easy as that of the hill on which this Capitol stands, and where a plainly-beaten wagon road leads to the Oregon, through the valley of Lewis's River, a fork of the Columbia. He went through the pass, and saw the head waters of the Colorado, of the Gulf of California; and leaving the valleys to indulge a laudable curiosity, and to make some useful observations, and attended by four of his men, he climbed the loftiest peak of the Rocky Mountains, until then untrodden by any known human being; and, on the 15th of August, looked down upon ice and snow some thousand feet below, and traced in the distance the valleys of the rivers which, taking their rise in the same elevated ridge, flow in opposite directions to the Pacific Ocean and to the Mississippi. From that ultimate point he returned by the valley of the Great Platte, following the stream in its whole course, and solving all questions in relation to its navigability, and the character of the country through which it flows.

"Over the whole course of this extended route, barometrical observations were made by Mr. Fremont, to ascertain elevations both of the plains and of the mountains; astronomical observations were taken to ascertain latitudes and longitudes; the face of the country was marked as arable or sterile; the facility of travelling, and the practicability of routes noted; the grand features of rature described, and some presented in drawings; military positions indicated; and a large contribution to geology and botany was made in the varieties of plants, flowers, shrubs, trees, and grasses, and rocks and earths, which were enumerated. Drawings of some grand and striking points, and a map of the whole route, illustrate the report, and facilitate the understanding of its details. Eight carts drawn by two mules each accompanied the expedition; a fact which attests the facility of travelling in this vast region. Herds of buffaloes furnished subsistence to the men; a short, nutritious grass, sustained the horses and mules. Two boys (one of twelve years of age, the other of eighteen), besides the enlisted men, accompanied the expedition, and took their share of its hardships; which proves that boys,

as well as men, are able to traverse the country to the Rocky Mountains.

"The result of all his observations Mr. Fremont had condensed into a brief report-enough to make a document of ninety or one hundred pages; and believing that this document would be of general enterest to the whole country, and beneficial to science, as well as useful to the government, I move the printing of the extra number which has been named.

"In making this motion, and in bringing this report to the notice of the Senate, I take a great pleasure in noticing the activity and importance of the Topographical Bureau. Under its skillful and vigilant head [Colonel Abert] numerous valuable and incessant surveys are made; and a mass of information collected of the highest importance to the country generally, as well as to the military branch of the public service. This report proves conclusively that the country, for several hundred miles from the frontier of Missouri, is exceedingly beautiful and fertile; alternate woodland and prairie, and certain portions well supplied. with water. It also proves that the valley of the river Platte has a very rich soil, affording great facilities for emigrants to the west of the Rocky Mountains."

The London Athenæum, of March, 1844, commences a review of this report in the following complimentary terms, which we quote to show the impression it produced in the literary circles of the old world:

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"The government of the United States did well when in furtherance of the resolution to survey the road across the Great Western Prairie and the Rocky Mountains to the Oregon territory, it selected Lieut. Fremont for the execution of the work. We have rarely met with a production so perfect in its kind as the unpretending pamphlet containing this report. The narrative, clear, full and lively, occupies only 76 pages, to which are appended 130 pages, filled with the results of botanical researches,

of astronomical and meteorologiacal observations. What a contrast does this present to the voluminous emptiness and conceited rhodomontade so often brought forth by our costly expeditions. The country gone over by Lieut. Fremont is certainly not the most interesting in the world, nor is it quite new. Yet he is evidently not the man to travel 2,000 miles without observing much which is worthy of being recorded or to write a page which is likely to prove tedious in the reading. His points of view are so well chosen, his delineation has so much truth and spirit, and his general remarks are so accurate and comprehensive, that under his guidance we find the far west prairies nearly as fresh and tempting as the most favored Arcadian scenes, the hallowed groves of which were never trodden by the foot of squatting emigrant or fur trader."

CHAPTER IV.

SECOND EXPLORING EXPEDITION-KIT CARSON-MRS. FREMONT WITHHOLDS ORDERS FROM THE WAR DEPARTMENT -COLONEL BENTON'S ACCOUNT OF THE EXPEDITION-DISCOVERS THE INLAND SEA-PERILOUS VOYAGE TO ITS ISLANDS IN A LINEN BOAT-ARRIVES AT FORT VANCOUVER AND FULFILLS THE INSTRUCTIONS OF HIS GOVERNMENT.

THE results of Col. Fremont's first expedition were. so unexpected, and his success altogether so extraordinary, that his government took no time to deliberate upon the propriety of sending him again into a field of duty, where he made the department of the public service, with which he was connected, appear to so much advantage. He had scarcely seen his maps and report through the press, before he embarked on a second expedition, from the same point on the frontier, but with purposes even more comprehensive than those with which he set out in 1842.

He was instructed to connect the exploration with the surveys of the Pacific coast, by Captain Wilkes, who had commanded the South Sea Exploring Expedition, so as to give a connected survey of the interior of our continent. His party consisted principally of Creole and Canadian French and Americans, amounting in all

to 39 men; among whom were several who accompanied him in his first expedition. Mr. Thomas Fitzpatrick, whom many years of hardship and exposure in the western territories, had rendered familiar with a portion of the country it was designed to explore, had been selected as his guide, and Mr. Charles Preuss, who had been his assistant in the previous journey, was again associated with him in the same capacity.

In compliance with directions from the War Department, Mr. Theodore Talbot, of Washington city, was attached to the party, with a view to advancement in his profession; and at St. Louis he was joined by Mr. Frederick Dwight, a gentleman of Springfield, Massachusetts, who availed himself of this escort, to visit the Sandwich Islands and China, by way of Fort Vancouver.

The men engaged for the service were: Alexis Ayot, François Badeau, Oliver Beaulieu, Baptiste Bernier, John A. Campbell, John G. Campbell, Manuel Chapman, Ransom Clark, Philibert Courteau, Michel Crélis, William Creuss, Clinton Deforest, Baptiste Derosier, Basil Lajeunesse, François Lajeunesse, Henry Lee, Louis Ménard, Louis Montreuil, Samuel Neal, Alexis Pera, François Pera, James Power, Raphael Proue, Oscar Sarpy, Baptiste Tabeau, Charles Taplin, Baptiste Tesson, Auguste Vasquez, Joseph Verrot, Patrick White, Tiery Wright, Louis Zindel, and Jacob Dodson, a free young colored man of Washington city, who volunteered to accompany the expedition. Two Delaware Indians were engaged to accompany the expedition as hunters. L. Maxwell, who had accompanied the expedition as one of the hunters in 1842, being on his way to Taos, in New Mexico, also joined him. He was subsequently joined by his invaluable friend, Kit Carson, whom he