USA > Colorado > History of the State of Colorado, Vol. I > Part 13
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ing the progress of the nation. The average trapper was a white man reduced to savagery, consorting with exemplars more savage than him- self, only because to the manner born, engaged in unremitting warfare tribe against tribe, and not infrequently uniting to oppose the encroach- ments of a race they both hated and feared. One was a marauder bent only upon pillage; the other a defender of his home and property, which included the wild animals. The gradual intermingling of whites and French Canadians with the aborigines produced a race of half-breeds, more intelligent, cunning, and cruel than the sources of their being.
Yet in the class distinguished as trappers we find many notable, and some admirable exceptions to the rule. Where shall we discover finer types of native American manhood than Carson, the early Bents, the St. Vrains, Bridger and Baker, Fitzpatrick and Sublette ? Even the Indians with whom they battled for the right to pursue their vocation undisturbed, in the long run revered them for their courage, and loved them for their honesty and kindness of heart. There never lived in any land a braver, truer man than Carson, albeit few who have slain so many antagonists in personal encounters, yet withal possessing a womanly nature, pathetically tender, and devotedly self-sacrificing. Of all the heroes we have known or read of, there is none whose presence and bearing gave less outward evidence in repose, of heroism or the qualities of leadership. In physical mould and stature he was not unlike the great Napoleon, but in voice and action in ordinary life the person- ification of amiability and retiring modesty. But when roused by great events portending danger to himself or others who for the time being were under his protection, he became a whirlwind of vengeance tempered and restrained from rashness by the keenest sagacity and most marvelous generalship. Bridger and Baker, Gaunt and Williams, Maxwell, Fitzpatrick and Sublette with the renowned French voyageurs, were cast in a different mould. Some of them were of large, robust physique, the ideal frontiersmen, whom it was a pleasure for the neophyte to look upon and allow his imagination to revel in the perils they had met and mastered. They stood majestically to the front as
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leaders and commanders, but to the diminutive, mild eyed Carson who possessed no majesty of walk or mien, these stalwarts and all others of their kind rendered homage as the greatest and grandest of the guild. He never failed or flinched. A mission intrusted to Carson, whether to thread alone by day or night the trackless wilderness in pursuit of an enemy; as the bearer of good or evil tidings, or as the leader of a force to contend in the field against twice or thrice the number of hostiles, the result was the same, he came out victorious. In the pursuit of their dangerous calling the senses of these men became preternaturally strong and acute. They were trespassers in a country not their own, at least not so regarded by the natives, destroying game and property not their own. Therefore they must be ready to hear the crack of the rifle or the sharp twang of the bow string speeding its arrow to their hearts from ambuscades, and the always terrifying war whoop.
The men who dig our canals and build our railways ; who pilot steamships and engineer the trains, are the underlying forces of modern civilization. The pioneers of the West beat the pathways through unknown lands, penetrated the interiors, conquered the aborigines and prepared the way for the surveyor, and he in turn for the locomotive and the palace car. Carson and his contemporaries blazed the trails for Fremont, who mapped the routes for the Pacific railways. Hence we assert that the primeval hunters and trappers, though they founded no cities, erected no enduring monuments, were, notwithstanding, the actual creators of our internal commerce, leading the way for the builders of brick and stone. We are indebted to them for the knowl- edge which led science and capital to develop the results now before us. This is their part in the imperishable renown of our country, and it is by no means an unimportant part.
In the formative period of our settlement in the Rocky Mountains, Jim Bridger was a familiar figure, with a long and untarnished record. He was a tall, lank, thin man whose face gave bronzed evidence of the life he led, generous, frank and kind, albeit uncouth, uneducated and without a trace of modern refinement. Like Carson, he was a mighty
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hunter and strategist, whose years were filled with adventure. In battle he was bold and fearless. He was born in Virginia, but when quite a young man struck out beyond the developed frontier to the heart of the Continent. Here there was but one course open to him, the adoption of the career of those who preceded and came after. In working out his destiny he explored all the broad land between the great rivers and the western ocean. At length, weary of tramping and trailing, killing and skinning, he established a trading post on Block's Fork of Green River, which became the rendezvous of his class and of all Indians who were disposed to be friendly. In due course he be- came possessed of large flocks and herds, and a modest fortune in money and goods. His influence broadened until it dominated the region roundabout. Viewing the rise of his power with malignant hatred, and resolved to crush it, Brigham Young sent his "Avenging Angels" down there, and blotted him out; that is to say, destroyed his post and appropriated all his movable property. Bridger fled to the mountains, and finally located at Fort Laramie.
