"Go, wondrous creature! mount where science guides;
Go, measure earth, weigh air, and state the tides."

Kit Carson remained some time in Washington; but had it not been for
the many tokens of kindness which he there received, he would
have grown weary of the restraints of civilization. As it was, he
continually longed to be once more in the mountains and prairies. His
desire, in time, was granted; for, having received the appointment of
lieutenant in the rifle corps of the United States army from President
Polk, he was ordered, as bearer of dispatches, to return across the
continent from whence he had but recently come. Lieutenant Beale
had intended to return with him, but did not eventually proceed any
further than St. Louis. There he became too ill to continue on the
journey. After arriving at Fort Leavenworth, Kit Carson was furnished
with an escort of fifty men, who were volunteers in the war which was
then being carried on against Mexico. With his usual promptness
and dispatch, Kit Carson was soon under way crossing the plains. At
Leavenworth he had learned that the Camanche Indians were at war with
the whites. As he knew them to be a numerous and treacherous tribe,
he had taken this strong escort in order to give them battle, if they
should be anxious for it. However, he arrived at a place called the
"Point of Rocks," which is not far from the Rocky Mountains, and on
their east side, without discovering any signs of these Indians. At
this place they made their appearance.

The "Point of Rocks" appears to be a favorite place of resort for
the Indians of the plains. It is notorious as being one of the most
dangerous places for the traveler in all the far West. It is a series
of continuous hills, which project out on the prairies in bold relief.
They end abruptly in a mass of rocks, out of which gushes a cold and