Page:Thirty-One Years on the Plains and in the Mountains.djvu/319

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OFF TRAPPING.
245

The next morning when I rode off, and different ones were waving me adieu, Mrs. Elliott told me to be sure and pay them a visit when I came to the city.


CHAPTER XVIII.


TRAPPING ON THE GILA.—THE PIMAS IMPART A SECRET.—RESCUE OF A WHITE GIRL.—A YOUNG INDIAN AGENT.—VISIT TO TAOS.—UNCLE KIT FAILS TO RECOGNIZE ME

The same day that I left the Fort, Jim Beckwith came down to the boat bringing my horses, twelve in number, and after buying our outfit for camping, provisions, and so on, we bought quite a lot of beads, blankets, cheap rings and such goods as we could trade to the Indians for furs.

The following day we pulled for the trapping region, by way of the old San Jose mission, and from there to the old mission of San Gabriel, thence across the Mojave desert. From there we struck out for the mouth of the Gila river, and crossed just where it empties into the Colorado. We then traveled up what is known as Salt