THE OLD SANTA FE TRAIL by COLONEL HENRY INMAN (best fiction novels of all time .TXT) 📕

Arrow Still Transfixing His Breast,

          But His Scalp Was Gone.

 

 

 

          On The Fourteenth Of October, We Again Marched on Our

          Return.  Soon After, We Saw Smokes Arise Over The Distant

          Hills; Evidently Signals, Indicating To Different Parties

          Of Indians Our Separation And March, But Whether Preparatory

          To An Attack Upon The Mexicans Or Ourselves, Or Rather

          Our Immense Drove Of Animals, We Could Only Guess.

 

 

 

          Our March Was Constantly Attended by Great Collections

          Of Buffalo, Which Seemed to Have A General Muster, Perhaps

          For Migration.  Sometimes A Hundred or Two--A Fragment

          From The Multitude--Would Approach Within Two Or Three

          Hundred yards Of The Column, And Threaten A Charge Which

          Would Have Proved disastrous To The Mules And Their Drivers.

 

 

 

          Under The Friendly Cover Of The Shades Of Evening, On The

          Eighth Of November, Our Tatterdemalion Veterans Marched

          Into Fort Leavenworth, And Took Quiet Possession Of The

          Miserable Huts And Sheds Left By The Third Infantry In

          The Preceding May.

 

Chapter VI (A Romantic Tragedy)

As Early As November, 1842, A Rumour Was Current In santa Fe, And

Along The Line Of The Trail, That Parties Of Texans Had Left The

Republic For The Purpose Of Attacking and Robbing The Caravans To

The United states Which Were Owned wholly By Mexicans.  In consequence

Of This, Several Americans Were Accused of Being Spies And Acting

In Collusion With The Texans; Many Were Arrested and Carried to

Santa Fe, But Nothing Could Be Proved against Them, And The Rumours

Of The Intended purposes Of The Texans Died out.

 

 

 

Very Early In may, However, Of The Following Year, 1843, A Certain

Colonel Snively Did Organize A Small Force, Comprising about Two

Hundred men, Which He Led from Northern Texas, His Home, To The

Line Of The Trail, With The Intention Of Attacking and Robbing The

Mexican Caravans Which Were Expected to Cross The Plains That Month

And In june.

 

 

 

When He Arrived at The Arkansas River, He Was There Reinforced by

Another Texan Colonel, Named warfield With Another Small Command.

Gregg Says:

 

 

 

          This Officer, With About Twenty Men, Had Some Time

          Previously Attacked the Village Of Mora, On The Mexican

          Frontier, Killing Five Men, And Driving Off A Number

          Of Horses.  They Were Afterward Followed by A Party Of

          Mexicans, However, Who Stampeded and Carried away, Not Only

          Their Own Horses, But Those Of The Texans.  Being Left

          Afoot, The Latter Burned their Saddles, And Walked to

          Bent'S Fort, Where They Were Disbanded; Whence Warfield

          Passed to Snively'S Camp, As Before Mentioned.

 

 

 

          The Texans Now Advanced along The Santa Fe Trail, Beyond

          The Sand Hills South Of The Arkansas, When They Discovered

          That A Party Of Mexicans Had Passed toward The River.

          They Soon Came Upon Them, And A Skirmish Ensuing, Eighteen

          Mexicans Were Killed, And As Many Wounded, Five Of Whom

          Afterward Died.  The Texans Suffered no Injury, Though

          The Mexicans Were A Hundred in number.  The Rest Were All

          Taken Prisoners Except Two, Who Escaped and Bore The News

          To General Armijo, Who Was Encamped with A Large Force

          At Cold Spring, One Hundred and Forty Miles Beyond.

 

 

 

Kit Carson Figured conspicuously In this Fight, Or, Rather, Immediately

Afterward.  His Recital Differs Somewhat From Gregg'S Account,

But The Stories Substantially Agree.  Kit Said That In april,

Previously To The Assault Upon Armijo'S Caravan, He Had Hired out

As Hunter To Bent'S And Colonel St. Vrain'S Train Caravan, Which Was

Then Making Its Annual Tour Eastwardly.  When He Arrived at The

Crossing Of Walnut Creek,[22] He Found The Encampment Of Captain

Philip St. George Cooke, Of The United states Army, Who Had Been

Detailed with His Command To Escort The Caravans To The New Mexican

Boundary.  His Force Consisted of Four Troops Of Dragoons.

