The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1850-02-09


pistol IN this long Earruw cavern and the re-
port was louder than that of u musket At
length finding juttins in the rocks clambercd
UP and found myself near the trains and .he road
and that the clasm eXteodrd quite through the
mountains To the foot oi the hJil which the wag
gons d.sccnded 50 shat had kept on little far
ther ! should have came ont on the valley or @Ha
non below IT was ia fact the ,n-' end of high
rock cannon And now our roai wy through a
cannon the most singular O, any have sccn--
High volcanic rocks go or 500 feet hlga on each
side, and IN places SO narrow that there WAS but
little more than room for two wagoas 20 pass, 7nd
then there were occasional opening "i several r.
cres aitOrding abundance Of excellent grass, A
mile or two from our entrance We came to a ua'
sin or opening Of = couple oi miles across, aud
tAcn j, closed again with higher rocks than before.
Twelve miles from our camp Of Yesterday, We
came suddenly upon an opening oi iorty or fifty
acres Of the most nutritious grass, and plenty Of
good water and with most Of the other trains, We
laid up Half mile before we reached orr
ground, where the rocks were 500 feet high We
saw a cave twenty-five feet long b. twelve wide
and ten high. which evidently was the abode Of
several families but they had not waited TO give
US welcome, probably having taken better 1t.
ing to our cattle than To US.
This cannon seemed TO be a favOr,te haunt, for
there We're numerous holes in the rocks where
they had lived and from this circumstance we
called it Digger town. The night before our ard
val they had made an attempt to steal cattle Of a
tram cncamped there, but a couple Of vOlle> fred
at them frightened them of Distance 10 mile,
Aug. 2l.-We pursued our way through the
cannon, finding n smooth road Hll the way, with
plenty Of good grass, and wild cats higher than
my head Occasionally narrow side cdruoDS CON
ncctcl with the main one, and one especially re-
markahe, having higher walls than any other, r.
bout fifteen or twenty feet wide, which led 20 an
other valley a mile distant. | ascertancd this
fact by climbing high craggy burnt cliff, ia com
pany with Fredenburg and Mcneil and tracing it
in diagonal direction troni the road. This por-
ton of the country is indeed singular 1t looks as
if some mighty convulsion had broken it up form
ing chasms, forcing up rock in almost melted
state, burning portions of limestone hills white,
and covering the tops Of the mountains with black
glass melted quartz or debris resembling such a
formation and what is strange, leaving passages
in the depths below Of smooth level ground, wide
enough for IN excellent. though narraw road, TO
thread the varying and intricate passage Of the
mountains, with an occasional opening for grass
and water
Such is the wisdom and power Of the Almiyh-
ty-From the top of the mountain we had an eX.
tended view over barren sage table plat, sprin-
kled with volcanic deDri-, and found the coun-
try broken by ruvines hills and cannons We
saw in our ramble many foot prints OF mountain
sheep, but no game excep, rsttlesnase that paid
the forfeit Of his life by showing his head We
cauIpcl about q mile from the mouth Of the can
noL distance l2 miles
AIg 22-We left early and drove to m excel.
lent cnmp where the cannon opened on small
basin two miles long, where we got our breakfast,
and then entered the cannon again, which We
found somewhat rough, with stream crossing the
road many times. A. We emerged from this we
met an Oregon train going with supplies to meet
the troops on their way behind US II WAS strange
for u, 10 meet train going in all opposite dreC-
,ion, and We mutually stopped to make enquiries
We here learned what gave Us much pleasure
that we should fini Il road leading from Grove
Lake 10 Feather River, which would be opened
by the time we reached il, and that this was the
best way for entering California, as the passage OF
the Sierra was by no means difficult, and that
there was plenty of forage for the cattle all the
way. lhl. ended our doubts anl pcrplexity, and
lightencd many a heart of heavy load, and eS
pecially on leaning that We were only an hundred
miles from the digyins. After exchanging mu,u
al cyt,e- we parted. After emerging from the
cannon we came to an open country Of sage plan
with occasional strips Uf grass and ten mil,
drive brought Us to water, where we RENAME,
for the rest of the dav on learning that the mex
was stretch of fifteen miles without water.
dug 2S-Wc passed the plain, barren and IN
interesting as usual. ] walked with Col. Natkin
who has become our travelling companion
and in h.s intellectual company the time passc,
agrCe.Jly. Twelve miles brought us to a muddy
salt pond, five on sN miles in circumference an,
/ 4, 6 10 1 L
long wished for Sierra Nevada Turning an an
gle from \ W to n. T. around the end Of the
pond, We entered the Little mountain pass in .
y ". dirr,.to and found good camp after
drive Of fifteen To Is miles,
The mountains begin To assume more bold ant
Interesting features and in two or three days W,
shall have passed the summit Cedars begin t,
appear which unport agreeable sensations a!t2
travelling 500 miles over sage an! grease woJa
pHins, The weather Is Rot so excessively warm
and the nights are 50 cold that we hardly s!reI
comfortable with the covering we have. hlr
Watson, uf the Missouri train, who is travcl,u.
with us sian Uttered COW, AMI for the first tia,
since leaving the Missouri, our camp was r'gUlc,
with fresh beef Ihi, wa, poor enough, bLl ",
like to have surfctcd. Distance lsmiles.
Au7 2l-Our road continued through the pas,
for five or six miles when We came To a hlrrer
valley plain which cuutiuUcd over n stony, halD
road To warm spring another oasis, about hrtccr
miles from our previous night camp and in clos,
proximity to the Sierra Nevada. The mountain,
now assume n bold outline. and We begin to dis
cover snow on some Of the highcs, peaks and tht
air feels like that OF Autumn. The Sierra how
ever /, not ns prominent ~ / expected to see it
yet we are evidently approaching amore conuUc
ted anl mountainous region whicl, to us is til,
prelude of tie end If our lon; travel The tw,
horses belonging To Mr. Watson which were woun
dcd by the Indians south Of Nigh Rock caapoa
finally died here. Could they have kept quic
and properly mrsed, they would have probabl,
recovered. Distance 10 miles.
= AWg, 25.-Ihc Sierra Nevada, the snowy noun
tain, SO long wished for and vet So long dreaded
We are at It's base, and our UntiGpatous are no
realized with regard TO its gigantic proportions
A drive Of Is miles brought us to y tine grass
plot on the west side Of the dry bed ol Il lak
twenty miles long by five broad by Estimation
! The grass was So good that the company concu
dcd to halt till three o'clock, and then drive 10 th
pass, distant eight miles to oncamp for night
availed mysclfof the opportunity to make an eS
!, cursion into the mountain, and being joined b
two men OF another tram we began to ascend
/ In our passage we found abundance of wild re
( rlums, growing on dwarf bushes from twelve I
"A L x tnrhpa hirh and wild blnrl ,hprripg nm La,