Uncle Kit told them where we would camp the first night.  They got there before we did, and they had killed the fattest deer I ever saw and had killed a Cub Bear.  They were skinning them when we got to camp.  The deer was a spike buck and when he was skinned he was as white as a sheep from pure fat.  The reader may be sure we were not long in unpacking and getting ready for supper; every one was tired and hungry for we had not had any thing to eat since morning.  For my supper I roasted two of the cub’s feet, and I have never enjoyed a meal since that tasted better.  While we were eating Jim Bridger looked at me and said, “Will, you have the best of me tonight, but when we get to the Beaver grounds I’ll have a Beaver’s tail roasted for my supper and then I’ll be even with you.”

I never saw a band of men enjoy a meal more than those men did that night.  In this climate people have better appetites than any climate I have ever been.  I think the reason for this was the air was so pure and invigorating and it naturally required more food to sustain the body and keep it in good health, and at that time sickness was very rare in that part of the country.  It would seem unreasonable to tell how much meat a man ate at one meal, especially when out on a trip like this when he was out in the open air all the time, night as well as day.

The third day after leaving this camp we struck the South Platte river, and now we had another change of meat, which was mountain sheep.  This is in my opinion the best wild game that roams the forest.

We made an early camp that night and Uncle Kit said to Jim Bridger and me, “You two boys get the meat for supper and the rest of us will look after the horses.”  We picked up our guns and started up the river; we had not gone far when in looking up on a high bluff we saw a band of mountain sheep.  Jim said, “Now if we can reach that little canyon,” and he pointed to one just ahead of us, “without them fellows seeing us we will sure have something good for supper.”  This we succeeded in doing and then we crawled around until we were within fifty yards of our game.  We selected a couple of spring lambs and fired and brought them both down.  When the men at the camp heard the firing a couple of the men came running to help us bring our game to camp.  We soon had it dressed and ready for cooking, and it was good and every one of the men ate as if they enjoyed it as much as I did.  While we were eating supper Jim told us a story of his coming in contact with a panther that had just killed a sheep, and he said it was a miracle that it did not kill him.  He was coming down a bluff on a little trail and as good luck had it he had his gun in his hand.  The panther had the sheep behind a rock and as the panther sprang at him he fired and broke its neck.

“It was the luckiest shot I ever fired,” said he, “for if I had not had my gun all ready to fire he would have torn me to pieces before I could have helped myself.”