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Western
Nevada--Black Rock
Desert
December
22, 1843: Where we
encamped on the bleak sandy plain,
the Indians had made
huts or circular enclosures
about four feet high and twelve feet
broad, of artemisia bushes. Whether these
had been forts or houses, or what they had
been doing in such a desert place, we
could not ascertain.
December
25, 1843: The plainly
beaten trail still continued, and
occasionally we passed camping
grounds of the Indians, which
indicated to me that we were on one of the
great thoroughfares of the
country.
December
26, 1843: To-night
a horse belonging to
[Kit]Carson, one of the best we
had in the camp, was stolen by the
Indians.
December
28, 1843: The snow
being deep, I had determined, if any more
horses were stolen, to follow the tracks
of the Indians into the mountains, and put
a temporary check to their sly operations;
but it did not occur again.
Riding quietly along over the snow,
we came suddenly upon smokes
rising among these bushes; and, galloping
up, we found two huts, open
at the top, and loosely built of sage,
which appeared to have been deserted at
the instant; and, looking hastily around,
we saw several Indians on the crest of the
ridge near by, and several others
scrambling up the side. We had come upon
them so suddenly, that they had been well
nigh surprised in their lodges. A sage
fire was burning in the middle; a few
baskets made of straw were lying about,
with one or two rabbit skins; and there
was a little grass scattered about, on
which they had been lying. "Tabibo-bo!"
they shouted from the hills-a word which,
in the Snake language, signifies
white--and remained looking at us from
behind the rocks. [Kit] Carson and
Godey rode towards the hill, but the men
ran off like deer. They had been so much
pressed, that a woman with two children
had dropped behind a sage bush near the
lodge, and when Carson accidentally
stumbled upon her, she immediately began
screaming in the extremity of fear, and
shut her eyes fast, to avoid seeing him.
She was brought back to the lodge, and we
endeavored in vain to open a communication
with the men. By dint of presents, and
friendly demonstrations, she was brought
to calmness; and we found that they
belonged to the Snake nation
[uto-aztecan language], speaking
the language of that people. Eight or ten
appeared to live together, under the same
little shelter; and they seemed to have no
other subsistence than the roots or seeds
they might have stored up, and the hares
which live in the sage, and which they are
enabled to track through the snow, and are
very skillful in killing. Their skins
afford them a little scanty covering.
Herding together among bushes, and
crouching almost naked over a little sage
fire, using their instinct only to procure
food, these may be considered, among human
beings, the nearest approach to the mere
animal creation. We have reason to believe
that these had never before seen the face
of a white man.
January
12, 1844: Where we had
halted, appeared to be a favorite camping
place for Indians.
Pyramid
Lake,
Nevada
 January
13, 1844: We followed
again a broad Indian
trail along the shore of the
lake to the southward.
January
15, 1844:
A few poor-looking Indians
made their appearance this
morning, and we succeeded in getting one
into the camp. He was naked, with the
exception of a tunic of hare skins. He
told us that there was a river at the end
of the lake, but that he lived in the
rocks near by. From the few words our
people could understand, he spoke a
dialect of the Snake language
[uto-aztecan]; but we were not
able to understand enough to know whether
the river ran in or out, or what was its
course; consequently, there still remained
a chance that this might be Mary's
lake.
Groves of large cottonwood, which
we could see at the mouth of the river,
indicated that it was a stream of
considerable size; and, at all events, we
had the pleasure to know that now we were
in a country where human beings could
live. Accompanied by the
Indian, we resumed our road,
passing on the way several caves in the
rock where there were baskets and seeds;
but the people had disappeared. We saw
also horse tracks along the
shore.
Early in the afternoon, when we
were approaching the groves at the mouth
of the river, three or four
Indians met us on the trail.
We had an explanatory conversation in
signs, and then moved on together towards
the village, which the chief said was
encamped on the bottom.
Reaching the groves, we found the
inlet of a large fresh-water stream
[Truckee River], and all at once
were satisfied that it was neither Mary's
river nor the waters of the Sacramento,
but that we had discovered a large
interior lake, which the Indians informed
us had no outlet. It is about 35 miles
long; and, by the mark of the water line
along the shores, the spring level is
about 12 feet above its present waters.
