The Life of Kit Carson: Hunter, Trapper, Guide, Indian Agent and Colonel U.S.A.

by Edward Sylvester Ellis

  CHAPTER XXII.

  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 thatLieutenant Fremont had gone by on his second exploring expedition but afew days before. Carson felt a strong attachment for his old leaderand galloped nearly a hundred miles to overtake him. Fremont gavethe mountaineer most cordial greeting and insisted so strongly on hisaccompanying him that Carson could not refuse.

  The object of Fremont's second exploration was to connect the survey ofthe previous year with those of Commander Wilkes on the Pacific coast.The first objective point was the Great Salt Lake of Utah, of which verylittle was known at that time.

  Carson was sent back to the fort to procure a number of mules. He did asdirected and rejoined Fremont at St. Vrain's Fort. The region traversedby these explorers is so well known today that it is hard to realizewhat a terra incognita it was but a short time since. Perhaps it willbe most instructive at this point to quote the words of the greatPathfinder himself. The party arrived on the 21st of August on theBear River, one of the principal tributaries of Great Salt Lake. Thenarrative of Fremont proceeds:

  "We were now entering a region, which for us possessed a strange andextraordinary interest. We were upon the waters of the famous lake whichforms a salient point among the remarkable geographical features of thecountry, and around which the vague and superstitious accounts ofthe trappers had thrown a delightful obscurity, which we anticipatedpleasure in dispelling, but which, in the meantime, left a crowded fieldfor the exercise of our imagination.

  "In our occasional conversations with the few old hunters who hadvisited the region, it had been a subject of frequent speculation; andthe wonders which they related were not the less agreeable because theywere highly exaggerated and impossible.

  "Hitherto this lake had been seen only by trappers, who were wanderingthrough the country in search of new beaver streams, caring very littlefor geography; its islands had never been visited; and none were tobe found who had entirely made the circuit of its shores, and noinstrumental observations, or geographical survey of any description,had ever been made anywhere in the neighboring region. It was generallysupposed that it had no visible outlet; but, among the trappers,including those in my own camp, were many who believed that somewhereon its surface was a terrible whirlpool, through which its waters foundtheir way to the ocean by some subterranean communication. All thesethings had been made a frequent subject of discussion in our desultoryconversations around the fires at night; and my own mind had becometolerably well filled with their indefinite pictures, and insensiblycolored with their romantic descriptions, which, in the pleasureof excitement, I was well disposed to believe, and half expected torealize.

  "In about six miles' travel from our encampment we reached one of thepoints in our journey to which we had always looked forward with greatinterest--the famous Beer Springs, which, on account of the effervescinggas and acid taste, had received their name from the voyageurs andtrappers of the country, who, in the midst of their rude and hard lives,are fond of finding some fancied resemblance to the luxuries they rarelyhave the good fortune to enjoy.

  "Although somewhat disappointed in the expectations which variousdescriptions had led me to form of unusual beauty of situation andscenery, I found it altogether a place of very great interest; and atraveller for the first time in a volcanic region remains in a constantexcitement, and at every step is arrested by something remarkable andnew. There is a confusion of interesting objects gathered together ina small space. Around the place of encampment the Beer Springs werenumerous but, as far as we could ascertain, were entirely confined tothat locality in the bottom. In the bed of the river in front, fora space of several hundred yards, they were very abundant; theeffervescing gas rising up and agitating the water in countless bubblingcolumns. In the vicinity round about were numerous springs of anentirely different and equally marked mineral character. In a ratherpicturesque spot, about 1,300 yards below our encampment and immediatelyon the river bank, is the most remarkable spring of the place. In anopening on the rock, a white column of scattered water is thrown up, inform, 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 isattained only at regular intervals, according to the action of the forcebelow. It is accompanied by a subterranean noise, which, together withthe motion of the water, makes very much the impression of a steamboatin motion; and, without knowing that it had been already previously socalled, we gave to it the name of the Steamboat Spring. The rock throughwhich it is forced is slightly raised in a convex manner, and gatheredat the opening into an urn mouthed form, and is evidently formed bycontinued deposition from the water, and colored bright red by oxide ofiron.

