History of California, Volume IV, Part 45

Author: Bancroft, Hubert Howe
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: San Francisco, Calif. : The History Company, publishers
Number of Pages: 820

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In less than three months after the rendering of his first report, Fremont was on the banks of the Missouri with a company similar to that of the pre- ceding year, ready to start on a second trip. The ob- ject was to continue his exploration of the Oregon emigrant route, from the South Pass westward, until he could connect the former survey with that made by Wilkes on the Columbia, and thus complete the transcontinental line. The details of the trip are therefore as unimportant for my present purpose as were those of 1842. The company started June 29th, and a few days later came in contact with the Chiles party, with whose journey the reader is already fa- miliar. The route was somewhat farther south than that of 1842, being up the Republican fork, and south fork of the Platte, off the emigrant road, and generally through regions not before explored except by trap- pers. A part of the men under Fremont went from St Vrain's fort down to the Arkansas and back, thence proceeding across the mountains to the Sweetwater. They were at South Pass August 13th, and reached

1 Frémont's Report of an exploration of the country lying between the Mis- souri River and the Rocky Mountains on the line of the Kansas and the Great Platte Rivers. Washington, 1843. Svo, 207 p., map and plate. This report, in connection with that of the second expedition, was reprinted in several edi- tions, as will be noted later.

437

FRÉMONT'S SECOND EXPLORATION.

Fort Hall September 19th; but on the way Frémont had turned aside with a few men to make a five days' survey of Great Salt Lake, on the waters of which he made a boat-voyage. From Fort Hall they took the usual route down the Snake River, reaching Fort Boisé October 8th, and the Dalles the 4th of Novem- ber. This completed the line of overland survey by connecting it with that of Wilkes; but Frémont made a boat-trip down to Fort Vancouver and back, before preparing for his homeward journey-which brings us to that part of his expedition which has a proper place in the annals of California.

On the 25th of November, 1843, the company of twenty-five men started from the Dalles.2 Fremont's intention was to explore the Tlamath, or Klamath, lake, thence to go south-east "to a reported lake called Mary's, at some days' journey in the great basin; and thence still on south-east to the reputed Buenaventura River, ... flowing from the Rocky Mountains to the bay of San Francisco;" then to the head waters of the Arkansas, to Bent's fort, and home-there being no intention of erossing the sierra into the Californian valleys at all. Following up the Fall River, they reached Klamath marsh, mis- taken for the lake of that name, on December 10th; discovered and named in suceession Summer, Abert, and Christmas lakes; and, always in search of Mary Lake, or the sink of the Humboldt, they reached and named Pyramid Lake on January 10, 1844, its sal- mon-trout supplying a welcome feast. For one day,

2 The author says there were 25; but I do not know which are the 5 names to be erased from the 30 of the following list: Alexis Ayot, François Badeau, Olivier Beaulieu, Faptiste Bernier, John G. Campbell, Kit Car- son, Manuel Chapman, Ransom Clark, Philibert Courteau. Michel Crélis, Baptiste Derosier, Jacob Dodson, Thos Fitzpatrick, John C. Frémont, Alexis Godey, Louis Ménard, Louis Montreuil, Sam. Neal, François Pera, James Power, Raphael Praule, Charles Prenss, Baptiste Tabeau, Theodore Talbot, Charles Taplin, Charles Towns, Joseph Verrot, Tiery Wright, Louis Zindel, and a Chinook boy. The doubtful names must be sought among the following: Ayot, Clark, Courteau, Crélis, Ménard, Montreuil, Pera, Power, Wright, and Zindel, who are not named in the Californian portion of the narrative, and are not known in Cal. records.

438

IMMIGRATION AND FOREIGN RELATIONS.

January 16th, they followed up the Salmon Trout, now Truckee, to its bend, and then kept on southward in quest of the mythical San Buenaventura. It was on the 18th, on what is now the Carson River, that Frémont resolved to cross the Sierra into the Sacra- mento Valley, the condition of his animals' feet not warranting an attempt to cross the country eastward.

Seeking a pass, but ever loath to enter the forbid- ding snows, the explorers kept on southward far up the eastern branch of what is now Walker River, nearly to the region of the modern Bodie; and then, turning to the north-west, and being forced to abandon on the way a brass howitzer which they had brought thus far,3 they returned to the Carson River, which they supposed to be the Truckee. From the 2d to the end of February the travellers struggled desper- ately over the mountains and through the deep snows, Frémont and Preuss getting a view of the Mountain Lake, since called Tahoe, on the 14th. The pass, corresponding somewhat with the Carson Canon and Johnson Pass of later maps, was farther north than those by which Walker in 1833 and Bartleson in 1841 had crossed; and the season was more unfavor able; so that this was really the most perilous cross- ing of the sierra that had yet been effected. Fortu- nately no lives were lost, though the suffering was great. Two men became insane for a time, and 33 out of 67 horses and mules were lost or killed for food. Six days' march down the south branch of the Amer- ican River brought Fremont and part of his men to Sutter's Fort, where all arrived the 8th of March.

