supplies obtained from Godey, the survivors were enabled to straggle into
the Mexican settlements, but when all were mustered, eleven men of the
company that had entered the San .Tuan Mountains were known to be
dead.
Fremont attempted to make Bill ^^'iIliams the scapegoat for the dis-
aster. ''The error of our journey", says he, "was committed in engaging
this man. He proved never to have in the least known, or entirely to
have forgotten, the whole region of country through which we were to
pass." But Williams asserted that at the time of his engagement he,
like many others, had advised Fremont not to attempt to cross the moun-
tains in that exceptionally severe season : and, doubtless with truth, that
after the party had reached the base of the San Juan Range his judg-
ment and counsel against proceeding farther were set aside by the ex-
pedition's leader.
At Taos, Fremont became tlie guest of his friend. Kit Carson, whose
home was in that town. He was still determined to go on to California,
and in the middle of February, with a new outfit of horses and supplies,
and a company numbering thirty men, he set out from Santa Fe, his
coiirse being down the Rio Grande Valley and thence westward through
the southern border of Xew Mexico and Arizona. He reached the coast
in April (1849), and in the following December was elected United States
Senator from the proposed new State of California, which was admitted
into the Union in September, 1850. During his brief term in the Senate
Fremont served with ability and distinction.
In an act approved ilarch 3, 1853, making appropriations for the sup-
port of the army. Congress authorized the Secretary of War, under the
direction of the President, "to employ such ixirtion of the corps of topo-
graphical engineers, and such other persons as he may deem necessary, to
make such explorations and surveys as he may deem advisable, to ascer-
tain the most practicalile and economic route for a railroad from the ^lis-
128 HISTORY OF COLORADO
sissippi river to the Pacific ocean", the siun of $150,000 being appropriated
to defray the expense. Of the several lines which Jeiierson Davis, then
Secretary of War, decided to have explored and surveyed, one, which he
termed the "Central Route", lay along the course of the 38th parallel of
latitude. The friends of Fremont, who was now in private life and living
in Paris, France, expected that he would be reappointed to the Corps of
Topographical Engineers and placed in command of one of the explora-
tions ; preferably that of the central line, in order that the enterprise might
have the benefit of his knowledge of that part of the western countiy.
But Mr. Davis, declining to consider the Pathfinder for any of the ap-
pointments, put Captain John W. Gunnison (a Vermouter), of the Topo-
graphical Engineers, at the head of the expedition to examine the central
route, and which was to tenninate its westward survey in the middle part
of the Utah Basin. Gunnison was directed "to explore and suiTcy the
pass through the Rocky Mountains in the vicinity of the headwaters of
the Rio del Korte, by way of the Huerfano river and Coo-che-to-pa, or
some other eligible pass, into the region of Grand and Green rivers, and
westwardly to the Vegas de Santa Clara and Nicollet river of the Great
Basin, and thence northwardly to the vicinity of Lake Utah on a return
route, to explore the most available passes and cafiones of the Wasatch
range and South Pass to Fort Laramie".
The party, as finally organized at Westport, in June of that year,
consisted of Captain Gunnison, commander; First Lieutenant E. G. Beck-
with, of the Third Regiment of Artillery, Assistant; R. H. Kern, Topog-
rapher and Artist; Sheppard Homans, Astronomer; Dr. James Schiel,
Surgeon, Geologist, "&c."; F. Creutzfeldt, Botanist; J. A. Snyder, As-
sistant Topographer, "&c." ; Second Lieutenant (Brevet-Captain) R. M.
^lorris and "some thirty non-commissioned officers and men of the regi-
ment of mounted riflemen"; Charles Taplin, Wagonmaster; "besides the
necessary teamsters and employes for the performance of the labors of
the route". In consequence of the death of Captain Gunnison, in the
following October, the report of the expedition was written by Lieutenant
Beckwith, who incorporated into it the material of Gunnison's notes.