The Captain Informed carson That Coming On Behind Him From The States

Was A Caravan Belonging To A Very Wealthy Mexican.

 

 

 

It Was A Richly Loaded train, And In order To Insure Its Better

Protection While Passing Through That Portion Of The Country Infested

By The Blood-Thirsty Comanches And Apaches, The Majordomo In charge

Had Hired one Hundred mexicans As A Guard.  The Teamsters And Others

Belonging To The Caravan Had Heard That A Large Body Of Texans Were

Lying In wait For Them, And Intended to Murder And Plunder Them In

Retaliation For The Way Armijo Had Treated some Texan Prisoners

He Had Got In his Power At Santa Fe Some Time Before.  Of Course,

It Was The Duty Of The United states Troops To Escort This Caravan

To The New Mexico Line, But There Their Duty Would End, As They

Had No Authority To Cross The Border.  The Mexicans Belonging To

The Caravan Were Afraid They Would Be At The Mercy Of The Texans

After They Had Parted company With The Soldiers, And When Kit Carson

Met Them, They, Knowing The Famous Trapper And Mountaineer Well,

Asked him To Take A Letter To Armijo, Who Was Then Governor Of

New Mexico, And Resided in santa Fe, For Which Service They Would

Give Him Three Hundred dollars In advance.  The Letter Contained

A Statement Of The Fears They Entertained, And Requested the General

To Send Mexican Troops At Once To Meet Them.

 

 

 

Carson, Who Was Then Not Blessed with Much Money, Eagerly Accepted

The Task, And Immediately Started on The Trail For Bent'S Fort,

In Company With Another Old Mountaineer And Bosom Friend Named owens.

In A Short Time They Arrived at The Fort, Where Owens Decided not

To Go Any Further, Because They Were Informed by The Men At Bent'S

That The Utes Had Broken Out, And Were Scattered along The Trail

At The Most Dangerous Points, And He Was Fearful That His Life

Would Be Endangered if He Attempted to Make Santa Fe.

 

 

 

Kit, However, Nothing Daunted, And Determined to Do The Duty For

Which He Had Been Rewarded so Munificently, Started out Alone On

His Perilous Trip.  Mr. Bent Kindly Furnished him With The Best And

Fastest Horse He Had In his Stables, But Kit, Realizing The Dangers

To Which He Would Be Exposed, Walked, Leading His Animal, Ready To

Mount Him At A Moment'S Notice; Thus Keeping Him In a Condition That

Would Enable Carson To Fly And Make His Escape If The Savages Tried

To Capture Him.  His Knowledge Of The Indian Character, And Wonderful

Alertness In moments Of Peril, Served him Well; For He Reached the

Village Of The Hostile Indians Without Their Discovering His Proximity.

Hiding Himself In a Rocky, Bush-Covered canyon, He Stayed there Until

Night Came On, When He Continued his Journey In the Darkness.

 

 

 

He Took The Trail To Taos, Where He Arrived in two Or Three Days,

And Presented his Letter To The Alcalde, To Be Sent On To Santa Fe

By Special Messenger.

 

 

 

He Was To Remain At Taos Until An Answer From The Governor Arrived,

And Then Return With It As Rapidly As Possible To The Train.

While At Taos, He Was Informed that Armijo Had Already Sent Out

A Company Of One Hundred soldiers To Meet The Caravan, And Was To

Follow In person, With A Thousand More.

 

 

 

This First Hundred were Those Attacked by Colonel Snively, As Related

By Gregg, Who Says That Two Survived, Who Carried the News Of The

Disaster To Armijo At Cold Spring; But Carson Told Me That Only One

Got Away, By Successfully Catching, During The Heat Of The Fight,

A Texan Pony Already Saddled, That Was Grazing around Loose.

With Him He Made Armijo'S Camp And Related to The Mexican General

The Details Of The Terribly Unequal Battle.  Armijo, Upon Receipt

Of The News, "Turned tail," And Retreated to Santa Fe.

 

 

 

Before Armijo Left Santa Fe With His Command, He Had Received the

Letter Which Carson Had Brought From The Caravan, And Immediately

Sent One In reply For Carson To Carry Back, Thinking That The Old

Mountaineer Might Reach The Wagons Before He Did.  Carson, With His

Usual Promptness, Started on The Trail For The Caravan, And Came Up

With It While It Was Escorted by The Dragoons, Thus Saving It From

The Fate That The Texans Intended for It, As They Dared not Attempt

Any Interference In the Presence Of The United states Troops.

