At night, I encamped at the base of the mountains, upon the right hand fork of Soublet's creek, and the next day reached the Fort.
The last ten or twelve miles of the route (leading over an unbroken prairie) were travelled during a heavy fall of snow, which rendered the air so dark it was impossible to see a dozen yards in advance. But what added still more to the uncertainty of my course was the frequent variance of the wind, changing the position of the grass, and otherwise increasing the constant liability to misjudge. Notwithstanding these accumulated difficulties, I struck the Platte river only half a mile below the in tended point.
Chapter XXXIII.
The different trading companies had just arrived from the States, bringing their winter stock of goods, and, what was still more acceptable to me, a bundle of newspapers. Every item of intelligence contained in the latter was greedily devoured, but what afforded me no little amusement was the palpable falsity and ignorance their editors exhibited in relation to matters of this country.
For instance, in giving the particulars of the murder of Charvis, a Mexican trader, which occurred in March, 1843, the crime was represented as having been committed near the Little Arkansas, by a party of Texans on their way to join Col. Warfield, who was then encamped in that vicinity with forty men! whereas, at that time Col. Warfield had only nine men with him, and was at least three hundred miles from the Little Arkansas; and further, the murderers of Charvis were not Texans!
Subsequently, an article in another paper came under my observation referring to a statement made to the National Institute, by an officer of the
