Several Times In The Course Of The Journey My
Horse's Trail-Rope Was Bitten In Two By These Nocturnal Visitors.
CHAPTER XXVII
THE SETTLEMENTS
The next day was extremely hot, and we rode from morning till night
without seeing a tree or a bush or a drop of water. Our horses and
mules suffered much more than we, but as sunset approached they
pricked up their ears and mended their pace. Water was not far off.
When we came to the descent of the broad shallowy valley where it
lay, an unlooked-for sight awaited us. The stream glistened at the
bottom, and along its banks were pitched a multitude of tents, while
hundreds of cattle were feeding over the meadows. Bodies of troops,
both horse and foot, and long trains of wagons with men, women, and
children, were moving over the opposite ridge and descending the
broad declivity in front. These were the Mormon battalion in the
service of government, together with a considerable number of
Missouri volunteers. The Mormons were to be paid off in California,
and they were allowed to bring with them their families and property.
There was something very striking in the half-military, half-
patriarchal appearance of these armed fanatics, thus on their way
with their wives and children, to found, if might be, a Mormon empire
in California. We were much more astonished than pleased at the
sight before us. In order to find an unoccupied camping ground, we
were obliged to pass a quarter of a mile up the stream, and here we
were soon beset by a swarm of Mormons and Missourians. The United
States officer in command of the whole came also to visit us, and
remained some time at our camp.
In the morning the country was covered with mist. We were always
early risers, but before we were ready the voices of men driving in
the cattle sounded all around us. As we passed above their camp, we
saw through the obscurity that the tents were falling and the ranks
rapidly forming; and mingled with the cries of women and children,
the rolling of the Mormon drums and the clear blast of their trumpets
sounded through the mist.
From that time to the journey's end, we met almost every day long
trains of government wagons, laden with stores for the troops and
crawling at a snail's pace toward Santa Fe.
Tete Rouge had a mortal antipathy to danger, but on a foraging
expedition one evening, he achieved an adventure more perilous than
had yet befallen any man in the party. The night after we left the
Ridge-path we encamped close to the river. At sunset we saw a train
of wagons encamping on the trail about three miles off; and though we
saw them distinctly, our little cart, as it afterward proved,
entirely escaped their view. For some days Tete Rouge had been
longing eagerly after a dram of whisky. So, resolving to improve the
present opportunity, he mounted his horse James, slung his canteen
over his shoulder, and set forth in search of his favorite liquor.
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