 

 

 

The Rumour Current In santa Fe In relation To A Probable Raid Of

Parties Of Texans Along The Line Of The Trail, For The Purpose Of

Attacking and Robbing The Caravans Of The Wealthy Mexican Traders,

Was Received with So Little Credence By The Prominent Citizens Of

The Country, That Several Native Trains Left For The Missouri River

Without Their Proprietors Having The Slightest Apprehension That

They Would Not Reach Their Destination, And Make The Return Trip

In Safety.

 

 

 

Among Those Who Had No Fear Of Marauders Was Don Antonio Jose Chavez,

Who, In february, 1843, Left Santa Fe For Independence With An Outfit

Consisting Of A Number Of Wagons, His Private Coach, Several Servants

And Other Retainers.  Don Antonio Was A Very Wealthy Mexican Engaged

In A General Mercantile Business On A Large Scale In albuquerque,

Who Made All His Purchases Of Goods In st. Louis, Which Was Then

The Depot Of Supplies For The Whole Mountain Region.  He Necessarily

Carried with Him On These Journeys A Large Amount Of Money, In silver,

Which Was The Legal Currency Of The Country, And Made But One Trip

Yearly To Replenish The Stock Of Goods Required in his Extensive

Trade In all Parts Of Mexico.

 

 

 

Upon His Arrival At Westport Landing, As Kansas City Was Then Called,

He Would Take The Steamboat For St. Louis, Leaving His Coach, Wagons,

Servants, And Other Appointments Of His Caravan Behind Him In the

Village Of Westport, A Few Miles From The Landing.

 

 

 

Westport Was At That Time, Like All Steamboat Towns In the Era Of

Water Navigation, The Harbor Of As Great A Lot Of Ruffians As Ever

Escaped the Gallows.  There Was Especially A Noted gang Of Land Pirates,

The Members Of Which Had Long Indulged in speculations Regarding The

Probable Wealth Of The Mexican Don, And How Much Coin He Generally

Carried with Him.  They Knew That It Must Be Considerable From The

Quantity Of Goods That Always Came By Boat With Him From St. Louis.

 

 

 

At Last A Devilish Plot Was Arranged to Get Hold Of The Rich Trader'S

Money.  Nine Men Were Concerned in the Robbery, Nearly All Of Whom

Were Residents Of The Vicinity Of Westport; Their Leader Was One

John Mcdaniel, Recently From Texas, From Which Government He Claimed

To Hold A Captain'S Commission, And One Of Their Number Was A Doctor.

It Was Evidently The Intention Of This Band To Join Warfield'S Party

On The Arkansas, And Engage In a General Robbery Of The Freight

Caravans Of The Santa Fe Trail Belonging To The Mexicans; But They

Had Determined that Chavez Should Be Their First Victim, And In order

To Learn When He Intended to Leave Santa Fe On His Next Trip East,

They Sent Their Spies Out On The Great Highway.

 

 

 

They Did Not Dare Attempt Their Contemplated robbery, And Murder

If Necessary, In the State Of Missouri, For There Were Too Many

Citizens Of The Border Who Would Never Have Permitted such A Thing

To Go Unpunished; So They Knew That Their Only Chance Was To Effect It

In The Indian Country Of Kansas, Where There Was Little Or No Law.

 

 

 

Cow Creek, Which Debouches Into The Arkansas At Hutchinson, Where

The Atchison, Topeka And Santa Fe Railroad Crosses The Historic

Little Stream,[23] Was, Like Big And Little Coon Creeks, A Most

Dangerous Point In the Transcontinental Passage Of Freight Caravans

And Overland Coaches, In the Days Of The Commerce Of The Prairies.

It Was On This Purling Little Prairie Brook That Mcdaniel'S Band

Lay In wait For The Arrival Of The Ill-Fated don Antonio, Whose

Imposing Equipage Came Along, Intending To Encamp On The Bank,

One Of The Usual Stopping-Places On The Route.

 

 

 

The Don Was Taken A Few Miles South Of The Trail, And His Baggage

Rifled.  All Of His Party Were Immediately Murdered, But The Wealthy

Owner Of The Caravan Was Spared for A Few Moments In order To Make

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