A few months had passed since my Alabama friends left me, and I had heard nothing more of them, when one morning the watchman told me, with great joy, that a long train of men, draught cattle, and carts was coming down the river. I soon recognised through my glass young Lasar and his cousin Henry, surrounded by a large number of negroes. The train moved very slowly onwards, and did not stop before the fort for some hours, when I greeted the new-comers most heartily. John had sixty odd strong negroes with him, twelve of whom were intended for me; and brought stores and tools with him on five large waggons, each drawn by six oxen. He had made the journey by steamer, viâ New Orleans, and partly on the Rio Grande. When they landed he bought the draught cattle, and had reached me without any accident. I kept them a few days with me to let them rest, and then proceeded with them across to Mustang River, where they camped on the ground selected by Mr. Lasar.
They chose for their maize-field a spot in the advance woods, where the soil was rich and loose, and the trouble of blazing the trees and ploughing round them was saved. The negroes advanced in their job with almost incredible rapidity, and in a short time a field of some hundred acres was cleared, ploughed, and fenced. Up to that time, the negroes lay at nights under tents or in their carts, but now they built blockhouses and put up fences, in which the mules and horses rested at night. John rode over to me regularly to spend the night with me, and on Sunday we hunted in the neighbourhood. He was a good shot, laid aside the shot-gun for the rifle and pistols, and soon learned to use these weapons excellently.
My life from this time underwent a change. I had twelve negroes at my disposal, and must so employ them as not only to get their hire out of them, but also attain the object for which I had hired them, namely, making a profit. With this the careless, happy life which had surrounded me for years, far from humanity, was at an end, and the god of gold, with his thousand sufferings, hatefulnesses, and sorrows, began to establish his despotic rule even here. I now made a second extensive field which was sown with maize, by the side of my old one, while in the latter I planted cotton, as this plant does not flourish in new ground. I took young oxen from the pasturage and forced them into the strange yoke. My mules, which had hitherto only fetched at rare intervals our few wants from the settlements, were now attached to the plough at daybreak, and forced with the whip to toil till sunset. My colonists had so much to do all day that they went to bed at an early hour, and we no longer sat, as of yore, cozily round the table, talking and jesting about the unimportant events which had occurred during the day. In a word, the whole colony felt the change. Peace had departed and made room for the restless activity of civilization. Tiger did not like the change, although I carefully avoided everything which might render his residence among us less agreeable. He was now obliged to ride out hunting alone, while we required far more meat than before. Still I frequently tore myself away and went with him for three or four days into the desert, in order to recall past times, if only temporarily. Summer arrived with a rich harvest, and with it again fresh, uninterrupted toil. My neighbours had also been rewarded for their exertions by an immense maize crop, and employed the late summer in building larger houses for the reception of Lasar and his family. Strangers came to prospect the land in our neighbourhood, and all went away contented with an assurance that they would soon settle here. Among them were many unpleasant characters, but I consoled myself with the thought that they would not become near neighbours of mine, for I possessed all the forest land down the river, so far as it was suitable for cultivation, and up stream Lasar had purchased a large district adjoining my frontier. They could not settle on the open prairie without water or wood, and hence they must proceed to the streams farther north, where I was tolerably out of their reach.
In autumn, Mr. Lasar arrived with his wife, two daughters, and a younger son, and brought with him about five hundred negroes, a number of fine horses and splendid cattle. Our social circumstances thus advanced a stage. This highly educated and amiable family offered me pleasures which appeared to me quite new and attractive, and I did not reflect that I had bidden farewell to them some few years back through sheer weariness. The deer-hide dress was now frequently changed for the costume of former days, the razors looked up, an old negress hired who knew how to wash and iron, and imperceptibly many long-forgotten follies and considerations crept into our simple, natural life. Civilization, however, had set its foot in our paradise once for all, and nothing was able to oppose its rapid advance.
The winter brought several large planters to Mustang River, above Lasar's estate, and the land toward the northern rivers was occupied by others, while to the south of us the settlements of the Rio Grande also increased. All these new-comers were persons who occupied large districts, by which the disagreeable small neighbourhood was avoided. Still a few squatters had already settled here and there on the less valuable small lots between our estates, and among them were some most unsatisfactory persons.
