CENTRAL ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC.
Journal of the Expedition of Superintendent BEALE and GWINN HARRIS HEAP from Missouri to Cali-fornia: Journal kept by G. H. HEAP.
[Continued from, the National Intelligencer of December 6.]
July 31.—We saddled up before sunrise, and at eight o'clock reached the head of the valley where Sevier river from the southwest and Beaver creek from the west, both issuing from deep canons, join their waters. We here came to a stand, it being evident that no further progress could be made in the direction we were travelling. The guide insisted that our road was through one of the ca-nons, but before proceeding it was deemed advisable to make a reconnoissance, when both canons were found equally impracticable, even for men on foot. After losing two hours in an ineffectual search, we turned our mules' heads to the northward, and, travelling three miles clown Sevier river, we crossed it, passed over a steep hill, and descended into another valley, watered by the same stream ; when, too late for the discovery to be useful to us, we perceived a level wagon road, made by the Mor-mons, leading into it. Sevier is the corruption of SEVE-RO, called on Col. Fremont's map Nicollet.
This valley lies north and south, and surpasses in beau-ty and fertility any thing we had yet seen. It is about thirty miles in length by four in breadth, surrounded by mountains, down whose sides trickled numberless clear and cool brooks, fringed with willows and cottonwoods. Sevier river flowed through this valley, which abounded in its entire breadth in rich pasturage. The mountains were clothed from summit to base with oaks and pines.
After a short rest we proceeded south up this valley, and at dark we stopped on a rivulet running from the westward into Sevier river. In riding through the grass we heard numerous rattlesnakes, and killed several; they sprang at some of the men and animals, but none were bitten.—18 miles; 1,267 miles.
August 1.—We travelled until noon up the left bank of Sevier river, and halted near its junction with the San Pasqual, (its main fork,) where the latter issues from a canon at the head of the valley. The San Pasqual, above the canon, flows through a valley of great beauty.
At our noon halt we struck a trail, which we supposed to be the old Abiquiu trail to California; but this trail has been so long disused as to be now almost obliterated.
In the afternoon we travelled about four miles up a ra-vine bearing a little to the west of south, which took us to the summit of a steep mountain. We had left the wagon trail which we had found in the valley, as it took a long circuit to avoid this ascent. The summit of the mountain was broad and flat, and clothed with grass.—36 miles ; 1,303 miles.
August 2.—We were now approaching another stage in our journey which we were impatient to reach. The Mormon settlements near Las Vegas de Santa Clara were at a short distance, and we made an early start in the hopes of reaching them before dark. We descended the mountains in a westerly direction through abundant- ly-watered valleys, every where covered with grass. I also found wild rye growing in great abundance, the seed quite large and full.
At dusk, on the previous day, we had discovered a party of mounted Indians examining us from a neighboring ridge; we therefore were on the look-out all the morning. Soon after sunrise a few Pah-Utahs, the first of that tribe which we had seen, ran down a hill-side to meet us, and, accosting us in a friendly manner, asked whether we were Mormons or "Swaps" (Americans.) They informed us that a Mormon village was not far off, and Beale and I, riding in advance of our party, in a few hours arrived at the town of Paragoona, in Little Salt Lake Valley, near LAS VEGAS DE SANTA CLARA.
The village of PARAGOONA, situated in the valley of the Little Salt Lake, lies near the foot of the mountains which form its eastern boundary, and at four miles from the lake. It contains about thirty houses, which, although built of adobes, present a neat and comfortable appear-ance. The clay of which the adobes are made is of a pink color, and they are small and well pressed. The houses are built to form a quadrangle, the spaces between them being protected by a strong stockade of pine pickets. Outside of the village is an area of fifty acres in extent, enclosed within a single fence, and is cultivated in com-mon by the inhabitants. It is called "The Field" and a stream from the Wah-satch Mountains irrigates it, and also supplies the town with water.
The Mormons have found iron ore in the mountains, and have established several smelting furnaces. They stated that it is of excellent quality and that the mines are inexhaustible.