The chief commenced speaking
in a loud voice as we
approached; and parties of
Indians armed with bows and arrows issued
from the thickets. We selected a strong
place for our encampment-a grassy bottom,
nearly enclosed by the river, and
furnished with abundant fire wood. The
village, a collection of straw huts, was a
few hundred yards higher up. An Indian
brought in a large fish to trade, which we
had the inexpressible satisfaction to find
was a salmon trout; we gathered round him
eagerly. The Indians were amused with our
delight, and immediately brought in
numbers; so that the camp was soon
stocked. Their flavor was
excellent-superior, in fact, to that of
any fish I have ever known. They were of
extraordinary size-about as large as the
Columbia river salmon-generally from two
to four feet in length."' From the
information of Mr. Walker [Joseph
Rutherford Walker], who passed among
some lakes lying more to the eastward,
this fish is common to the streams of the
inland lakes. He subsequently informed me
that he had obtained them weighing six
pounds when cleaned and the head taken
off; which corresponds very well with the
size of those obtained at this place. They
doubtless formed the subsistence of these
people, who hold the fishery in exclusive
possession.
I remarked that one of
them gave a fish to the Indian we had
first seen, which he carried off to his
family. To them it was
probably a feast; being of the Digger
tribe, and having no share in the fishery,
living generally on seeds and roots.
Although this was a time of the year when
the fish have not yet become fat, they
were excellent, and we could only imagine
what they are at the proper season. These
Indians were very fat, and appeared to
live an easy and happy life. They crowded
into the camp more than was consistent
with our safety, retaining always their
arms; and, as they made some
unsatisfactory demonstrations, they were
given to understand that they would not be
permitted to come armed into the camp; and
strong guards were kept with the horses.
Strict vigilance was maintained among the
people, and one-third at a time were kept
on guard during the night. There is no
reason to doubt that these dispositions,
uniformly preserved, conducted our party
securely through Indians famed for
treachery [reports from Walker, Joseph
Chiles and Jedediah Smith.
In the mean time, such a
salmon-trout feast as is seldom seen was
going on in our camp; and every variety of
manner in which fish could be
prepared-boiled, fried, and roasted in the
ashes-was put into requisition; and every
few minutes an Indian would be seen
running off to spear a fresh one.
Whether these Indians had seen
whites before, we could not be certain;
but they were evidently in communication
with others who had, as one
of them had some brass buttons, and we
noticed several other articles of
civilized manufacture. We could obtain
from them but little information
respecting the country. They made on the
ground a drawing of the river, which they
represented as issuing from another lake
in the mountains three or four days
distant, in a direction a little west of
south; beyond which, they drew a mountain;
and further still, two rivers; on one of
which they told us that people like
ourselves travelled. Whether they alluded
to the settlements on the Sacramento, or
to a party from the United States which
had crossed the Sierra about three degrees
to the southward, a few years since, I am
unable to determine. I tried
unsuccessfully to prevail on some of them
to guide us for a few days on the road,
but they only looked at each other and
laughed. The latitude of our
encampment, which may be considered the
mouth of the inlet, is 39' 51' 13" by our
observations.
January
16, 1844: This morning
we continued our journey along this
beautiful stream, which we naturally
called the Salmon Trout river [Truckee
River]. Large trails led up on either
side; the stream was handsomely timbered
with large cottonwoods; and the waters
were very clear and pure. We were
travelling along the mountains of the
great Sierra, which rose on our right,
covered with snow; but below the
temperature was mild and pleasant. We saw
a number of dams which the
Indians had constructed to catch
fish. After having made about
18 miles, we encamped under some large
cottonwoods on the river bottom, where
there was tolerably good grass [on the
Truckee River near
Wadsworth].
January
January 17, 1844: This
morning we left the river, which here
issues from the mountains on the west.
With every stream I now expected to see
the great Buenaventura;
and Carson hurried eagerly to search, on
every one we reached, for beaver cuttings,
which he always maintained we should find
only on waters that ran to the Pacific;
and the absence of such signs was to him a
sure indication that the water had no
outlet from the great basin.
We followed the Indian
trail through a tolerably
level country, with small sage bushes,
which brought us, after 20 miles journey,
to another large stream [Carson
River], timbered with cottonwood, and
flowing also out of the mountains, but
running more directly to the
eastward.
On the way we surprised
a family of Indians in the
hills; but the man ran up the
mountain with rapidity; and the woman was
so terrified, and kept up such a continued
screaming, that we could do nothing with
her, and were obliged to let her
go.
January
18, 1844:
There were Indian lodges and
fish dams on the stream.
There were no beaver cuttings on the
river; but below, it turned round to the
right; and, hoping that it would prove a
branch of the Buenaventura, we followed it
down for about three hours, and
encamped.
