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Show 221 road Valley and from Currant Summit i n the White Pine Range. In Railroad Valr ley Bean had met with Indians who informed him t h a t he was "on the borders of a great desert, between us and the S i e r r a Nevadas."5 No doubt, the Indians had described Ralston Valley, Death Valley, and the Great Amargosa Desert to Captain Bean. His own findings confirmed t h i s r e p o r t : "We took observations from the highest peaks on t h i s t r a c t of d e s e r t , which served t o strengthen our f a i t h in these statements," he explained t o Brigham Young. The so-called Johnson's Lake Country looked promising for a settlement. The weather was warm and conducive t o r a i s i n g a v a r i e t y of crops, and tbe soil and water were a l s o good. But the Indians there were so t h i c k and t h e i r grain and vegetables so s c a t t e r e d up and down the stream t h a t Dame thought i t "best not to move our camp t h e r e t h i s present season." Dame bad been ordered by Brigham Young "to c o n c i l i a t e the I n d i a n s . . .& exercise a s a l u t a r y influence over them." He knew he could not e s t a b l i s h a settlement in Pahranagat Valley without offending or possibly f i g h t i n g the Indians, even though they had offered free land to the Mormons. Dame admitted, however, that t h i s valley "seemed the only prospect west of our present l o c a t i o n , " in a l e t t e r w r i t t e n t o Young from Meadow Valley on May 26. After reviewing t h e i r e x p l o r a t i o n s , President Dame suggested t h a t they each choose a place t o s e t t l e and go t h e r e . President Barney proposed t h a t the colonel have the f i r s t pick, and accordingly, Dame chose Meadow Valley for his own men, Barney then chose Cave Springs for the twenty-eight Parowan and Cedar City men of Bean's exploring company t o be organized under Charles Hopkins of Cedar. This l e f t only Bean's company from Beaver u n s e t t l e d . Captain Bean announced his intention t o explore a range of mountains southeast of the Snake Creek farm and hopefully l o c a t e tbe seventeen Beaver City men a t some place suitable for cultivation in t h a t v i c i n i t y . Bean was looking a t the Wah Wah Range of western |