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Show 496 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF object; they then frankly informed us where their village was ; we all repaired to it, and concluded terms of peace. Our approach greatly alarmed the village at first, for they knew that, in conjunction with the Apaches, tl:ey had been guilty of many depredations, although It l1ad been their policy to throw all the blame of the mischief upon their allies. Our mission performed, we returned to rraos. I remained some weeks inactive. Taos was convulsed with continual alarms from reports that Cortez was approaching against us with a great force. The ~roops were all away at Santa Fe; though, had he visIted us, we could !rave improvised a warm. reception. We had _a small_ piece ~f cannon, with plenty of grape and camster, w~th ~vhiCh we could" have swept the streets. . :V e tned Its effect one day, just to satisfy the ~unos.I~Y of the Mex~cans: we put in a heavy· charge of grape-sh~t, and discharged it down the street. The tawny Mexicans were wonder-stricken: they thought an army would stand but a poor chance before s_uch a volcanic belching of iron missiles. Poult~y in the vicinity of Taos became exceeding scarce: It was a rare matter to hear a cock crow When we _did by chance he~r the pleasing sound: we would hst~n for the repetition of it, in order to learn from winch direction it proceeded W ld h · · · e wou t en VISit. the tell-tale's quarters after dark, as we could_ obtain our poultry cheaper at night than in the d.ay-time. Orders. had been issued to take nothing from th~ enemy Without paying for it, which orders were evidently ?ased upon the assumption that we had money to pay With. 'Those without money did n~t feel themselves bound by the inJ·unction Th th .. tl · · . · e au onties lat Issue stmJlar commands in future would clo ·well ' • JAMES P. BECKWOURTH. 497 to insert some clause binding on the moneyless, otherwise these orders are all moonshine. Frorn Taos I proceeded to Santa Fe. I again started for the last time, to Fort Leavenworth; M'Intosh, ' . having safely returned from Chihuahua, again accom-panying me. When we ~rrived_ at the vVagon Mou~d we heard shots fired, and1mmed1ately after met a train of mule-teams approaching at their quickest pace. The drivers advised us to return, as they had been attacked by the Apaches, and if we proceeded we could _notescape being killed. I thought that my comp~nwn a~cl I knew the Indians better than the mule-dnvers d1d, and we bade them good-by and started on. We intended to avoid the Indians by making a circuit away from where w~ expected they would be, but in so doing we came directly upon the village. We staid all night with them, were well treated, and resumed o~r journey in the morning. We met a party of Amencans who had been attacked by the Camanches, and lost one horse, but we saw no more Indians until we reached the fort. Many times wonder has been expressed how I could always travel the road in safety while other men were attacked and killed. The only way in which I could account for the marvel was that I knew how to act the ''wolf," while the others did not. Of all the dispatch- . es I ever carried, I never lost one; while numbers who have undertaken to bear them lost, not alone the dispatches, but the:ir lives; for, whene~er they fell in ':"ith the Indians, they were sure to be krlled. The Indians knew perfectly well what my business was. They knew that I was conveying orders backward and forward from the . great white chief to his war chiefs in New Mexico. They would frequently ask me 'vhat |
