of the
deadliest character. Such are the vendettas between Crow and Shoshonee,
Pawnee and Comanche, Utah and Arapaho. Some of the tribe have the
repute of being friendly to the whites. Among these may be mentioned
the Utahs and Crows; while the more dreaded names are Cheyenne, Kiowa,
and Arapaho; the last in hostility to the whites equalling the noted
Blackfeet farther north. In all cases, however, the amity of the
prairie Indian is a friendship upon which slight faith can be placed;
and the trapper--even in Crow or Utah land--is accustomed "to sleep with
one eye open." In past times, Utahs have been more partial to the
pale-faces than most other tribes of North Americans; and in their
territory many of the celebrated trapper-stations, or "rendezvous," are
situated. At times, mutual provocations have led to dire encounters;
and then are the Utahs to be dreaded--more, perhaps, than any other
Indians. In their association with their trapper allies, they have
learnt how to handle--and with skill--that most formidable of weapons,
for partisan warfare--the hunter's rifle.

At the time of which I write, the Utahs were reported to be on good
terms with the whites. The Mormons had done everything to conciliate
them; and it was said that a single white man might traverse their
territory with perfect safety. It was chiefly in the passes that led to
the Utahs' country, that danger from Indians was to be apprehended--in
the valleys and ravines above mentioned--where Cheyennes, Comanches,
Pawnees, and Arapahoes were more likely to be met with than the Utahs
themselves.

We were not yet certain by which pass the caravan might cross the great
Cordillera. From beyond the Big Timbers, three routes were open to it.
First was the southern route through the Eaton mountains, which leads to
Santa Fe, in New Mexico, and is known as the "Santa Fe trail." I did
not anticipate their taking this one. It was not their design, on
leaving Fort Smith, to pass by Santa Fe--else would they have kept up
the Canadian, by the head of the Llano Estacado; and thence to
California by the Gila. Another route parts from the Arkansas still
higher up--by one of its affluents, the _Fontaine que bouit_. This is
the "Cherokee trail," which, after running north along the eastern slope
of the Rocky Mountains, crosses them by the Cheyenne Pass, and on
through Bridger's Pass into the central valley of the Great Basin.
Neither did I believe that the tra