The encampment of the party on the 4th of July, was a few miles from
where the road crosses over to the north fork of the Platte, where a
grand dinner was prepared, toasts drank, and salutes fired; and it was
here Fremont decided to divide his party, wishing, himself, to explore
the south fork of the Platte, as far as St. Vrain's Fort; and taking
with him Maxwell and two others of his men, and the Cheyenne Indians,
whose village was upon this river, he left the rest of the party to
proceed under the direction of Clement Lambert up the north fork to Fort
Laramie, where they were to wait his arrival, as he intended to cross
the country between the two forts.
Buffalo were still plenty upon Fremont's route, and the Indians with him
made an unsuccessful attempt to lasso the leader of a drove of wild
horses, which they passed. They met a band of two or three hundred
Arapahoe Indians, and were only saved from an attack by Maxwell, who
secured a timely recognition from the old chief who led the party, which
proved to be from a village among whom he had resided as a trader, and
whose camp the chief pointed out to them some six miles distant. They
had come out to surround a band of buffalo which was feeding across the
river, and were making a large circuit to avoid giving them the wind,
when they discovered Fremont's party, whom they had mistaken for
Pawnees. In a few minutes the women came galloping up, astride of their
horses, and naked from their knees down, and the hips up. They followed
the men to assist in cutting up and carrying off the meat.
The wind was blowing directly across the river, and the chief having
requested Fremont to remain where he then was, to avoid raising the
herd, he readily consented, and having unsaddled their horses, they sat
down to view the scene. The day had become very hot, the thermometer
standing at 108°. The Indians commenced crossing the river, and as soon
as they were upon the other side, separated into two bodies.
Fremont thus describes this exciting hunt, or massacre, as the reader
may choose to designate it,--and his subsequent visit to the Arapahoe
village:
"One party proceeded directly across the prairie, towards the hills, in
an extended line, while the other went up the river; and instantly, as
they had given the wind to the herd, the chase commenced. The buffalo
started for the hills, but were intercepted and driven back toward the
river, broken and running in every direction. The clouds of dust soon
covered the whole scene, preventing us from having any but an occasional
view. It had a very singular appearance to us at a distance, especially
when looking with the glass.
"We were too far to hear the report of the guns, or any sound, and at
every instant, through the clouds of dust, which the sun made luminous,
we could see for a moment two or three buffalo dashing along, and close
behind them an Indian with his long spear, or other weapon, and
instantly again they disappeared. The apparent silence, and the dimly
seen figures flitting by with such rapidity, gave it a kind of dreamy
effect, and seemed more like a picture than a scene of real life.
"It had been a large herd when the _cerne_ commenced, probably three or
four hundred in number; but though I watched them closely, I did not
see one emerge from the fatal cloud where the work of destruction was
going on. After remaining here about an hour, we resumed our journey in
the direction of the village.
"Gradually, as we rode on, Indian after Indian came dropping along,
laden with meat; and by the time we had reached the lodges, the backward
road was covered with the returning horsemen. It was a pleasant contrast
with the desert road we had been traveling. Several had joined company
with us, and one of the chiefs invited us to his lodge.
"The village consisted of about one hundred and twenty-five lodges, of
which twenty were Cheyennes; the latter pitched a little apart from the
Arapahoes. They were disposed in a scattering manner on both sides of a
broad, irregular street, about one hundred and fifty feet wide, and
running along the river. As we rode along, I remarked near some of the
lodges a kind of tripod frame, formed of three slender poles of birch,
scraped very clean, to which were affixed the shield and spear, with
some other weapons of a chief. All were scrupulously clean, the spear
head was burnished bright, and the shield white and stainless. It
reminded me of the days of feudal chivalry; and when, as I rode by, I
yielded to the passing impulse, and touched one of the spotless shields
with the muzzle of my gun, I almost expected a grim warrior to start
from the lodge and resent my challenge.
"The master of the lodge spread out a robe for me to sit upon, and the
squaws set before us a large wooden dish of buffalo meat. He had lit his
pipe in the meanwhile, and when it had been passed around, we commenced
our dinner while he continued to smoke. Gradually, five or six other
chiefs came in, and took their seats in silence. When we had finished,
our host asked a number of questions relative to the object of our
journey, of which I made no concealment; telling him simply that I had
made a visit to see the country, preparatory to the establishment of
military posts on the way to the mountains.
"Although this was information of the highest interest to them, and by
no means calculated to please them, it excited no expression of
surprise, and in no way altered the grave courtesy of their demeanor.
The others listened and smoked. I remarked, that in taking the pipe for
the first time, each had turned the stem upward, with a rapid glance,
as in offering to the Great Spirit, before he put it in his mouth."
Riding near the river, Fremont and Maxwell had an interview with Jim
Beckwith, who had been chief of the Crow Indians, but had left them some
time before, and was now residing in this river bottom, with his wife, a
Spanish woman from Taos. They also passed a camp of four or five New
Englanders, with Indian wives--a party of independent trappers, and
reached St. Vrain's Fort on the evening of July 10th, where they were
hospitably entertained by Mr. St. Vrain, and received from him such
needed assistance as he was able to render. Maxwell was at home here, as
he had spent the last two or three years between the fort and Taos.