I rode out with Mr. Fitzpatrick and
Carson to reconnoitre, the country, which
had evidently been alarmed by the news of
our appearance. This stream joined with
the open valley of another to the
eastward; but which way the main water
ran, it was impossible to tell.
Columns of smoke rose over the
country at scattered intervals, signals by
which the Indians here, as elsewhere,
communicate to each other
that enemies are in the country. It is a
signal of ancient and very universal
application among barbarians.
January
19,1844: A
great number of smokes are still visible
this morning, attesting at once the alarm
which our appearance bad spread among
these people, and their
ignorance of us. If they knew the whites,
they would understand that their only
object in coming among them was to trade,
which required peace and friendship; but
they have nothing to trade-consequently,
nothing to attract the white man; hence
their fear and flight.
January
24, 1844:
A man was discovered running
towards the camp as we were about to start
this morning, who proved to be an Indian
of rather advanced age-a sort of forlorn
hope, who seemed to have been
worked up into the resolution of visiting
the strangers who were passing through the
country. He seized the hand of the first
man he met as he came up, out of breath,
 and
held on, as if to assure himself of
protection. He brought with him in a
little skin bag a few pounds of the seeds
of a pine tree, which to-day we saw for
the first time, and which Dr. Torrey has
described as a new species, under the name
of pinus monophyllus; in popular language,
it might be called the nut pine. We
purchased them all from him. The nut is
oily, of very agreeable flavor, and must
be very nutritious, as it constitutes the
principal subsistence of the tribes among
which we were now travelling. By a present
of scarlet cloth, and other striking
articles, we prevailed upon this man to be
our guide of two days' journey. As clearly
as possible by signs, we made him
understand our object; and he engaged to
conduct us in sight of a good pass which
he knew. Here we ceased to
hear the Shoshonee
[uto-asztecan]
language; that of
this man being perfectly unintelligible
[Washo, a Hokan language]. Several
Indians, who had been waiting to see what
reception he would meet with, now came
into camp; and, accompanied by the new
comers, we resumed our journey.
The road led us up the creek, which
here becomes a rather rapid mountain
stream, fifty feet wide, between
dark-looking hills without snow; but
immediately beyond them rose snowy
mountains on either side, timbered
principally with the nut pine. On the
lower grounds, the general height of this
tree is twelve to twenty feet, and eight
inches the greatest diameter; it is rather
branching, and has a peculiar and singular
but pleasant odor. We followed the river
for only a short distance along a rocky
trail, and crossed it at a dam
which the Indians made us comprehend had
been built to catch salmon
trout. The snow and ice were
heaped up against it three or four feet
deep entirely across the stream.
Leaving here the stream, which runs
through impassable cañons
[canyon], we continued our road
over a very broken country, passing
through a low gap between the snowy
mountains. The rock which occurs
immediately in the pass has the appearance
of impure sandstone, containing scales of
black mica. This may be only a stratified
lava; on issuing from the gap, the compact
lava, and other volcanic products usual in
the country, again occurred. We descended
from the gap into a wide valley, or rather
basin, and encamped on a small tributary
to the last stream, on which there was
very good grass. It was covered with such
thick ice, that it required some labor
with pickaxes to make holes for the
animals to drink. The banks are lightly
wooded with willow, and on the upper
bottoms are sage and Fremontia with
ephedra occidentalis, which begins to
occur more frequently. The day has been a
summer one, warm and pleasant; no snow on
the trail, which, as we are all on foot,
makes travelling more agreeable. The
hunters went into the neighboring
mountains, but found no game.
We have five Indians in camp
to-night.
January
25, 1844: The morning
was cold and bright, and as the sun rose
the day became beautiful. A
party of twelve Indians came down from the
mountains to trade pine nuts,
of which each one carried a little bag.
These seemed now to be the staple of the
country; and whenever we met an Indian,
his friendly salutation consisted in
offering a few nuts to eat and to trade;
their only arms were bows and
flint-pointed arrows. It appeared that, in
almost all the valleys, the neighboring
bands were at war with each other; and we
had some difficulty in prevailing on our
guides to accompany us on this day's
journey, being at war with the people on
the other side of a large snowy mountain
which lay before us.
The general level of the country
appeared to be getting higher, and we were
gradually entering the heart of the
mountains. Accompanied by all the Indians,
we ascended a long ridge, and reached a
pure spring at the edge of the timber,
where the Indians had waylaid and killed
an antelope, and where the greater part of
them left us. Our pacific conduct had
quieted their alarms; and though at war
among each other, yet all confided in us.
