Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 24.djvu/38

 26 Joseph J. Hill travel upwards of a hundred miles, according to Carson, 17 before they overtook the Indians and recaptured the stolen animals, five of which, however, had been killed by the Indians who were at the time feasting upon the stolen property. About this time, possibly during the very time while Young was absent in pursuit of the Indians, three mem- bers of his party, whose names indicate that they were Frenchmen, deserted and proceeded to Monterey where on July 31, 1830, they applied for passports to return to Taos, from which place they stated they had come with Joaquin John (Ewing Young). Young and the loyal members of his party, however, forced the deserters back into line and compelled them to remain with the party. After spending the summer on the various streams flowing into the San Joaquin, Young in September, 1830, set out on his return to New Mexico. On his way he stopped at Los Angeles where he nearly lost control of his men owing to the freedom with which liquor was there supplied to them, either maliciously or otherwise. Young suspected that it was a plot on the part of the officials to get his men intoxicated and then to arrest them. Howsoever that may be, he finally succeeded in rousing them sufficiently to get them moving and thus prevented any serious mishap to the expedition. An ac- cident, however, occurred in spite of Young's efforts. Two of his half-drunk men got to quarreling and one (James Higgins) shot and killed James Lawrence. Young says that he had to leave the dead man in the road where he had been killed. These incidents made it impossible for Young to realize certain plans already partially matured. While at San Jose, Young had met J. B. Cooper, who figures prominently in the coast trade of the time. It appears that Cooper had endeavored to induce Young to enter « See also, Ewing Young to J. B. Cooper, October 10, 1830 (Vallejo, Documentos para la Historia de California, XXX, 135. Ms. in Bancroft Library).