Kit Carson Hears Surprising News--He Visits Fremont--Is Re-engaged as
Guide--Fremont's Account of his Visit to Salt Lake.
Kit Carson was astonished on reaching Bent's Fort to learn that
Lieutenant Fremont had gone by on his second exploring expedition but a
few days before. Carson felt a strong attachment for his old leader
and galloped nearly a hundred miles to overtake him. Fremont gave
the mountaineer most cordial greeting and insisted so strongly on his
accompanying him that Carson could not refuse.
The object of Fremont's second exploration was to connect the survey of
the previous year with those of Commander Wilkes on the Pacific coast.
The first objective point was the Great Salt Lake of Utah, of which very
little was known at that time.
Carson was sent back to the fort to procure a number of mules. He did as
directed and rejoined Fremont at St. Vrain's Fort. The region traversed
by these explorers is so well known today that it is hard to realize
what a terra incognita it was but a short time since. Perhaps it will
be most instructive at this point to quote the words of the great
Pathfinder himself. The party arrived on the 21st of August on the
Bear River, one of the principal tributaries of Great Salt Lake. The
narrative of Fremont proceeds:
"We were now entering a region, which for us possessed a strange and
extraordinary interest. We were upon the waters of the famous lake which
forms a salient point among the remarkable geographical features of the
country, and around which the vague and superstitious accounts of
the trappers had thrown a delightful obscurity, which we anticipated
pleasure in dispelling, but which, in the meantime, left a crowded field
for the exercise of our imagination.
"In our occasional conversations with the few old hunters who had
visited the region, it had been a subject of frequent speculation; and
the wonders which they related were not the less agreeable because they
were highly exaggerated and impossible.
"Hitherto this lake had been seen only by trappers, who were wandering
through the country in search of new beaver streams, caring very little
for geography; its islands had never been visited; and none were to
be found who had entirely made the circuit of its shores, and no
instrumental observations, or geographical survey of any description,
had ever been made anywhere in the neighboring region. It was generally
supposed that it had no visible outlet; but, among the trappers,
including those in my own camp, were many who believed that somewhere
on its surface was a terrible whirlpool, through which its waters found
their way to the ocean by some subterranean communication. All these
things had been made a frequent subject of discussion in our desultory
conversations around the fires at night; and my own mind had become
tolerably well filled with their indefinite pictures, and insensibly
colored with their romantic descriptions, which, in the pleasure
of excitement, I was well disposed to believe, and half expected to
realize.
"In about six miles' travel from our encampment we reached one of the
points in our journey to which we had always looked forward with great
interest--the famous Beer Springs, which, on account of the effervescing
gas and acid taste, had received their name from the voyageurs and
trappers of the country, who, in the midst of their rude and hard lives,
are fond of finding some fancied resemblance to the luxuries they rarely
have the good fortune to enjoy.
"Although somewhat disappointed in the expectations which various
descriptions had led me to form of unusual beauty of situation and
scenery, I found it altogether a place of very great interest; and a
traveller for the first time in a volcanic region remains in a constant
excitement, and at every step is arrested by something remarkable and
new. There is a confusion of interesting objects gathered together in
a small space. Around the place of encampment the Beer Springs were
numerous but, as far as we could ascertain, were entirely confined to
that locality in the bottom. In the bed of the river in front, for
a space of several hundred yards, they were very abundant; the
effervescing gas rising up and agitating the water in countless bubbling
columns. In the vicinity round about were numerous springs of an
entirely different and equally marked mineral character. In a rather
picturesque spot, about 1,300 yards below our encampment and immediately
on the river bank, is the most remarkable spring of the place. In an
opening on the rock, a white column of scattered water is thrown up, in
form, like a jet d'eau, to a variable height of about three feet, and,
though it is maintained in a constant supply, its greatest height is
attained only at regular intervals, according to the action of the force
below. It is accompanied by a subterranean noise, which, together with
the motion of the water, makes very much the impression of a steamboat
in motion; and, without knowing that it had been already previously so
called, we gave to it the name of the Steamboat Spring. The rock through
which it is forced is slightly raised in a convex manner, and gathered
at the opening into an urn mouthed form, and is evidently formed by
continued deposition from the water, and colored bright red by oxide of
iron.
