Kit Carson saw at a glance, that his favorite occupation was gone; that he and the other trappers would be compelled to seek some other employment.  In company with five men of a decidedly higher order than the common run of trappers, he struck for the head waters of Arkansas river.  Following this stream down along the immense defile which nature seems to have opened for it through the Rocky mountains, they approached Fort Bent, which is about one hundred and fifty miles east of that gigantic barrier.

Mr. Carson’s companions on this trip, were some of them at least, very peculiar characters,—­very interesting specimens of the kind of men who are drawn from the haunts of civilization to the wilderness.  One was a man, probably partially insane, who was known through all the Rocky mountain region as “old Bill Williams.”  He had been a Methodist preacher in Missouri.  For some unknown reason he left the States and joined the Indians, adopting their dress and manners.  He was very familiar with the Bible and had marvellous skill in the acquisition of languages.  He would spend but a short time with any tribe before he became quite familiar with their speech.  Though his conduct was often in strange contrast with the teachings of that sacred book, he took much pleasure in telling the Indians Bible stories.  He was subsequently killed in some feud with the savages.

Another of his companions, whose real or assumed name was Mitchel, had abandoned his friends and joined the Comanche Indians.  It is a much easier step from the civilized man to the savage than from the savage to the civilized.  Mitchel, with his Indian costume, his plumed head-gear, his Indian weapons, and his fluent Indian speech, could not be distinguished from the savages around him.  The Comanches adopted him into their tribe and accepted him as one of the most prominent of their braves.  Mitchel said that his object was to discover a gold mine through their guidance, which they reported was to be found amid the mountains of Northern Texas.  Disappointed in this endeavor, he joined the trappers and was cordially welcomed by them as an experienced mountaineer, a man full of humor and one who could tell a capital story.

When Kit Carson and his companions had arrived within a few days’ journey of the fort, Mitchel and a man by the name of New, contrary to the advice of Carson, decided to remain behind, to enjoy themselves in a beautiful country where they found abundance of game.  A week after the safe arrival of Mr. Carson and his party, these two men made their appearance in a truly pitiable plight.  They had encountered a party of Indian hunters who, while sparing their lives, had robbed them of their arms, their ammunition and even of every particle of their clothing.  Of course they were kindly received at the fort and all their wants supplied.