Kit Carson; but, when the skill of the two men came to be tried in
the same cause, the palm was yielded to Kit Carson. Leroux has
guided several parties over new routes with meritorious success. His
knowledge of Indian character is nearly equal to that possessed by Kit
Carson, and he is endowed with a wonderful amount of forethought and
prudence; but, in an Indian fight, or on any great emergency, his
faculties appear to be less active, and his judgment less certain,
than those exhibited by the great Nestor of the Rocky Mountains. It
is a well well-understood maxim, that there are more or less
narrow-minded persons who are ready and eager to pull down any and
every rising man; and, for this purpose, such must choose a champion.
Kit Carson's association with Colonel Fremont had won him so great
renown, as a mountaineer and guide, that an opposition party was
formed to detract from his merits and capabilities. Leroux, owing to
his popularity, was chosen for the leader of this party, and whenever
the name of Kit Carson was mentioned, the friends of Leroux always
saw fit to compare the deeds of the two men together. This strife, of
course, could not be lasting, and now it is almost forgotten. It is
a just tribute of praise due to both of these brave men, to say
that they do not sanction, by word or deed, either party to the
controversy. They could but appreciate each other, and, as friends,
ever felt elated, the one at the success of the other, and _vice
versâ_. They mutually considered that every fresh laurel of glory
added a measure-full of honor and renown to their common brotherhood
of mountaineers, among whom the good reputation of their cloth was as
dear as it was among the knights attached to the orders of chivalry.
Their ranches are located in the same valley, and in the same
town; where, having lived together as fast friends in life, in all
probability they will find their last resting-places in the same
graveyard. Few men can say aught against the character of Watkins