The advance began on June '23d, and, without delay or important
incident, the party arrived at Fort Atkinson, a United States military
post on the Arkansas River, near the line of the 100th meridian, on July
16th. After a halt of three days at that fort, the surveyors moved on up
the northward bank of the Arkansas and, according to Beckwith's map,
entered the eastern border of Colorado on the 24th. On the second day
after, "we reached what is called the Big Timber, a section of the river
of about twenty-five miles in length, on the islands and banks of which
more than the usual amount of cotton-wood grows. It deserved the name,
however, only when compared with this river as I have described it a few
days back. The trees are scattered over the bottom, in numbers not unlike
those of the new cotton-fields of Georgia and Alabama, with inviting
shades ; but they are not thick enough to obstruct the view, and the op-
posite bank of the river discovers the same dry hills as before". On the
27th, "we passed two or three log-houses, occupied as a trading-station by
Mr. William Bent, during the past winter, but now left vacant, and, as
yet, undestroyed by the Indians. . . . Thirteen miles brought us to the
termination of the Big Timber".
GOVERNOR ALEXANDER CUMMINGS
mSTOEY or COLOEADO 139
In the evening of the 28th, the party encamped near the ruius of the
historic Fort Bent. "Its adobe walls still stand", says Beckwith, "with
here and there a tower and chimney." Two days later, camp was made
opposite the mouth of the Apishapa, which all hands supposed to be the
Huerfano, on which the more ditficult part of the survey was to begin.
As the Arkansas here was "300 yards wide, varying in depth from one to
three feet", there was some trouble and delay in transferring the outfit to
the south bank of the river, the heavier wagons having to be ferried upon
rafts of logs. Leaving the Arkansas on August 2d, the caravan moved up
the westward side of the Apishapa, and continued upon that course until
the evening of August 5th, when the officers discovered that they were not
on the Huerfano. So, in the next morning, "after travelling two miles
in the direction of the Spanish Peaks, we bore to the right and struck a
wagon trail leading from the Eaton Pass to the Pueblo on the Arkansas,
and Fort Laramie on the Platte. This we followed to the Cuchara, which
is forty feet wide and two feet deep at the ford which we crossed, and
encamped two miles above the ford". Beckwith, accompanied by five men,
now went to the small settlement of ^Mexicans on the Greenhorn Eiver to
obtain a guide to lead the way through the Sangre de Cristo Pass to Fort
Massachusetts; and upon his return the party "crossed over to the Huer-
fano". "We can say", remarks Beckwith, "that no obstruction of any mag-
nitude exists, thus far, to the successful construction of a railroad."
After two days' travel up the Huerfano, the explorers turned southwest,
crossed the summit of the Sangre de Cristo Pass on August 13th, and en-
camped near Fort Massachusetts in the evening of the 19th.
The next three days were spent in local examinations of the Sangre de
Cristo Eange in search of the most practicable pass in that vicinity for a
railway, and in refitting for the continuation of the exploration. Besum-
ing the march on August 23d, the company moved up the western base
of the Sangre de Cristo until the 26th. "with the broad valley of San Luis
on our left", and then headed westward in the direction of the Coochetopa
Pass, the summit of which was reached about noon of September 2d
Under date of August 27th, Lieutenant Beck-with says that "the promising
opening in the Sierra San Juan, to tJie southwest, which allured Colonel
Fremont to the disaster of 1848-49, attracts its full share of attention and
comment, some of the gentlemen of our party [Kern, Creutzfeldt, Taplin,
and several of the employees] having participated in that misfortune";
and under date of the 30th, when at the "gateway to Coochetopa Pass",
remarks that "we here leave the immense valley of San Luis, which is one
of the finest in New Mexico, although it contains a large proportion of
worthless land— worthless because destitute of water to such an extent that
irrigation alone can produce a crop". It was his conclusion that if the
Coochetopa Pass "be deemed desirable for a railroad, it will lie necessarj'
to pass the summit with a grade of 124 feet to the mile, which will re-
quire a tunnel, including a deep approach from the west of not less than
two miles in length".
