This was the first game larger than a rabbit we had killed since the 4th of August when we killed the last buffaloe near the Great Salt Lake, and the first we had eat since our dried meat was exhausted, (being 14 days,) during which time we lived on stale and forbidden horse flesh. I was conscious that it was not such meat as a dog would feast on, but we were driven to extremes and had either to do this or die. It was the most unwholesome as well as the most unpleasant food I ever eat or ever expect to eat – and I hope that no other person will ever be compelled to go through the same. It seemed to be the greatest cruelty to take your rifle, when your horse sinks to the ground from starvation, but still manifests a desire and willingness to follow you, to shoot him in the head and then cut him up amp; take such parts of their flesh as extreme hunger alone will render it possible for a human being to eat. This we done several times, and it was the only thing that saved us from death. 24 of our horses died since we arrived on top of the mountain – 17 of which we eat the best parts. When our men returned without finding any passage over the rocks, we searched for a place that was as smooth and gradual in the descent as possible, and after finding one we brought our horses, and by fastening ropes round them let them down one at a time without doing them any injury. After we got our horses and baggage all over the rocks we continued our course down the mountain, which still continued very steep and difficult. The circumstance of one of our men killing a deer greatly cheered the languid spirits of our hunters, and after we got safely over the rocks several of the men started out on search of game, although it was then near night. The main body continued on down until we arrived at some green oak bushes, where we encamped for the night, to wait for our hunters, – who returned soon after dark well paid for their labour, having killed two large black tailed deer and a black bear, and all very fat and in good eating order. This night we passed more cheerful and in better heart than any we had spent for a long time. Our meat was dressed and well cooked, and every man felt in good order to partake of it.
In descending the mountain this far we have found but little snow, and began to emerge into a country which had some signs of vegetation – having passed thro' several groves of green oak bushes, amp;c. The principal timber which we came across, is Red-Wood, White Cedar and the Balsom tree. We continued down the side of the mountain at our leisure, finding the timber much larger and better, game more abundant and the soil more fertile. Here we found plenty of oak timber, bearing a large quantity of acorns, though of a different kind from those taken from the Indian on the mountain top. In the evening of the 30th we arrived at the foot or base of this mountain – having spent almost a month in crossing over. Along the base of this mountain it is quite romantic – the soil is very productive – the timber is immensely large and plenty, and game, such as deer, elk, grizzly bear and antelopes are remarkably plenty. – From the mountain out to the plain, a distance varying from 10 to 20 miles, the timber stands as thick as it could grow and the land is well watered by a number of small streams rising here and there along the mountain. In the last two days travelling we have found some trees of the Red-wood species, incredibly large – some of which would measure from 16 to 18 fathoms round the trunk at the height of a man's head from the ground.
On the 31st we pursued our course towards the plain in a western direction. – Now, that we had reached a country thickly filled with almost all kinds of game, our men and particularly those fond of hunting, were in fine spirits. This day our company was much scattered, and we could hardly tell which was the main body, as the men were stretched over a large space of ground, all moving within each others hearing towards the plain. After a walk of about fifteen miles we arrived at the margin of the woods, where we concluded to spend the remainder of the day and night. When our men all gathered together it was astonishing to see the quantity of game which they had collected – principally deer and bear. Our hunters complained very much because there was no buffaloe here – as killing these animals afford the hunter such fine sport; and they would not believe any thing else than that buffaloe inhabited this region until they had made several unsuccessful hunts – as the climate and soil is about the same, the grass equally as good and plenty, and the prairies and forests as extensive as those of the region of the Rocky Mountains. But none of these animals have ever been found west of the Great Salt Lake, which is about three hundred miles west of the summit of the Rocky mountains.
On the following morning we directed our course across or rather along the plain, until we came to a large river heading in the mountain and wending its way through the plain. This river presents more wonderful curiosities than any other stream we passed. Its bed lays very deep forming very high banks, even in smooth and level parts of the country; but where there is rocks its appearance is beyond doubt the most remarkable of any other water course. Some places the rocks are piled up perpendicular to such a height that a man on top, viewed from the bed of the river, does not look larger than a small child. From the appearance of these precipices it is not exaggerating to state that they may be found from a quarter to half a mile high – and many of them no wider at the top than at the bottom. Through such places the river forces its way with great; rapidity, tossing pitching amp; foaming to such a degree that no Indian has had the courage to attempt to navigate it with his canoe. – When the water passes through these narrows it spreads out in a beautiful deep bay as if to repose after its turbulent dashing against the rocks immediately above, until it reaches the next rapids, when it again pitches forward. This plain is well watered and is quite productive, as we found a large quantity of wild pumpkins and wild oats.
