CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 THE WEYL BOOK FUND 
 
 ESTABLISHED IN I535 
 IN MEMORY OF 
 
 JAMES SALLER WEYL 
 
 OF THE CLASS OF I92.9 
 
F 593B36°Z4" ""'"""'*' '""'"^ 
 ^'*W,l.,SJ5,3£rald.,Be,ale a pioneer in th 
 
 olin 
 
 3 1924 028 908 527 
 
The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/cletails/cu31924028908527 
 
General Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 From a Woodcut 
 
Edward Fitzgerald 
 Beale 
 
 A Pioneer in the Path of Empire 
 1822-1903 
 
 By 
 
 Stephen Bonsai 
 
 With 17 Illustrations 
 
 G. P. Putnam's Sons 
 
 New York and London 
 XTbe Iftnicfterbocfter press 
 1912 
 
 I \' i I:;, ri Y 
 
Copyright, 1912 
 
 BY 
 
 TRUXTUN BEALE 
 
 Ube l^nfcketboclier iptess, mew Jgorft 
 
INTRODUCTORY NOTE 
 
 EDWARD FITZGERALD BEALE, whose 
 life is outlined in the following pages, was 
 a remarkable man of a type we shall never 
 see in America again. A grandson of the gallant 
 Truxtun, Beale was bom in the Navy and his early 
 life was passed at sea. However, he fought with 
 the army at San Pasqual and when night fell upon 
 that indecisive battlefield, with Kit Carson and 
 an anon3mious Indian, by a daring journey through 
 a hostile country, he brought to Commodore 
 Stockton in San Diego, the news of General 
 Kearny's desperate situation. 
 
 Beale brought the first gold East, and was truly, 
 in those stirring days, what his friend and fellow- 
 traveller Bayard Taylor called him, "a pioneer in 
 the path of empire." Resigning from the Navy, 
 Beale explored the desert trails and the mountain 
 passes which led overland to the Pacific, and later 
 he surveyed the routes and built the wagon roads 
 over which the mighty migration passed to people 
 the new world beyond the Rockies. 
 
 As Superintendent of the Indians, a thankless 
 office which he filled for three years, Beale initiated 
 a policy of honest dealing with the nation's wards 
 
iv Introductory Note 
 
 which would have been even more successful than 
 it was had cordial unfaltering support always been 
 forthcoming from Washington. 
 
 Beale was, rare combination! both pioneer and 
 empire builder. He was also a man of catholic 
 interests. He was beloved by Carson and by 
 Benton, a scout and a senator, and was esteemed 
 by men as widely apart as his life-long friend Gen- 
 eral Grant and the Emperor Francis Joseph, at 
 whose court Beale represented all that was best in 
 his native land. 
 
 As a boy the writer worshipped the great Indian 
 fighter "Who won California" and held it against 
 innumerable Mexican lancers, and who had 
 brought home the gold in the Patent Office we used 
 to gaze at with wide-open eyes on Saturday after- 
 noons; but, for whatever intimate touches the 
 following pages may reveal the reader is indebted, 
 as is the writer, to Rear- Admiral John H. Upshur 
 and to Rear- Admiral David B. Harmony, Beale's 
 distinguished shipmates, to Hon. Truxtun Beale, 
 a son of the pioneer and of California, and to the 
 late Mr. Harris Heap who wrote the narrative of 
 Beale's journey across the plains in 1853. 
 
 Stephen Bonsal. 
 Bedford, N. Y., January 6, 1912. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Chapter I — Early Days 
 
 Birth and Parentage — Bom in the Navy — A Fistic Encounter 
 and its Consequences — A Jacksonian Midshipman at Four- 
 teen — On the Schoolship Independence — Passed Midshipman 
 and Ordered to the Congress 44 as Acting Master — Secret 
 Mission for Commodore Stockton — Tradition of the Service 
 — ^British Designs on California ...... 
 
 Chapter II — The War with Mexico 
 
 Secretary Bancroft's Instructions to Commodore Stockton upon 
 Taking Command of th4 Pacific Squadron — The Situation in 
 California — The Army of the West at Fort Leavenworth — 
 General Wool — ^Kearny at Santa Fe — The Meeting with Kit 
 Carson — Kearny Pushes on to California — Battle of San Pas- 
 qual — Beale Commands the Guns — Mexicans in Overwhelm- 
 ing Force — Kearny in Straits — Beale and Carson Undertake 
 Desperate Journey Bringing News to Stockton — The Relief 
 Column — Benton's Speech in the Senate — His Tribute to 
 Beale — Beale's First Visit to San Francisco Bay in the Fall of 
 1846 — ^His Letter to Fremont ...... 
 
 Chapter III — ^With Carson on the Gila 
 
 Beale the Hero of San Pasqual — Commodore Stockton's Des- 
 patches and the Praise of his Brother OflScers — Beale and 
 Carson Set Out across the Plains to Carry the News to Wash- 
 ington — General Sherman's Picture of Carson — Adventures 
 on the Gila — Dogged by Indians for Eight Hundred Miles on 
 the Central Plains — "Them's Arrers" — Lions in St. Louis 
 and Washington — A Short Holiday — Back across the Plains 
 Again — Incredible Hardships in the Gila Country — ^Beale Dis- 
 
vi Contents 
 
 covers or Divines the Santa Fe Trail — The Rev. Colton as Al- 
 calde of Monterey — The Milch Cow " Eschews ' ' to the Court 
 — Sutter's Mill-Race and the Golden Sands— Conditions of 
 Life in El Dorado — The Rev. Colton's Complaint and Prayer- 
 ful Hope— Beale as a Caricaturist — The Alleged Resentment 
 of Catesby Jones — Story of Gold in California — Competition 
 between the Army and Navy to Get the News East — 
 Scale's Views on the Gold Question . . . . 25 
 
 Chapter IV — Beale Brings First Gold East 
 
 Beale's Daring Journey across Mexico with the First Gold — 
 Gente de Camino — Mexico City and Minister Clifford — Fate 
 of Beale's Guide — Senators Foote and Benton Hear the Won- 
 derful Story — WiUiam Carey Jones's Account of Journey in 
 National Intelligencer — Beale Introduced to the United States 
 Senate — Wise " Stay-at-Homes " Show Incredulity — Beale 
 Walks down Wall Street with Mr. Aspinwall — P. T. Barnum 
 Wants to Exhibit the Gold — But Half the Treasure is Fash- 
 ioned into an Engagement Ring — Courting at Chester — 
 Ammen's Letter to the Young Argonaut — On the Trail 
 Again — Letter from Big Timber — Beale's Description of his 
 Route across the Continent — ^Along the Thirty-fifth Parallel — 
 Old Trail Develops into Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Rail- 
 road — Chronological Table of Beale's Early Travels — Mar- 
 riage with Miss Edwards — Arctic Expedition Proposed — 
 Letters from Captain Lynch and Commodore Maury — 
 Bayard Taylor Dedicates his Book on California to Beale — 
 Beale Resigns from the Service — He Retrieves the Business 
 Ventures of Commodore Stockton and Mr. Aspinwall . . 42 
 
 Chapter V — First Steps in our Indian Policy 
 
 Lieutenant Beale Appointed by President Fillmore General Super- 
 intendent of Indian Affairs for California and Nevada — Con- 
 gress Appropriates Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars 
 to Carry into Effect Beale's Plans — Indian Tribes to be Col- 
 onized and Protected on Reservations — Beale's Journey from 
 the Valley of the Mississippi to California along the Central 
 Route as Described by Himself and Mr. Heap — Westport, 
 Kansas, and the "Stirrup Cup" — Fort Atkinson and Pike's 
 Peak and the Huerfano River — Plains of the Arkansas and 
 Fort Mjissachusetts ....... .64 
 
Contents vii 
 
 Chapter VI — Across the Plains in '53 
 
 From Coochatope Pass to Grand River — A Taste of Mountain 
 Sheep — The Great Divide — Murderous Work of Utah In- 
 dians — Arrival at the Uncompagre River — The Swollen Fork 
 of the Colorado — Raft Built and Abandoned — The Slough of 
 Despond — Building a Canoe — Forlorn Plight of Pack Mules 
 — Shipwreck and Inventory of Losses — Expedition Separated 
 by River but United by Common Misfortunes — Gallant Swim- 
 mers — Beale Decides to Send to Taos in New Mexico to 
 Replenish his Supplies — Mr. Heap's Journey to the Settle- 
 ments — A Miserable Night — "Peg-Leg" and the Venerable 
 Utah — The Lonely Squaw — Arrival at Taos — Mr. Leroux and 
 Supplies ......... 84 
 
 Chapter VII — Beale's Separate Journal 
 
 Hunting Prowess of the Delaware — Indians Appear in Camp — 
 Banquet of Venison and Boiled Corn — The Beautiful Valley 
 of the Savoya — The Indians Race their Horses — A Taste of 
 Rough Riding — The Return of Mr. Heap . . . .112 
 
 Chapter VIII — On the Verge of Hostilities 
 
 Shaking Hands with Utahs — Picturesque Encampment on the Big 
 Uncompagre — Lieutenant Beale and the "Capitanos" — A 
 Stiff Demand for Presents — A Pair of Game-cocks — Crossing 
 the Fallen River — Indians in Paint and Feathers — Beale's 
 Ultimatum — The Delaware's Long Memory — Grand River 
 Canyon — The Crossing — The Indians Attempt a Stampede — 
 The Mormons near the Vegas of Santa Clara — Paragoona — 
 Brigham Young — ^Why the Mormons Settled at Parawan — 
 Little Salt Lake — Strict Vigilance over Strangers — Colonel 
 Smith — The Practice of Polygamy — Views on the System of 
 "Spiritual Wives" 122 
 
 Chapter IX — The Desert Journey 
 
 The Mormon Wagon Trail — Joy of the Pah-Utahs — Famous 
 Horse Thieves — The Traffic in Children — Rio de la Virgen — 
 The First Jornada — Muddy Creek and the Spring of Gaetan — 
 Pah-Utah Billingsgate — The End of a Mormon Explorer — 
 The Second Jornada — Twenty Hours without Water — The 
 
viii Contents 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Oasis of Tio Meso — The Mohaveh River — The Valley of the 
 Santa Ana — San Bernardino Mountain — The Settlements and 
 Los Angeles — Benton's Letters and Congratulations . . 147 
 
 Chapter X — Indian Affairs 
 
 State of the Indians in the Pacific Coast Territories — Indians Held 
 to Peonage by the Whites — Fifteen Thousand Die of Starva- 
 tion — Spaniards and Mexicans as Slave Drivers — Beale's Plan 
 of Protected Reservations for the Nation's Wards — Mr. 
 Sebastian Supports the Plan in the Senate, and Secures the 
 Desired Appropriation — Beale's Indian Policy Endorsed by 
 the Military and Civil Officials in CaUfomia — General 
 Hitchcock's Letter — Opposition of Indian Agents — Mas- 
 sacres in Shasta and Scott Valley — General Rising of the 
 Indians Feared — Beale Commissioned Brigadier -General — 
 As Peace Plenipotentiary Brings the Warlike Tribes to 
 Terms — Beale's Defence of the Modocs .... 174 
 
 Chapter XI — The Forgotten Camel Corps 
 
 Transportation Problems of the Fifties — To Provision Army 
 Posts in Southwest, Beale Suggests Camel Trains to the War 
 Department — Enthusiastic Reception of the Novel Idea by 
 Secretary Jefferson Davis — David Dixon Porter Sent to Tunis 
 and Syria to Secure the Camels — Camel Corps in the Scinde 
 Campaign — Beale's Report to the War Department of his 
 Camel Journey from San Antonio to El Paso — San Francisco 
 Papers Enthusiastic over the New Beast of Burden — Davis 
 Resigns from the War Department and the Camels are Neg- 
 lected — Beale Herds the Survivors on his Ranch — A Camel 
 Tandem — Value of Beale's Journals to Future Historians of 
 the Southwestern and Pacific States . . . . .198 
 
 Chapter XII — The Wagon Road Survey from Fort 
 Defiance to California 
 
 General Beale's Report to the Secretary of War — From Zuni to the 
 Banks of the Little Colorado — Praise of the Camels, Especi- 
 ally thei'r Swimming — Extracts from Beale's Journal — 
 Howard's Spring, Famous for Indian Massacres — Water 
 Shortage — Mount Buchanan and Mount Benton — Indian Ad- 
 venture of a Geologist — Captured Indians Retained as Guides 
 
Contents ix 
 
 to the Colorado — First Sight of the Sierra Nevada — ^Winter at 
 Fort Tejon — The Return Journey — First Steamer on the 
 Colorado — Last Entry in the Journal — "We Have Tested the 
 Value of the Camel, Marked a New Road to the Pacific and 
 Travelled Four Thousand Miles" . . . . .211 
 
 Chapter XIII — ^The Journey along the 35TH Parallel 
 
 Beale's OflBcial Report — Railway Surveys from Fort Smith, Ar- 
 kansas, to the Colorado — Choteau's and the Valley of the 
 Canadian — The Rio del Norte at Albuquerque — Advantages 
 of this Route for Wagon or Railroads — ^Extracts from Beale's 
 Journal — Inscription Rock— Breakfast of Wild Cat — A Visit 
 to Zuni — Advice to the Chief— "A Merrie Jest of Ye White 
 Man and Ye Indian " — Indian Rumors and a Treaty of Peace 
 — Civil War and the Close of the Wagon Road Period — 
 "Wanderer" Writes about it from Gum Springs to the Phila- 
 delphia Press — The Pacific Railroad as a Government Project 
 — Santa Fe Traders — Praise of Beale as Pioneer and Road 
 Builder ..... . . . 230 
 
 Chapter XIV — General Beale as Surveyor-General 
 
 Lincoln Appoints Beale Surveyor-General of California and 
 Nevada — Plans of the Secessionists — Beale Persuades Lincoln 
 not to Enforce the Draft in CaUfomia — Weathering the Crisis 
 — Beale's Letter to the President Volunteering for Service in 
 the Field — His Views on the Cause and Probable Conse- 
 quences of Civil War PubUshed by the Philadelphia Press — 
 "The Fate of the Commons of the World Depends Upon the 
 Issue of the Struggle" — Beale's Letter to Secretary Chase 
 Favoring Acquisition of Lower California by United States 
 — Chase's Reply — Letters from the Mexican General- Vega — 
 Beale's Sympathies With the Liberal Though Fugitive Govern- 
 ment across the Border — Grant and Beale Contrive to Send 
 Muskets to Juarez — President Diaz's Recognition in after 
 Years of Beale's Assistance in this the Hour of Need . . 256 
 
 Chapter XV — Life on the Tejon Rancho 
 
 Beale Resigns as Surveyor-General and Retires to Tejon — Pur- 
 chases more Land from Absentee Landlords — Description of 
 the Bakersfield Country when Kern County Was a Wilder- 
 
Contents 
 
 ness — The Spring, the Fig-trees and the Live Oaks — A Rodeo 
 — Robber Bands — Nearest Justice 150 Miles Away! — Sale of 
 Sheep in San Francisco — Mexicans Who Panned for Gold 
 Before the Forty-niners — Lincoln and Beale Anecdotes — 
 "Monarch of all he Surveys" — Charles NordhofE's Visit to 
 Tejon — Description of Life there — His Praise of what Gen- 
 eral Beale Had Accomplished — Kit Carson's Ride by Joaquin 
 Miller — Beale Falls Foul of the Poet — Sad Scenes on the 
 Rancho . . 272 
 
 Chapter XVI — Last Years 
 
 General Beale Purchases the Decatur House — Its Distinguished 
 Occupants and Ghost Story — Beale's Political Activity — His 
 Untiring Efforts to Help the Negro — Appointed by Grant 
 Minister to Austria — Newspaper Comment in California — A 
 Bill of Sale from Slavery Days — Awkward Diplomatic Sit- 
 uation — The Emperor and Count Andrassy — Friendship of 
 Grant and Beale — Their Correspondence Published — Arthtir 
 Fails to Appoint Beale Secretary of the Navy — Grant's Re- 
 sentment — Beale Ends the Grant-Blaine Feud — Last Days 
 — Beale's Death — Scenes in Washington and on the Tejon 
 Rancho .......... 291 
 
 Index 
 
 307 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 General Edward Fitzgerald Beale . Frontispiece 
 From a Woodcut 
 
 Commodore Robert F. Stockton ... 8 
 
 From an Engraving by H. B. Hall 
 After a Painting on Ivory by Newton in 1840 
 
 The City and Harbor of Rio de Janeiro . , 10 
 
 From a Lithograph 
 
 The Harbor of Valparaiso .... 20 
 
 Prom a Lithograph 
 
 The City of Lima 30 
 
 From a Lithograph 
 
 The Harbor of San Francisco in November, 1849 38 
 
 Prom a Lithograph of 1850 
 
 Mazatlan 42 
 
 From a Lithograph of 1850 
 
 The Volcano Diggings ..... 6o 
 
 From a Lithograph of 1850 
 
 General Beale's First Camp in the Sangre de 
 
 Cristo Mountains 76 
 
 From a Lithograph 
 
 Grand River, below the Junction of the Uncom- 
 
 pagre ........ 80 
 
 From a Lithograph 
 
Xll 
 
 Illustrations 
 
 The Lower Bar, Mokelumne River , 
 
 From a Lithograph of 1850 
 
 The Method of Crossing Laguna Creek 
 
 From a Lithograph 
 
 A View on Grand River in 1852 . 
 
 From a Lithograph 
 
 San Francisco in 1846 
 
 Prom a Lithograph 
 
 Sacramento City, from the South, in 1849 
 
 From a Lithograph 
 
 Portsmouth Square, San Francisco . 
 
 From a Lithograph in 1850 
 
 Kit Carson Statue .... 
 
 Frederick MacMonnies, Sculptor 
 
 A View of Monterey .... 
 
 From a Lithograph of 1850 
 
 Kit Carson's Gun .... 
 
 86 
 90 
 128 
 200 
 214 
 240 
 270 
 278 
 288 
 
Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
EDWARD FITZGERALD BEALE 
 
 CHAPTER. I 
 Early Days 
 
 Beak's Birth and Parentage — Bom in the Navy — ^A Fistic 
 Encounter and its Consequences — A Jacksonian Mid- 
 shipman at Fourteen — On the Schoolship Independ- 
 ence — Passed Midshipman and Ordered to the Congress 
 44 as Acting Master — Secret Mission for Commodore 
 Stockton — Tradition of the Service — British Designs 
 on Cahfomia. 
 
 EDWARD FITZGERALD BEALE was bom 
 on his father's estate in the District of 
 Columbia on February 4, 1822. He was 
 the son of Paymaster George Beale' who served 
 with distinction under McDonough in the Battle 
 of Lake Champlain and of Emily the youngest 
 daughter of Commodore Truxtun of the Constel- 
 lation. As the son and the grandson of distin- 
 gviished naval officers, young Beale had what was 
 regarded in the old Navy as a prescriptive right 
 to enter the service and this was also his wish from 
 earliest years. With the advent of Jackson and 
 
 « See note on next page. 
 
2 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 with Democracy installed in power as never before 
 since the foundation of the Government, the pre- 
 scriptive rights of the old naval families were, how- 
 ever, being brushed aside and the claims and hopes 
 of young "Ned" Beale might also have been over- 
 looked but for a fortunate and characteristic inci- 
 dent which I shall relate as it is recorded in the 
 family archives. 
 
 The boys at the Capital, where the Beales 
 spent their winters at this time, were much given 
 to politics, and their ranks were divided by alleg- 
 iance to antagonistic statesmen. 
 
 Fortunately for himself, oitr hero at this moment 
 was a stalwart Jacksonian. There were many 
 adherents of Adams at the Capital and after hot 
 disputes it was agreed to have all political differ- 
 ences settled by the ancient test of battle. 
 
 "Ned" Beale was chosen by the Jacksonians, 
 while the Adamites were represented by a boy 
 named Evans, who has since become a distin- 
 guished citizen of Indiana. A day or two later, 
 the fistic encotmter took place under a long white 
 
 Navy Department, 
 
 Feb. 10, 1820. 
 Sir: 
 
 In compliance with a resolution of Congress, I am directed by the 
 President to present to you a silver medal as a testimony of the high 
 sense entertained by Congress of your gallantry, good conduct and 
 services in the decisive and splendid victory gained on Lake Champlain 
 on the nth of September, 1814, over a British squadron of superior 
 force. 
 
 Yours most respectfiUly, 
 
 Smith Thompson, Secretary of the Navy. 
 To George Beale, Esq., Paymaster U. S. Navy. 
 
Early Days 3 
 
 arch which at that time marked the southern 
 entrance to the groimds of the White House. 
 While the battle raged and the enthusiastic spec- 
 tators shouted encouragement to their respective 
 champions, a tall figure appeared on the scene, 
 scattered the boys, and seizing Beale by the collar 
 asked him what he was fighting for. He replied 
 that he was fighting for Jackson and that his 
 opponent, the Adams boy, had expressed a poor 
 opinion of the President's politics and personality. 
 
 "I am Jackson," said the newcomer. "I never 
 forget the men or boys who are willing to fight for 
 me, but of course I do not wish them to do it all 
 the time. Now put on yoxir coats." 
 
 Several years now elapsed which Beale spent 
 at Georgetown College, but when he reached his 
 fourteenth year, the desire to enter the Navy 
 became overwhelming. One afternoon he called 
 at the Wliite House with his mother to see General 
 Jackson and put in an application for a midship- 
 man's warrant. Mrs. Beale told her story, insisting 
 upon the fact that her boy was the son and the 
 grandson of men who had served their country 
 and had been wounded in battle. 
 
 Jackson listened with courtesy and with interest, 
 but seemed somewhat uncertain as to how he 
 should act upon the request. Suddenly the boy 
 interrupted his mother and said, "Mother, let me 
 speak to General Jackson in my own behalf." 
 He then approached the General, in a moment 
 reminding him of the fight and the promise he 
 
4 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 had made, at least by implication, to serve him 
 should the opportunity present. Without a 
 word, General Jackson tore off the back of a 
 letter lying near him (this was before the days 
 of envelopes) and wrote to the Secretary of the 
 Navy, "Give this boy an immediate warrant," 
 and handed it over to Mrs. Beale. A few hours 
 later, Ned Beale's name was on the Navy list 
 and soon he was on his way to the receiving ship 
 at Philadelphia, which then served as a Naval 
 School. 
 
 The Widow Beale now rettuned with her trium- 
 phant boy to Chester, Pa., when suddenly the 
 problem presented itself, in what guise should the 
 youngster make his first appearance at the Naval 
 School? She called in her kinsmen, the Porters 
 and the Farraguts, who both were neighbors at 
 Greenbank on the Delaware, and at their sugges- 
 tion Aunt Polly was called in. Aunt Polly was 
 well known in Chester as an impoverished gentle- 
 woman who had seen better days. She did needle- 
 work, and it was thought that with care and by the 
 advice of several of the young officers of the family, 
 who were at home on leave, she could bring 
 together something resembling a uniform, and 
 indeed a most wonderftd coat was produced, which 
 was fitted out with the buttons of the great Truxtun 
 large metal buttons about five times as large as 
 those which were ordinarily worn in this day. In 
 this guise, three days later, Beale presented him- 
 self on board the receiving ship. His future mess- 
 
Early Days 5 
 
 mates made great fun of the wonderful coat. 
 Many fights ensued, and as a result, the treasured 
 heirlooms, the buttons which Truxtun had worn, 
 it is said, on the occasion of his famous battle 
 when in command of the Constellation, disap- 
 peared. The essential had been achieved, how- 
 ever, and "Ned" Beale had fought his way into 
 the Navy. 
 
 Beale's career on the schoolship Independence 
 was creditable and gave promise of his later per- 
 formance. Before he was sixteen, he had twice 
 risked his life in saving from drowning the lives of 
 others; he was regarded as pugnacious by his class- 
 mates and by his teachers but not excessively so 
 for a midshipman who owed his appointment to 
 the personal selection of Andrew Jackson. Beale 
 made a cruise to the West Indies on the Porpoise 
 and another to the Mediterranean on the Ohio. 
 Retviming to the Naval School in Philadelphia he 
 faced his examinations bravely, was commended 
 for seamanship and his ability to write good lucid 
 English, and then received his commission as 
 Passed Midshipman. 
 
 In August, 1845, Beale was ordered to the frig- 
 ate Congress 44 fitting out in Norfolk, Virginia, 
 for the Pacific Coast. He was commissioned 
 Acting Master, a grade since abolished, and now the 
 boyish days were over, and the serious business 
 of life began. 
 
 We now approach an episode in Beale's life 
 which is certainly somewhat unsatisfactory to the 
 
6 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 historian. Few youngsters have been entrusted 
 with secret missions, still fewer have proved so 
 reticent as to carry the secret to their grave, yet 
 this was the case with our young Acting Master. 
 Little is known of the episode beyond the 
 general tradition in the service, of which I shall 
 speak later, and for this I am indebted to Rear- 
 Admiral Harmony and Rear-Admiral Upshur, 
 Beale's shipmates, who happily survive. We must 
 also do what we can with the information which the 
 Reverend Walter Colton, the Chaplain of the Con- 
 gress, supplied in his book descriptive of this cruise, 
 which was published in New York in 1850 under 
 the title of Deck and Port. One month out from 
 Hampton Roads he makes this entry in his log: 
 
 We discovered this morning a brig on our weather bow, 
 standing down for us, and we hove to with our main topsail 
 to the mast. She ran up Danish colors and in an hour 
 hove to at a cable's length under our lee-quarter. We 
 lowered a boat and boarded her. She proved to be the 
 brig Maria, forty days out from Rio Grande in Brazil, and 
 bound for Antwerji. The Captain wished to correct his 
 reckoning, and well he might, for he was seven days out of 
 his longitude. Mr. Beale, our second Master, took passage 
 in her for the United States with despatches. It was 
 arranged between him and the Captain of the brig that he 
 should be put on board the first vessel that they might fall 
 in with bound for an American port, and that if they fell in 
 with none, that he should be landed at Dover, England. 
 
 As a matter of fact, the Maria sailed for many 
 weeks through an empty ocean, and without meet- 
 
Early Days 7 
 
 ing a sail. Young Beale was finally landed some- 
 where on the English coast. He went directly to 
 London, and after a few weeks stay there proceeded 
 to the United States. After twenty-four hours in 
 Washington, he set out to rejoin his ship, which he 
 finally overtook in Callao harbor in Peru on the 
 8th of May. 
 
 Neither the Beale papers nor the records of the 
 Navy Department shed any light whatsoever upon 
 the purpose of Beale's mission, or the purport of the 
 despatches which he carried. It is merely stated 
 that he arrived with information from Commodore 
 Stockton who commanded the Congress and was 
 going out to the Pacific Coast to take command 
 of aU the naval forces there. Stockton's orders 
 were to do all within his power to prepare for what 
 the inevitable conflict with Mexico meant. 
 
 Beale never enlightened his family as to the 
 details of this mission. He merely answered 
 proudly when repeatedly questioned,, "I was a 
 bearer of secret despatches. Commodore Stockton 
 never removed the seal of secrecy from my lips." 
 
 The tradition in the service is that while still in 
 the West Indies Commodore Stockton secured 
 information in regard to the movements of a 
 British squadron which he deemed of the greatest 
 importance and detached Beale to carry the news 
 to Washington. It must be borne in mind that at 
 the time in many circles our British cousins were 
 credited with a design to anticipate the course of 
 our manifest destiny and to acquire California them- 
 
8 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 selves. When Stockton reached the Pacific Coast 
 in the summer of 1845 with the return instructions 
 which Beale brought him, covering the contingency 
 of British intervention, Admiral Seymour was 
 there with a large and powerful fleet. However, 
 Seymour behaved in a very friendly manner, 
 observed a waiting attitude, and never by word 
 or action betrayed the fact that American annex- 
 ation of the coveted territory was not agreeable to 
 his Government. 
 
My 
 
 Commodore Robert F. Stockton 
 
 From an Engraving by H. B. Hall 
 After a painting on ivory by Newton, in 1840 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 The War with Mexico 
 
 Secretary Bancroft's Instructions to Commodore Stockton 
 upon Taking Command of the Pacific Squadron — 
 The Situation in California — The Army of the West 
 at Fort Leavenworth-:— General Wool — Kearny at 
 Santa Fe — The Meeting with Kit Carson — Kearny 
 Pushes on to California — Battle of San Pasqual — 
 Beale Commands the Guns — Mejdcans in Over- 
 whelming Force — Kearny in Straits — Beale and 
 Carson Undertake Desperate Journey Bringing News 
 to Stockton — The Relief Column — Benton's Speech 
 in the Senate — His Tribute to Beale — Beale's First 
 Visit to San Francisco Bay in the Fall of 1846 — His 
 Letter to Fremont. 
 
 THE purpose of the Administration at this 
 juncture and the situation in Mexico is well 
 described in the instructions of Hon. George 
 Bancroft, the historian, then Secretary of the Navy, 
 to Commodore Stockton when this distinguished 
 officer was on the point of sailing from Norfolk, Va., 
 on the Congress to take command of the Pacific 
 Squadron. 
 
 It is the earnest desire of the President [writes Mr. 
 Bancroft] to pursue the policy of peace, and he is anxious 
 
 9 
 
lo Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 that you and every part of your Squadron should be 
 assiduously careful to avoid any act which could be con- 
 strued into an act of aggression. Should Mexico, however, 
 be resolutely bent on hostilities you will be mindful to 
 protect the persons and the interests of citizens of the 
 United States, and should you ascertain beyond a doubt 
 that the Mexican Government has declared war against us, 
 you will employ the force under your command to the best 
 advantage. 
 
 The' Mexican ports on the Pacific are said to be open and 
 defenceless. If you ascertain with certainty that Mexico 
 has declared war against the United States you will at once 
 blockade or occupy such ports as your force may admit. 
 
 When Stockton reached the California coast, 
 however, the situation was somewhat different. 
 By June, 1846, war had been declared, and after 
 driving the Mexicans at Palo Alto and Resaca de 
 la Palma, General Taylor lay at Matamoras await- 
 ing definite instructions from Washington which 
 were slow in coming. 
 
 In the meantime, a small force, somewhat pom- 
 pously styled the Army of the West, assembled at 
 Fort Leavenworth. It was commanded by Colonel 
 Kearny who was instructed as soon as his prepa- 
 rations were made to march into New Mexico, 
 capture Santa Fe, and then proceed to California. 
 The Army of the Centre, a much larger force tmder 
 command of General Wool, had assembled at 
 San Antonio, and was making ready to march into 
 Chihuahua. 
 
 Kearny, apparently oppressed by the fear that 
 the war would be over before he had fairly placed 
 
CI 
 CIS 
 
 -(3 
 
 a. 
 
 U 
 O 
 
 o 
 tsi 
 
 XI 
 
 H 
 
The War with Mexico ii 
 
 his men in the field, left Leavenworth without 
 awaiting the arrival of one thousand men that the 
 State of Missotiri had been called upon to furnish 
 him. Kearny entered New Mexico, and meeting 
 with little or no resistance, reached Santa Fe on the 
 1 8th of August. After raising the flag over this 
 ancient Spanish stronghold, he issued a proclama- 
 tion absolving all the inhabitants of New Mexico 
 from their allegiance to Mexico, and declaring the 
 country an integral portion of the United States. 
 Leaving word for the Missouri volunteers to join 
 General Wool on his expedition into Chihuahua, 
 Kearny now pushed on toward California, his 
 force of regulars being reduced to three hundred 
 dragoons. When eleven days out from Santa Fe, 
 Kearny met Kit Carson, the famous scout, who 
 with an escort of sixteen men was on his way to 
 Washington with despatches. In these despatches 
 Commodore Stockton and Colonel Fremont an- 
 nounced the conquest of California by the forces 
 under their command, and the institution of a form 
 of civil government throughout the conquered ter- 
 ritory. This information was correct in every sense 
 of the word, but as Kearny's force was soon to ex- 
 perience, the Californians, that is the Mexicans of 
 California, encouraged by the sight of the slender 
 force which the United States then had on the 
 Pacific Coast, revolted and took up arms. Igno- 
 rant of the reception that was awaiting him, 
 Kearny sent back East several squadrons, and 
 taking Carson for his guide pushed on with the 
 
12 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 remainder to the Colorado River which he crossed, 
 and marching northward reached the rancho of 
 Agua Caliente on December 2d. 
 
 Kearny had made Carson turn back with him, 
 and had sent another scout on to Washington with 
 the despatches because he desired the services of 
 the best guide. It was not a wise step thus to 
 interfere with the plans of his brother officers, and 
 indeed Commodore Stockton was his superior. 
 From this incident, in itself most trivial, dates 
 the jealousy and the discord which fills the history 
 of the United States for several years with that 
 unseemly wrangling that is known under the name 
 of the Stockton-Fremont-Keamy controversy. 
 In the court-martial which Fremont demanded as 
 a result of Kearny's criticisms. Lieutenant Beale 
 was summoned as a witness. His testimony was 
 most favorable to Fremont, and not helpful to 
 Kearny's reputation. Here his connection with 
 the unhappy affair ended, and there wiU be no 
 further reference to the controversy in this narra- 
 tive. 
 
 From Agua Caliente, Colonel Kearny sent a 
 letter to Commodore Stockton at San Diego 
 announcing his approach, and three days later, 
 when Kearny was but forty miles distant from 
 the American naval base, he was met by a small 
 force of volunteers under Captain Gillespie, and 
 a score of bluejackets and a field-piece under Mid- 
 shipman Beale. Though in an3rthing but a secvire 
 position himself, Stockton had generously des- 
 
The War with Mexico 13 
 
 patched this small force to apprise Kearny of the 
 changed conditions, to warn him of the general 
 revolt of the Californians, and to assist him upon 
 his now perilous march to the coast. The insur- 
 gent Californians were at this time encamped at 
 San Bernardo and Stockton contemplated attack- 
 ing them when reinforced, or when Kearny was 
 out of his dangerous position. 
 