We did not remain long at Paragoona, for soon after our arrival, in obedience to a mandate from Governor Brigham Young, the inhabitants commenced removing to the town of Parawan, four miles to the southward, it being considered unsafe, with the smallness of their num-ber, for them to remain at Paragoona. It was indeed a strange sight to witness the alacrity with which these people obeyed an order which compelled them to destroy the fruits of two years' labor; and no time was lost in commencing the work of destruction. Their houses were demolished, the doors, windows, and all portable wood work being reserved for future dwellings; and the wagons were soon on the road to Parawan, loaded with their fur-niture and other property.
We left Paragoona in the afternoon, and rode to Para-wan over an excellent wagon-road, made and kept in re-pair and bridged in many places by the Mormons. We passed at a mile on our left a large grist and saw-mill worked by water-power.
Parawan is also situated at the base of the mountains. It contains about one hundred houses, which are built in a square and face inwards. In their rear, and outside of the town, are vegetable gardens, each dwelling having a lot running back about one hundred yards. By an excel-lent system of irrigation water is brought to the front and rear of every house and through the centre and out-side boundary of each garden lot. The houses are orna-mented in trout with small flower-gardens, which are fenced off from the square and shaded with trees. "The Field" covers about four hundred acres, and was in a high state of cultivation, the wheat and corn being as fine as any that we had seen in the States ; and the people took a just pride in showing us what they had accomplished in so short a time and against so many obstacles.—32 miles; 1,335 miles.
August 3.—Most of the day was spent in having the animals shod and in getting extra shoes made to replace those which might be lost in crossing the desert region lying between the Vegas de Santa Clara and Moh-hah-veh river. An American blacksmith, assisted by a couple of Pah-Utah youths, did this work, and we were surpris-ed to see what skilful workmen these Indians made. Most of the Mormon families have one or more Pah-Utah children, whom they had bought from their parents ; they were treated with kindness, and even with tenderness; they were taught to call their protectors "father" and "mother" and instructed in the rudiments of education. The Mormons rather encourage a system which amelio-rates the condition of these children by removing them from the influence of their savage parents, but their laws forbid their being taken out of the Territory. The chil-dren are not interdicted from intercourse with their tribe, the members of which being allowed freely to enter the town; but they evince but little interest in their off-spring, for, having sold them to the whites, they no longer consider them their kith or kin.
The water of Little Salt Lake is as briny, we were told, as that of Great Salt Lake, and we noticed that its shore was covered with saline incrustations for a mile or more, from the water's edge ; but the Mormons stated that the salt was of little value, being impregnated with salera-tus and other alkaline matter, which rendered it unfit for use. They obtained their supplies of this article from mines of rock-salt in the mountains.
The excitement occasioned by the threats of Walkah, the Utah chief, continued to increase during the day we spent at Pahrawan. Families flocked in from Paragoona and from other small settlements and farms, bringing with them their moveables and their flocks and herds. Parties of mounted men, well armed, patrolled the coun-try ; expresses came in from different quarters bringing accounts of attacks by the Indians on small parties and unprotected farms and houses. During our stay Walkah sent in a polite message to Colonel G. A. Smith, who had military command of the district and governed it by martial law, telling him that "the Mormons were d---d fools for abandoning their houses and towns, for he did not intend to molest them there, as it was his intention to confine his depredations to their cattle, and that he advised them to return and mind their crops, for, if they neglected them, they would starve and be obliged to leave the country, which was not what he desired, for there would then be no cattle in it for him to take." He ended by declaring war for four years. This message did not tend to reassure the Mormons, who in this dis-trict were mostly foreigners, and stood in great awe of Indians.
The Utah chieftain who occasioned all this panic and ex-citement is a man of great subtlety and indomitable energy. He is not a Utah by birth, but has acquired such an ex-traordinary ascendency over that tribe by his daring ex-ploits that all the restless spirits and ambitious young warriors in it have joined his standard. Having an un-limited supply of fine horses, and being inured to every fatigue and privation, he keeps the Territories of New Mexico and Utah, the provinces of Chihuahua and Sonora, and the southern portion of California in constant alarm. His movements are so rapid and his plans so skilfully and so secretly laid that he has never once failed in any en-terprise, and he has scarcely disappeared from one dis-trict before he is heard of in another. He frequently divides his men into two or more bands, which, making their appearance at different points at the same time, each headed, it is given out, by the dreaded Walkah in person, has given him with the ignorant Mexicans the at-tribute of ubiquity. The principal object of his forays is to drive off horses and cattle, but more particularly the first; and we noticed among the Utahs' horses many brands familiar to us in New Mexico and California.
