Who Discovered
Carson
Pass?
Copyright©
September 2001 by Bob Graham
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Not Kit Carson.
Frémont's 2nd Expedition crossed
it in February of 1844, and left the first
written record of it, but Carson did not
discover it, or ever claim he had, and
Frémont did not name it "Carson
Pass," or give it any name at all. It is
simply recorded in the Report as "the
PASS."
"This was
2000 feet higher than the South Pass in
the Rocky mountains, and several peaks
in view rose several thousand feet
still
higher.
Frémont,
February 20, 1844."
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Carson Pass about
1940
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  Frémont
did name the "Carson River" after his hunter,
scout, guide, and friend Kit Carson. And Kit did
leave his blaze on a tree near the top of the pass.
But it was not called "Carson Pass" by
Frémont or Carson or anyone until by later
gold seekers following the "Carson River Route".
They were following the tracks of the Mormon
Battalion's 1848 exit from California on their way
to Salt Lake. The Mormons had sought out the pass
because they knew Frémont had crossed in the
vicinity in 1844. Except for the actual Pass
itself, the two routes were quite different.
Actually, the Mormons had chosen to settle at
Salt Lake because Frémont had mapped it in
1843. Three partys of westbound immigrants,
informed of the route by the eastbound Mormons,
crossed the pass from east to west in 1848, but for
several years starting in 1849, many tens of
thousands used the pass. It was then called the
"East Pass of the Carson Route," or the "First
Pass," as there was a second, and higher, pass to
cross just few miles west, until a road was built
around the Carson Spur in later decades.
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New Helvetia
[Sacramento], June 30,
1848:
A party of men who have
been exploring a route across the Sierra Nevada
mountains, have just returned, and report that
the have found a good wagon road on the
declivity ridge between the American fork and
the McCossamy [Mokelumne] rivers, the
distance being much less than by the old route
[Donner or Johnson Passes].The
Californian, Monterey
This road, along the ridge described, is the
western leg of the old Carson Route used by the
'49ers. It exists today as a fine secondary
highway, variously known as the Iron Mountain Road,
the Mormon Immigrant Trail Road, and Alternate U.S.
50. It goes up from the Mormon encampment at Sly's
Park (now Jenkinson Lake Reservoir), past Iron
Mountain, Leek Spring, and joins SR 88 just below
Tragedy Springs--the place where the Battalion
discovered the remains of their three missing
scouts murdered and hacked to pieces by Indians,
who, not recognizing its value, left the gold they
had been carrying scattered about. This ridge is
also the historic boundary of the Maidu, to the
north, and Miwock tribes to the south.
But Frémont never travelled the ridge;
the route over the pass used by the Mormon
Battalion only intersects Frémont's route at
the actual pass itself.
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Frémont's 2nd
Expedition and the Mormon Battalion had different
objectives
 The
Mormon Battalion was trying to cross the mountains
with wagons, and cannon, in summer.
Frémont was trying to cross with 67
horses and mules in winter--something never
previously accomplished, and something never since
attempted!
Because of the animals, he had to travel along
ridge tops at the highest elevations, because,
there, the wind had removed much of the snow, and
deposited it into bottoms and canyons, where he
could not go.
Why didn't he just leave the animals and snowshoe
across in a few days to Sutter's Fort--by the time
he got to Sutter's, the animals that had survived
were in such poor condition that they had to be
replaced anyway?
Because the success and objectives of the exploring
and mapping expedition required that he transport
many hundred of pounds of instruments, notebooks
and charts, and mineralogical and botanical
specimens.
Frémont's botanical
contributions.
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 The
first use of the pass is lost in time. It was a
trans-Sierra trade route used by the Washo Indians,
and very likely by people long before the Washos.
The fragment of an obsidian core flake I picked up
on the trail a couple of years ago. The trail was
traveled, in part, by Joseph LeConte in 1870, and
the original trail approaching the pass used by
Frémont, and later LeConte, remains today as
a stock trail.
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How did Frémont
get there?
 Charles
Preuss, expedition cartographer, near
present-day Markleeville on the eastern slope of
the Sierra Nevada.
February 3, 1844: We are
getting deeper and deeper into the mountains and
snow. We pay one roving Indian after another to
guide us across. They march with us a few miles
and leave us as soon as they have a chance. Now
we have engaged another one who is to take us
all the way across to the white people.
