Chapter CXIII

LIEUTENANT FREMONT'S FIRST EXPEDITION: SPEECH, AND MOTION OF SENATOR LINN.

A communication was received from the War Department, in answer to a call heretofore made for the report of Lieutenant Frémont's expedition to the Rocky Mountains. Mr. Linn moved that it be printed for the use of the Senate; and also that one thousand extra copies be printed.

"In support of his motion," Mr. L. said, "that in the course
of the last summer a very interesting expedition had been
undertaken to the Rocky Mountains, ordered by Col. Abert, chief
of the Topographical Bureau, with the sanction of the Secretary
at War, and executed by Lieutenant Frémont of the topographical
engineers. The object of the expedition was to examine and
report upon the rivers and country between the frontiers of
Missouri and the base of the Rocky Mountains; and especially to
examine the character, and ascertain the latitude and longitude
of the South Pass, the great crossing place to these mountains
on the way to the Oregon. All the objects of the expedition have
been accomplished, and in a way to be beneficial to science,
and instructive to the general reader, as well as useful to the
government.

"Supplied with the best astronomical and barometrical
instruments, well qualified to use them, and accompanied by
twenty-five _voyageurs_, enlisted for the purpose at St. Louis,
and trained to all the hardships and dangers of the prairies
and the mountains, Mr. Frémont left the mouth of the Kansas,
on the frontiers of Missouri, on the 10th of June; and, in the
almost incredibly short space of four months returned to the
same point, without an accident to a man, and with a vast mass
of useful observations, and many hundred specimens in botany and
geology.

"In executing his instructions, Mr. Frémont proceeded up the
Kansas River far enough to ascertain its character, and then
crossed over to the Great Platte, and pursued that river to its
source in the mountains, where the Sweet Water (a head branch
of the Platte) issues from the neighborhood of the South Pass.
He reached the Pass on the 8th of August, and describes it as a
wide and low depression of the mountains, where the ascent is
as 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. Frémont, 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 nature 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. Frémont 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 interest 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
skilful 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 printing was ordered."