He adopted the name of Walker on account of the close intimacy and friendship which in former days united him to Joe Walker, an old mountaineer, and the same who discovered Walker's Pass in the Sierra Nevada.
This chief had a brother as valiant and crafty as him-self, to whom he was greatly attached. Both speaking Spanish and broken English, they were enabled to main-tain intercourse with the whites without the aid of an interpreter. This brother the Mormons thought they had killed, for having repelled a night attack on a mill, which was lead by him, on the next morning they found a rifle and a hatchet which they recognised as his, and also traces of blood and tracks of men apparently carrying a heavy body. Although rejoicing at the death of one of their most implacable enemies, the Mormons dreaded the wrath of the great chieftain, which they felt would not be appeased until he had avenged his brother's blood in theirs. The Mormons were surprised at our having passed in safety through Walker's territory, and they did not know to what to attribute our escape from destruc-tion. They told us that the cattle tracks which we had seen a few days previous were those of a portion of a large drove lifted by Walker; and that the mounted men we had noticed in the mountains in the evening of August 1 were scouts sent out to watch our movements. They en-deavored to dissuade us from prosecuting our journey, for they stated that it was unsafe to travel even between their towns without an escort of from twenty-five to thirty men.
The Mormons had published a reward of fifteen thou-sand dollars for Walker's head, but it was a serious ques-tion among them who should "bell the cat."
We procured at Parawan a small supply of flour and some beef, which we buccanee'd.
The kind reception that we received from the inhabi-tants of these settlements during our short sojourn among them strongly contrasted with that which we had been led to anticipate from the reports of the Mexicans and Indians whom we had met on the road. On our ar-rival Colonel G. A. Smith dispatched an officer to inquire of Mr. Beale who we were, our business, our destination, &c., at the same time apologising for the inquiries by stating that the disturbed condition of the country ren-dered it necessary to exercise a strict vigilance over all strangers, particularly over those who came from the di-rection of their enemy's territory. Mr. Beale, of course, gave satisfactory replies, when we were treated as friends and received every mark of cordiality. We spent the evening of our arrival in Parawan at the house of Col. Smith, who was in command of this portion of the terri-tory, and was organizing a military force for its protec-tion. He related to us the origin of these southern set-tlements, the many difficulties and hardships that they had to contend with, and gave us much interesting infor-mation of the geography of the surrounding country. He also stated that furnaces for smelting iron ore were al- ready in operation in the vicinity of Paragoona and Pa-rawan, and that the metal, which was obtained in sufficient quantity to supply any demand, was also of an excellent quality, and that coal veins had been found near Cedar City, on Coal Creek, eighteen miles south of Paragoona, one of which was fifteen feet in thickness and apparently inexhaustible. A large force of English miners was em-ployed in working these mines, and pronounced the coal to be equal to the best English coal. I saw it used in the forges; it is bituminous, and burns with a bright flame.
As regards the abominable practice of polygamy, which the Mormons have engrafted on their religion, we would not have suspected its existence among them had not one of the "Elders" voluntarily informed us that he was "one of those Mormons who believed in a plurality of wifes" and added, "for my part I have six, and this is one of them" pointing to a female who was present; and, taking this subject for his text, he delivered a discourse highly eulogistic of the institution of marriage, as seen in a Mormon point of view ; of the antiquity of polygamy, its advantages, the evil it prevents, quoting the example of Eastern nations, and backing his argument with sta-tistics of the relative number of males and females born, obtained no doubt from the same source as the Book of Mormon. This discourse did not increase our respect for the tenets he advocated, but we deemed it useless to enter into a controversy with one who made use of such sophis-try. From what he said I inferred that a large number of Mormons did not entirely approve of the "spiritual wife" system, and, judging from some of the households, it was evident that the weaker vessel has in many in-stances here, as elsewhere, the control of the menage.