 The next news came through a Mr. Stokes, an 
 English pioneer of California, who rode into San 
 Diego and announced that Kearny had attacked 
 the Californians and been worsted. Upon cross- 
 examination Stokes admitted to the anxious com- 
 modore that the battle was no concern of his, and 
 that he had left the field while the result was in some 
 doubt because he was convinced that his position as 
 spectator was becoming dangerous. Great uncer- 
 tainty and anxiety prevailed now at the naval base 
 in San Diego harbor. It was heightened by the 
 arrival of Alexis Godey, the famous scout, who had 
 come through from San Pasqual, where the battle 
 was fought, with a letter from Captain Turner upon 
 whom the command had devolved when Kearny 
 was wounded. Turner stated that eighteen men 
 of the small force had been killed, and that there 
 were many wounded. "General Kearny is 
 among the wounded, but it is hoped not dan- 
 gerously. Captains Monroe and Johnson, ist 
 Dragoons, are killed, and Lieut. Hammond, ist 
 Dragoons, is dangerously wounded." In conclu- 
 sion, Ttu-ner asked that a considerable force be 
 
14 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 despatched to meet him on the road to San Diego, 
 via Soledad and San Bernardo. 
 
 Commodore Stockton was impressed by the 
 gravity of this, news and it led him to believe that 
 the Califomian-Mexicans were in much greater 
 strength than had hitherto been reported. Godey 
 came in with Turner's letter on December 7th, 
 and Stockton was pushing preparations to march 
 with his whole force, when on the afternoon of the 
 9th an Indian who was known as a body-servant 
 of Beale's came into the lines and reported that as 
 a result of the battle Kearny's force was in des- 
 perate straits. The Indian had hardly completed 
 his story when Beale appeared with a more circum- 
 stantial and intelligent report. " Kearny has been 
 defeated," he said, "and his whole force is besieged 
 on a small hill of rocks, or mesa, so completely 
 surrounded by the enemy that it seems impossible 
 for them to escape, or to long maintain their posi- 
 tion." Beale also reported that the Calif omians 
 were commanded by Don Andres Pico, the brother 
 of the Governor, who had proven himself to be a 
 very capable and energetic officer, and that 
 Kearny's men, when he started out on his mission 
 to obtain relief, had been reduced for some days 
 to eating mule flesh, and had been without water 
 for sixty hours. 
 
 That was a busy night in San Diego. Beale 
 was taken to the hospital where for days he was 
 near death. While the young sailor was raving 
 in the hospital, three hundred marines and blue- 
 
The War with Mexico 15 
 
 jackets, sent by Stockton, pushed on through the 
 dark night, and at dawn on the morning of the 
 eleventh they reached their beleaguered country- 
 men. The enemy, baffled of their prey, disap- 
 peared with the mists of the morning. The march 
 to the sea was resumed, and that night the little 
 band of dragoons, that had looked down the very 
 jaws of death, entered San Diego in safety. 
 
 Benton's speech before the Senate describing 
 the battle of San Pasqual and the resulting contro- 
 versy between Stockton, Kearny, and Fremont, 
 which practically disorganized the American Army 
 and Navy for months to come, lasted I believe for 
 four days and would I know fill several volumes of 
 this size. Those were spacious days in the Senate. 
 However, I cannot refrain from quoting the follow- 
 ing paragraphs from the speech of the second day. 
 They deal very intimately with our young hero 
 and as The Missouri Tribune stated to the open 
 Senate, the information concerning Beale's heroism 
 had been secured by him from Kit Carson who was 
 at the time a guest in Benton's house. 
 
 The four days' siege of the hill was the period of interest- 
 ing events, which it was the duty of the General to have 
 told, and which he suppressed to keep up his assumed 
 character of victor. [Said Benton] First, there was the 
 capture of the generous and daring Godey, with his two 
 companions, in full view of Kearny's camp, after his 
 adventurous run to San Diego, forty miles, to get aid for 
 Kearny, and rapid return with the tidings that it was 
 coming — tidings which he could not deliver because he was 
 captured in view of Kearny by his besiegers. This fact had 
 
1 6 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 to be suppressed, or the illusive cry of victory was at an 
 end. It was suppressed — doubly suppressed — ^not noticed 
 in the oflScial report, and not confessed on interrogation 
 before the court-martial. Then there was the chivalry of 
 Don Andres Pico, worthy of Castilian blood, in his conduct 
 to his enemies. He treated the captured men with the 
 utmost kindness — Godey as a brother, because he knew his 
 renown, and honored heroism in his person. He inquired 
 for the killed, and especially for Gillespie, whom he person- 
 ally knew, and whom he had reported among the dead. 
 Godey told him that he was not dead, but badly lanced, 
 and that his servant in San Diego had made up some 
 supplies for him, which he had brought — sugar, coffee, tea, 
 fresh linen. Pico put the supplies under a flag, and sent 
 them to Gillespie, with an invitation to come to his camp, 
 and receive better treatment than he could get on the dry 
 rocks of San Bernardo ; which he did, and was treated like a 
 brother, returning when he pleased. The same flag carried 
 a proposition to exchange prisoners. Kearny was alarmed 
 at it, and saw nothing in it, or in the noble conduct to 
 Gillespie, but a trick and a lure to perfidy. He was afraid 
 to meet the flag. None of those for whom he reserved the 
 honors of his report to the Government would venture to go. 
 There was a lad present — one of those sent out by Stockton, 
 a midshipman, the son of a widow in sight of this Capitol, 
 the grandson of Truxtun, and no degenerate scion of that 
 illustrious stock: his name, Beale. 
 
 This lad volunteered to go and hear the propositions of 
 exchange. Great was the alarm at his departure. A six- 
 barrelled revolver, in addition to the sword, perfectly 
 charged and capped, was stowed under his coat. Thus 
 equipped, and well-mounted, he set out, protected by a flag 
 and followed by anxious eyes and palpitating hearts. The 
 little river San Bernardo was crossed at a plunging gallop, 
 without a drink, though rabid for water both the horse and 
 his rider, the rider having a policy which the horse could not 
 
The War with Mexico 17 
 
 comprehend. Approaching a picket-guard, a young alfarez 
 (ensign) came out to inquire for what purpose. The 
 mission was made known, for Beale spoke Spanish; and 
 while a sergeant was sent to the General's tent to inform 
 him of the flag, a soldier was despatched to the river for 
 water. "Hand it to the gentleman," was the Castilian 
 command. Beale put the cup to his Ups, wet them, in 
 token of acknowledging a civility, and passed it back; as 
 much as to say, "we have water enough on that hill." The 
 alfarez smiled; and, while waiting the arrival of Don Andres, 
 a courteous dialogue went on. "How do you like the 
 country?" inquired the alfarez. "Delighted with it," 
 responded Beale. "You occupy a good position to take a 
 wide view." "Very good: can see all round." "I don't 
 think your horses find the grass refreshing on the hiU." 
 " Not very refreshing, but strong. " There was, in fact, no 
 grass on the hill, nor any shrub but the one called wire- 
 wood, from the close approximation of its twigs to that 
 attenuated preparation of iron which is used for making 
 knitting-needles, card-teeth, fishing-hooks, and such small 
 notions; and upon which wood, down to its roots, the 
 famished horses gleaned until compassionate humanity cut 
 the halters, and permitted them to dash to the river, and 
 its grassy bands, and become the steeds of the foe. 
 
 By this time three horsemen were seen riding up, as all 
 Califomians ride, at the rate the famous Gilpin rode when 
 he made the last mile to Islington. Arriving within a 
 certain distance, they halted, as only Cahfomians and 
 Mamelukes can halt: the horse, at a pull of the bridle and 
 lever bit, thrown back upon his haunches, fixed in his 
 tracks, and motionless as the equestrian statue of Peter the 
 Great. One of the three advanced on foot, unbuckling his 
 sword and flinging it twenty feet to the right. The alfarez 
 had departed. Seeing the action of the gentleman, Beale 
 did the same — tmbuckled his sword and flung it twenty 
 feet to his right. The swords were then forty feet apart. 
 
1 8 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 But the revolver ! there it stuck under his coat — ^unmistak- 
 able symptom of distrust or perfidy — sign of intended or 
 apprehended assassination, and outlawed by every code of 
 honor from the field of parley. A stolen sheep on his back 
 would have been a jewelled star on his breast compared to 
 the fixed fact of that assassin revolver under his midship- 
 man's coat. Confusion filled his bosom; and for a moment 
 honor and shame contended for the mastery. To try and 
 hide it, or pull it out, expose it, and fling it away, was the 
 question; but with the grandson of Truxtun it was a brief 
 question. High honor prevailed. The clean thing was 
 done. Abstracted from its close concealment, the odious 
 tool was bared to the light, and vehemently dashed far 
 away — the generous Califomian affecting not to have seen 
 it. Then breathed the boy easier and deeper. 
 
 The business of the parley was soon arranged. Pico 
 had three Americans, Kearny had but one Califomian, 
 sole fruit of the victory of San Pasqual. Pico offered to 
 exchange man for man. Having but one man, Beale was 
 anxious to redeem Godey, but would not name him, only 
 described him. Pico smiled. "That is Godey," said 
 he. "You can't have him; but he will be treated well. 
 Describe another." Beale, supposing he was to be 
 refused again, and so reduced to the one which he least 
 wanted, described Burgess, a brave man, but the least 
 intelligent of the three. Pico smiled again. "You shall 
 have him," was the ready reply. "Send our man, and he 
 shall redeem Burgess." It was done, and the exchange 
 effected. 
 
 The results of the astuteness of Pico, in giving up the 
 least intelHgent of his prisoners, was soon visible, and 
 lamentably so, in the American camp. Burgess could tell 
 nothing about the mission to Stockton — nothing about his 
 response in answer to Godey's mission — nothing about 
 help; for he was only one of the escort for the personal 
 safety of Godey, in his dangerous mission, traversing eighty 
 
The War with Mexico 19 
 
 miles (going and coming) of insurgent country, filled with a 
 hostile population, and rode over by fleet cavalry, flushed 
 with victory. The secret of the mission asking for aid was 
 confined to Godey — not to be committed to others, for 
 fear of multiplying the chances of its getting to the knowl- 
 edge of the enemy. 
 
 Burgess could tell nothing. Then it was that black 
 despair fell upon the American camp. Without provisions, 
 without power to move, besieged by conquerors, without 
 the hope of relief — a surrender at discretion, or death in a 
 vain effort to escape, were the only alternatives. In this 
 mournful dilemma, American spirit rose to the level of the 
 occasion. Men and oflicers, one and all, the unhappy 
 woxmded with the rest, demanded to be led forth. Then 
 the mournful preparations were made. All the baggage 
 was burnt — ever3^hing that could encumber the march. 
 The helpless part of the wotmded were put on ambulances. 
 At one o'clock the devoted column began to move — Pico, 
 on the watch, observing the movement. In a moment his 
 lancers were in the saddle, mounted on their fleet, docile, 
 daring, and educated horses, such as the Mameluke 
 never rode. He was then in front, in the open and beauti- 
 ful valley through which the road lay down the river to 
 San Diego. Suddenly the lancers defiled to the right — 
 came round into the rear of the hill — ^halted and formed at 
 six hundred yards distance ; as much as to say, "We open the 
 road to you; take it." Then Kearny halted his column, 
 and consulted his officers, and others — Carson knows who. 
 
 The question was, to go or not? The solution seemed to 
 depend upon the possibility of getting reUef from Stockton ; 
 if there was a chance for that relief, wait for it; if not, go 
 forward. Stockton was thirty-five miles distant, and noth- 
 ing heard from him; for Burgess, as I have said, could tell 
 nothing. To send another express to Stockton seemed 
 hopeless, the distance and dangers were so great. Besides, 
 who would venture to go, seeing the fate of Godey and 
 
20 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 knowing the state of the country? It was a moment to find 
 a hero; and one presented himself. It was the lad Beale. 
 It was then one o'clock; the column fell back into camp; 
 early dark was fixed for the departure of the daring messen- 
 ger; and he was asked whom he would have for his compan- 
 ion. "Carson and my Indian servant," was the reply. 
 The General answered that he could not spare Carson — 
 that general who swore before the court-martial that he had 
 never seen the man before or since who brought him Fre- 
 mont's letter of the 17th of January — that man being 
 Carson! He could not spare him. He wanted a coim- 
 sellor, as well as a guide and a hero. Then said Beale, "No 
 other can help me; and I will go with the Indian servant." 
 General Kearny then said Carson might go. Carson has 
 since told me that Beale volunteered first. 
 
 The brief preparations for the forlorn hope — les enfans 
 perdus; los hijos perdidos — were soon made; and brief they 
 were. A rifle each, a blanket, a revolver, a sharp knife, 
 and no food; there was none in the camp. General Kearny 
 invited Beale to come and sup with him. It was not the 
 supper of Antony and Cleopatra; for when the camp 
 starves, no general has a larder. It was meagre enough. 
 The General asked Beale what provisions he had to travel 
 on; the answer was, nothing. The General called his ser- 
 vant to inquire what his tent afforded; a handful of flour 
 was the answer. The General ordered it to be baked into 
 a loaf and given to Beale. When the loaf was brought, the 
 servant said that was the last, not of bread only, but of 
 everything; that he had nothing left for the General's 
 breakfast. Beale directed the servant to carry back the 
 loaf, sajring he would provide for himself. He did provide 
 for himself; and how? By going to the smouldering fire 
 where the baggage had been burnt in the morning, and 
 scraping from the ashes and embers the half-burnt peas 
 and grains of com which the conflagration had spared 
 filling his pockets with the unwonted food. Carson 
 
u 
 
 a. 
 > 
 
 o 
 l-l 
 
 e 
 
 o 
 
 
The War with Mexico 21 
 
 and the faithful Indian provided for themselves some 
 mule-beef. 
 
 The darkness of the night fell upon the camp, and the 
 moment arrived for descending from the hill and cleaning 
 the open valley, two miles to the nearest cover. It was a 
 perilous descent; for at the approach of night it was the 
 custom of Pico to draw a double chain of sentinels around 
 the hill, and to patrol the valley with mounted lancers — 
 precautions more vigilantly enforced since he learnt from 
 the captured men that Carson was on the hill. "Be on the 
 alert," he said to his men, "Carson is there"; and applying 
 to Kearny's command one of the figurative expressions so 
 common in the Spanish language — se escapara el lobo: the 
 wolf will escape the hunters if you do not watch him close. 
 
 The descent was perilous and painful, all done by crawl- 
 ing; for the upright figure of a man could not be exhibited 
 where the horizon was watched for all that appeared above 
 it. Shoes were pulled off to avoid cracking a stick or 
 making a sound, which the ear of the listener pressed upon 
 the ground could catch, and the naked feet exposed to the 
 prickly pear. They passed between sentinels, waiting and 
 watching their time to move an inch. They heard them 
 whisper, and smelt the smoke of the cigarito. At one time, 
 Beale thought it was all over with them. Pressing Carson's 
 thigh to get his attention, and putting his mouth upon his 
 ear, he whispered into it, "We are gone; let us jump up and 
 fight it out." Carson said, "No, I have been in worse 
 places before, and Providence saved me." His religious 
 reliance encouraged the sinking hopes of Beale. The hill 
 cleared, two miles of prairie in the open valley, all covered 
 with prickly pears, remained to be crawled over, for no one 
 could stand upright without detection where the mounted 
 vidette observed every object that rose above the level 
 plain. 
 
 Clear of the valley and gaining the first woods, they 
 travelled all night without shoes, having lost them in the 
 
22 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 dark. Rocks, stones, pebbles, prickly pears, there of 
 exuberant growth, were their carpet. At daylight they 
 took a gorge of a motintain, and laid by, for movement by 
 day was impossible to them; the whole country was on the 
 alert, animated to the highest by the success over Kearny, 
 and all on the search for fugitives. At nightfall the expedi- 
 tion was resumed, and within twelve miles of San Diego the 
 three adventurers separated, each to take his chance of 
 getting in, and thus multiply chances for getting relief to 
 Kearny; for San Diego also was surrounded and invested, 
 and Stockton had not a horse (having sent all to Kearny) to 
 scour the country a furlong in front of his infantry pickets. 
 The Indian got in first, Beale next, Carson third, all in a 
 state of utter exhaustion, and Beale only getting into the 
 town by the help of the men who carried him, and with 
 injuries from which he has not yet recovered. 
 
 When the Mexican rising took place under Flores 
 and Pico, or to be quite frank about it when the 
 CaHfornians attempted to wrest their country 
 from the hands of the invaders, Fremont with his 
 small force was encamped in the Valley of the 
 Sacramento. He Was apparently endeavoring, 
 with but slight success, to induce the emigrants 
 to take part in Stockton's expedition against 
 Old Mexico. The Mexican uprising, as it was 
 called, cancelled all previously held plans and 
 Fremont was ordered to come forthwith to San 
 Francisco "with" as Fremont writes in his 
 Memoirs: 
 
 all the men and saddles I could obtain. To bring my 
 command to San Francisco [continues Fremont], Commo- 
 dore Stockton had sent a fleet of boats in charge of Mid- 
 
The War with Mexico 23 
 
 shipman Edward Beale whom I had met in Monterey in 
 July. At our meeting now commenced intervals of agree- 
 able companionship on interesting occasions that resulted in 
 a family friendship which has continued for forty years. 
 
 Gen. Beale at the date to which I refer was a real midship- 
 man of the old type, happy and spilling over with uncon- 
 trolled good spirits as mostly midshipmen are used to be 
 when away from the restraints of the ship. . . . The delta 
 of the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers and the bay and 
 its sloughs at that time were not familiar to sea-going men, 
 or indeed to men of any kind. Of his navigation through 
 the Tulares in search of me I will let Beale speak for him- 
 self. 
 
 "I remember the lovely spring-like morning,"' writes 
 Gen. Beale, " I think it was autumn but it ought to have 
 been spring because I was so happy when I was ordered to 
 command a squadron of boats (what is the Presidency to 
 that at 19 or 20!) and go to find Fremont. . . . Wide and 
 beautiful before us was the splendid and lonely bay. We 
 looked curiously at Red Rock, passed La Isla de las Yeguas 
 and met the fxirious tide of Garquinez Straits, my remem- 
 brance is it steered us and we camped for the night. 
 
 "The next day we looked over the vast ocean of tules and 
 toward where the Sacramento and the San Joaquin come to- 
 gether in the great middle mere of that wonderftd delta. 
 There was everything curious to us that sunset, Monte 
 Diavolo with double peaks, a long white line very distant 
 which told of the Sierra Nevada and the bewitching contour 
 of the nearer coast range and the quiet and lovely valleys 
 lying close aboard. . . . We pulled in and next day we dis- 
 covered a man on horseback whereupon we prepared to 
 give him a broadside, as we were some distance from camp, 
 and were already owners in fancy of a horse and saddle, 
 when to our intense disgust he spoke in EngHsh and proved 
 
 '■ This letter was written by Gen. Beale at Gen. Fremont's request 
 when the latter was preparing his Memoirs, about 1872. 
 
24 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 to be Jake Snyder of Fremont's battalion. Then I had 
 found my Holy Grail and went with him to Sonoma or 
 some such place. We went like the Knight Hospitalers, 
 two on one horse, I holding on to the taffrail when at a 
 gallop. 
 
 "The town was all ablaze, old Ide was there and Cosgrove, 
 and Snyder and Hensley and Bidwell and Gibson and a lot 
 of others. Very soon, mayhap it was the next day, we all 
 went to the boats and soon set sail for the bay again. 
 Major Fremont being naturally in the fastest boat with me, 
 we outsailed the fleet and at nightfall hauled up on an 
 island. . . . Howsomever we got away and reached the old 
 frigate Congress . . . and all this happened in the fall of 
 '46 and a few unimportant matters have happened since but 
 hardly worth recording." 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 With Carson on the Gila 
 
 Beale the Hero of San Pasqual — Commodore Stockton's 
 Despatches and the Praise of his Brother Officers — 
 Beale and Carson Set Out across the Plains) to Carry 
 the News to Washington — Gen. Sherman's Picture 
 of Carson — Adventures on the Gila — Dogged by 
 Indians for Eight Hundred Miles on the Central 
 Plains — "Them 's Arrers" — Lions in St. Louis and 
 Washington — A Short Holiday — Back across the 
 Plains Again — Incredible Hardships in the Gila Coun^ 
 try — Beale Discovers or Divines the Santa Fe Trail — 
 The Rev. Colton as Alcalde of Monterey — The Milch 
 Cow "Eschews" to the Court — ^Sutter's Mill-race and 
 the Golden Sands — Conditions of Life in El Do- 
 rado — The Rev. Colton's Complaint and Prayerful 
 Hope — Beale as a Caricaturist — The Alleged Resent- 
 ment of Catesby Jones — Story of Gold in California — 
 Competition between the Army and Navy to Get the 
 News East — Beale's Views on the Gold Question. 
 
 U. S. Frigate " Congress," 
 Harbor of San Diego, 
 Feb. 9, 1847. 
 
 Sir: 
 
 I have selected you to be the bearer of the accompanying 
 despatches to the Navy Department in consequence of 
 your heroic conduct in volunteering to leave Gen. Kearny's 
 
26 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 camp (then surrounded by the enemy) to go to the Garrison 
 of San Diego for assistance and because of the perils and 
 hardships you underwent during that dangerous journey, 
 to procure aid for your suffering fellow soldiers. 
 
 You will proceed without delay with Mr. Carson's party 
 by the most expeditious route overland. 
 
 On your arrival at Washington you will immediately 
 deliver the despatches to the Hon. Secretary of the Navy 
 and receive his instructions for your future government. 
 
 Faithfully, 
 
 Your obt. servt. 
 
 R. F. Stockton. 
 To Actg. Lt. E. F. Beale. 
 
 That Beale's services were as highly esteemed 
 by his brother officers and shipmates as they were 
 by the commodore, a happy state of affairs which 
 does not always exist in the service, was shown by 
 the following letter and the incident so creditable 
 to all concerned which it describes. 
 
 San Diego, Dec. 21, 1846. 
 Dear Beale: 
 
 We your friends and brother officers have ordered from 
 England a pair of epaulettes and sword to be presented to 
 you by the hands of Lieut. Tilghman, in testimony of our 
 admiration of your gallant conduct in the bold and hazard- 
 ous enterprise of leaving Gen. Kearny's encampment, 
 after the battles of San Pasqual and San Bernardino of the 
 6th of December, 1846, for the purpose of bringing informa- 
 tion to the garrison of San Diego and obtaining reHef for the 
 suffering troops. Your bravery in the field of action and 
 cool determination in the service above spoken of merits 
 our warmest applause and we congratulate you upon the 
 opportunity of distinction which you so handsomely 
 improved. Hoping that the President of the United States 
 
With Carson on the Gila 27 
 
 will not overlook yotir merit and that you may speedily 
 wear the epatilettes and sword as the mark of your legiti- 
 mate rank, we remain, yours faithfully, 
 
 W. W. Revere, Lt., Sam Mosbey, Surgeon, 
 
 W. B. Renshaw, Lt., R. Lloyd Tilghman, Lt., 
 
 Ben. F. B. Hunter, Lt., Jno. Guest, Lt., 
 
 W. B. Harrison, Master, J. Zeilan, Capt., 
 
 C. Eversfield, Surgeon, H. B. Watson. 
 
 Jas. H. Watmough, P. M., George Minor, Lt., 
 Wm. Speeden, P. M., J. H. Thompson, Lt., 
 
 C. D. Maxwell, Surgeon, A. A. Henderson, Inc. 9, 
 
 F. J. Stenson, Master, G. W. Harrison, Lt., 
 
 G. Missrova, Lt., Edwd. Higgins, Lt. 
 
 Carson, who acted as Beale's guide in this jour- 
 ney across the plains in the winter of 1846-7 with 
 Stockton's despatches, is said to have been a grand- 
 son of Daniel Boone and came to his pioneering 
 prowess and woodcraft by right of heredity. He 
 was a son of the plains but at the same time had 
 none of the physical characteristics of the frontiers- 
 man. General W. T. Sherman who saw Carson in 
 1848 in the company of Beale describes the cele- 
 brated scout as follows : 
 
 He was a small, stoop-shouldered man with reddish 
 hair, freckled face, soft blue eyes and nothing to indicate 
 extraordinary courage or daring. He spoke but little and 
 answered questions in monosyllables. He spent some days 
 in Monterey during which time we extracted some items 
 of his personal history. 
 
 In all his journeys Carson was so cautious that 
 not a few, strangers to the quality of his courage, 
 
28 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 deemed him timid. Not a tree, a rock, a bush, or 
 any other place where an Indian might hide escaped 
 his notice. His eye was ever scanning the horizon 
 for the hazy smoke that might indicate an Indian 
 fire, or the flight of crows which generally hovered 
 over a spot where Indians had recently encamped, 
 and the ground he was always scrutinizing in 
 search of the pressure of the horse's unshod foot or 
 of the Indian's moccasin. For this expedition 
 with Lieutenant Beale to Washington, Commodore 
 Stockton gave the young scout a free hand, and 
 ten picked marksmen were enrolled. The expe- 
 dition took an extremely southern route and after 
 journeying four hundred miles they reached the 
 Gila, a tributary of the Lower Colorado. Here 
 Carson's lynx eyes brought to light evidence of the 
 fact that a band of hostile Indians, though always 
 keeping out of sight, were dogging his path and 
 eagerly watching for an opportunity to take him by 
 surprise. The route led over a vast prairie where 
 there were no nattiral defences. When he con- 
 sidered that the psychological moment had come, 
 from indications that were anjrthing but enlight- 
 ening to his companions, Carson met Indian 
 strategy with the trapper's ruse. Carson and 
 Beale and the other riflemen cooked their supper 
 rather early in the evening, and wrapped in their 
 blankets threw themselves on the grass, apparently 
 to sleep, but as soon as it was dark the men were 
 ordered to rise and to march forward for something 
 more than a mile, again to picket their animals and 
 
With Carson on the Gila 29 
 
 to arrange their pack saddles so that they might 
 serve as a protection from the arrows of the Indians. 
 At midnight the yell of the savage was heard and a 
 shower of arrows fell around but wide of the mark. 
 The attacking party had not ascertained with 
 accuracy the changed position of the travellers. 
 They dared not approach near enough to see, for 
 in that case they knew the fate that awaited them 
 from the unerring aim of Kit and his companions. 
 After many random shots and many tmearthly 
 yells the discomfited savages fled before the ap- 
 proach of dawn. And this was the last serious 
 attempt made by the "horse Indians" to prevent the 
 bearers of despatches from crossing their territory. 
 
 East of the Colorado River and in the Central 
 desert there was no respite from other escorting 
 Indians. Beale and Carson were only accom- 
 panied by ten men and they were doggedly followed 
 for eight himdred miles by a large band who day 
 or night were hardly ever out of sight; however, 
 after one or two costly attempts to charge the 
 wide-awake plainsmen, the Indians contented 
 themselves with repeated but always tmsuccessful 
 attempts to stampede their horses and mules. 
 
 Carson had seen Beale stand to his guns with a 
 handful of bluejackets while the Mexican lancers, 
 in what should have been overpowering numbers, 
 charged his battery again and again. He had 
 been his comrade in the desperate journey through 
 a hostile country from San Pasqual to San Diego, 
 but it was a little incident of this trip that the 
 
30 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 scout loved to relate as more fully giving the 
 measure of Beale's bravery: 
 
 Things whirring like birds on the flight wuz flying over 
 us as I wuz trying to sleep by the campfire [said Carson], 
 and Ned was sleepin or leastwise he wuz snorin. Then 
 suddenly he sits up and says, "What's that Don Kit?" and 
 I says, "Them 's arrers " and they wuz and could you beheve 
 it before I could hold him down Ned was wrapping his 
 buffalo robe about him and standing in the fire kicking out 
 the embers. "Now," sez he, as them arrers came whizzin 
 along like a raft of geese going South before er North wind. 
 "Now," sez he, " Don Kit, they won't be able to get our 
 directions any more and you know they don't dare rush us " ; 
 then he tumbled down on the ground and went on with his 
 sleepin. 
 
 Carson and Beale were of course great cards to 
 the curious when they arrived in St. Louis and 
 later at the Capital. They were reluctant lions, 
 and Carson was most uncomfortable in the pres- 
 ence of the crowds of citizens who waited upon 
 him to see him "plain" and to shake his sinewy 
 hand for one ecstatic moment. But Carson woiild 
 never allow himself to be rushed, as he called it, in 
 the house. "I allays see folks out in the road," 
 he would explain as he sidled out into the street to 
 meet the citizens who were always awaiting his ap- 
 pearance in front of the Benton house in St. Louis 
 and later outside of Mrs. Beale's in Washington. 
 Carson could never sleep indoors and when Mrs. 
 Beale, the mother of his young companion, arranged 
 a simple couch for him on her veranda the family 
 
^ 
 
 9- 
 
 
 
 M 
 
 
 MH 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
 is 
 
 t- 
 
 J 
 
 o 
 
 
 41 
 
 n 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 H 
 
 Uh 
 
With Carson on the Gila 31 
 
 chronicle states that "Kit shed tears of gratitude 
 and joy." 
 
 Beale and Carson were made much of wherever 
 they went. They were lodged at Senator Benton's 
 and met the most distinguished men of the day. 
 Beale was allowed a few days in which to visit 
 Chester, where the young girl who became his wife 
 resided, and President Polk, much to his dismay, 
 appointed Carson, the dashing scout, a lieutenant 
 in the United States Rifles. However, these idle 
 days were soon over, and both men were soon on 
 their way back to the new world, the Pacific world, 
 they were doing so much to open to the crowded 
 East. ' 
 
 " Washington City, Aug., 1847. 
 
 To the Hon. Mr. Mason, Sec. of Navy. 
 Sir: 
 
 Passed Midshipman Edward Beale, now ill at Philadelphia, has 
 written to me to desire the Department to charge him with despatches 
 for the North Pacific. I do so with pleasure, being well informed by all 
 who have returned from California of his most meritorious conduct there, 
 especially in the signal act of volunteering with Mr. Carson and his 
 Indian servant to make his way through the CaUfomian forces and 
 amidst incredible dangers and sufferings to go to Commodore Stockton 
 for relief to Gen. Kearny, and also in volunteering to parley with Hon. 
 Andres Pico for an exchange of prisoners and the handsome manner in 
 which he executed it, and for his manly daring in crossing the continent 
 last spring amid great suffering and with heroic courage and constancy. 
 
 Having a high opinion of the young man for honor, courage, truth, 
 modesty, enterprise and perseverance I should be happy to see him 
 noticed and countenanced by the Department. 
 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 Thomas H. Benton. 
 
 To Hon. Thomas H. Benton, 
 
 Aug. 27, 1847. 
 
 TheDepartment appreciates Mr. Beale's meritorious services and will 
 give him orders to return when his health is sufficiently re-established to 
 
32 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 The Mobile Register gives the following authen- 
 tic account of Beale's adventiu-es on the return 
 journey to California. 
 
 Lieut. Beale was sent early in November last, as a bearer 
 of despatches from our Government to the United States 
 officers in California and upon the Pacific. He was entrusted 
 with communications to Col. Washington at Santa Fe, Col. 
 Mason in California and Gen. Lane in Oregon and was 
 required to pass through the extensive regions beyond the 
 Mississippi to reach his destination. He left Fort Leaven- 
 worth on the Missouri the 20th of November with a com- 
 mand of seventeen mounted men, all raw recruits and a few 
 adventurers. After a tedious and fatiguing journey they 
 reached Bent's fort and learned that Col. Fremont and his 
 party had passed about ten days before. In crossing the 
 Taos or Raton mountains they encountered all the severi- 
 ties of winter in these difficult and gigantic passes covered 
 with the snows of an unusually cold and inclement season. 
 Many of their mules perished from the rigors of the weather 
 and march, and a number of the men were frostbitten and 
 disabled for further service. Upon arriving at Santa Fe, 
 which he reached on the 125th of December, Lieut. Beale 
 gave permission to such of his men as were unwilling to pro- 
 ceed to return, and seven did so. He was unwilling to be 
 accompanied in the dangers and trials before him by any 
 upon whom he could not rely with implicit confidence. To 
 supply the deficiency Col. Mason allowed him to enlist 
 eight additional men who were desirous of engaging in the 
 expedition. 
 
 With this force Lieut. Beale started from Santa Fe on the 
 
 undertake the journey. A bearer of despatches is not required now 
 but officers of Mr. Beale's character are much wanted. An opportunity 
 will occur for him about the first of October. 
 
 Respectfully, 
 
 J. G. Mason. 
 
With Carson on the Gila 33 
 
 nth of January and was soon destined to encounter the 
 most trying difficnilties. The Sierra de los Miembres, a 
 vast range of lofty mountains, was enveloped in snowstorms 
 and the route was most hazardous and oppressive. So 
 intense was the cold that several mules were frozen to 
 death at night even imder tents and covered with blankets. 
 Here the fortitude of a' number of men failed them and a 
 sergeant and six men, privates, deserted. Of these as well 
 as of the seven who had previously left no subsequent 
 information has been received. They no doubt perished 
 under the violence of the weather or were assassinated by 
 the Indians who infest these regions. 
 
 Lieut. Beale now pressed on with indomitable resolution 
 through indescribable difficulties to the head-waters of the 
 river Gila. Passing tp the southern side he followed the 
 trail which winds in a zig-zag manner along the precipitous 
 sides of the lofty mountains which prevail in this region. 
 This section of the country has been falsely said to furnish 
 opportunities for a good road or roads to California. From 
 Lieut. Beale's description it is a continuance of the most 
 rugged and inaccessible mountains, with vast gorges and 
 peaks and declivities covered perpetually with snow, and 
 presenting barriers to be passed only with incredible exer- 
 tions. No track for a wagon or any wheel vehicle can ever 
 be made along this route. The men could only press on 
 along the ascents by the aid of their hands as well as their 
 feet and even the tenacious mountain mules were often 
 precipitated from the declivities and rolling down the slopes 
 were crushed to pieces with every bone broken and even 
 their saddles so damaged they could not be used again. 
 
