The third day about noon we reached the Cache-la-Poudre, where we
again ran on to the American Cannibal. We stopped here to let our
horses feed and to partake of some refreshments ourselves. Uncle
Kit, after giving Mountain Phil a lecture for his past conduct,
said:
"Phil, if ever you and I are out together in the mountains and run
short of provisions, I will shoot you down as I would a wolf,
before you get hungry."
Phil asked him why he would do so, and Carson replied: "Because I
wouldn't take the chances of being killed and eaten up by a
cannibal like you."
It might be well to give a brief description of this cannibal. He
was a large, raw-boned man, who would weigh about two hundred and
fifty pounds, though he was not very fleshy. He always wore his
hair long and never combed it, also wore his beard long and never
sheared or combed that. His hair grew down on his forehead almost
to his eyes. In fact he looked more like an animal than a human
being.
Three days' travel brought us to South Platte, where we crossed
the river and made camp on a little stream called Sand Creek. It
was our custom to stake our saddle horses out at night as near
camp as good grass could be found. The following morning Johnnie
West and myself had been out after the pack animals, and on our
return when within about a quarter of a mile from camp, we heard a
rumbling noise that sounded like a band of buffalo in a stampede.
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