Here the country was so rough that we could not stay on the trail with wagons.

But we knew that he would continue down the river, and the general gave orders to take the best route down-stream, which I found to be on the east side.

Before we could make any headway with our wagon trains we had to leave the river and get out on the divide.
For some distance we found a good road, but suddenly we were brought up standing on a high table-land overlooking the beautiful winding creek that lay far below us.

How to get the wagons down became a serious problem for the officers.
We were in the foothills of the rough Raton Mountains.

The bluff we were on was steep and rugged.
"Cody," said General Carr, "we're in a nice fix now." "That's nothing," I replied.
"But you never can take the train down." "Never mind the train, General.