 This route crosses the head-waters of the Gila frequently, 
 so as to avoid the barriers which constantly jut upon and 
 overhang the streams. That river in this portion of its 
 extent is not susceptible of even canoe navigation. Its 
 currents are of arrowy swiftness, shooting over rocky and 
 irregular falls with short serpentine windings through 
 
34 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 narrow and dangerous canyons that produce whirlpools and 
 cascades which would engulf any water craft entrusted to 
 their control. 
 
 After this rough experience Lieutenant Beale cast 
 about him for a more favorable route to the Pacific 
 from the Missouri settlements. In his next journey- 
 westward he hit upon the Santa Fe trail which soon 
 became the principal avenue of communication be- 
 tween the two sections of the country. Years later, 
 in 1 880, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad 
 was built along Beale's route and the company very 
 gracefully requested General Beale to become the 
 engineer-in-chief, if only in a consulting or honorary 
 capacity, of the great trans-continental line which 
 he had first explored and later opened to the passage 
 of prairie "schooners, " an honor which on account 
 of other engagements General Beale was compelled 
 to decline. 
 
 There are many amusing stories told of the early 
 days of American control in California and in 
 many of these the Reverend Walter Colton who 
 came out as chaplain on the Congress figures. There 
 was one in partictilar that in after years General 
 Beale delighted to relate. His old ship-mate, who 
 wrote a volume entitled Three Years in Calif orma, 
 did not think the incident of sufficient importance 
 to set down in his somewhat ponderous chronicles of 
 these interesting times. 
 
 When Commodore Stockton instituted civil 
 government over the territory so recently wrested 
 
With Carson on the Gila 35 
 
 from the Mexicans, the Reverend Colton was 
 appointed alcalde of Monterey, where his duties 
 were both administrative and judicial. Gambling 
 was then the besetting sin of the Mexican Califor- 
 nian, as it soon became that of the American 
 invader. There was also a dearth of milch cows 
 in the commimity, which was all the more severely 
 felt because in those days condensed milk and the 
 other substitutes were unknown. 
 
 One day two gamblers were brought before 
 the clerical alcalde as was also a magnificent fresh 
 cow. They were charged with having gambled 
 over it and the ownership of the animal was dis- 
 puted. The Reverend Colton considered the 
 story as set forth by the interested parties with 
 great interest and then submitted the following 
 decree. 
 
 "You, sir, lost the cow, consequently it does not belong to 
 you." Then turning to the other man, he said, "You, sir, 
 have won it — you have won it by gambhng, but this is a 
 form of transfer that the Court does not recognize. In my 
 opinion, therefore, the animal eschews to the Court." 
 
 The coveted cow was henceforth attached to the 
 Court and the decision of the alcalde greatly 
 admired by all save the bereaved former owner. 
 The milk ptinches which the Court was now 
 enabled to serve from time to time, and indeed 
 always when the ex-chaplain's former messmates 
 called upon him, became famous throughout the 
 land, and were very generally regarded as an 
 
36 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 important atixiliary to the speedy Americaniza- 
 tion of the conquered territory. 
 
 In the last days of the year 1847 the Swiss 
 pioneer Sutter began to btiild a sawmill and to 
 deepen his mill-race. To do this the earth was 
 loosened during the day and the waters of the 
 river turned in at night to wash out the dirt. 
 Marshall saw the glittering sand one day in the 
 following January. A determined attempt to 
 keep the discovery secret was made, but without 
 much success. In March the discovery was men- 
 tioned in the California papers and a few days 
 later the precious dust in small quantities was 
 being sold in some of the port towns. Then 
 scenes were enacted which will doubtless never 
 be seen again. Ships were abandoned in the 
 harbors and churches closed. San Francisco was 
 deserted and the flight up the Sacramento River 
 toward the gold fields began. Even the army 
 posts were reduced by desertion to corporal's 
 guards and our naval vessels in Monterey harbor 
 were kept off the land and without communication 
 with the shore. Commodore Jones reported: 
 
 "Even men having balances due them of over one 
 thousand dollars have deserted. Nothing, sir, can ex- 
 ceed the deplorable state of things in all upper California 
 at this time and of the maddening effect of the gold mania. 
 I am sorry to say that in this squadron some of the 
 officers are a little tainted and have manifested restlessness 
 under moderate restrictions. For the present, and I fear 
 for years to come, [the Commodore continues] it will be 
 
With Carson on the Gila 37 
 
 impossible for the "United States to maintain any naval or 
 military establishments in California, as at present no hope 
 of reward or fear of punishment is sufficient to make binding 
 any contract between man and man upon the soil of Califor- 
 nia. To send troops out here would be needless as they 
 would immediately desert." 
 
 Paymaster Rich, U. S. N., writing to the Depart- 
 ment from Monterey at the same time says: 
 
 " The pay of Governors and Judges, etc., as allowed in the 
 United States wiU hardly compare with that paid to sales- 
 men and clerks here." 
 
 • During the six months of Scale's absence from 
 California the United States had instituted civil gov- 
 ernment, and changed — almost incredible — con- 
 ditions presented themselves on every side. The 
 Reverend Walter Colton, chaplain of the frigate 
 Congress, a shipmate of Beale, the first alcalde of 
 Monterey after the American conquest, describes 
 in his volume already referred to one phase of the 
 remarkable situation in the following sentences : 
 
 Her emigrants are rushing from every continent and isle, 
 they crest every mountain, they cover every sea; they 
 sweep in like a cloud from the Pacific, they roll down like a 
 torrent from the slopes of the Sierra Nevada. They crowd 
 to her bosom to gather gold, their hammers and drills, their 
 mattocks and spades divert the deep stream and are echoed 
 from a thousand cavemed hiUs, the level plain, the soaring 
 cliff and wombed mountain give up their glowing treasures. 
 
 But the gifts of nature here are not confined to her 
 sparkling sands and veined rocks, they extend to the produc- 
 
38 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 tive forces of her soil, they lie along her water courses, 
 through her verdant valleys and wave in her golden grain, 
 they reel in her vintage, they blush in her fruits, while her 
 soft zephyrs as they float the landscape scatter perfume from 
 their odorous wings. 
 
 But with all these gifts disease is here with i*s pale 
 victims and sorrow with its willow woven shrine. There is 
 no land less relieved by the smiles and soothing cares of 
 women. If Eden with its ambrosial fruits and guiltless 
 joys was still sad the voice of woman mingled with its 
 melodies, California with all her treasured hills and streams 
 must be cheerful till she feels the presence of the same 
 enchantress. It is woman alone that can make a home for 
 the human heart . . . where her footsteps light the freshest 
 flowers spring! where her voice swells the softest echoes 
 wake! Her smiles garland the domestic hearth, her sym- 
 pathy melts through the deepest folds of grief. Her love 
 clothes the earth with light. ... Of all these sources of 
 solace and hope multitudes in California are now bereft; 
 but the ties of kindred, the quick-winged ship and the 
 steed of flame on his iron-paved track will soon secure them 
 these priceless gifts. 
 
 Beale, a few weeks before the discovery of gold, 
 had been detached from the flagship Ohio and 
 given disagreeable duty on shore. This was the 
 first setback the rising young officer had received 
 upon his upward course and while there is no trace 
 of it upon Beale's official record he is supposed, 
 according to the service tradition, to have incurred 
 the commodore's displeasure in this wise. Jones, 
 though in command of a large fleet, loved nothing 
 better than to sail a small boat unless it was to tell 
 of the important part he had taken in the Battle 
 
With Carson on the Gila 39 
 
 of New Orleans, where he commanded a flotilla of 
 small boats which helped to delay the British 
 advance until Jackson was ready to receive it with 
 sharpshooters behind cotton bales. Some of the 
 younger officers knew the story by heart and very 
 much disliked sailing with the commodore on these 
 little excursions where it would seem that from the 
 force of suggestion he could not help telling his 
 1 813 war story. The youngsters were nimble and 
 would get out of the commodore's way when it 
 was evident he was about to embark upon one of 
 these, for him at least, pleastire trips and in conse- 
 quence the fleet stirgeon, an elderly man, generally 
 became his companion and, it is said, acquitted 
 himself in the task with considerable diplomacy. 
 
 Beale had a happy or unhappy knack of cari- 
 cature and he drew a cartoon which represented 
 the commodore saiHng his boat and holding forth 
 to the fleet svirgeon upon certain incidents of the 
 New Orleans campaign which had not been dwelt 
 upon in most histories. As the commodore talked 
 the obseqtiious surgeon could be seen sluicing him 
 up and down with a grease pot such as sailors use 
 on the rigging. The commodore never saw the 
 cartoon which convtilsed the fleet but he heard of 
 it and Beale was detached. Some of the officers 
 saw in Beale's subsequent selection to carry des- 
 patches and the news of gold across Mexico 
 a further evidence of the commodore's hostility. 
 If it was, and all this rests upon the flimsiest tra- 
 dition, Jones's hostility was more useful to Beale 
 
40 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 than even Benton's friendship. It gave the mid- 
 shipman a chance to distinguish himself which he 
 was not slow to seize. 
 
 There is no official record or reference in the 
 family archives of how Beale secured the golden 
 nuggets and the glittering sands which he carried 
 East to initiate a movement which changed the 
 course of history. He did not secure it first hand 
 from the diggings, as his first visit there was some 
 months later. In the Navy the tradition was that 
 Beale secured the treasure from one of the earliest 
 visitors to the mill-race in exchange for one hun- 
 dred grains of quinine which Beale was too old a 
 traveller ever to be without. Certain it is only 
 that at this time in Monterey and San Francisco 
 quinine was quoted higher than gold, grain for 
 grain. 
 
 Of recent years the discovery of gold in Cali- 
 fornia can boast its own literature and not a few 
 controversies. There evidently was keen rivalry 
 between the officers of the Army and the officers 
 of the Navy as to which branch of the service 
 should have the honor of carrying the epoch- 
 making news to Washington. Beale left La Paz 
 a month before Lieutenant Loeser of the engineers 
 and reached the Capital two months before his 
 army rival, thanks to his daring short cut across 
 Mexico. 
 
 As was to be expected of an army man afloat, 
 Lieutenant Loeser had many misadventures. 
 Owing apparently to adverse winds the skipper of 
 
With Carson on the Gila 41 
 
 the schooner upon which he embarked could not or 
 would not land him at Panama but carried him on 
 to the port of Payta at the mouth of the Guayaquil 
 River in Peru and from there the young engineer 
 made haste to retrace his steps and cross the 
 Isthmus, but in the meantime the gold-bearing 
 midshipman had reached the Capital. Commodore 
 Jones had foimd no authority in the regtilations 
 to piu-chase a specimen of the gold, and the nugget 
 and the sands which Beale carried were his own 
 private property and venture. Col. Mason, how- 
 ever, commanding the army in California at the 
 time, apparently at the suggestion of his aid, Lieut. 
 W. T. Sherman, purchased three thousand dollars 
 worth of the gold and turned it over to Loeser for 
 conveyance to the Secretary of War. This gold 
 was officially examined at the mint and the report 
 upon it published by the Government set at rest all 
 doubt as to the value of the discovery which was 
 at first hotly disputed. 
 
 Beale at this time as well as in later life 
 always maintained that while the discovery in 
 Sutter's miU-race was the most important and per- 
 haps the first gold discovered in paying quantities, 
 the presence of gold in California had been well 
 known to the Mexicans for twenty years before. 
 He was also inclined to think that the attempt of 
 the Russians to settle and colonize on our Pacific 
 Coast, coming down from Alaska for this purpose, 
 was inspired by rumors of the presence of gold. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 Beale Brings First Gold East 
 
 Beale's Daring Journey across Mexico with the First 
 Gold — Gente de Camino — Mexico City and Minister 
 Clifford — Fate of Beale's Gtiide — Senators Foote and 
 Benton Hear the Wonderful Story — ^WiUiam Carey 
 Jones's Account of Journey in National Intelligencer — 
 Beale Introduced to the United States Senate — Wise 
 "Stay-at-Homes" Show Incredulity — Beale Walks 
 down Wall Street with Mr. Aspinwall — P. T. Bamum 
 Wants to Exhibit the Gold — But Half the Treasure is 
 Fashioned into an Engagement Ring — Courting at 
 Chester — Ammen's Letter to the Young Argonaut — On 
 the Trail Again — Letter from Big Timber — Beale's 
 Description of His Route across the Continent — Along 
 the Thirty-fifth Parallel— Old Trail Develops into 
 Atchison, Topeka and Santa F6 Railroad — Chronologi- 
 cal Table of Beale's Early Travels — Marriage with Miss 
 Edwards — Arctic Expedition Proposed — Letters from 
 Captain Ljmch and Commodore Maury — Bayard Taylor 
 Dedicates His Book on California to Beale — Beale Re- 
 signs from the Service — He Retrieves the Business 
 Ventures of Commodore Stockton and Mr. Aspinwall. 
 
 BEALE left the port of La Paz near the foot 
 of the peninsula of California on the first of 
 August, and on the fifth arrived at Mazat- 
 
 lan on the west coast of Mexico. There he took 
 
 42 
 
a! 
 
 B 
 o 
 
Beale Brings First Gold East 43 
 
 passage in a small Mexican goleta, which after a 
 stormy voyage of five days made the harbor of 
 San Bias. From San Bias he proposed to travel 
 overland, southeast a thousand miles by way of 
 Guadalajara and Mexico City to Vera Cruz; and 
 from here, on August 13th, he started accompanied 
 only by a guide in spite of the earnest dissuasions of 
 the Governor of San Bias and of every one else who 
 heard of his project. 
 
 Beale dressed himself for his journey in a som- 
 brero, a red flannel shirt, leather breeches and boots. 
 He carried four six-barrelled revolvers, and a knife. 
 Being very much sunburned and speaking Spanish 
 well his chances of being taken for a Mexican by 
 casual observers were fairly good. 
 
 The rainy season was just setting in and the bad 
 roads becoming daily worse, but the real dangers of 
 the trip lay in the bands of ladrones who infested 
 all the highways of Mexico, and whose nvimbers had 
 been hugely strengthened by the recent disbanding 
 of Paredes's army. By the time Beale arrived at 
 Tepic he had been held up once by three gente de 
 camino, who however had made off when con- 
 fronted with great resolution and the f otir American 
 revolvers, and he had become so thoroughly 
 convinced of the uncertainties and perils of his 
 undertaking that he assumed the responsibility of 
 opening his despatches and making copies of them, 
 which copies he enclosed with a note to the Ameri- 
 can Minister at Mexico City, and put in the mail. 
 Then he immediately pushed on, travelling night 
 
44 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 and day and taking no rest but by throwing himself 
 on the ground at each post while the saddles were 
 being changed to fresh horses. 
 
 Once, before arriving at Guadalajara a banda, 
 coming out of the woods just at nightfall, chased 
 him for several hours, but he finally outrode them, 
 though not before the foremost of them had shot 
 at him a number of times with their carbines. At 
 the next post after this adventure he heard of a 
 party of eleven travellers just ahead of him, but 
 before he could come up with them they were 
 attacked by a large party of ladrones and mur- 
 dered to a man. Beale found their blood still 
 staining the muddy ground. 
 
 After leaving Guadalajara the rainy season set 
 in in full force. Furious storm succeeded furious 
 storm, the water cotirses swelled into raging tor- 
 rents which could only be crossed by swimming. 
 The roads were blocked by uprooted trees and 
 avalanches of stones and mud, and at night Beale 
 found his way chiefly by the almost incessant 
 flashes of the lightning. When on the eighth 
 day he arrived at Mexico City he was literally 
 cased in mud, and dried himself for the first time 
 since leaving San Bias. Mr. Clifford, our Minister 
 in Mexico, ' wishing also to send despatches, Beale 
 
 » Among the Beale papers is a weather-stained parchment bearing 
 these credentials. 
 
 To AH Whom it May Concern. I the undersigned Minister of the 
 United States residing in the City of Mexico do hereby certify that 
 Edward F. Beale is a bearer of despatches from this Legation entitled 
 to all the privileges and immunities to which agents are entitled. 
 
Beale Brings First Gold East 45 
 
 was detained three days while they were prepar- 
 ing, but he made up for the delay by covering 
 the ninety leagues between Mexico City and Vera 
 Cruz in the extraordinary time of sixty hours, 
 in spite of being held up once more by ladrones 
 from whom he only escaped by the speed of his 
 horse and the reckless daring with which he rode 
 him down an almost precipitous mountainside. 
 
 At Vera Cruz he slept under a roof for the 
 first time since leaving Mazatlan, with the excep- 
 tion of his two nights of enforced stay at the Capi- 
 tal. The mind of his imfortunate guide had been 
 unhinged by the dangers and fatigues of the jour- 
 ney, and the city authorities were obliged to send 
 him back tinder guard in the diligence. 
 
 Four days after his arrival Beale left Vera Cruz 
 in the sloop-of-war Germantown, which after a 
 tedious passage put him ashore at Mobile. ' 
 
 With his wonderful news of the El Dorado on the 
 shores of the Pacific and his nugget and golden 
 sands to prove that his was not a mere sailor's yam, 
 Beale received ovations wherever he went. Towns 
 
 Given under my hand and the seal of the Legation at the City of 
 Mexico this 21st day of August 1848. 
 
 Nathan Clifford. 
 
 Attest: 
 
 Wm. Walsh, Secretary of Legation. 
 
 ' Such wonderful and Munchausen-Hke exploits were attributed to 
 Beale by the press of the cities and towns through which he passed on 
 the way to the Capital that shortly after his arrival in Washington the 
 young argonaut authorized his friend, a well-known journalist of 
 the day, WiUiam Carey Jones, to pubUsh a sober and restrained account 
 of his feat in the National Intelligencer. It is from this article that 
 the account given above is condensed. 
 
46 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 and even hamlets gave the passing traveller ban- 
 quets while the infamous thirst for the yellow 
 metal began to make itself felt in the most austere 
 bosoms. From Mobile the returning argonaut 
 travelled North partly by stage and for some 
 days at least in the company of Senator Foote of 
 Mississippi, who drank in greedily all the tales 
 from the Pacific which were unfolded and who 
 upon their arrival in Washington insisted upon 
 sharing with Benton the honor of introducing the 
 bearer of such momentous news to the Senate of 
 the United States. 
 
 Of course there were unbelievers, and special 
 messengers were sent to California by sea and by 
 land to secure specimens of the alleged gold through 
 official channels, to be subjected to the usual tests at 
 the mint. In Washington there were also eviden- 
 ces of incredulity, though Beale's good faith in the 
 matter was never attacked. "It glitters, it looks 
 like gold but is n't," was the verdict of the wise 
 stay-at-homes. 
 
 However, when Beale came to New York and 
 walked down Wall Street leaning on Mr. Aspin wall's 
 arm, the gold-hungry thousands followed them, 
 broke into the exchange, and were not to be denied 
 until the golden nugget was produced and the 
 golden sands allowed to sift through their hands, 
 an operation by which it is said the sands did not 
 seem to increase or mtdtiply. P. T. Bamum, then 
 fast rising to the zenith of fame in the showman's 
 world, sent Beale the following letter which was 
 
Beale Brings First Gold East 47 
 
 followed up by messages and even with threats that 
 he wovild come himself to secure the great prize. 
 
 Barnum's Museum, 
 Philadelphia. 
 Lieut. Beale, 
 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 Mr. Harding of the Enquirer has just informed me that 
 you have in your possession an 8 lb. lump of California gold. 
 As I am always anxious to procure novelties for public grat- 
 ification I write this to say that I should be glad to purchase 
 the lump at its valuation if you will dispose of it and if not 
 that I should like to procure it for exhibition for a few weeks. 
 A line in reply will much oblige, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 P. T. Barnum, 
 
 Feeling that he was no longer in his element, the 
 young naval officer showed he possessed that part 
 of valor which is discretion and which he had never 
 before been suspected of possessing. Suddenly 
 Beale disappeared from the popular excitement and 
 turmoil and the gold also disappeared from circtda- 
 tion among the curious. Half of his trophy, like the 
 loyal servant of the people that he was, Beale placed 
 on view in the Patent Office in Washington, and 
 the rest, by far the heavier and better half it is said, 
 he was having fashioned into an engagement ring 
 for the yotmg lady who had consented to be his wife, 
 with whom he was walking in the shades and nooks 
 of "Green Bank," the Porters' estate at Chester, 
 while all the world was wondering what had become 
 of the youngster who had tired so qmckly of being 
 the man of the hour. 
 
48 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 It was down in Chester also that Beale received 
 the following letter from his friend and classmate 
 Daniel Ammen, afterwards a distinguished ad- 
 miral for whom his affection only increased with 
 the passing years. The letter told Beale what a 
 fine fellow they thought him, indeed knew him to 
 be, in the service, and what without the slightest 
 doubt interested him the most in his frame of 
 mind, that "our class are all marrying." 
 
 Steamer " Bibb," 
 Nantucket Island. 
 Dear Ned : 
 
 I saw with a great deal of pleasure that you had arrived 
 again at the eastern part of "the land of the free and the 
 home of the brave " and hope you will be content for a short 
 time at least. 
 
 Now, old fellow, come down to Nantucket and pass a 
 short time catching fish and walking about on the shore of 
 the great sea. I am tired of this damn monotonous life and 
 want to hear of your last trip in order to believe it. This fall 
 I shall assuredly go to sea and when I start it shall be for 
 three cruises on end. 
 
 I see you published in all the papers and as you are justly 
 a lion I want you to come on and shake your tail at these 
 people. After I saw of Fremont's hard time I was afraid 
 that you would be unfortunate and was the more delighted 
 to see your arrival in the East with some of the gold we read 
 of. 
 
 I got a letter from Catesby Jones dated the loth April 
 but I have not written him yet, indeed I think I shall write 
 him, when I do, to the East Indies. 
 
 Our class are all marrying. " Brick-Top " is engaged to a 
 very pretty little girl from Providence I think. I have not 
 heard of Billy Muse making anybody happy yet. 
 
Beale Brings First Gold East 49 
 
 We have the great naturalist, Agassiz, on board and as I 
 spoke of your shooting a Capiniche, or sea hog or sea bear 
 or some other animal whose name I don't know, the old 
 fellow became highly excited and hoped you would lend 
 him if not give him a skull if you have one. He wishes also 
 to know whether they live in salt water, or brackish or fresh. 
 If you will be good enough to send a skull to Professor 
 Agassiz, Boston, by Adams Express, the old fellow will bear 
 you in grateful remembrance during the remainder of his 
 natioral life. 
 
 Are you going soon to California or in what direction do 
 you think of branching out? Will you come down to Nan- 
 tucket before you travel? Davis, Rodgers and myself will 
 be delighted to see you. 
 
 Be good enough to give my kindest regards to your 
 mother's family as well as remember me affectionately to 
 any old friends who may be drifting about where you are 
 
 and believe me, 
 
 Truly your friend, 
 
 Ammen. 
 Ed. F. Beale, Esq., U. S. Navy. 
 
 Write to me at Nantucket. Don't forget the sea bear or 
 hog or Capiniche. Raymond Rodgers sends his kindest 
 regards. 
 
 Beale's vacations were always matters of days 
 rather than of weeks. Soon he was proceeding 
 overland to the Pacific and from the Raton 
 mountains writes the following joyous letter to the 
 brother of his future wife. 
 
 Camp at Big Timber, 
 
 Dec. 3d, '48. 
 My Dear Harry: 
 
 I have stopped awhile to get a few buffalo robes to 
 send your mother and which I hope will reach Chester with 
 this letter. I find here three Americans trading with the 
 
50 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 Indians. They have built a couple of miserable huts, but 
 appear in spite of the cheerless and wretched appearance of 
 everjrthing around them to be making a very excellent busi- 
 ness. There are thousands of Indians here but most of 
 them friendly tribes, and those who are not disposed to be so 
 are kept in awe by those who have met here to trade. I 
 have had a most unpleasant journey so far, and the men I 
 have with me are so utterly worthless that I anticipate many 
 difficulties; not a day passes that I do not punish two or 
 three. I have had two affairs with the Indians, one of 
 which began so seriously that for a while I held my breath, 
 but turned out in the end a trifle, in the other I came so very 
 near losing my hair that I am not positive to this moment 
 that my scalp sticks to the top of my head. In the last I 
 behaved so entirely to my own satisfaction that I have half 
 a mind to teU you about it and what I did, but you might 
 accuse me of boasting too much and I am not very anxious 
 to blow my own trumpet. 
 
 The weather here is most cruelly, bitterly cold, it is snow- 
 ing and freezing. You may form some idea of the severity 
 of it when I tell you that a trader who passed some sixty 
 miles to the southward of me lost in one snowstorm ninety 
 mules frozen to death in a single night. I counted in one 
 day myself, seventy-two animals dead and dying, belonging 
 to a large company returning to the United States. In this 
 weather we have sometimes at night after travelling all 
 day to cross the river filled with floating masses of drift- 
 ice to get wood, and bring it over again to camp, and this 
 where the river is from three to five or six hundred yards in 
 width. I mean no disparagement to your manhood, Harry, 
 but I do not really think you could stand what I am doing, 
 nor could I endure it but that I am constantly buoyed up by 
 the hope of returning to you all once more. 
 
 I get from the traders here most discouraging accounts of 
 the Raton Mountains, which I am just now about to cross. 
 It is said they are impassable but I have passed impassable 
 
Beale Brings First Gold East 51 
 
 places before. They tell me also to tie my hair on before 
 starting, as every party ahead of me has been attacked and 
 defeated by the Apaches. The troops even have been 
 whipped and driven off by them — ^regular soldiers that were 
 sent against them. A party of eighteen men were attacked 
 a short time since and several whom I knew very well, killed. 
 
 If you can let my mother know that you have heard from 
 me do so. I have not time to write to her. Say that I am 
 doing well and happy and above all things don't drop a 
 word about Indians. My best of warmest love to your 
 sister, to whom I shall write from Santa F6. Tell her I am 
 very happy, happy because I am always thinking of her and 
 my return. 
 
 I write in great haste and a snowstorm is no place for 
 letter writing. Love to those who love me. 
 
 God bless you. Ever yours, 
 
 Ned. 
 
 The following is Beale's description of his trans- 
 continental route, which soon after his first crossing 
 began to play a great r61e in the development of the 
 Southwest and the Pacific Coast, as indeed it does 
 to-day, though now stone ballasted and iron railed. 
 
 Our route was along the 35th parallel of latitude and our 
 ftirthest variation did not exceed fifty-five miles. From 
 our point of departure in New Mexico to the Colorado 
 River, the easternmost boundary of Mexico, the distance 
 travelled did not exceed 470 miles and there was everywhere 
 an abundance of wood, water, and grass. 
 
 The chain of the Rocky Mountains was passed but the 
 elevation was so unimportant that the exploring caravan of 
 men, camels, horses and mules was not conscious of the fact. 
 The route was explored in mid-summer and retravelled in 
 the very dead of winter yet neither impediments of drought 
 nor snows were met with either way. 
 
52 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 In February, 1880, the first train over the Atchi- 
 son Railroad arrived at Santa Fe and the old trail, 
 so long known as Beale's "track," was closed, to 
 interstate commerce at least, forever. 
 
 Among the Beale papers is a chronological table 
 of these eariy years of active restless travel which 
 in later life General Beale wrote out at the request 
 of his son. It is condensed and skeletonized to 
 a degree, and, characteristically, all references to 
 battles fought and honors won are omitted. 
 
 Few men's lives reveal such a period of prolonged 
 activity as is here disclosed, and one can only regret 
 that the diaries and the route journals, which even 
 at this early date young Beale was accustomed to 
 keep, were in part lost through the vicissitudes of 
 the journeys which they describe, or only siirvive 
 entombed in government archives. 
 
 The paper runs: 
 
 Lieutenant Edward F. Beale left the United States on 
 board the Congress in October, 1845, and twenty days 
 after was transferred to a vessel bound to England as 
 bearer of despatches for the United States, and he reached 
 the United States between the 17th and the 20th of March, 
 1846. Left for Callao, Peru, with despatches about April 
 1st, 1846, and reached Callao in about six weeks by the 
 Panama route. Sailed from Callao to California via Sand- 
 wich Islands in the Congress, and arrived at San Francisco 
 about July 20th, 1846. Served on shore with the army 
 until the conquest of the coimtry was completed, which was 
 in February, 1847, when he was sent home with despatches 
 by Commodore Stockton by overland route. 
 
 Arrived in Washington about last of May, 1847, ^^^ was 
 
Beale Brings First Gold East 53 
 
 sent back immediately across the plains with despatches, 
 was taken sick and thus found upon the plains, and was 
 carried back insensible to St. Louis. In the fall of 1847, 
 he returned to the Pacific via Panama with despatches for 
 Commodore Jones at Callao, and sailed from Callao to 
 Mazatlan on board the Ohio and served on shore at Mazat- 
 lan in command of a company until we heard of peace about 
 August, 1848, when he was sent through Mexico, disguised 
 as a Spaniard via Vera Cruz to Washington with despatches 
 and arrived at Washington during September, 1848. 
 
 About the 14th of October, 1848, received despatches 
 from Secretary Marcey for Santa Fe and CaUfomia, and 
 arrived at Santa F6 December 25th, 1848, on foot and 
 nearly naked. Continued journey and arrived at San 
 Francisco about April loth, 1849. Left San Francisco with 
 despatches for Washington April 13th, 1849, and arrived at 
 Washington about June 17th, 1849. 
 
 Left Washington with despatches for Cahfornia overland 
 for Commodore Jones, June 27th, 1849, and arrived at San 
 Francisco about August 17th. Returned almost immedi- 
 ately with despatches and arrived at Washington during 
 December, 1849. 
 
 Well might Carson, who was a traveller and 
 despatch bearer himself, have been aghast, as he 
 frankly confessed that he was, at the activity of 
 his young navy friend, bom and grown to manhood 
 in the effete East. 
 
 Here concludes the adventurous period of the 
 pioneer and the day of the resolute Forty-niner 
 begins. 
 
 Miss Mary Edwards, who now became the help- 
 mate as well as wife of Beale, accompanied him to 
 California where in San Francisco their son Trux- 
 
54 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 tun was bom. Miss Edwards came of an old 
 Delaware County family and of Quaker stock, 
 her ancestors having accompanied Penn from 
 England on his venture in the New World in the 
 year 1682. Her father, Samuel Edwards, was only 
 thirty-three years of age when elected to Congress 
 and he represented Delaware County in the lower 
 house for many years. In later life Mr. Edwards's 
 health was far from robust but he practised suc- 
 cessftilly at the bar and served as Chief Burgess 
 and Collector of Customs at Chester, Pa. In his 
 obituary the Philadelphia Press wrote with truth: 
 "During the administrations of Jackson and Van 
 Buren, George G. and Samuel L. Leiper, Samuel 
 Edwards and James Buchanan were the powers 
 behind the throne." 
 
 i The Arctic expedition to which the following let- 
 ters refer was planned in 1850. Captain Lynch, 
 U. S. Navy, was to have been in command and he 
 was, as this correspondence shows, most anxious 
 to obtain the services of Beale as his first lieuten- 
 ant. Mr. Henry Grinnell, the wealthy New York 
 merchant who afterwards financed the Dr. Kane 
 expedition, appeared in the matter as principal 
 financial backer. Wh.ile Beale was preparing him- 
 self for adventurous activity in this new sphere 
 there came from the Arctic contradictory news in 
 regard to the fate of Franklin, and there were 
 further delays on account of Captain Lynch's 
 health which had become impaired by his travels 
 in Asia Minor and the Holy Land. When a few 
 
Beale Brings First Gold East 55 
 
 months later, through Maury, Mr. Grinnell offered 
 the chief command to Beale, he had already made 
 an arrangement with Commodore Stockton to 
 return to California in charge of the latter's 
 business interests there which he did not feel that 
 he was at liberty to break. 
 
 There are at this time references in the Beale 
 papers to an expedition to explore the Gulf of 
 Darien with the idea of ascertaining the exact loca- 
 tion of the water-way across the Isthmus, which, 
 curiously enough, despite the innumerable scien- 
 tific surveys which have been made, the San 
 Bias Indians to this day maintain exists, at least 
 in the rainy season. Beale was asked to head 
 this expedition and accepted. The necessary 
 funds, however, were not forthcoming and the 
 matter hung fire for many years. Ultimately the 
 desired survey was carried out by a naval expe- 
 dition imder the auspices of the Government with 
 but meagre restilts. Mention of these two widely 
 divergent expeditions is made, two from among 
 many others, to show how Beale's daring and 
 adventurous spirit had captivated public opinion 
 and how generally recognized both in and out of the 
 service was his ability to command and to undertake 
 desperate hazards. It was at this moment, when 
 the poptilarity of the "Hero of San Pasqual" was 
 at its height, when he was the idol of the Southwest 
 and the new world that was coming into being on 
 the Pacific Coast, that Beale, in recognition of his 
 family responsibilities, had the courage to resign. 
 
56 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 / 
 there being no enemies of his country in sight, 
 and go into a business which must have seemed 
 humdnim to his adventurous spirit. But Beale 
 always recognized the call of duty and the adven- 
 tures had not all been of his seeking, they came by 
 the way. The offer of service in the Arctic was 
 made in the following terms: 
 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 Although personally a stranger to you, the, subject of 
 this letter will, I trust, be its ample apology. 
 
 When I first volunteered to go in quest of Sir Jno. Frank- 
 lin and his companions, it was my purpose, if my application 
 was successful, to have asked you to accompany me, for 
 although you are recently married, I have not done your 
 partner the injustice to class her among weak and frivolous 
 wives, but rather, regarded her as one who would cheer you 
 in an undertaking which would enhance your reputation 
 and embellish (?) your name. 
 
 The long interval that was supinely suffered to elapse 
 had nearly taken all hope, when a recent letter from the 
 Rev'd Mr. Scoresby, written at the instance of Lady Frank- 
 lin, has reinvigorated me. In that letter, I am told that 
 Lady F. and her friends place little reliance on the expedi- 
 tion now being equipped by the Admiralty, and which is to 
 pursue the route by Behring's Straits. Their greatest hope 
 is in us and the eastern route. If that lady carries her 
 intention into effect and comes to this country, I have little 
 doubt that an expedition will be authorized. I use the 
 term authorized, because Congress may not feel justified in 
 appropriating money, especially for such an object, while 
 its sanction or that of the Executive would be necessary to a 
 military organization, without which, I presume, no officer 
 of respectability would undertake it. 
 
