IN THE FAR WEST. 235 



whether they were soldiers or civilians. He had also some 

 influence with them on account of his being married to two 

 squaws, and this induced us to hope that they would not 

 molest us. In order to be prepared for all contingencies, how- 

 ever, we armed ourselves with the best bowie knives, rifles, 

 and revolvers we could procure, and being- provided with two 

 good American horses each, and a small pack train of mules 

 to carry our baggage, we started from the Laramie Plains for 

 the unknown Eldorado, about one hundred and thirty miles 

 distant, just as the sun was about setting. We chose this 

 time so as to prevent persons from knowing where w r e were 

 going, and also to get well on our way before any prowling 

 Indians could guess at our destination and lay a trap for us, 

 for few red men can withstand the temptation of lifting a 

 lot of fine horses and some attractive scalps at the same time. 

 We marched principally at night, and rested during the day, 

 generally in a chasm or piece of woods where we could find 

 shelter and concealment, for we did not want to run any risks. 

 We were even careful not to build any fires, except what was 

 sufficient to boil some tea or coffee, and broil a piece of bacon, 

 as we feared the smoke would betray our presence. 



After marching for five nights over treeless plains and 

 pine-clad mountains we reached our destination, and pitched 

 our camp on the top of a wooded hill that both concealed us 

 and gave us a commanding view of the surrounding country. 

 The day after our arrival it was resolved to lay in a stock of 

 fresh meat, as we had none, and we desired to provision the 

 camp, so that all our time could be devoted to the object of 

 the expedition. This did not seem to be a very difficult matter, 

 for the tracks of deer were numerous everywhere, and the 

 woods fairly swarmed with hares and several species of grouse. 

 The latter were not deemed worthy of the powder to be wasted 

 upon them, however, so we made preparations for an onslaught 

 on the large game. Having saddled our horses and armed 

 ourselves in the most careful manner, we sallied from our forest 

 home and marched towards an extensive valley to our ri<>-ht, 

 which was hemmed in on all sides by high, wooded mountains, 

 and contained several coppices of cottomvoods, alders, ami 



