The daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1848-1851, 1849-04-24
Colonel Fremont.

We published yesterday part of Col Fremonts
letter, written from Taos, and giving an account of
his journey from Bents Fort to the Spanish settle
ments of New Mexico. We had hoped to publish
the remainder this morning but the mail failed
from beyond Charleston yesterday, and we Were
disappointed in our expectations of receiving Me9-
days Intelligencer, which doubtless contains the
conclusion Of this interesting letter.
Col Fremont's letter is interesting from several
points of view 1t gives us some idea of the diff
cuties of the passage over the Sierra San Juan it
informs us with what views the journey was un-
dertaken; and, above all, it shows, in very favor
able light, the character of the adventurous and
indefatgable explorer 1t is said in the letter that
this Sierra San Juan is one of the highest, most
rugged and impracticable of all the Rocky Noun
tain ranges, inaccessible to trappers and hunters
even in summer -; and even along the river bot
toms in its neighborhood " the snow was breast
deep for the mules, and falling frequently in the
valley and almost constantly on the mountains"
We suppose that Fremont was looking for a South
ern pass over which the proposed Mississippi and
Pacific Railroad might be carried, as he seems to
have surveyed the whole route with a view to this
scheme, and as Mr.. Benton in his speech on the
subject in the Senate spoke of the probability Of
finding such an opening in the mountains. But,
by the accounts given in the letter, all such hopes
of Southern pass, above Taos, are destroyed.
The idea of direct railroad from St. Louis to San
Francisco must, we think, be abandoned; and Mr..
Benton will have to turn his attention towards
Memphis, Vicksburg, or some point more Southern
than st. Louis if he wishes direct line from the
Mississippi to the Pacific.
The journey of Col. Fremont appears to have
certaining the feasibility of Mr.. Bentons railroad
project. If this enterprising officer had merely
wished to emigrate to California and get new
home for his family, the Chagres and Panama route
would have been the cheapest and most comfortable
well as the shortest route. Starting, as he did
late in the fall, with the SHOWS of the Rocky Noun
tains before him, and the winds of the opening
winter blowing in his face, he must have had in
contemplation, not only the travellers pleasure oil
exploring new regions, but also the strong hope of
| discovering pass in the mountains that would be
proved practicable for railroad from the fact of a
large party having traversed it in the dead of win
ter. We are sorry that so estimable man should
have been frustrated in SO praiseworthy an enter
prise; but his failure may be of great service to
the country by drawing attention to the more south
ern road, the merits of which are to be discussed
at the coming Memphis Convention.
The spirit and temper manifested in Col FREE
mont's letter are beyond all praise. There is no
murmuring, no complaint, no dissatisfaction ex-
pressed at the failure of schemes and hopes that
must have been long pondered over and cherished
He never repines, never despairs. Amidst the aus
terities of mid winter among lofty mountain ranges
and with all the anxieties and responsibilities of
leader pressing on him, he takes out his Blackstone
and draws his mind from the diffiulties around him
by fixing it on the study of dry and abstruse sci
ence. This letter gives us a higher idea both of
Fremonts moral and intellectual qualities than we
have received from any other of his productions.
His character seems to be yet in the course of de-
velopment and expansion. A few such men in
California would not only soon subdue the physical
energies of the country to their uses and ends, but
would also speedily organize civil government
and polity that might serve models for older
communities.