Thanks to the combined effects of power
and kindness-for our arms inspired
respect, and our little presents and good
treatment conciliated. their confidence.
Here we suddenly entered snow six inches
deep, and the ground was a little rocky
with volcanic fragments, the mountain
appearing to be composed of such rock. The
timber consists principally of nut pines,
[pinus monophyllus], which here
are of larger size-12 to 15 inches in
diameter; heaps of cones lying
on the ground, where the Indians have
gathered the seeds.
The snow deepened gradually as we
advanced. Our guides wore out
their moccasins; and, putting one of them
on a horse, we enjoyed the unusual sight
of an Indian who could not
ride. He could not even guide
the animal, and appeared to have no
knowledge of horses. The snow was three or
four feet deep in the summit of the pass;
and from this point the guide pointed out
our future road, declining to go any
further. Below us was a little valley; and
beyond this, the mountains rose higher
still, one ridge above another, presenting
a rude and rocky outline. We descended
rapidly to the valley; the snow impeded us
but little; yet it was dark when we
reached the foot of the mountain.
Bridgeport,
California
January
26, 1844:
To-day an Indian passed
through the valley, on his way into the
mountains, where he showed us
was his lodge. We comprehended nothing of
his language; and, though he appeared to
have no fear, passing along in full view
of the camp, he was indisposed to hold any
communication with us, but showed the way
he was going, and pointed for us to go on
our road.
Devil's
Gate
 January
28, 1844: During the
day a few Indians were seen
circling around us on snow
shoes, and skimming along
like birds; but we could not bring them
within speaking distance. Godey, who was a
little distance from the camp, had sat
down to tie his moccasins, when he heard a
low whistle near, and, looking up, saw two
Indians half hiding behind a rock about
forty yards distant; they would not allow
him to approach, but, breaking into a
laugh, skimmed off over the snow, seeming
to have no idea of the power of fire arms,
and thinking themselves perfectly safe
when beyond arm's length.
January
29, 1844: From this
height we could see, at a considerable
distance below, yellow spots in the
[Antelope] valley, which indicated
that there was not much snow. One of these
places we expected to reach to-night; and
some time being required to bring up the
gun, I went ahead with Mr. Fitzpatrick and
a few men, leaving the camp to follow, in
charge of Mr. Preuss. We
followed a trail down a hollow where the
Indians had descended, the
snow being so deep that we never came near
the ground; but this only made our descent
the easier, and, when we reached a little
affluent to the-liver,at the bottom, we
suddenly found ourselves in presence of
eight or ten Indians. They
seemed to be watching our motions, and,
like the others, at first were indisposed
to let us approach, ranging themselves
like birds on a fallen log on the hill
side above our heads, where,
being out of reach, they thought
themselves safe. Our friendly demeanor
reconciled them, and, when we got near
enough, they immediately stretched out to
us handfulls of pine nuts, which seemed an
exercise of hospitality. We made them a
few presents, and, telling us that their
village was a few miles below, they went
on to let their people know what we were.
The principal stream still running through
an impracticable cañon, we ascended
a very steep hill, which proved afterwards
the last and fatal obstacle to our little
howitzer, which was finally abandoned at
this place."' We passed through a small
meadow a few miles below, crossing the
river, which depth, swift current, and
rock, made it difficult to ford; and,
after a few more miles of very difficult
trail, issued into a larger prairie
bottom, at the farther end of which we
encamped, in a position rendered strong by
rocks and trees. The lower parts of the
mountain were covered with the nut pine.
Several [Mill Creek Washo]
Indians appeared on the hill
side, reconnoitring the camp, and were
induced to come in; others came in during
the afternoon; and in the evening we held
a council. The Indians
immediately made it clear that the waters
on which we were also belong to the Great
Basin, in the edge of which we had been
since the 17th of December; and it became
evident that we had still the great ridge
on the left to cross before we could reach
the Pacific waters.
Walker,
California
We explained to the Indians that
we were endeavoring to find a passage
across the mountains into the
country of the whites, whom we were going
to see; and told them that we wished them
to bring us a guide, to whom we would give
presents of scarlet cloth, and other
articles, which were shown to them. They
looked at the reward we offered, and
conferred with each other, but pointed to
the snow on the mountain, and drew their
hands across their necks, and raised them
above their beads, to show the depth; and
signified that it was impossible for us to
get through. They made signs that we must
go to the southward, over a pass through a
lower range, which they pointed out;
there, they said, at the end of one day's
travel, we would find people who lived
near a pass in the great mountain; and to
that point they engaged to furnish us a
guide. They appeared to have a
confused idea, from report, of whites who
lived on the other side of the
mountain; and once, they told
us, about two years ago, a party of twelve
men like ourselves had ascended their
river, and crossed to the other waters.
