But I am anticipating.  When, before leaving the settlement we had made inquiries concerning this part of the country of General Kearny, Mr. Mackenzie, Captain Wyeth, and others well acquainted with it, they had all advised us by no means to attempt this southward journey with fewer than fifteen or twenty men.  The danger consists in the chance of encountering Indian war parties.  Sometimes throughout the whole length of the journey (a distance of 350 miles) one does not meet a single human being; frequently, however, the route is beset by Arapahoes and other unfriendly tribes; in which case the scalp of the adventurer is in imminent peril.  As to the escort of fifteen or twenty men, such a force of whites could at that time scarcely be collected by the whole country; and had the case been otherwise, the expense of securing them, together with the necessary number of horses, would have been extremely heavy.  We had resolved, however, upon pursuing this southward course.  There were, indeed, two other routes from Fort Laramie; but both of these were less interesting, and neither was free from danger.  Being unable therefore to procure the fifteen or twenty men recommended, we determined to set out with those we had already in our employ, Henry Chatillon, Delorier, and Raymond.  The men themselves made no objection, nor would they have made any had the journey been more dangerous; for Henry was without fear, and the other two without thought.

Shaw and I were much better fitted for this mode of traveling than we had been on betaking ourselves to the prairies for the first time a few months before.  The daily routine had ceased to be a novelty.  All the details of the journey and the camp had become familiar to us.  We had seen life under a new aspect; the human biped had been reduced to his primitive condition.  We had lived without law to protect, a roof to shelter, or garment of cloth to cover us.  One of us at least had been without bread, and without salt to season his food.  Our idea of what is indispensable to human existence and enjoyment had been wonderfully curtailed, and a horse, a rifle, and a knife seemed to make up the whole of life’s necessaries.  For these once obtained, together with the skill to use them, all else that is essential would follow in their train, and a host of luxuries besides.  One other lesson our short prairie experience had taught us; that of profound contentment in the present, and utter contempt for what the future might bring forth.

These principles established, we prepared to leave Fort Laramie.  On the fourth day of August, early in the afternoon, we bade a final adieu to its hospitable gateway.  Again Shaw and I were riding side by side on the prairie.  For the first fifty miles we had companions with us; Troche, a little trapper, and Rouville, a nondescript in the employ of the Fur Company, who were going to join the trader Bisonette at his encampment near the head of Horse Creek.