“Going ahead with Carson, to reconnoitre the road, we reached, this afternoon, the river which made the outlet of the lake.  Carson sprang over, clear across a place where the stream was compressed among the rocks.  But the sole of my moccasin glanced from the icy rock, and precipitated me into the river.  It was some few seconds before I could recover myself in the current, and Carson thinking me hurt, jumped in after me, and we both had an icy bath.  We tried to search a while for my gun, which had been lost in the fall, but the cold drove us out.  Making a large fire on the bank, after we had partially dried ourselves, we went back to meet the camp.  We afterwards found that the gun had been slung under the ice which lined the shores of the creek.”

Upon reaching the southern declivity of the mountains, Fremont and Carson, with six others, pushed ahead to Fort Sutter where, it will be remembered, the gold of California was first discovered.  The whole party reached the fort on the sixth of March, 1844.  These extraordinary men, in the depths of winter, had travelled from Fort Hall about two thousand miles.  They remained at the Fort recruiting but a fortnight.  A braver enterprise history does not record.  Its successful accomplishment sent the name of John C. Fremont, its leader, on the wings of fame, throughout the civilized world.  We have no space to record the vastly important results accomplished by this exploration.

Upon leaving the fort, on their return towards the States, they met a Mexican and a little boy, who were in great destitution and grief.  They had been left with a band of six, among whom were the boy’s father and mother, to watch their animals grazing in a fertile meadow.  They were suddenly attacked by a party of thirty Indians, who either captured or killed all of the party except the man and the boy, who fortunately escaped.  The Indians fled with their booty.  The poor boy was overwhelmed with grief.  He had every reason to fear that both of his parents were dead.

Kit Carson’s heart was touched.  He proposed to Richard Godoy, an experienced and noble-hearted mountaineer, that they two should pursue the thirty Indian warriors, rescue the captives, and regain the animals.  They soon struck the Indian trail and followed it nearly all the night.  The Indians, not apprehensive of pursuit, were travelling leisurely.  Towards morning, Carson and his companion halted for an hour or two, to allow their horses to graze and to get a little sleep.  At daybreak they were again in the saddle, and just at sunrise discovered the Indians in a snug little valley, feasting luxuriously upon horse-steaks.  They had already killed five of the stolen animals.

These two men immediately charged, with a loud shout, upon the thirty warriors.  The savages were taken utterly by surprise, and thrown into a panic.  Carson’s practiced eye selected the chief, who instantly fell pierced through the heart by a bullet from Carson’s rifle.  Godoy missed his aim, but instantly reloading, another warrior dropped in his blood.  The Indians, not doubting that the two were but the advance party of a strong force, fled with precipitation, abandoning everything.  Deliberately Carson collected the horses, counted them and found that they had them all, excepting the five the thieves had killed.