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Inspired by stories of John Fremont's tour of the Rocky Mountains
Lewis Garard bid farewell to his parents
and left his Cincinnati home to seek adventure in the West.
In July in 1846, with letters, cash, a pocket bible, rifle
a few calico shirts, he stared for St. Louis, the "gateway to the West".
He was 17 years old.
Taking notes and recording what he witnessed,
Garrard wrote a book about his adventures that was published in 1850.
It remains a classic of American literature.
An accurate account of life
in the Southwest in 1846 and 1847 as he saw it.
Young Lewis first appeared at Bent's Fort after 50 days on the trail.
Like others, he would come and go several times in the coarse
of his employment with the Bent and St. Vrain Company.
And on each return, he would write about the fort's hospitality
and the transition from harsh trail life to the brief enjoyment
of refinements available at the at this island of civilized comfort.
Lewis wrote, "we sat down at a table for the first time
in 50 days and ate with knives, forks, and plates."
Lewis was assigned to accompany trader John Smith
on his trading excursions to the Cheyenne camps.
Traveling with Smith, Lewis was exposed to the life
of a trader and its hardships.
Lewis wrote, "We felt with our feet on the river's edge for pieces of wood
and with numbed fingers, knocked the snow from them."
And he also experienced its pleasures.
Lewis - "It is strange how self-satisfied on is when safely encamped.
Acknowledging the grateful warmth, coals, chatting as unconcernedly
as if surrounded by luxuries."
Lewis spent considerable time in the Cheyenne camps
and left an excellent record of what he observed:
How trade was conducted, his kind treatment, life in the camps,
and his attraction to a young Cheyenne woman named Smiling Moon.
To replace the wornout pants he had worn for many months,
the Cheyenne woman presented to him his first pair of buckskin pants.
On his return to the fort after a particularly grueling day of travel,
Lewis took full advantage of what the fort had to offer.
"Only when Paint was turn in the corral of the fort to chew on dry hay
and myself with numbed fingers gradually thawing tin the long low dining room,
drinking hot coffee and listening to Charlotte, the glibbed tongue,
sable fort cook retailing her stock of news and surmises,
did I feel entirely free to throw off care.
Shortly following I sat by the bright lit fire in the clerk's office
puffing a Mexican shucked cigarillo until dinner,
tobacco and great change from cold to warmth threw me into a doze."
Lewis also gives us one of the better descriptions of the fort.
"I rose early in the monrning and going on top of the fort
had a good view of the Spanish Peaks to the Northwest,
apparently 15 miles in distance - in reality 120.
There was a billiard table and a small house on top of the fort.
where the bourgeoise and visitors amuse themselves."
Man at bar--"Terrible job"
Lewis writes: "In the clerk's office was a first rate spy glass with which I viewed
the caballada comng from the grazing ground
seven miles up the river.
In the belfry 2 eagles of the American bald species looked from their prison.
One evening they were let loose, one escaped unharmed, the other
flew a short distance and a Cheyenne shot and killed him for the feathers.
During a fandango at the fort, Lewis gave us a look at the unique status
held by the Bent's black slave cook, Charlotte.
During these boisterous dances, the variety of the fort's inhabitants
Indians, trappers, hunters, craftsmen, slaves, and others
would convene in the dining room.
"Nightly, Charlotte was led to the dance floor.
She acted her part to perfection, the grand center of attraction,
the "belle of the evening."
---- Music playing and singing -----
It was a most complete democratic demonstration."
Lewis was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time
to witness some important historical events.
He was with William Bent when he received the news that his brother,
the govenor of the New Mexico territory was killed during an uprising in Taos.
He was also an eye witness to a trial and execution of the revolt's leaders.
and his writings remain the only primary account
He clearly stated his objections to the precedings and the cruelty
of the punishments handed down.
Lewis' book, "Wah-to-Yah and the Taos Trail" opened a literary window
for a look back through time and by using our imagination we can see
some of the characters and scenes he encountered.
He suffered hardships, witnessed cruelty and kindness and experienced
the wonderment of life in th wilds of the Southwest.
---- Music and song ---