CHAPTER XII. 



The Bar-room My Bargain A Momentous Question Tragic Fate of the 

 Bar- keeper Indian Massacres " A high-toned Sport" J. P.'s Visit 

 The Sale of " Grouse " J. P. goes under. 



I WAS on a return trip with a mule-train, from the Black - 

 foot country to Fort Leavenworth. We forded the Platte 

 at the Julisburg crossing, and then struck the Denver road. 

 Finding in plenty the three requisites "of a good camp 

 wood, grass, and water I determined to lay over for a half- 

 day, to graze and rest my mules. Having nothing to do, 

 I strolled down to the road station, about a quarter of a 

 mile off. This station was one of the best on the route. 

 A large square building of adobes (sun-burnt bricks), with 

 a flat Mexican roof of cedar logs, covered with mud-mortar, 

 and with adjacent corrals, stabling and stockades of cedar 

 posts. It was kept by two well-known frontiersmen, who 

 were content to stake their lives against a prospect of 

 quickly " making a pile," which, indeed, they seemed at that 

 time in a fair way to do. 



They had plenty of wild-grass hay stacked, for sale ; a 

 large band of horses and a good herd of cattle on the sur- 

 rounding prairie ; and mais cela va sans dire the regular 



