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Show 126 Mexican War days. The expedition was as well equipped as it was officered. With all its elements combined, the company possessed dozens of heavy wagons, farming implements, and seeds of every kind. It would not be long before they would have to accommodate the people of Salt Lake, and they knew the seeds would have to be in the ground at the earliest opportunity. At last the expedition was underway. Bean pulled his force out of Cedar Springs on April 3> as planned, and commenced a northwest march across Pavant Valley tward the Sevier River, twenty-five miles away. This trek took the companies north of Clear Lake and onto the Sevier Desert. The river was intersected near the site of present-day Deseret, Utah. The stream was difficult to cross at this point, having been swollen by the run-off from the recent heavy storms, and the quicksand along its banks was treacherous. But the two companies found a ford and followed the river downstream along the north bank to where it makes its southern bend to enter Sevier Lake. The land that lay before them was a most barren stretch of desert waste. The soil here was sandy with patches of alkali. Vegetation was extremely sparse and consisted mainly of scrubby sage brush. In places there was no vegetation at all. The expedition was in the vicinity of Soap Wash, normally a dry stream bed, but with the heavy storms of late it may have been wet and perhaps flowing some. The wash offers drainage to the House Range, twenty-five miles to the northwest, descending a gentle incline toward the Sevier River. Near the confluence of the two water courses, Bean turned the expedition 25 to the northwest, following up Soap Wash toward a pass in the House Range. ' This range, known to the explorers as West Mountain Range, ° was a formidable barrier. Its near perpendicular cliffs could be crossed in only a few places. Bean chose to make the ascent at Dome Canyon Pass, which bad also been Evans's choice |
