They Brought Out A Poncho, Which They Spread Upon The Floor By Way Of
Table-Cloth.
A supper, which seemed to us luxurious, was soon laid
out upon it, and folded buffalo robes were placed around it to
receive the guests.
Two or three Americans, besides ourselves, were
present. We sat down Turkish fashion, and began to inquire the news.
Richard told us that, about three weeks before, General Kearny's army
had left Bent's Fort to march against Santa Fe; that when last heard
from they were approaching the mountainous defiles that led to the
city. One of the Americans produced a dingy newspaper, containing an
account of the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. While we
were discussing these matters, the doorway was darkened by a tall,
shambling fellow, who stood with his hands in his pockets taking a
leisurely survey of the premises before he entered. He wore brown
homespun pantaloons, much too short for his legs, and a pistol and
bowie knife stuck in his belt. His head and one eye were enveloped
in a huge bandage of white linen. Having completed his observations,
he came slouching in and sat down on a chest. Eight or ten more of
the same stamp followed, and very coolly arranging themselves about
the room, began to stare at the company. Shaw and I looked at each
other. We were forcibly reminded of the Oregon emigrants, though
these unwelcome visitors had a certain glitter of the eye, and a
compression of the lips, which distinguished them from our old
acquaintances of the prairie. They began to catechise us at once,
inquiring whence we had come, what we meant to do next, and what were
our future prospects in life.
The man with the bandaged head had met with an untoward accident a
few days before. He was going down to the river to bring water, and
was pushing through the young willows which covered the low ground,
when he came unawares upon a grizzly bear, which, having just eaten a
buffalo bull, had lain down to sleep off the meal. The bear rose on
his hind legs, and gave the intruder such a blow with his paw that he
laid his forehead entirely bare, clawed off the front of his scalp,
and narrowly missed one of his eyes. Fortunately he was not in a
very pugnacious mood, being surfeited with his late meal. The man's
companions, who were close behind, raised a shout and the bear walked
away, crushing down the willows in his leisurely retreat.
These men belonged to a party of Mormons, who, out of a well-grounded
fear of the other emigrants, had postponed leaving the settlements
until all the rest were gone. On account of this delay they did not
reach Fort Laramie until it was too late to continue their journey to
California. Hearing that there was good land at the head of the
Arkansas, they crossed over under the guidance of Richard, and were
now preparing to spend the winter at a spot about half a mile from
the Pueblo.
When we took leave of Richard, it was near sunset. Passing out of
the gate, we could look down the little valley of the Arkansas; a
beautiful scene, and doubly so to our eyes, so long accustomed to
deserts and mountains. Tall woods lined the river, with green
meadows on either hand; and high bluffs, quietly basking in the
sunlight, flanked the narrow valley. A Mexican on horseback was
driving a herd of cattle toward the gate, and our little white tent,
which the men had pitched under a large tree in the meadow, made a
very pleasing feature in the scene. When we reached it, we found
that Richard had sent a Mexican to bring us an abundant supply of
green corn and vegetables, and invite us to help ourselves to
whatever we wished from the fields around the Pueblo.
The inhabitants were in daily apprehensions of an inroad from more
formidable consumers than ourselves. Every year at the time when the
corn begins to ripen, the Arapahoes, to the number of several
thousands, come and encamp around the Pueblo. The handful of white
men, who are entirely at the mercy of this swarm of barbarians,
choose to make a merit of necessity; they come forward very
cordially, shake them by the hand, and intimate that the harvest is
entirely at their disposal. The Arapahoes take them at their word,
help themselves most liberally, and usually turn their horses into
the cornfields afterward. They have the foresight, however, to leave
enough of the crops untouched to serve as an inducement for planting
the fields again for their benefit in the next spring.
The human race in this part of the world is separated into three
divisions, arranged in the order of their merits; white men, Indians,
and Mexicans; to the latter of whom the honorable title of "whites"
is by no means conceded.
In spite of the warm sunset of that evening the next morning was a
dreary and cheerless one. It rained steadily, clouds resting upon
the very treetops. We crossed the river to visit the Mormon
settlement. As we passed through the water, several trappers on
horseback entered it from the other side. Their buckskin frocks were
soaked through by the rain, and clung fast to their limbs with a most
clammy and uncomfortable look. The water was trickling down their
faces, and dropping from the ends of their rifles, and from the traps
which each carried at the pommel of his saddle. Horses and all, they
had a most disconsolate and woebegone appearance, which we could not
help laughing at, forgetting how often we ourselves had been in a
similar plight.
After half an hour's riding we saw the white wagons of the Mormons
drawn up among the trees. Axes were sounding, trees were falling,
and log-huts going up along the edge of the woods and upon the
adjoining meadow.
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