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Show [ 174 J 270 by finding at evening a halting plac? of ~ery good gras& on the clear waters of the Santa Clara fork of the Rw Vlrgen. May 11.-ThtJ morning w~s cloudy . and quite cool, wit.h a shower of rain-the first we have had su1ce entenng tl.1~ desert,. a penod of twenty. seven days; and we seem to ha.ve entered a dtfierent clunate, with the usual weather of the Rocky 1nonntams. Our march to-day was very laborious over very broken groulld, along the Sauta Clara river; but then tbe conn: try is no longer so distressing! y desolate. The stream is prettily wooded with sweet cottonwood trees -some of tbetn of large size; and on the hills where the unt pine i often seen, a goou and wholesome grass occurs fre: qucntly. This cottonwood, which is now in fruit~ is of a difl'ercnl pecies from any in lVliahanx's Sylva. Ileavy dark cl0nds covered the sky in the eveniug, aud a cold wind sprang up, trlJ.king fires and overcoats comfortahle. Ma.1J 12.-A little above our encampment, the river forked ; and we con. tinued np the rigllt .hand branch, gradually ascending towards the summit of the mountain. As we rose towards tlle head of the creek, the snowy mountain on our right showed out handsomely-high and rugaed with precipices, and covereu with snow for about two thousand feet fr~m their summits down. Our animals were somewhat repaid for their hard marches by au excellent camping ground on the summit of the rid,.,.e, which forms here the dividing chain between the waters of the Rio V'i,.gen, which goes south l? the Colorado, and t.hosu of Sevie~ river, flo wing northwardly, and belougmg to the Great 13asm. vV e cousJdcrcd ourselves as crossitJO' the rim of the basin; a11d, entering it at this point, we found. here an c~ten· si v? nwuntain meadow, rich in bunch gra s, aud frrsh with numerous ~pnngs of clear water, all refreshing a11u delightful to lol)k npou. It was, 1n fact, that la~ vt.:gas d~ Santa Clara, which had been so long prescuted to us as the tenmnatmg pomt of the desert and where the anu ual caravan from California to New 1\ Texico l1alted ~nd recruited for some weeks. It was a very suitable place to r~cover from the fatio·ue anu exhaustion of a month's sn ffering iu the lwt and sterile desert. Tl1e meadow was about a m~le wiue, ancl son1e ten ~1~iles long, bordered by grassy hills and moun· tallls-son1e of the latter nswg two thousand feet, aud white with snow do:vn lo the level of.the vegas. Its elevation al:Jovc tlJe sea was 5,280 feet; lat1t lH.le, by observatwn, 37° 28' 28 '' · aud its distance from where we first stl'uck the Spanish trail abont four Iu{udred miles. Countiug from the time \Ve re.acheJ t~lC desert, and began to skirt, at our descent from vValker's Pas Hl the SlCt.-ra. Nev~da, \V? bad travelled 550 1nilcs, occupying twcn· ty-scven Jays, In that mhospttable regio n. In passing before the great ~aravat~, ~ve had the advan.tage of finding more grass, but tlw disadvantage of ?tHllu.b. also the maraudmg savages, who had gathered down upon the tra1.1, wa1t1u~ the appro.nch of that prey. This greatly increased our labors. bes1dcs costmg us tile llfc of an excellent man. \Ye had to move all day in a state of '~~t~h, and prepared for combat-scouts and flau kers out, a front and rear dlVl~lOll of our men, and bagaacrc animals in the centre. At uight, camp t1 t , ..... ::;, t> n Y was severe. 