NTS.

CHAPTER I.

Early Training.

Birth of Christopher Carson.--Perils of the Wilderness.--Necessary
Cautions.--Romance of the Forest.--The Far West.--The
Encampment.--The Cabin and the Fort.--Kit an Apprentice.--The
Alarm.--Destruction of a Trading Band.--The Battle and the
Flight.--Sufferings of the Fugitives.--Dreadful Fate of Mr.
Schenck.--Features of the Western Wilderness.--The March.

CHAPTER II.

Life in the Wilderness.

A Surgical Operation.--A Winter with Kin Cade.--Study of the
Languages and Geography.--Return towards Missouri.--Engagement with
a new Company and Strange Adventures.--The Rattlesnake.--Anecdote
of Kit Carson.--The Sahara.--New Engagements.--Trip to El
Paso.--Trapping and Hunting.--Prairie Scenery.--The Trapper's
Outfit.--Night Encampment.--Testimony of an Amateur Hunter.

CHAPTER III.

Among the Trappers.

The Discomfited Trappers.--The New Party Organized.--A Battle with
the Indians.--Trapping on the Colorado.--March to the
Sacramento.--The Friendly Indians.--Crossing the Desert.--Instinct
of the Mule.--The Enchanting Valley of the Colorado.--The Mission
of San Gabriel.--Vast Herds of Cattle.--The Mission of San
Fernando.--Adventures in the Valley of San Joaquin.--The Meeting of
two Trapping Bands.--Reasons for Kit Carson's Celebrity.--A
Military Expedition.--The Indian Horse Thieves.--The Pursuit and
Capture.

CHAPTER IV.

Conflicts with the Indians.

The American Trapper.--The Trapper of the Hudson's Bay
Company.--The Return Trip.--Polished Life in the Wilderness.--The
Spanish Gentlemen.--Council of the Trappers.--Self-possession of
Kit Carson.--The Camp Cleared of Intruders.--Robbing the
Robbers.--Sale of the Furs.--Mr. Fitzpatrick's Expedition.--Pains
and Pleasures of Rocky Mountain Life.--Pursuit of Indian Horse
Thieves.--Extraordinary Battle.

CHAPTER V.

Marches and Encampments.

The Encampment Among the Rocky Mountains.--The Attempted
Stampede.--Retreat and Pursuit by the Savages.--The Alarm.--Loss
of the Horses.--Their Recovery.--Enterprise of Kit Carson.--Fight
with the Indians.--The Litter for the Wounded.--Union of the two
Trapping Parties.--Successful Return to Taos.--Carson joins a
Trading Party.--Chivalric Adventures.--Attacked by Bears.

CHAPTER VI.

The Rendezvous.

Fair in the Wilderness.--The Encampment.--Dispersion of the
Trappers.--Hostility o