Apparently we are going to camp here at the foot
of the mountain chain, which is the actual
divide. Tomorrow we shall see whether or not we
are not again the subject of an illusion.
The Indian, a Washo, they
called Mélo.
 Frémont,
near present-day Dresslerville Nevada:
January 31, 1844. We had
scarcely lighted our fires, when the camp was
crowded with nearly naked Indians; some of them
were furnished with long nets in addition to
bows, and appeared to have been out in the sage
hills to hunt rabbits. These nets were perhaps
30 to 40 feet long, kept upright in the ground
by slight sticks at intervals, and were made
from a kind of wild hemp, very much resembling
in manufacture those common among Indians of the
Sacramento valley. They came among us without
any fear, and scattered themselves about the
fires, mainly occupied in gratifying their
astonishment...
We gathered together a few
of the most intelligent of the Indians, and held
this evening an interesting council. I explained
to them my intentions. I told them that we had
come from a very far country, having been
traveling now nearly a year, and that we were
desirous simply to go across the mountain into
the country of the other whites. There were two
who appeared particularly
intelligent&emdash;one, a somewhat old man. He
told me that, before the snows fell, it was six
sleeps to the place where the whites lived, but
that now it was impossible to cross the mountain
on account of the snow; and showing us, as the
others had done, that it was over our heads, he
urged us strongly to follow the course of the
river, which he said would conduct us to a lake
in which there were many large fish. There, he
said, were many people; there was no snow on the
ground; and we might remain there until the
spring. From their descriptions, we were enabled
to judge that we had encamped on the
 upper
water of the Salmon Trout River [it was not
the "Salmon Trout," or Truckee River; it was the
East Fork of the Carson River]. It is hardly
necessary to say that our communication was only
by signs, as we understood nothing of their
language [Washo, a Hokan
language]; but they spoke, notwithstanding,
rapidly and vehemently, explaining what they
considered the folly of our intentions, and
urging us to go down to the lake.
Tah-ve, a word
signifying snow, we very soon learned to know,
from its frequent repetition. I told him that
the men and the horses were strong, that we
would break a road through the snow; and
spreading before him our bales of scarlet cloth,
and trinkets, showed him what we would give for
a guide. It was necessary to obtain one, if
possible; for I had determined here to attempt
the passage of the mountain. Pulling a bunch of
grass from the ground, after a short discussion
among themselves, the old man made us
comprehend, that if we could break through the
snow, at the end of three days we would come
down upon grass, which he showed us would be
about six inches high, and where the ground was
entirely free. So far, he said, he had been in
hunting for elk; but beyond that (and he closed
his eyes) he had seen nothing; but there was one
among them who had been to the whites, and,
going out of the lodge, he returned with a young
man of very intelligent appearance. Here, said
he, is a young man who has seen the whites with
his own eyes; and he swore, first by the sky,
and then by the ground, that what he said was
true. With a large present of goods, we
prevailed upon this young man to be our guide,
and he acquired among us the name of
Mélo--a word signifying friend, which
they used very frequently. He was thinly clad,
and nearly barefoot; his moccasins being about
worn out. We gave him skins to make a new pair,
and to enable him to perform his undertaking to
us.
Mélo actually only stayed with them for a
few days.
 This
is the place from which Mélo showed him the
way. Frémont described it as "a short
distance of dividing ground" that lies between
Charity and Faith Valleys. Looking northwest, Red
Lake Peak is to the right, and Elephant back to the
left. "Carson Pass" is just to the right of the
tall tree in the center. The coordinates are
N38° 40' 23" by W 119° 54' 56" and
elevation 7901'.
Frémont, February 4,
1844:
Towards a pass which
the guide [Mélo] indicated here,
we attempted to force a road; but after a
laborious plunging through two or three hundred
yards, our best horses gave out, entirely
refusing to make any further effort, and, for
the time, we were brought to a stand. The guide
informed us that we were entering the deep snow,
and here began the difficulties of the mountain;
and to him, and almost all, our enterprise
looked hopeless. I returned a short distance
back, to the break in the hollow, where I met
Mr. Fitzpatrick.
See a close-up from the advance camp reached
on February 10, 1844.
To-night we had no
shelter, but we made a large fire around one of
the huge pines; and covering the snow with small
boughs, on which we spread our blankets, soon
made ourselves comfortable. The night was very
bright and clear, though the thermometer was
only at 10°. A strong wind, which sprang up
at sundown, made it intensely cold; and this was
one of the bitterest nights during the journey.