 Should it be undertaken and I be appointed to lead it. 
 
Beale Brings First Gold East 57 
 
 will you embark with me? Do not answer with precipita- 
 tion, for I know that you will never withdraw a pledge, and 
 I only wish to receive one after ftill deliberation. 
 
 If you decide to cast your lot with me, in the above event, 
 I would, of course, stipulate that you should be second in 
 command. 
 
 My reasons for applying to you are twofold — first physi- 
 cal, for my own constitution is a weak, while yours, from all I 
 can learn, is a vigorous and hardy one, and secondly, you 
 have the moral qualities, unshrinking courage and in- 
 domitable perseverance which are indispensable for such an 
 vuidertaking. 
 
 It would be my aim to pass through Wellington Channel 
 and make our winter quarters on the north shore of Mel- 
 ville Island. If in our route thither we were unsuccessful 
 in our search, I would during the winter despatch parties 
 to the north to reach the pole if possible, the other to the 
 west towards Behring's Straits — the members of each party 
 to be surmounted on skates, with light boats fixed on 
 metaUic sleigh runners. If neither of those parties should 
 discover the Enghsh ships or their crews, there would be no 
 longer doubt of their having perished. When the summer 
 opened, therefore, I would feel justified in making a bold 
 push with the ship for Behring's Straits, through which if 
 I cotdd only succeed in carrying the Am. flags I could die 
 content. Even at the worst it is a noble cause to die in : 
 but you have endearing attachments to the world, and I 
 would not have you thoughtlessly Hnk your fate with one 
 so desolate as myself. 
 
 Please answer this at your leisure and let no editor of a 
 paper see or hear anjrthing of it. 
 
 Uncertain of your direction, I will send this to the 
 department to be forwarded to you. 
 
 With great respect, 
 Yotir obt. serv't, 
 
 W. F. Lynch, U. S. N. 
 
 Baltimore, Jan'y ii, 1850. 
 
58 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 Lieut. E, F. Beale, U. S. Navy. 
 
 Washington Observatory, 
 Feb. 28th. 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 I am requested to sound you as to a private expedition 
 after Sir John Franklin. If you will come up I will tell you 
 all I know and all that I am authorized to say to you on this 
 subject. In the meantime I am enjoined to regard the 
 matter as a great secret which you are to help me to keep. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 M. F. Maury. 
 
 I also reproduce one of the many letters which 
 Beale received from Bayard Taylor at this time: 
 
 "Tribune" Office, New York, 
 March 26th, 1850. 
 My dear Beale: 
 
 What has become of you? That you are somewhere in 
 the country I know and I send this note to Chester hoping 
 it may reach you. I was in Washington two weeks ago but 
 you were not there. I should have stopped a few hours at 
 Chester had I not happened to be in the midnight train. 
 Let me hear from you and don't attempt to go to California 
 without passing through here. Stoddard tells me he has 
 not seen you so I judge you have not been here yet. Are 
 you going to California and when if so? or are you to be 
 sent into the unknown Central Region? Let me know I 
 pray you for I am anxious to hear from you and more 
 anxious to see you. 
 
 I had an odd, exciting, adventurous ride of it through 
 Mexico and should like to compare notes with you. 
 
 I am working day and night on my book' and expect to 
 get it through the press in two weeks, will you allow me to 
 dedicate it to you? As the best friend and comrade I had 
 
 ' Eldorado or Adventures in the Path of Empire, by Bayard Taylor. 
 George P. Putnam, New York; Richard Bentley, London, 1850. 
 
Beale Brings First Gold East 59 
 
 on the trip it is properly owing to you. I shall try and 
 make the volumes such as you will be satisfied with. 
 
 Pray give my best regards to Mrs. Beale and believe me 
 ever. 
 
 Most faithfully yours, 
 
 Bayard Taylor. 
 
 It is interesting to note that from the moment 
 of his first visit to California, Beale saw in his 
 mind's eye the great city that was to grow up at the 
 Golden Gate, and command the commerce of the 
 Pacific. He had that instinct of prophecy, which 
 is called "luck," in an eminent degree. On his 
 return East, he often spoke to his mother and to his 
 friends of the many opportunities that presented 
 themselves for acquiring fortune in California; 
 but for the most part his words fell upon deaf ears. 
 Indeed, Mrs. Beale was very anxious at what she 
 considered her son's inclination toward wildcat 
 speculation. Though the daughter and the widow 
 of naval officers, Mrs. Beale was in affluent cir- 
 cumstances for those days, and she absolutely 
 refused to foUow her son's advice to purchase either 
 for herself or for her children any of the large 
 Mexican land grants, which were going begging 
 at any price. In answer to her son's suggestions, 
 Mrs. Beale said, quite emphatically, "What, buy 
 land out in that wilderness ? Never ! ' ' 
 
 The consequence of Mrs. Beale's conservative 
 views regarding Western investments was that her 
 foresighted son had to wait some years before lay- 
 ing the foundation of his fortune, but, as he always 
 
6o Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 stated, it was a wait that was worth while; that 
 the feeling of independence and the knowledge of 
 having won by unaided personal achievement was 
 well worth the price. 
 
 Though they did it with misgivings which they 
 did not always seek to conceal, Beale was so yotmg 
 and anjrthing but business-like, it was a fortunate 
 day for Commodore Stockton and Mr. Aspinwall, 
 the great New York merchant, when they confided 
 their business interests in California to the young 
 naval hero who, in view of his increasing family, 
 had decided to resign from the service that he 
 loved. 
 
 Stockton, during his service on the Pacific 
 Coast, had appreciated the promise of the new 
 land and had been successful, when he left the 
 Navy and was at liberty to do so, in interesting the 
 great capitalists of the day in the ventures he 
 entered upon after retiring from government ser- 
 vice. Stockton had appreciated the opportunities, 
 but his, in business, unpractised hand had failed to 
 seize them, A huge outlay for the day was made 
 and for long months there came no return. Mines 
 had been purchased which on closer and more 
 expert examination did not prove to be particularly 
 rich in mineral or for some reason or other could 
 not be profitably worked. Their purchasing agent 
 in the East was continually shipping arotmd the 
 Horn, at great expense, machines which no one 
 in California had any knowledge of how to use. 
 Stockton was embarrassed by the outlay into 
 
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Beale Brings First Gold East 6i 
 
 which his enthusiasm had led him and Aspinwall 
 had come to a point where he evidently doubted 
 the wisdom of throwing good money after bad, and 
 shortly after Beale reached California on his mis- 
 sion of salvage all money supplies were cut off and 
 willy-nilly the Stockton- Aspinwall enterprise had to 
 become a going concern or go into bankruptcy. 
 
 In this crisis Beale gave a foretaste of the remark- 
 able business ability which distinguished him in 
 after-life. He made a hurried trip to the mines and 
 the haciendas in which his backers had invested 
 with such haste. In the mines there was promise of 
 wealth in the future and in the haciendas there was 
 also the assurance of comfortable returns in later 
 years, but for the present there was no money in 
 sight and he knew nothing more coiild be ex- 
 pected from the East, at least not for many months 
 to come. In his journey Beale had personal 
 experience of the difficulty of obtaining transpor- 
 tation and of its costliness when once obtained, 
 and like a flash the business inspiration came: the 
 mines could wait and even the haciendas vegetate, 
 gold-seekers thronged every trail and people were 
 willing to pay any price to get to the river of 
 Golden Sands. In a few days Beale had converted 
 the great mining and real estate enterprise into 
 a transportation concern, the mining experts were 
 ttuned into the leaders of mule trains, book- 
 keepers were learning how to drive, and Beale was 
 king of all the transportation on the roads that led 
 from Sacramento and Marysville to the American 
 
62 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 Fork and the lands adjoining Sutter's ranch and 
 mill , then the centre of the first mining region. 
 
 Beale knew of course that this stream of passen- 
 gers who were willing to pay any price for accommo- 
 dations would not flow on forever. He worked 
 the makeshift, however, for what it was worth and 
 at the end of nine months, when they were expecting 
 anything but favorable news, he reported to his 
 principals in the East that profits slightly exceeding 
 one hundred thousand dollars were awaiting their 
 orders. Rear- Admiral Harmony, U. S. N., retired, 
 one of Beale's few surviving shipmates to whom the 
 writer of this narrative is indebted for many per- 
 sonal notes and intimate touches which could not 
 otherwise have been obtained, relates that he rode 
 on the Marysville stage with a pass from Ned Beale 
 when a ticket wovild have cost him three months' 
 pay, and that he witnessed a test which he did not 
 expect even Beale's poptdarity to stirvive. The 
 company was charging one dollar a pound to trans- 
 port freight from Sacramento to the diggings and 
 yet Ned Beale remained the most vmiversally 
 beloved man in the country. 
 
 Before he went East the following year, to 
 re-enter the Government service, though nothing 
 was farther from his thoughts than so doing until 
 he reached Washington, Beale had accvmitdated 
 thirteen thousand dollars as his agreed percentage 
 of the profits. With this money he made the 
 intelligent investments which in ten years brought 
 him to affluence and even to great wealth. He had 
 
Beale Brings First Gold East 63 
 
 also earned and received a blessing from his old 
 commander, Stockton, a fine sailor, but who was 
 somewhat out of his element in business or 
 politics. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 First Steps in our Indian Policy 
 
 Lieut. Beale Appointed by President Fillmore General 
 Superintendent of Indian Affairs for California and 
 Nevada — Congress Appropriates Two Hundred and 
 Fifty Thousand Dollars to Carry into Effect Beale's 
 Plans — Indian Tribes to be Colonized and Protected 
 on Reservations — Beale's Journey from the Valley 
 of the Mississippi to CaUfomia along the Central 
 Route as Described by Himself and Mr. Heap 
 — Westport, Kansas, and the "Stirrup Cup" — 
 Fort Atkinson and Pike's Peak and the Huer- 
 fano River — Plains of the Arkansas and Fort 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 ON Nov. nth, 1852, Lieutenant Beale, who 
 was in Washington' at the time, was ap- 
 pointed by President Fillmore General Su- 
 perintendent of Indian Affairs for California and 
 
 ■ There was some slight opposition to the appointment of Beale as 
 Superintendent of Indian Afiairs. Beale was opposed more as a Fre- 
 mont man than for anything he had done himself. While the nomina- 
 tion was before the Senate and still waiting confirmation, Fremont 
 wrote a letter giving the most expUcit denial to the charge that he, 
 Fremont, had profited out of army contracts upon which he had passed 
 in his official capacity. He further stated that Beale had never been 
 connected with him "in any business transactions whatsoever," and 
 the nomination was immediately confirmed. 
 
 64 
 
Our Indian Policies 65 
 
 Nevada/ Lieutenant Beale's views on all ques- 
 tions relating to the welfare of the Indians were 
 weU known ; they had in fact indicated the appoint- 
 ment which was dtdy confirmed by the Senate. 
 
 At the time fears, which subsequent events 
 showed were anything but idle, were freely ex- 
 pressed that the growing friction between emigrants 
 and settlers in California and the Indians woidd 
 soon develop into a savage warfare all along 
 the new and almost wholly unprotected frontier. 
 Fillmore and Benton, the first of otir statesmen to 
 have an eye on the Pacific world, were convinced 
 that Beale well understood the critical situation 
 and was the one man available who could cope 
 with it successfxiUy. In consequence Beale re- 
 ceived the appointment imder which he was clothed 
 with powers which were afterwards described in 
 the Senate, and most correctly described, as being 
 "vice-regal in breadth and scope and finality." 
 
 On the third day of March, 1853, Congress, not 
 to be behindhand, passed a law appropriating 
 $250,000 for the purpose of carrying into effect the 
 
 ' The thought is suggested by the following almost illegible note among 
 the Beale papers that while our Presidents are as hard worked as were 
 their predecessors they most certainly do not begin business at such an 
 early hour as President Fillmore would seem to have done. The note 
 reads: 
 
 "The president will meet you and myself at the White House on 
 
 Tuesday morning at half-past seven o'clock. 
 
 " R. W. — . 
 
 "Lieut. Beale. March 27th, 1853." 
 
 Unfortunately the last letter or rather initial of the friend who 
 summoned Beale to this early morning conference with the President is 
 hopelessly illegible. 
 
66 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 plan which Lieutenant Beale had proposed for 
 the better protection, subsistence, and coloniz- 
 ation of the Indian tribes within his superin- 
 tendency. 
 
 The President having given his approval to this 
 plan, Lieutenant Beale was instructed to proceed 
 forthwith by the shortest route to his superinten- 
 dency, and to select lands most stiitable for Indian 
 reservations. He was also directed, in connection 
 with this plan, to examine the Territories of New 
 Mexico and Utah, where their frontiers and those 
 of California lie contiguous, and to ascertain 
 whether lands existed there to which the California 
 Indians might, with advantage, be removed. 
 
 The route selected by Lieutenant Beale was, in 
 conformity with his instructions, the shortest and 
 most direct to California, and it also enabled him 
 to examine, with the least delay, the locaHties to 
 which it was believed that the Indians of California 
 might be removed with advantage to themselves, 
 shotdd suitable lands for the ptirpose be found. 
 
 While Lieutenant Beale was collecting his party 
 and arranging the transportation problems which 
 the adventiu-ous journey imposed, he was joined 
 in the undertaking by his kinsman, Mr. Gwinn 
 Harris Heap, who was also desirous of proceeding 
 to California. Together they determined to com- 
 bine with the hazards of an overland journey, a 
 preliminary stirvey of a route for the railway which 
 even at this early day was in contemplation, from 
 the Valley of the Mississippi to California, which 
 
Our Indian Policies 67 
 
 quaintly enough Mr. Heap always refers to in his 
 journal as "our Pacific possessions." ' 
 
 We left Washington on the 20th of April, and 
 arrived at St. Louis the 2d, Kanzas the 5th, and 
 Westport the 6th of May. 
 
 Westport is a thriving place, situated four miles 
 from Kanzas; and emigrants from Missoiui to Cali- 
 fornia and Oregon make either this place or Inde- 
 pendence their starting-point. At both towns all 
 necessary supplies can be obtained at reasonable 
 rates, and their merchants and mechanics, being 
 constantly reqtdred to supply the wants of travel- 
 lers on the plains, keep on hand such articles as are 
 best adapted for an overland journey. Kanzas, a 
 newer place, is also thriving, and a fine river landing. 
 Our party was composed of twelve persons, viz : 
 
 E. F. Beale, Superintendent of Indian 
 Affairs in California. 
 
 G. Harris Heap. 
 
 Elisha Riggs, of Washington. 
 
 William Riggs " 
 
 William Rogers " " 
 
 Henry Young, 
 
 J. Wagner. 
 
 J. COSGROVE. 
 
 'In 1854, the account of this journey, taken from the journals of 
 Lieutenant Beale and of Mr. Heap, was published in Philadelphia by 
 Lippincott and in London by Trubner. These journals are of course 
 largely drawn upon in the following chapters for a description of what 
 the pioneers called the Central Route to the Pacific and for many of 
 the interesting adventures which befell them on the way. 
 
68 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 Richard Brown (a Delaware Indian). 
 Gregorio Madrid (a Mexican). 
 Jesus Garcia (a Mexican). 
 George Simms (colored man). 
 
 May 15. All our arrangements being com- 
 pleted, we started from Westport at 3 p.m. A 
 party of ladies and gentlemen accompanied us a 
 few miles into the prairie, and drank a "stirrup 
 cup" of champagne to the success of our journey. 
 The weather was bright and clear, and, after a 
 pleasant ride of twelve miles over prairies enam- 
 elled with flowers, we encamped at thirty minutes 
 after six p.m. on Indian Creek, a tributary of the 
 Kanzas, fringed with a thick growth of cotton- 
 woods and willows. Day's march, 12 miles. 
 
 May 18. We had a severe thunder and rain 
 storm, which lasted all night ; the wind blew strong 
 from the southward, and the lightning was inces- 
 sant and vivid. One of those balls of fire which 
 sometimes descend to the earth during violent 
 thunderstorms, fell and exploded in our midst. 
 The mules, already terrified by the constant peals 
 of thunder, became frantic with fear; and when 
 this vivid light was seen, accompanied with a report 
 like the crack of a rifle, neither picket-pins nor 
 hobbles coiold hold them; they rushed through the 
 camp, overturning everything in their course — 
 their ropes and halters lashing right and left, and 
 increasing their panic. They were stopped by an 
 elbow of the creek, where they were found a few 
 
Our Indian Policies 69 
 
 minutes after, huddled together, and quivering 
 with fear. It was fortunate for us that they did 
 not take to the open prairie, as we woiild have had 
 much diffictdty in recovering them. This was our 
 first experience in a stampede, and to prevent a 
 recurrence of such accidents we after this placed 
 the animals in the centre, and, dividing our party 
 into twos and threes, slept in a circle around them. 
 By using such precautions we were never subjected 
 to this annoyance again, except once, after entering 
 the country of the Utahs. 
 
 A ride of twenty-five miles brought us to a hollow, 
 where, finding good water, we encamped. Resting 
 but a short time we continued our journey and in 
 ten miles, over a rich rolling country, arrived at 
 Council Grove, where our train was waiting for us. 
 
 Council Grove is situated in a rich grassy bottom, 
 well watered and heavily timbered. It is a settle- 
 ment of about twenty frame and log houses, and 
 scattered up and down the stream are several 
 Indian villages. At a short distance from the 
 road is a large and substantially built Methodist 
 mission-house constructed of limestone, which is 
 found here in inexhaustible quantities. This stone 
 is excellent as a building material and lies in strata 
 of from six inches to three feet in thickness ; lintels 
 and arches are made of it as it is extracted from the 
 quarries, which extend for fifteen miles up the 
 stream. Day's march, 32 miles; total distance, 
 122 miles. 
 
 Since our departure from Westport we had seen 
 
70 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 many graves on each side of the road, and some of 
 the camping-places had the appearance of village 
 graveyards. The cholera raged on the plains a 
 few years ago, occasioning a fearful mortality, 
 and these mounds remain to attest its ravages. 
 Through carelessness or haste, they were often too 
 shallow to protect their contents from the wolves, 
 and it frequently happened that he who in the 
 morning was hastening forward in health and 
 spirits towards the golden bourne, was ere night 
 a mangled corpse, his bones scattered by the savage 
 hunger of the wolf, over the plain. 
 
 May 20. Resumed our march at noon, and 
 travelled over a flat uninteresting country with 
 little water. This day saw antelope for the first 
 time. Met Major Rucker, and Lieutenants Heath 
 and Robinson on their way from New Mexico to 
 Fort Leavenworth. They informed us that at a 
 short distance in advance of us were large bands of 
 buffalo. Encamped, as the sun was setting, on a 
 brook called Tiurkey Creek, where we found an 
 abundant supply of water, but no wood. We 
 here overtook Mr. Antoine Lerotix, on his way to 
 Taos, and considered ourselves fortunate in se- 
 curing the services of so experienced a guide. He 
 did not join us at once, as he was desirous of seeing 
 his train safely over one or two bad places in 
 advance of us, but promised to overtake us in a 
 day or two. Day's march, 35 miles; distance from 
 Westport, 189 miles. 
 
 May 2 1 . We were all on the lookout for buffa- 
 
Our Indian Policies 71 
 
 loes. It was five days since we had left Westport, 
 and as yet our eyes had not been gladdened by the 
 sight of even one. Hoping to fall in with them 
 more readily by diverging from the beaten track, 
 I left the party soon after sunrise, and ttirning to 
 the left, went a few miles in the direction of the 
 Arkansas. After a ride of two hours, I observed 
 afar off many dark objects which resembled trees 
 skirting the horizon, but, after a closer scrutiny, 
 their change of position convinced me that they 
 were buffaloes. I slowly approached them, and, 
 in order to obtain a nearer view without giving 
 them the alarm, dismounted, and, urging my 
 horse forward, concealed myself behind him. I 
 thus got within a hundred yards of the herd. 
 Bands of antelope and prairie wolves were in- 
 termingled with the buffaloes, who had come 
 down to a rivtilet to drink. Of the latter 
 some were fighting, others wallowing, drinking, 
 or browsing. I was just congratulating myself 
 upon my ruse in getting so near to them, this being 
 my first sight of these noble animals, when my 
 horse, suddenly raising his head, uttered such a 
 sonorous neigh as put the whole troop to flight. 
 Away they galloped, one band after another taking 
 the alarm, until the whole herd, numbering several 
 thousand, was in motion, and finally disappearing 
 in clouds of dust. Despairing of getting such 
 another opporttmity for a shot, I reluctantly 
 turned my horse's head in the direction where I 
 supposed the rest of the party to be. A few hours' 
 
72 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 ride brought me back to them. They too had 
 fallen in with buffaloes, and, in their eagerness to 
 secure the first prize, each man had taken two or 
 three shots at a straggling old bull, an exile from 
 the herd; he fell, pierced with twenty-three balls. 
 He was, however, too old and tough to be eaten, 
 and was left for his friends, the coyotes. 
 
 Buffaloes now became such an ordinary occur- 
 rence that the novelty soon wore off, and we had 
 more humps, tongues, and marrow-bones than 
 the greatest gourmand could have desired. 
 
 May 22. We had already overtaken and passed 
 several large wagon and cattle trains from Texas 
 and Arkansas, mostly bound to California. With 
 them were many women and children; and it 
 was pleasant to stroll into their camps in the 
 evening and witness the perfect air of comfort and 
 being-at-home that they presented. Their wagons 
 drawn up in a circle, gave them at least an appear- 
 ance of security; and within the inclosure the men 
 either reclined arotmd the campfires, or were busy 
 in repairing their harness or cleaning their arms. 
 The females milked the cows and prepared the 
 supper; and we often enjoyed the hot cakes and 
 fresh milk of which they invited us to partake. 
 Tender infants in their cradles were seen under the 
 shelter of the wagons, thus early iniired to hard 
 travel. Carpets and rocking chairs were drawn 
 out, and what would perhaps shock some of our 
 fine ladies, fresh-looking girls, whose rosy lips were 
 certainly never intended to be defiled by the 
 
Our Indian Policies 73 
 
 vile weed, sat around the fire, smoking the old- 
 fashioned corn-cob pipe. 
 
 May 23. We were again on the road at sunrise, 
 and travelled thirty-one miles to the Pawnee Fork 
 of the Arkansas. The sun was excessively hot, but 
 towards noon its heat was tempered by a pleasant 
 breeze from the northwest; crossed many gullies, 
 which carry water only after heavy rains. We 
 passed, on the right of the road, a remarkable butte, 
 or spur of the hills, projecting into the plain, and 
 presenting a broad surface of smooth rock, thickly 
 inscribed with names. This landmark is known 
 as "The Pawnee Rock." 
 
 May 25. We were glad to saddle up at sunrise, 
 and in five miles reached Fort Atkinson, where 
 Major Johnson, the officer in command, gave us a 
 cordial reception. Several large bands of Indians, 
 of the Cheyenne and Arapahoe tribes, were con- 
 gregated around the fort, awaiting the arrival of 
 Major Fitzpatrick, Indian Agent, whom they daily 
 expected. As it continued to rain without inter- 
 mission all day, we concluded to pass the night in 
 the fort, where Major Johnson had provided com- 
 fortable accommodations for us. Orders had just 
 been received to remove this post to Pawnee Fork 
 of the Arkansas, one hundred miles nearer the 
 settlements. It will there be of very little service, 
 for it is already too near to the frontiers. 
 
 The timber at Pawnee Fork being mostly cotton- 
 woods, it is not suitable for building purposes; 
 though at Fort Atkinson there is none whatever 
 
74 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 nearer than fifteen miles; and it was with some 
 difficulty that we obtained a few small logs for our 
 men, who were encamped at a short distance, under 
 tents borrowed from the fort. All the houses are 
 in a dilapidated condition ; a few are btiilt of adobe 
 (sun-dried bricks) but the greater part are con- 
 structed of sods. Emigrants frequently stop here 
 to settle their difficvilties with Indians, and with 
 each other, Major Johnson administering justice 
 in a prompt and impartial manner. A few days 
 before our arrival, a quarrel having occurred be- 
 tween a party of emigrants and some Cheyenne 
 Indians, which ended in blows. Major Johnson, 
 upon investigation, finding that an American was 
 the aggressor, immediately ordered him back to the 
 States. Mr. Leroux being still too ill to continue 
 the journey, remained here tmder the care of the 
 surgeon of the post; and Mr. W. Riggs, desiring 
 to return to the States, took leave of us at this 
 point. Day's travel, 5 miles; whole distance, 361 
 miles. 
 
 May 26. Although it still continued to rain, we 
 left Fort Atkinson at noon, and travelled up the 
 left bank of the Arkansas. The trail from Inde- 
 pendence to Santa Fe crosses the Arkansas ten 
 miles above Fort Atkinson; and there is another 
 crossing five miles higher up. 
 
 May 29. At sunrise, recrossed the river to its 
 left bank, grass still coarse and rank. The water 
 of the Arkansas is very similar in color and taste to 
 that of the Missouri. As we coasted up the left 
 
Our Indian Policies 75 
 
 bank the grass became coarser and scantier. 
 Passed a singiilar slaty mound on the right of the 
 road, resembling a pyramid in ruins. Encamped 
 at noon near a slough of the river. There was no 
 wood near enough for use; but the general resource 
 in such cases on the plains was scattered in abun- 
 dance arotmd us. The stm was very hot, but at 
 times tempered by a light breeze from the north- 
 westward. A wagon and cattle train of emigrants 
 encamped near us. In the afternoon, we ascended 
 the river eight miles, and encamped near the stream 
 in coarse, wiry grass, as in fact it has been for 
 several days past. The country a few miles from 
 the river has scanty grass and dry arid soil. In 
 the evening, we had a large company of emigrants 
 on each side of us. Day's travel, 36 miles ; whole 
 distance, 483 miles. 
 
 Jtine 2. Left the Timpas at early dawn, and 
 discerned at a distance of fifteen miles several 
 high buttes, bearing due west, in a line with the 
 southern end of the Sierra Mojada; towards these 
 we now directed our course. The country was 
 gradually rolling towards the buttes, and covered 
 with abimdant bunch grass; the prickly pear, or 
 cactus, which grows in clusters close to the ground, 
 was at times very distressing to our mules; their 
 constant efforts to avoid treading on this annoying 
 plant gave them an uneasy, jerking gait, very har- 
 assing to their riders during a long day's march. .' 
 
 Upon reaching the summit of the buttes, a mag- 
 nificent and extensive panorama was opened to 
 
76 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 oiir view. The horizon was bounded on the north 
 by Pike's Peak, northwest and west by the Sierra 
 Mojada, Sangre de Cristo Moiintains, and Spanish 
 Peaks; to the south and east extended the prairie, 
 lost in the hazy distance. On the gently undvilat- 
 ing plains, reaching to the foot of the mountains, 
 could be traced the courses of the Arkansas and 
 Sage Creek by their Knes of timber. The Apispah, 
 an affluent of the Arkansas, issuing from the Sierra 
 Mojada, was concealed from sight by a range of 
 intervening buttes, while the object of our search, 
 the Huerfano, flowed at our feet, distant about 
 three miles, its course easy to be distinguished 
 from the point where it issued from the mountains 
 to its junction with the Arkansas, except at short 
 intervals, where it passed through canyons in the 
 plain. Pike's Peak, whose head was capped with 
 eternal snows, was a prominent object in the land- 
 scape, soaring high above all neighboring stimmits. 
 Descending the buttes to the Huerfano, we 
 encamped on it about five miles above its mouth. 
 A bold and rapid stream, its waters were turbid, 
 but sweet and cool; the river-bottom was broad, 
 and thickly wooded with wfllows and cottonwoods 
 interlaced with the wild rose and grape-vine, and 
 carpeted with soft grass — a sylvan paradise. This 
 stream was about twenty-five yards in breadth, 
 and five feet deep close to the bank. Bands of 
 antelope and deer dotted the plain, one of which 
 served us for supper, brought down by the unerring 
 rifle of Dick, the Delaware. 
 
ci 
 
 Si! 
 
 
 d 
 
 a. 
 
 ai 
 
 bB 
 — O 
 
 *i a 
 
 CO 
 
 is 
 
 v 
 n 
 
 (t> 
 
 o 
 
 M-l 
 
 o 
 
 <U 
 
 H 
 
Our Indian Policies 77 
 
 June 4. I rode ahead of camp, to Huerfano 
 Butte, a remarkable mound, bearing north from 
 the southernmost Spanish Peak, and about fifty- 
 yards from the right bank of the river; its appear- 
 ance was that of a huge artificial mound of stones, 
 covered half-way up from its base with a dense 
 growth of bushes. It is probably of volcanic origin 
 and there are many indications in this region of the 
 action of internal fires. 
 
 Our ride to-day was full of interest, for we weie 
 now approaching the Sangre de Cristo Pass, in the 
 Sangre de Cristo Mountains. We had been travel- 
 ling for eighteen days, over an uninterrupted plain, 
 until its monotony had become extremely weari- 
 some. The mountain scenery, which we entered 
 soon after raising camp this morning, was of the 
 most picturesque description. We crossed the 
 Huerfano seven miles above the butte; at this 
 point it issues from a canyon one hundred and fifty 
 yards in length; above it the valley, watered by 
 the Huerfano, forms a beautiful plain of small 
 extent, surrounded by lofty and well-wooded 
 mountains ; numerous rills trickle down their sides, 
 irrigate the plain, and join their waters to those 
 of the Huerfano, which are here clear and cold. We 
 did not enter this valley, but left the Huerfano after 
 crossing it, and followed up the bed of one of its 
 tributaries, the Cuchada, a small brook rising near 
 the summit of the Sangre de Cristo Pass. 
 
 This small valley of the Huerfano contains about 
 six hundred acres, and forms a most ravishing pic- 
 
78 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 ture; it would be a good place for recruiting cattle 
 after their weary march across the plains, as they 
 would be perfectly secure and sheltered, and the 
 pasturage is excellent. This, however, is the case 
 all through these moiintains, for waving grass, 
 gemmed with flowers of every hue, covers them 
 to their summits, except in the region of snow. 
 The Cuchada led us up a succession of valleys of 
 an easy grade. We were now travelling on an 
 Indian trail; for the wagon trail, which I believe 
 was made by Roubindeau's wagons, deviated to 
 the right, and went through the pass named after 
 him. This pass is so low that we perceived through 
 it a range of sand hills of moderate height, in San 
 Luis Valley; to have gone through it, however, 
 would have occasioned us the loss of a day in 
 reaching Fort Massachusetts, though it is the 
 shortest and most direct route to the Coochatope ; 
 and Mr. Beale's views constrained him to take the 
 most direct route to Port Massachusetts, where 
 he expected to obtain a guide through the unex- 
 plored country between New Mexico and Utah, 
 and also to procure some mules. We were there- 
 fore very reluctantly compelled to forego the 
 examination of Roubindeau's Pass. 
 
 Encamped at noon at the foot of a remarkable 
 rock, watered at its base by the Cuchada; it resem- 
 bled the ruined front of a Gothic church. En- 
 camped for the night six miles farther up the valley, 
 and near the summit of the Sangre de Cristo Pass. 
 An excellent wagon road might be made over these 
 
Our Indian Policies 79 
 
 mountains, by the Sangre de Cristo Pass, and a 
 still better one through Roubindeau's. 
 
 The grass around our encampment was really 
 magnificent; it was in a large mountain meadow, 
 watered by numerous springs and girt in by dark 
 pines. Through an opening in the mountains, to 
 the eastward, we could see the sunny plains of the 
 Arkansas and Huerfano, with its remarkable butte, 
 whilst around us heavy clouds were collecting, 
 giving warning of a storm and wet night. We 
 made ourselves shelters and beds of pine boughs. 
 The Delaware had killed a fat antelope, which 
 furnished us a hearty supper; and we sat around 
 our fire until a late hour, well pleased with having 
 accomplished in such good time and without acci- 
 dent the first stage of our journey, for we expected 
 to reach Fort Massachusetts at an early hour next 
 day. Day's march, 26 miles; total distance, 668 
 miles. 
 
 June 5. After crossing Indian Creek, we halted 
 a few minutes to make our toilets previous to our 
 arrival at Fort Massachusetts, and, although our 
 hunter had just ridden into camp with a haunch 
 of fat venison behind his saddle, and our appetites, 
 which were at all times excellent, had been sharp- 
 ened by a long mountain ride without breakfast, 
 we were too impatient to reach the fort to lose 
 time in camping. We arrived there late in the 
 afternoon, and received a warm and hospitable 
 welcome from Major Blake, the officer in command, 
 and from Lieutenants Jackson and Johnson, and 
 
8o Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 Dr. Magruder. An incipient rainstorm made us feel 
 sensible that we were still in the vicinity of the 
 Sierra Mojada (or Wet Mountains), which well 
 merit the name, for rain fell every day that we 
 were in or near them; on the highest peaks in the 
 form of snow, and lower down in hazy moisture, 
 alternating with drenching showers. 
 
 This humidity gives great fertility to this region, 
 and the country bordering on the sides of these 
 mountains, as weU as the valleys within their 
 recesses, are unequalled in loveliness and richness 
 of vegetation. To the settler, they offer every 
 inducement; and I have no doubt that in a few 
 years this tract of country will vie with Cahfomia 
 or Australia in the munber of immigrants it wiU 
 invite to it. It is by far the most beautiful as well 
 as the most fertile portion of New Mexico, and a 
 remarkably level country unites it with the western 
 frontier of the Atlantic States. As soon as this is 
 thrown open to settlement, a continuous line of 
 farms will be established, by which the agrictdtural 
 and mineral wealth of this region will be developed. 
 Commtmication will then be more rapid, and 
 instead of the mail being, as it is now, thirty days 
 in reaching Fort Massachusetts, it will be carried 
 through in eight or ten. 
 
