Indiana American. [volume] (Brookville, Ind.) 1833-1861, 1856-08-01

lrVuafc~tIuM W EfcH kthRoom IN
Europe--was m unknown land--A
sealed book. which he longtd 10 open.
and 10 read, Leaving the frontier cI
Missouri In Nay. ioi3. and often al.
vergIng from bis route for tho sake OF
expandng hIs Geld OF observation. he
had arrived In tho lidc-waier region
Of Columbia In the month Of Novem-
ber; and had then completed the whole
servIce which his orders embraced.
ie might then have returned upon his
tracks. or been brought home BY sea.
or hunted the most pleasant path for
getting back; and II he had been a
routine officer. satisfied with fuldlling
IN order. he would have done so. Not
40 with tho young explorer who held
his diploma from Mature. and not IRON
the United States Military Aoade my I.
lie was at Fort Vancouver guest OF
the hospitsble DR.. Mclaughlin. Gov
ernor OF the British Hudson Bay Fur
Company; and obtained from him all
possible Information upon his Intended
line Of return faithfully given. bat
which proved 10 be disas,rously erro-
nsous In i.s leading and governing
feature. A southeast route to cross
the great unknown region diasonalIy
through iIs heart (making line from
the Lower Columbia to the Upper Col.
orado Of the Gulf OF California;. was
his line Of return. twenty-five men (lhe
Same who had come with him from
the United States and hundred hor.
ses, were his equipment; and the CON-
mencement Of Winter the time Of star
ting--all without a guide, relying up.
on their guns for support; and, in the
last resort. upon their horses--such as
should give ou,l for one that could car
ry man. or pack. could not be
spared for food.
| All the maps up TO that time had
shown this region traversed from east
to west--from the base OF The Rocky
Mountains to the Bay Of San Francis
co--by q great river called the Bxsna
Hsnfura: which may be translated.
the Good Chance. Governor McLaugh-
lin believed in the existence Of this riv-
er. and made out conjsctural manu-
script map to show its place and
course. Fremont believed in it. and
his plan was to reach It before the
dead Of Winter. and then hybernate
upon it,. As great river. he knew
that il must have some rich bottoms;
covered with wood aud grass. where
the wild animals would collect and
shelter. when the SHOWS and freezing
winds drove them from the plains: and
with these animals to live on. and
grass for tie horses, and wood for
ires, he expected to avoid suffering.
IL not to enjoy comfort. during his sol
ilary sojourn in that remote and pro.
found wilderness. lie proceeded
soon encountered deep SHOWS which
impeded progress upon the high lands
-descended into a low country to the
left (afterward known to be the Grea,
Basin. from which no water issues 10
any seal )--skirted an enormous chain
Of mountain on the right, luminous
with gllttering white snow-saw
strange Indians. who mostly fled
found desert-no Buena Ventura;
and death from cold and famine star,
ing him in the face. The failure to
End the river. of iidings or it. and the
possibility Of its existence seeming to
be forbid by the structure Of the coun-
try. and hybernation in the inhospita-
BILE desert being impossible. and the
question being that Of life and death,
come new plan OF conduct became in
dis,oensable. His celestial observa-
lions told him that be was in the lali.
tude OF the Bay Of San Francisco, and
only seven ty miles fromit. hut what
milesl up and down that snowy noun.
tain which the Indians told him no
men could cross id ihe Winter--which
would have snow upon it as deep as
the trses. and places where people
would slip of, and fall halt mile at
time-a fate which actually befell a
mule, packed with the precious bur-
den of botanical specimens. collected
along travel of two thousand miles.
No reward could induce an Indian to
become guide in the perilous adven-
ture OF crossing this mountain. All
recoiled and fled from the adventure.
1t was attempted without guide--in
the dead Of Winter---accomplished in
forty days-the men aud surviving
horses--a woful procession. crawling
along one by one; skeleton men lead
ing skeleton horses--and arriving at
Suffers Settlement in the beautiful val
ley of the Sacramento. and where a
genial warmth. and budding flowers.
and flowing streams, and comfortable
food, made fairy contrast with the
famine and freezing they had encoun-
tered and the lofty Sierra Nevada
which they had climbed. Here he
rested and recruited; and from this
point. and BY way Of Monterey, the
frst tidrngs were heard Of the party
since leaving Fort Vancouver.
s Another long progress to the south.
skirting the western base Of the Sierra
Nevada, made him acquainted with
the noble valley Of the San Joaquin.
counterpart to that Of the Sacramento;
when crossing through gap. and
turning to the left. he skirted the Great
Basin; and, BY many devia'ions from
the right line home. levied incessant
contributions to science from expand
ed lands, not described before. In
this eventiul exploration all the great
features of the western slope OF our
continent were brought TO light--the
Great Salt Lake, the Utah Lake, the
Little Salt Lake;at all which places,
then desert. the Mormons now are.-|
The Sierra Nevada, then solitary in
the snow. now crowded with Ameri.
cans digging gold from its aapks; the
beautiful valleys Of the Sacramento
and San Joaquin, then alive with wild
horses. elk. deer. and wild fowls. now
smiling with American cultivation; the
Great Basin itself and its contents; the
Three Parks; the approximation OF
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