Another time Carson with a large band of the men who once had trapped with him returned to the scenes of their early experiences. Again the men were trapping the beaver, and their success amazed even themselves. Many of the trappers had become so possessed with the desire to find gold that they had neglected or forgotten the wealth to be won by trapping. As a consequence the success of Kit Carson’s band was marvellous, and when they returned they felt more than repaid for their labours. It was on this expedition that Kit Carson lassoed a huge grizzly bear. The lasso, however, was not sufficiently strong to tame the savage beast, and at last the men, for the sake of their own safety, killed the grizzly. The following day, which was the Fourth of July, there was a great feast in which bear-steak was one of the chief articles of food. It was not long before the war between the States broke out. And again Kit Carson found that it was impossible for him to remain quietly in his home on the ranch near Taos. In response to the call of the men who knew and loved him he consented to serve as the colonel of a regiment which was raised in New Mexico. In the campaign which followed there is a quaint statement that perhaps the most striking service rendered by the brave colonel was when his regiment one time was ordered to attack the Navajo Indians, who had thought the time was fitting for them to rebel against the white men. It is related that with a few of his chosen men Colonel Kit departed from his camp early one morning and attacked and scattered the warring Indians and then returned to the camp before the soldiers who had been left there under the command of the lieutenant-colonel were aware that there was any fighting to be done. There are some who believe that the best work Kit Carson ever did was later, when he became an Indian agent. His knowledge of the Indians and his understanding of their character enabled him to deal with them as few white men could have done. There were times when alone he entered the councils of the tribes when they were planning war and by his quiet and earnest appeals he induced them to abandon their warlike plans. But even his efforts were unavailing at times and with certain of the more blood-thirsty Indians. His activity and knowledge, however, were felt most when there were uprisings that sometimes were terrible in their effects upon the scattered settlers. Even to the last of his life he insisted upon occasional vacations. At such times he would return with some of his chosen friends to his old occupations and the places which had known him when he was only a boy scout.