 Messrs. Beale, Riggs, Rogers, and myself quar- 
 tered at the fort ; the men encamped two miles below 
 on Utah Creek, in a beautiful grove of cottonwoods. 
 A tent was sent to them, and with fresh bread and 
 meat they were soon rendered perfectly comfort- 
 
Our Indian Policies 8i 
 
 able. There was excellent pasturage around their 
 encampment, on which the mules soon forgot the 
 hard marches they had made since leaving West- 
 port. Day's travel, 25 miles; total distance from 
 Westport to Fort Massachusetts, 693 miles. 
 
 Jtme 14. As it was foimd impossible to obtain 
 here the men and animals that we required, and 
 that it wotild be necessary to go to Taos, and per- 
 haps to Santa F6, for this ptupose, Mr. Beale and 
 Major Blake left for the former place on the morn- 
 ing after our arrival at the fort. Taos is about 
 eighty, and Santa F6 about one hundred and forty 
 miles to the southward. 
 
 The cavahy at Fort Massachusetts numbered 
 seventy-five men, of whom forty-five were mounted. 
 Though their horses were excellently groomed, 
 and stabled, and kept in high condition on com, at 
 six dollars a bushel, they would break down on a 
 march in pxirsuit of Indians mounted on horses 
 fed on grass, and accustomed to gallop at half 
 speed up or down the steepest hiUs. Corn-fed 
 animals lose their strength when they are put on 
 grass, and do not soon get accustomed to the 
 change of diet. Of this fact the officers at the 
 fort were perfectly sensible, and regretted that 
 they were not better prepared for any sudden 
 emergency. 
 
 Lieutenant Beale returned from the southern 
 cotmtry late in the afternoon of this day, and 
 brought with him a guide, and a Mexican arriero 
 (muleteer); they were cousins, and both named 
 
82 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 Felipe Archilete. Jesus Garcia was discharged 
 here, and Patrick Dolan, a soldier who had served 
 out his time, hired in his place. Our party now 
 ntimbered fourteen. 
 
 The guide, Felipe Archilete, or "Peg-leg," for 
 it was by this sobriquet that he was commonly 
 known to Americans, deserves partictilar mention. 
 He had spent the greater part of his life trading 
 and trapping in the Indian country, and his accu- 
 rate knowledge of the region between the Arkansas 
 and Sevier River in Utah Territory, as well as his 
 acquaintance with the Utah tongue, promised to 
 render him of great service to us in the absence of 
 Mr. Leroux. A few years ago, in a skirmish with 
 the Utahs, he was wounded in the left ankle with 
 a rifle ball, which completely crippled his foot, and 
 compelled him to use at times a wooden leg, which 
 he carried suspended to his waist. Notwithstand- 
 ing his lameness, he was one of the most active 
 men of the party, and was always the foremost in 
 times of difficulty and danger. 
 
 During Lieutenant Beale's absence, I replen- 
 ished our provisions from the sutler's store, and 
 had a small supply of biscuit baked; a bullock, 
 which I had purchased from the quartermaster, 
 was cut up and jerked by the Delaware, and the 
 mules were reshod, and a supply of spare shoes 
 and nails obtained. They were completely rested, 
 and in even better condition than when we started 
 from Westport; after a general overhavding of the 
 camp equipage by the men, everything was put in 
 
Our Indian Policies 83 
 
 order for resuming our journey, as soon as Lieu- 
 tenant Beale should return. 
 
 June 15. Bidding adieu to our kind friends at 
 the fort, we resumed our journey at noon, and 
 travelled down Utah Creek south-southwest, until it 
 debouched in the valley of San Luis, when we 
 altered our course to west by north. In six miles 
 from Fort Massachusetts, we crossed the trail of 
 Roubindeau's wagons from the upper Arkansas 
 settlements; they entered through Roubindeau's 
 Pass in the Sierra Mojada. After crossing it, our 
 route led us over a level plain covered with arte- 
 misia, cacti, and patches of the nutritious grama. 
 A ride of twenty-five miles brought us at dark to a 
 slough of the Rio del Norte, where we encamped. 
 Day's march, 25 miles; total distance from West- 
 port, 718 miles. 
 
 Jtme 18. On resuming our march in the 
 afternoon, we ascended the small valley, as it 
 shortened the distance a couple of miles, and 
 re-entered that of the Sahwatch. After a ride of 
 eight miles we crossed Sahwatch Creek, its waters 
 reaching to our saddles, and encamped as the sun 
 was setting, at the entrance ot the celebrated 
 Coochatope Pass. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 Across the Plains in '53 
 
 From Coochatope Pass to Grand River — A Taste of Moun- 
 tain Sheep — The Great Divide — Murderous Work of 
 Utah Indians — Arrival at the Uncompagre River — 
 The Swollen Fork of the Colorado — Raft Built and 
 Abandoned — The Slough of Despond — Building a 
 Canoe — Forlorn Plight of Pack Mules — Shipwreck and 
 Inventory of Losses — Expedition Separated by River 
 but United by Common Misfortunes — Gallant Swim- 
 mers — Beale Decides to Send to Taos in New Mexico 
 to P.eplenish his Supplies — Mr. Heap's Journey to the 
 Settlements — A Miserable Night — "Peg-leg" and the 
 Venerable Utah — The Lonely Squaw — Arrival at Taos 
 — Mr. Leroux and Supplies. 
 
 COOCHATOPE PASS is a wonderful gap, or, 
 more properly speaking, a natioral gate, 
 as its name denotes, in the Utah language. 
 On each side, mountains rise in abrupt and rocky 
 precipices, the one on the eastern side being the 
 highest. We climbed up the one on the left, which 
 is but a confused mass of rocks, but in their crevi- 
 ces were many beautiful and sweet-scented flow- 
 ers. The bottom of the pass was level and at right 
 angles with Sahwatch Valley; and we had thus far 
 
 84 
 
Across the Plains in '53 85 
 
 reached twenty-five miles into the mountains, 
 from San Ltiis Valley, without any apparent change 
 of level. Singular as it may appear, it is neverthe- 
 less a fact that, notwithstanding the distance that 
 we had penetrated into these mountains, had it 
 not been for the cotirse of the waters it would have 
 been difficult to have determined whether we were 
 ascending or descending. 
 
 A stream issues from Coochatope Pass and joins 
 the Sah watch; it is called Coochumpah by the 
 Utahs, and Rio de los Cibolos by the Mexicans; 
 both names have the same signification — River of 
 Buffaloes. Coochatope signifies, in the Utah lan- 
 guage, Buffalo Gate, and the Mexicans have the 
 same name for it, El Puerto de los Cibolos. The 
 pass and creek are so called from the large herds of 
 these animals which entered Sahwatch and San 
 Luis Valleys through this pass, from the Three 
 Parks and Upper Arkansas, before they were des- 
 troyed, or the direction of their migration changed, 
 by the constant warfare carried on against them by 
 Indians and New Mexicans. A few stiU remain in 
 the moimtains and are described as very wild and 
 savage. We saw a great number of elk-horns 
 scattered through these valleys; and, from the 
 comparatively fresh traces of buffaloes, it was 
 evident that many had visited the pass qtiite 
 recently. 
 
 Otu" Delaware, in commemoration of our arrival 
 at this point, killed a mountain sheep, and soon a 
 dozen sticks were around the fire, on which were 
 
86 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 roasting pieces of this far-famed meat ; but this was 
 a bad specimen, being both old and tough. Day's 
 travel, 22 miles ; total distance, 808 miles. 
 
 We resumed our journey at 5:30 A.M. and, 
 having travelled two miles, reached the forks of the 
 Coochumpah, taking the west fork up the valley, 
 which here commenced to ascend at an easy grade. 
 The mountainsides were clothed with fine timber, 
 among which were pines, firs, and aspens, and the 
 valley with the most luxuriant grass and clover, 
 this being the first clover we had seen. Around 
 us were scattered numerous elk-horns and buffalo 
 skulls. Eight miles brought us to a remarkable 
 cliff, about one hundred feet in height, which 
 beetled over the trail on our left; nine miles from 
 the "Gate," we saw the last water flowing east to 
 the Atlantic; in five minutes we were on the cul- 
 minating point of the pass, and in ten more crossed 
 the first stream flowing west to the Pacific. It 
 was almost as if we were standing with one foot in 
 waters which found their way to the Gulf of 
 Mexico and the other in those losing themselves in 
 the Gulf of California. 
 
 In our eagerness to explore this pass to its 
 western outlet, Lieutenant Beale and I rode far 
 ahead of the remainder of the party. The scenery 
 was grand and beautiful beyond description. 
 Lofty mountains, their summits covered with 
 eternal snows, lifted their heads to the clouds, 
 whilst in our immediate vicinity were softly 
 rounded hills clothed with grass, flowers, and rich 
 
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Across the Plains in '53 87 
 
 meadows, through which niimerous rills trickled 
 to join their waters to Coochatope Creek. 
 
 At noon we encamped on this stream, where it 
 had already swollen to a considerable size. It is 
 a tributary of Grand River, east fork of the Great 
 Colorado. Near camp was a lofty and steep hill, 
 which I ascended to obtain a better view of the 
 country; one of its principal features was the 
 Coochatope Mountain to the southeast, high, 
 round, and dark with pines. 
 
 June 20. The usual cry of "catch up" set the 
 camp in motion at 5:45 a.m. We travelled 
 twenty-two miles over a rolling country, more 
 hilly than our route of the previous day, and 
 encamped on a rivulet at noon. Our course was 
 south by west. The hillsides and mountains were 
 still covered with a thick growth of pines and 
 aspens; wild flowers adorned the murmuring 
 streams, and beautified the waving grass. Every 
 few hundred yards we came to one of these purhng 
 brooks, the haunt of the timid deer, who bounded 
 away at otir approach. To the westward, the 
 Eagle Range (La Sierra del Aguila) towered high 
 above the surrounding mountains, its stimmits 
 capped with snow, some patches of which we 
 passed near our trail. Lieutenant Beale shot a spe- 
 cies of grouse, larger than a prairie hen, and caught 
 one of her young. At 5:30 p.m., five miles from 
 our noon camp, we crossed the two forks of the 
 Jaroso (Willow) Creek, a strong stream running 
 into Grand River, not laid down on any map. At 
 
88 Edward Fitzgerald Beak 
 
 7 P.M. we rested for the night in a valley watered 
 by a small shallow brook, very marshy, and 
 swarming with mosquitoes. Our gfeneral course 
 this day was southwest. Numbers of deer and 
 antelopes were seen; indeed, these sheltered valleys 
 seem expressly intended as coverts for these gentle 
 animals. 
 
 About a mile before reaching the Jaroso, we 
 crossed a valley where a party of Americans were 
 cruelly murdered by the Utahs, in the spring of 
 this year. Five Americans and a few Mexicans 
 were driving sheep to California by this route, and, 
 from some cause which I did not ascertain, a dis- 
 agreement arose between them and a band of 
 Utahs, who were stUl here in their winter-quarters. 
 The latter forbade their passing through their 
 country, and placing a row of elk-horns across the 
 vaUey, threatened them with instant death if they 
 crossed that line. The whites, deeming this a vain 
 threat, attempted to force their way through, were 
 attacked, and all killed. The elk-horns were still 
 in the position in which the Indians had placed 
 them. Our guide, Felipe, had an account of this 
 affair from Utahs who had been actors in the affray. 
 At this point the trail from the Del Norte through 
 the Camero Pass joins that through the Coocha- 
 tope. Traders from Abiquiu come by it into these 
 mountains to barter for peltries with the Utahs. 
 Day's travel, 34 miles; total, 876 miles. 
 
 June 21. Raised camp at 4:45 a.m. and trav- 
 elled five miles west by south, crossing a steep 
 
Across the Plains in '53 89 
 
 and rocky hill covered with pines, and in five miles 
 entered a small valley watered by the Rio de la 
 Laguna (Lake Creek). 
 
 It became a question with us, how our packs were 
 to be transported over the Laguna without getting 
 them wet or lost, and we at first attempted to make 
 a bridge by felling a tall pine across the stream, 
 but it fell partly into the water, and the ctirrent 
 carried it away, tearing it into pieces. This plan 
 having failed another was adopted, suggested by 
 what Mr. Beale had seen in his travels in Panama, 
 and the mode of crossing the plunging torrents 
 of the Andes, which was entirely successful. 
 
 Mr. Rogers selected a point where the stream 
 was for some distance free from rocks, and suc- 
 ceeded, after a severe struggle, in swimming across; 
 and one of the men mounting a stray Indian pony, 
 which we found quietly grazing in the valley, 
 dashed in after him, and also effected a landing on 
 the opposite side. To them a light line was thrown, 
 and having thus established a communication with 
 the other side, a larger rope was drawn over by 
 them, and tied firmly to a rock near the water's 
 edge. The end of the rope on our side was made 
 fast to the top of a pine tree, a backstay preventing 
 it from bending to the weight of the loads sent 
 over. An iron hook was now passed over the rope, 
 and by means of a sling our packs were suspended 
 to it. The hook slid freely from the top of the 
 tree down to the rock ; and when the load was taken 
 off, we drew the hook and sling back to our side by 
 
90 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 a string made fast to it. The last load sent over 
 was our wearing apparel, and just after parting 
 with it, a violent hailstorm broke over us, making 
 us glad to seek shelter from its fury under rocks and 
 trees. Most of the day was thus consumed and 
 it was not until 5 p.m. that we mounted otir mules 
 and swam them across. The water was icy cold, 
 and some of the animals had a narrow escape from 
 drowning. We, however, saddled up immediately, 
 and proceeding four miles from the creek, 
 encamped for the night in a small hollow. On 
 leaving the Rio de la Lagima, the road ascended a 
 high steep hill. The cotmtry travelled over this 
 day was abundantly grassed, the hills timbered 
 with firs, pines, and aspens, and the streams shaded 
 with willows. Day's travel, 9 miles; total, 885 
 miles. 
 
 June 23. At an early hour in the morning, 
 Lieut. Beale, Felipe Archilete, the Delaware, and 
 I, taking the lead, arrived at the River Uncom- 
 pagre at ii:io a.m. We travelled about twelve 
 miles parallel with this river, and found it every- 
 where a broad rapid stream, entirely too rapid 
 and swift to ford with safety; we therefore con- 
 tinued down its right bank until we reached Grand 
 River. 
 
 We had been prepared to find Grand River 
 swollen, for its tributaries which we had crossed 
 were all at their highest stage of water; but 
 we had not anticipated so mighty a stream. It 
 flowed with a loud and angry cturent, its amber- 
 
The Method of Crossing Laguna Creek 
 
 From a Lithograph 
 
Across the Plains in '53 91 
 
 colored waters roaring sullenly past, laden with 
 the wrecks of trees uprooted by their fury. Sounds 
 like the booming of distant artillery, occasioned by 
 the caving in of its clay and sand banks, con- 
 stantly smote our ears. This fork of the Colorado 
 rises in the Middle Park, and gathers all its head- 
 waters in that enclosure, and is described by Fre- 
 mont, who crossed it there, as being a large river, 
 one hundred and thirty yards wide where it breaks 
 through its mountain rim and flows southwest. 
 Between that point and where we approached 
 it numerous streams contribute their waters to 
 increase its volume, and where we now stood, 
 anxiously gazing at its flood, it had spread to a 
 breadth of over two hundred and fifty yards. 
 
 As it was evident that this river was nowhere ford- 
 able it was determined to commence at once the 
 construction of a raft. A place where dead wood 
 was found in abundance was selected for encamp- 
 ment, and to reach it it was necessary to cross a 
 broad slough, where the mtdes sank to their bellies 
 in the mud; the packs were carried over on our 
 heads. This brought us to an island of loose, 
 rotten soil, covered with greasewood and some 
 coarse grass. We had no shelter from the sun, 
 which was intensely hot, and the mosquitoes and 
 gadflies were perfectly terrific. 
 
 From this point, the Pareamoot Mountains were 
 in full view; they ranged from the north, and 
 terminated in an abrupt declivity on the west- 
 ern side of Grand River, opposite the mouth of 
 
92 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 the Uncompagre. They were described to me as 
 abounding in game, and well timbered; on their 
 plateaus, are fine lakes filled with excellent fish, 
 rich meadows, abundant streams, every nattiral 
 attraction, in fact, to induce settlement. 
 
 Our guide, Felipe, had spent three years in them, 
 trapping and himting, and said that there is no 
 richer country on the continent. Those moun- 
 tains are not laid down on any map. Day's travel, 
 28 miles; total distance, 951 miles. 
 
 June 24. Whilst most of the party were busily 
 occupied in collecting and cutting logs, construct- 
 ing the raft, and transporting the packs, saddles, 
 etc., to the point of embarkation, which had to be 
 done in deep mud, and vmder a scorching sun, 
 others explored the banks of the river, to ascertain 
 whether a place could be found where the caval- 
 cade could be crossed over. The river was exam- 
 ined several miles above our encampment, but its 
 banks on our side were everywhere so marshy as 
 to prevent the approach of the mules to the water's 
 edge. At the encampment the ground was firmer 
 but we feared to drive them into the river at this 
 point, as it was here not only very rapid and broad, 
 but its opposite banks, as far down as we could 
 see, were marshy and covered with a thick jungle, 
 from which our mules, after the exhaustion of 
 swimming across so swift a current, would have 
 been unable to extricate themselves. 
 
 Towards noon the raft was completed, but we 
 were far from feeling confident about crossing at 
 
Across the Plains in '53 93 
 
 this point. Archilete, who was well acquainted, 
 with all the fords and crossing-places, stated that 
 perhaps a better point might be f otind a few miles 
 below the mouth of the Uncompagre, which flowed 
 into Grand River a short distance below us. As it 
 was evident that it would be risking the entire 
 loss of our animals and packs to attempt to cross 
 them here, it was determined to abandon the raft 
 and to move camp farther down without delay. 
 Everything was again transported to the main 
 shore across the slough. The animals had much 
 difficulty in crossing this place, even without loads ; 
 with them, they sank hopelessly into the mud, from 
 which it was very difficxilt to drag them out. 
 
 A more dirty, begrimed, and forlorn-looking 
 party was never seen; we were covered with mud 
 to our waists; wherever the mosquitoes and gad- 
 flies could reach our skin they improved the oppor- 
 ttmity most industriously, and most of the men 
 were covered with blisters and welts. All cheer- 
 fioUy took a share in this labor, but a volley of 
 execrations was poured on this quagmire, which 
 was appropriately christened the "Slough of 
 Despond." 
 
 Having transported everything to dry land and 
 got the animals through the mud, we once more 
 packed them and restimed our journey down the 
 left bank of Grand River until we came to the 
 Uncompagre, a short distance above its mouth. 
 
 The largest animals were here selected to carry 
 the packs across, their feet barely touching the 
 
94 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 bottom, whilst the strength of the current drove 
 the water over their backs. Some of the men, 
 mounted on horses, led the pack mules, and pre- 
 vented their being carried down the stream where 
 the water was deeper. One mule, with a valuable 
 pack, having gone in of her own accord, was carried 
 away, lost her foothold and sank, the weight of the 
 pack being too great to allow her to swim; she was 
 swept down the stream with great rapidity, roUing 
 over helplessly until entirely lost to our sight by 
 a bend of the river. Some of the party swam 
 across, and one, benumbed by the coldness of the 
 water, and exhausted by struggling against the 
 stream, would have been drowned had he not 
 been providentially seized just as his strength had 
 entirely failed him. 
 
 We encamped a few miles below the Uncompagre 
 on the left bank of Grand River, upon a bluff from 
 which we had a fine view of its course, and of the 
 Pareamoot Mountains opposite. Owe tormentors, 
 the mosquitoes, did not fail to welcome us with 
 a loud buzz, whilst the drone of the gadfly, which 
 might with truth be termed the furia-infernalis of 
 the plains, gave notice that he was about, thirsting 
 for our blood. Wherever he inserted his proboscis, 
 the sensation was like that of a redhot darning 
 needle thrust into the flesh, and was followed by a 
 stream of blood. The mules and horses suffered 
 terribly by these flies. 
 
 Our provisions, by losses in the river and damage 
 by water, were fast diminishing, and it was deemed 
 
Across the Plains in '53 95 
 
 prudent at this time to put ourselves on a limited 
 allowance, for it was uncertain how long we might 
 be detained in crossing this river, the Avonkaria, 
 and Upper Colorado. 
 
 The pack lost with the mule drowned in the 
 Uncompagre contained many articles of importance 
 to us, besides all our pinole (parched commeal), 
 and some of the men lost all their clothing. 
 
 It was late when we got to camp, and after a 
 day of toil, exposure, and annoyance, nothing more 
 could be done than to select a tree out of which 
 to make a canoe, and the place to launch it, for all 
 idea of crossing on a raft was abandoned. A few 
 miles below the encampment the river was shut in 
 by a canyon, towards which it drove with great 
 swiftness; a raft carried into it would have been 
 torn to pieces in a moment, without a chance for 
 the men on it to save their lives. Day's travel, 
 5 miles ; total, 956 miles. 
 
 June 25. At early dawn most of the party com- 
 menced working on the canoe ; their only tools were 
 two dviU axes and two hatchets. A large cotton- 
 wood tree was felled for this purpose, and it was 
 hoped to have the canoe finished the next day. 
 The wood, being green and fuU of sap, was hard to 
 cut, and so heavy that chips of it sank when 
 thrown into the water. 
 
 The river still maintained the same level, and the 
 bottom land was overflowed and marshy. The 
 high lands on which we were encamped were 
 composed of a loose, rotten soil, producing no 
 
96 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 vegetation except stunted sage-bushes. The only 
 game we had seen for two days was an occasional 
 sage-rabbit, so called from its flesh having a strong 
 flavor of the wild sage (artemisia), on which it 
 feeds. The sun was very hot and mosquitoes 
 tormenting; we removed our camp to the bluffs 
 in the hope of avoiding them, but with little success. 
 
 At this point, the general course of the river 
 was parallel with the Pareamoot Mountains, from 
 northeast to southwest. The latter appeared to 
 rise in terraces, upon which much timber could 
 be seen. 
 
 The work on the canoe was continued steadily 
 all day, though some of the party entertained 
 grave doubts about crossing in it ; besides, the two 
 rivers beyond Grand River were said to be larger 
 and their current swifter than this. Archilete 
 stated that he had never seen the river so high, 
 and that it was owing to the unusual quantity 
 of snow which had fallen in the mountains during 
 last winter. The wind rose at ten o'clock and 
 blew with violence tmtil stinset, which relieved us 
 in a measure from the torment of mosqtdtoes, but 
 they returned in fresh swarms as soon as it lulled. 
 
 June 26. The canoe was completed at noon, 
 and a fire was kindled in and aroiind to dry it. 
 At 4 P.M. the first load went over with the Dela- 
 ware and Archilete. Everything had to be carried 
 to the water's edge through a thick jtmgle, knee- 
 deep in mud, and under a broiling stm. 
 
 They reached the opposite side safely, although 
 
Across the Plains in '53 97 
 
 the current carried them some distance down the 
 stream. The canoe was found to be very heavy 
 and easy to upset. Archilete, Juan Lente, and 
 myself went with the second load, reached the other 
 side, and, after unloading, dragged the canoe some 
 distance up stream to enable Archilete, who was 
 to take it back, to make a landing at the point 
 where the packs were deposited. Two more of the 
 men crossed with the next load, and Archilete 
 rettimed in the canoe to the left bank for the night. 
 
 We were now four persons on the right bank of 
 the stream with the prospect of getting the rest of 
 the party and packs across at an early hour the 
 next day. We retired to some dry land about half 
 a mile from the river, and carried to it the few 
 things that had been brought over. Just before 
 dark, Dick, the Delaware, made his appearance 
 in camp, dripping wet, and reported that he had 
 just swam across with some of the mules; that 
 after getting all into the water most of them had 
 turned back, while three mules and one horse, 
 having reached the right bank, had sunk into the 
 mud, from which he had been unable to relieve 
 them. We immediately went down to the water's 
 edge with ropes, and with great difficulty got the 
 horse out of his bed of mud, but found it impossible 
 to extricate the mules. We were compelled to 
 leave the poor animals in their forlorn situation 
 until the morning, when we hoped to get them on 
 dry land. 
 
 June 27. Rose at dawn, and our first business 
 
98 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 was to get the mules out of their dangerous pre- 
 dicament, by cutting bushes and spreading them 
 around the mired animals, thus rendering the 
 ground sufficiently firm to support their weight. 
 
 At an early hour, a signal was made to us from 
 the other side that the canoe was about starting 
 to cross. We therefore went down to the river- 
 side to receive its load. In a few minutes she made 
 her appearance, driving rapidly down the stream. 
 She was heavily loaded, barely four inches of her 
 gimwale being above the water's edge. Felipe 
 Archilete, a strong and active fellow, was paddling, 
 whilst George Simms was crouched in the bow of 
 the boat. They were unable to reach the point 
 where previous landings had been effected, and 
 were soon shut from our sight by trees and tangled 
 bushes, growing close to the water. In a few 
 seconds we heard the most alarming cries for help, 
 and upon rushing to the spot from which these 
 cries proceeded, found Archilete and George just 
 emerging from the water, nearly exhausted with 
 their struggles. 
 
 It appears that upon approaching the bank and 
 grasping some small limbs of trees overhanging 
 the water, the latter broke, whereupon one of the 
 men, becoming alarmed, attempted to jump from 
 the boat to the shore, causing it immediately to 
 upset. They were both thrown into the stream, 
 which here ran with a strong current, and it was 
 with difficulty that they reached the shore. I 
 immediately called to one of the men, who was 
 
Across the Plains in '53 99 
 
 standing near the horse, to gallop down the river's 
 edge, and by swimming him into the middle of the 
 stream to endeavor to reach the canoe should it 
 make its appearance. But it was never seen again, 
 nor did we recover any of the articles with which 
 it was loaded. We lost by this accident seven 
 rifles, nearly all our ammunition, pistols, saddles, 
 commeal, coffee, sugar, blankets, etc. 
 
 With broken axes and dull hatchets it would have 
 been difficult if not impossible to have constructed 
 another canoe; and, besides, the men were too 
 much discouraged by this loss to undertake 
 the labor with the spirit necessary to carry it 
 through. 
 
 Our party was equally divided; we were seven 
 on each side. Some of the gentlemen on the left 
 bank were now anxious to return to New Mexico 
 to proceed to California by some other route; but 
 Lieut. Beale would not listen for a moment to such 
 a proposition. He hailed me at eight o'clock, and 
 told me that as soon as he could construct a raft, 
 and get the few remaining things and the animals 
 over, we would push on for the Mormon settle- 
 ments near the Vegas de Santa Clara. Expedition 
 was necessary, for we had provisions for only four 
 or five days. 
 
 The Delaware swam back to Mr. Beale's side 
 to assist him to construct a raft or canoe. He was 
 a splendid swimmer, and went through the water 
 like an otter. They immediately commenced the 
 construction of another canoe, but both axes being 
 
100 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 broken, they soon had to reUnquish the task as 
 hopeless. 
 
 An inventory was made of the provisions, and 
 it was found that we had twenty-five pounds of 
 biscuit, mostly in dust, twenty-five pounds of dried 
 venison, and ten pounds of bacon. Although this 
 was but slender provision for fourteen hungry 
 men, we had no fear of starvation, or even of 
 suffering, as long as we had the mules. I also 
 discovered in an old bag a smaU supply of powder 
 and lead, and some chocolate and tobacco. A 
 canister of meat -biscuit, upon which we had 
 depended in case of an emergency of this sort, had 
 unfortunately gone down with the canoe. 
 
 At an early hour in the morning, we saw flying 
 from a tree on the left bank the preconcerted signal 
 to "come down for a talk." To reach the river, 
 we had to wade for half a mile through a deep 
 marsh, into which we sank to our knees, and the 
 air was thick with mosquitoes. 
 
 Lieut. Beale informed me that it had been 
 decided to return to Taos for supplies, and inquired 
 whether we could get back to the left bank. As 
 two of the men on my side stated that they could 
 not swim, it was decided to make a raft, and, if 
 possible, to save the articles we had with us. 
 Before this was determined upon, however, Lieut. 
 Beale ordered Archilete to swim over to his side, 
 which the latter did at once, taking his timber leg 
 under his arm; and in the afternoon they made 
 another ineffectual attempt to get the animals 
 
Across the Plains in '53 loi 
 
 across. There was but one point where it was 
 possible to drive them into the river, and here they 
 crowded in on each other until those underneath 
 were near drowning. Lieut. Beale and one of the 
 men, who were riding, went into the river to lead 
 the band across. The mules fell on them from 
 the bank, which was at this place about three feet 
 high, and for a moment they were in imminent 
 danger of being crushed. An old horse alone 
 struck boldly over, but none of the other animals 
 followed his example. They all got out on the 
 same side, and could not be again driven into the 
 water. 
 
 Lieut. Beale now desired me to make arrange- 
 ments for returning to his side of the river, and 
 while preparing the animals to move down to our 
 camping-ground, I thought I heard a faint shout, 
 and at the same time perceiving two dark objects 
 moving in the water, some distance up the stream, 
 I suspected that they were men from the opposite 
 shore endeavoring to reach land on our side. 
 The current was carrying them swiftly on towards 
 a high bank overhanging the stream, where, with- 
 out help, to have effected a landing would have 
 been impossible. 
 
 Hastily seizing a rope, and calling to the men to 
 follow, I ran to the top of the cliff. In fact, they 
 were our two best swimmers, Dick and Felipe, 
 who were scarcely able to keep their hold until 
 ropes could be let down to them. We drew them 
 up half perished, and it required a good fire and 
 
102 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 something stimulating to restore circulation to 
 their limbs, benumbed by the icy coldness of the 
 water. Although we had no sugar, some coffee, 
 that the Delaware had brought, tied in a hand- 
 kerchief on his head, cheered the men, and we 
 passed a good night, happy in any rest after such a 
 day of toil. 
 
 June 29. At an early hour in the morning, I 
 commenced throwing into the river ever5rthing that 
 we could possibly dispense with, such as clothing, 
 etc. I allowed each man to select sufficient clothes 
 from the general stock to make up one suit, and 
 it was singular how soon their wants increased. 
 Some of the Mexicans, who heretofore had been 
 satisfied with one shirt and a pair of pants, now 
 arrayed themselves in as many breeches, drawers, 
 shirts, and stockings as they could force themselves 
 into. I cached, under a thick bush, a few 
 Indian goods that we had brought with us as 
 presents. 
 
 The three mules and two horses were passed 
 over to the left shore without much difficulty by 
 pushing them into the water from a bank, whence 
 the eddy immediately carried them into the middle 
 of the stream. They got out safely on the other 
 side, and we at once commenced constructing the 
 raft. 
 
 It was completed at i p.m. and, although it was 
 twelve feet in length by eight in breadth, the 
 weight of seven men, with the saddles, arms, and 
 
Across the Plains in '53 103 
 
 provisions we had saved, caused it to sink eighteen 
 inches under water. It drifted rapidly down the 
 stream, the men whooping and yelling until one 
 struck up the old song of " O Susannah! " when the 
 rest sang the chorus. In this style, we fell upwards 
 of two miles down the river, propelling ourselves 
 with rough paddles. Mr. Beale and others of the 
 party stood on a hill on the opposite side cheering 
 and waving their hats. Having approached within 
 ten yards of the left bank, otir tritons, Dick and 
 Archilete, sprang into the water, with ropes in their 
 teeth, and reaching the shore soon dragged the 
 raft to the bank, upon which the remainder of the 
 crew landed. 
 
 At four P.M. on this eventful afternoon some of 
 the party, Mr. Heap in command, started on the 
 back trail; those whose saddles went down in the 
 canoe were mounted on blankets instead. Mr. 
 Heap was instructed to go to the settlements and 
 return as speedily as possible but so provided as to 
 prevent a second failure in attempting to cross the 
 river. 
 
 Wagner, Young, Dick Brown, the Delaware, and 
 Felipe Archilete, Jr., remained with Lieut. Beale 
 who encamped on the Namaquasitch a few miles 
 back from the greater stream. Archilete, Sr., the 
 nimble cripple, went with Mr. Heap as guide. He 
 was also accompanied by those volunteer members 
 of the expedition who after their narrow escape 
 from drowning preferred taking the longer route 
 
104 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 to California via Fort Loraine and the Great Salt 
 Lake. Mr. Heap's Journal continues : 
 
 Jvdy 2. I passed a miserable night; it was cold 
 and frosty, with a piercing north wind. My 
 saddle-blanket was the only covering I had, and it 
 was worn so thin and threadbare that it imparted 
 scarcely any warmth. We saddled up and started 
 at sunrise, directing our course nearly due east. 
 The trail led over a mountain covered with thick 
 pine forests, interspersed with rich meadows, and 
 watered by niimerous clear rills, until we reached 
 a portion of the range where a hurricane or whirl- 
 wind had, some years ago, uprooted and strewed in 
 every direction a forest of tall pine trees. Through 
 this tangled mass we forced our way with difficulty, 
 but finally got through and commenced a gradual 
 descent on the eastern side of the range. 
 
 Peg-leg and myself were riding at a distance in 
 advance of the rest of the party, when, upon cross- 
 ing the summit of a hill, we suddenly fotmd our- 
 selves in the midst of a large flock of tame goats, 
 behind which was a band of fifty motmted Utahs 
 to whom they belonged. The Indians immediately 
 gathered around us and overwhelmed us with 
 questions ; but were civil, and seemed light-hearted 
 and merry. Most of the men had good rifles, 
 and their horses were all in fine condition. My 
 first thought upon meeting these Indians was the 
 possibility of replenishing our exhausted larder with 
 dried meat, and Peg-leg no sooner informed them 
 
Across the Plains in '53 105 
 
 that we had been on short commons for several 
 days than they dismounted, impacked their ani- 
 mals, and from their store presented me with a 
 plentiful supply of dried buffalo, deer, and ante- 
 lope flesh. 
 
