OCR Text |
Show 30 A TltiP ACROS& THE. PLAINS~ nutritious, being. nlmostrequal to oats ol'·· corn. lt ripens a-wbout the middle of June. Am hour's driv-e f1·om the w~lls, brings you to the deserl proper-a vast· plain entirely. desti-t> Ute of vegetation. · The su nd is v.er.y light and porous-the tnules and horses sinking in si~ ot· eight inches, when it is pet·fectly d!·y. This, with the continued clouds of dust, renders travelhng. fatiguing and unpleasant. The road is strewed with wng-·_ ens and every other species . of propeny.. The oarcases of oxen are scattered every where. Owing to the heat a Ad dt·yness of the atn1osphere, these do not undergo putrefac .. - tion, but become dry and hard, leaving the animal almost entire. The stillness of death reigns over this vast plain,-not. the l'ustling of a leaf or the hum of an insect, to break in on. the eternal solitude. Man alone dares to break it. The desert, on the different routes, varies in width from twenty to fifty miles, Tho "[-fot Springs" are about twenty-one miles from tho "rabbit wells." There is some grass near then1. The main one is about twelve feet in diameter, and probably one hund1·od feet deep. \V n ter perfectly transpare-nt,-tempe· l'ntut·e that of boiling water. Meat muy be boiled in a few 1ninutes. There are other springs and wells in the vicinity, but the water, ]ate in the season, is too ~rackish to be fit for use. The road between the springs and Mud lake i! pl'etly sandy ,-very little grass or water,-distance 25 n1iles. Wo encamped here Wednesday evening June 19th. About three miles from encampment we gained the sum-· mit of a bluff. There is said to be pure silver sea ttered over this. 'fhere is a smnlllake about two miles farther, to· the left <:>f the road. A short · distance from the lake the 1·oad enters a. very narrow, rocky ravine, o1· valley-very narl'ow and tortuous in many places-with perpendicular 1·ocks on ~ach side, several hundred feet in height. .There 1s a small sh·eam of good water and good grass in th~s valley. It i~ about twenty miles in length. · A few mlles fro.m the ravine we found a few gallons of good vine-gar, wh1ch had been left by some emigrant. This was. quite an additiofJ to the "green~." W c encamped about thirty miles from the exit £1·om tha: \ , .. AND LIFE IN CALIFORNIA. 31 last mentioned valley. In this distance we passed a number of small Jakes, which ).ine the western rim of the "Great B as1. n. " N ext morning we sto.ppe.d and breakfasted on greens, oats, &e., near some hot springs about two m·iles from encampment. We· stopped at the base of the Sierra Nevada, six rniles farthe·r·, crossing a marshy valley con. taining several lakes .. CHAPTER II. Sierra Nevada-Pitt River-Indian Diftlcultiea-An Ot·egoa Company-So111ethin~ t.o ca&-Murder oC tlae CJn.ntou JD~ss· We h·avelled along the hase 0.f the moantains about six miles before beginning the ascent. During this time, and for days before, several mcmbet·s of the company thought we were on the road to Oregon, or some place else than California, and advised the expedien. cy of going back. This probable would not l1a ve been proposed, had it not been, that we We!·e almost entirely OUt of provisions. But the majority were for going ahead, Jet the road lead w~ere it would, as some mules might be kitled for food, did things become desperate. About three miles from the beginning 0f the ascent, the Salem and Hanson messes with the exception of J. Mendenhall and J. Can1pbell, took the ''back track" fo1· flumboldt River, distance one hundred and fifty miles, havin3 to recross the desert, and again cross it on the "Carson~' or ''Truckie" route .. We began ascend'if)g the 1nountain about four o'clocl,, P. M. and encamped for the fiTst time west of the "Sierra Nevada," or snowy mountain. It is very steep at this pass, but not so rocky as at. the Carson or 'fruckie. It was not found necessary to double any of the teams. The scene fJ!um the summit is grand in the extreme.Lofty ranges of mountains, are seen disti·nctly though distant hundreds of miles. Theh· summits crowned with etelrnal snow, and their sides with dense forests of pine and cedar. Owing to the dryness and purity af the atmosphere, the outline of the most distant object is distinctly marked .. All the varied scenery of the four seasons are 1·ecognized at a single view. The valleys clothed wi:th vegetation, the mountain to.ps presenting all the indices of perpetual win- |