"An impetus was given to the active little popula- tion by our arrival, as we were in want of everything,"

$ According to Lancey, Cruise of the ' Dale,' 49, and a writer in the Inde- pendence Inyo Independent, Oct. 3, 1870, the gun was found in later years somewhere between Aurora and Genoa. Lancey attempts to tell where, but fails to make his meaning clear. There had been some trouble at Washington about the taking of this howitzer from the arsenal at St Louis; and an order was sent to countermand the expedition-an order which fell into the hands of Mrs Fremont, who shrewdly failed to forward it. Benton's Thirty Years, ii., chap. 134; U. S. Govt Doc., 22d cong. Ist sess., Sen. Doc., ii., no. 14.

439

FRÉMONT IN CALIFORNIA.

writes Frémont. "Mules, horses, and cattle were to be collected; the horse-mill was at work day and night to make sufficient flour; the blacksmith-shop was put in requisition for horseshoes and bridle-bits; and pack-saddles, ropes, and bridles, and all the other little equipments of the camp, were again to be provided. The delay thus occasioned was one of repose and en- joyment which our situation required, and anxious as we were to resume our homeward journey, was re- gretted by no one." Less than two weeks were spent at New Helvetia; and on the 22d of March the ex- plorers encamped on Sinclair's rancho, as a prepara- tory movement of departure. Six of the company were left in California.4

The plan for return was to go up the San Joaquin Valley; through the pass discovered by Walker, for which Fremont suggested the name of Walker Pass; to the Santa Fe, or Wolfskill, trail; to follow that trail until it turned to the right to cross the Colorado; and thence north-eastward to Utah Lake. The jour- ney up the valley was from March 24th to April 12th, River of the Lake, as applied to Kings River, being the only new name given. They were guided by Christian Indians through Tehacliepi Pass, so far as I can determine from the map and narrative, and not through Walker Pass at all. On April 18th they

4 Samuel Neal, the blacksmith, was discharged at his own request. Bap- tiste Derosier wandered from the camp and was not heard of again, and four others were discharged with their own consent, three of them being perhaps Olivier Beaulieu, Joseph Verrot, and Charles Towns. Sutter, Pers. Remin., MS., 129-32,141-2, complains, as is his wont, that he lost heavily by helping Frémont, taking his pay in drafts on the topographical bureau, on which he had to discount 20 per cent. He says that two men were tried before him for stealing sugar, and acquitted; but Frémont was augry, and discharged them from his service, one being Neal. Furthermore he claims to have hast- ened Frémont's departure on account of the approach of a party sent by Mich- eltorena to investigate. In his Diary, p. 4, Sutter notes Frémont's arrival on March 6, 1842 (4); and on the 27th, after the visitors had departed, that of Col. Tellez and 25 men to learn Frémont's business. March 13th, Benito Diaz at S. F. to admin. of customs at Monterey. Has heard of the arrival in the Sacramento of a party of commissioners to survey a boundary line between the U. S. and Mexico. Dept. St. Pap., Ben. Cust .- H., MS., viii. [229]. This was doubtless the report that caused Tellez to be sent. March 28th, Sutter's letter to Larkin, announcing Frémont's visit, enclosed by L. April 12th to U. S. sec. state. Larkin's, Off. Corresp., MS., ii. 2-3.

440

IMMIGRATION AND FOREIGN RELATIONS.

struck the trail of the Santa Fe caravans, which they followed for a month, losing one man, Tabeau, who was killed by the Indians, and being joined at Las Vegas by Joe Walker. On May 24th, Badeau hav- ing been accidentally killed on the way, Frémont's company reached Utah Lake; and thus completed the circuit, on which they had travelled 3,500 miles since September 1843. The route from that point eastward was in general terms by the Uintah River, the Three Parks, Arkansas River, and Smoky Fork, to the mouth of the Kansas, where the company ar- rived at the end of July.