 Men, women, and children crowded around 
 my mule, each handing me a parcel of meat; 
 and, although it was apparent that they expected 
 nothing in return, I gave them as good a supply of 
 tobacco, powder, lead, and percussion caps as I 
 could spare; but nothing delighted them so much as 
 a box of lucifer matches; for, having shown them 
 that by a simple friction they might produce a 
 blaze, their joy was great, and each member of the 
 band was eager to perform the feat of kindling a 
 fire. 
 
 A garrulous old Indian, who wore, by way of 
 distinction, a "Genin" hat, sorely battered and 
 bruised, and which had become the property of 
 this venerable Utah by one of those reverses of 
 fortune to which hats are so liable, addressed us a 
 harangue accompanied by many gestures. Peg-leg 
 translated his meaning to me, which was to the 
 effect that they had been imsuccessful in the 
 buffalo hunt, on which they depended in a great 
 measure for their subsistence; that they had been 
 many months in the buffalo country, but the 
 treacherous Cheyennes and Arapahoes had driven 
 them off, and had killed some of their young men. 
 He added, that of dried antelope and deer meat 
 they had a plenty, and that we were welcome to as 
 
io6 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 much as we needed. This iinexpected generosity 
 made me regret that it was out of my power to 
 make them a suitable return, and I explained to 
 them that our losses in Grand River had deprived 
 us of the means of making them presents. He 
 replied that what I had already given was quite 
 sufficient. 
 
 Our party had by this time overtaken us, but 
 fearing that the "amicable relations so happily 
 existing" might be disturbed, I desired them not 
 to stop, retaining only a pack animal to load with 
 the meat which I had obtained. 
 
 With these Indians were many squaws and 
 children. The former rode astride of the packs, 
 and the boys, some of whom were not more than 
 five years of age, were mounted on spirited horses, 
 which they managed with much dexterity and 
 grace, and were armed with small bows and arrows, 
 two of which they held with the bow in their left 
 hand ready for service. The chiefs invited us to 
 encamp with them, that they might treat us with 
 goat's milk and have a "talk"; but I considered it 
 most prudent to separate from them before any 
 cause of disagreement should arise to mar the good 
 understanding that existed between us; besides, 
 it was too early in the day for us to stop. I told 
 them that, in the direction in which they were 
 going, they woiold meet some of our friends whom 
 we had left for a short time, and that on our return 
 we would bring them tobacco and other presents. 
 They promised to treat our friends well, and, after 
 
Across the Plains in '53 107 
 
 a general shaking of hands, we parted mutually- 
 pleased with each other. 
 
 We encamped at noon on a fork of Sahwatch 
 Creek, running to the eastward through a broad 
 grassy valley, and after a rest of two hours resumed 
 our journey. We had not proceeded far when we 
 noticed at a short distance to our right a singular- 
 looking object, which appeared to be rolling rather 
 than walking over the ground. On approaching 
 it, it proved to be a decrepit Utah squaw, bending 
 under the weight of two packs of buffalo robes, one 
 of which she bore on her shoulders, whilst the other 
 was suspended in front. She was much terrified 
 when we gaUoped towards her, and although she 
 made a feeble attempt to fly, her shaking limbs bent 
 tmder her, and she sank to the ground paralyzed 
 with fear. We, however, reassured her, and got her 
 to explain to us the cause of her being in this lonely 
 region by herself. Archilete being interpreter, 
 she told us that, three moons previous, a party of 
 her people going to hunt buffaloes had left her and 
 another old woman in the mountains, as neither 
 had horses, and they were tmable to keep up with 
 the band on foot. She said that they had sub- 
 sisted on meat left them by their tribe, and ended 
 by telling us that she had just buried her com- 
 panion, who had died the previous night, and that 
 she was now on her way to the summer rendezvous 
 of her people, carrying her own and her com- 
 panion's pack. We informed her that she would 
 probably overtake a band of Utahs that night or 
 
io8 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 the next day, and placed her on their trail. She 
 seemed glad to receive this news, and still more so 
 when we turned our mtdes' heads to leave her, 
 though we had shown her all possible kindness — 
 so hard is it in them to believe in the sincerity of 
 white people. 
 
 The trail led over low hills and down a succession 
 of beautiftd slopes, running mostly in a southerly 
 direction, until we entered a narrow winding 
 valley two and a half miles in length by one 
 hundred to two hundred yards in breadth. It 
 was shut in on each side by perpendicular walls 
 of rock rising from fifty to seventy-five feet 
 above the level of the valley, whose surface was 
 flat and carpeted with tender grass. A stream 
 of clear water meandered through its centre, 
 and the grade was so slight that the stream, 
 overflowing its banks in many places, moistened 
 the whole surface. 
 
 As we descended this beautiful and singvdar 
 valley, we occasionally passed others of a similar 
 character opening into it. It ends in Sahwatch 
 Valley, which we entered about an hour before 
 sunset. 
 
 We had here the choice of two routes: the first 
 was down Sahwatch Valley to its outlet near the 
 head of the valley of San Luis, which would have 
 taken us over the same grotmd that we had tra- 
 versed in coming in from Fort Massachusetts; the 
 second crossed Sahwatch Valley here, passed over 
 a shorter and as good a route, and entered San Luis 
 
Across the Plains in '53 109 
 
 Valley near where the Garita leaves the mountains. 
 We selected the last route. 
 
 Coochatope Pass enters Sahwatch Valley a mile 
 below Camero Pass. Crossing Sahwatch Valley, 
 here half a mile broad, we travelled up a narrow 
 valley for a short distance into the hills and 
 encamped at dark. Day's travel, 47 miles; dis- 
 tance from Grand River, 138 miles. 
 
 July 3. During the early part of the night the 
 mosqviitoes swarmed around us, but it soon became 
 cold, which drove them away. We were delayed 
 some time after sunrise in consequence of most 
 of the mules having gone astray; they were not 
 recovered imtil near seven o'clock, when we re- 
 svmied our journey. Our cotirse was generally east, 
 down a succession of valleys, whose svirface was 
 level and moist, with hills rising abruptly on either 
 side. We saw a great abundance of game, but 
 killed nothing but a grouse. These mountains 
 teem with antelope, deer, and moxmtain sheep. 
 
 July 6. To secure an early start, and to prevent 
 our animals from trespassing upon the cultivated 
 fields, none of which are inclosed, a man was 
 engaged to watch them whilst at pasture during 
 the night; but my horse having been allowed to 
 escape, it was not until after sunrise that I could 
 procure another. A ride of twenty-two miles 
 brought us to the Colorado (Red River), our road 
 taking us across three small streams (Las Ladillas) 
 
no Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 on the borders of which were extensive sheep 
 ranchos. The Colorado is formed by the junction 
 of two abundant streams, which issue from deep 
 canyons in lofty and abruptly rising mountains. 
 The valley of the Colorado is about three miles in 
 length by one in breadth, and the Colorado River, 
 having passed it, flows through a deep channel in 
 the plain, and unites its waters to those of the Del 
 Norte. The valley presents a beautiful view, and 
 being abundantly irrigated by means of aceguias 
 (canals) every acre of it is under cultivation. The 
 village of the Colorado consists of one hundred 
 adobe houses built to form a quadrangle, with 
 their doors and windows presenting upon the 
 square inside. 
 
 Mr. Charles Otterby, a Missourian, long domi- 
 ciled in New Mexico, invited me to his house and 
 procured me a fresh horse, as the one I had ridden 
 from the Costilla (a distance of twenty-two miles) 
 in two hours and a half had broken down. I left 
 Colorado at noon and, travelling twelve miles 
 across a mountain, over a rough and stony road, 
 I reached the Rio Hondo (Deep Creek) which is so 
 called from its channel being sunk in many places 
 far below the level of the plain ; for the stream itself 
 is neither deep nor broad. I here engaged a young 
 American, Thomas Otterby, to go with us to Cali- 
 fornia, he having a reputation almost equal to Kit 
 Carson's for bravery, dexterity with his rifle, and 
 skill in mountain life. I also purchased a mule to 
 replace my unshod and sore-footed horse, and rode 
 
Across the Plains in '53 in 
 
 to Taos, nine miles beyond, across a level plain, 
 arriving there at 3 p.m. 
 
 Mr, St. Vrain, for whom I had a letter, being 
 absent from Taos, I was hospitably received by 
 his lady. I immediately called on Mr. Leroux, 
 who had a few days previously returned from Fort 
 Atkinson in improved health. Making known to 
 him the accident which had befallen us at Grand 
 River, and stating our wants, I obtained, with his 
 assistance, the supplies we needed. Raw hides 
 were procured and sewed together, to be used as 
 boats for crossing rivers. Com was parched to 
 make pinole (parched and pounded commeal, 
 sweetened), coffee roasted, etc. 
 
 San Fernando de Taos is situated in the centre of 
 a broad plain, watered by two or three small brooks 
 whose waters are entirely absorbed in the irriga- 
 tion of the lands around the town. It presents, 
 both within and without, a poor appearance; its 
 low, earth-colored houses, scattered irregtilarly 
 about, look dingy and squalid, though within many 
 of them are comfortable; and they are all well 
 adapted to the climate. The town is surrounded 
 with uninclosed fields, very fertile when irrigated, 
 and the Taos wheat, originally obtained from the 
 wild wheat growing spontaneously on the Santa 
 Clara and the Rio de la Virgen, has obtained a wide 
 reputation. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 Beale's Separate Journal 
 
 Hunting Prowess of the Delaware — Indians Appear in Camp 
 — Banquet of Venison and Boiled Com — The Beautiful 
 Valley of the Savoya — The Indians Race their Horses 
 — ^A Taste of Rough Riding — The Return of Mr. Heap. 
 
 July I. Remained in camp to await the return 
 of Heap, with provisions, etc. Remained with me 
 the Delaware, Dick Brown, Felipe Archilete, Jr., 
 Harry Young, and Wagner. Nothing to eat in 
 camp ; sent the Delaware out to hunt, and we com- 
 menced a house. About nine, Dick returned with 
 a buck, finished the house; sick with dysentery. 
 We find the venison good, it being the first meat or 
 food of any kind, except commeal and water, we 
 have had for a week. 
 
 July 2. Weather pleasant; mosquitoes abund- 
 ant, but not troublesome; washed the two dirty 
 shirts which composed my wardrobe. No signs of 
 Indians, and begin to hope we shall not be troubled 
 with them. Nevertheless keep the fright medicine 
 at hand, and the guns ready. Grass abundant 
 and good, animals thriving; the Delaware killed 
 an elk, dried some meat ; still sick. 
 
Beale's Separate Journal 113 
 
 July 3, Employed the day in drying the meat 
 killed yesterday. Weather very hot; but for the 
 sunshine one would suppose it to be snowing, the 
 air being filled with light fleeces like snow-flakes 
 from the Cottonwood. The creek is falling, but 
 slowly. Time drags very heavily ; three days gone, 
 however, and nine remain ; twelve days being the 
 time allotted to go and return from Taos. 
 
 July 4. Celebrated the day by eating our last 
 two cups of pinole; felt highly excited by it. 
 Henceforth we go it on tobacco and dried meat. 
 The Delaware killed a doe, tolerably fat; dried the 
 meat; still sick; bathed in creek; found the water 
 excessively cold, but felt much refreshed and better 
 after the bath, besides having killed an hour by it — 
 a very important item. 
 
 July 5. To-day we killed only a rabbit. The 
 day has been somewhat cool, though the evening 
 is dry and sultry, and the mosquitoes much more 
 troublesome than usual. Took a bath, which 
 seems to give relief from my malady, which, thank 
 God, is no worse. We hope that our men have 
 reached Taos this evening. 
 
 July 6. To-day has been cloudy, with rain in 
 the mountains all around us, though but a few 
 scattering drops have reached the valley. We 
 all complain this evening of great weakness 
 and entire lack of energy, with dizziness in the 
 head, and do not know from what cause it 
 proceeds. The bath in the creek has not had 
 its usual invigorating effect; mosquitoes very 
 
114 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 troublesome; made a little soup in a tin box and 
 found it tolerable. 
 
 July 7. For the last two days we have killed 
 nothing. This evening we had quite a shower of 
 rain ; started to take a long walk, but broke down 
 very soon, being too weak to go far. I find my 
 sickness worse to-day, but it is the least of my 
 anxieties. Would to God I had none other! Took 
 the usual evening bath in the creek, which has 
 slightly fallen during the day, and the water not 
 quite so cold, which encourages me to hope that 
 the supply of snow in the mountains is nearly 
 exhausted. 
 
 July 8. This morning our anxieties from Indians 
 have commenced. At ten o'clock three of them 
 rode into camp, and shortly afterwards some dozen 
 more. 
 
 July 9. Yesterday, after the Indians arrived, 
 I gave them what little tobacco we could spare and 
 some of otu" small stock of dried elk meat. After 
 eating and smoking for a while they insisted on my 
 accompanying them to their camp, which was 
 some ten miles off. I explained to them as weU as 
 I could who I was. 
 
 Knowing that it is best always to act boldly 
 with Indians, as if you felt no fear whatever, I 
 armed myself and started with them. Our road 
 for a mile or two led over a barren plain, thickly 
 covered with greasewood, but we soon struck the 
 base of the mountain, where the firm rich motmtain 
 grass swept otir saddle-girths as we cantered over 
 
Beale's Separate Journal 115 
 
 it. We crossed a considerable mountain covered 
 with timber and grass, and near the summit of 
 which was quite a cluster of small, but very clear 
 and apparently deep lakes. They were not more 
 than an acre or two in size, and some not even that, 
 but svirrounded by luxvuiant grass, and perched 
 away up on the motmtain, with fine timber quite 
 near them. It was the most beautiful scenery in 
 the world; it formed quite a hunter's paradise, for 
 deer and eUc bounded off from us as we approached 
 and then stood within rifle-shot, looking back in 
 astonishment. 
 
 A few hours' ride brought us to the Indian camp; 
 and I wish I could here describe the beauty of 
 the charming valley in which they lived. It was 
 small, probably not more than five miles wide by 
 fifteen long, but stirrotuided on all sides by the 
 boldest mountains, covered to their summits with 
 alternate patches of timber and grass, giving it the 
 appearance of having been regvdarly laid off in 
 small farms. Through the centre a fine bold 
 stream, probably three feet deep by forty wide, 
 watered the meadow land, and gave the last touch 
 which the valley required to make it the most beau- 
 tiful I had ever seen. Hundreds of horses and 
 goats were feeding on the meadows and hillsides, 
 and the Indian lodges, with the women and children 
 standing in front of them to look at the approaching 
 stranger, strongly reminded me of the old patri- 
 archal times, when flocks and herds made the 
 wealth and happiness of the people, and a tent was 
 
ii6 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 as good as a palace. I was conducted to the lodge 
 of the chief, an old and infirm man, who welcomed 
 me kindly, and told me his young men had told 
 him I had given of my small store to them, and to 
 "sit in peace. " 
 
 I brought out my pipe, filled it, and we smoked 
 together. In about fifteen minutes a squaw 
 brought in two large wooden platters, containing 
 some very fat deer meat and some boiled corn, to 
 which I did ample justice. After this followed a 
 dish which one must have been two weeks without 
 bread to have appreciated as I did. Never at the 
 tables of the wealthiest in Washington did I find 
 a dish which appeared to me so perfectly without 
 a parallel. It was some cornmeal boiled in goat's 
 milk, with a little elk fat. I think I certainly ate 
 near half a peck of this delicious atole, and then 
 stopped, not because I had enough, but because I 
 had scraped the dish dry with my fingers, and licked 
 them as long as the smallest particle remained, 
 which is "manners" among Indians, and also 
 among Arabs. Eat all they give you, or get some- 
 body to do it for you, is to honor the hospitality 
 you receive. To leave any is a slight. I needed 
 not the rule to make me eat all. 
 
 After this we smoked again, and when about to 
 start I found a large bag of dried meat and a peck 
 of corn put up for me to take to my people. 
 
 Bidding a friendly good-bye to my hosts, and 
 dividing among them about a pound of tobacco 
 and two handkerchiefs, and giving the old chief 
 
Beale's Separate Journal 117 
 
 the battered remains of a small leaden picayune 
 looking-glass, I mounted my mule to rettim. The 
 Sim was just setting when I started, and before 
 reaching the summit of the mountain it was quite 
 dark. As there was no road, and the creek very 
 dark in the bottoms, I had a most toilsome time of 
 it. At one creek, which I reached after very great 
 difficulty rin; getting through the thick and almost 
 impenetrable imdergrowth, it was so dark that I 
 could see nothing; but, trusting to luck, I jumped 
 my miole off the bank and brought up in water 
 nearly covering my saddle. Getting in was bad 
 enough,; but cpming out w^,S: \Yorse ; f^r, finding the 
 banks high.on,the other side, I was obliged to follow 
 down the. stream for half a mile or rnore, not know- 
 ing when I shotild be swimming, until"! succeeded 
 with great difficulty in getting out. through the 
 tangled brushwood on the opposite side. I arrived 
 at camp late at night, and fotmd my men very 
 anxiously awaiting my return, having almost con- 
 cluded to give me up, and to think I had lost my 
 "hair." A little rain. 
 
 July II. To-day I raised camp and went over 
 to the valley of the Savoya, near my Indian neigh- 
 bors. The more I see of this valley the more I am 
 deUghted with it. I cannot say how it may be in 
 winter, but at this time it is certainly the most 
 beautiful valley, and the richest in grass, wood, soil, 
 and water, I have ever seen. The Delaware 
 brought into camp last evening a small deer, 
 alive, which he had caught in the motmtains. 
 
ii8 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 It was a beautiful creature, but it escaped in the 
 night. 
 
 July 12. Went out this morning with the 
 Indians to hunt. They lent me a fine horse; but 
 God forbid that I should ever htmt with such 
 Indians again! I thought I had seen something of 
 rough riding before; but all my experience faded 
 before that of the feats of to-day. Some places 
 which we ascended and descended it seemed to me 
 that even a wildcat could hardly have passed over ; 
 and yet their active and thoroughly well-trained 
 horses took them as part of the sport, and never 
 made a misstep or blunder during the entire day. 
 We killed three antelopes and a young deer. 
 
 Yesterday an Indian, while sitting at our camp, 
 broke the mainspring of his rifle lock. His distress 
 was beyond anything within the power of descrip- 
 tion. To him it was everything. The "com, 
 wine, and oil " of his family depended on it, and he 
 sat for an hour looking upon the wreck of his for- 
 tune in perfect despair. He appeared so much 
 cast down by it that at last I went into our lodge 
 and brought my rifle, which I gave him to replace 
 the broken one. At first he could not realize it, 
 but as the truth gradually broke upon him, his joy 
 became so great that he could scarce control him- 
 self ; and when he returned that night he was the 
 happiest man I have seen for many a day. 
 
 These Indians are all well armed and motmted, 
 and the very best shots and hunters. Our revol- 
 vers seem, however, to be a never failing source of 
 
Beale's Separate Journal 1 19 
 
 astonishment to them, and they are never tired of 
 examining them. Yesterday, I allowed them to fire 
 two of ours at a mark, at thirty paces. They shot 
 admirably well, putting all the shots within a space 
 of the small mark (size of a half dollar) and hitting 
 it several times. A rainy day. 
 
 July 13. To-day has been showery, and the 
 evening still cloudy, and promising more rain 
 during the night. Our eyes are now turned con- 
 stantly to the opposite side of the vaUey, down 
 which the road winds by which we expect our 
 companions from Taos. 
 
 These days have been the most weary and 
 anxious of my whole life. Sometimes I am almost 
 crazy with thinking constantly on one subject and 
 the probably disastrous restdt which this delay 
 may have on my business in California. 
 
 God knows I have done all for the best, and with 
 the best intentions. A great many Indians came 
 into the valley this evening. Ten lodges in all, 
 which, with the fifteen already here, and more on 
 the road, make up a pretty large band. Dick 
 killed an antelope. Last two nights have slept in 
 wet blankets, and expect the same to-night. Last 
 night it rained all night. The Spanish boy has 
 been quite ill for two days past. 
 
 July 14. This morning I explored the moimtain 
 lying to the north of otir camp, forming a pictur- 
 esque portion of our front view. After ascending 
 the mountain and reaching the summit, I found it 
 a vast plateau of rolling prairie land, covered with 
 
120 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 the most beautiful grass, and heavily timbered. 
 At some places the growth of timber would be so 
 dense as to render riding through it impossible 
 without great difficulty; while at others it would 
 break into beautiful open glades, leaving spaces of 
 a htmdred acres or more of open prairie, with 
 groups of trees, looking precisely as if some wealthy 
 planter had amused himself by planting them 
 expressly to beautify his grounds. 
 
 Springs were abundant, and small streams in- 
 tersected the whole plateau. In fact, it was an 
 immense natural park, already stocked with deer 
 and elk, and only requiring a fence to make it an 
 estate for a king. Directly opposite, to the south, 
 is another mountain, in every respect similar, and 
 our valley, more beautiful to me than either, lies 
 between them. In the evening took a long ride on 
 the trail to meet our long-expected companions. 
 I did not meet them, and returned disappointed, 
 worried, and more anxious than ever. 
 
 Jtily 15. This has been a great day for our 
 Indian neighbors. Two different bands of the 
 same tribe have met, and a great contest is going 
 on to prove which has the best horses. They have 
 been at it since the morning, and many a buckskin 
 has changed hands. The horses are all handsome, 
 and run remarkably well. We have had more than 
 fifty races; a surfeit of them, if such a thing as a 
 surfeit of horse-racing is possible. 
 
 Jtdy 16. Here at last. This morning I saddled 
 my mule to go and himt up our expected com- 
 
Beak's Separate Journal 121 
 
 pardons. I had not gone far before I met about 
 fifty Indians, from whom I could learn nothing of 
 them, and was beginning to despair, when I met a 
 loose mule, and as I knew it was not one of the 
 Indians' I concluded it must belong to some of our 
 companions. Going on a mile or two farther, I 
 met Felipe, who told me that Heap and the others 
 were just behind. I immediately returned to 
 camp to get dinner ready for them, so that we 
 might go on this evening to the Uncompagre. 
 Here terminates the most unpleasant sixteen days 
 of my life; but for this beautiful country, to look 
 at and explore, I think I should have gone crazy. 
 The time seemed endless to me, but my zealous 
 comrades had not unnecessarily lengthened it, for 
 they had averaged 45 miles a day during the double 
 journey (going and coming) and that through the 
 whole mass of mountains which lie between the 
 Upper Del Norte and the Grand River Fork of 
 the great Colorado (Red River) of the Gulf of 
 California. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 On the Verge of Hostilities 
 
 Shaking Hands with Utahs — Picturesque Encampment on 
 the Big Uncompagre — Lieutenant Beale and the 
 "Capitanos" — ^A Stiff Demand for Presents — A Pair 
 of Game-cocks — Crossing the Fallen River — Indians 
 in Paint and Feathers — Beale's Ultimatum — The Dela- 
 ware's Long Memory — Grand River Canyon — The 
 Crossing — The Indians Attempt a Stampede — The 
 Mormons near the Vegas of Santa Clara — Paragoona — ■ 
 Brigham Young — Why the Mormons Settled at 
 Parawan — Little Salt Lake — Strict Vigilance over 
 Strangers — Colonel Smith — The Practice of Polygamy 
 — Views on the System of " Spiritual Wives. " 
 
 SHORTLY after Mr. Heap rettirned to camp 
 with the much needed suppHes Lieut. Beale 
 despatched Wagner and Gallengo to Grand 
 River with the bull-hides, directing them to make 
 a boat shovdd they fail to find a ford. Mr. Heap's 
 Journal continues : 
 
 July 17. We were now again vmited, and freed 
 from the anxiety for each other's safety which had 
 been weighing on us since the day of our separation. 
 We resumed our journey at sunrise, with the hope 
 of soon overcoming all diflficulties. Although the 
 
On the Verge of Hostilities 123 
 
 sun rose in a cloudless sky, yet before noon the 
 rain commenced falling in heavy showers. Lieut. 
 Beale and myself, having much to relate to each 
 other, rode several miles ahead of the men. We 
 descended to the plain at the foot of the Sah- 
 watch Mountains by the same trail over which we 
 had already twice travelled, and which was now 
 familiar to us. 
 
 On approaching the Uncompagre we travelled 
 parallel with its course towards Grand River, 
 keeping on the trail of the two men sent ahead the 
 day before with the hides to construct the boat. 
 At noon, we noticed two recumbent figiu-es on a 
 distant butte, with horses standing near them; 
 when we had approached within a mile they sprang 
 to their saddles and galloped towards us at full 
 speed. They were Utah Indians, on a scout, and 
 evinced no fear of us, but approaching, frankly 
 offered us their hands. We conversed with them 
 partly by signs and partly by means of the few 
 Utah words which we had picked up, and their 
 scanty knowledge of Spanish, which extended only 
 to the names of a few objects and animals. They 
 told us that large numbers of their tribe were 
 encamped a few miles below, on the Uncompagre, 
 and, bidding them farewell, we went on to meet our 
 train. 
 
 Soon after parting with them, we saw on the 
 hillsides and river bottom a vast number of gayly- 
 colored lodges, and nimierous bands of Indians 
 arriving from the northward. Upon approaching, 
 
124 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 we were received by a number of the oldest men, 
 who invited us to ascend a low but steep hill 
 where most of the chiefs were seated. From this 
 point we had a view of an animated and interesting 
 scene. On every side fresh bands of Indians were 
 pouring in, and the women were kept busy in erect- 
 ing their lodges in the bottom near the Uncom- 
 pagre, as well as on the higher land nearer to us. 
 Horses harnessed to lodge poles, on which were 
 packed the various property of the Indians and ia 
 many cases their children, were arriving, and large 
 bands of loose horses and mules were being driven 
 to the riverside to drink or to pasture. Squaws were 
 going to the stream for water, whilst others were 
 returning with their osier jars filled, and poised on 
 their heads. Some of the young men were gallop- 
 ing around on their high-mettled horses, and others, 
 stretched lazily on the grass, were patiently wait- 
 ing until their better halves had completed the 
 construction of their lodges, and announced that 
 the evening meal was prepared. All the males, 
 from the old man to the stripling of four years, 
 were armed with bows and arrows, and most of 
 the men had serviceable rifles. We almost fancied 
 that we had before us a predatory tribe of Scythians 
 or Numidians, so similar are these Indians in their 
 dress, accoutrements, and habits, to what we have 
 learned of those people. 
 
 An old chief, who, we were told, was one of their 
 great men, addressed us a discourse, which very 
 soon went beyond the limits of our knowledge of 
 
On the Verge of Hostilities 125 
 
 the Utah tongue, but we Kstened to it with the 
 appearance of not only understanding the sub- 
 ject, but also of being highly interested. Our 
 men, with Felipe Archilete, the guide and inter- 
 preter, were many miles in the rear, and we waited 
 untn their arrival, for Lieut. Beale wished to take 
 advantage of this opporttmity to have a conver- 
 sation with these chiefs, two of whom were the 
 highest in the nation. 
 
 When FeHpe came up, Lieut. Beale and the 
 "capitanos," as they styled themselves, engaged in 
 a long "talk." Lieut. Beale told them that many 
 Americans would be soon passing through their 
 country on their way to the Mormon settlements 
 and California, with wagons and herds, and that, 
 if they treated the whites well, either by aiding 
 them when in diffictdty, guiding them through the 
 moimtains, and across the rivers, or by furnishing 
 them with food when they needed it, they would 
 always be amply rewarded. They appeared much 
 gratified to hear this and by way, no doubt, of test- 
 ing whether his practice coincided with his preach- 
 ing, intimated that they would be weU pleased to 
 receive, then, some of the presents of which he 
 spoke; remarking, that as we had passed through 
 their cotmtry, used their pasturage, lived among 
 their people, and had even been fed by them, it 
 was but proper that some small return should be 
 made for so many favors. This was an argvunent 
 which Lieut. Beale had not foreseen, but having 
 no presents to give them, he explained how it was ; 
 
126 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 that, having lost everything we possessed in Grand 
 River, it was out of his power to gratify them. 
 This explanation did not appear at all satisfactory, 
 nor did they seem altogether to credit him. They 
 were very covetous of our rifles, but we could not, 
 of course, part with them. The old chief became 
 taciturn and siilky, and glanced towards us occa- 
 sionally with a malignant expression. 
 
 We took no notice of his ill-temper, but lit our 
 pipes and passed them around. Tn the meanwhile, 
 our men had, in accordance with Mr. Beale's 
 directions, proceeded to Grand River, where they 
 were to seek for Wagner and Gallengo, and encamp 
 with them. Felipe, whose quick and restless eye 
 was always on the watch, dropped us a hint, in a 
 few words, that it was becoming imsafe to remain 
 longer in the midst of these savages, for he had 
 noticed symptoms of very unfriendly feelings. 
 
 We were seated in a semicircle on the brow of a 
 steep hill, and a large crowd had collected around 
 us. Rising without exhibiting any haste, we 
 adjusted our saddles, relit our pipes, and shaking 
 hands with the chiefs who were nearest to us, 
 mounted and rode slowly down the hill, followed 
 by a large number of Utahs, who, upon our rising 
 to leave them, had spnmg to their saddles. The 
 older men remained seated and our escort consisted 
 almost entirely of yotmg warriors. They galloped 
 around us in every direction ; occasionally, a squad 
 of four or five would charge upon us at ftill speed, 
 reining up suddenly, barely avoiding riding over us 
 
On the Verge of Hostilities 127 
 
 and our mtdes. They did this to try our mettle, 
 but as we took little notice of them, and affected 
 perfect tmconcem, they finally desisted from their 
 dangerous sport. At one time the conduct of 
 a young chief, the son of El Capitan Grande, 
 was near occasioning serious consequences. He 
 charged upon Felipe with a savage yell, every 
 feature apparently distorted with rage; his horse 
 struck FeHpe's mule, and very nearly threw them 
 both to the ground. The Indian, then seizing 
 Fehpe's rifle, endeavored to wrench it from his 
 hands, but the latter held firmly to his gun, telling 
 us at the same time not to interfere. We and the 
 Indians formed a circle around them, as they sat 
 in their saddles, each holding on to the gun, whose 
 muzzle was pointed full at the Indian's breast. 
 He uttered many imprecations and urged his fol- 
 lowers to lend him their assistance. They looked 
 at us inquiringly, and we cocked our rifles; the 
 hint was sufficient — they decHned to interfere. 
 For some minutes the Utah and Felipe remained 
 motionless, glaring at each other like two game- 
 cocks, each watching with flashing eyes for an 
 opportunity to assail his rival. Seeing that to 
 tr^ie longer would be folly, Felipe, who held the 
 butt-end of the rifle, deliberately placed his thumb 
 on the hammer and raising it slowly, gave warning 
 to the young chief, by two ominous clicks, that 
 his life was in danger. For a moment longer 
 the Utah eyed FeUpe, and then, with an indescrib- 
 able grunt, pushed the rifle from him, and lashing 
 
128 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 his horse furiously, rode away from us at full speed. 
 Felipe gave us a sly wink, and uttered the highly 
 original ejaculation — " Carajo." 
 
 July 1 8. We saddled up at early dawn, swam 
 OVir mules across the Uncompagre, and rejoined 
 our men. They informed us that Juan Cordova 
 had deserted the day before, and retvuned to Lieut. 
 Beale's encampment on the Savoya in company 
 with the two Indians we had met in the morning, 
 and who were going that way. 
 
 We found camp filled with Indians who, how- 
 ever, behaved in a friendly manner, and had even 
 supplied the men with a bucketful of goat's milk. 
 No time was lost in preparing to ford Grand River 
 and some Indians went ahead to show us the way. 
 On reaching the stream we found that it had fallen 
 about six feet, and under the guidance of the 
 Indians had no difficulty in getting over. The 
 water reached nearly to the mules' backs, but 
 the packs had been secured so high as to prevent 
 their getting wet. 
 
 The Indians followed us across in large numbers, 
 and at times tried oiu: patience to the utmost. 
 They numbered about two hundred and fifty 
 warriors, and were all motmted on fine horses, 
 and well armed with bows and arrows, having laid 
 aside their rifles, which Felipe considered a sign 
 that their designs were unfriendly, as they never 
 carry them when they intend to fight on horseback. 
 Their appearance, as they whirled around us at 
 full speed, clothed in bright colors, and occasionally 
 
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 lO 
 
 
 00 
 
 
 M 
 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 
 u 
 
 ^ 
 
 s> 
 
 c^ 
 
 > 
 
 aJ 
 
 -I-« 
 
 )-i 
 
 Ct^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 TS 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 J 
 
 u 
 
 ai 
 
 O 
 
 s 
 
 a 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 fe 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 (U 
 
 
 
 
 > 
 
 
 <J 
 
 
On the Verge of Hostilities 129 
 
 charging upon us with a loud yell, made a striking 
 contrast with that of our party, mounted as we 
 were upon mules, in the half-naked condition in 
 which we had crossed the river (for it was dan- 
 gerous to stop for a moment to dress). They 
 enjoyed many laughs at otir expense, taunting us, 
 and comparing us, from our bearded appearance, 
 to goats, and calling us beggarly cowards and 
 women. Most of these compliments were lost to 
 us at the time, but Felipe afterwards explained 
 them. 
 
