Young Carson was at this time a very handsome young man of twenty-one years.  He had obtained a high reputation, and his pockets were full of money, with which he scarcely knew what to do.  It is said that, for a time, he was led astray by the convivial temptations with which he was surrounded.  To what length he went we cannot ascertain.  There is no available information upon this point.  Perhaps the whole story is but one of those slanders to which all men are exposed.  One of his annalists writes: 

“Young Kit, at this period of his life, imitated the example set by his elders, for he wished to be considered by them as an equal and a friend.  He however passed through this terrible ordeal, which most frequently ruins its votary, and eventually came out brighter, clearer and more noble for the conscience polish which he received.  He contracted no bad habits, but learned the usefulness and happiness of resisting temptation; and became so well schooled that he was able, by the caution and advice of wisdom founded on experience, to prevent many a promising and skilful hand from grasping ruin in the same vortex.”

In the fall of this year Kit joined another trapping expedition.  Its destination was to the innumerable streams and valleys among the Rocky mountains.  Mr. Fitzpatrick, a man of good reputation and a veteran trapper, had charge of the party.  Crossing a pass of the Rocky mountains, they pursued their route in a direction nearly north, a distance of about three hundred miles, till they reached the head waters of the Platte river.  They were now on the eastern side of those gigantic ranges which form the central portion of the North American Continent.

Here, in the midst of the mountains, the winter was inclement, with piercing blasts and deep snows.  Still the trappers, warmly clad, vigorously pursued both hunting and trapping, availing themselves of every pleasant day.  In inclement weather they gathered joyously around their ample camp-fires, finding ever enough to do in cooking, dressing their skins, repairing garments, making moccasins, and in keeping their guns and knives in order.  Some of these valleys were found sheltered and sunny.  Even in mid-winter there were days of genial warmth.  They occasionally changed their camp and trapped along the banks of the Green, the Bear and the Salmon rivers.

During the winter one sad incident occurred.  Four of the trappers who were out in pursuit of game, were surrounded and overpowered by a numerous party of Blackfeet Indians, and all were killed.  There were buffaloes in abundance in that region, and these animals found ample forage, as they had the range of hundreds of miles, and instinct guided them to sheltered and verdant glens.  But in some of the narrow, wind-swept valleys the animals of the trappers suffered from exposure and want of food.  They were kept alive by cutting down cottonwood trees and gathering the bark and branches for fodder.  But the trappers themselves, having abundance of game, fared sumptuously.