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Show CHAPTER IX A HUNGRY INDIAN By May 3rd Colonel Dame had completed his survey of Meadow Valley, so far the brightest spot of his own explorations. That morning he moved his company up to Bennett's Springs, eleven miles west, and camped. John Kay, one of the party, caused some worry in camp when he failed to arrive. While attempting another course, he became lost. Dame sent out some Indians with food and water for him, but Kay soon wandered into camp from another direction. Bennett's Springs, named for Asahel Bennett, were situated near the summit of Bennett Pass, a divide between Meadow Valley and the sterile Dry Lake Valley. Although these two large springs were slightly warm, they were considered sufficient to water up to ten acres of ground, and they were near plenty of good bunch grass and cedar for fuel. Dame and Martineau proceeded to the summit of the pass where Martineau made observations with Dame's surveying compass. Looking west and a little north the colonel saw what he believed he had been looking for. At a distance estimated to be about 125 miles, they could see a majestic, snowcapped range which Colonel Dame pronounced to be the White Mountains. What the men were looking at were the 10,000 foot Grant and Quinn Canyon Ranges, in reality only sixty miles away. To Dame it appeared that the desired refuge lay dead ahead. These high, snowy mountains must certaily contain the elements of life-water, grass, and fuel. Even the harsh desert which lay between them and the mountains seemed to be in perfect harmony with the prophet's defense plans-a desert that 172 |