In descending the westward slope of the pass, the party "proceeded
down the valley of Pass Creek, the hills on each side being cut by small
rills, deep back towards their summits, which will render a winding route
and much cutting and filling necessary in constructing a railroad, for
which the southern side of the creek is the most favorable". Captain Gun-
Vol. 1—9
130 HISTORY OF COLOEADO
nison noted that "the disposition of the mountains indicates that a line
can be carried from the Coochetopa Pass southwesterly for some distance",
and that br descending a valley in that direction "securing a better grade
than liy following Pass Creek". The march in the forenoon of September
5th. "brought us to the Coochetopa creek, a fine rapid little stream of
twenty feet in width". Moving down the Coochetopa, the party encamped
in the evening of the 6th at its confluence with the Gunnison River, which
Beckwith calls "Grand River", "a fine clear stream of cold water, one
hundred feet wide and three feet deep, flowing rapidly over a paving
stone bed". Of the physical conditions encountered on the Gunnison dur-
ing the next day's march, which was down its course, Beckwith says :
' ' On each side of the river to-day, and, as we can see, for some days ahead, the
banks rise rapidly towards the precipitous sides of the mesas, which extend back
from fifteen to twenty miles from the mountains. . . . While the current of the
river is rapid, and the descent very considerable, these tables seem to preserve the
same absolute level, and consequently become more elevated above the river as it
descends. They are judged to be, to-day, 1,200 feet above it. and not less than 1,500
twenty miles west of us. . . . Captain Gunnison rode into the cauones several
times during the day. He says of the first, ' that it would require blasting one-third
of the distance for the construction of a railroad, and solid masonry, with many
arches for culverts on the whole line — a stupendous work for an enj,'ineer.
} ? »
The party did not attempt further to descend the Gunnison, but on
September 8th left that river at a point near the mouth of its left-hand
affluent. Beaver Creek, and moved southwesterly toward the Uiicompahgre
Valley. While on this detour, which occupied the time of a week, the
explorers had much difficulty in crossing the troughs of CeboUo Creek, the
Lake Fork, the two Blues, and Cimarron Creek. From the latter their
course bore northwesterly, and on the 15th tlie caravan struck the Uncom-
pahgre River a short distance below the mouth of Cedar Creek, and at or
in the near neighborhood of the site of our town of Montrose. On the
third day before, "a few Tah-bah-was-chi Utahs exhibited themselves on
their war steeds, near enough to call out to us. We advanced to meet
them, and a crowd of men, women and children soon gathered at our
camp". In the next morning, Captain Gunnison "made presents to the
Indians; first providing the chief with the articles which he was to dis-
tribute to Ms people, and then a package for himself. They were very
importunate for powder and lead, everything else appearing of little value
to them. We were anxious to purchase horses, but they would sell them
only for arms and ammunition".
Descending the valley of the Uncompahgre, the explorers encamped in
the evening of September 18th not far below the itnion of that stream
with the Gunnison River. Of some incidents of the march to that point.
Lieutenant Beckwith says:
"We met several small parties of Indians during the day [the 16th], all of
whom followed us to camp; and others continued to arrive until a late hour at night,
filli ng the air as they approached with yells and calls, which were answered by their
friends in or near camp — consisting of inquiries and directions as to how and where
they were to pass — until we were heartily tired of them. The most of them were
sent out of camp, but they built their fii'es only a few yards from ours, and their
noise was little abated by the change, and our safety but little increased. They had,
much to his regret, recognized our guide ; but he neither showed fear nor want of
confidence in them, although he had once shot one of their chiefs, who was attempting
HISTORY OF COLORADO 131
to rob him of his horse; and he shared his fire, pipe and blankets with the chiefs,
who remained all night with him.