In the days of his prosperity there came to him in 1855 an Irish peer, named Sir George Gore, with a great retinue of servants, secre- taries, horses, dogs and guns, bent upon a protracted hunt in the Rocky Mountains. Bridger became his adviser, and guide into the region of quadruped game. Sir George possessed a rent roll of $200,- 000 a year, a magnificent house and estate, with all that vast wealth and a lordly position could command. Not content with the ordinary sports of his native country, he felt impelled to do something that would eclipse the fame of old Nimrod himself in the untrodden fields of the New West, where everything was rude and wild, and where buffalo and antelope, big horns and deer could be counted by thou- sands, with a boundless plain for the chase. He brought no less than fifty servants, scores of dogs, bundles of fishing rods, the latest im- proved fire-arms, and thirty wagons laden with commissary stores suf- ficient for an army. He remained two years, traversed the North, Middle and South Parks, and most of the country between the Platte
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and the Columbia. It was from him the Gore Range derived its name. In the record of this unprecedented excursion, are noted the slaughter of forty grizzlies, nearly three thousand buffaloes, and thou- sands of antelope and deer.
Among the noted guides of the period between 1846 and 1855 was Tim Goodale, all the better because quickened and enlightened by a fair common school education. He had spent many years on the frontier and prolonged his trips to the Pacific when California was but a prim- itive settlement.
Jim Baker, kind-hearted, honest and reliable, the very epitome and essence of the ideal hunter in form and presence, scarred from scalp to moccasin by the battles he has fought and won over bears and Indians, whose portrait hangs in one of the art galleries of our city, which no person passes without pausing to contemplate the torn, creased and grizzled features that tell him here is a man with a history; was a native of Illinois, leaving the paternal roof at the age of eighteen, to enter the employ of the American Fur Company whose headquarters beyond the Missouri were established at Fort Laramie. Dwelling among the Indians and marrying into the tribe to which he attached himself, he in time became a veritable aborigine, adopting their customs, habits, dress, and even their superstitions, which in the fulness of his years he still retains. Sober, Jim Baker is a man worth knowing ; drunk and irritated, one to be avoided. But to his credit be it said, he rarely touches whisky except when in the settlements at long intervals, when a spree is the inevitable result. Years ago he fell often a prey to the gamblers. On one occasion, when he had been especially fortunate in gathering a large stock of furs, and had made up his mind to return to the States, buy a farm and settle down for the remainder of his days, on reaching a rendezvous where many of his guild were assembled, he was enticed into a game of Spanish monte, and lost all he possessed, the value of his peltries being about nine thousand dollars. Then he went back to the mountains where he re- mains to this day. Spanish monte was a favorite method of gambling,
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and many a trapper has fallen a victim to its seductions. Baker might have been comparatively rich had he saved the earnings of his industry, but at the close of each season everything was sacrificed in the usual way. Thus the traders were enriched, while the trappers plodded along in poverty.
At one time he established a trading post on his own account at the emigrant crossing of Green River, but was driven out by men more acute and less scrupulous than himself. He was familiarly known and highly respected by the Utes, Arapahoes and Cheyennes. When the Pike's Peak immigration poured its long columns into Denver, he came occasionally, but only for brief visits. The ways of civilization were not his ways, so he fled to his tepee in the parks. After the war a mis- guided friend presented him with a Henry repeating rifle, then a recent invention, Somehow in firing it for practice and "to get the hang of the thing " the magazine exploded, and striking his face, tore one side away. The doctors sewed up the ragged wound, but the scars remain to attest its severity. Meeting him shortly after the accident, and see- ing the plight he was in, I inquired the cause. He said, "Well, you see I got one of them new repeatin' rifles, and the first shot I fired the d -- d thing bust and split my jaw." But it seemed to him a mere trifle that would soon mend,-interfere with his eating for a few days, perhaps, nothing more serious. He had been shot and mangled and lacerated too many times to mind a scratch like that.
