The trappers, after waiting for their companions for some time, were compelled to enter upon their spring hunt without them.  They continued for some time setting their traps on the Yellowstone river, and then struck over to what is called the Twenty five yard river.  After spending a few weeks there, they pushed on to the upper waters of the Missouri, where those waters flow through the most rugged ravines of the Rocky mountains.  Here again they were in the vicinity of their Blackfeet foes.  And they learned, through some wanderer in the wilderness, that the main village of that tribe was at the distance of but a few miles from them.

In the previous collisions between the Blackfeet and the trappers, the Indians had gained decidedly the advantage.  They had at one time driven the trappers entirely out of their country, having stolen their traps, and effectually prevented them from taking furs.  In the conflict, in which Kit Carson was wounded, the Indians had retired, though with loss, still victorious, carrying with them all their booty of stolen horses.  Most humiliating of all, they had, without firing a shot, captured all the animals of the garrison and the trappers at Fort Hall.  And it was most probable that they had robbed and murdered the two men who had been sent to fort Laramie.

The trappers were all burning to avenge these wrongs.  The thievish Blackfeet had made these assaults upon them entirely unprovoked.  The savages were greatly elated with their victories, and it was deemed essential that they should be so thoroughly chastised, that they would no longer molest those who were hunting and trapping within those wild solitudes.  The whole party of trappers struck the trail which led to the Indian encampment, and cautiously followed it, until they were within ten or fifteen miles of their foes.

The company, numbering a hundred men, with one or two hundred horses and mules, presented a very imposing cavalcade.  A council of war was held, and Kit Carson, with five picked men was sent forward to reconnoitre the position of the village, and to decide upon the best points of attack.  The rest of the company retired to some little distance from the trail, where they concealed themselves, obliterating, as far as possible, their tracks.  It was deemed necessary to proceed with the utmost caution.  The Blackfeet composed one of the most numerous and ferocious of all the Indian tribes.  Their warriors were numbered by thousands.  It was certain that they would fight, and that a high degree of intelligence would guide them in the battle.

After the lapse of a few hours, Kit Carson returned from his perilous adventure.  He had attained an eminence from which he could look down upon the valleys of the foe, which was in one part of an extended plain in the midst of hills.  He reported that there was some great agitation in the camp.  There were runnings to and fro, driving in the animals from their pasturage, saddling and packing them, and sundry