They beheld
volcanic plains stretching around them, and ranges of mountains piled
up to the clouds, and glistening with eternal frost: but knew nothing
of their defiles, nor how they were to be penetrated or traversed. They
launched themselves in frail canoes on rivers, without knowing whither
their swift currents would carry them, or what rocks and shoals and
rapids they might encounter in their course. They had to be continually
on the alert, too, against the mountain tribes, who beset every
defile, laid ambuscades in their path, or attacked them in their night
encampments; so that, of the hardy bands of trappers that first entered
into these regions, three-fifths are said to have fallen by the hands of
savage foes.
In this wild and warlike school a number of leaders have sprung up,
originally in the employ, subsequently partners of Ashley; among these
we may mention Smith, Fitzpatrick, Bridger, Robert Campbell, and William
Sublette; whose adventures and exploits partake of the wildest spirit of
romance. The association commenced by General Ashley underwent various
modifications. That gentleman having acquired sufficient fortune, sold
out his interest and retired; and the leading spirit that succeeded
him was Captain William Sublette; a man worthy of note, as his name has
become renowned in frontier story. He is a native of Kentucky, and of
game descent; his maternal grandfather, Colonel Wheatley, a companion of
Boon, having been one of the pioneers of the West, celebrated in Indian
warfare, and killed in one of the contests of the "Bloody Ground.
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