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Show [ 174 J 196 The can1p ,vas now occup~ed in making the necessary preparations for our homeward journey, whtch, though ho1ncward, contemplated a new route, and a great circuit to the south and sout~east, and th~ exploration of the Great Basin between t~1e ~ocky tnountams and the Szerru N~vada. Three principal objects were u~dteated, by re,rort or. by maps, as bc.mg on this route; the character or extstencc o[ wh1~h I Wished to ~scerta1~, and which 1 assnmed as landmarks, or leadmg pomls, on the proJccte<llme of return. The first of these poi1~ts was ~he Ttamath lake, on th~ table land between the head of Fall nvcr, whtch con1es to the Columbta, and the Sacramento which goes to the bay of San Francisco ; and from whirh lake a river of' the same nan1e makes its way we. twarclly direct to the ocean. This lake and river a.rc often called /{la?net, but I have chosen to \Vrite its name according to the Indian pronunciation. The position of this lake on the line of inland commnBication between Oregon and Cali· fornia; i~s proximity to the demarcation boundary of latitude 42°; its im· puted double character of lake, o~· meadow, accor~ing to the sea.so~ of the year ; and the h?stile a~d warhl~e chara~t?r attnbutc~ to the Ind1a~s about it-all made It a desirable obJect to VlStt and examme. From thts lake our course was intended to be about southeast, to a reported lake called Mary's, at some days' journey in the Great Basin; and thence, still on southeast to the reputed Buenaventu'ra river, which has had a place in so many 1~aps, and countenanced tho belief of the existence of a g.reat river flowing from the Rocky n1ountains to the bay of San Franct~co. From the Hnenaventura the next point was iutended to be in that sect10n of the Rocky mountains which includes the heads of Arkansas river, and of the opposite waters of th'e Californian gulf; aud thence down the Ar· kansas to Bent's fort, and home. This was our projected line of retnr~a great part of it absolutely new to geographical, botanical, aud geologteal science-and the subject of reports in relation to lakes, rivers,. des~r!s, and savages hardly above the condition of mere wild animals, wh1ch wflamed desire to know what this terra incognita really contained. It was a se· rious enterprise, at the commencement of wiuter, to undertake the traverse of such a region, and with a party consisting only of twP.nty-fi~e pers?ns, and they of many nations-American, French, German, Canadtan,Indtan, aud colored -and most of them young, several being under twenty-on~ years of age. All knew that a strange country w·as to be explored, an dangers and hardships to be encountered ; but no one blenched at the pros· pect. On the contrary, courage and confidence animated the who~e partj: Cheerfulness, readiness, subordination, prompt obedience, charactenzed a~, nor did any extremity of f1eril and privation, to which we were afterwar 8 exposed, ever belie, or derogate from, the fine spirit of this brave and g~n; erous commencement. The course of the narrative will show at w a point, and for what reasons, we were prevented from the comp~ete ex~c~ tion of this plan, after having made considerable progress upon tt, and (: r 've were forced by desert plains and mountain ranges, and deep snows, af to the south and ncar to the Pacific ocean, and along the western 1bas~. 0 the Sierra Nevada; where indeed a new and ample field of exp ora.100 opened itself before us. For the present ,ve must follow the narratl:t8~ which will first lead us south along the v;lley of Fall river, and. the 0~aits ern base of the Cascade range to the TJamath lake, from which, ther margin, three rivers go in three' directions-one west, to the ocean; aoo north, to the Columbia; the third south, to Cal iforaia. 197 [ 174 ] For the support of the party, I had provided .at. Vanc?n~er a supply of rovisions for not less than three mo11ths, conststmg pt:mcipa~ly of Ilo~r, ~eas, and tallow-the latt~r .being used in .cool~ing; and, 111 ~dd1t10n to th1s, 1 had purchased at the m1sswn some Cahfon11a cattle, \vlnch were to be driven on the hoof. We had 104 ffi:nl~s anu horses-part of the latter ~rocured from the Indians about the nusswn; and for the sustenance ofwluch, our reliance wns upon the grass which we should find, and the soft porous wood which was to be its suhstitnte when there ~as none. . M/ Fitzpatrick, with .I.Vlr. Talbot and the remamder of o~r party, arnved on the 21st· and the camp was now closely engaged 1n the labor of preparation. Mr. Perkins succeeded in obtaining as a guide to the Tlamath lake t.wo Indians-one of whom had been there, and bore the mark!S of several wounds he had received from some of the Indians in the Ilcighborhood · and the other went along for company. In order to enable us to obtai;1 horses, he despatched messengers to the vari.ous Indian villages in the neighborhood, informing thern that we were desuous to purchase, and appointing a day for thetn to bring them iu. . . . . . We made, in the mean time, several excursiOns .m the VICll1l~Y· ~r. Perkins walked with 1\tlr. Preuss and myself to the heights, about nme m1les distant, on the opposite side of the river, whence., in fine weather, an extensive vi ow may be had over the mountains, includmg seven gre~t.peal<s of the Cascade rano-e · but clouds, on this occasion, destroyed the antiCipated pleasure, and we ~btained bearings only to three tha~ were visible: Mo~nt Regnier, St. Helens, and Mount Hood. On the heights, about one mile south of the mission, a very fine view n1ay be had of .Mount Hood and St. Ilel.ens. In order to detern1ine their positions with as n1ucl~ accuracy as posstb~e, the angular distances of the peaks were measured with the sextant, at different fixed points from which they could be seen. The Indians brought in their horses at the appointed time, and we succ~ eded in obtaining a number in exchange for goods ; but they were ~elattvely much higher here, where goods are plenty and at moderate pnces, than we had found thorn in the more eastern part of our voyage. Several of the Indians inquired very anxiously to know if we had any dollars;. and the horses we procured were much fewer in number than I had des1red, and of thin, inferior quality; the oldest and poorest being those that. were sold to us. These horses, as ever in our journey you will have occasiOn to remark, are valuable for hardihood and great endurance. November 24.-At this place one of the men was discharged ; and at the request of Mr. Perkins, a Chinook Indian, a lad of nineteen, ~ho was ~xtrcmely desirous to ''see the whites" and 1nake some acquamtauce wlth our institutions, was received into dw party, under my special charo-c, with the understandino- that I would ao-ain return him to his friends. lie had ] . 0 b d lVed for some time in the household of Mr. Perkins, and spoke a few wor s of the English language. . . November 25.-We were all up early, in the excitement of turmng toWards home. The stars were brilliant, and the morning cold-the thermometer at daylight 26°. O~r preparations had been finally completed, and to-day we c01nmenced o~r Journey. The little wao-on which had hitherto carried the iustrumcnts I J,U~ged it necessary to uba 0 ndon; and it was accordingly presonte~ t? the ~lSSion. In all our long travelling, it had never been overturned or lnJtUed Y any accident of the road; and the only things broken were the glass |
