I answered, “Yes, sir; if this man can give me any clue to follow, I will find them in short order, for I have been all over those mountains and through the valley several times, and know the country well.”

He said, “Well, I thought you could fill the bill if any one could, Willie; and now go and have three horses saddled, and I will have some grub fixed up, and by that time the man will have finished eating and will be more fit to talk to you.”

My horses were soon ready, and I went in to see the man.  When I went into the room where he was, I found him lying on a cot, and after I had talked with him a few moments, I decided in my mind he had left his comrades not far from where the city of Trinidad now stands.  He gave me the description of nearly all the mountains and streams he had crossed on his way to the Fort after he had left his friends, and I thought if he had been correct in his description of his route I could find the suffering men without much difficulty.  When I went out to where the horses were waiting for me, I found Uncle Kit had packed about forty pounds of grub on one of the horses.  Col.  Bent handed me a pint flask of whiskey, saying, “Now, if these men are alive when you find them, give them a small quantity of this, but be very careful not to give them too much at a time, and the same care must be taken in giving them food.”

As I was starting, Uncle Kit said, “Now, Willie, if you are successful in finding the men, I hope to hear from you in two or three weeks.  Jim and I will leave here today for Taos, and you will find us there when you come home,” and he gave me his hand, and with a lingering pressure said, “Goodbye, and God speed you on your errand of mercy, my boy.”

And I mounted my horse and left the Fort, and was off on my long, lonely journey over trackless prairies and through mountain passes that had perhaps never been trodden by a white man beforehand.  No one can realize how lonely this journey was.  I did not think much about it myself until I made my camp the first night.  After I had staked out my horses and built a fire, I began to realize what a dreadful state the lost men must be in, for if I was so hungry, who had eaten a good meal at noon, what must they be suffering who had had nothing to eat in five days?  The thoughts of the suffering men whom I hoped to rescue from death kept me awake most of the night, and I fully decided that this was the last time I would try to sleep until I knew whether they were living or dead.  I was up with the dawn the next morning, and on the way, and I thought if I did not meet with any bad luck to detain me I would be in the vicinity of the men I sought by night.