Fremont's First and Second Expeditions (review) [pp. 521-529]

SOUTHERN LITERARY MESSENGER.
PUBLISHED MONTHLY AT FIVE DOLLARS PER ANNUM-JNO. R. THOMPSON, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR.
VOL. XV. RICHMOND, SEPTEMBER, 1849. NOS. 9 & 10.
Fremont's First and Second Expeditions,*
The first exploring expedition made by Lieutenant (as he then was) Fr6mont, commenced
June 10th, 1842, and ended towards the close of
September following, having thus occupied somewhat less than four months. Fremont was accompanied by a party of twenty-one men, mostly Creole or Canadian voyageurs, men accustomed to danger, and ennred to fatigue and privation.
Mr. Preuss, aGerman, went out as topographical assistant, a man named Maxwell as hunter,
and the famous Kit Carson as guide. The party started from a poilit near where the Kansas
empties into the MAissouri, in latitude 390, about
400 miles above St. Louis.
"During our journey it was the customary
practice to encamp an hour or two before sunset,
when the carts were disposed so as to form a sort
of barricade around a circle some eighty yards
in diameter. The tents were pitched, and the
horses hobbled, and turned loose to graze; and
but a few minutes elapsed before the cooks of
the messes, of which there were four, were busily engaged in preparing the evening meal. At
nightfall the horses, mules and oxen were driven
in, and picketed-that is secured by a halter, of
which one end was tied to a small steel-shod
picket, and driven into the ground; the halter
being twenty or thirty feet long, which enabled
them to obtain a little food during the night.
When we had reached a part of the country,
where such a precaution became necessary, the
carts being regularly arranged for defending the
camp, guard was mounted at eight o'clock, consisting of three men, who were relieved every
two hours; the morning watch being horse-guard
for the day. Atday-break thecamp was roused,
the animals turned loose to graze, and breakfast
generally over between six and seven o'clock,
when we resumed our march, making regularly
a halt at noon for one or two hours."
There would seem to be not a little of the
spirit of chivalry, romance and poetry in an expedition of this kind. Leaving the dust and turmoil of the busy world far behind them, these
voyageurs setting their faces westward, embark
into a vast expanse lying beyond the pale of civilization and of law. All that is commonplace is
left in the rear;-before them all is comparative
"~ REPORT OF THE EXPLOR1NG EXPEDITION tO the
Rocky Mountains in the year 1842. Printed by order of the
tiouse of Representatives." By J. a. FREMONT, U. S.
Topographical Engineers.
VOL. XV-66
ly a terra incognita, novel, wild, magnificent.
How many studies Yfor the pencil must not the
evening bivouac exhibit, or the rousing of the
camp at dawn of day, or the line of march how
much that is grotesque, picturesque, arabesque?
The march would be subject to hazards enough
to give it the dignity of danger, yet not so haz ardous as to render it gloomy. Liberated from
the obligations of law and of opinion, nevertheless the principle of order and subordination
would be secured among them by a sense of mutual dependence. The appearance of the country passed over and its productions, the elk,
the antelope and the buffalo, and the various incidents of the journey, would serve to break
agreeably the usual monotony, while life in the
open, salubrious air, with continual exercise,
would lend its exhilarating influence and banish ennui. Such is the picture which the imagination would body forth in starting upon such a
journey. But for the first thousand miles, at
least, the picture far exceeds the reality. The
prairies, indeed, after first entering upon them,
on the margin of "the plains," present vast,
boundless scenes of Eden-like verdure and unrivalled beauty. And indeed such magnificent
prospects occasionally re-appear during the progress of the march across " the plains," when a
sea of vegetation and flowers they spread out in
one vast level, or are seen swelling into superb
ridges or sloping away in shadowy declivities.
Still it must be confessed in spite of all its rich
and poetic effect, when first the delightful panorama is unfolded to the view, that in a few days
the traveller's stock of admiration becomes sensibly impaired, and ere long perhaps quite exhausted. The prairies, like the females of the
South Sea islands, are not more, but the less
charming for being naked. There is an intimate
connexion between beauty and utility, and the
prairies exposed to the full blaze of the sun,
ot to the unbroken sweep of the wintry wind,
are found not to wear so well as the wrest-crowned scenes.
The animation of the party is greatly heightened when they encounter the buffalo, roaming
in dark masses over the plains. "Ildians and
buffalo," says Fr6mont, "mn t]ihe po~y and
life of the praire."~:A the surge of emrration
sweeps on westward, the Indians and the buffalo will be gradually exteminated, and at length
the prairies will be divested of their poetry and
life. Fremont gives the following picture of a
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