 The old chief, the same who had given us such 
 a surly reception on the preceding day, and his 
 son, who had made a trial of strength with Felipe 
 for his rifle, soon joined us, and behaved with much 
 insolence, demanding presents in an imperious 
 manner, and even endeavored to wrench our guns 
 from our hands, threatening to "wipe us out" if 
 we refused to comply with their wishes. They 
 frequently harangued the yoimg men, and abused 
 us violently for traversing their country, using 
 their grass and timber without making them any 
 acknowledgment for the obligation. The latter 
 listened in silence, but most of them remained calm 
 and vmmoved, and evinced no disposition to molest 
 us. The chiefs then changed their tactics and 
 endeavored to provoke us to commence hostilities. 
 Lieut. Beale calmly explained to them that, having 
 lost everything in the river, he was unable to make 
 them such presents as he would have desired, and 
 added (addressing himself to the chiefs) that he 
 
130 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 clearly saw that they were vile-hearted men; for, 
 after treating us as brothers and friends, they were 
 now endeavoring to make bad blood between us 
 and their people. He ended by telling them that 
 we had a few articles which he wotdd have dis- 
 tributed among them, had they not behaved in so 
 unfriendly a manner; but that now, the only terms 
 upon which they could obtain them was by giving 
 a horse in exchange. Mr. Beale's motive for not 
 giving them presents was otir inability to satisfy 
 the whole party, for all we possessed was a piece 
 of cloth, a calico shirt, and some brass wire, and 
 these articles, valueless as they were, if given to a 
 few, would have excited the jealousy and ill-will 
 of the less fortunate, and thus made them our 
 enemies. The Indians, however, declined giving 
 a horse in exchange for what we offered, saying 
 that it would not be a fair bargain. Mr. Beale 
 then said: "If you want to trade, we will trade; if 
 you want to fight, we wtU fight"; requesting those 
 who were not inclined to hostilities to stand aside, 
 as we had no wish to injure otu- friends. 
 
 The chiefs, finding themselves in the minority 
 as regarded fighting, finally consented to give us a 
 mare for our goods; and after the trade was made 
 we parted, much relieved at getting rid of such 
 ugly customers. 
 
 The Utahs had been in company with us for 
 several hours and had often separated our party. 
 During all this time our rifles were held ready for 
 use, not knowing at what moment the conflict 
 
On the Verge of Hostilities 131 
 
 might commence. Had we come to blows, there is 
 no doubt that we should have been instantly over- 
 whelmed. The Delaware had kept constantly 
 aloof from the party, never allowing an Indian to 
 get behind him; and although he silently, but 
 sullenly, resisted the attempts that were made to 
 snatch' his rifle from his grasp, he never for a 
 moment removed his eyes from the old chief, but 
 glared at him with a ferocity so pectiliar that it was 
 evident that feelings even stronger than any that 
 could arise from his present proceedings prompted 
 the Delaware's ire against the rascally Utah. Dick 
 subsequently told us that, when he was a boy, he 
 had fallen into the hands of this same old chief, 
 who had been urgent to put him to death. Dick 
 had nursed his revenge with an Indian's constancy, 
 and, upon the first blow, intended to send a rifle- 
 ball through his skull. 
 
 Several times Felipe warned us to be on our 
 guard, as the attack was about to commence, and 
 Lieut. Beale directed all to dismount upon the 
 first unequivocal act of hostility, to stand each 
 man behind his mule, and to take deliberate aim 
 before firing. 
 
 Travelling down Grand River, at some distance 
 from its right bank, we came to where it flowed 
 through a canyon. The ground on either side of 
 the river was much broken by ravines. The coun- 
 try, about a mile from the river, was barren and 
 level, producing nothing but wild sage and prickly 
 pear. After a harassing day we encamped on a 
 
132 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 rapid, clear, and cool brook, with good pasttirage 
 on its banks, called in the Utah language, the 
 Cerenoquinti; it issues from the Pareamoot Moun- 
 tains and flows into Grand River. Day's travel, 
 25 miles; whole distance from Westport, computed 
 from June 23, 976 miles. 
 
 July 20. Commenced crossing at an early hour. 
 The boat answered admirably; it was buoyant, 
 easily managed, and safe. Before sunset most of 
 the train had crossed, and the Delaware had suc- 
 ceeded in swimming the mules over, by following 
 in their wake, and heading off those that tried to 
 turn back. It took us longer than we had antici- 
 pated to get ovir effects across, as it was necessary 
 at each trip to tow the boat some distance up the 
 right bank, in order to make our encampment on 
 the left, without drifting below it. The current 
 was very rapid, and the work of towing the boat up 
 through the bushes which overhtmg the stream 
 very laborious. Some of the Mexicans and a few 
 of their packs were carried in safety to the left 
 bank. It rained heavily dtiring the afternoon 
 and we passed a wet night under blankets. The 
 camp was crowded with Indians, who were anxious 
 to trade, but were not troublesome. As some of 
 them passed the night with iis, we allowed our 
 animals to run with theirs. 
 
 Henry Young was at one time in a very pre- 
 carious position, from which he was relieved with 
 difficulty. One of the mxiles had stubbornly re- 
 sisted every effort to get her over, and had finally 
 
On the Verge of Hostilities 133 
 
 made a landing under a high precipice on the left 
 shore, from which it was impossible to dislodge 
 her without going into the water and swimming 
 to the spot. This was attempted by Young, and 
 as the ctirrent here swept down with tremendous 
 velocity, he was on the point of drowning, when 
 fortunately he seized a rock, upon which he landed. 
 It was now dark, the rain falling fast, and to have 
 passed the night in this situation was certain de- 
 struction, for he was imder a precipice, and in front 
 of him roared the Avonkarea. No one knew that 
 he had gone into the water, and we were not aware 
 of his distress until he had attracted our attention 
 by his shouts and a flash of lightning revealed him 
 to us. The boat was got down to him after more 
 than an hour's work, and he was finally brought 
 into camp nearly frozen. 
 
 July 21. The remainder of the packs and men 
 crossed in the morning, and the day was consumed 
 in sending the rest of the Mexicans and their lug- 
 gage to the opposite side. They were also assisted 
 in crossing over their animals. These men re- 
 ported that they had been badly treated by the 
 Mormons at the Vegas de Santa Clara, and that 
 two of their number had been put in jail. They 
 warned us to be on our guard, when we arrived 
 in Utah Territory, as they (the Mormons) had 
 threatened to shoot or imprison all Americans 
 passing through their country. Notwithstanding 
 their plausible story, the Mexicans only impressed 
 us with the belief that, having misbehaved, they 
 
134 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 had received the chastisement they deserved, for 
 it was well known to us that the Mormons strictly- 
 prohibited the practice of the natives of New 
 Mexico of bartering firearms and ammunition 
 with the Indians for their children. 
 
 The hides were removed from the frame of the 
 boat and reserved for future use, and having got 
 our animals together we resumed otir march at 
 
 7 P.M. 
 
 July 24. The men passed a refreshing night, 
 perfectly free from the mosquitoes, which had been 
 a source of such serious annoyance since leaving 
 the settlements in New Mexico. Started at 5 a.m. 
 and, travelling thirty-five miles, encamped on 
 Green River Fork of the Great Colorado at i p.m. 
 
 The country we traversed was stony and broken 
 by dry watercotirses. On every side, and princi- 
 pally to the north and northeast, extended ranges 
 of rugged hills, bare of vegetation, and seamed with 
 ravines. On their summits were rocks of fantastic 
 shapes, resembling pyramids, obelisks, churches, 
 and towers, and having all the appearance of a 
 vast city in the distance. The only vegetation was 
 a scanty growth of stunted wild sage and cacti, 
 except at a point known as the Hole in the Rock, 
 where there were willows and other plants denoting 
 the vicinity of water, but we found none on our 
 route. The sun was exceedingly hot, and we, as 
 well as our mviles, were glad to reach the river, 
 where we could relieve ovir thirst. Saw fotu- ante- 
 lopes near Green River, to which the Delaware 
 
On the Verge of Hostilities 135 
 
 immediately gave chase, but was unable to get 
 within gunshot. 
 
 Green River was broader and deeper than either 
 Grand River or the Avonkarea, but its current 
 was neither so rapid nor so turbvilent. The scen- 
 ery on its banks was grand and solemn, and we had 
 an excellent view of it from our camping-place on a 
 high bluff. 
 
 The frame of the boat was commenced at once. 
 Some Indians made their appearance on the op- 
 posite shore, and one of them swam over to our 
 side, assisted by a log, on which he occasionally 
 rested. Day's travel, 35 miles; total distance, 
 1 105 miles. 
 
 July 25. At an early hotir the men resumed 
 their work on the boat ; the hides were f otmd to be 
 rotten and full of holes, as we had neglected to dry 
 them after crossing the Avonkarea; but by dint of 
 patching with pieces of India-rubber blankets and 
 sheepskins, and smearing the seams with a mixture 
 of tallow, flovir, soap, and pulverized charcoal, the 
 boat was made svifficiently tight, that, with con- 
 stant bailing, all the men and packs were carried 
 over in fotu" trips. I went with the first load to 
 guard otir packs, as Indians were on the left bank 
 watching otu- proceedings. 
 
 Lieut. Beale made great exertions to hurry the 
 train over this river. He went across at every trip, 
 jumping into the river where it was shallow, and 
 taking the boat in tow until he was beyond his 
 depth. He was thus for many hours in the water. 
 
136 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 encoiiraging the men by his example. We had 
 now an excellent party; the men were daring and 
 adroit; they exhibited no fear when we were so 
 hard-pressed by the Utahs, and when exposure or 
 toil was required of them, not one flinched from his 
 duty. Some appeared almost to rejoice whenever 
 there was a difficulty to overcome, and we never 
 heard the Delaware's wild shout and laugh without 
 suspecting that either he or his mule had got into 
 some predicament, either by sliding down a bank, 
 or getting into the morass, or becoming entangled 
 in a jimgle. He never asked for help, and re- 
 jected all assistance, relying on himself in every 
 emergency. 
 
 At sunset, the crossing of the Green River was 
 effected, and we gladly gave the boat to the 
 Indians, who ripped it to pieces to make moccasin 
 soles of the hides. We proceeded a mile up the 
 stream, and encamped in the midst of luxuriant 
 grass. A band of twenty-five mounted Utahs 
 accompanied us and passed the night in our camp ; 
 we gave them food, and they seemed quite 
 friendly. Their accounts of the Mormons corrob- 
 orated what the Indians and Mexicans on the 
 Avonkarea had told us. Day's travel, i mile; 
 whole distance, 11 06 miles. 
 
 July 28. Travelled twenty miles south by west, 
 and halted at noon on the Rio del Moro (Castle 
 Creek, so called on account of buttes near it 
 reseinbling fortifications). In ten miles from the 
 San Rafael, crossed a broad brook of clear and cool 
 
On the Verge of Hostilities 137 
 
 water, running into Green River, Between the 
 streams vegetation was scanty and stunted, and 
 the soil clayey, dry, and barren; to the westward 
 were steep hills, beyond which could be seen the 
 green and wooded slopes of the Sahwatch range. 
 
 Noticed fresh tracks of animals going north, 
 evidently those of cattle stolen by Indians from 
 the Mormons. 
 
 Our noon camp was near the point where Moro 
 Creek issued from the mountains. The clayey soil 
 of which they are composed had been washed by 
 rains into the strangest shapes. At times, long 
 lines of battlements presented themselves; at 
 others, immense Gothic cathedrals, with all their 
 quaint pinnacles and turrets, which reminded us 
 of the ruined castles and churches that we had 
 seen in oxxc travels in the old world. The different 
 colors of the clay added to the singularity of the 
 scenery, and strengthened the resemblance. 
 
 Jtdy 29. We encamped for the night, on the 
 Salado, in a broad and level valley. Throughout 
 the mountains the pasturage reminded us of that 
 in the Sahwatch range, although in the valley it 
 was less luxuriant. 
 
 Soon after guard was set for the night, an 
 attempt was made by Indians to stampede our 
 animals. The watchfulness of the man on guard, 
 however, defeated their purpose; he fired, but 
 missed them. One of the mules was slightly 
 wotmded by an arrow. Day's travel, 30 miles; 
 whole distance, 1222 miles. 
 
138 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 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 hope of reaching them 
 before dark. We descended the motintains in a 
 westerly direction through an abundantly watered 
 valley, everywhere covered with grass. I 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, and were on the lookout for 
 them all the morning. Soon after sunrise a few 
 Pah-Utahs, the first of that tribe which we had 
 seen, came running down a hillside 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 Mr. Beale and I, riding in advance of our 
 party, in a few hours arrived at the town of Para- 
 goona, in Little Salt Lake Valley, near Las Vegas 
 de Santa Clara. 
 
 Paragoona is situated in the valley of the Little 
 Salt Lake and lies near the foot of the mountains 
 which form its eastern boundary, at four miles 
 from the lake. It contains about thirty houses, 
 which, although built of adobes, present a neat and 
 comfortable appearance. The adobes are small 
 and well pressed, and are made of a pink-colored 
 clay. The houses are btiilt to form a quadrangle, 
 
On the Verge of Hostilities 139 
 
 the spaces between them being protected by a 
 strong stockade of pine pickets. Outside of the 
 village is an area of fifty acres inclosed within a 
 single fence, and cultivated in common by the 
 inhabitants. It is called The Field and a stream 
 from the Sahwatch Moimtains irrigates it, after 
 supplying the town with water. 
 
 The Mormons have found iron ore in the 
 mountains, where they have established several 
 smelting furnaces; they stated that it was of 
 an excellent quality, and that the mines were 
 inexhaustible. 
 
 Shortly before our arrival in the Territory, hos- 
 tilities had broken out between Walkah, a Utah 
 chief, and the Mormons, and we found them in a 
 state of great alarm and excitement in consequence 
 of some of his recent acts. 
 
 We did not remain long at Paragoona; for soon 
 after our arrival the inhabitants, in obedience to a 
 mandate from Governor Brigham Young, com- 
 menced removing to the town of Parawan, four 
 miles to the southward, as he considered it unsafe, 
 with the smallness of their number, for them to 
 remain at Paragoona. It was to us a strange sight 
 to witness the alacrity with which these people 
 obeyed an order which compelled them to destroy 
 in an instant 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 woodwork being 
 reserved for futxure dwellings; and wagons were 
 
140 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 soon on the road to Parawan, loaded with their 
 furniture and other property. 
 
 We left Paragoona in the afternoon, and rode 
 to Parawan over an excellent wagon-road, made 
 and kept in repair, and bridged in many places, by 
 the Mormons. We passed, at a mile on our left, a 
 large grist and sawmill worked by water power. 
 
 This ride to Parawan formed a strange contrast 
 to otir late journeying through the wilderness. 
 At all the cross-roads were finger-posts, and mile- 
 stones measured the distances. 
 
 Parawan is situated at the base of the movm- 
 tains, and contains about one hundred houses, 
 built in a square and facing inwards. In their 
 rear, and outside of the town, are vegetable gar- 
 dens, each dwelling having a lot running back about 
 one himdred yards. By an excellent system of 
 irrigation, water is brought to the front and rear of 
 each house, and through the centre and outside 
 botmdary of each garden lot. The houses are 
 ornamented in front 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 com being as fine as any that we had 
 seen in the States ; the people took a laudable pride 
 in showing us what they had accomplished in so 
 short a time, and against so many obstacles. Day's 
 travel, 32 miles; whole distance, 1345 miles. 
 
 August 3. Most of the day was spent in having 
 the animals shod, and in getting extra shoes made 
 
On the Verge of Hostilities 141 
 
 to replace those which might be lost in crossing the 
 desert region between the Vegas de Santa Clara 
 and Mohaveh River. An American blacksmith 
 assisted by a couple of Pah-Utah youths did this 
 work, and we were surprised to see what skilful 
 workmen these Indians made. Most of the Mor- 
 mon families have one or more Pah-Utah children, 
 whom they had bought from their parents; they 
 were treated with kindness, and even tenderness; 
 were taught to call their protectors "father" and 
 "mother" and instructed in the rudiments of 
 education. The Mormon rulers encotirage a sys- 
 tem which ameliorates the condition of these chil- 
 dren by removing them from the influence of their 
 savage parents, but their laws forbid their being 
 taken out of the Territory. The children are not 
 interdicted from intercourse with their people, 
 who are allowed freely to enter the town; but the 
 latter evince very little interest in their offspring, 
 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 shores were 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 saleratus 
 and other alkaline matter, which rendered it unfit 
 for use. They obtain their supplies of this article 
 from mines of rock-salt in the mountains. 
 
 The excitement occasioned by the threats of 
 
142 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 Walkah, the Utah chief, continued to increase dur- 
 ing the day we spent at Parawan. FamiHes 
 flocked in from Paragoona, and other small settle- 
 ments and farms, bringing with them their mova- 
 bles, and their flocks and herds. Parties of 
 mounted men, well armed, patrolled the country; 
 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 then there would be no cattle for 
 him to take." He ended by declaring war for 
 four years. This message did not tend to allay 
 the fears of the Mormons, who, in this district, 
 were mostly foreigners, and stood in great awe of 
 Indians. 
 
 The Utah chieftain who occasioned aU this panic 
 and excitement is a man of great subtlety and 
 indomitable energy. He is not a Utah by birth, 
 but has acquired such an extraordinary ascendency 
 over that tribe by his daring exploits, that all the 
 restless spirits and ambitious young warriors in it 
 
On the Verge of Hostilities 143 
 
 have joined his standard. Having an unlimited 
 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 enterprise and has 
 scarcely disappeared from one district 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 Mexi- 
 cans, the attribute of ubiquity. The principal 
 object of his forays is to drive off horses and cattle, 
 but more partictilarly the first; and among the 
 Utahs we noticed horses with brands familiar to 
 us in New Mexico and California. 
 
 He has adopted the name of Walker (corrupted 
 to Walkah) 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 himself to whom he was greatly attached. Both 
 speaking Spanish and broken English they were 
 enabled to maintain 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 led by 
 
144 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 him, on the next morning they found a rifle and 
 a hatchet which they recognized as his, and also 
 traces of blood and tracks of men apparently carry- 
 ing a heavy body. Although rejoicing at the death 
 of one of their most implacable enemies, the Mor- 
 mons dreaded the wrath of the great chieftain, 
 which they felt wotdd not be appeased until he 
 had avenged his brother's blood in their own. The 
 Mormons were surprised at our having passed in 
 safety through Walkah's territory, and they did 
 not know to what they were to attribute otu- escape 
 from destruction. 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 WaUcah, 
 and that the mounted men we had noticed in the 
 mountains in the evening of August ist were scouts 
 sent out by him to watch our movements. They 
 endeavored to dissuade us from prosecuting otir 
 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 
 thousand dollars for Walkah's head, but it was a 
 serious question 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 
 inhabitants of these settlements, during our short 
 sojourn among them, strongly contrasted with 
 what we had been led to anticipate from the reports 
 
On the Verge of Hostilities 145 
 
 of the Mexicans and Indians whom we had met on 
 the road. On our arrival, Colonel G. A. Smith 
 sent an officer to inqtoire who we were, our business, 
 destination, etc., at the same time apologizing for 
 the inquiries, by stating that the disturbed con- 
 dition of the country rendered it necessary to 
 exercise a strict vigilance over all strangers, par- 
 ticularly over those who came from the direction 
 of their enemy's territory. 
 
 Mr. Beale's repHes being, of course, satisfactory, 
 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 territory, and was 
 organizing a military force for its protection. He 
 related to us the origin of these southern settle- 
 ments, the many difficulties and hardships that 
 they had to contend with, and gave us much inter- 
 esting information concerning the geography of the 
 surrotmding country. He also stated that fur- 
 naces for smelting iron ore were already in opera- 
 tion in the vicinity of Paragoona and Parawan, 
 and that the metal, which was obtained in sufficient 
 quantity to supply any demand, was also of an 
 excellent quality ; and that veins of coal had been 
 fotmd near Cedar City, on Coal Creek, eighteen 
 miles south of Parawan, one of which was fifteen 
 feet in thickness, and apparently inexhaustible, i 
 A large force of English miners were employed in 
 working these mines, and pronounced the coal to 
 be equal to the best English coal. I saw it used in 
 
146 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 the forges; it is bituminous and bums with a 
 bright flame. 
 
 As regards the odious practice of polygamy 
 which these people have engrafted on their religion, 
 it is not to be supposed that we could learn much 
 about it during our short stay, and its existence 
 would even have been unobserved by us, had not 
 a "saint" voluntarily informed us that he was 
 "one of those Mormons who believed in a plural- 
 ity of wives," and added, "for my part I have 
 six, and this is one of them," pointing to a female 
 who was present. Taking this subject for his text, 
 he delivered a discourse highly eulogistic of the 
 institution of marriage, as seen from the Mormon 
 point of view. He spoke of the antiquity of 
 polygamy, its advantages, the evils it prevents, 
 quoting the example of the patriarchs, and of 
 eastern nations, and backing his argument with 
 statistics of the relative ntimber of males and 
 females born, obtained no doubt from the same 
 sotirce as the Book of Mormon. This discourse 
 did not increase our respect for the tenets he ad- 
 vocated, but we deemed it useless to engage in 
 a controversy with one who made use of such 
 sophistry. From what he said, I inferred that a 
 large number of Mormons do 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 instances here, as else- 
 where, the control of the menage. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 The Desert Journey 
 
 The Mormon Wagon Trail — Joy of the Pah-Utahs — 
 Famous Horse Thieves — The Traffic in Children — Rio 
 de la Virgen — The first Jornada — Muddy Creek and 
 the Spring of Gaetan — Pah-Utah Billingsgate — The 
 End of a Mormon Explorer — The Second Jornada — 
 Twenty Hours without Water — The Oasis of Tio Meso 
 — The Mohaveh River — The Valley of the Santa Ana- 
 San Bernardino Mountain — The Settlements and Los 
 Angeles — Benton's Letters and Congratulations. 
 
 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. 
 
 August 4. 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 head of the Four Creeks; 
 but imfortunately we were unable to take this 
 route, for we could neither obtain a guide nor even 
 
 147 
 
148 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 information on the subject; moreover, it would 
 have been departing from his plan, of examining 
 the country on the Mohaveh, for the purpose of 
 locating Indians there, for Lieut. Beale to have 
 altered his course. The route by Owen's River 
 shortens the distance nearly two htmdred miles, 
 cutting off the large elbow to the southwest, and 
 according to the accounts we had received it con- 
 ducts over a tolerably level, weU-watered, and 
 grassy country. 
 
 August 6. The Santa Clara at our encampment 
 was a slender rill; but a few miles lower down its 
 volume was considerably increased by the accession 
 of several streams. 
 
 We were now approaching the desert, and we this 
 day travelled only ten miles, to allow our animals 
 to recruit by rest and food. The road followed 
 down the stream, and although level, was much 
 overgrown with bushes. 
 
 After travelling a few miles, we met a small party 
 of Pah-Utah Indians, who evinced great joy at 
 seeing us, accosting us without fear. On approach- 
 ing their village, a collection of miserable bush huts, 
 we were met by an aged Indian, apparently their 
 chief, holding in his hand a pipe the stem of which 
 was a reed and the bowl a piece of tin. With much 
 gravity, he bade us welcome to his village, and 
 after blowing three wreaths of smoke toward the 
 sun, he offered us their symbol of friendship, with 
 which we imitated his example. As soon as we 
 had dismounted, a venerable squaw, laboring under 
 
The Desert Journey 149 
 
 great excitement, rushed towards Lieut. Beale, 
 and seizing his hands, forced into them a couple 
 of green tunias (prickly pears) which she invited 
 him to eat, a ceremony, I have no doubt, having 
 a meaning as mystical as the first. And having 
 thus entered into bonds to keep the peace and 
 complied with all the exigencies of etiquette, we 
 were considered the guests of the nation. 
 
 Among these Indians we witnessed one of the 
 benefits which they have derived from their inter- 
 cotirse with the Mormons, who take every oppor- 
 tunity to ameliorate the condition of this wretched 
 tribe. Near their village was a large and well- 
 irrigated field, cultivated with care, and planted 
 with com, piunpkins, squashes, and melons. 
 
 The Pah-Utah Indians are the greatest horse 
 thieves on the continent. Rarely attempting the 
 bold coups-de-main of the Utahs, they dog travel- 
 lers during their march and foUow on their trail 
 like jackals, cutting off any stragglers whom they 
 can surprise and overpower, and pick up such 
 animals as stray from the band or lag behind from 
 fatigue. At night, lurking around the camp, and 
 concealing themselves behind rocks and bushes, 
 they communicate with each other by imitating 
 the sounds of birds and animals. They never 
 ride, but use as food the horses and mules that they 
 steal, and, if within arrow-shot of one of these 
 animals, a ■ poisoned shaft secures him as their 
 prize. Their arms are bows and arrows tipped 
 with obsidian, and lances sometimes pointed with 
 
150 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 iron, which they obtain from the wrecks of wagons 
 found along the road; they also used a pronged 
 stick to drag lizards from their holes. 
 
 The Indians being apprehensive that our animals 
 might trespass on their field, which was without 
 inclosure, we permitted them to drive the band 
 several miles up the stream, where we had noticed 
 an abundance of white clover; and, whilst thus 
 confiding in them, we had security for their honesty 
 by several Indians passing the night in our camp, 
 where they lay near the fire, coiled up like dogs; 
 besides which their women and children, and entire 
 crops, on which they depended for their subsistence 
 during the approaching winter, were also in our 
 power. 
 
 In the afternoon we visited their huts, which 
 presented a squalid scene of dirt and wretchedness. 
 When the women saw us approaching they con- 
 cealed their children, fearing that we might wish 
 to carry them off. Noticing that something moved 
 under a large wicker basket, one of us examined 
 its contents, which were found to be a Uttle naked 
 fellow, his teeth chattering with fear. 
 
 Yearly expeditions are fitted out in New Mexico 
 to trade with the Pah-Utahs for their children, 
 and recourse is often had to foul means to force 
 their parents to part with them. So common is it 
 to make a raid for this purpose, that it is considered 
 as no more objectionable than to go on a buffalo or 
 a mustang hunt. One of our men, Jose Gallengo, 
 who was an old hand at this species of man-hunting, 
 
The Desert Journey 151 
 
 related to us, with evident gusto, numerous anec- 
 dotes on this subject; and as we approached the 
 village, he rode up to Lieut. Beale, and eagerly pro- 
 posed to him that we shoiild "charge on it like 
 h-1, kill the mans and maybe catch some of the 
 little boys and gals." 
 
 Camp was all day crowded with men and squaws ; 
 the former had reduced their costume to first 
 principles, and even the latter were attired in a 
 style of the most primitive simplicity. They spoke 
 with great volubility and vehemence, using many 
 gesticulations, regardless of the common usage of 
 other Indians, of speaking but one at a time. It 
 appeared as though they thought aloud, and were 
 not addressing any one in particular. Our ragged 
 and forlorn appearance, unshaven chins, and sun- 
 scarred visages excited great merriment, and they 
 used no ceremony in pointing and laughing at us . 
 Day's travel, 10 miles; whole distance, 1439 miles. 
 
 August 7. The Indians drove otu animals into 
 camp before dawn, and we were on the road at 
 sunrise, travelling down the Santa Clara. In ten 
 rmles the road diverged to the right from the creek, 
 and for eight miles passed through a region of 
 rugged and arid hills and canyons, when it issued 
 upon an inclined plane leading to the Rio de la 
 Virgen. Although generally level, it was a rough 
 road for wagons, and with the exception of one good 
 spring, four miles from the Santa Clara, we saw no 
 water tmtil we encamped on the Virgen. A scanty 
 growth of cactus, Agave americana, greasewood, 
 
152 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 and small cedars, was the only vegetation after 
 leaving the creek. A Pah-Utah handed me some 
 ears of wheat, the grains of which I preserved, and 
 he stated that it grows spontaneously near the 
 Santa Clara. It is from this stock that the New 
 Mexicans have obtained the seed which they call 
 Payute wheat, and the Mormons, Taos wheat. 
 It has been much improved by cultivation, and is 
 considered the best in New Mexico and Utah. A 
 party of Indians accompanied us for twelve miles, 
 begging for tabac, and we noticed several smokes 
 during the day, and fires after dark, made by the 
 natives on the Virgen, to warn the country of otir 
 approach. We set double guard at night, and the 
 mules evinced by their restlessness and uneasiness 
 the vicinity of Pah-Utahs. Day's travel, 35 miles ; 
 whole distance, 1474 miles. 
 
 August 8. The Rio de la Virgen is a turbid and 
 shallow stream, about twelve yards in breadth. 
 It flows with a rapid current over a sandy bed, and 
 as we descended it, the growth of cottonwood gave 
 place to mesquit trees and willows. The mesquit 
 tree bears in some localities an abundance of sweet 
 pods, on which mules feed greedily, and they are 
 a good substitute for com, being almost as nutri- 
 tious. We crossed scanty patches of wiry salt 
 grass, which affords but little nourishment. 
 
 The river bottom was hemmed in by bluffs, 
 beyond which, on the right, was an extensive plain 
 much cut up by gullies, and on the left a range of 
 dark mountains, which in many places came down 
 
The Desert Journey 153 
 
 to the river's edge. The road which followed down 
 the bottom was at times through deep sand, as 
 was mostly the case since leaving the Vegas de 
 Santa Clara. The scenery was gloomy and for- 
 bidding, and gave indication that we were ap- 
 proaching a wild and desolate region. We noticed 
 during the day many fresh Indian tracks, and at 
 times caught glimpses of dark forms gliding 
 through the bushes on either side. Day's march, 
 29 miles; whole distance, 1503 miles. 
 
 August 9. By keeping a watchful guard, our 
 animals were saved from the Pah-Utahs, who 
 hovered around us all night. 
 
 We rode down the Virgen ten miles farther, 
 when we left it to cross the hot and sterile plain, 
 eight miles broad, extending between the Virgen 
 and the Rio Atascoso (Muddy Creek). It was 
 thickly covered with sharp flints, and bore a scanty 
 growth of stunted mesquit bushes, which on the 
 dry plains bear few pods; for a couple of miles from 
 each stream the covmtry was much broken by 
 ravines. 
 
 Rio Atascoso is a narrow stream, but in many 
 places quite deep; its water is clear, and it derives 
 its name from the slimy and miry nature of its 
 banks and bed. Day's march, 18 miles; whole 
 distance, 1521 miles. 
 
 August 10. We again had Indians around us 
 aU night, making their usual signals, but by keeping 
 a strict double guard they were prevented from 
 stealing or wounding our animals. Soon after 
 
154 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 stinrise, a party of Pah-Utahs showed their heads 
 from behind some rocks near camp, and shouted 
 to us; finding that we did not attempt to molest 
 them, they cautiously exposed more of their per- 
 sons, and finally dropped among us by twos and 
 threes, until they numbered fifteen. They pro- 
 fessed entire innocence of being concerned in the 
 proceedings of the previous night, laying them all to 
 the charge of other Pah-Utahs and expressed for 
 us the warmest attachment. 
 
 At this time a strange figure, entirely divested of 
 clothing, suddenly made his appearance on the 
 summit of a rock thirty yards from us ; his face was 
 covered with a thick coating of crimson paint; a 
 slender bone, eight inches in length, was thrust 
 through the septum of his nose, and in his left 
 hand he carried a bow and a bunch of arrows. 
 This worthy addressed us a long speech, intro- 
 ducing himself as the great chief of aU the Pah- 
 Utahs (which was false, as they recognize no chief), 
 intimating that the monotonous existence which 
 he had hitherto been leading had become irksome 
 to him, that he wished to travel and see the white 
 man's world, and that, if we consented to admit 
 him into our company, he would endeavor to 
 "make himself generally useftol." He ended by 
 offering to give himself away to any one who would 
 accept of him. Although any accession to our 
 number was not at all desirable, to have refused his 
 request would have nipped in the bud the aspira- 
 tions of this ambitious youth. Lieut. Beale there- 
 
The Desert Journey 155 
 
 fore allowed him to join our party, handed him a 
 pair of old buckskin pants and a woollen shirt, 
 which he at once donned, feeling very proud but 
 very uncomfortable. 
 
 The first Jornada (long distance between water) 
 across the desert commences at the Muddy; and 
 to avoid the heat, which at this season is very 
 oppressive during the day, we did not resume our 
 journey, until afternoon. The road led us for six 
 miles up a broad and sandy ravine, issuing from 
 which we entered upon an extensive and undtilating 
 plain, whose sandy and stony soil produced no 
 vegetation except artemisia. We travelled all 
 night, dvuing which a hot wind blew from the 
 southward. 
 
 August II. Dawn found us still on the Jornada, 
 between Muddy Creek and the Ojo del Gaetan 
 (Spring of Gaetan), or Vega Quintana as this 
 meadow is sometimes called, which we reached at 
 8 A.M. without loss of an animal. Thus far we had 
 lost three mules ; one was drowned in the Uncom- 
 pagre, another was left on the Virgen, and the third 
 at the Muddy. Both of the latter were animals 
 that we had obtained on the journey, and being 
 tmshod, became "tender-footed" and were unable 
 to keep up with the train. 
 
 The Vega Quintana is a meadow of several 
 thousand acres in extent, watered through its 
 centre by two deep but narrow streams of clear and 
 icy cold water. It is shaded in many places with 
 mesquit trees, willows, and vines covered with 
 
156 Edward Fitzgerald Beak 
 
 clusters of small but sweet grapes. Two Pah- 
 Utahs, who were gathering mesquit beans, fled in 
 alarm at our approach, and we saw ntimerous 
 coveys of the California partridge. This oasis 
 deserves the name of The Diamond of the Desert, 
 so beautiful and bright does it appear in the centre 
 of the dreary waste that surroimds it. Dusty and 
 weary as we were, after our long and toilsome ride, 
 a bath in the brook was a luxury in which we 
 indulged more than once dtiring the day that we 
 spent here. Day's march, 45 miles ; whole distance, 
 1566 miles. 
 
 August 13. Wearied with watching all night, 
 we resumed our journey at dawn. Indians were 
 around us as usual, and any signs of their vicinity, 
 which would have escaped our notice, were pointed 
 out to us by "Pite" as we had christened our new 
 follower. We had scarcely started, before a 
 torrent of yells and abuse were poured upon us from 
 every side. No one could be perceived, but every 
 rock and bush apparently concealed an Indian. 
 "Pite" was not slow in replying to them, and for 
 a moment they were silent with astonishment at 
 receiving in such pure vemactdar a reply to their 
 insults. Soon, however, the war of words was 
 renewed with fresh ftiry, and had we tmderstood 
 them, we should doubtless have enjoyed a very 
 choice specimen of Pah-Utah billingsgate. "Pite" 
 prudently kept close among us; brave as he was 
 with his tongue, he entertained fear of falling 
 into the hands of his fellow countrymen, for 
 
The Desert Journey 157 
 
 they would soon have brought his travels to a 
 close. 
 
