New-York daily tribune., 1843-10-18
nth Pass over the Rocky Mountains
~ hove generally thought of the Rocky Noun.

ebayc generally thought of the Rocky Noun
..,s as some nearly impenetrable barrier between
'a .;I,a,on and the Wilderness frozen horror,
CIV s,r the efforts OF man to overcap, and stand
ee!sH un;np at the onrushing tide of civilization,
ms 40 midst of solitude too appalling to be
u ,:r,c ~, and which was never to be broken. All
sa'.s foolish ideas, however, are to be dissipatcd-
a''' M h,rbear is to disappear. Recent discoveries
las l.s disclosed the agreeable fact that there is
a',s a.i difficulty in passing the Rocky Mountains,
p" ! ,h.t the obstacles to be surmountcd dwindlc
sDo o:.s;cn;6cance when compared with those once
..;st;ns ,Se in regard to the Alleghan!es whose
sA A.o deemed impenctrablc fastnesscs are now
.,.ed in every direction by railroads and canals,
P.;bIating, as it were, not only space and time,
@. ending to powder beneath the feet the giant
Snrntains with their peaks covered with eternal
NV NV After reading the following account Of the
18th Pass OF the Rocky Mountains, extracted
~, the official report of Lieut.. Fremont, made
..be Senate of the United States, the mind is IN
',rntarily filled with new and vast ideas 1t Is
wv important at this particular moment, when
y. w. ones,ion of extending the limits OF our cx-
..sn,s ~ southern boundary is occupying so large
La,e Of public attention. The nineteenth cen
.'-- .- will set upon a whole continent pcoplcd by
.enen.
..,otbc summit. The ascent had been SO gradual
.s,t. with all the intimate knowledge possessed
= Carson, who had made this country his home
I, seventeen years, we were Obliged to watch
.,-r closely to find the place at which we had
,,scbed the eliminating point. This was be-
.reen two low hills rising either hand fifty or
srv feet. When | looked back at them from
no spot of the immediate slope on the western
,,,n. their SUBMITS appeared to be about one
tn,dred and twenty feet above. From the lm-
rrssion on my mind at this time, and subse
..nortv on our return, | should compare the Gle
11,,;on which we surmounted Immediately at tho
p,ss 70 the ascent of the capitol hill from the
no avenue, at Washington. 1t is difficult to1 me
n6y positively the breadth of this Pass. From
h. broken ground where 1t commences, at the
;r of the Wind River chain, the view to the
rnheast is over champaign country, broken,
Il the distance of nineteen miles, by the liable
Rock, which, with the other isolated hills IN It's
vicinity, seems to stand on comparative PLAIN.
This Judge to be its termination, the right re-
nre-ing its rugged character with the Table
prk 1t will be seen that 1t IN no manner re-
.nblcs the places to which the term is COM
1nly applicd-nothing of the gorgc-llke charac-
ranG winding ascents Of the Allegheny passes
n rAmerca-nothing of the Great St. Bernard
ud Simplon passes in Europe. Approaching 1t
nom the mouth of the Sweet Water, a sandy
Jsn one hundred and twenty miles long, con-
ucts, by gradual and regular ascent, to the
ommit, about seven thousand feet above the
ga; and the traveller, without being reminded OF
any change by toilsomc asccnts, suddenly finds
,insclf on the waters which flow to the Pacific
eean. By the route VIC had travelled, the dis
| ,pce from Fort Laramie is three hundred and
| senty miles, or nine hundred and fifty from the
| Mouth of the Kanzas." ;"
One other matter we have forgotten to mention,
r,arding the South Pass. Its latitude is 42o
Y Is sec. north, which places it thirty miles
ythin the limits of the United States, and, ac-
cording to the Missourian nearly IN the direct
line of communication from the frontiers OF MIS-
suri to the valley of the Columbia. The ascer-
ninment of this important fact secures the South
Pass to us forever, and gives an easy carriage
pad across our continent from the Western States
| Othe Oregon'