the Utahs and Crows; while the more dreaded names are Cheyenne, Kiowa, and Arapaho; the last in hostility to the whites equalling the noted Blackfeet farther north. In all cases, however, the amity of the prairie Indian is a friendship upon which slight faith can be placed; and the trapper--even in Crow or Utah land--is accustomed "to sleep with one eye open." In past times, Utahs have been more partial to the pale-faces than most other tribes of North Americans; and in their territory many of the celebrated trapper-stations, or "rendezvous," are situated. At times, mutual provocations have led to dire encounters; and then are the Utahs to be dreaded--more, perhaps, than any other Indians. In their association with their trapper allies, they have learnt how to handle--and with skill--that most formidable of weapons, for partisan warfare--the hunter's rifle. At the time of which I write, the Utahs were reported to be on good terms with the whites. The Mormons had done everything to conciliate them; and it was said that a single white man might traverse their territory with perfect safety. It was chiefly in the passes that led to the Utahs' country, that danger from Indians was to be apprehended--in the valleys and ravines above mentioned--where Cheyennes, Comanches, Pawnees, and Arapahoes were more likely to be met with than the Utahs themselves. We were not yet certain by which pass the caravan might cross the great Cordillera. From beyond the Big Timbers, three routes were open to it. First was the southern route through the Eaton mountains, which leads to Santa Fe, in New Mexico, and is known as the "Santa Fe trail." I did not anticipate their taking this one. It was not their design, on leaving Fort Smith, to pass by Santa Fe--else would they have kept up the Canadian, by the head of the Llano Estacado; and thence to California by the Gila. Another route parts from the Arkansas still higher up--by one of its affluents, the _Fontaine que bouit_. This is the "Cherokee trail," which, after running north along the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, crosses them by the Cheyenne Pass, and on through Bridger's Pass into the central valley of the Great Basin. Neither did I believe that the train would travel by this trail. The season of the year was against the supposition. In all probability, the central route of the three would be the one followed--leading from the Arkansas up the Huerfano river, and through "Robideau's Pass," or that of the "Sangre de Cristo." Either of these conducts into the valley of the Rio del Norte; thence by the famed "Coochetopa," or "gate of the buffaloes," on the head waters of the Western Colorado.