1 hose \VlJo had toil ed all d·ty hau to guard by turns, the camp and the horses all night. Fret1Ue11tly ;11:-thirc.l of the whole part Yk were 011 guard at once ; aud nothi11g but this vioilance saved us from attac · \Ve were coustauny dogged by band and ev~n wllole tribes of the marauders· and altl1 h 1~ b · ' · d · 1 ' . oug a eau was kllled, auu our camp wfestf'u au ltl· su ted by sonle, wlule swanns of tb em renw ined on the hills and mountain 271 [ 174 J 'd there was manifestly a consultation and calculation going on, to decide 5~ cs, estion of attacking us. !laving reac.hed the resting place of the f/·et e ~1 Santa Clara, we had complete rehef from the heat and privations ~r:h/uesort, and som~ relaxation from the severity of camp duty. Some I atl.on and relaxatiOn only-for camp guards, horse guards, and scout raer ea xin dispe' nsable from t 11 e ti· me o f l eavm· g t l1 e f ronll·c rs o f l\1l.S SO tHI· until we return to them. After we left the Vegas, we had the gratification to be joined by the fa. us hunter and trapper, Mr. Joseph Walker, whom I have before meH~~ 1cd, aud who now beca~n~ our. guide. I~e had left Califor~lia with the reat caravan; and percctvmg, !rom t~10 s1gns alon~ the trml, that th.rre ~as a party of whites ah~ad, .winch he JUdge~ to be mwe, he d .tached hnn-. self from the caravan~ ~1th e1ght men, (~mencan~,) and ran the gauntlet of the desert robbers, lnllm~ two, and ge.ttmg som~ of the horse wounded, and succeeded in overtalnng us. Nothwg. but }us great k.nowleugP of the country, great courage and prese~ce of mlllu, _and good niles, could have bronaht him safe from such a perilous enterpnse. M~y 13.-We remained oue daY: at this noted place of l_'est ~nd refreshment; and, resuming our progress 111 a nortl~eas~wa:dly d1rectt~n, .we descended into a broau valley, the water of whteh IS tnbutary to Sevte_r lake. The next day we came in sight of the '~ah-satch range of monntc.uns on the right, white with snow, and here fornnn~ the southeast part of the Great Basin. Sevier lake, upon the waters of whteh we .now wer~, belonge,c.l to the system of lakes in the eastern part of the na m-of whtcl~, t~1e (,reat Salt lake, and its sout bern limb, the Utah lake, 'vere the J>rlllctpal-towards the rcoion of which we were now approaching. \Ye travclleu fo r several days in this direction, within the ri.m of the Great ~a in, c~·ossing little streams which bore to the left for Sev10r lake; anc.l plamly seemg, by the changed aspect of the country~ that we we.re entirely clear of the desert and approachilw the reo-ions which appertamed to th sy tem of the Rocky mountains. W~ 1net, fn this t~averse, a few 1nonnted Utah Indian . in advance of their main body watch1n0" the approach of the great caravan. May 16.-'iVe reached a s~all salt l.~ke, about seven miles lo~1g andr ?u.e broad, at the northern extrenuty of w luch we encamped for t.he mgl.lt. J lus little lake which well n1erits its characteristic name, hes tmmedmtely at the base ~f the Wah-satch range, and nearly opposite a gap in ~hat cha~n of mountains through which the Spanish trail pa.sses; and. winch, agatn falling upon the waters of the Colorado, and crossmg thn t nvcr, proceeds over a mountainous country to Santa Fe. . . May 17.-After 440 miles of truvelliug on a tr.atl , wlnch se~·ved for a road, we again found ourselves under the necessity of explonng a track through the wilderness. The Spanish rail had borne off to the sou thea t, crossing the Wah-satch range. Our course .led to the northeast., along the foot of that range, and lGaving it on th~ nght. .. The monntam present.ed itself to us under the form of several ndges, nswg one above ~he othet, rocky, and wooded with pine and cedar; the last ridge covered wtth sno~ · Se~ier river, flowing northwardly to the lake of the am.c nmne, collects It pnncipal waters from this section of the Wah-satch .chain: We had now enter.ed a region of great pastoral promise, ubounchng w tt.h ~ne streams, the rtch bunch o-rass soil that would produce wheat, and md1genons flax ~rowing as if itbhad 'been sown. Consistent with the ~eneral character of lts bordering mountains, this fertility of soil and vegetat10n does not extend |