  "It is a hot spring, and the water has a pungent, disagreeable metallictaste, leaving a burning effect on the tongue. Within perhaps two yardsof the jet d'eau, is a small hole of about an inch in diameter, throughwhich, at regular intervals, escapes a blast of hot air with a lightwreath of smoke, accompanied by a regular noise.

  "As they approached the lake, they passed over a country of bold andstriking scenery, and through several 'gates,' as they called certainnarrow valleys. The 'standing rock' is a huge column, occupying thecentre of one of these passes. It fell from a height of perhaps 3,000feet, and happened to remain in its present upright position.

  "At last, on the 6th of September, the object for which their eyes hadlong 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 objectof our anxious search, the waters of the Inland Sea, stretching in stilland solitary grandeur, far beyond the limit of our vision. It was one ofthe great points of the exploration; and as we looked eagerly over thelake in the first emotions of excited pleasure, I am doubtful if thefollowers of Balboa felt more enthusiasm when, from the heights ofthe Andes, they saw for the first time the great Western Ocean. It wascertainly a magnificent object, and a noble terminus to this part of ourexpedition; and to travellers so long shut up among mountain ranges,a sudden view over the expanse of silent waters had in it somethingsublime. Several large islands raised their high rocky heads out ofthe waves; but whether or not they were timbered was still left to ourimagination, as the distance was too great to determine if the dark huesupon them were woodland or naked rock. During the day the clouds hadbeen gathering black over the mountains to the westward, and while wewere looking, a storm burst down with sudden fury upon the lake, andentirely 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 theanimals, and a little fort for the people who were to remain. We werenow probably in the country of the Utah Indians, though none reside uponthe lake. The India rubber boat was repaired with prepared cloth andgum, 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 toretain with me only a sufficient number of men for the execution of ourdesign; and accordingly seven were sent back to Fort Hall, under theguidance of Francois Lajeunesse, who, having been for many years atrapper 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 boatexpedition--the first ever attempted on this interior sea; and Badau,with Derosier, and Jacob (the colored man), were to be left in chargeof the camp. We were favored with most delightful weather. Tonightthere was a brilliant sunset of golden orange and green, which left thewestern sky clear and beautifully pure; but clouds in the east made melose an occulation. The summer frogs were singing around us, and theevening was very pleasant, with a temperature of 60 degrees--a nightof a more southern aut
umn. For our supper, we had yampak, the mostagreeably flavored of the roots, seasoned by a small fat duck, whichhad come in the way of Jacob's rifle. Around our fire tonight weremany speculations on what tomorrow would bring forth; and in our busyconjectures we fancied that we should find every one of the largeislands a tangled wilderness of trees and shrubbery, teeming with gameof every description that the neighboring region afforded, and which thefoot of a white man or Indian had never violated. Frequently, during theday, clouds had rested on the summits of their lofty mountains, and webelieved that we should find clear streams and springs of fresh water;and we indulged in anticipations of the luxurious repasts with whichwe were to indemnify ourselves for past privations. Neither, in ourdiscussions, 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 thatof the preceding year, which had so triumphantly rode the canons of theUpper Great Platte), our present boat was only pasted together in a veryinsecure manner, the maker having been allowed so little time in theconstruction that he was obliged to crowd the labor of two months intoseveral days. The insecurity of the boat was sensibly felt by us; andmingled with the enthusiasm and excitement that we all felt at theprospect of an undertaking which had never before been accomplished wasa certain impression of danger, sufficient to give a serious characterto our conversation. The momentary view which had been had of the lakethe day before, its great extent and rugged islands, dimly seenamidst the dark waters in the obscurity of the sudden storm, were wellcalculated to heighten the idea of undefined danger with which the lakewas generally associated."