We left Parawan at dusk, having sent most of the party in advance, with directions to await our arrival at the nearest of those rich meadows known as Las Vegas de Santa Clara, about eighteen miles distant.
On entering the Valley of the Little Salt Lake we came upon the line surveyed by Col. Fremont, and described in his report published in 1846. It was our intention to follow this line until we arrived in California ; and, as the Mormons had opened a wagon road all the way, we an-ticipated no difficulty in getting to our journey's end in good time.
The party arrived at Cedar City about midnight, but indisposition prevented me from keeping up with them, and I was finally compelled to spread my blanket near the roadside and rest until morning.—18 miles ; 1,353 miles.
August 4.—I saddled my mule at daylight, and in a few hours reached Cedar City. I was informed there that the party had already left, but that I could overtake them a few miles from the town.
CEDAR CITY is a place of more importance than either Parawan or Paragoona, but is built on the same plan. Around it are extensive fields, abundantly irrigated, giv-ing every promise of a rich harvest; the hills in the rear of the town are well timbered, and it is in this vicinity that the Mormons have discovered the coal veins destined to form the wealth of the district. The inhabitants are principally foreigners ; most of whom are Englishmen from the coal regions of Great Britain. At the time of our visit the place was crowded with the people of the surrounding country seeking refuge from the Indians, and its square was blocked up with wagons, furniture, tents, farming implements, &c., in the midst of which were men, women, and children, together with every de-scription of cattle, creating a scene of confusion difficult to describe.
I overtook the party in a large grove of cottonwoods, and we immediately resumed our journey.
It is here that we saw the first of the meadows of Santa Clara which give to this region some celebrity. They are embraced between 37° and 38° north latitude. This vega was covered with tender grass and watered by nu-merous streams, which preserve its freshness even during the most sultry seasons. To travellers from the south coming off the desert lying between the Mo-ha-veh and these vegas they certainly offer a delightful relief, and to us, although our animals had only recently been luxuria-ting in the rich mountain pastures of the Wah-satch, their uniform verdure and level surface, shaded in many places by extensive glades of cottonwoods, offered a delightful feeling of security, as though we were once more within the confines of civilization.
We now travelled on the Mormon wagon trail leading to San Bernardino, in the south of California. We had heard of another route leading west to Owen's river, thence through a pass in the Sierra-Nevada, which leads into the Tulare Valley near the bead of the four creeks ; but un- fortunately we were unable to take this route, for we could neither obtain a guide nor even information on the subject; and, moreover, it would have been departing from his views of examining the country on the Mo-ha-veh, for the purpose of locating Indians there, for Mr. Beale to have altered his course. The route by Owen's river shortens the distance nearly two hundred miles, cutting off the large elbow to the southwest, and, accord-ing to the accounts we had received, it conducts over a tolerably level, well watered, and grassy country.
We rested for a short time at noon, and then travelled until 10 P. M. over a level, plain and good wagon road, on each side of which was much dry grass ; but we saw no water until encamping on a vega (a meadow) which we reached through a gap in the mountain on our left. This meadow was about seven miles in extent, penetrating deep into the mountains, and, although there was little running water, yet the grass was every where green and tender.—38 miles ; 1,391 miles.
August 5.—We returned to the plain and continued to travel south by west until noon, when we encamped in the most southern of the vegas, which was more beautiful than any we had seen—rich in waving grass and watered by numerous rills. It is enclosed by a low ridge of hills ; its declivity is mostly to the northward, being on the edge of the Great Salt Lake Basin ; in fact on the divide, for a portion of its waters run into the Basin, whilst the Rio de Santa Clara, which runs into the Rio de la Virgin, a tri-butary of the Great Colorado, takes its rise here.
These vegas are called by the Mormons "the mountain meadows."
In the afternoon, travelling south, we descended a slope, which brought us after dark to the Santa Clara creek, near which we encamped.—28 miles ; 1,419.
[TO BE CONTINUED.]
