ELDORADO 123 



if ever equaled. A party of trappers had been sur- 

 rounded by hundreds of Indians, and had cut their way 

 through, lighting, and retreating, day and night, and 

 nearly perished for want of food, water and sleep. 

 Time after time they were surrounded, but continued 

 to break through the encircling lines until at last they 

 reached a place of safety. The last shot from the sav- 

 ages proved an unlucky one for Sublette. A solid ounce 

 ball from an Indian rifle struck him in the ankle, and 

 tore through the flesh and bone. It was a terrible 

 wound, even had there been a surgeon to amputate and 

 dress it. What then must it have been when no medical 

 or surgical assistance could be had ! But the leg must 

 be amputated or the man would die. It was done. Tak- 

 ing a beaver knife, the edge was hacked into a saw 

 while another was sharpened to its keenest edge, and 

 with these rude implements Sublette amputated his 

 own leg. The plates of beaver traps were heated red- 

 hot and applied to the raw and bleeding stump, char- 

 ring the veins and arteries and stopping the flow of 

 blood. Thus the trapper was saved. Going back to 

 St. Louis as soon as his condition would permit, he 

 submitted to another operation to make a smoother job 

 and a better stump, and soon afterwards was back- 

 again on the plains and in the mountains, hunting, 

 trapping, and fighting Indians the same as before. 



Thus Carson river and valley have been made ever 

 memorable by the numerous tragedies and heroic deeds 

 enacted by the brave, adventurous mountaineers, hunt- 

 ers and trappers of those early days, whose achieve- 

 ments and deeds of daring read like the most sensa- 

 tional romance. 