  "September 8.--A calm, clear day, with a sunrise temperature of 41degrees. In view of our present enterprise, a part of the equipment ofthe boat had been made to consist of three airtight bags, about threefeet long, and capable each of containing five gallons. These had beenfilled 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 cylindersleaked so much as to require one man constantly at the bellows, to keepthem sufficiently full of air to support the boat. Although we had madea very early start, we loitered so much on the way--stopping every nowand then, and floating silently along, to get a shot at a goose or aduck--that it was late in the day when he reached the outlet. The riverhere divided into several branches, filled with fluvials, and so veryshallow that it was with difficulty we could get the boat along, beingobliged to get out and wade. We encamped on a low point among rushes andyoung willows, where there was a quantity of driftwood, which served forour fires. The evening was mild and clear; we made a pleasant bed ofthe young willows; and geese and ducks enough had been killed for anabundant supper at night, and for breakfast next morning. The stillnessof the night was enlivened by millions of waterfowl.

  "September. 9.--The day was clear and calm; the thermometer atsunrise at 49 degrees. As is usual with the trappers on the eve of anyenterprise, our people had made dreams, and theirs happened to be a badone--one which always preceded evil--and consequently they looked verygloomy this morning; but we hurried through our breakfast, in order tomake an early start, and have all the day before us for our adventure.The channel in a short distance became so shallow that our navigationwas at an end, being merely a sheet of soft mud, with a few inches ofwater, and sometimes none at all, forming the low water shore of thelake. All this place was absolutely covered with flocks of screamingplover. We took off our clothes, and, getting overboard, commenceddragging the boat--making, by this operation, a very curious trail, anda very disagreeable smell in stirring up the mud, as we sank above theknee at every step. The water here was still fresh, with only an insipidand disagreeable taste, probably derived from the bed of fetid mud.After proceeding in this way about a mile, we came to a small blackridge on the bottom, beyond which the water became suddenly salt,beginning gradually to deepen, and the bottom was sandy and firm. It wasa remarkable division, separating the fresh water of the rivers from thebriny water of the lake, which was entirely saturated with common salt.Pushing our little vessel across the narrow boundary, we sprang onboard, and at length were afloat on the waters of the unknown sea.

  "We did not steer for the mountainous islands, but directed our coursetowards 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 BearRiver Valley. So long as we could touch the bottom with our paddles,we were very gay; but gradually, as the water deepened, we became morestill in our frail bateau of gum cloth distended with air, and withpasted seams. Although the day was very calm, there was a considerableswell on the lake; and there were white patches of foam on the surface,which were slowly moving to the southward, indicating the set ofa current in that direction, and recalling the recollection of thewhirlpool stories. The water continued to deepen as we advanced; thelake becoming almost transparently clear, of an extremely beautifulbright green color; and the spray which was thrown into the boat andover our clothes, was directly converted into a crust of common salt,which covered also our hands and arms. 'Captain,' said Carson, who forsometime had been looking suspiciously at some whitening appearancesoutside the nearest islands, 'what are those yonder?--won't you justtake a look with the glass?' We ceased paddling for a moment, and foundthem to be the caps of the waves that were beginning to break under theforce of a strong breeze that was coming up the lake. The form of theboat seemed to be an admirable one, and it rode on the waves likea water bird; but, at the same time, it was extremely slow in itsprogress. When we were a little more than half way across the reach,two of the divisions between the cylinders gave way, and it required theconstant use of the bellows to keep in a sufficient quantity of air. Fora long time we scarcely seemed to approach our island, but graduallywe worked across the rougher sea of the open channel, into the smootherwater under the lee of the island, and began to discover that what wetook for a long row of pelicans, ranged on the beach, were only lowcliffs whitened with salt by the spray of the waves; and about noon wereached the shore, the transparency of the water enabling us to see thebottom at a considerable depth.