"It is a hot spring, and the water has a pungent, disagreeable metallic
taste, leaving a burning effect on the tongue. Within perhaps two yards
of the jet d'eau, is a small hole of about an inch in diameter, through
which, at regular intervals, escapes a blast of hot air with a light
wreath of smoke, accompanied by a regular noise.
"As they approached the lake, they passed over a country of bold and
striking scenery, and through several 'gates,' as they called certain
narrow valleys. The 'standing rock' is a huge column, occupying the
centre of one of these passes. It fell from a height of perhaps 3,000
feet, and happened to remain in its present upright position.
"At last, on the 6th of September, the object for which their eyes had
long been straining was brought to view.
"September 6.--This time we reached the butte without any difficulty;
and ascending to the summit, immediately at our feet beheld the object
of our anxious search, the waters of the Inland Sea, stretching in still
and solitary grandeur, far beyond the limit of our vision. It was one of
the great points of the exploration; and as we looked eagerly over the
lake in the first emotions of excited pleasure, I am doubtful if the
followers of Balboa felt more enthusiasm when, from the heights of
the Andes, they saw for the first time the great Western Ocean. It was
certainly a magnificent object, and a noble terminus to this part of our
expedition; and to travellers so long shut up among mountain ranges,
a sudden view over the expanse of silent waters had in it something
sublime. Several large islands raised their high rocky heads out of
the waves; but whether or not they were timbered was still left to our
imagination, as the distance was too great to determine if the dark hues
upon them were woodland or naked rock. During the day the clouds had
been gathering black over the mountains to the westward, and while we
were looking, a storm burst down with sudden fury upon the lake, and
entirely hid the islands from our view.
"On the edge of the stream a favorable spot was selected in a grove,
and felling the timber, we made a strong corral, or horse pen, for the
animals, and a little fort for the people who were to remain. We were
now probably in the country of the Utah Indians, though none reside upon
the lake. The India rubber boat was repaired with prepared cloth and
gum, and filled with air, in readiness for the next day.
"The provisions which Carson had brought with him being now exhausted,
and our stock reduced to a small quantity of roots, I determined to
retain with me only a sufficient number of men for the execution of our
design; and accordingly seven were sent back to Fort Hall, under the
guidance of Francois Lajeunesse, who, having been for many years a
trapper in the country, was an experienced mountaineer.
"We formed now but a small family. With Mr. Preuss and myself,
Carson, Bernier, and Basil Lajeunesse had been selected for the boat
expedition--the first ever attempted on this interior sea; and Badau,
with Derosier, and Jacob (the colored man), were to be left in charge
of the camp. We were favored with most delightful weather. Tonight
there was a brilliant sunset of golden orange and green, which left the
western sky clear and beautifully pure; but clouds in the east made me
lose an occulation. The summer frogs were singing around us, and the
evening was very pleasant, with a temperature of 60 degrees--a night
of a more southern autumn. For our supper, we had yampak, the most
agreeably flavored of the roots, seasoned by a small fat duck, which
had come in the way of Jacob's rifle. Around our fire tonight were
many speculations on what tomorrow would bring forth; and in our busy
conjectures we fancied that we should find every one of the large
islands a tangled wilderness of trees and shrubbery, teeming with game
of every description that the neighboring region afforded, and which the
foot of a white man or Indian had never violated. Frequently, during the
day, clouds had rested on the summits of their lofty mountains, and we
believed that we should find clear streams and springs of fresh water;
and we indulged in anticipations of the luxurious repasts with which
we were to indemnify ourselves for past privations. Neither, in our
discussions, were the whirlpool and other mysterious dangers forgotten,
which Indian and hunter's stories attributed to this unexplored lake.
The men had discovered that, instead of being strongly sewed, (like that
of the preceding year, which had so triumphantly rode the canons of the
Upper Great Platte), our present boat was only pasted together in a very
insecure manner, the maker having been allowed so little time in the
construction that he was obliged to crowd the labor of two months into
several days. The insecurity of the boat was sensibly felt by us; and
mingled with the enthusiasm and excitement that we all felt at the
prospect of an undertaking which had never before been accomplished was
a certain impression of danger, sufficient to give a serious character
to our conversation. The momentary view which had been had of the lake
the day before, its great extent and rugged islands, dimly seen
amidst the dark waters in the obscurity of the sudden storm, were well
calculated to heighten the idea of undefined danger with which the lake
was generally associated."
