The Life and Adventures of Kit Carson, the Nestor of the Rocky Mountains, from Facts Narrated by HimselfPeters, De Witt C. (De Witt Clinton)
History
The Life and Adventures of Kit Carson, the Nestor of the Rocky Mountains, from Facts Narrated by Himself
Peters, De Witt C. (De Witt Clinton)
Carson Kit, 1809-1868; Frontier and pioneer life -- West (U.S.)
red men can make, appear very astonishing to one not accustomed to
them. The Apaches, as an Indian race, are not wanting in bravery, the
best evidence of which statement is, that nearly all their warriors
_die in battle_. Their country is the healthiest in America.
Besides waging war against the whites and Mexicans, they have their
differences to settle with their neighboring tribes, with whom they
are punctilious in vindicating their national honor. Colonel Beall
commenced his operations against these Indians by dispatching a junior
officer, backed by a strong force, with orders to pursue, overtake,
and chastise them. This expedition started; but, on coming to the
mountains, the guides reported that there was too much snow on them
for the command to pass through in safety; so the undertaking was
given up, and the men were marched back to Taos.
The most famous war chief of the Apaches, during these troubles,
was called by the Mexicans _Chico Velasques_, and his name, for many
years, was a terror to the surrounding country. His savage brutality
knew no bounds, and he was truly in his element, only when he was
tearing the bloody scalp from his half-lifeless victim. He was the
sworn enemy of the Americans and Mexicans, and his hunting-knife was
rarely clean of human blood, until his cruel life, by the wise decrees
of an all-seeing Providence, was suddenly cut short. He fought against
his disease (small pox) with that rashness that had been his ruling
spirit through life, and thus ingloriously terminated his days. The
pride of this man was to strut through the Mexican towns and gloat
over his many crimes. To the gazing crowd, he would point out the
trophies of his murders, which he never failed to have about him. To
his fringed leggins were attached the phalanges (or finger bones) of
those victims whom he had killed with his own hands. On the one side,
he proclaimed to his auditors, were the fingers of the Mexicans, while
on the other, were the same tokens from the Americans; and it gave him
great delight, ironically, to dwell upon the latter name. With whip
in hand, he struck out right and left when anything displeased him.
He met one day more than his match in the person of the famous Mexican
hunter, Armador Sanchez, of whom we have previously spoken. The
circumstances of this rencounter were as follows: The bold Indian,
with but few followers, was on a visit of pleasure to the Mexican
town of Culebro. He had agreed to a temporary peace, to suit his
convenience and ends; and, taking advantage of it, he made his
appearance in the settlements, to lord it over the peaceable
inhabitants. After indulging in a little fire-water, his wicked
propensities could be controlled no longer, and broke forth in minor
cruelties. At last he found himself in the house belonging to Sanchez,
who was quietly conversing with his aged father, for whom he had great
veneration, and also with his son. The Indian peremptorily demanded
that some whisky should be given him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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