap was
connected by a chain of iron, six feet in length, to a stout line made
of the bark of the leather-wood, twisted into a neat cord, of fifteen or
twenty feet. These were usually prepared by the trappers at home or at
their camps, for cords of hemp or flax were scarce in the days of beaver
hunting. The end of the line was secured to a stake driven into the bed
of the creek under water, and in his struggles to escape, the beaver was
usually drowned before the arrival of the trapper. Sometimes, however,
he freed himself by gnawing off his own leg, though this was rarely the
case. If there was a prospect of rain, or it was raining at the time of
setting the trap, a leaf, generally of sycamore, was placed over the
essence stick, to protect it from the rain.
"The beaver being a very sagacious and cautious animal, it required
great care in the trapper in his approach to its haunts to set his
traps, that no scent of his feet or hands was left on the earth, or
bushes that he touched. For this reason he generally approached in a
canoe. If he had no canoe, it was necessary to enter the stream thirty
or forty yards below, and walk in the water to the place, taking care
to return in the same manner, lest the beaver should take alarm and not
come near the bait, as his fear of the vicinity of man was greater than
his sense of appetite for the essence. It also required caution in
kindling a fire near their haunts, as the smell of smoke alarmed them.
The firing of a gun, also, often marred the sport of the trapper, and
thus it will be seen that to make a successful beaver hunter, required
more qualities or natural gifts than fall to the share of most men."