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Show 560 Ex. Doc. No. 41. IJctht. At ~an Philippi I met one of my express men, wl~o hac~ rctt~ rned, acc ord ing to instruction , to guide me. Though duect 1rom San Diego lle brouaht neither orders nor new . I encamped that ~igh t near' the um n~it of the beau ti fu l ))ass, overlooki~ g the va 11 ey of Agua Calienta. On the 21 . t day of Janu:n~, I arrn·ecl and en( amp e d at Warn c r' s r a n cl1 e ; t h e v e r y day , as 1 t h a p pen e d , I h ad promised, in my lct~er of Deeember 27. . This was sevl·n mile ofT the roau to San Dtego; but I had re"~ ')lved ' the niba ht before, to march fo r the Pueblo de los Ange. les, where the enemy had con ce ntrated, unless T met ~rd ers or. tres.h !nformation. That. which 1 had, placed your forces .. approachmg It on the south, and Lieutenant Colonel Fremont' ... from the north. ' Thus I shou ld advance from the east, and from the only pass leading t~ Son o r_a. J l1 al ted at Warner's the 22d? to rest and ref ;~sh my men , b e 1 o r c co m m en c In g, as I hop e d , a c tt \' e o p era t 10 n s. I he day was r e q u i red , i n fa ~ t, to obtain b e e f cat t I~ , an d t o co 11 e c t t 1.1 e 11ew mule , many of whi ch had escaped to their wonted pastures In that Yicinity. On the 23d, I marched 18 miles, on the road l') l)ueblo. That night we were exposed to a drenching rain, and a wind storm, which prostrated e\'ery tent. 1'he storm co ntinued the next day; I, however, m arch e d , o Y e r a ,. e r y b a cl r o a d , t h r e e o r four mil e s, t o m o r e .... he l tercd ground, and better g ra s for the ani mal s. (A mountain 1orrcnt in front would have forbidden further progress.) On the 25th, I marched into the Temecala va11ey, and encamped 10ur days' march from Pueblo. There I received a lett er, written by your orders, which had followed me by Warner's. From this letter I could infer that hosti lities were suspended, and that I was l'Xpected at San Diego. According 1 y, next morning, I 1 eft the valley, by a Ycry difiicult outlet, and , descending into that of the San Luis , fell into the road leading from Pueblo de los Angeles. At San Luis Hey I receiveu your instructions, by express, i.O march to San Diego mission, and there take post. I arrived there, by a Yery bad · ro~s·roacl, on the 29th of January, and the same evening rt:ported to you, in person, at San Diego. This march from Santa Fe has extended, by my daily estimate, to 1,125 mil es. It has been made in one hundred and two days, in fourteen of \vhich no man:h was made; so that the marching days a vera ge slightly I ess than tl1irteen m i] es. The rest (I a y s h ,, ve been very nearly one in ·seven. It is believed, by many who have ex pcrien~e, that th c week 1 y day. of rest is advisable on a ] ong march, even for spectl. In lookmg back, I find that the ha]f of mine were unavoidable detention:. I made, also, some twelve marches of less than nine miles, in consequence of extraordinary bad roau, or the delays of road making, over difficult ground; and also the necessity, at times, of accommodating the marches and c~mps to inconvenient watering plaees. If I had continued on the most direct route to San Diego, the distance would have been rather nnuer 1100 miles, (about 1800 miles from Independence, Missouri, by Santa Fe.) The constant tenor of your letters of instruction made it almost , Ex. Doc. No. 41. 561 a point of ho~or to ?ring wagons through to the Pacific; and so I was retarded In mak1ng and finding a road for them. From this roau,. any that may follow will have various advantages. The breakrng the track, often through thiekets of mezqurte and other thorny bushes, although worked on by pioneers, was so labor:ous I that I habitually relieved the front wagons about every hour; but a team on a firm.' open pnurte, labors much Jess, if on a beaten track. Much of the <l!llicuil groun d on the Gila, consisting of light porous clay, become~ a good beaten road. My journal and sketch indicate s?me pomts where the. road may .be shortened; but, between I ~he OJo de Vaca and the pornt of leaving the San Pedro river, it IS probable tl:at bctwee_n 80 and 100 miles may be saved, and some bad road avo1de~l. It .lS only necessary for a small experienced party, well prov 1d ed w t t~ ~at cr, ( wi t.h In dian g uid es, if practicable,) '.o expl.ore the pra1nc, and discover the watering places. The dHect distance IS about 160 miles . . The worst road is on the Rio Grande, opposite the upper and middle .part of the Jornada del Muerto. It may probably be avoided ?Y coming th e J?rnada road half way down or more, and then cross~ ng to the wes.t s tel e. I hav_e reason to believe that there are gaps In the mountains, and oppostte where my road becomes good. This ass~mes that the great highway wiJI pass ai far north as Santa Fe, whtch may not be the case . The country from the Rio Grande to Tueson is covered with Wg~ianmtear . grass, on which animals, moderately worked, will fatten in An emigrant company may leave Independence Missouri from June. 10, to late in August, or Van nuren, Arkansa~, later. It will substst a. short time on buffaloes, and be able to lay up much of the meat, dned or salted. In New Mexico, it may rest make repairs an~ ob~ain supplie~-particularly of mules, sheep: and cattle~ wh~eh, In that grazrng count~y, will be found cheap; it may pass ~hrough. sett!ements for 250 miles; and they will be much extended sIun btdhuee dn.c h nver bottoms to the south, when the Indiaas ·shall be I brought to California both beeves and sheep· the latter did pertJa ps, the best, requiring little water; they gave 'no trou b] e. tw~ or tht:ee m~n can guard and _drive a thousa~d. At Tueson, 'or at the P1mo VIllages, fresh supplies may be obtamed. The Pimos and Maracopas, 15 ?r 20,000 in number, wonderfully honest and friendly to strangers, ra1se corn and wheat, which they grind and sell cheaply for ble~ched domestics, summer clothing of all sorts, showy cotton hand kerchiefs, and white beads.. They also have a few mules and cattle. I gave them some breeding sheep. Oxen will not do well for d~aught, their feet become tender; and west of the Pimos their food Is not found sufficient or suitable; mules require no sh~es· I ·cached a large quantity on the Gila, having used none. ' · .Undo~btedly, the fine bottom land of the Colorado, if not of the -Gila,. will. soon be settled; then all difficulty will be removed. The crossmg Is about 100 miles from the mouth, and about 60 above 36 |