they met several hundred Utah and
Apache Indians. These red skins showed some warlike symptoms which
Kit Carson did not in the least fancy; but, to make the best of his
situation, he ordered his men to post themselves in a neighboring
thicket and be ready to act on the defensive. Kit Carson then informed
the Indians that they must keep at a proper distance, or otherwise he
would direct his men to fire into them. He told them that if they were
disposed to be friendly, which they professed to be, towards the white
men, they could show it by leaving and not annoying his party, who,
being nearly naked and in a destitute condition, could give them
nothing. Evidently the savages saw this was true, and so did not
hazard a fight, but departed. Kit Carson traveled that night ten miles
further. It was late in the day when he again ventured on the trail,
but this distance was all that his animals could accomplish without
food and rest, for they were fatigued and poor. His object in thus
resuming his march, was to separate himself and men as far as he
could from the Indians, fearing that they might change their minds and
conclude to attack him. Being too weak, his party was in no condition
for an engagement. At the end of this distance he fortunately met
with a party of volunteers, who had been out in search of these very
savages, in order that they might punish them for some rascality they
had been recently guilty of. The next day Kit Carson reached
Taos, where he allowed himself a short respite for the purpose of
recruiting, and also to have the pleasure of a visit to his family
and friends. These were privileges which, during his life in the
mountains, had been seldom granted to him, though his feelings of
attachment for relatives and intimate acquaintances are not exceeded
by those of any living man. Indeed, his love for his children is
unbounded. We have several times heard him assert, that if there was
any one thing that could make him a coward, it would be the thoughts
of his little ones. When his party was sufficiently recruited, Kit
Carson left Taos and proceeded to Santa Fe. At this time Colonel
Newby, of the Illinois Volunteers, was in command of the United States
forces stationed there. This gentleman informed Kit Carson that his
appointment as lieutenant, made by President Polk, was not confirmed
by the United States Senate. Many of Kit's friends, on hearing this,
came to him and advised him not to carry the dispatches