Capt. Marcy relates an anecdote of Baker, the main particulars told by himself: "On one occasion while he was setting his traps with a companion on the head waters of Grand River, they came suddenly upon two young grizzly bears about the size of well-grown dogs. He remarked to his companion that if 'they could pitch in and skulp the varmints with their knives,' it would be an exploit to boast of. They accordingly laid aside their rifles and 'went in,' Baker attacking one, and his companion the other. The bears immediately raised them- selves upon their haunches, and were ready for the encounter. He ran around, endeavoring to get an opportunity to give a blow from behind
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with his long knife, but the young brute was too quick for him, and turned as he passed around, so as always to confront him face to face. He knew if he came within reach of his paws, that, although young, he could inflict a formidable blow ; moreover, he felt great apprehensions that the piteous howls set up by the cubs, would bring the infuriated dam to their rescue, when their chances for escape would be small, so he determined to end the contest at once. He made many des- perate lunges at the bear, but the animal invariably warded them off with his fore paws like a pugilist, and protected his body at the expense of several severe cuts upon his legs. This, however, only served to exasperate him, and at length he took the offensive, and with his mouth frothing with rage he bounded toward Baker, who grappled with him and gave him a death wound under the ribs. While all this was going on, his companion had been furiously fighting the other bear, and by this time had become greatly exhausted, and the odds were turning decidedly against him. He entreated Baker to come to his assistance at once, which he did; but much to his astonishment, as soon as he entered the second combat his com- panion ran off, leaving him to fight the battle alone. He was, how- ever, again victorious, and soon had the satisfaction of seeing his two antagonists stretched out lifeless before him; but he firmly resolved never again to make war on a bear with a hunting knife, saying, he would 'never fight nary another grizzly without a good shootin'-iron in his paws.'"
At this writing Jim Baker occupies a tepee on Snake River Fork of Yampa River in the northern part of Routt County, about one hundred miles west of North Park, and lives as he has done from the beginning, after the manner of the Indians. He comes to Denver occasionally, but at long intervals. He is unable to endure for more than a few days the restraints of modern clothing and the man- ner of those who dwell in towns and cities. His thick shock of chest- nut hair which curls in ringlets all over his head is even now, though he has passed threescore and ten, but slightly grizzled, and his
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stalwart form but slightly bent. In conversation he is the ideal mountaineer, but like Carson, with a mild, pleasant voice, almost feminine in its soft cadences. He is eminently good natured, and thoroughly devoted to his friends. The companion to whom he was most deeply attached, Major D. C. Oakes, died in 1886, since when Baker has not appeared.
All the remaining space in this volume might be filled with interesting reminiscences of Kit (Christopher) Carson. To say that he was one of the most remarkable men of his time would be but a feeble exposition of his worth. It may be truthfully said, however, that no man of his class attained the exalted position which he held in the admiration and esteem of all who knew him. Had he been endowed at the proper age with the advantages of the better schools of learning, there is reason to believe from the inherent force displayed in every crisis of his career that he would have become eminent in any pursuit to which his energies were directed. Men of his mould are irre- sistible forces, and rise inevitably to the loftiest positions for which they are fitted. This man was a rare combination of dauntless courage, keen penetration, true nobility of mind, and generous impulses tempered with discretion and sound common sense, which enabled him to choose, under most circumstances, the right course, both in war and peace. He was pre-eminently honest with himself and with those who trusted and relied upon him. His devotion to duty has never been excelled. His biographer* says of him, "The chief points of his character were determined perseverance, indomitable will, unflinching courage, quick- ness and shrewdness of perception, and promptitude in execution." Any man who possesses these masterful qualities, supported by physical strength and good impulses, is a controlling factor in the sphere in which he moves.
Carson appears to have been in constant action from the date of his entree upon the scenes which demanded the broadest exercise of
*Col. DeWitt C. Peters, "Pioneer Life and Frontier Adventure" whose work is followed in the prepara- tion of this sketch.
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the power within him. The list of his expeditions is well nigh inter- minable. He was never at rest, never permitted even in the closing years, to enjoy for more than a few days or weeks the peace and quiet of his home and family. Though often attempted, it was no sooner begun than there came appeals for his skillful guidance through fields bristling with dangers. His judgment and valor distinguished him as a sort of Nestorian mascot, without whom no trying journey should be undertaken. He led scouting parties and armies, emigrant trains and forlorn hopes, hunters, trappers and explorers with consummate skill through every peril to the harbor of safety.