They pointed out to us where they had
crossed; but then, they said, it was
summer time; but now it would be
impossible. I believe that this was a
party led by Mr. Chiles, one of the only
two men whom I know to have passed through
the California mountains from the interior
of the Basin-Walker being the other; and
both were engaged upwards of twenty days,
in the summer time, in getting over.
Chiles's destination was the bay of
San Francisco, to which he
descended by the Stanislaus river; and
Walker subsequently informed me that, like
myself, descending to the southward on a
more eastern line, day after day he was
searching for the Buenaventura, thinking
that he had found it with every new
stream, until, like me, he abandoned all
idea of its existence, and, turning
abruptly to the right, crossed the great
chain. These were both western men,
animated with the spirit of exploratory
enterprise which characterizes that
people.
The Indians brought in during
the evening an abundant supply of pine
nuts, which we traded from
them. When roasted, their pleasant flavor
made them an agreeable addition to our now
scanty store of provisions, which were
reduced to a very low ebb. Our principal
stock was in peas, which it is not
necessary to say contain scarcely any
nutriment. We had still a little flour
left, some coffee, and a quantity of
sugar, which I reserved as a defense
against starvation.
The Indians informed us that at
certain seasons they have fish in their
waters, which we supposed to
be salmon trout; for the remainder of the
year they live upon the pine nuts, which
form their great winter subsistence-a
portion being always at hand, shut up in
the natural storehouse of the cones. At
present, they were presented to us as a
whole people living upon this simple
vegetable.
The other division of the party did
not come in to-night, but encamped in the
upper meadow, and arrived the next
morning. They had not succeeded in getting
the howitzer beyond the place mentioned,
and where it had been left by Mr. Preuss
in obedience to my orders; and, in
anticipation of the snow banks and snow
fields still ahead, foreseeing the
inevitable detention to which it would
subject us, I reluctantly determined to
leave it there for the time. It was of the
kind invented by the French for the
mountain part of their war in Algiers; and
the distance it had come with us proved
how well it was adapted to its purpose. We
left it, to the great sorrow of the whole
party, who were grieved to part with a
companion which had made the whole
distance from St. Louis, and commanded
respect for us on some critical occasions,
and which might be needed for the same
purpose again.
January
30, 1844:
Our guide, who was a young
man, joined us this morning;
and, leaving our encampment late in the
day, we descended the river, which
immediately opened out into a broad
valley, furnishing good travelling ground.
In a short distance we passed the village,
a collection of straw huts; and a few
miles below, the guide pointed out the
place where the whites had been encamped
before they entered the mountain. With our
late start we made but ten miles, and
encamped on the low river bottom, where
there was no snow, but a great deal of
ice; and we cut piles of long grass to lay
under our blankets, and fires were made of
large dry willows, groves of which wooded
the stream. The river took here a
northeasterly direction, and through a
spur from the mountains on the left was
the gap where we were to pass the next
day.
January
31, 1844: We took our
way over a gently rising ground, the
dividing ridge being tolerably low; and
travelling easily along a broad trail, in
twelve or fourteen miles reached the upper
part of the pass, when it began to snow
thickly, with very cold weather.
The Indians had only the usual
scanty covering, and appeared to suffer
greatly from the cold. All left us, except
our guide. Half hidden by the
storm, the mountains looked dreary; and,
as night began to approach, the guide
showed great reluctance to go forward. I
placed him between two rifles, for the way
began to be difficult. Travelling a little
farther, we struck a ravine, which the
Indian said would conduct us to the river;
and as the poor fellow suffered greatly,
shivering in the snow which fell upon his
naked skin, I would not detain him any
longer; and he ran off to the mountain,
where he said there was a hut near by. He
had kept the blue and scarlet cloth I had
given him tightly rolled up, preferring
rather to endure the cold than to get them
wet. In the course of the afternoon, one
of the men had his foot frost bitten; and
about dark we had the satisfaction to
reach the bottoms of a stream timbered
with large trees, among which we found a
sheltered camp, with an abundance of such
grass as the season afforded for the
animals. We saw before us, in descending
from the pass, a great continuous range,
along which stretched the valley of the
river; the lower parts steep, and dark
with pines, while above it was hidden in
clouds of snow. This we felt instantly
satisfied was the central ridge of the
Sierra Nevada, the great California
mountain, which only now intervened
between us and the waters of the bay. We
had made a forced march of 26 miles, and
three mules had given out on the road. Up
to this point, with the exception of two
stolen by Indians, we had lost none of the
horses which had been brought from the
Columbia river, and a number of these were
still strong and in tolerably good order.