This night it was decided that we should forthwith commence trapping for furs and make this expedition as profitable as possible, for, as yet we had spent much time and toil, and lost many horses, without realizing any profit whatever – although every man expressed himself fully compensated for his labour, by the many natural curiosities which we had discovered. According to the arrangements made on the evening previous, we all the next morning commenced travelling down the river at a slow rate, carefully examining for beaver signs, and recruiting our horses, which they had much need of, as we found them to be much more injured in crossing the mountains than we had at first supposed – many of them being sprained and stiffened almost beyond recovery, and certainly beyond present use. We laid up a large supply of deer, elk, and bear meat, of the best kind. These animals are the fattest of the kind I had ever eat. Here we found a large quantity of acorns, such as those taken from the Indian. These acorns compose the principal food of the wild animals in this section, – the bear, I believe, solely subsists upon them, and where acorns are scarce, the game is both poor and scarce.
The country here appears to be in many respects similar to the east side of the Rocky mountains. The land is generally smooth and level, and the plains or prairies are very extensive, stretching towards the setting sun as far as the eye can reach; whilst a number of beautiful rivers, all heading in this rugged mountain, running parallel with each other thro' the plain, also to the west, with their banks handsomely adorned with flourishing timber of different kinds, such as Black walnut, Hickory, Oak, Elm, Mulbery, Hackberry, Alder, Shoemack, amp;c. This grove of timber may be found along the river at any point, and generally extends about four miles into the plain. Between this grove of timber, and the forest extending from the foot of the mountain, there is a level prairie of the richest soil, producing grass in abundance of the most delightful and valuable quality.
These prairies are in many places swarming with wild Horses, some of which are quite docile, particularly the males, on seeing our horses. They are all very fat, and can be seen of all colors, from spotted or white, to jet black; and here, as in the land of civilization, they are the most beautiful and noble, as well as the most valuable of the whole brute creation.
Since we left the mountain we have seen many signs of Indians, such as moccasin tracks, and smoke rising from the prairies in different places, but
as yet we had not succeeded in getting in company with any. At this season of the year, when the grass in these plains is dry, if a fire should be started it presents a spectacle truly grand – and if the flame is assisted with a favorable wind it will advance with such speed that the wild horses and other animals are sometimes puzzled to get out of the road, and every thing looks overwhelmed with consternation. We continued travelling down the river until the 7th of November, when we arrived at five Indian huts, containing 15 or 20 Indians male and female. When they first beheld the approach of beings so mysterious as we were to them, they exhibited the most unbounded alarm and fear. But it was not long till we succeeded in calming their terror, and convincing them that they had no reason to apprehend any danger, by showing a willingness to smoke, (this being the first token of friendship with all Indians,) which they at once understood and immediately became reconciled, and we commenced gathering all the information from them that our limited means would afford – each being entirely ignorant of the others language, and the Indians being extremely awkward both in making and understanding signs – which is the principal method of conversation with the different tribes in this region. After making many efforts to get some information from them with reference to the Big Water, white people, beaver, amp;c., without receiving any further satisfaction by way of answer to our inquiries, than a grunt similar to that of a hog, we concluded to spend the night with them for further trial. Towards night whilst passing through their camp, some of our men found two blankets and a knife, which convinced us at once that they had some communication with white people. When the blankets were held up to them they pronounced in tolerable distinctness, the word Spanish, and pointed to the west – from which circumstance we inferred that the Spanish settlement could not be far distant.
The next morning our Indian hosts bro't some horses to the camp for the purpose of trading, which were marked with a Spanish brand. After trading for five of the best of their horses, for which we gave one yard of scarlet cloth and two knives, we left these Indians and continued down the river in search of beaver, which are very scarce. These Indians are quite small, amp; much darker than those of the buffaloe country, as well as more indolent amp; slothful. They generally run naked with the exception of a few, who wear shields made of some kind of skins. Their huts are composed of dry poles or logs set upon end, and their bedding consists of grass. Their food is composed principally of horse meat and acorns – the latter are very large and of a good quality, which they manufacture into a kind of mush. Their method of manufacturing this is as follows – They go to a large log and build a fire upon it and burn it half or two-thirds of the way through, which is done by keeping the log wet except about a foot in diameter, where the fire is kept up until the hole is deep enough, and of the proper shape. After the hole is burnt deep enough they extinguish the fire, scrape out the coals and ashes, and have a tolerably well shaped hopper. When this is done they get a long stone which is rounded at one end, and put the acorns in and commence mashing them fine, which is easily done as they are always previously dried by fire or the sun. The meal thus made is then taken out amp; mixed with water in a basket made almost water-tight – which they broil by making stones red hot and throwing them into the basket. By this process they make a kind of mush with which any hungry man would be glad to satiate his appetite.