The subject of this sketch was born in Madison County, Kentucky, December 24, 1809. His parents were among the original settlers of the State, and his father was a celebrated hunter. At the age of fifteen Kit was apprenticed to a trade that was distasteful to him, but in obedience to his father's desire he pursued it some years. In early manhood he began to hear of the romantic adventures of the Rocky Mountain hunters, and resolved to join them at the first opportunity. In 1826 he attached himself to a party bound for Santa Fé. From the latter point he went to Taos, then and long afterward the resort of frontiersmen, where he soon learned to speak the Spanish language like a native, which in after years was of great service to him. His next venture led him to Chihuahua, and from there to California. In the years which followed, his reputation as an Indian fighter became estab- lished far and wide. In the period under consideration it was impos- sible to avoid these conflicts. To meet an Indian was to provoke a challenge ; they swarmed everywhere. Somehow, owing to the traits we have named, he was uniformly successful, whether in command of a party, or unattended. If a desperate chance were to be taken, or a dangerous enterprise to be led, Carson was chosen to direct it. On returning from the Pacific he located at Green River for a time, but learning that his old friend Captain Gaunt was then trapping in the South Park, he with four companions, joined him there. They trapped through all the parks until the approach of winter, when they went
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down to the Arkansas in the region of Pueblo and Bent's Fort, where they had a sharp skirmish with a band of Crow Indians. Speaking of Carson, Fremont says, "Mounted on a fine horse without a saddle, and scouring bareheaded over the prairie, Kit was one of the finest pictures of a horseman I have ever seen."
Said an old trapper, who was an ardent admirer,-"If a man has a serious quarrel with Kit Carson, he had better not let him get the first sight over his rifle; for if he succeeds in this his adversary is as good as dead." Yet he was never known to originate a quarrel among his fellows, but often avoided difficulties instigated by others.
After eight years of mountaineering, the rapid decline in the price of beaver skins owing to the introduction of silk for the manufacture of genteel headgear, together with the scarcity of fur bearing animals, the occupation was no longer profitable, so Carson, accompanied by "Parson Bill Williams," went to Bent's Fort to ascertain what employment there might be for them at that place. By this time Carson, had become familiar with every trail and pass in the Rocky Mountains, and it is not extravagant but wholly just to say, that Fremont owed much of his renown as a pathfinder to the man who guided him with unerring cer- tainty to the points he was instructed to examine.
Arrived at the fort he was at once employed as hunter, with the responsibility of providing game for its sometimes numerous inhabitants. When buffalo, antelope and deer were abundant there was no difficulty, but when scarce, as often happened, he was compelled to search for it, frequently over a vast scope of plain or mountainous region. While in the mountains he married an Indian girl, to whom he was devotedly attached. The issue of this union was a daughter, and soon after, his wife died. When arrived at the proper age, Carson sent the child to St. Louis, where she received a very thorough education.
Kit was always thoughtful, sober and moral, rarely tasted liquor, gambled not at all, and was perhaps the finest model of a true and noble character known to his kind.
When General Kearney appointed Charles Bent Governor of
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New Mexico, this act severed his connection with the fort, and Carson became an important figure in the war with Mexico.
