Before he left us in the morning, I said, “Now Capt., there is a part of the route between here and Santa Fe which I am not familiar with, and as the country is strange to the wagon master also, can you tell me about the water and also tell me how many days it will take the train to reach Santa Fe from this place?” The Capt. answered, “As for water and grass, you will find a plenty all along the way; there is not more than four or five miles from one stream to another, and for the time it will take to reach Santa Fe, I figure that it will take fourteen days if everything moves as smoothly in the future as it has done the last few days, and now, Mr. Drannan, have you any word you would like to send to Bent’s Fort to Mr. Bent or Roubidoux?  I intend to go back that way, and I will take any message to anyone there that you would like to send.”

I said, “Tell Mr. Bent and Mr. Roubidoux that I will be at Bent’s Fort as soon as I finish this job and can get there, and that if they want me to go and trade with the Comanches, I have everything cut and dried for business, for I have visited all the main villages on this trip, and the Indians are expecting to see me back in four months to trade with them.”

The men all mounted now, and we shook hands and bid each other good bye, and the Capt. and forty-seven others struck out back across the Arkansas river for Santa Fe by the way of Bent’s Fort, while the train kept on up the old Santa Fe trail by the picket-wire route.

From this place I had a jolly time all the way to Santa Fe; we were in a wild country where game was plentiful, such as Deer, Antelope, and black Bear, and after the first day’s travel there was never a night on the trip but I had fresh meat for supper.

I traveled along with the train until the middle of the afternoon.  Then I always asked the wagon boss what kind of meat he wanted for supper.  Sometimes he would say Antelope, and at other times he said he would like a piece of black tail Deer, and I invariably got what he mentioned.

We got up into the foot hills where Trinidad, Colorado now stands.  The wagon boss and I were riding along together one afternoon.  I looked at my watch and saw that it was about time to be looking for some meat for supper.  I asked him in a joking way what he would like best for supper if he could get it.  He replied that he would like a Cub Bear for a roast tonight.  Up to this time I had not seen a bear, although I had seen some signs of them, and I had no more idea of killing a bear that evening than I had of flying when I started out to get something for supper.

I struck out on a low ridge that ran almost parallel with the trail.  I had gone but a short distance when I came on a patch of huckleberries, and they certainly looked as if they might be delicious.  They were the first I had seen that year.  I jumped off my horse and went to picking and eating as fast as I could.  In a few minutes my horse gave a little snort.  When I turned to see what was the matter, I saw that something had frightened him.  I went to him at once, and not over fifty yards from him was an old she bear, and she had two cubs with her, and I thought they, like myself, were so taken with eating berries that they had not noticed the horse or me either.