^^* FORT LANCASTER, WTC. 



" Carraho, Americana !" said liie Mexican, levelliuo- his oTin at the speaker 

 In an instant a pistol-shot from the latter laid him^rostrate,— th-- baU en- 

 tering lus chest near the heart. No further resistance was offered, and the 

 assailants retired mth their booty. 



The next morning, however, they returned, and the two p'--^^ com- 

 promised the matter by certain conciliatorv aiTangemp"*=) >vhich resulted in 

 the Americans giving up the captured anWr'-, <Jii condition that tlie Mexi- 

 cans should in future be less i.jjgcirtrt'ahd conduct their trade on more 

 reasoiiabie terms. 



The wounded .rr^r^ecowered in three or four weeks, and was now ready 

 to accorn^itiiynis party on their homeward-bound journey. 



/riarge number of Mexicans are employed at tlie different trading posts 

 in this vicinity. They prove quite useful as horse-guards, and also in 

 taking care of cattle and doing the drudgery connected with tiiese estab- 

 lishments. 



Their v.ages vary from four to ten dollars per month, which they receive 

 in articles of traffic at an exliorbitant price; — viz: calicoes, (indifferent 

 quality,) from fifty cents to one dollar per yard ; blue cloth, from five to ten 

 dollars per do. ; powder, Uvo dolhus per lb. ; lead, one do. do. ; coffee, one 

 do. do. ; tobacco, from t-A'o to tliree do. do. ; second hand robes, two dollars 

 apiece, — and everything else in proportion. 



Their v/ages for a whole year, in actual value, bring them but a trifling 

 and almost nameless consideration. Notwithstanding, these miserable 

 creatures j.reter traveling tour hundred miles to hire Tor such diminutive 

 wages, rather than to remain in their own country and work for less. 

 They know of no better w ay to get a living, and are, tlierefore, happy in 

 their ignorance, and contentedly drag out a wretched existence as best they 

 may. 



After a period of service they generally return home laden witli tlic pal- 

 try proceeds of tiieir toil, and, yielding to the impulses of cu^-tom, a single 

 fandango is sufficient to leave them penniless like the squalid crowd with 

 whom they mingle. 



A week's stay at the Fort restored me to health and soundness from the 

 debilitating effects of the fever and ague, without a resort to medicine. 

 Thiis disease (the first and only attack of which I ever experienced) had 

 made fearful inroads upon ray strength during the short intervaJ of its con- 

 tinuance, and rendered me mifit for travelling ; — but, a change of climate 

 and the inhalation of the puremoutuain air effected a permanent and speedy 

 cure, in a much less time than I had reason to expect. 



Fort Lancaster occupies a pleasant site upon the south bank of thf' Platte 

 nver, about nme hundred miles from its mouth, and seven hundred ant 

 twenty from Independence, in lat. 40*^ 1"2' 25" nortli, long. 105° 53' 11" 

 west from Greenwich. The distance from this point to the di'.iding ridge 

 of the Rocky Mountains is about thirt}"-five miles, and from Taos, in Nev 

 Mexico, between three and four hundred miles. 



Long's Peak with its eternal snow appears in distinct view to tlie wedt 

 ward, and imparts to the sunset scenery a beauty and grandeur rarely wit 

 nessed in any coimtrj'. This peak is one of the highest of the mountaii 

 •Wige, being upwards of 13,500 feet above the level of the Gu^ ef Mexicc^ 