We had now 67 animals in the
band.
Dresslerville,
California
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 on 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 the Indians of the Sacramento
valley. They came among us without any
fear, and scattered themselves about the
fires, mainly occupied in gratifying their
astonishment. I was struck by the singular
appearance of a row of about a dozen, who
were sitting on their haunches perched on
a log near one of the fires, with their
quick sharp eyes following every motion.
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
travelling 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-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 deep 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 is hardly
necessary to say that our communication
was only by signs, as we understood
nothing of their 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, and 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 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. The
Indians remained in the camp during the
night, and we kept the guide and two
others to sleep in the lodge with
us-Carson lying across the door, and
having made them comprehend the use of our
fire arms. The snow, which had intermitted
in the evening, commenced falling again in
the course of the night, and it snowed
steadily all day. In the morning I
acquainted the men with my decision, and
explained to them that necessity required
us to make a great effort to clear the
mountains. I reminded them of the
beautiful valley of the Sacramento, with
which they were familiar from the
descriptions of Carson, who had been there
some fifteen years ago, and who, in our
late privations, had delighted us in
speaking of its rich pastures and
abounding game, and drew a vivid contrast
between its summer climate, less than a
hundred miles distant, and the falling
snow around us.
Note: Kit Carson had never crossed the
mountains; he had entered California from
the Southwest with Ewing Young's party of
trappers in 1829.
February
2, 1844: It had ceased
snowing, and this morning the lower air
was clear and frosty; and six or seven
thousand feet above, the peaks of the
Sierra now and then appeared among the
rolling clouds, which were rapidly
dispersing before the sun. Our
Indian shook his head as he pointed to the
icy pinnacles, shooting high
up into the sky, and seeming almost
immediately above us. Crossing the river
on the ice, and leaving it immediately, we
commenced the ascent of the mountain along
the valley of a tributary stream. The
people were unusually silent; for every
man knew that our enterprise was
hazardous, and the issue
doubtful.
Markleeville,
California
The snow deepened rapidly, and it
soon became necessary to break a road. For
this service, a party of ten was formed,
mounted on the strongest horses; each man
in succession opening the road on foot, or
on horseback, until himself and his horse
became fatigued when he stepped aside;
and, the remaining number passing ahead,
he took his station in the rear. Leaving
this stream, and pursuing a very direct
course, we passed over an intervening
ridge to the river we had left.
On the way we passed two low
huts entirely covered with snow, which
might very easily have escaped
observation. A family was living in each;
and the only trail I saw in the
neighborhood was from the door hole to a
nut-pine tree near, which supplied them
with food and fuel. We found
two similar huts on the creek where we
next arrived; and, travelling a little
higher up, encamped on its banks in about
four feet depth of snow. Carson found
near, an open hill side, where the wind
and the sun had melted the snow, leaving
exposed sufficient bunch grass for the
animals to-night.
The nut pines were now giving way
to heavy timber, and there were some
immense pines on the bottom, around the
roots of which the sun had melted away the
snow; and here we made our camps and built
huge fires."' To-day we had travelled
sixteen miles, and our elevation above the
sea was 6,760 feet.
February
3, 1844: Turning our
faces directly towards the main chain, we
ascended an open hollow along a small
tributary to the river, which,
according to the Indians, issues from a
mountain to the south. The
snow was so deep in the hollow, that we
were obliged to travel along the steep
hill sides, and over spurs, where wind and
sun had in places lessened the snow, and
where the grass, which appeared to be in
good quality along the sides of the
mountains, was exposed. We opened our road
in the same way as yesterday, but made
only seven miles; and encamped by some
springs at the foot of a high and steep
hill, by which the hollow ascended to
another basin in the mountain."' The
little stream below was entirely buried in
snow. The springs were shaded by the
boughs of a lofty cedar, which here made
its first appearance; the usual height was
120 to 130 feet, and one that was measured
near by was 6 feet in diameter.