"Si-ree-chi-wap, the principal chief of the band, who is now so old that he
exercises but little authority directly— intrusting it to his son, who accompanies him—
arrived during the night, and, followed by his sub-chiefs, this morning [the 17th]
repaired to Captain Gunnison's tent to talk and smoke. The Captain informed them
that 'the President had sent him to look for a good road by which his people, who
live toward the rising sun, can visit those who live upon the great water where it
sets; that he was their friend, and had authorized him to make them a few presents
in his name'. The son of Siree-chi-wap replied: 'This is your land, and you can go
over it at any time. There are bad Indians over the mountains, who kill white men
but the Utahs are good, and glad to see the Americans.' Presents were then dis-
tributed, pipes smoked, and the party moved on, accompanied for several miles by the
chiefs. We crossed the point of land lying between the Uneompahgra and Grand
[Gunnison] river, reaching the latter at Eoubideau 's old trading fort, now entirely
fallen to ruins. ' '
Beckwith, again referring to the Gunnison Canon, "which we have
been so nianj- days passing around", and to the difficulties it presented to
the railwa\' builder, goes on to say :
' ' The difference of elevation between the head of the caiion and our camp [that
of the 18th], a few miles below its termination, on the Uneompahgra, separated from
Grand [Gunnison] river by a level bottom only, is 2,077 feet; and as the distance be-
tween these points by the river does not exceed seventy miles — of which, perhaps,
sixty preserves its canon character — the average descent will vary but slightly from
thirty feet to the mile. But from the continuance, for so great a distance, of vertical
rocky walls along the river, upon which the road must be carried, and which can be
cut only by blasting, and, from the deep side-chasms to be passed, as described by
Captain Gunnison on the 7th instant, only by the heaviest masonry, it is evident that
a railroad, although possible, can only be constructed in the vicinity of this section
of Grand [Gunnison] river at an enormous expense — for the accurate estimate of
which, situated as the work is at so great a distance from civilization, where not only
laborers, but their subsistence, must be transported by land carriage nearly 1,000
miles, and where scarcely a stick of timber has been seen for the last 100 miles on
the route, nor will be for the succeeding 150 miles, suitable for a string-piece for a
small temporary bridge, or even a railroad tie, it is not too much to say, no data
exists, nor will until such a labor shall be undertaken. ' '
The expedition passed down the Gunnison to its confluence with the
Grand River, camping over night on the site of our city of Grand Junction,
and continued down the Grand into the territoiy of the present State of
Utah. Thence the trend of the winding course taken by the explorers was
westward, across the Wasatch Mountains, to the Sevier River, which dis-
charges into Lake Sevier. It was on this stream, at a point about twenty
miles above its mouth, that Captain Gunnison and several others of the
party were killed by Pah Ute Indians early in the morning of October 26th
(1853).
In the forenoon of the 25th, Captain Gunnison, Topographer Kern,
Botanist Creutzfeldt, William Potter (a Mormon guide), John Bellows (a
civilian employee), escorted by seven of the soldiers, left the expedition's
camp to explore the vicinity of Lake Sevier ; and encamped in the evening of
that day after having marched about eleven miles. Here, at daybreak in
the next morning, tlie detachment was surprised and attacked by a large
band of Pah Utes. Four of the soldiers, who succeeded in reaching their
horses, escaped: but Gunnison, Kern, Creutzfeldt, Potter, Bellows, and
Privates Caulfield. Liptoote, and Mehrteens were killed. Gunnison's body
133 HISTOEY OF COLORADO
was pierced by fifteen arrows, while death came to the others by rifle balls,
arrows, or the hatchet. The dead were buried where they had fallen.
The broken company now proceeded to Salt Lake City, and remained
there during the following winter. Having reorganized the expedition.
Lieutenant Beckwith resumed the survey in the spring of 1854; but in
these operations he did not again enter the bounds of Colorado.
At the time of Captain Gimnison's death, Fremont's fifth (and last)
exploration of the Eocky Mountains and the country beyond them was
afoot upon the plains of Kansas. Nettled by his exclusion from partici-
pation in the War Department's surveys "to ascertain the most practicable
and economic route for a railroad from the Mississippi river to the Pacific
ocean", the Pathfinder, having determined to engage in the work inde-
pendently, had hastened home from Paris late in the spring of that year.
It was his purpose to continue his examination of the country in the
vicinity of the 38th parallel, from the upper part of our San Luis Valley
to the coast, by way of the Utah Basin : and thus to complete the survey
that had been stopped by his disaster in the winter of 1818-49. The
expense of the new enterprise was defrayed by himself and Senator
Benton.
As in 1848, Fremont organized the expedition at AVestport. Among
the members of the party were F. W. EglofEstein, Topographer; S. N.
Carvalho, Artist ; Oliver Fuller, Astronomer ; and ten Delaware Indians,
including the chieftains Solomon and Captain Wolf. Leaving Westport
in the middle of September, the route taken through Kansas was by the
course of the Kansas Eiver to the mouth of the Solomon, thence southwest
to the Arkansas and on up the latter.