On the evening of the fifteenth, they arrived at Fort Laramie, a post of
the American Fur Company, near the junction of the Laramie Creek with
the Platte River, which had quite a military appearance, with its lofty
walls whitewashed and picketed, and large bastions at the angles. A
cluster of lodges belonging to the Sioux Indians was pitched under the
walls. He was received with great hospitality by the gentleman in charge
of the fort, Mr. Boudeau, having letters of introduction to him from
the company at St. Louis, and it is hardly necessary to say that he was
hospitably received and most kindly treated. He found Carson with the
party under his command camped on the bank near the fort, by whom they
were most warmly welcomed, and in the enjoyment of a bountiful supper,
which coffee and bread converted almost into a luxury, they forgot the
toils and sufferings of the past ten days.
The news brought by Mr. Preuss, who it will be remembered was with
Carson's party, was as exciting as it was unpleasant. He had learned
that the Sioux who had been badly disposed, had now broken out into open
hostility, and his informant, a well known trapper, named Bridger, had
been attacked by them, and had only defeated them after serious losses
on both sides. United with the Cheyennes and Gros Ventre Indians, they
were scouring the country in war parties, declaring war upon every
living thing which should pass the _Red Buttes_; their special hostility
being, however, directed against the white men. In fact the country was
swarming with hostile Indians, and it was but too evident that any party
who should attempt to enter upon the forbidden grounds, must do so at
the certain hazard of their lives. Of course such intelligence created
great commotion throughout the camp, and it formed the sole subject of
conversation and discussion during the evenings around the camp fires.
Speaking of this report, and the effect produced upon his men, Fremont
uses the following language:
"Carson, one of the best and most experienced mountaineers, fully
supported the opinion given by Bridger of the dangerous state of the
country, and openly expressed his conviction that we could not escape
without some sharp encounters with the Indians. In addition to this, he
made his will; and among the circumstances which were constantly
occurring to increase their alarm, this was the most unfortunate; and I
found that a number of my party had become so much intimidated that they
had requested to be discharged at this place."
Carson's apprehensions were fully justified by the circumstances
surrounding them; and while we might have omitted the above quotation,
as tending to exhibit him in a false light, doubtless unintentionally,
we choose rather to say a few words which will rob the insinuation of
its sting.
While there was reason to expect an encounter with Indians, in whom it
was reported the spirit of revenge was cherished towards the whites,
more than ever it had been before, and whom numbers and acquisition of
fire-arms rendered really formidable foes, he felt that the party with
whom he was now associated, were not the men upon whom he could rely
with certainty in an engagement against such terrible odds. In the days
of his earlier experiences, the old trappers with him were men who had
as little fear as himself, and were also experienced in such little
affairs, for such they considered them. Now, except Maxwell, an old
associate, and two or three others, the men of the party were half
paralyzed with fear at the prospect which this report presented to them;
and it was the knowledge of their fear, which they made no attempt to
conceal, which excited in his mind apprehensions for the worst, for he
did not choose to guide others into danger recklessly, even if he had no
care for himself.
Headlong rashness, which some might mistake for courage, was not a trait
of his character; but the voice of a whole country accords to him cool
bravery, presence of mind, and courage to meet whatever danger
forethought could not guard against.
With a party of men like those he had led several times against the
Blackfeet, nothing could have persuaded him to turn back from any
enterprise which he had undertaken, from a fear of hostile Indians. Of
course he could not state his reason for his apprehensions even to his
employer, because it would reflect upon his ability to arrange for such
an enterprise, or his courage to conduct it to a successful termination,
neither of which he could doubt; and it is therefore with something of
regret we read in an official report, emanating from one who owed more
to Kit Carson, of the fame and reputation so justly earned, than to any
other living man, the assertion that Carson, stimulated by fear, made
his will. The best contradiction which can be afforded, is found in the
fact, that notwithstanding his _apprehensions_, he did accompany the
party, discharging with his usual zeal, ability, and fidelity, the
duties which devolved upon him; and we have yet to learn that Kit Carson
ever shrunk from any danger.
His reputation has, however, outlived this covert insinuation, and we
presume that no man on this continent would hesitate to award to Kit
Carson, the highest attributes of moral and physical courage.
"During our stay here," says Fremont in continuation, "the men had been
engaged in making numerous repairs, arranging pack-saddles, and
otherwise preparing for the chances of a rough road, and mountain
travel, all of which Carson had superintended, urging upon the men that
their comfort and their safety required it. All things of this nature
being ready, I gathered them around me in the evening, and told them
that 'I had determined to proceed the next day. They were all well armed.
I had engaged the services of Mr. Bissonette as interpreter, and had
taken, in the circumstances, every possible means to insure our safety.
In the rumors we had heard, I believed there was much exaggeration, and
then they were men accustomed to this kind of life, and to the country;
and that these were the dangers of every day occurrence, and to be
expected in the ordinary course of their service. They had heard of the
unsettled condition of the country before leaving St. Louis, and
therefore could not make it a reason for breaking their engagements.
Still, I was unwilling to take with me, on a service of some certain
danger, men on whom I could not rely; and as I had understood that there
were among them some who were disposed to cowardice, and anxious to
return, they had but to come forward at once, and state their desire,
and they would be discharged with the amount due to them for the time
they had served.' To their honor, be it said, there was but one among
them who had the face to come forward and avail himself of the
permission. I asked him some few questions, in order to expose him to
the ridicule of the men, and let him go. The day after our departure, he
engaged himself to one of the forts, and set off with a party to the
Upper Missouri."