"September 8.--A calm, clear day, with a sunrise temperature of 41
degrees. In view of our present enterprise, a part of the equipment of
the boat had been made to consist of three airtight bags, about three
feet long, and capable each of containing five gallons. These had been
filled with water the night before, and were now placed in the boat,
with our blankets and instruments, consisting of a sextant, telescope,
spyglass, thermometer, and barometer.
"In the course of the morning we discovered that two of the cylinders
leaked so much as to require one man constantly at the bellows, to keep
them sufficiently full of air to support the boat. Although we had made
a very early start, we loitered so much on the way--stopping every now
and then, and floating silently along, to get a shot at a goose or a
duck--that it was late in the day when he reached the outlet. The river
here divided into several branches, filled with fluvials, and so very
shallow that it was with difficulty we could get the boat along, being
obliged to get out and wade. We encamped on a low point among rushes and
young willows, where there was a quantity of driftwood, which served for
our fires. The evening was mild and clear; we made a pleasant bed of
the young willows; and geese and ducks enough had been killed for an
abundant supper at night, and for breakfast next morning. The stillness
of the night was enlivened by millions of waterfowl.
"September. 9.--The day was clear and calm; the thermometer at
sunrise at 49 degrees. As is usual with the trappers on the eve of any
enterprise, our people had made dreams, and theirs happened to be a bad
one--one which always preceded evil--and consequently they looked very
gloomy this morning; but we hurried through our breakfast, in order to
make an early start, and have all the day before us for our adventure.
The channel in a short distance became so shallow that our navigation
was at an end, being merely a sheet of soft mud, with a few inches of
water, and sometimes none at all, forming the low water shore of the
lake. All this place was absolutely covered with flocks of screaming
plover. We took off our clothes, and, getting overboard, commenced
dragging the boat--making, by this operation, a very curious trail, and
a very disagreeable smell in stirring up the mud, as we sank above the
knee at every step. The water here was still fresh, with only an insipid
and disagreeable taste, probably derived from the bed of fetid mud.
After proceeding in this way about a mile, we came to a small black
ridge on the bottom, beyond which the water became suddenly salt,
beginning gradually to deepen, and the bottom was sandy and firm. It was
a remarkable division, separating the fresh water of the rivers from the
briny water of the lake, which was entirely saturated with common salt.
Pushing our little vessel across the narrow boundary, we sprang on
board, and at length were afloat on the waters of the unknown sea.
"We did not steer for the mountainous islands, but directed our course
towards a lower one, which it had been decided we should first visit,
the summit of which was formed like the crater at the upper end of Bear
River Valley. So long as we could touch the bottom with our paddles,
we were very gay; but gradually, as the water deepened, we became more
still in our frail bateau of gum cloth distended with air, and with
pasted seams. Although the day was very calm, there was a considerable
swell on the lake; and there were white patches of foam on the surface,
which were slowly moving to the southward, indicating the set of
a current in that direction, and recalling the recollection of the
whirlpool stories. The water continued to deepen as we advanced; the
lake becoming almost transparently clear, of an extremely beautiful
bright green color; and the spray which was thrown into the boat and
over our clothes, was directly converted into a crust of common salt,
which covered also our hands and arms. 'Captain,' said Carson, who for
sometime had been looking suspiciously at some whitening appearances
outside the nearest islands, 'what are those yonder?--won't you just
take a look with the glass?' We ceased paddling for a moment, and found
them to be the caps of the waves that were beginning to break under the
force of a strong breeze that was coming up the lake. The form of the
boat seemed to be an admirable one, and it rode on the waves like
a water bird; but, at the same time, it was extremely slow in its
progress. When we were a little more than half way across the reach,
two of the divisions between the cylinders gave way, and it required the
constant use of the bellows to keep in a sufficient quantity of air. For
a long time we scarcely seemed to approach our island, but gradually
we worked across the rougher sea of the open channel, into the smoother
water under the lee of the island, and began to discover that what we
took for a long row of pelicans, ranged on the beach, were only low
cliffs whitened with salt by the spray of the waves; and about noon we
reached the shore, the transparency of the water enabling us to see the
bottom at a considerable depth.