Frémont's report of this his second expedition was dated March 1, 1845, the author being at the time about to undertake another trip, of which I shall speak in a later chapter, and it was published by order of congress in the same year, together with a reprint of the first expedition." The author confined himself closely to actual observations of himself and associates, which he described in a style at once fascinating, terse, and strong, but withal modest and unassuming, which not only gave his writings much popularity, but received

5 Report of the Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains in the year 1842, and to Oregon and California in the years 1843-4. By Brevet Captain J. C. Fremont, etc. Printed by order of the Senate of the United States. Washing- ton, 1845, Svo, 693 p., map and plates. (U. S. Govt Doc., 2Sthi cong. 2d sess., Sen. Doc. no. 174, also printed by order of the house of representatives in an edition of 583 p., according to Sabin.) The Ist expedition occupies p. 7-101; the narrative of the 2d expedition, p. 103-290; scientific observations, tables, plates, etc., p. 291-693. Besides the general map, there is one showing the route from the Tahoe region to Sutter's Fort on a larger scale; and some of the plates contain plants, fossils, etc., belonging to California proper.

The edition just described is the one to which I refer habitually as Fre- mont's Report. There are others, several of them in my collection, from which and from Sabin I note the following: Fremont's Report, etc., Wash. (1845), Svo, 278 p .; Id., Narrative of the Exploring Expedition, etc., Wash., 1845, 8vo, 324 p .; Id., Syracuse, 1846, 12mo, 305 p .; I.l., N. Y., 1846, 8vo, 186 p .; Id., N. Y., 1849, Svo, 186 p. (often bound with Frémont and Emory's California Guide-book, N. Y., 1849); Id., London, 1846, 8vo. These reports, or parts of them, are also included in many of the biographical works on Fremont which I shall have occasion to refer to elsewhere. It does not seem desirable to give here long lists of references to mentions of Frémont's explorations, containing nothing that does not come from the original official report. I have already given the few slight references to his presence in Cal. Preuss' map of IS48, 31st cong. Ist sess., H. Ex. Doc. 17, p. 944, vol. v., also shows Frémont's route of 1844.

441

FRÉMONT'S REPORTS.

a high degree of praise from scientific critics. Both in the execution of the task committed to him, and in the narration of his adventures, Frémont showed that he possessed a high degree of talent. I have been able to give but a brief outline of his long tours, and I find no space for the long quotations that might appropri- ately enough be introduced from his experience in the Sierra Nevada, or from his general remarks on the geography of the great west. His visit to California, or the region now known as California, was but an incident of his exploration, and his narrative has no importance as a record of the general condition of af- fairs in the department. Its geographical importance is best shown by the reduction of his map, which I present.

This is not the place to consider the complicated controversies of later years respecting Frémont's char- acter and abilities; but one particular phase of the matter should be noticed here rather than elsewhere. Frémont has not been a popular man among the pio- neers and mountaineers of California and Oregon, many of whom extend their condemnation of his military, political, and financial fiascos back to his career as an explorer, denouncing and ridiculing him as a vain, in- competent, and pretentious charlatan, enjoying a high reputation for achievements that belonged to others. Men who neither knew nor cared anything about Fré- mont's merits were glad to foster this feeling of the pioneers, and to utilize it as testimony of great weight against their political foe. Thus injustice has been done, the origin of which it is not difficult to trace. There are slight indications of an unfriendly feeling against Frémont among the immigrants of 1842-4, with whom he often came in contact on the road, aris- ing from the fact that as an officer of the government he maintained a degree of military discipline among his men, and was thought to hold himself somewhat above and aloof from those of the ox-teams; again, the publication of Frémont's narrative may have aroused

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443

INJUSTICE TO AN EXPLORER.

some jealousy on the part of men whose journeys and hardships were destined to remain unrecorded; and finally, Frémont in 1846-50 made many enemies among those who are now known as pioneers. Yet all these things are not sufficient to account for the popular prejudice to which I have alluded, the true origin of which must be sought in the political campaign of 1856. At this time Frémont's merits as a 'path- finder' were absurdly exaggerated in campaign eulo- gies, intended to strike a popular chord in the eastern states, and printed in books and newspapers which were read by everybody. The general purport of these statements was that the presidential candidate had been not only the conqueror of California, but the original discoverer and explorer of the whole western region, overcoming obstacles and enduring hardships unknown to others. At least, so it was interpreted by Pacific coast mountaineers and overland immigrants, who re- sented asa personal wrong the praise and honors award- ed to one who as an explorer had only followed in their tracks. Thus a bitter feeling was engendered, and many ridiculous charges were made against a man who was not responsible for the absurd praise lavished upon him. As we have seen, Frémont claimed no honors that belonged to such men as Walker and Carson and Fitzpatrick, men whose services were nowhere more heartily acknowledged than in his book. He men- tioned over and over again the fact that the trappers or immigrants had everywhere preceded him. His task was altogether different from theirs; it was to explore scientifically a country with which they had long been familiar, but respecting which their knowl- edge was not available for geographical purposes. He performed his task in a manner creditable to his intel- ligence and energy; shirked no hardships involved in the performance; and described his achievements with all due modesty. His work was the first and a very important step in the great transcontinental surveys

444

IMMIGRATION AND FOREIGN RELATIONS.

that are still being prosecuted; and for his service as topographical engineer Frémont deserves praise.

