had been recently guilty of. The next day Kit Carson reached
Taos, where he allowed himself a short respite for the purpose of
recruiting, and also to have the pleasure of a visit to his family
and friends. These were privileges which, during his life in the
mountains, had been seldom granted to him, though his feelings of
attachment for relatives and intimate acquaintances are not exceeded
by those of any living man. Indeed, his love for his children is
unbounded. We have several times heard him assert, that if there was
any one thing that could make him a coward, it would be the thoughts
of his little ones. When his party was sufficiently recruited, Kit
Carson left Taos and proceeded to Santa Fé. At this time Colonel
Newby, of the Illinois Volunteers, was in command of the United States
forces stationed there. This gentleman informed Kit Carson that his
appointment as lieutenant, made by President Polk, was not confirmed
by the United States Senate. Many of Kit's friends, on hearing this,
came to him and advised him not to carry the dispatches any further;
but, instead, they counseled him to deliver them to the commanding
officer of the post he was at, advising him that he was doing duty as
an officer in the army and yet was not recognized by government. The
language used by Kit Carson on this occasion, in reply to his friends,
is so much to his credit and is so like the man, that every American
citizen ought to know it. It was as follows: "I was intrusted with
these dispatches, having been chosen in California, from whence I
come, as the most competent person to take them through safely. I
would try to fulfill this duty even if I knew it would cost me my
life. It matters not to me, while I am performing this service for my
country, whether I hold the rank of a lieutenant in the United States
army, or am known merely as an experienced mountaineer. I have gained
some little honor and credit for the manner in which I have always
conducted myself when detailed on any special and important business,