One Sunday morning I was riding several miles above the fort through the woods in the direction of the Leone. I had thrown the reins on Czar's neck and was no great distance from the river bank, when Trusty stopped and looked round to me with a growl. I called him back and rode slowly up the small elevation whence I could look down at the river. To my surprise, I saw there a pretty young woman, with a man's arm round her waist, sitting on the bank, where they had made coffee over a small fire, and were now comfortably drinking it. Not far from them a powerful horse was grazing, and close by stood a two-wheeled cart, which contained some household articles and provisions. The long single rifle lay by the man's side, and a couple of deer legs and a turkey were hanging on the tree behind him. "Hilloh, sir, you are on Indian territory!" I shouted to the stranger, and he hurriedly leaped up rifle in hand, but I rode up to him with a smile, and blamed his recklessness, remarking that if I had been an Indian he would no longer be among the living.
I was surprised at the beauty of the female, whose raven shining hair formed an admirable contrast with the deep carmine of her cheeks and lips, and the transparent alabaster of her delicate skin. She also rose and looked at me with her large blue eyes, from under her long lashes. A loose, light dress was fastened round her waist by a red silk handkerchief, and advantageously displayed her tall graceful figure, and little feet thrust into light shoes of deer-hide. I asked whither they were going, and if they were acquainted with the country? The stranger said that he intended to settle in the neighbourhood: he had followed the wagon trail of the planter who had settled on the Mustang, and was told by him that no more land was to be had here; hence he resolved to go farther north and look for a farm. The restless, shy look of the man displeased me, and hence I did not invite him to rest with me and lay in fresh provisions, but wished him luck in his undertaking and continued my journey. I heard afterwards that he was living twenty miles to the north of me; that the woman he had with him was the wife of a prosperous planter in Kentucky, whom he had murdered: they fled together and reached the desert, where human justice could not follow them. Some years later I saw him again near his small log hut, wretched and wasted, and shortly after he died of an arrow wound in the chest, which an Indian dealt him. Such persons unfortunately are always among the first pioneers of civilization, and disturb the social relations of the borderers.
Although our changed mode of life offered many pleasant and interesting hours, still I was unable to drive from my heart the yearning for the old utter independence, which had almost grown a second nature. Frequently, when I rode at an early hour through the dark woods, the sounds of my neighbour's axe aroused me from my dreams; or, when I rode over the wide prairies, where I was accustomed to see the endless expanse covered with grazing herds of buffalo, I now only noticed here and there small bands of these animals passing hurriedly and timidly as if frightened at having strayed among the settlements. The antelope, that ornament of the prairies, could only be seen on the most remote heights; the deer had remained more constant to their grazing-grounds, but they too had grown more restless and attentive to the heightened danger.
The other side of the Rio Grande was less changed, and game will be protected there for many years to come, by the insurmountable mountains that surround the valleys; but it required a much greater outlay of time to seek the game there which formerly animated the immediate vicinity of my residence. Tiger was beginning to grow impatient, and often said to me that the game in our vicinity had now got too many eyes and feet, and he would go northwards to the great mountains before spring arrived. For a long time past I had been desirous of passing through the Rocky Mountains, but never was the yearning greater to throw myself once more into the arms of virgin nature than at this moment, when civilization drew me back by force into its sphere. In spite of the repeated representations which reason and my material interests urged against such an undertaking, I resolved to start in February for these unknown countries. One of my men was an excellent farmer, and in every way deserving of my entire confidence, so that I could with safety place the management of my settlement in his hands; while one of the other two, of the name of Königstein, insisted on accompanying me, to which I readily assented, as he had given me a thousand proofs of his fidelity and devotedness. With these qualities, so valuable for me, he united a determination and courage which nothing could daunt, and I have often seen him in the most desperate circumstances laughingly defy the danger. John Lasar was enthusiastic when I told him of my intention; he earnestly desired to accompany me, and begged me to procure his father's consent. The enterprise appeared to the old gentleman rather daring, and he made all possible objections, but he at last yielded to our entreaties, and equipped his son with a brace of splendid revolvers, while I supplied him with one of my double-barrelled guns. Königstein was armed with a double rifle, but also carried in a leathern sheath fastened to his saddle a four-barrelled gun, two pistols in his belt, and two in his holsters.
While we were engaged in making our preparations for the great journey, several of Lasar's friends arrived from Alabama, among them being two young men, a Mr. MacDonald and a Mr. Clifton, who came to me with John, and earnestly asked my leave to form the party. I was glad to have them, as their exterior was very pleasing, and our number was still small for a journey in which thousands of dangers and fatigues awaited us. We worked hard at getting ready, in which John's elder sister materially assisted us. New suits of deer-hide were made, two small tents prepared, and a large sheet varnished to make it water-tight and thus protect our baggage from the rain. Then biscuits were baked, coffee, salt, pepper and sugar stamped into bladders, a small cask filled with cognac, cartridges made, and our saddlery inspected; in short, there were a thousand matters to attend to, and thus the last days of January found us with all hands full of work for our expedition, while we had appointed February 1 for the start.