We have seen that Hastings, coming down from Oregon in 1843, had met certain Californians bound northward in disgust, who carried back with them several families of the Hastings company. Among the former seem to have been Benjamin and Andrew Kelsey, who had come with Bartleson in 1841; and among the latter were other Kelseys. Most of them, however, came back to California in 1844 in a com- pany which, the leader's name being unknown, may be called by that of Kelsey. Nothing is known of the organization or adventures of this party, beyond the facts that it consisted of thirty-six persons and ar- rived in the Sacramento Valley probably in June. I give in a note the names of twelve men who are known to have been members of this company, including the two Kelseys who had been in the country before, as had Buzzell probably.6 The only document of the year that throws light on the names of these new- comers is a defence which Benjamin Kelsey found it necessary to make of his character and conduct in September. Dr Bale, for firing a pistol at Salvador Vallejo, by whom he had been flogged, had been seized by Solano and his Indians at Sonoma, where Colonel

" The Kelsey company from Oregon, 1844: Wm Bennett, David T. Bird, Jos. Willard Buzzell, Henry Fowler, Win Fowler, Wm Fowler Jr, Wm Har- grave, Andrew Kelsey, Benj. Kelsey, David Kelsey, Samuel Kelsey, Gran- ville P. Swift. In the Yolo Co. Hist., 32, the name of Wm H. Winters is added-perhaps correctly, as there appears to be some doubt of his having come with the Chiles party of 1843; Willard Buzzell is called Joseph Buzzle; and it is said, 'they left the Sacramento about ten miles above Knight's Land- ing, and went across the country to Wm Gordon's place, on Cache Creek, arriving in June, where all those whose names have been given stayed for about one month.' Dennis and Jackson Bennett first appear on a S. F. padron of July, and it is not quite certain whether they came in this party or with Hastings the year before. Aug. 6th, Sutter to Micheltorena, announcing the arrival of a party from the Columbia, who wish to settle and become good Mexicans. Dept. St. Pap., MS., xvii. 85. Aug. 7th, Sutter to Larkin, saying the party contained 36 persons; and another large company was preparing to come. Larkin's Doc., MS., ii. 157. Brief notice of immigrants leaving Ore- gon for the more fertile Cal. Niles' Reg., Ixviii. 38; Greenhow's Hist. Or. and Cal., 387-8.

445

THE STEVENS COMPANY.

Vallejo, having rescued him from the Indians before they could hang him, had locked him up to await trial.7 It appears that there was some talk among the foreigners of releasing Bale by force; at any rate, Captain Hinckley testified that he had heard of such threats through residents of Sacramento, and that the Kelseys and Merritt were the ones implicated. There- upon three of the Kelseys, the Fowlers, Hargrave, Buzzell, Swift, and Bird signed a document on Sep- tember 7th, to the effect that all had come from Ore- gon together, and that the charges made were alto- gether unfounded.8

The second immigrant party of 1844 came under the leadership of Elisha Stevens, though it has been also called the Murphy company, from the name of a large family, afterward prominent citizens of Santa Clara County, which came with it. There were over fifty men in the party, besides women and children, when they left the Missouri River in May. The route was that usually followed to Fort Hall, where the company separated, about half the members going to Oregon, while the rest directed their course down the Mary River, as Walker and Bartleson had done before them, until they reached the sink. I give their names in a note.9 They had about a dozen

7 Vallejo, Hist. Cal., MS., iv. 391-8. The writer states that Bale was tried and found guilty; but that Micheltorena released him, fearing trouble with the English consul. Another Sonoma quarrel of this year was that between Capt. Prudon and Alcalde Leese, in which the two came to blows, and in con- sequence of which the latter was dismissed from office. Dept. St. Pap., MS., v. 114; Id., Ben., iv. 49.

8 Aug. 29, 1844, Hinckley's deposition. Vallejo, Doc., MS., xii. 88. Sept. 7th, Sam. Kelsey to his brother Benjamin-who, it appears, was chiefly sus- pected, having had some difficulty with Salvador Vallejo 2 years before. Id., xii. 92. Sept. 7th, document signed as stated in the text. Id., xii. 93.

