This accident assisted in preventing this well known military man from inflicting such a blow on these savages, that they would have been long in recovering from it.  He had undoubtedly seen, soon after he had halted, that Kit Carson was right in recommending a charge; for, as quick as he recovered sufficiently from his injury to be able to speak, he commanded the men to make the attack, and leave him to himself.  Unfortunately, the time had passed to accomplish the desired effect when this order was given, for, on arriving among the lodges, the men found only one warrior.  He, as a matter of course, was slain.  The body of Mrs. White was also found in the camp.  Life was extinct, though her soul had but just flown to heaven.  There was still warmth in the corpse when the men first discovered it.  An arrow had pierced her breast.  Evidently she had been conscious that friends were near, and was trying to make her escape when the missile of death produced the fatal wound.

Much has been written and said about this sad affair, and much unjust calumny has been heaped upon the head of the leader of the expedition; therefore, the opinion of Kit Carson in reference to the matter may not be out of place; hence, we give it word for word.  “I am certain” says Kit Carson, “that if the Indians had been charged immediately on our arrival, Mrs. White would have been saved.  At first, the savages were much confused at our approach, and I do not hesitate to say that she saw us as quick as any one of the redskins did, for it undoubtedly was the all absorbing topic of her mind that her rescue would be attempted by her friends and countrymen.  On seeing us coming, she had attempted to run towards us, when she was shot down.  Had she been liberated, she could not have long survived the brutality, hardships and vicissitudes she had experienced.  Words cannot describe the bitter cup that she had been obliged to drink during her captivity.  It was the will of Providence that, having suffered like a martyr on earth, she should be taken to himself before we arrived to where her remains lay; upon coming upon which, we shed tears at thus being defeated in what had been our cherished hopes even had it cost some of us our own lives.”

By this language it can be readily seen that Kit Carson regretted the failure of this attempt made to rescue Mrs. White as deeply as any one, either in the expedition, or among her friends at the home from which she had so recently, in health and happiness, been torn.  “Yet I cannot,” says Kit Carson, “blame the commanding officer, or the other guide, for the action they took in the affair.  They evidently did as they thought best, but I have no doubt that they now can see, that if my advice had been taken, the life of Mrs. White might have been spared for at least a short period.”  This expedition was far from being a failure, for the Indians lost all their provisions, camp equipage and a few animals.  Many of these savages ran away leaving behind them everything they possessed in the world, except the scanty amount of clothing they had on.