Grover's
Hotsprings
There
being no grass exposed here, the horses
were sent back to that which we had seen a
few miles blow. We occupied the remainder
of the day,in beating down a road to the
foot of the hill, a mile or two distant;
the snow being beaten down when moist, in
the warm part of the day, and then hard
frozen at night, made a foundation that
would bear the weight of the animals the
next morning. During the day
several Indians Joined us on snow
shoes. These were made of a
circular hoop, about a foot in diameter,
the interior 'space being filled with an
open network of bark.
February
4, 1844: I went ahead
early with two or three men, each with a
led horse, to break the road. 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. We cut a footing as we
advanced, and trampled a road through for
the animals; but occasionally one plunged
outside the trail, and slided along the
field to the bottom, a hundred yards
below. Late in the day we reached another
bench in the hollow, where, in summer, the
stream passed over a small precipice. Here
was a short distance of dividing ground
between the two ridges, and beyond an open
basin [Faith Valley], some ten
miles across, whose bottom presented a
field of snow. At the further or western
side rose the middle crest of the
mountain, a dark-looking ridge of volcanic
rock [Elephant's Back].
Charity
Valley
 The
summit line presented a range of naked
peaks, apparently destitute of snow and
vegetation; but below, the face of the
whole country was covered with timber of
extraordinary size. Annexed you are
presented with a view of this ridge from a
camp on the western side of the
basin.
Towards a pass which the guide
indicated here, we attempted
in the afternoon 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 to all, our enterprise seemed
hopeless. I returned a short distance
back, to the break in the hollow, where I
met Mr. Fitzpatrick.
 The
camp had been all the day occupied in
endeavoring to ascend the hill, but only
the best horses had succeeded. The
animals, generally, not having sufficient
strength to bring themselves up without
the packs; and all the line of road
between this and the springs was strewed
with camp stores and equipage, and horses
floundering in snow. I therefore
immediately encamped on the ground with my
own mess, which was in advance, and
directed Mr. Fitzpatrick to encamp at the
springs [Grovers], and send all
the animals, in charge of Tabeau, with a
strong guard, back to the place where they
had been pastured the night before
[below Markleeville]. Here was a
small spot of level ground, protected on
one side by the mountain, and on the other
sheltered by a little ridge of rock. It
was an open grove of pines, which
assimilated in size to the grandeur of the
mountain, being frequently six feet in
diameter.
To-night we had no shelter, but we
made a large fire around the trunk of 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
across 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 words, and, with the aid
of signs, easily comprehended the old
man's simple ideas. "Rock upon rock-rock
upon rock-snow upon snow-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 a sign
of precipices, and showed us how the feet
of the horses would slip, and
throw them off from the narrow trails
which led along their sides.
Our Chinook
[Billy], 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"-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, and the old
Indian haranguing, we
presented a group of very serious
faces.
February
5, 1844: The night had
been too cold to sleep, and we were up
very early. Our guide 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 afterwards, 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.
February
6, 1844. Accompanied
by Mr. Fitzpatrick, I sat out to-day with
a reconnoitring party, on snow
shoes. 
Snowshoes: where did Frémont
get them?
And this was the last the party
would meet with Indians until March 6th,
when they arrived in the foothills of the
lower reaches of the American River.
Third
Expedition.
November,
1845.
Travelling along the foot of a
mountain on one of these trails we
discovered a light smoke rising from a
ravine, and riding quietly up, found
a single Indian standing
before a little sage-brush fire over which
was hanging a small earthen pot, filled
with sage-bush squirrels.
Another bunch of squirrels lay near it and
close by were his bow and arrows. He was
deep in a brown study, thinking perhaps of
some game-trail which he seen and intended
to follow that afternoon, and did not see
or hear us until we were directly upon
him, his absorbed thoughts and the sides
of the ravine cutting off sounds. Escape
for him was not possible and he tried to
seem pleased, but his convulsive start and
wild look around showed that he thought
his end had come. And so it would
have--abruptly--had the Delawares been
alone. With a deprecating smile he offered
us part of his pot au
feu and his bunch of
squirrels. I reassured him with a friendly
shake of the hand and a trifling gift. He
was a good-looking young man, well made,
as these Indians usually are, and naked as
a worm.
The Delawares lingered as we turned
away, but I would not let them remain.
Anyhow they regarded our journey as a kind
of war-path, and no matter what kind of
path he is upon a Delaware is always ready
to take a scalp when he is in a country
where there are strange Indians. We had
gone but a short distance when I found
they had brought away his bow and arrows,
but I had them taken immediately back.