As related in a previous chapter, he visited his birthplace in 1842 and on his return led Fremont to the Wind River Mountains. Having accomplished this mission he returned to Taos, and in February, 1843, married a Mexican woman named Señora Josepha Jaramillo, who bore him three children. In the following spring he was engaged to escort a train belonging to Bent and St. Vrain back to the States, but when two-thirds of the trip had been accomplished, news was received that a large party of Texans were posted some distance below for the purpose of capturing it. Therefore the manager halted, and sent Carson back to Santa Fé for reinforcements. On his arrival, he discovered that they had been sent by the Governor on prior information. The Texans subsequently encountered this reinforcement and annihilated it, but the train reached the Missouri River in safety. On his return to Bent's Fort these facts were made known to him, so he proceeded no further. Shortly afterward he joined Fremont, then upon his second expedition, at the close of which (1845) he settled down in Taos, and in company with a friend named Richard Owens, established a ranch on the Little Cimarron with the intention of raising flocks and herds, and cultivating the soil. These preparations were but fairly inaugurated when the irrepressible Fremont called him for his third expedition, which took him again to California. In 1846 he was sent as bearer of dispatches to Washington, but on the 6th of October he met General Kearney en route to Santa Fé. This officer realizing the value of the man before him as aid and guide for the work he had undertaken in New Mexico, sent the dispatches to Fort Leavenworth by Major Tom Fitzpatrick, retaining Kit as chief of scouts. In California Carson left Kearney and rejoined Fremont, and in March, 1847, was again sent to the National Capital with dispatches, where he arrived the following June, was met by Mrs. Fremont at the depot, taken to her home and treated with all the affectionate consideration and hospitality which that noble and gifted woman felt to be the just due of this trusted comrade and
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friend of her husband. He remained some time in Washington where, his fame having preceded him, he was naturally the hero of the day. Through the influence of Senator Benton he was appointed a lieutenant in the rifle corps of the United States Army, and ordered as bearer of dispatches to the officer in command of California. At Fort Leaven- worth he was furnished an escort of fifty men. With the exception of a fight with the Comanches at Point of Rocks, the command reached Santa Fé without further incident of importance. Here Carson dis- missed his escort, and with sixteen employes hired for the journey, proceeded to the Pacific, reporting at Monterey for orders, which assigned him to duty as lieutenant in the dragoons at Los Angeles. After a winter passed in campaigning, mainly against hostile Indians, he was a third time ordered to Washington as bearer of dispatches. On this journey he visited his home in Taos, proceeded thence to Santa Fé and from there, as near as we can discover, to the Arkansas at Pueblo, thence to Bijou Basin, thence to the South Platte, following the latter stream to Fort Kearney, whence he crossed to the Repub- lican, and so on to Fort Leavenworth.
This circuitous route was taken to avoid numerous bands of unfriendly Indians.
On this occasion he waited but a few days at the seat of gov- ernment. Returning to Taos, he settled down for a season of rest from years of hardship and incessant toil, but was a few days later summoned to act as guide to the First Dragoons in a foray against the Apaches, who were committing terrible depredations. They passed through the Sangre de Cristo to the Arkansas and scouted the country thoroughly, but without encountering any considerable num- bers of the tribe they were seeking. When through with this expe- dition Carson, with Lucien Maxwell, settled in the beautiful valley of Rayado, fifty-five miles east of Taos, where they hoped to pass the balance of their days. But as with every previous undertaking of this nature, there seemed to be neither peace nor rest for this intrepid hunter. He was soon called for another raid against the Apaches,
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who had again taken the war path. In May, 1850, with Tim Goodale he took a herd of horses and mules to Fort Laramie, where they dis- posed of them to good advantage. After this commercial venture, he again settled down to farming, but his pursuit of husbandry was fre- quently interrupted for the more exciting pursuit of Indians. His next commercial enterprise was undertaken with Maxwell. They drove 6,500 sheep across the country to California, then in the height of gold mining excitement, where they sold them for $5.50 per head. This gave them a considerable fund for future operations, but on returning to Taos in 1853 Carson was informed of his appointment as agent for the Yutas, Jiccarilla Apaches and several other tribes, which gave both him and the Indians great satisfaction. Nevertheless, the lat- ter caused him an immense amount of trouble, and kept the troops busy with countless uprisings. During the latter part of 1854-5 the Apaches and Yutas (Utes) frequently confederated in wars upon the Mexicans and antagonistic savages. The Muache Apaches and the Utes some time later united in a formidable war, and immediately began a series of fiendish atrocities upon the inhabitants of the ranches and small villages, spreading consternation throughout the country. At length the Governor of the Territory and the commanding General resolved to send a strong force against them. Volunteers were called for, and the quotas were soon filled. On being organized they were placed under the command of Mr. Ceran St. Vrain of Taos, with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Meanwhile, Col. T. T. Fauntleroy marched up from Fort Union with two companies of dragoons and a rifle corps, and assumed command of the entire force. Carson was engaged as guide and chief of scouts. When fully prepared they marched to Fort Massachusetts. The weather was very cold and stormy. Following the Rio Grande to the point where Fremont met with such appalling disasters in the Sangre de Cristo range, Carson, who was in advance, discovered the trail of the Indians, which led through Saguache Pass, and just beyond which he found the enemy drawn up in line of battle under the celebrated Chief Blanco to resist
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