Burlington hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1845-185?, 1849-05-03
From the National IntsIlieencss ~ The l4sh.
COLONEL FREMONT A>D HIS PARTY

COLONEL fHEMONT xeD ms PARTY.
.dufkenfie Pariiculoys.-Leiters have
been received from Col. Fremont cover
ing The two months (from the last of Noe
vember 10 the "a Of February that he
was not heard Of, and giving terrible events
Of that time. They are written from Taos
and SAINTS Fe, New Mexico, and address
ed to Mrs Fremont, at Washington; and,
in her absence, (for Il was deemed proba-
Die that she might have set off to Califor-
MIA by sea before they arrived, to Senator
Benton, and in his absence, to William
Carey Jones, Esq. The letters came from
ST Louis last night, having been brought
10 that place BY Mr. St Vrsin.. Mrs Free
mont, fortunately, was gone; Senator Ben
ton had DELAYED his departure for Missou-
RI, confident that letters were onthe way
and in his hands we have seen the origi-
nails, and We propose TO give extracts in
the order oftheir dates. The FIRST isdated-
.TAos, Nsw Msx,co, Jaasav 81, ls4s
II write 10 you from the house Of our
good friend Carson. This morning cup
Of chocolate was brought to me while in
bed. To an overworn, overworked, fa-
tigued, and starving traveller, these little
laxnriss Of thu world offer, an interest
which in your comfortable home, It Is not
possible for you 10 conceive.
II have now the unpleasant task Of tell
ing you how | came here. | had much
rather speak Of the future, with plans
for which ! am already occupied for the
mind turns from the scenes have witness
ed and the sufferings we have endured
but "a clear information il due 10 you, and
10 your father still more, ! will give yon
the story now, instead Of waiting to tell il
10 yon in California; but ! write in The
great hope that you will not receive this
letter. When il reaches Washington you
may be on your way to California.
Former letters will have made yon acc
qnainted with our progress as far az Bent's
Fort, and, from report, you will have
heard the circumstance Of our departure
from the Upper Puebla, near the head Of
the Arkansas. We left that place on the
18th Of November with upward Of one
hundred good mules and one hundred and
thirty bushels Of shelled corn, intended to
support our animals in the deep SHOWS Of
the high mountains and down TO the lower
parts Of the Grand rivers tributaries,
where usually the snow forms no obstacle
to winter travelling. At Pueblo had EN-
gagged % guide an old trapper, well
known az 81 Bill Williams" and who had
spent some twenty years Of This life in
trapping in various parts Of the Rocky
Mountains.
aThe error Of our expedition was COM
mitted in engaging this man. He proved
never to have known, or entirely to have
forgotten, the whole country through
which we were TO pass. We occupied
(sfler. passing the mountain) more than
half montl, in making the progress OF .
few days, laundering along tortuous
course, through deep snow, which already
began to choke up the passes, and wasting
our time in searching the way. The ith
Of December we found ourselves at the
mouth Of the Rio del Norte canon, where
that river Issues from the Sierra San juan
lone Of the highest, most rugged, and
impracticable Of all the Rocky Mountain
ranges, inaccessible to troopers and hum
tiers, even in summer. Across the point
Of this elevated range our guide conducted
u and, having sill great confidence in
this mans knowledge, we pressed on
wards with fatal resolution. Even along
the river bottoms the snow was already
breast deep for the mules, and falling FREE
qnently in the valley and almost constants
" on the mountains. The cold was ex-
traordinary. At the warmest hours Of
the day (bstween one and two) the Their
momeier Fahrenheit stood, in the shade
Of tree trunk. ut zero; and that was .
favorable day. the sun shining and mod.
crate breeze. Judge Of the nights and
Ifihe storms!
1--WE pressed up towards the summit,
the snow deepening As We rose. and in
four Or Ave days Of this struggling and
climbing, oil on foot, we reached the nak-
ed ridges which lie shove the line Of the
timbered region, and which form the di-
yiding heights between the waters Of the
Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Along these
naked heights il storms I'll winter, and the
raging winds sweep across them with re-
morseless fury. On our first attempt to
cross We encountered 4 poudtrie--(dr
snow driven thick through the air BY vio-
/ lent wind. and in which objects are visible
only It short distance )-and wers dris-
q ~ oS,,. cesosApo efsAs car u csgasssfs.