Fortunately for the pursuers, there had been recently a heavy fall of snow, so that the Indians were under the necessity of breaking a path.

Their party was so large that the white men were furnished with a clearly marked, well-trodden trail.

This toil through the snow, seems quite to have exhausted the strength of the horses of the Indians.

They had been compelled to stop at noonday to refresh the animals.

A spot had been selected on a hill-side, where the wind had blown away the snow, and where the horses found, for grazing, an abundance of succulent dried grass.
Suddenly, and probably not a little to their consternation, the twelve trappers, rounding an eminence on the full trot, appeared before them.
Carson halted his troop to reconnoitre; for his foes were strongly posted and far outnumbered him.