4 of astronomical and barometrical observations had been lost in a moment." A part of the articles mentioned above were recovered, but the greater portion were not. General Fremont had on his expeditions, a mountain howitzer and from forty to fifty men well armed, as a defense against the Indians. In crossing the Sierra Nevada in '44 he was compelled to leave the howitzer in the snow, where one-half of his stock and a number of his men lost their lives. The last food eaten before reaching Sutter's fort on that occasion was pea soup, dog and mule meat. I had the pleasure of a personal acquaintance with General Fremont, who was familiarly known as the "Great Path-finder;" also with some of his most noted mountaineer guides, of whom I shall speak later on. It may not be generally known that Mrs. Fremont and daughter are at present residing in Los Angeles In 1856, when her husband ran for president of the United States, her name was familiar in every home in the land as "our Jessie Benton Fremont." She is a woman greatly beloved by all who have the pleasure of her acquaintance. She wrote the life of her distinguished husband and has done much other literary work. Her father, the Hon. Thomas H. Benton of Missouri, was for thirty years a leading member of the United States Senate and at one time was urged for the Democratic presidential nomination. Mrs. Fremont, in her quiet home, is always glad to welcome anv of the old friends of the General. Our first day at packing was one not easily forgotten. It proved interesting and tried the patience of both man and beast. Our girths, or cinches, were of the simplest and most primitive kind, and anyone that ever had experience in packing, knows the difficulty of keeping the saddle in place, even with the best Spanish hair cinches. Ours would as often be on the withers, hips or underneath the animals, as in the proper place. The result of this state of things was severe friction causing badly galled and sore backs. By a little experience, patience and determination, those difficulties were in time overcome. Being no longer impeded in our journey by our wagons, we were enabled to make much better progress and obtain feed for our stock at much less sacrifice of time and trouble. The change proved a decided advantage to our animals, which had become thin and weak. They, being our main dependence, received the very best care possible. We fully realized that it was far better to walk without carrying blankets, cooking utensils and "grub," as many others had done-especially those who had started with ox or cow teams— than to assume those burdens. We became accustomed to that sort of thing in the mines later on, when it was the almost universal custom. We had no tents or covering of any kind, except in good weather the blue sky and in foul weather the clouds. This was our condition for many months; not even a tree for shelter. When we encountered cold, driving storms, not alone of rain, but of sleet and snow we aimed to camp where fuel could be obtained and kept our fires replenished during the night, and while exposing one side, dried the other, while joke and song passed around. Sometimes a sudden storm would come down the mountain range, when, after a wearisome day's march. all would be in a profound sleep, and the rain pattering in our faces or our water soaked blankets would awaken us. Under those conditions a fire was out of the question, and we had to make the best of the circumstances. Nevertheless, we continued in the best of health and spirits. From this time until our arrival in the Salt Lake Valley we ceased to stand guard, as the cnly Indians we met with were friendly Snakes and Crows. As we approached the South Pass, through which al! the travel to the Pacific Coast had to go, we entered a gradually ascending wooded canyon, crossing and recrossing many times tributaries to the Sweetwater river caused by the melting snows and numerous springs above. The many cascades and waterfalls made most delightful music to our ears, weary and duststained as we were, and was in striking contrast to what we had experienced ever since we began our journey. From the elevated open spaces we could look back upon the bare and barren plains below. The change to the cold, sparkling mountain water and green patches of the wholesome and nutritious grass was a most grateful one to our animals as well as to ourselves. Two days' travel up the gradual and not very precipitous side of the Rockies brought us to the pass, which we reached on July 3. A light snow storm prevailed during the day. This depression in the mountains which separates the waters of the Atlantic and the Pacific is about twenty miles wide from north to south, and, with some slight elevations, it presents the appearance of a level plain with towering mountains covered with perpetual snow on both sides. There are no trees |