and therefore more readily passed through; are thin in the valleys, and remain only during a very brief winter. The winter of my last expedition was one of unprecedentedly deep and early snows, yet in the valley of the Kansas and Arkansas it was thin; in the valley of Huerfano, none; and in the valley of Del Norte the snow was only three feet deep; the thermometer at zero near midday. "The weather in these high mountains and deep valleys is of a character adapted to such localities-extremely cold on the mountains, while temperate in the valleys. I have seen it storming for days together on the mountains in a way to be destructive to all animal life exposed to it, while in the valley, there would be a pleasant sunshine, and the animals feeding on nutritious grass. Beyond the Rocky Mountains, the cold is less, and the snows become a less and more transient obstacle. These are my views of a route for the road or roads (a common one is first wanted), from the Mississippi to the Pacific. It fulfills, in my opinion, all the conditions for a route for a national thoroughfare. "1st. It is direct. The course is almost a straight line. St. Louis is between 38, 39; San Francisco is about the same; the route is between these parallels, or nearly between them, the whole way. "2nd. It is central to territory. It is through the territorial centre west of the Mississippi, and its prolongation to the Atlantic ocean would be central to the States east of that river. It is also central to business and population, and unites the greatest commercial point in the valley of the Mississippi with the greatest commercial point on the coast of the Pacific. "3rd. It combines the advantages for making and preserving the road, wood, water, and soil, for inhabitation and cultivation. "4th. It is a healthy route. No diseases of any kind upon it; and the valetudinarian might travel it in his own vehicle, on horse, or even on foot, for the mere restoration of health and recovery of spirits. "It not only fulfills all the conditions of a national route, but at is preferable to any other. It is preferable to the South Pass from being nearly four degrees further south, more free from open plains, and from the crossing of great rivers. Its course is parallel with the rivers, there being but one (the Upper Colorado), directly crossing its line. There are passes at the head of Arkansas, in the Three Parks, and north of them, but none equal to this by the Rio del Norte. There is no route north of it that is comparable to it; I believe there is no practicable route south of it in the United States. The disaster which turned me south from the head of the Del Norte and sent me down that river, and to the mountains around to the Upper Gila, enabled me to satisfy myself on that point. "I went a middle route-a new way-between the Gila River and the wagon-road through the Mexican province of Sonora, and am satisfied that no route for a road can be had on that line, except going through Mexico, then crossing the Great Colorado of the West, near the mouth of the Gila, to cross the desert to arrive at San Diego, and still be six hundred miles by land, and three or four hundred by water, from the Bay of San Francisco, which now is and forever must be, the great centre of commerce, wealth and power on the American coast of the Pacific Ocean. "In conclusion, I have to say that I believe in the practicability of this work, and that every national consideration requires it to be done, and to be done at once, and as a national work by the United States. "Your obliged fellow-citizen, "J. C. FREMONT." CHAPTER XVI. FREMONT'S CAREER AS UNITED STATES SENATOR-SPEECH ON THE INDIAN AGENCY BILL-SPEECH ON THE BILL MAKING TEMPORARY PROVISIONS FOR WORKING THE LETTER ABOUT THE THE long and anxious struggle which resulted in the admission of California into the Union, as an independent State, with a constitutional provision against slavery, is familiar to the country. The legislation upon the subject was consummated on the 9th of September, 1850. On the following day, the Californian senators presented themselves for admission to their seats. Colonel Fremont's credentials were submitted by Senator Barnwell of South Carolina, who remarked in doing so, that "it was well known he entertained the strongest constitutional objections to the admission of California into the Union, but Congress having passed an act for her admission, Mr. Fremont's admission could not be otherwise than very acceptable." Jefferson Davis, a senator from Mississippi, moved a reference of the credentials to a committee, on the ground "that the constitutional provisions for the election of senators could not have been complied with." Senators Mason of Virginia, Butler of South Carolina, and Turney of Tennessee, also favored the reference. Senators Clay of Kentucky, and Foote of Mississippi opposed the reference, which was defeated by a vote of 36 to 12. The new senators were then sworn in, and immediately after, the Senate proceeded to ascertain by lot the class or length of senatorial term of the respective candidates. The shortest term, expiring on the 3d day of March, 1851, was drawn by Colonel Fremont. But three weeks remained of the session within which to accomplish anything for California. No time was to be lost, therefore, in doing what had to be done. On the day after he became entitled to his seat, he offered a resolution instructing the post-office committee to inquire into and report upon the expediency of establishing seventeen post routes in California, each described in the resolution, which was considered by unanimous consent, and agreed to. He, at the same time, gave notice of his intention on the following or some subsequent day, to ask leave to introduce a series of bills, designed to complete the political organization of California. The titles of those bills show their scope, and the statesmanlike views he took of the political needs of the young and as yet governmentless State which he represented.* *"1. A bill to provide for the recording of land titles in California. "2. A bill to provide for the survey of the public lands of California. "3. A bill to provide for the erection of land offices in California. "4. A bill to provide for the settlement of private land claims in Cali fornia. "5. A bill to grant donations of land to settlers before the cession of the country to the United States, and pre-emption rights to all subse quent settlers. On the 14th of September he had leave to introduce a bill to make temporary provisions for the working and discovery of gold mines and placers in California, and for preserving order in the gold mine district. The bill, he stated, had been drawn up with great care; he had reviewed the Spanish laws, extending over a space of three hundred years, and had endeavored to embody in the bill all that he considered applicable to our age and institutions. On the same day, the bill authorizing the President to appoint Indian agents in California being under consideration, Senator Atchison, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, stated that he was entirely unable to communicate to the Senate the information that they would probably require. The committee, he said, did not know the number of tribes of Indians, nor the num "6. A bill to regulate the working of mines in California. "7. A bill to extend the laws and judicial system of the United States to the State of California. "8. A bill to refund to said State duties collected at San Francisco and other ports, before the custom-house laws were extended to it. "9. A bill to grant said State public lands for purposes of education. "10. A bill to grant six townships for a university. "11. A bill to grant land to aid in constructing public buildings. "12. A bill to grant land for asylums for the deaf and dumb, for the blind and insane. “13. A bill to relinquish to the city of San Francisco certain public grounds no longer needed for public purposes. "14. A bill to grant to the State of California twelve salt springs, with a section of ground around each. "15. A bill to grant to the city of Monterey the old government house and its grounds. "16. A bill to provide for opening a road across the continent. "17. A bill to grant land for internal improvement. "18. A bill to preserve peace among the Indian tribes, by providing for the extinction of their titles to the gold districts." |