"The cliffs and masses of rock along the shore were whitened by an
incrustation of salt where the waves dashed up against them; and the
evaporating water, which had been left in holes and hollows on the
surface of the rocks, was covered with a crust of salt about one eighth
of an inch in thickness.
"Carrying with us the barometer and other instruments, in the afternoon
we ascended to the highest point of the island--a bare, rocky peak, 800
feet above the lake. Standing on the summit, we enjoyed an extended view
of the lake, inclosed in a basin of rugged mountains, which sometimes
left marshy flats and extensive bottoms between them and the shore,
and in other places came directly down into the water with bold and
precipitous bluffs.
"As we looked over the vast expanse of water spread out beneath us, and
strained our eyes along the silent shores over which hung so much doubt
and uncertainty, and which were so full of interest to us, I could
hardly repress the almost irresistible desire to continue our
exploration; but the lengthening snow on the mountains was a plain
indication of the advancing season, and our frail linen boat appeared so
insecure that I was unwilling to trust our lives to the uncertainties of
the lake. I therefore unwillingly resolved to terminate our survey here,
and remain satisfied for the present with what we had been able to
add to the unknown geography of the region. We felt pleasure also in
remembering that we were the first who, in the traditionary annals of
the country, had visited the islands, and broken, with the cheerful
sound of human voices, the long solitude of the place.
"I accidentally left on the summit the brass cover to the object end of
my spyglass and as it will probably remain there undisturbed by Indians,
it will furnish matter of speculation to some future traveller. In our
excursions about the island, we did not meet with any kind of animal: a
magpie, and another larger bird, probably attracted by the smoke of our
fire, paid us a visit from the shore, and were the only living things
seen during our stay. The rock constituting the cliffs along the shore
where we were encamped, is a talcous rock, or steatite, with brown spar.
"At sunset, the temperature was 70 degrees. We had arrived just in time
to obtain a meridian altitude of the sun, and other observations were
obtained this evening, which placed our camp in latitude 41 degrees 10'
42" and longitude 112 degrees 21' 05" from Greenwich. From a discussion
of the barometrical observations made during our stay on the shores of
the lake, we have adopted 4,200 feet for its elevation above the Gulf of
Mexico. In the first disappointment we felt from the dissipation of our
dream of the fertile islands, I called this Disappointment Island.
"Out of the driftwood, we made ourselves pleasant little lodges, open to
the water, and, after having kindled large fires to excite the wonder of
any straggling savage on the lake shores, lay down, for the first time
in a long journey, in perfect security; no one thinking about his arms.
The evening was extremely bright and pleasant; but the wind rose during
the night, and the waves began to break heavily on the shore, making
our island tremble. I had not expected in our inland journey to hear
the roar of an ocean surf; and the strangeness of our situation, and the
excitement we felt in the associated interests of the place, made
this one of the most interesting nights I remember during our long
expedition.
"In the morning, the surf was breaking heavily on the shore, and we were
up early. The lake was dark and agitated, and we hurried through our
scanty breakfast, and embarked--having first filled one of the buckets
with water from which it was intended to make salt. The sun had risen
by the time we were ready to start; and it was blowing a strong gale of
wind, almost directly off the shore, and raising a considerable sea, in
which our boat strained very much. It roughened as we got away from
the island, and it required all the efforts of the men to make any head
against the wind and sea; the gale rising with the sun; and there was
danger of being blown into one of the open reaches beyond the island.
At the distance of half a mile from the beach, the depth of water was
sixteen feet, with a clay bottom; but, as the working of the boat
was very severe labor, and during the operation of sounding, it was
necessary to cease paddling, during which the boat lost considerable
way, I was unwilling to discourage the men, and reluctantly gave up my
intention of ascertaining the depth and character of the bed. There was
a general shout in the boat when we found ourselves in one fathom, and
we soon after landed on a low point of mud, where we unloaded the boat,
and carried the baggage to firmer ground."