OCR Text |
Show { 243] 10 1hirty-fi,·e yrars of a()"e ~ nnd, on inquiry, I lrmncd tlwt he had lH'en at St. J Jouis whc.n a bor i.~Hl there !tad !cam d the Frcnrh lan~un rre. From oneof tl 1e I ncl ian woil~cn I obtnitwd a fine cow nnd calf in exchange for a yoke of oxrn. evernl of thelll brought us vegct<1hles, pumpki11~, onions, brans, and lettuce. One of thrm brought. butter, and from a hnlf-hrerd twar the rirer l had the crood fortune to obtain some twenty or thirty pounds of collet'. ''The den ·c timl~r i~1 which we had encamprd int erfered with astronomicaL ohsctvations and our wet and dnn'fW('(I stOr<'S required exposure to the sun. l :-, . Accordingly the tents were struck rarly the next morn in~, and , lcnvtllg camp at six o'clock, w' moved about SC\' Cll miles 11p the river to a. hand 'omc, opc1 Prairie some twentv feet nbove the wat 'r where the fine grnss affordeu a. . ' luxut ious repast to our hor~es. . Durinrr the dny we oc upi<'<l ourselves in making astrononural ob~·rrva-tions, in order to lny dmn1 the countty to thi place, it hcing our custom to keep up our rnap regularly in the {ield, which we found altcn~l<~d with .m~ny ndvanl<1ges. 'l'he Jnl'll wer kept. busy in tlrying- the provtf:ton ·, pntntlll£.; the cart. co,·rr~, :11Hl othcrwi. e completing our equipage, until Llw af~crn.o?n, when powder was di tribut cd to th em, anil thry ~peul some ho11rs Ill fmngat n. mark. \Vc w re now fairly in th<' 1udi<ll1 country, n.ntl it began to b1~ time to prepnre for the rhn.nccs of the wild e nw.~. L~~·iduy, .hme li.- Tiw weather ye. ll'rclny had not pcrmitlct1 us to mt:ll~<~ the ohser\'ntions I Wl:\S desirous to ohtn.in hrrc, nnt1 I th r reforc d.id not mov<' to-day. Tllc people continued thl'ir targrt. lirin~·· In th steep hank of dH' river herr were nests of innlttncrahle swallows, into one of which a larg-e prairie snl:lke had got. <1hout half hi. body, and wa ~ o ·cupied in eating the young birds. 'rl1r old ones were 11ying n.hout in great distress, darting at him, and ,·ainly em1en,·oring to dri,·e him ofr. A shot. \VOliiHled hitn, and, being killed, he was cut open, atH1 eight een y<.Httlg swallows were found in Ins bocly. A suddrn storm that lnu~t upon us in the aft ernoon clc~Hcd away in a brilliant sunsf' t, followed by a cl{'nr nit.j·hl, which enahkd ns to dcterntine our po·ition in longitiiCJe m.>0 10' OG", atld i11 latitude 39° OG' .-1_0':. A patty of cmi~mnts to the Col111nhia river, unucr the charge of Dr. \V htt C', an nget.ll of t.hc ( ;m·ernm cnt in Orr~on 'f'crritory, werr about. thrre werks in ..advance of us. T'hey cotl :5i~Lccl of men, women, and chiltlren. There wcr<' sixty-funr men an(l sixtren or s 'ventecn fnmilies. They hnd a considcrnblenumber of cattle, nnd w n~ transporting th eir hou::;e ltoltl furniture in lnrgr~ heavy wagon '. lumler~too<l that th ere had h en 1\llt cb sickn 'SS among thenl, nnd thnL they hnd lost se\·e ral children. One of thn party who hlHl losl his chil<1, nnd who c wife was very ill, hncl left them about one hundreLlmile:-~ hence on the prairirs; nnd as a h11nter who hrul accompanircl them vi ited our camp thi evening, we availed oursel\'es of hi· return to the Btatcs to write to om friends. .The mon~ing of the l 1th was very unpl casn.nt. A fine rnin was fall ing-, wtth cold wmd ftom the north, and mist~ nwd the river hills look dark anu glo?n1y. \Vc It ft our camp at se\·cn, joutneying along the foot. of the hills w htch borc1cr the l{an as valley, rrenerall y about three miles wide, and extremely rirb. \Vc halted for dinn~r, after n march of about thirteen mil e1-l, o_n the hanks of one of the mnny litt le tributarie:t~ to the K;lnf'a:-;, which look ltk.e trenche8 1n. the prairie, nnl\ nrc usually well titnb<'rcd. After crossing th1s stream, I rode oif some mill'S to the left, nltrncteu by the appr:.uance o[ a cluster of huts ncar the mouth of theY nnillion. It wns n. lnr()"e h11l de. scrtct.l l{ansns village, scattered in an open wood along the matg in of the l , 27th CnNr.RE~s, ~3d sf)ssion .. • [ ENATE.J REPORT FROK I [ 243] TilE SECRETARX OF WAR, C'om.mun:ic;uing, in compliance 1n'th a resolution of the Senate, a copy o_f L1eut . .f.rcmoJlt's n-'port of hi'>· .E'xploring b'xpeditiou to the Rocky Jilowda tns. MAUCH 2, 1 tt :~. ReaJ, ami ordered to be printed 1\'l.A HC II 3, 1 4:~. ·Onlered, That niae hu.adrcd additio:1al copic3 be furo i . .,hed for the usc of the Senate and one hundred eoptcs fur tht u ·c of the T opographical Bureau. ' VVAR DEPARTMENT, March 2 1 43. SrR: In answer to the resolut.ion of the Senate of the United 'states of the 21st December last, requiring " the Secretary of \\'ar to send to theSenate a copy of Lie~t. Fremont's report of. his recent cxplorin1r expedition to tthc Rocky Moutltam .~ , mat.lc. under the dtrcction of the War Department," 'I respectfully tran nat hcrcwllh the report JUSt receiveJ from the Colonel of ~ the Corps of Topographical Engineers. Very re pectfully, your obedient servant, J. C. SPENCER. l!Jn. \r. P. MANGeM, ]>resident of tile Senate. B u REAt: OF' ToPoGRAPIIJCAL Et-- - ~EER ,, . W ASHI.NGTVN, JJ1arch 2, 1843. SrR.:. I have th~ honor to tm~1smit the report and map of an cxplorino• cxpedttton to the Rocky Mountmns, made during the last sumrner, unde~ .!~!e orders .of tl~e ~lepartm 'nt, b_y Lieut. J. C. Fremont, of the Corps of l opngraplucal EngmP.ers, and whtch \VU$ call d for by a resolution of the Senate of the 21 t of last D 'ccmber. Although so .much time h~s elapsed since the calling for the report, allow 1nc to sny that tl was not owmg to any want of industry on the part of Lieut. Fremont, but to the great nmount of r:•mtter which had to be introduc d in the report, and the many calculations which hall to be made of the astronomi: cal and barometrical ob.servations. 'l'he nccessnry labor on these accounts thas uclayed the completlOn of the report until to-duy. Very respectfully, sir, your obedient servant., l!or'3. J. C. SPPlNCi:R, J . J. ABERT, Colo"ol Corps of T()]Jographical Engineers . S~:cretar!J of JVar. |