  "The cliffs and masses of rock along the shore were whitened by anincrustation of salt where the waves dashed up against them; and theevaporating water, which had been left in holes and hollows on thesurface of the rocks, was covered with a crust of salt about one eighthof an inch in thickness.

  "Carrying with us the barometer and other instruments, in the afternoonwe ascended to the highest point of the island--a bare, rocky peak, 800feet above the lake. Standing on the summit, we enjoyed an extended viewof the lake, inclosed in a basin of rugged mountains, which sometimesleft marshy flats and extensive bottoms between them and the shore,and in other places came directly down into the water with bold andprecipitous bluffs.

  "As we looked over the vast expanse of water spread out beneath us, andstrained our eyes along the silent shores over which hung so much doubtand uncertainty, and which were so full of interest to us, I couldhardly repress the almost irresistible desire to continue ourexploration; but the lengthening snow on the mountains was a plainindication of the advancing season, and our frail linen boat appeared soinsecure that I was unwilling to trust our lives to the uncertainties ofthe lake. I therefore unwillingly resolved to terminate our survey here,and remain satisfied for the present with what we had been able toadd to the unknown geography of the region. We felt pleasure also inremembering that we were the first who, in the traditionary annals ofthe country, had visited the islands, and broken, with the cheerfulsound of human voices, the long solitude of the place.

  "I accidentally left on the summit the brass cover to the object end ofmy spyglass and as it will probably remain there undisturbed by Indians,it will furnish matter of speculation to some future traveller. In ourexcursions about the island, we did not meet with any kind of a
nimal: amagpie, and another larger bird, probably attracted by the smoke of ourfire, paid us a visit from the shore, and were the only living thingsseen during our stay. The rock constituting the cliffs along the shorewhere we were encamped, is a talcous rock, or steatite, with brown spar.

  "At sunset, the temperature was 70 degrees. We had arrived just in timeto obtain a meridian altitude of the sun, and other observations wereobtained this evening, which placed our camp in latitude 41 degrees 10'42" and longitude 112 degrees 21' 05" from Greenwich. From a discussionof the barometrical observations made during our stay on the shores ofthe lake, we have adopted 4,200 feet for its elevation above the Gulf ofMexico. In the first disappointment we felt from the dissipation of ourdream of the fertile islands, I called this Disappointment Island.

  "Out of the driftwood, we made ourselves pleasant little lodges, open tothe water, and, after having kindled large fires to excite the wonder ofany straggling savage on the lake shores, lay down, for the first timein a long journey, in perfect security; no one thinking about his arms.The evening was extremely bright and pleasant; but the wind rose duringthe night, and the waves began to break heavily on the shore, makingour island tremble. I had not expected in our inland journey to hearthe roar of an ocean surf; and the strangeness of our situation, and theexcitement we felt in the associated interests of the place, madethis one of the most interesting nights I remember during our longexpedition.

  "In the morning, the surf was breaking heavily on the shore, and we wereup early. The lake was dark and agitated, and we hurried through ourscanty breakfast, and embarked--having first filled one of the bucketswith water from which it was intended to make salt. The sun had risenby the time we were ready to start; and it was blowing a strong gale ofwind, almost directly off the shore, and raising a considerable sea, inwhich our boat strained very much. It roughened as we got away fromthe island, and it required all the efforts of the men to make any headagainst the wind and sea; the gale rising with the sun; and there wasdanger 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 wassixteen feet, with a clay bottom; but, as the working of the boatwas very severe labor, and during the operation of sounding, it wasnecessary to cease paddling, during which the boat lost considerableway, I was unwilling to discourage the men, and reluctantly gave up myintention of ascertaining the depth and character of the bed. There wasa general shout in the boat when we found ourselves in one fathom, andwe soon after landed on a low point of mud, where we unloaded the boat,and carried the baggage to firmer ground."