With a party of men like those he had led several times against the Blackfeet, nothing could have persuaded him to turn back from any enterprise which he had undertaken, from a fear of hostile Indians. Of course he could not state his reason for his apprehensions even to his employer, because it would reflect upon his ability to arrange for such an enterprise, or his courage to conduct it to a successful termination, neither of which he could doubt; and it is therefore with something of regret we read in an official report, emanating from one who owed more to Kit Carson, of the fame and reputation so justly earned, than to any other living man, the assertion that Carson, stimulated by fear, made his will. The best contradiction which can be afforded, is found in the fact, that notwithstanding his apprehensions, he did accompany the party, discharging with his usual zeal, ability, and fidelity, the duties which devolved upon him; and we have yet to learn that Kit Carson ever shrunk from any danger.
His reputation has, however, outlived this covert insinuation, and we presume that no man on this continent would hesitate to award to Kit Carson, the highest attributes of moral and physical courage.
"During our stay here," says Fremont in continuation, "the men had been engaged in making numerous repairs, arranging pack-saddles, and otherwise preparing for the chances of a rough road, and mountain travel, all of which Carson had superintended, urging upon the men that their comfort and their safety required it. All things of this nature being ready, I gathered them around me in the evening, and told them that 'I had determined to proceed the next day. They were all well armed. I had engaged the services of Mr. Bissonette as interpreter, and had taken, in the circumstances, every possible means to insure our safety. In the rumors we had heard, I believed there was much exaggeration, and then they were men accustomed to this kind of life, and to the country; and that these were the dangers of every day occurrence, and to be expected in the ordinary course of their service. They had heard of the unsettled condition of the country before leaving St. Louis, and therefore could not make it a reason for breaking their engagements. Still, I was unwilling to take with me, on a service of some certain danger, men on whom I could not rely; and as I had understood that there were among them some who were disposed to cowardice, and anxious to return, they had but to come forward at once, and state their desire, and they would be discharged with the amount due to them for the time they had served.' To their honor, be it said, there was but one among them who had the face to come forward and avail himself of the permission. I asked him some few questions, in order to expose him to the ridicule of the men, and let him go. The day after our departure, he engaged himself to one of the forts, and set off with a party to the Upper Missouri."
[CHAPTER XIX.]
As our explorers advanced, one of the most prominent features of the country was the abundance of artemisia growing everywhere, on the hills and in the river bottoms, in twisted wiry clumps, filling the air with the odor of mingled camphor and spirits of turpentine, and impeding the progress of the wagons out of the beaten track.
They met a straggling party of the Indians which had followed the trail of the emigrants, and learned from them that multitudes of grasshoppers had consumed the grass upon the road, so that they had found no game, and were obliged to kill even their horses, to ward off starvation. Of course danger from these Indians was no longer to be apprehended, though the prospect was a gloomy one, but new courage seemed to inspire the party when the necessity of endurance seemed at hand.
The party now followed Carson's advice, given at Fort Laramie, to disencumber themselves of all unnecessary articles, and accordingly they left their wagons, concealing them among low shrubbery, after they had taken them to pieces, and made a cache of such other effects as they could leave, among the sand heaps of the river bank, and then set to work to mend and arrange the pack saddles, and packs, the whole of which was superintended by Carson, and to him was now assigned the office of guide, as they had reached a section of the country, with a great part of which long residence had made him familiar. Game was found in great abundance after they reached the river bottom, off the traveled road, both upon the Platte and after they crossed over the divide to the Sweet Water.
Speaking of the gorge where the Platte River issues from the Black Hills, changing its character abruptly from a mountain stream to a river of the plain, Fremont says, "I visited this place with my favorite man, Basil Lajeunesse;" and this extraordinary expression, left unexplained, would lead the casual reader to believe or think that Carson had lost the confidence of the official leader of the party.