be had the utmost veneration for the old trapper, and he was
perfectly safe at any time in their villages or camps; it had been the
request of a dying chief, who was once greatly favoured by Wooton, that
his warriors should never injure him although the nation might be at war
with all the rest of the whites in the world.

Uncle Dick died a few seasons ago, at the age of nearly ninety. He was
blind for some time, but a surgical operation partly restored his sight,
which made the old man happy, because he could look again upon the
beautiful scenery surrounding his mountain home, really the grandest in
the entire Raton Range. The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad
had one of its freight locomotives named "Uncle Dick," in honour of the
veteran mountaineer, past whose house it hauled the heavy-laden trains
up the steep grade crossing into the valley beyond. At the time of its
baptism, now fifteen or sixteen years ago, it was the largest freight
engine in the world.

Old Bill Williams was another character of the early days of the Trail,
and was called so when Carson, Uncle Dick Wooton, and Maxwell were
comparatively young in the mountains. He was, at the time of their
advent in the remote West, one of the best known men there, and had been
famous for years as a hunter and trapper. Williams was better acquainted
with every pass in the Rockies than any other man of his time, and
only surpassed by Jim Bridger later. He was with General Fremont on his
exploring expedition across the continent; but the statement of the old
trappers, and that of General Fremont, in relation to his services then,
differ widely. Fremont admits Williams' knowledge of the country over
which he had wandered to have been very extensive, but when put to the
test on the expedition, he came very near sacrificing the lives of all.
This was probably owing to Williams' failing intellect, for when he
joined the great explorer he was past the meridian of life. Now the
old mountaineers contend that if Fremont had profited by the old man's
advice, he would never have run into the deathtrap which cost him three
men, and in which he lost all his valuable papers, his instruments,
and the animals which he and his party were riding. The expedition had
followed the Arkansas River to its source, and the general had selected
a route which he desired to pursue in crossing the mountains. It
was winter, and Williams explained to him that it was perfectly
impracticable