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Show 162 cutoff described to him by Ward, and his enthusiasm apparently wore off on the others. Near present-day Newcastle, Utah, almost the entire wagon train abandoned Hunt as their guide and struck west toward Walker Pass. Most of the company eventually turned back, but some, like Asahel Bennett, continued the now-famous struggle across the desert, with many dying in the attempt. Ward, who seems to have been everywhere that year, was met by Thomas Forsyth, another well-known mountain man, near Bent's Fort on the Arkansas River the same fall. By the time Forsyth reached St. Louis, it was apparent that Ward had discussed geography with him. • Forsyth reported to the St. Louis Republican of December 4 that "the Mormons have discovered a route occupying only some twenty or thirty days to cross the desert and Sierra Nevada, on which 29 there is an abundance of wood and water at every stage, and easy of crossing." Ward returned from the Arkansas River in time to meet the exploring party of Parley P. Pratt in December. Pratt had been ordered to explore southern Utah by Brigham Young with the aim of locating settlement sites. Ward was encountered on the Sevier River with Wakara, the Utah chief. Again Barney Ward freely discussed the geography of the region with the Mormons.•* What did this mountain man's opinions have to do with the White Mountain Expedition? Simply that Brigham Young's conception of the Great Basin geography was forged by the influences he came in contact with. Barney Ward, as previously stated, became an intimate friend of Brigham Young. Ward was obviously of the opinion that the central valleys of the Basin were well watered and well stocked with wood and grass. That Ward had actually been over this route, as he claimed, is subject to doubt. While the similarity between the views of Young and Ward is admittedly based on circumstantial evidence, it cannot be denied that the prophet had great faith in the man. Brigham Young frequently employed him as an inter- |