ELDORADO 121 



curing a number of beavers. He had good success, and 

 carrying his furs to Taos, sold them to the traders 

 there and joined a Captain Lee, who was an army of- 

 ficer and went to Green river, where they met another 

 party of trappers. An Indian, who had been with the 

 other company, had, the night before Captain Lee's ar- 

 rival, stolen six of their best horses and fled. Having 

 obtained Lee's permission to go in pursuit, Carson got 

 a young Ute warrior to accompany him, and the two 

 set oft on the trail of the horse thief. He had a good 

 start and was rapidly making his way towards Califor- 

 nia. After going about one hundred miles the horse 

 of the Ute gave out and Carson pushed on alone, over- 

 taking the Indian about thirty miles further on. As 

 soon as he saw Carson he dismounted and sought cover 

 behind some rocks. Carson determined to risk a shot 

 while riding towards him at full speed (the Indian was 

 armed with a rifle) and by good luck his ball pierced 

 the Indian's heart. The stock was taken back to camp, 

 which the young Ute had already reached. Meeting 

 Bridger and Fitzpatrick, who had been to Fort Hall 

 to dispose of their furs, they returned together to their 

 old quarters in Carson valley. 



Next to Carson, probably no mountaineer gained 

 more notoriety for exciting experiences in frontier life, 

 as an Indian fighter, than William Sublette. "Sub- 

 lette's cut-off." between the South Pass and Salt Lake, 

 on which were the Soda and Steamboat springs, re- 

 ceived its name from this brave trapper. He brought 

 the first wagon that had ever crossed the Rocky mount- 

 ains through the South Pass in 1830, and his trail was 

 followed ever after by all making their way to the Pa- 

 cific Slope. 