9 Stevens company of 1844: Edmund Bray, Vincent Calvin, Francis De- land, John Flomboy. Joseph E. Foster, Caleb Greenwood and his two sons Britain and John, Matthew Harbin, Hitchcock, Hitchcock, Jr (?), Olivier Magnent, Dennis Martin, Patrick Martin, Patrick Martin, Jr, James Miller and family, Wm J. Miller (boy), Allen Montgomery and wife, Bernard Mur- phy, Bernard D. Murphy (boy), Daniel Murphy, James Murphy and family, James Murphy (boy), John M. Murphy, Martin Murphy, with children and grandchildren, Martin Murphy, Jr, and family, Martin Murphy (hoy), Pat- rick W. Murphy (boy), Patterson (boy), Mrs Patterson and children, Moses

446

IMMIGRATION AND FOREIGN RELATIONS.

wagons, the first that ever completed the trip into the valley of California.

The Stevens company was probably the first to cross the sierra by the Truckee and Bear rivers, sub- stantially the route of the railroad; but the particu- lars of the crossing are vaguely and confusedly re- corded. A journal is said to have been kept by Townsend and Schallenberger, but to have been lost.10 The arrival at the sink of the Humboldt was late in October or early in November; and some time was spent here in rest and preparation for the trip over the mountains.11 Before they resumed their journey the snow had begun to fall, and their progress to the summit, which occupied nearly a month, was of course slow and attended with great suffering. According to numerous newspaper items of 1875-80, the Truckee River was named at this time for an Indian guide to whom the name Truckee had been given on account

Schallenberger, Elisha Stevens, John Sullivan, Michael Sullivan, Robert Sul- livan, and John Townsend. The most complete list is that in the S. F. Call, Sept. 13, 1864, by a woman who seems to have been one of the party, per- haps Mrs Montgomery; but it does not specify those who came to Cal. as distinguished from those who went to Oregon. My list has been revised by Schallenberger, who is my only authority for Flomboy and Patterson, the latter a boy with the Hitchcock family, and whose name should perhaps take the place of Hitchcock Jr. The Oregon Pion. Assoc., 1876, p. 42, gives also the name of Jackson. Some authorities name James M. Harbin as distinct from Matthew Harbin. Some include Wm J. Martin in this party instead of the Chiles company of 1843. Bray, in his Memoir of a Trip to Cal., MS., names 25 of those who came to Cal. He gives the date of departure as May 1Sth; says they camped July 4th at Independence Rock, when a child was born in the Miller family; dates the separation at Ft Hall in Sept., and the arrival at the sink about Oct. 24th. Clyinan, Diary, MS., describes the march to Ft Hall, and says the Hitchcock party, with 13 wagons, left the Oregon company on or about Sept. 13th. Thos Gray, a resident of S. F. in 1884, intended to cross the plains in 1844, but changed his mind. Through the influence of Senator Benton he got a pass dated March 29th, the original of which he showed me with a letter from Benton. Doubtless there were many similar cases.

10 The writer in the Call absurdly says that the loss of these journals gave Frémont his title as 'path-finder,' since the latter followed in Stevens' tracks and renamed the streams, etc., which he pretended to discover. The writer supposes Stevens' to have been the first party of immigrants that came over- land !

11 Quigley, Irish Race in California, 177-83, 195-205, in a sketch repro- duced in the Marin Co. ITist., 114-17, 472-3, says they arrived at the sink on Nov. 10th, remaining about 10 days; while Bray, Memoir, MS., says the arrival was about Oct. 24th, and that they camped here only two nights. See also a mention of this party in Maguire's Irish in America, 266-7.

447

THE STEVENS COMPANY.

of his resemblance to a Frenchman so called.12 Early in December they encamped in the region of what was named later, from the terrible experience of an- other immigrant party, Donner Lake. Here there seems to have been a division, one party proceeding in advance to Sutter's Fort and subsequently returning to aid the others; but the details of movements from this point are conflicting.13 Evidently the company reached the valley in two or more detachments, and perhaps by different routes; but it does not clearly appear that the families left behind in their mountain camp suf- fered more than the ordinary hardships of such an experience. On December 13th Sutter announced the arrival; and either he or Micheltorena, from mo- tives that will be apparent to the reader of the next chapter, saw fit to state that the new-comers num-

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History of California, Volume IV, Part 45

Author: Bancroft, Hubert Howe Publication date: 1885 Publisher: San Francisco, Calif. : The History Company, publishers Number of Pages: 820

Author: Bancroft, Hubert Howe
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: San Francisco, Calif. : The History Company, publishers
Number of Pages: 820