These Indians also appear very delicate and feeble – which they attribute to eating acorns. To-day, whilst some of our hunters were searching for beaver signs along the river beach, they found the carcases of four Indians, two of which were partly consumed by Grizzly bears. They appeared as if they had died natural deaths, and been laid there by their friends according to their custom of disposing of the dead, as two of them were well wrapped up in beaver skins. This day our course lay through a large prairie covered with wild oats – which at this season of the year when nothing but the stock remains, has much the appearance of common oats. – This plain lays on the South side of the river, to which we gave the name of Oat Plain. The grizzly bear and wild horses appeared more numerous in the country through which we this day passed, than I had ever before known them. In the evening just before sunset we came across the carcase of another Indian, which was also partly eaten by the wild beasts. From the numerous signs we were led to the belief that the country through which we were now travelling was thickly inhabited with Indians, but notwithstanding we kept watch both night and day we were unable to discover any but those we had left in the morning; nor could we find any of their habitations, although we would sometimes come across a trail that looked as if it was traversed by hundreds at a time. We also discovered some signs of white people, as we would occasionally come across a tree or log chopped with an axe as if done by trappers and hunters. At this place the river is from two to three hundred yards wide, as the country is generally level the water moves gently forward, being quite deep, clear and smooth. This night we encamped on the bank of the river in a very beautiful situation. Soon after the men went to rest and the camp had became quieted we were startled by a loud distant noise similar to that of thunder. Whilst lying close to the ground this noise could be distinctly heard for a considerable length of time without intermission. When it was at first observed some of our men were much alarmed they readily supposed it was occasioned an earthquake, and they began to fear that we would all be swallowed up in the bowels of the earth; and others judged it to be the noise of a neighboring cataract. Capt. Walker, however, suggested a more plausible cause, which allayed the fears of the most timid. He supposed that the noise origined by the Pacific rolling and dashing her boisterous waves against the rocky shore. Had any of us ever before been at the coast, we would have readily accounted for the mysterious noise.
The idea of being within hearing of the end of the Far West inspired the heart of every member of our company with a patriotic feeling for his country's honor, and all were eager to lose no time until they should behold what they had heard. We felt as if all our previous hardships and privations would be adequately compensated, if we would be spared to return in safety to the homes of our kindred and have it to say that we had stood upon the extreme end of the great west. The two next days we travelled very fast, without meeting with any thing to impede our progress. On the night of the 12th our men were again thrown into great consternation by the singular appearance of the heavens. Soon after dark the air appeared to be completely thickened with meteors falling towards the earth, some of which would explode in the air and others would be dashed to pieces on the ground, frightening our horses so much that it required the most active vigilance of the whole company to keep them together. This was altogether a mystery to some of the men who probably had never before seen or heard of anything of the kind, but after an explanation from Capt. Walker, they were satisfied that no danger need be apprehended from the falling of the stars, as they were termed.
After travelling a few miles the next morning we arrived at the head of tide water, which convinced us that the noise we had heard a few days previous was created by the ocean. We continued down the river until we arrived at the bay, where it mingles its water with the briny ocean. The country here lays very low, amp; looks as if it was subject to being overflowed. Here we found difficult travelling owing to the ground being wet and swampy. In the vicinity of this bay we found a great many Indians, who were mostly occupied in fishing – which are very plenty. These Indians appeared friendly enough, but then they manifested a kind of careless indifference, whether they treated us well or ill, that we did not like, and we therefore concluded to leave this place and make for the main coast as soon as possible, – and accordingly we started in a southern direction and after travelling a day and a half the broad Pacific burst forth to view on the 20th. The first night we encamped quite close to the beach near a spring of delightful water. The scenes which we could now contemplate was quite different from those we had beheld and dwelt amidst for months back. Here was a smooth unbroken sheet of water stretched out far beyond
the reach of the eye – altogether different from mountains, rocks, snows amp; the toilsome plains we had traversed. Here we occasionally found the traces of white men, and as the Indians still appeared to act so strange, we began to think that the Spaniards had the Indians under complete subjection, and that they could, if so disposed, set them on us and give us trouble. It was therefore thought best to find out the whereabouts of the Spaniards and cultivate their friendship. The Indians here practice fishing to a great extent; indeed it seems to be the only thing they do. – They have many methods of catching them – but the principle process is by spearing them with bones made sharp, and some have proper instruments of Spanish manufacture, in which they are very expert. – The principal fish in the river we came down, and which has the principal Indian fisheries, are shad and salmon. We did not find out the name of this tribe, or whether they consider themselves distinct from any other tribe. Most all of the natives we met with since crossing the last mountain, seem to belong to the same nation, as they were about the same colour and size – spoke the same language for any thing we could discover to the contrary, and all appeared equally ignorant and dillatory – and most of them entirely naked. They have no particular place of residence but claim the whole of the country stretching from the mountain to the sea shore as their own. In some parts the natives raise a small quantity of corn, pumpkins, melons, amp;c., the soil being so very strong and mellow, that it requires but little labour to raise good crops.
Narrative of the Adventures of Zenas Leonard Page 9