Thus hundreds of Indian warriors might, at any time, come swooping down upon Mr.Carson's cabin, laying it in ashes, and burying their tomahawks in the brains of his family.
The few white men, some half a dozen in number, who had gathered around Mr.Carson, deemed it expedient for self-defence to unite and build a large log cabin, which should be to them both a house and a fort.

This building of logs, quite long and but one story high, was pierced, at several points, with portholes, through which the muzzles of the rifles could be thrust.

As an additional precaution they surrounded this house with palisades, consisting of sticks of timber, six or eight inches in diameter, and about ten feet high, planted as closely as possible together.

These palisades were also pierced with portholes.
With a practiced eye, these men had selected a very beautiful spot for their habitation, in what is now called Howard county, Missouri, just north of the Missouri river.

It seems that they had much to fear from the Indians.