244 



CHAPTER XXIX. 



Return to the Fort.— Texan recruiting officer.~New plans.— Volunteer.— The Chance 

 Shot, or Special Providence. — Texan camp.— Country contiguous to the Arkansas, 

 from Fountaine qui Buuit to the Rio de las Animas.— Things at rendezvous.— A 

 glance at the company.— Disposal of force.— Slarch up the de las Animas.— The 

 country; Timpa valley, and its adjoining hills, to the de las Animas.— The latter 

 stream; its canon, valley and enchanting scenery. — Tedious egress. — Unparalleled 

 suffering from hunger, toil, and cold.— Wolf flesh and buffalo hide. — Painful con- 

 sequences of eating cacti. — A feast of mule meat after seven days' starvation. — 

 Camp at the Taos trail.— The adjacent country.— Strict guard.— A chase.— The 

 meet reward for Treason. 



On the 16th of Feb., my stock of ammunition having failed, I proceeded 

 to Fort Lancaster for a fresh supply, where I encountered a Texan recruit- 

 ing officer, sporting a Colonel's commission, that bore the signature of 

 " Sam Houston," President of the Republic. 



The object of this personage was to raise a company of volunteer rifle- 

 men, to act in conjunction with a large force said to be then on its way for 

 the invasion of Santa Fe. The main design of the expedition was to annoy 

 the Mexican frontier, intercept their trade, and force them, if possible, to 

 some terms by which a peace might be secured between the two countries. 



The proposed rifle company was to be vested with discretionary powers, 

 and perform the duties of a scouting party to the main army. Each of its 

 members was to be regularly enlisted for the term of nine months, — armed 

 with a good rifle and pistols, and mounted upon a stout, serviceable horse. 



Great inducements, by w^ay of promises, vv^ere also held out, to secure a 

 prompt and ready en]is;tment ; and, in fact, the whole aflair was represented 

 in a light so favorable, few possessed of the necessary means for equipping 

 themselves refused to enter their names upon the muster-roll, and rally 

 beneath the banner of the Lone Star. 



One thing, however, served to awaken in the bosom of each the genuine 

 martial spirit, more than all the eloquence of the fluent Colonel ; — this was 

 the unfurlment of the identical flag, bullet-pierced and tattered, that had 

 stood as the genius of victory at the sanguinary battle of Corpus Christi, in 

 the early days of the Texan revolution. 



Who could refuse to respond favorably to a call backed by arguments so 

 potent ? — not L 



Soon after Colonel Warfield, for such was the officer's name, set out on 

 his return to the scene of intended operations, accompanied by some twelve 

 or fifteen men, having named for his rendezvous a point within tlie Mexi- 

 can territory, near the confluence of the Rio de las Animas and the waters 

 of the Arkansas, Circumstances were such at the time it was incon\(- 

 nient for me to leave, and eight or t^ndays intervened before my departure t* 

 join the expedition. 



