in camp
for twenty-four hours with a view of giving them time to recruit.

The journey westward progressed without any special incident. A large
party of emigrants on their way to Oregon were several weeks in advance
of the explorers. Bad fortune seemed to have followed them from the
start, and numerous freshly made graves were seen. One of the emigrants
who had been peculiarly unfortunate, came into camp with a hunter on his
way home. He took charge of the letters which the explorers desired to
send to their families.

The party soon reached the Pawnee country where they were forced to
unusual vigilance, for those Indians have long been noted as most
persistent horse thieves. Game was abundant. Large flocks of wild
turkeys were found roosting in the trees along the streams; elk,
antelope and deer were plentiful, and as for bisons, they were beyond
all computation.

One day a member of the company happened to be riding at the rear
galloped up in hot haste, shouting, "Indians!" He declared that he had
seen them distinctly and counted twenty-seven. An immediate halt was
called, and Carson, leaping on one of the fleetest horses, crossed the
river and galloped over the prairie.

"Mounted on a fine horse without a saddle," says Fremont, "and scouring,
bareheaded, over the prairies, Kit was one of the finest pictures of
a horseman I have ever seen. He soon returned quite leisurely, and
informed them that the party of twenty-seven Indians had resolved itself
into a herd of six elk who, having discovered us, had scampered off at
full speed."

CHAPTER XIX.

On the Platte--A False Alarm--The Cheyennes--Fremont's Account of his
Buffalo Hunt--Division of the Party--Fremont's Journey up the South
Fork--The Band of Indians--Arrival at St. Vrain's Fort--The Journey to
Fort Laramie.

Fremont and his party, after traveling something over three hundred
miles from the mouth of the Kansas reached the Platte river, where they
encamped in a charming place near Grand Island. The country was most
beautiful, though they suffered somewhat from the violent storms which
frequently broke over them.

The noon halt was made and all were lounging about the camp, when one
of the men on guard called an alarm. Everybody sprang to his feet and
grasped his rifle, expecting an attack from Indians. A strange wild
looking company were seen approaching, but, as they came closer, they
were discovered to be white men. They were a striking si