Chief of Scouts | Page 6

of the
wigwam and made a peculiar noise between a whistle and a hollo, and
in a few minutes there were hundreds of Indians there, both bucks and
squaws.
The old chief made a little talk to them that I did not understand; he
then turned to Carson and said, "Indian heap like white man."
Carson then spoke out loud so they could all hear him, at the same time
holding up some jewelry in one hand and a butcher knife in the other,
telling them that he wanted to trade these things for their furs.
The Indians answered, it seemed to me by the hundreds, saying, "Iyah
oyah iyah," which means "All right." Carson then told them to bring
their furs over to his camp the next morning, and he would then trade
with them. He was speaking in Spanish all this time. On our way back
to our camp Carson said to me, "Now Willie, if I trade for those furs in
the morning I want you and the other two boys to take the furs and go
back to Taos; I know that you will have a long and lonesome trip, but I
will try and get three or four of these Indians to go with you back to the
head of the Blue, and be very careful, and when you make a camp

always put out all of your fire as soon as you get your meal cooked.
Then the Indians can not see your camp."
The next morning we were up and had an early breakfast. By that time
the squaws had commenced coming in with their furs. Uncle Kit took a
pack of jewelry and knives and got off to one side where the Indians
could get all around him. In a very short time I think there must have
been a hundred squaws there with their furs.
They brought from one to a dozen Beaver skins each, and then the
Bucks began coming in and then the trading began. Carson would hold
up a finger ring or a knife and call out in Spanish, "I'll give this for so
many Beaver skins!"
It really was amusing to see the Indians run over each other to see who
should get the ring or knife first.
This trading did not last over half an hour because Carson's stock of
goods was exhausted. Carson then said to the Indians, "No more trade
no more knives, no more rings, all gone."
Of course a great many of the Indians were disappointed, but they soon
left us. As soon as they were gone Freemont came to Carson and said,
"What in the name of common sense are you going to do with all those
furs?"
Uncle Kit said, "Col., I'm going to send them to Taos, and later on they
will go to Bent's Fort." The Col. said, "Yes, but by whom will you send
them to Taos?" Carson replied, "By Willie, John and the Mexican boy."
The Col. said, "Don't you think you are taking a great many chances?"
"Oh, no, not at all. Willie here is getting to be quite a mountaineer.
Besides, I am going to get some of these Indians to go with the boys as
far as the head of the Blue, and when they get there they are,
comparatively speaking, out of danger."
He then said, "Colonel, we will lay over here today, and that will give
me a chance to pack my furs and get the boys ready to start in the

morning."
We then went to work baling the hides; by noon we had them all baled.
After dinner Carson and I went over to the Indian camp. We went
directly to the Chief's wigwam. When the Indians saw us coming they
all rushed up to us. I presume they thought we had come to trade with
them again. Uncle Kit then told the Chief that he wanted eight Indian
men to go with us boys to the head of the Blue River. At the same time
he sat down and marked on the ground each stream and mountain that
he wanted us to travel over. He told them that he would give each one
of them one butcher knife and two rings, and said they must not camp
with the Utes.
I think there were at least twenty Indians that wanted to go. Carson then
turned to the Chief and told him in Spanish to pick out eight good
Indians to go with us, and told him just what time we wanted to start in
the morning. We then went back to our camp and commenced making
arrangements for our journey to Taos.
Carson and I were sitting down talking that afternoon when Col.
Freemont came and sat beside us and