These were well made; the bow strong, and
made still stronger with sinews, and the
arrows were all headed with obsidian
worked in the usual spear shape by patient
labor, and nearly as sharp as steel. The
Delawares took them back willingly when I
reminded them that they had exposed the
poor fellow to almost certain starvation
by depriving him at the beginning of
winter of his only means to procure
food.
A day or two after we saw mountain
sheep for the first time in crossing the
Basin. None were killed, but that
afternoon Carson killed an antelope. That
day we travelled late, making for the
point of a wooded mountain where we had
expected to find water, but on reaching it
found only the dry bed of a creek where
there was sometimes running water. It was
too late to go farther and I turned up the
creek bed, taking the chance to find it
above as the mountain looked promising.
Well up, towards the top of the mountain,
nearly two thousand feet above the plain,
we came upon a spring where the little
basin afforded enough for careful use. A
bench of the mountain near by made a good
camping-ground, for the November nights
were cool and newly-fallen snow already
marked out the higher ridges of the
mountains. With grass abundant, and pine
wood and cedars to keep up the night
fires, we were well provided for.
Sagundai who had first found the
spring saw fresh tracks made in the sand
by a woman's naked foot, and the spring
had been recently cleaned
out. But he saw no other
indications of human life. We had made
our' supper on the antelope and were lying
around the fire, and the men taking their
great comfort in smoking. A good supper
and a pipe make for them a comfortable
ending no matter how hard the day has
been.
 [Kit]Carson
who was lying on his back with his pipe in
his mouth, his hands under his head and
his feet to the fire, suddenly exclaimed,
half rising and pointing to the other side
of the fire,
"Good God! look there!"
In the blaze of the fire,
peering over her skinny, crooked hands,
which shaded her eyes from the glare, was
standing an old woman apparently eighty
years of age, nearly naked,
her grizzly hair hanging down over her
face and shoulders. She had thought it a
camp of her people and had already begun
to talk and gesticulate, when her open
mouth was paralyzed with fright, as she
saw the faces of the whites. She turned to
escape, but the men had gathered about her
and brought her around to the fire. Hunger
and cold soon dispelled fear and she made
us understand that she had been left by
her people at the spring to die, because
she was very old and could gather no more
seeds and was no longer good for anything.
She told us she had nothing to eat and was
very hungry. We gave her immediately about
a quarter of the antelope, thinking she
would roast it by our fire, but no sooner
did she get it in her hand than she darted
off into the darkness. Some one ran after
her with a brand of fire, but calling
after her brought no answer. In the
morning, her fresh tracks at the spring
showed that she had been there for water
during the night. Starvation had driven
her to us, but her natural fear drove her
away as quickly, so soon as she had
secured something to eat. Before we
started we left for her at the spring a
little supply from what food we had. This,
with what she could gather from the
nut-pine trees on the mountain, together
with our fire which she could easily keep
up, would probably prolong her life even
after the snows came. The nut-pines and
cedars extend their branches out to the
ground and in one of their thickets, as I
have often proved, these make a
comfortable shelter against the most
violent snow-storms.
This was Sangundai's Spring. The
names of my camps here along become the
record of the rivalry of the men in
finding good camps. It became the
recurring interest of each day to prove
their judgment of country as well as their
skill as hunters.
|
 The
Atlantic
Monthly
Frémont's Hundred Days in
Missouri
Springfield, October 30,
1862.
Yesterday fifty-three Delaware
Indians came from Kansas to serve
under the General
[Frémont]. Years
ago he made friends of the
Delawares, when travelling
through their country upon his
first journey of exploration; and
hearing that he was on the
war-path, the tribe have sent
their best young warriors to join
him. They are descendants of the
famous tribe which once dwelt on
the Delaware River, and belonged
to the confederacy of the Six
Nations,--for more than two
centuries the most powerful
Indian community in America.
Their ancient prowess remains.
The Delawares are feared all over
the Plains, and their war-parties
have often penetrated beyond the
Rocky Mountains, carrying terror
through all the Indian tribes.
These men are fine specimens of
their race, --tall, lightly
formed, and agile. They ride
little shaggy ponies, rough
enough to look at, but very hardy
and active; and they are armed
with the old American rifle, the
traditional weapon which Cooper
places in the hands of his red
heroes. They are led by the chief
of their tribe, Fall-Leaf, a
dignified personage, past the
noon of life, but showing in his
erect form and dark eye that the
fires of manhood burn with
undiminished vigor.
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