So, having been discovered by General Coronado and his army with their brilliant cavalcade and martial music; by the two black-robed Friars with their noiseless followers; by Lieutenant Pike and his loyal band; by Major Long and his associates; and last, by General Fremont with his five exploring parties; while the tidal wave of travel and excitement is sweeping by us to its destiny on the sunny western slope, and we are left in solitude, awaiting the bright awakening ten years hence; let us take an introspective view of the people whose history is forever interwoven with ours, whose race is nearly run, while ours is just begun. [Illustration: Ventura, Historian of the Tribe of Taos Indians, Garbed in His White Buffalo Robe--Made White by Tanning. Indian History was Transmitted Orally to the Youth, the Brightest of Whom Became in Turn the Historian.] CHAPTER X. OPPORTUNITY. "Master of human destinies am I, Fame, love and fortune on my footsteps wait, Cities and fields I walk; I penetrate Deserts and seas remote, and, passing by Hovel, and mart, and palace, soon or late I knock unbidden once at every gate! If sleeping, wake--if feasting, rise before I turn away. It is the hour of fate And they who follow me reach every state Mortals desire, and conquer every foe Save death; but those who doubt or hesitate, Condemned to failure, penury and woe, Seek me in vain and uselessly implore-- I answer not, and I return no more." --_Ingalls._ _A Fortune Won and Lost._