Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1856-07-09

Gus but interesting labors Of the field, collect
ing information, making surveys, observations,
&c, and during the last half in digeStng and
arranging the matter collected, and in prepar-
ing an accurate and valuable map of the coun-
try. He had now added practice to theory,
and experience to enthusiasm and love of ad-
venture. lie had prepared himself for those
great and wonderful expeditions and scientific
researches by which he has since acquired i'm
pcrishable renoWn.
The first of these expeditions he made in
1S43, under the authority of the United States,
At the head of small party of frontiersmen,
he entered the wilds west of Missouri and
Iowa, and pursued his course to the Rocky
Mountains. The main object of his expedi-
tion was to discover and explore more prac-
ticable route over them than was then known.
In this he was completely successful; and the
comparative ease with which thousands of
pilgrims to the golden shrine Of California
have passed in safety through the mountain
barrier, ,tcstifes to the correctness of his judg
ment in pointing out the South Pass as the
proper place, and to the care and skill with
which he explored and laid down the route
Upon his return, he prepared report replete
with the most valuable information, not only
respecting the geography of the country thro'
which he had passed, but also in relation to its
climate, to its geological characteristics, to
the principle points of its military susceptible
| tiles, locations for forts, &c., to its mineral
wealth, to its rich grasses and its beautiful
| flowers-contributions in short new and valua-
bic to almost every department of science
| This report was printed by the Senate of the
| United States, and has since been translated
into various foreign languages, attracting at
tention and admiration from the learned in ey-
cry quarter of the globe.
| With men of Fremont's energy and enthu-
SiaSm, success acts merely as stimulant to
further cxertion. AS soon therefore as one
| expedition is concluded, we find him planning
another more extensive and more hazardous.
| In the spring of 1913, he started upon his
/ grand expedition, which has gained for him
self the gratitude of the votaries of science
| gold-bearing region Of the west. His orders
! directed him to cooperate with the naval ex-
| plorIng expedition under Wilkes, in making a
scientific examination of the basin of the Co.
! lumbia River, the upper districts being allot-
| ted to him, and the tide-water regions to
| Wilkes. In May he left the frontiers of Mis-
souri,, and scaling the mountains south of the
! South Pass, followed the wirdings of Bear
| River, until, in September, he arrived at the
| Great Salt Lake. Despite the warnings of the
| Indians, who imagined, that as the lake had no
outlet for it's waters; great whirlpool must
| ~ fbo bo Nd
trusted themselves upon its waters in frail
boat of Iudia-rubbcr cloth, and spent night
! upon one OF its islands, where, doubtless, foot
of man had never trod before. Upon the
! shores of this inland sea, the poor dclGdcd
| Mormons, driven by violence from their hard
earned possessions in Illinois, established their
city Of refuge, about four years after the visit
| of the gallant Fremont After occupying a.
! bout week in making such partial eXplora-
tion of this strange and interesting region as
| the lateness of the season would permit, our
explorers pursued their course through Ore
! gon, making the observations directed by the
| government orders, land inNovembcr arrived at
| Fort Vancouver, the goal of their journey
! The active mind of Fremont could not endure
| the thought of returning upon the same track.
| He determined to seek new scenes and
discoveries through the vest region to the
south of him, of which fable had told such
wonders, but where civilized man had never
penetrated, and of which the only sources of
knowledge heretofore had been the wild and
romantic but often contradictory stories of the
Utah and his kindred races, and of the half
blood hunters who frequented Fort Hall.
Our adventurers, twenty five in number, ac-
cordingly plunged without hesitation into the
Wilderness. They feared not. The men had
| confidence in Fremont, and he, under God,
had confidence in himself. Nothing, perhaps,
| shows more clearly the varied powers OF his
mind, and his fertility in resources, than the
success Of this expedition, undertaken at the
approach, and executed in the depth of win
| ter. OF the sway which he exercised over the
minds of his men, we need no better evidence
/ than the fact that they bore all the trials, the
| sufferingS, and the hazards of this winter jour
ney, almost without a murmur. For nine
months the little band and its noble leader
were unheard of by their friends. Many q
| heart ached with doubt, and many lip paled
with apprehension for the fate of a husband, a
| brother, or a son, thus daring unknown perils.
| At length the news of their safety, and OF
their glorious achievements, sent thrill Of
JOY through the hearts, not only of their i'm
mediate relatives, but also of the whole ma
ton. Three thousand five hundred miles had
the weary wayfarers travelled. They had eros
sed the mighty, snowy Sierra, they had ex-
piored the wonderful valley through which roll
the golden foods Of the Sacramento and the