e Western Continent again carry off the palm; for,
they strike the observer as being more bold, wild and picturesque than
their formidable rivals. To the foot-worn traveler, who has journeyed
thirty or forty days upon the level prairies, seeing nothing to
break the monotony of a sea of earth, the dark outlines of the Rocky
Mountains, gradually coming into the view, never fail to prove a
refreshing sight both to the physical and mental eye. They appear
as if descending from the heavens to the surface of the earth,
perpendicularly, as though intended to present a perfect barrier over
which no living thing should pass. This view never fails to engross
the earnest attention of the traveler, and hours of gazing only serve
to enwrap the mind in deeper and more fixed contemplation. Is there
not here presented a field, such as no other part of this globe can
furnish, in which the explorer, the geologist, the botanist may
sow and reap a rich harvest for his enterprise? As yet scientific
research, on questions concerning the Rocky Mountains, is
comparatively speaking, dumb. But science will soon press forward
in her heavenly ordained mission, borne upon the shoulders of some
youthful hero, and once more the wise book-men of the gown and
slipper, who, surrounded with their tomes on tomes of learned digests,
are fast approaching the hour when they had better prepare their last
wills and testaments, will again be distanced in the race and
doomed to argue technicalities. To the hunter, the real lover of
and dependent upon the chase, there can be no comparison between
the mighty Alps and the huge Rocky Mountain Barrier of the American
Prairies. The one is destitute of animal life while the other bears
a teeming population of the choicest game known to the swift-leaden
messenger of the white man's rifle. He who wishes to behold in the
same gaze, beautiful valleys, highly cultivated by a romantic and
interesting race, in rich contrast with wonderfully moulded masses
of earth and stone, covered with a medley of green foliage and white
snow, let him go to the Alps.

In the following spring Kit Carson, accompanied by only one trapper,
started out to hunt the streams in the vicinity of Big Snake River.
The Utah nation of Indians inhabit this country; and, with them,
Kit Carson stood on a friendly footing. The business of trapping was
therefore carried on without fear of molestation. The labors of the
two were crowned with great success.