his language easy and elegant. I inquired about
some beavers' paws which were drying, and in a moment they hung on the
horn of my saddle. Apropos of the wild animals of the region, he told
me that the loss of his eye was owing to a recent encounter with a
grizzly bear, which, after giving him a death hug, tearing him all
over, breaking his arm and scratching out his eye, had left him for
dead. As we rode away, for the sun was sinking, he said, courteously,
"You are not an American. I know from your voice that you are a
countrywoman of mine. I hope you will allow me the pleasure of calling
on you." [12]

[12] Of this unhappy man, who was shot nine months later within two
miles of his cabin, I write in the subsequent letters only as he
appeared to me. His life, without doubt, was deeply stained with
crimes and vices, and his reputation for ruffianism was a deserved one.
But in my intercourse with him I saw more of his nobler instincts than
of the darker parts of his character, which, unfortunately for himself
and others, showed itself in its worst colors at the time of his tragic
end. It was not until after I left Colorado, not indeed until after
his death, that I heard of the worst points of his character.

This man, known through the Territories and beyond them as "Rocky
Mountain Jim," or, more briefly, as "Mountain Jim," is one of the
famous scouts of the Plains, and is the original of some daring
portraits in fiction concerning Indian Frontier warfare. So far as I
have at present heard, he is a man for whom there is now no room, for
the time for blows and blood in this part of Colorado is past, and the
fame of many daring exploits is sullied by crimes which are not easily
forgiven here. He now has a "squatter's claim," but makes his living
as a trapper, and is a complete child of the mountains. Of his genius
and chivalry to women there does not appear to be any doubt; but he is
a desperate character, and is subject to "ugly fits," when people think
it best to avoid him. It is here regarded as an evil that he has
located himself at the mouth of the only entrance to the park, for he
is dangerous with his pistols, and it would be safer if he were not
here. His besetting sin is indicated in the verdict pronounced on him
by my host: "When he's sober Jim's a perfect gentleman; but when he's
had liquor he's the most awful ruffian in Colorado."

From the ridge on which this gulch terminates, at a height of 9,0