Two Indians joined our
party here; and one of them, an old man,
immediately began to harangue us, saying that
ourselves and animals would perish in the snow;
and that if we would go back, he would show us
another and a better way to cross the mountain.
He spoke in a very loud voice, and there was a
singular repetition of phrases and arrangement
of words, which rendered his speech striking and
not unmusical.
We had now begun to
understand some of the words, and, with the aid
of signs, easily comprehended the old man's
ideas. "Rock upon rock--rock upon rock--snow
upon snow," said he; "even if you get over the
snow, you will not be able to get down from the
mountains." He made us the sign of precipices,
and showed us how the feet of the horses would
slip, and throw them off from the narrow trails
that led along their sides. Our Chinook, who
comprehended even more readily than ourselves,
and believed our situation hopeless, covered his
head with his blanket, and began to weep and
lament. "I wanted to see the whites," said he;
"I came away from my own people to see the
whites, and I wouldn't care to die among them,
but here" &emdash;and he looked around into the
cold night and gloomy forest, and, drawing his
blanket over his head, began again to lament.
Seated around the tree,
the fire illuminating the rocks and the tall
bolls of the pines round about, we presented a
group of very serious faces.
See this campsite in Charity Valley.
And the next morning:
Frémont, in Charity Valley,
February 5, 1844:
The night had been too
cold to sleep, and we were up very early. Our
guide [Mélo] was standing by the
fire with all his finery on; and seeing him
shiver in the cold, I threw on his shoulders one
of my blankets. We missed him a few minutes
afterward, and never saw him again. He had
deserted. His bad faith and treachery were in
perfect keeping with the estimate of Indian
character, which a long intercourse with this
people had gradually forced upon my mind.
Charles Preuss--The
guide [Mélo] stole some things
and decamped, leaving bow and arrows
behind.
Frémont was obviously a bit miffed, but
he had now been shown his pass.
He was now entirely on his own. After arriving
at their at their advance camp (Long Camp--within 2
1/2 miles from the PASS) on February 10th, he and
Jacob
Dodson crossed the pass, and made a 2-day
exploration ahead to find a route of descent.
Mélo didn't get his name attached to the
pass, but it might have been more fitting to have
named it Mélo Pass, or Frémont Pass,
rather than Carson Pass.
See the route
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It has often been written that the route of
Frémont's expedition crossing was an
unfortunate one--that it would have been better
to have gone directly up the Carson River to Carson
Pass. Frémont himself thought this in later
life and recorded it in his Memoirs.
 But
I have gained an entirely new insight from hiking
the route, and considering the alternatives. I now
believe that the route taken, as pointed out by the
Indians, was probably the only route that
could have been successfully followed in the winter
with deep snow with 67 horses and mules.
Frémont was trying to cross with 67
horses and mules in winter--something never
previously accomplished, and something never since
attempted! Why didn't he just leave the animals and
snowshoe across in a few days to Sutter's Fort? The
success and objectives of the exploring expedition
meant that he had to transport many hundred of
pounds of instruments, notebooks and charts, and
mineralogical and botanical specimens.
Frémont's comments, "We were obliged to
abandon the hollow entirely, and work along the
mountain-side, which was very steep, and the snow
covered with an icy crust...often compelled to make
large circuits, and ascend the highest and most
exposed ridges, in order to avoid snow, which in
other places was banked up to a great depth,"
illustrate the difficulty of getting the  animals
through the snow. The problem would have been the
same up through the canyon, of the West Fork of the
Carson, except that there are no
"mountain-sides"--the walls of the Carson Canyon
are vertical. This, and other wagon routes, were
passable in summer only! Until this era of modern
highways, the only traffic through the Carson
Canyon in winter was Snowshoe Thompson carrying the
mail to Genoa, Nevada on skis. However, had
Frémont followed up the East Fork of the
Carson he would have gotten into the Markleeville
area days sooner.
It is doubtful that there is any other
route over which the expedition could have made a
successful winter crossing. Thanks to the Indians,
they found one.
See
a cross section of the line of travel.
East Fork Carson River, September
1855: There is an Indian Tribe
[Washo] settled upon [the East Fork
of the Carson River] , that from the days of
Frémont, appear to have been uniformly
friendly to the whites. They bear a high
reputation for honesty amonst the inhabitants of
Carson Valley. George H.
Goddard, Marlette Surveys.
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PATHFINDER:
John C. Frémont and the Course of American
Empire
