Mississippi Democrat. (Carrollton, Miss.) 1844-18??, 1846-02-18


the years lS43 and 1914, by Brvt-Canta;n
J. u FREMONT, of the Corps of Topoora.
phlcal Engineers. Washington: Print
cd oy order of the Senate of the United
States. 1845.
(Extracts from the Journal of the Second F..
pedition.)
1.-The second expedition started from
Kansas, on the Missouri river, the last of
May, 1843. The party was composed of
80 men, armed mostly with carbines, which
with l2-lb. howitzer, were furnished from
the U. 5. arsenal at St. Louis. The route
was up the Kansas to the head waters of
the Arkansas-thence to the South mass
Ihence to Bear river, a continent of the
"reat Salt Lake. Visiting and partially
exploring this unknown sea, the party re-
turned by the valley of Bear river, and ia
King the emigrant road to Oregon, arrived
at the DalIes of the Columbia early in No
Vember. Capt. F. with one or two mon
visited Fort Vancouver to obtain necasao
supplies, the party meantime recruiting
FROM thence, the route was tbrouob ro-
giOn hitherto unknown. Following SOU
'heihIy direction, Capt. F., after encoun-
'eflng obstacles which nothing but the
most determined energy and perseverance
could overcome, passed in dead of winter
over the great Sierra Nevada or Snow
mountain range of California, at an eleca. |
ZION OF 1888 feet above the sea, and enter
cd the valley of the Sacramento. Recruit
ing at the rancho Of Capt. Suffer, an Anne
rican settler in California, he continued
south as far as Walkers pass, in lat. 81
from thence his route was mainly along
the base of the Wahsatch mountains hack II
10 the southern extremity of the Great Salt {
Lake-then by "the Parks'' of the Rocky {
mountains to St. Vrain's fort, on the head
waters of South fork of Platte, and by the !
valley OF that river to the Missouri frontier.
Inc expedition was absent ID months !,
having travelled between six and eavon b
thousand miles. {
we propose extracting from the lengthy d
narrative, only the descriptions of the re- v
markable natural objects met with. and the D
account of the pass through the mountains. u
Inc unprecedented hardships to which the = !"
Voysgeurs were subjected, and the impor- "
tant geographical and scientific results Of 70
the expedition, can only be understood by k,
reading the narrative in detail. EFr.1 In
.o,. he
august 81 An hours travel this NOR. hi
ning brought us into the fertile valley of ar
Bear river, the principal tributary to the of
treat Salt Lake. The stream here i 81
%OO feet wide, fringed with willows and d
occasional groups ofhawthorns We were ri,
now entering region which for us DOS. XII
seSsed strange and extraordinary int. ca
rest. we were upon the waters of the BIZ
FAMOUS lake which forms a salient point Go,
among Inc geographical features OF the ro
country and around which the vague and In
superstlilouS accounts Of the trappers had tn,
.hrown delightful obscurity, which we m,
pleasure in dspelling. but mf
winch, IN the meantime, left a crowded ca
leid tor the exercise of our Imagination. am
In our occasional conversations with no
ne few old hunters who had visited the IN,
region, it had been subject of freouent ho
speculation; and The wonders which .hev AM
'elated were not the less agreeable be. ser
'auSe hlghly exaggerated and impossible. she
hitherto this lake had been seen only bv rs.
raPPers who were wandering THROUGH the of,
country IN search of new beaver strea,os nee
:arIng very little for geography; its isl. haC
ndS had never been visited: and mono con
we're 10 be found who had entirely made 10 ;
ne circuit OF IFS shores; and no instrn. Ter,
leh'al observations or geographical sur to {
ey, OF any description, had ever been mo,
iaoe any where in the neighboring re- by
ION 1t was generally supposed that il ons
az no visible outlet; but among the trap YER
efs' including those in my own camp. gro,
ere many who believed that somewhere 7
It's surface, was terrible whirlpool ahI,
trough which its waters found their wav cmc,
Tue ocean by some subterranean com. and
uhlcatlon' All these things had made > wer,
equent subject of discussion II orr. do COZ,
ntoly conversations around the fires a. yer.
gnt' anu my own mind had become TO. hills
raoiy well hiled with their indefinite mic. n,;t
res: ana insensl5y colored with their RI. thon
an'lc descriptions which, in the pleasure MIA =
excitement, was well disnosad I - - pan r. :,
We, and half expected to realize y Oe- :. :
Where we descended into this hoa..e oo'"
LEY, it is three to four miles IN len.,,t t,'or
rfectly level, and bounded by moup,a' n,a.,
Jus ridges, one above another, rising snd.
MY from the plain. on y
nsrra slng' 10 'ne afternoon, the point of ing
narrow spur, we descended into beau a
vi bottom fornnad h,, a lato.of ,.ali - {.