ey no
longer had poorly clad and poorly armed Mexican soldiers to deal with.

On arriving again in Taos, Kit Carson returned to his home to ruminate
over what was best for him to take up as a business for the future.
He revolved in his thoughts his past career, and, in the end, finished
the mental study by resolving to give up his roaming life, as he
rightly considered that now was the time, if ever, that he should be
making a substantial home for himself and family, before old age crept
upon and disabled him from the undertaking. About the time that he was
in this frame of mind, his old mountaineer friend, Maxwell, was about
going to a pretty little valley called by the Mexicans _Rayado_.
Maxwell proposed to Kit Carson to join him in the enterprise of
building a ranche on the site which he had selected. This offer the
latter gladly accepted. Rayado would have, long before, been settled
by the Mexicans, had they not been deterred by its exposure, and
consequent inviting position for Indian depredations. The valley is
about fifty miles east from Taos; and, for its scenery, cannot be
surpassed by anything of the kind in America. Standing at the head
of it on a blunt bluff, you look down and out on the prairies, and
nothing can be more enchanting than the view that is thus presented.
On each side there are lofty hills, which, when green with grass and
foliage, add a magic beauty to the scene. Through the valley, as if it
had been intended for its dividing line, runs a broad mountain stream,
the banks of which are now metamorphosed into beautiful fields.

We stop here to undeceive the reading public concerning an idea which
has gained currency by the extraordinary imaginative writings of
novelists. These trashy fictions represent the western plains,
or prairies, as flower-beds. In this a great mistake has become
prevalent. A traveler often pursues his way over them for many days
without seeing anything to interrupt the continuity of green grass
except it be the beautiful road over which he is journeying. Near the
slopes of the mountains and on the river banks the remark will
apply. There, fields of wild flowers are often found growing in great
luxuriance.

The settlement was soon after commenced by Kit Carson and Maxwell,
and, as now completed, is really a beautiful spot. It is located about
midway down the valley. Among its several houses, there are two which
are more conspicuous than the rest. In the finest of these tw