The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1849-11-23
From the California EmigrantS.
Interesting Letter from mir. Dclane.


mines. LAwsoN'S SETTLEMENT, CAuroExrA.}
September II. 1919
SwRR, NryAp, Mrs. Sept, 10.
Dcur -NUg-Nc are now within three ,l,vs
of Law sons Settlement in the valley Of the Sacre,
mento; and II a bud was ever rcjoiced to escape
IT, thrIldoE shall be- much more 81 Ia yet IN
the end of this long weary. AMI vrvl,ious tourney
\ man deserves 10 De well paid who make, HI,
FIRST overland journey 10 California. for he can
form no ilca of the many trials he may be subie,-
ted to. The fttigucs of the iourucv--thc hard
ships of tran crsiag an almost barren WILDERNESS of
nearly two thousand miles, | care hut it'll, for
but It is the narrow minded rihallry-the ccaS.
less strife which i constantly mlrrin. the tran.
guilty OF such u Cruwd--a mass of men in which
each individual acts independent Of all the rr>.,
clril; rruole bIt lm elf which rem hers ital,nn,t
msuiftrahlc
We have reached this point without accident to
ourselves OF our cattle, a somewhat extraordinary
thing considering what We have passed through.
bat 1t has been accomplished only by the utmost
vigilance and care ON our part. We have been
nearly three weeks longer ON the road than We
expected or should have been, but for circum-
stances When We We're going down the Hum.
boldt river, report began to bo accredited ANON,
the emgrantS that there was 4 new road that lei
10 Feather riyrr or the Sacramento. or the some.
where, that 1t was an hundred miles nearer to the
mines better route, no difficulty IN cros>n, the
mountains tSierra Ncyala) AMI plenty of grass
and water all the way, and that We should not
have 20 cross the barren desert of the Great Basin
We watched for DAYS the turning off place and
m the meantime, various reports were circulated
about the road, AMI we dill not know what 10 be.
lieyc. In fact uo body knew certain whether
there was a road leading 70 California that way.
though there was oncto Oregon. In much doubt
We finally came To- the turning; ok point and our
company determined To take il ANYHOW. rs there
was - miles of desert IN the old read without
grass or water; and n story became prevalent
That when We got ont ten miles, on the new road,
there waSgrass, IN IL miles water and some grass,
and alter 30 mules there was good forage all the
way. We took it-there was no grass for 50
miles and hut one spring a mile otl the road where
water could be had for the cattle; in short. We
were on the desert and drove the whole distance
without feeding oar cattle. and no water cx,ept NJ
the commencement Our train was the fourth
1T had taken that road and | counted ON the
last - .-l'sS. so oxen dead from exhaustion ON
the desert. lr, our "attle went through well
We then came toa large bo.hng spring which nj
gated about 20 acres of land. ana httle distance
below the spring the water became 81 enough
Tor the cattle To drink. We lay here ill most
night and then moved to better and moro grass :
miles beyond, where We lay over one day There
We had two 20 mile stretches Of desert to pass
without grass or water, that our no desert pro
S s V Is HI Gf ESt vi T:cT LIS tAFGY} s
lost their cattle, and had to abandon their wagon,
and pack through on foot. We now came 10 a
ttihe of very hostile Indians, like those we had
been with On the iIumboldt.-thcy are n tbjcyino
set; they would come near NJ night fall and eth.
er steal mules, horses, or cattle or shoot them
with arrow, 81 that they could not be taken alort,
and then come inanl get them aftcrthc eni -,rants
are gone. We keep strict guard and save ours.
We passed 500 miles among the Robbers. i'm fact
We ARE only two days beyond them. Some les
peratc encounters have been had between them
and the whites when in search of cattle or mules
Tor they fight well comered. but run if they can.
Yet have been in the mountains alone bv dav
and 10y night have slept alone when the VOL YES
have come bowling within two rods of me. and
nave met with no trouble whatever from either
Indians, robbers, or wolves; still il WAS n risk
ohe get, use! :" H. and have had no more fears
IN travelling alone, miles from any camD. than f
| had been on 4 publ, road at home We have
seen many things | cannot speak of now. but
have noticed them in my Journal At last we went
nortnwdrl tlii we met government train gong TO
'he humboldt with supplies for troops Eong, in.
ana rom them we learned that we shoud find "A
road lust opened across the mo,,n,,irs -, Me-
MIA but that our route wnuld NO nbon, aoo nj
farther than the one bv the old reaJ W. r,,s.o5
through coaoac twcnty.iyc nils Tbis i n
Chasm wide enough for the road, and sometimes
has considerable rrasS and wild oats r,ro,,,;n,, in !,
The country around is barren and rprycI Tho
mountain, impossible for wagons I'm, hero Pro
violence has opened this STRANGE mas With ,,er-
pendicular rock, 90 or 400 feet 6iyb an each I;Is
1t Is great curiosity. Before we reached tbc
pass we crossed the dry bed of n lake which was
twenty miles long and five miles wide. Whore
we crossed the mountains it was by no means diff
ticut we were only a little over nm hour in ,oin-
over and the hill is not any harder than m1nv
have crossed in Pennsylvania. ION the other side
we descended to the valy that led TO Goose Lake
which was salt and soda, the shores bcino lined
with carbonate Of soda for miles. few miles
below this we struck Pitch River the longest and
principal branch of the Sacramento. This we FOL.
lowed down through fine valley for n hundred
miles passing hill of pure carbonate Of mognc.
sia fifty feet high This was another great curi.
osy; for all that is required is to take ont LARGE
and beautiful blocks with perfect case. On lcay.
ing Pitch River we came into pine forests. some
of the trees 200 feet high; and we are now cross.
ing the mountains n hundred miles from I.,wso,,,s