After striking the Arkansas, Fremont followed Captain Gunnison's
general course over the mountains and into the Utah Basin, and for a
large part in Gunnison's tracks. Eeaching the mouth of the Huerfano
at the beginning of December, the party moved up the valley of that
stream and crossed the Sangre de Cristo Range into the San Luis Valley
by the Sandhill Pass. Of the railway prospects from that pass, Fremont
says:
"Our examinations around the soutlieni headwaters of the Arkansas, have made
us acquainted with many passes, grouped together in a small space of country, eon-
ducting by short and practicable valleys from the waters of the Arkansas just de-
scribed, to the valleys of the Del Norte [the Eio Grande] and East Colorado [the
present Grand Eiver, of the western slope]. The Sierra Blanca [the Sangrg de
Cristo], through which these passes lie, is high and rugged, presenting a very broken
appearance, but rises abruptly from the open country on either side, narrowed at the
points through which the passes are cut, leaving them only six or eight miles in
length from valley to valley, and entirely unobstructed by outlying ranges or broken
country. To the best of these passes the ascent is along the open valley of water-
courses, uniform and very gradual in ascent. Standing immediately at the mouth
of the Sandhill Pass — one of the most practicable in the Sierra Blanca, and above
those usually travelled — at one of the remotest headsprings of the Huerfano Eiver, the
eye of the traveller follows down without obstruction or abrupt descent along the
gradual slope of the valley to the great plains which reach the Missouri. The straight
river and the open valley form, with the plains beyond, one great slope, without a
hill to break the line of sight or obstruct the course of the road. On either side of
this line hills slope easily to the river, with lines of timber and yellow autumnal
grass, and the water, which flows smoothly between, is not interrupted by a fall in its
course to the ocean. The surrounding country is wooded with pines and covered
with luxuriant grasses, up to the very crags of the central summits. On the 8th of
HISTORY OF COLOEADO 133
December vce fouua this whole country free from snow, and Daguerre views taken
at this time show the grass entirely uncovered in the passes. ' '
From the western end of Sandhill Pass, through the Coochetopa Pass
and on down to the Gunnison Eiver, Fremont pursued the course which
had been taken by Captain Gunnison. Concerning the conditions in and
near the Coochetopa, the Pathfinder tells the followino- :
"Across those wooded heights— wooded and grass-covered up to and over their
rounded summits— to the Coocha-tope pass, the line followed an open and easy
wagon-way, such as is usual to a rolling country. On the high summit lands were
forests of coniferous trees, and the snow in the pass was four inches deep. This w^as
on the 14th of December. A day earUer our horses' feet would not have touched
snow in the crossing. Up to this point we had enjoyed clear and dry pleasant weather.
Our journey had been all along on dry ground; and travelling slowly along waiting
for the winter, there had been abundant leisure for becoming acquainted with the
.country. The open character of the country, joined to good information, indicated
the existence of other passes about the head of the Sa-watch. This it was desirable
to verify, and especially to examine a neighboring and lower pass connecting more
directly with the Arkansas valley, known as the Poow-che [the present Puueha Pass,
at the head of Puncha Creek, south of our town of Salida].
"But the winter had now set in over all the mountain regions, and the country
was so constantly enveloped and hidden in clouds which rested upon it, and the air
so darkened by falling snow, that exploring became diflScult and dangerous, precisely
where we felt most interested in making a thorough examination. We were moving
in fogs and clouds, through a region wholly unknown to us, and without guides, and
were therefore obliged to content ourselves with the examination of a single line, and
the ascertainment of the winter condition of the country over which it passed; which
was in fact the main object of our expedition. ' '
During the march across the western slope of Colorado, the party
encountered rather severe winter-conditions. "The greatest depth of snow
was, among the pines and aspens, about two and a half feet, and in the
valleys about six inches". But the air "was too dry and cold for much
snow, and the valleys, protected by the mountains, are comparatively free
from it, and warm''. After reaching the Gunnison, Fremont followed its
course to its union with the Grand Eiver, and thence by way of the latter
passed beyond the western boundary of Colorado. By this time, the stock
of provisions had run low; and while upon the march to and across the
Wasatch Eange the men were driven to the necessity of killing their
horses and pack-mules for food. Every member of the party sufEered ex-
treme hardships, to which Oliver Fuller succumbed on February 7th, when
"almost in sight of succor", as the expedition arrived at the Mormon set>-
tlement of Paravan on the next day.
Having recuperated and refitted at Paravan, the company started for
California on February 20th, taking a southwesterly course, and crossed
the Sierra ISTevada into the southern section of the San Joaquin Valley late
in March. A few weeks afterward, Fremont set out upon his return to
the East, going by the Panama route, and was again in Washington City
in June, when he published a preliminary report of the results of the ex-