 Our road led us through a canyon or chasm which 
 we had entered the previous day; it followed the 
 bed of the stream, and was much obstructed by 
 heavy sand and scattered rocks. We passed two 
 singular caves, one of which presented a close 
 resemblance to the Cyclopean order of architecture, 
 with the principle of the arch and keystone ad- 
 mirably preserved. The other forcibly reminded us 
 of the fagade of an old Catholic chiwch, such as is 
 often seen in Italy, 
 
 After travelling ten miles through rocky ravines, 
 with bald and furrowed moimtains on either side, 
 we ascended a ridge which brought in view an 
 extensive and barren plain, bounded on all sides by 
 lofty mountains. To the westward we perceived 
 a range which extended from north to south, and 
 which appeared to have frequent breaks in it. 
 
 In the afternoon, we arrived at the Aqua Escar- 
 bada, where we expected to have to dig for water; 
 but the grotmd had been so deeply excavated that 
 a nmning spring had been reached. 
 
 Shortly before reaching this place, we fovmd on 
 the roadside the remains of an American, with 
 the mark of a rifie-ball in his skull. From papers 
 which were scattered around, we ascertained that 
 he was a Mormon on an exploring expedition, and 
 his buckskin garments not having been wet by 
 rain, proved that he had been killed this se9,son. 
 Day's travel, 25 miles; total, 1608 miles. 
 
158 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 August 14. A rapid descent down a sinuous 
 ravine, from two to three miles in length, brought 
 us to the sink in the plain, where is found the Ojo 
 de Archilete (Archilete's Spring) at some distance 
 from which are many small willows, but in its 
 immediate vicinity there is a total absence of shade ; 
 the water is clear and cool, but slightly brackish. 
 A cruel tragedy, heroically avenged by Kit Carson 
 and Alexander Godey, and recorded by Fremont, 
 occurred here in 1844, and has rendered this spot 
 memorable; we found near the spring the skull of 
 an Indian, killed perhaps in that affray. Day's 
 travel, 22 miles; whole distance, 1630 miles. 
 
 August 15. A ride of five miles brought us to 
 the Amargosa (Bitter Creek), a ravine containing 
 a scanty supply of warm, fetid, and nauseating 
 water, in a succession of holes. We encamped at 
 the foot of a rock on its eastern side, where a 
 slender brackish spring barely supplied owe wants. 
 The valley, or broad ravine, through which the 
 Amargosa, during the rainy season, is for a few 
 miles a running stream, winds with a general course 
 from southeast to northwest, and is hemmed in dy 
 steep, black and rocky hills. 
 
 The second Jornada across the desert commences 
 at the Amargosa, and ends at the Agua del Tio 
 Meso (The Spring of Uncle Meso). It is fifty 
 miles in length, and we anticipated much toil and 
 suffering in crossing it. We endeavored to guard 
 against the loss of our mules from hunger, by 
 laying in a small supply of green reeds and mesquit 
 
The Desert Journey 159 
 
 beans, the only forage, except salt grass, that could 
 be obtained here; and, not expecting to find water 
 the whole distance, all our canteens were filled. 
 
 We commenced this dreary journey at 2 p.m. 
 The heat was intense and, instead of diminishing 
 as the sim descended, it became more oppressive. 
 For twelve miles the road was over deep sand, into 
 which the mules sank above their fetlocks. 
 
 In fifteen miles, we diverged to the left across a 
 spur of rocky hills, the road leading through a 
 ravine, where, much to our svirprise, we discovered 
 the remains of houses, rastres (Mexican quartz 
 crushers) and all the appliances of gold mining. 
 These we subsequently ascertained were the Salt 
 Spring Gold Mines, where a forttine had been 
 sunk by men who were sufficiently deluded or 
 sanguine to abandon the rich mines of California, 
 travel across one hundred and fifty miles of desert, 
 and live upwards of twelve months in a spot so 
 desolate and forlorn that there is actually not 
 sufficient vegetation to keep a goat from starvation. 
 We here found two springs, one sulphtirous and 
 nauseating, the other brackish. The canteens 
 were replenished, but it was impossible to water 
 the mules. 
 
 August 16. The heat increased as we advanced 
 into the desert, and most of the party had divested 
 themselves of the greater part of their clothing. 
 The guns, which we carried across the pummels 
 of our saddles, were hot to the touch; and to add to 
 our annoyance and suffering the wind, laden with 
 
i6o Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 an impalpable sand, blew fiercely from the south- 
 ward, feeling as if it issued from the mouth of a 
 furnace, and obliterating in many places all traces 
 of the road. The mtiles, already jaded by travel- 
 ling across the sandy plain, went slowly along, 
 their heads dropping to the ground. The pale 
 moon, occasionally overshadowed by clouds, threw 
 a ghastly light over the desert, and skeletons of 
 animals glistening in her beams, strewed the way, 
 adding horror to the scene. 
 
 Shortly before dawn we entered some hills to 
 the westward where the heat was less intense. 
 Three of the mules were unable to go farther, and 
 their saddles and packs were placed on other ani- 
 mals, and men left with them, together with some 
 reeds and beans and a small supply of water. We 
 were now all on foot, our animals having barely 
 sufficient strength to carry their saddles. At day- 
 light we began to scatter and those who could go 
 in advance did so, for our thirst was beginning to be 
 intolerable. It was not imtil lo a.m., after twenty 
 hours of continuous march, completely prostrated 
 with heat, toil, hunger and thirst, that we reached 
 the Agua del Tio Meso. 
 
 This camping-ground (which is called on the 
 maps Agua del Tomaso) has two small pools fed by 
 tiny springs. The water in the pools we found 
 barely drinkable; the grass was scanty and salt; 
 but when mules are starving, they are not particu- 
 lar in their choice of food. 
 
 The men who had been left with the mtiles joined 
 
The Desert Journey i6i 
 
 us late in the afternoon; they had suffered much, 
 but brought in all the animals. Poor "Pite" was 
 the last one in; his thirst was dreadful, and 
 when he reached the spring he threw himself on 
 the ground and drank to repletion. 
 
 This spring is named after an old Mexican called 
 Meso, who was styled Tio, or tuicle, on account of 
 his age. He discovered it when he and his party 
 were nearly perishing with thirst. Their happy 
 deUverance was celebrated by a great feast. 
 He washed and dressed himself and rambled about 
 the place singing tmtU he fell dead, kiUed by a 
 stroke of apoplexy. Two peons, abandoned on 
 the desert by their master, reached this spring after 
 their party had left for the Mohaveh. Unable to 
 proceed farther, they both died of starvation, and 
 the next travellers who encamped here found their 
 skeletons locked in each other's embrace, as if they 
 had expired in the act of devouring one another. 
 
 These painful associations, together with the 
 utterly desolate appearance of all around, cast a 
 gloom over our spirits ; and we could not raise them, 
 as old Tio Meso did, by a feast; for all we had that 
 day was a couple of spoonfuls of boiled pinole. 
 The road across the Jornada is good, with the 
 exception of the first twelve miles, where it is 
 sandy. The only vegetation that I noticed was 
 artemisia, on the plains, and mesquit and dry 
 greasewood among the hiUs. Day's march, 55 
 miles; whole distance, 1685 nules. 
 
 August 17. The Agua del Tio Meso is an oasis; 
 
1 62 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 for, although a wretched spot, it is the only resting- 
 place in the desert between the Amargosa and the 
 River Mohaveh. We were glad to leave it at 4 a.m. 
 Two of the mules soon showed signs of failing, and 
 remained on the road in charge of one of the Mexi- 
 cans. We rested for a few minutes at 10 a.m. to 
 breakfast, having filled our canteens at Tio Meso's 
 spring. The Delaware had killed a rabbit, the 
 first of any game that we had seen for a long time; 
 but we left it on the road, with some water, for the 
 Mexican, as we feared that he might be delayed 
 until late. 
 
 The desert retained its level and monotonous 
 character until we reached Mohaveh River, at 
 7 P.M., our animals almost perishing from hunger 
 and thirst. 
 
 The sandy soil through which the Mohaveh 
 flows absorbs nearly all its water, and where we 
 struck it it was no longer a running stream. Grass, 
 however, was everywhere abundant, together with 
 a thick growth of willows, reeds, and mesquit 
 bushes, interlaced with grape-vines; and in some 
 places there were beautiful groves of cottonwoods. 
 
 All our troubles as regarded a scarcity of water 
 and grass were now at an end, and from this point 
 our journey was over a level country, offering no 
 impediment whatever to a good road as far as the 
 settlements in California. Except on the edge of 
 the river, however, the land was barren and unpro- 
 ductive, offering no point fit for settlement. 
 
 Lieut. Beale and myself had intended on reach- 
 
The Desert Journey 163 
 
 ing the Mohaveh to have gone in advance of our 
 people; but we could not leave them in their 
 starving condition. It was also our intention to 
 have selected two or three of the men to accompany 
 us across the desert between the Mohaveh and 
 Walker's Pass, in the Sierra Nevada ; but we found 
 that of all otu" animals there were not five that could 
 travel over twenty miles a day, and, as the inter- 
 vening country was entirely destitute of water and 
 grass, we were compelled reluctantly to relinquish 
 this prospect. 
 
 The Mexican left with the mules arrived at 11 
 P.M., having remained faithftilly by them until he 
 brought them in. We thus crossed this desert 
 without abandoning a single animal, which is, I 
 believe, almost tmprecedented. Day's travel, 30 
 miles; whole distance, 1715 miles. 
 
 August 19. The road was through heavy sand, 
 and often left the river at a distance of two miles. 
 We encamped at noon near a large and deep pond 
 of very cool and clear water, aHve with fish, prin- 
 cipally mullets, some of which were large. We had 
 just finished our allowance of pinole, when the 
 Delaware rode into camp with a splendid antelope 
 lashed behind his saddle, and reported that he 
 had shot another, which was immediately sent for. 
 As the question of starvation was now set at rest, 
 it was determined that Mr. Beale and myself and 
 two of the men should proceed as rapidly as our 
 mules could travel, whilst the remainder of the 
 party were to follow us by easy stages to the settle- 
 
164 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 ments. Day's travel, 19 miles; whole distance, 
 1742 miles. 
 
 August 20. Where we crossed the Mohaveh it 
 was a rapid stream, twenty-five yards in breadth 
 and one foot in depth, but its water was too warm 
 to be drinkable. Passed several fine meadows near 
 the river, and saw bands of antelopes, also hares 
 and partridges. After a rest of seven hours we 
 resumed our jotuney, the road leading up to an 
 extensive plain, thickly covered with cedars and 
 pines, intermingled with palmyra cactus and 
 aloes. It forks about ten miles from the river. 
 The left-hand fork, which we took, follows the old 
 Spanish trail, whilst the other, which had been 
 recently opened by the Mormons, makes a bend 
 to avoid a rough portion of country. They both 
 join again in the Cajon Pass. We travelled until 
 II P.M., when we rested under the cedars on the 
 plain, where we found dry bunch-grass, but no 
 water. Day's travel, 40 miles; whole distance, 
 1783 miles. 
 
 August 21. For the last time the cry of "catch 
 up" was heard, and we saddled our mvdes before 
 dawn, impatient to reach our journey's end. On 
 approaching the mountains which extended 
 between us and the valley of Los Angeles, the 
 country presented a more broken appearance. 
 After travelling six miles, we commenced descend- 
 ing the Pacific slope, and soon after reached the 
 head waters of the Santa Ana, a creek rising to 
 the eastward of the mountains, and which finds its 
 
The Desert Journey 165 
 
 way through the Cajon Pass to the Pacific Ocean, 
 south of San Pedro. 
 
 We entered this pass, and the most magnificent 
 scenery presented itself to our eyes. Aroimd us 
 were lofty mountains, their summits clothed with 
 pines, while around their bases grew chimsal, man- 
 sanita, dwarf oaks, and aloes. In the valley were 
 numerous clusters of sycamore, which attains here 
 a large size, and is one of the most beautiful trees in 
 the country. The ground was covered with innu- 
 merable tracks of grizzly bears, and the Delaware 
 kept a keen lookout for the rough-coated gentry. 
 During our journey, he had killed at least one 
 specimen of each species of game to be fotind in the 
 region which we had traversed, and he was anxious 
 to have an encounter with the largest and fiercest 
 of them all, the mighty grizzly of California; but 
 he was disappointed ; although ova: men, in coming 
 through this pass a few days later, had a desperate 
 fight with a bear, which they finally overcame. 
 
 We issued from the mountains at noon, when 
 the beautifid valley of San Bernardino, with its 
 stupendous mountain, broke upon our view. 
 Never did so beautiftil a sight gladden the eyes 
 of weary travellers, and having been in the saddle 
 since dawn, we ttimed otir jaded mules into a rich 
 meadow, where the grass reached to their knees, 
 and we rested under the shade of a grove of 
 sycamores. 
 
 Leaving the valley of San Bernardino behind 
 us, we directed our course northwest in the direc- 
 
1 66 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 tion of Los Angeles. We travelled steadily until 
 nightfall without perceiving any signs of habita- 
 tions, though our hopes were constantly kept alive 
 by fresh tracks of men and cattle. Finally at nine 
 o'clock when we were on the point of dismounting, 
 our weary beasts being scarcely able to lift their 
 feet, we were saluted by the cheering bark of a 
 dog and in a few minutes found ourselves in the 
 centre of a large cluster of buildings, and welcomed 
 in the most friendly manner to Cocomongo Rancho, 
 by the Mexican proprietor. Day's travel, 35 
 miles ; whole distance, 181 7 miles. 
 
 August 22. Our arrival at the Rancho de Coco- 
 mongo wiU long be a green spot in our memories; 
 and it was a pleasant sight to us to witness the 
 satisfaction of our travel-worn mules in passing 
 from imremitting toil and scanty food to complete 
 rest and abundant nourishment. 
 
 We obtained fresh horses, and a gallop of thirty- 
 five miles through a rich and settled country 
 brought us to the city of Los Angeles, where every 
 kindness and attention was shown to us by 
 Mr. Wilson, Indian Agent, and his accomplished 
 lady. 
 
 We had been given up for lost, and several parties 
 had gone in search of us. Some of our friends had 
 spent six weeks in Walker's Pass, where they ex- 
 pected us to arrive, and had kept up fires by night 
 and smokes by day on a point visible at a long dis- 
 tance in the desert, to guide us in case we should 
 have lost our way. Day's march, 35 miles; total 
 
The Desert Journey 167 
 
 distance from Westport, Missotiri, to Los Angeles, 
 California, 1852 miles. 
 
 The remainder of our party arrived two days 
 later, and thus, without serious accident to any of 
 the men, and with the loss of only three of the mules, 
 we accomplished the distance from Westport to 
 Los Angeles in exactly one hundred days. Some 
 of the party, however, had travelled seven hundred 
 and fifteen miles more, in going to Taos from Grand 
 River and in rettiming. 
 
 As the following letter indicates, the arrival of 
 the expedition was warmly welcomed by Colonel, 
 afterwards Gen. E. A. Hitchcock, U. S. A., who was , 
 in command of the Pacific Division. Gen. Hitch- 
 cock was a warm and loyal supporter of Beale 
 throughout his Indian wars in the field as well as 
 in the forum. 
 
 Headquarters Pacific Division, 
 San Francisco, Sept. 5th, 1853. 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 The Morning Herald has just announced the anxiously 
 looked for news of your safe arrival in California once more. 
 I sincerely congratulate you on the success of yotur adven- 
 turous trip and shall be most happy to hear from yourself 
 some account of your extraordinary journey. The news, 
 among other immediate results, lighted up the countenance 
 of Mr. Edwards' who appeared to relish his ofi&ce this 
 morning — which I am sure he has not done for many weeks 
 past. He told me a few moments since, that he intended 
 
 ' Mrs. Beale's brother and a companion of Gen. Beale in many of 
 his journeys. 
 
1 68 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 going out to meet you, and I have thought it a good oppor- 
 tunity to say a word of our public duties. Let me say, at 
 once, that the sanction required from me, as Com'g. this 
 Division, as a prerequisite to your locating an Indian farm 
 or reservation, has in view, as I regard it, only this, that the 
 place selected by you may be within reach of such military 
 appliances as the plan contemplates, and it is only to this 
 extent that I shall give any opinion. 
 
 I shall not undertake to control your judgment in the 
 slightest manner in what properly belongs to you as Super- 
 intendent of Indian Affairs. But as some measures of a 
 military character were contemplated, looking to accessibil- 
 ity and defence, it was doubtless thought proper that the 
 Military Commander of the Division should have a voice 
 on this point. Otherwise the Superintendent would vir- 
 tually have the troops under his control, by selecting the 
 site and compelling the troops to occupy it. I mention this 
 view in order to express the opinion that the Executive 
 could have had no intention of superseding you in your 
 proper duties. In view of this I desire to say that I con- 
 sider it entirely within your own province to see that the 
 law is complied with in respect to settlers and indeed in all 
 other matters, and when you shall have satisfied yourself 
 as to the best location I will indicate my opinions as to the 
 practicability of defence. In order to come to an under- 
 standing in regard to my part of it I will thank you to take 
 an opportunity of seeing Capt. Jordan, at Fort Miller, who 
 has recently traversed much of the Tulane country, and by 
 explaining your wishes to him I shall obtain a report from 
 him upon which to act myself; such a course being pointed 
 out by my instructions from the Sec'y of War. 
 
 It gives me the greatest pleasure to feel that you and 
 myself will not seriously diflfer in opinion either as to the 
 general object to be accomplished or the best means of 
 attaining it. I will venture to suggest that you would do 
 well so to make your calculations as not only not to exceed 
 
The Desert Journey 169 
 
 your means but to have something left for contingencies. 
 For this purpose I would make as close an estimate of the 
 probable expenses of a farm as possible, and if necessary, to 
 keep within the provided means, I would commence with 
 only one farm. I would on no account begin with the 
 Indians on a scale beyond my ability to carry it through the 
 year and would hold the power of going beyond my promises 
 rather than falling short of them. 
 
 We shall look for you soon and no one will be more happy 
 to meet you than 
 
 Yours very sincerely, 
 
 E. A. Hitchcock, 
 Col. U. S. Army. 
 Ed. F. Beale, Esq., 
 Supt. of Ind. Affairs, 
 CaUfomia. 
 Fort Miller. 
 
 Dtuing this adventurous period and indeed 
 throughout his life Senator Benton was a con- 
 stant correspondent of Beale's. In the following 
 letters written at this time a very charming side 
 of the Missouri Tribune's character is revealed and 
 the interest with which Beale's exploration of the 
 Central Plain was foUowed in the East and at the 
 seat of government in Washington is made very 
 plain. 
 
 Benton's praise of the young explorer is all the 
 more generous when it is recalled that it was a 
 sore disappointment to him at the moment, and a 
 rank injustice for all time, that the command of 
 one of the trans-continental expeditions sent out 
 by the Administration had not been given to his 
 son-in-law. Col. Fremont. 
 
170 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 Washington City, Oct. 3, '53. 
 
 To Edward Beale, Esq. 
 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 Col. Fremont had to turn back for some illness after 
 leaving the frontier to get medical assistance at St. Louis; 
 but his party went on (ten good Delawares among them) to 
 proceed until they entered the Buffalo range, and then to 
 remain in a hunting encampment until he overtook them. 
 He writes from St. Louis in good spirits and perfect confi- 
 dence of making a complete survey. He desired me to 
 send this message to you, which I do in his own words : 
 
 " Please request of Mr. Beale to put his best animals at 
 my rancho, or at any other convenient place, where they 
 may recruit, and exchange them for mine when I reach 
 California. It is my intention to turn back immediately 
 and make the return voyage with great rapidity. I had on 
 my place, when I left California, upwards of twenty horses 
 and mules. These animals, and the proposed exchange 
 with Beale, would enable me to accomplish my purpose; 
 but the animals ought to be all looked to and well cared for 
 in the meanwhile. " 
 
 This is what he requests of you, and which you will no 
 doubt take pleasure in doing as far as you can. I had 
 wished to apply to the Secretary for leave for you to return 
 with Fremont, but we have not yet heard of your arrival 
 in the country, and therefore, cannot ask that favor at 
 present. Our last advices from you are the letters from 
 Mr. Heap at Taos, and which gave us the gratifying news 
 of your having found good passes, good country, water, 
 etc., altho' balked at the Grand River Fork of the Great 
 Colorado. 
 
 We have Santa Fe mails to the first of September, which 
 was six weeks after Heap returned from Taos, and hearing 
 nothing more of you on this side of the mountains, conclude 
 that you have gone through. I enclose a slip which gives 
 an account of Riggs and Rodgers. The former has stopped 
 
The Desert Journey 171 
 
 in New York, and I think must be pretty well cured of 
 gout. 
 
 Let Mr. Heap know that I have a letter from his father 
 as late as the i8th of August, when they were all well — as we 
 are here. 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 Thomas H. Benton. 
 
 Washington City, Nov. 2, '53. 
 
 Dear Edward: 
 
 Your letter of the 29th Sep. giving a brief account of the 
 Canada de las Uvas, and referring to a previous one, came 
 safe to hand, but not so the one to which it refers, and which 
 has not yet reached me. I am glad you explored that Pass. 
 It adds to our choice of routes, but we wish to find one north 
 of Walker's, and as near as possible in the straight hne of 
 travel, so as to cut off the elbow to the S. W. after leaving 
 the Vegas de Santa Clara. I am looking for the Journal 
 kept of your expedition, and will have it published in the 
 National Intelligencer, whence it will go all over the U. S. 
 
 Your expedition has been filling the U. S. during all the 
 summer, and has fixed the character of the central route. 
 The Government expeditions seem to be forgotten. Fre- 
 mont resumed his expedition on the 15th ult. from St. Louis, 
 taking a physician with him. 
 
 I am sincerely glad that Hammond has been able to dispel 
 the cloud of suspicion that had gathered against him. 
 Somebody acted foully and villainously toward you, and 
 time may show who it was. . . . 
 
 Your friend, 
 
 Thomas H. Benton. 
 
 Dec. 3, '53. 
 
 Dear Edward: 
 
 You have gained a great deal of credit by your expedition, 
 and established yourself with the country — the more so 
 
172 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 from the massacre of Gunnison's' party by the same tribe 
 that was so hospitable to you. 
 
 The Nat. Int. spreads it and it will be printed in pamph- 
 let, with a map, which will bring you a heap de Vargent, 
 beaucoup de Vargent. Will also try and get Cpngress to 
 reimburse your expenses. 
 
 I think you should make a special report on the Indian 
 department debts in California — reporting every one to the 
 Government, that you can find out, with the justice, or 
 injustice of each. 
 
 This is due to bona fide claimants as well as to the goverii- 
 ment, that the good may be paid and a check had upon the 
 bad. In your report give this as a special reason, in addi- 
 tion to general duty, for making it. 
 
 In that report you can weU place the cattle which Fre- 
 mont actually delivered to N. Y. agents. 
 Affectionately, 
 
 Thomas H. Benton, 
 
 Senator from Missouri. 
 
 Benton was never weary of praising Beale and 
 pointing out the immense importance and value 
 of his explorations to the country in general and in 
 particular to his beloved St. Louis. Upon the 
 rettim East, Benton met them and at a banquet 
 which the city gave made the following remarks, 
 which, necessarily very much condensed, I take 
 from a St. Louis paper of the following day. 
 "There before you, Gentlemen, " said the Senator, 
 "sit the heads of this remarkable party (pointing 
 
 " Referring to the fate of the exploring and surveying expedition 
 under the command of Col. John M. Gunnison, U. S. A., Gunnison 
 with seven of his men was murdered by a band of Mormons and 
 Indians near Sevier Lake, Utah, on October 26, 1853. 
 
The Desert Journey 173 
 
 to Beale and Heap), they are young in years but 
 old in experience and well tried in all the hardships 
 and dangers of distant travel. The Superintend- 
 ent, Mr. Beale, has made at least a dozen voyages 
 by land or water to California, has been the com- 
 rade of Fremont, Carson and other mountain men 
 . . . and yet he is only twenty-eight, an age 
 when the period of heroic life is still ahead." 
 Benton then entunerated the supplies which 
 the explorers took with them; it is not a long 
 list and yet too long to be reproduced here. 
 However, Benton adding up the total, says the 
 whole outfit cost only eighty-six dollars and thirty 
 cents and then preaches a sermon upon the 
 economy shown. 
 
 " This is the Hst of supplies all told and a blanket 
 apiece and no tents. Some rifles to keep off the 
 Indians and to bring down game . . . And this is 
 the outfit for a fifty days' wilderness jaunt of young 
 men who at home wear fine linen and fare sump- 
 tuously every day. Gentlemen, this is certainly sug- 
 gestive of many conclusions such as that they are 
 not a government party, do not equip at public 
 expense, did not graduate at West Point and do not 
 intend to break down under the transportation of 
 what is called, in the vernacular of the West, 'belly- 
 timber.' " 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 Indian Affairs 
 
 State of the Indians in the Pacific Coast Territories — 
 Indians Held to Peonage by the Whites — Fifteen 
 Thousand Die of Starvation — Spaniards and Mexicans 
 as Slave Drivers — Beale's Plan of Protected Reserva- 
 tions for the Nation's Wards — Mr. Sebastian Supports 
 the Plan in the Senate, and Secures the Desired Appro- 
 priation — Beale's Indian PoKcy Endorsed by the 
 Military and Civil Officials in CaHfomia — General 
 Hitchcock's Letter — Opposition of Indian Agents — 
 Massacres in Shasta and Scott Valley — General Rising 
 of the Indians Feared — Beale Commissioned Briga- 
 dier-General — ^As Peace Plenipotentiary Brings the 
 Warlike Tribes to Terms — Beale's Defence of the 
 Modocs. 
 
 ONCE arrived upon the Pacific Coast, Gen. 
 Beale addressed himself with character- 
 istic energy to the tremendous problem 
 which anything like fair treatment for the Indians 
 imposed. He held a census of his wards and found 
 that the Indians numbered about seventy thou- 
 sand "though they are," as he wrote to Washing- 
 ton, "melting away every day before the pressure of 
 the white poptilation and owing to the harassing 
 
 174 
 
Indian Affairs 175 
 
 operation of circumstances over which we have 
 no control." 
 
 General Beale further wrote that he was con- 
 vinced that more than fifteen thousand Indians had 
 perished from starvation during the previous sea- 
 son. He further describes at considerable length 
 in his official correspondence many cases of peonage 
 in which whole families and even villages of. 
 Indians had been involved and as a result were 
 living in a state of servitude. Fortunately for the 
 reputation of American citizenship he adds, "these 
 slave drivers and those who were holding the 
 pueblos in bondage are almost without exception 
 Spaniards or Mexicans." 
 
 It was apparent to General Beale that the system 
 or rather want of system which he found in force 
 would lead soon to an Indian war, or, if not would 
 in a very few years end in the disappearance of his 
 wards. A section and a very noisy section of the 
 frontier population was in favor of exterminating 
 the unfortunate savages who had large possessions 
 but not the wit to defend them, and it required a 
 man of General Beale's sturdy courage to oppose the 
 plans for getting rid of the unfortunate race which 
 were now showered upon him. What took place 
 is perhaps best described in one of the speeches 
 with which Senator Sebastian,' who had seen the 
 General at work in the field, supported his policy. 
 
 ' William King Sebastian, born in Tennessee. U. S. Senator from 
 Arkansas, 1853-61. During this time he was Chairman of the Senate 
 Committee on Indian Affairs. 
 
176 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 I will not go on into further details [said the Senator] ; 
 that conditions are bad enough in all conscience will not 
 be disputed I suppose. The moment Gen. Beale became 
 satisfied that if the present order of things were permitted 
 to long continue the results would be disastrous, he tried 
 on a limited scale the plan which I now propose should be 
 generally adopted. He congregated around about him 
 upon a small reservation a number of Indians without inter- 
 fering in the rights of property or occupancy of any citizen 
 of CaUfomia. Over one thousand of this simple tribe of 
 Indians who are mild in their character, not wild like the 
 Comanches or other tribes east of the Sierra Nevada, have 
 flocked around him as their only protector from the misery 
 by which they are surroimded and from the cruel persecu- 
 tion by which they are pursued. Gen. Beale finds these 
 simple people anxious for work and easily adapting them- 
 selves to the changed condition of their affairs. Indeed 
 such has been the extended success of the experiment which 
 he undertook on his own responsibihty that hundreds of 
 other Indians are absolutely importuning him to place them 
 under his immediate protection and allow them to work and 
 to Uve. 
 
 There can be no doubt about the success of the experi- 
 ment upon the scale it has been tried, all observers agree in 
 this favorable verdict, and so encouraged, aU the Superin- 
 tendent of the Indians asks is to be allowed a sufficient 
 amount of money to extend the same system all over 
 California. In this way it is believed that the entire Indian 
 population can be congregated into small districts of coun- 
 try which will not interfere with any existing white settle- 
 ments and which can be protected from incursions. It is 
 supposed that two hundred and fifty thousand dollars will 
 suffice to carry out the plan. If the system is worth any- 
 thing, and I think it will be successful once it is put into 
 operation, it will be self-sustaining. 
 
 Not only have we reason to expect this but I am assured 
 
Indian Affairs 177 
 
 by General Beale and we all know he is a practical man that 
 not only will the system prove self-sustaining but it will 
 prove a useful auxiliary in reducing the expenses of the 
 regular army Quartermaster's Department in that country. 
 I have not entered into details because we have I am sure 
 implicit confidence in the Superintendent and propose to 
 let him carry out the details of his own plan in his own way. 
 
 The following letter from Beale was also read to 
 the Senate by Mr. Sebastian and helped greatly to 
 carry the day for a more civilized treatment of the 
 Indians. The letter was addressed to the Secretary 
 of the Interior and reads : 
 
 I have the honor to inform you that in obedience to your 
 instructions dated Dec. 8th, 1852, I went over to the 
 San Pablo Rancho in Contra Costa county to investigate 
 the matter of alleged cruel treatment of Indians there. I 
 found seventy-eight on the rancho and twelve back of 
 Martinez and most of them were sick and without clothes 
 or any food but the fruit of the buck-eye. Up to the time 
 of my coming eighteen had died of starvation at one camp, 
 how many at the others I could not find out. These 
 Indians were brought into this country from some place 
 near Clear Lake by Califomians named Ramond Briones, 
 Ramon Mes, etc., who have for some time made a business 
 of catching Indians and of disposing of them in various 
 ways. And I have been informed that many Indians have 
 been murdered in these expeditions. 
 
 These present Indians are the survivors of a band who 
 were worked all last summer and fall and as the winter set 
 in, when broken down by hunger and labor and without 
 food or clothes they were turned adrift to shift for them- 
 selves as best they could. Your timely interference in 
 behalf of these unfortunate people has saved the lives of 
 
178 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 most of them, for the Indians could not have lived through 
 such weather as we have had without any food, clothing or 
 shelter. 
 
 I distributed all the well among families around who are 
 to feed, clothe and protect them until your further orders. 
 I have made provision for the sick to be fed and cared for. 
 I am happy to inform you, to show the good character of 
 these Indians that even when starving and surrounded with 
 horses and cattle I heard no complaint of their stealing. 
 These people could easily be made to support themselves 
 and their condition changed for the better. The grand 
 jury of the county has found bills against the Calif omians 
 above mentioned and I presume their trial will come on next 
 term. 
 
 On several other occasions in February, 1853, 
 Mr. Sebastian, Chairman of the Committee on In- 
 dian Affairs, addressed the Senate on the question 
 of a fairer treatment of the Indians which General 
 Beale had so courageously raised, much too cotira- 
 geously indeed to please many of his friends who 
 had been longer in political circles and had lost the 
 moral courage which characterized the sailor who 
 had left his ship to become a pilot of the plains. 
 In his speeches Mr. Sebastian read many extracts 
 from General Beale's reports and warmly sup- 
 ported the plans which the General submitted for 
 adoption by the Government. The most notable of 
 these speeches was delivered before a f uU and as yet 
 unconvinced Senate on March 2nd, with the most 
 happy result. Indeed it may be said without the 
 slightest exaggeration that General Beale's htimane 
 work and Senator Sebastian's eloquent words laid 
 
Indian Affairs 179 
 
 the foundation of a protective policy toward the 
 Indians more in consonance with the demands of 
 civilization than any that had been previously fol- 
 lowed, and it was certainly not the fault of these 
 pioneers who carried their principles with them 
 across the Colorado that the policy which they 
 instituted did not immediately bear fruit. Some 
 of Senator Sebastian's statements in the course of 
 the prolonged debate are not without interest or 
 timeliness to-day. He said : 
 
 The Amendment (which was but a paraphrase of Gen. 
 Beale's recommendations given elsewhere) is approved I 
 beheve by the unanimous consent and earnest conviction 
 of the Committee on Indian Affairs that some legislation 
 of this kind is absolutely necessary to correct the state of 
 affairs now prevailing in California which no one can wish to 
 see continued. I beg that Senators will be startled neither 
 at the amount asked for or at the almost imlimited power 
 which it is found necessary to confer on the Superintendent 
 for the Indians. We have often been called upon to legis- 
 late for CaKfomia on accoimt of the state of things prevail- 
 ing there and it was but natural for us to be called upon to 
 make large appropriations. 
 
 We attempted to extend the whole system of the Indian 
 administration of that country by means of a superintendent 
 and Indian agents. Now the first result of the agents going 
 into the country was a return to the regime of the Nineteen 
 Treaties which on account of their condemnation by an 
 unquestionable pubhc sentiment which reached even this 
 body was laid upon the table without a dissenting voice. 
 These treaties provided for large reservations and pledged 
 this government to the pa3mient of a large sum of money, 
 a policy which did not meet the approbation of the delegates 
 
i8o Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 from California. The next step which Congress took was 
 to confide the entire subject of the Indian policy of that 
 country to a resident Superintendent of Indian Affairs who 
 is clothed with almost viceregal authority and who was 
 made Indian Commissioner for CaUfomia. I remember 
 with what satisfaction the nomination of Gen. Beale to fill 
 that office, a gallant officer and a gentleman eminently 
 qualified for it, was received in this body. 
 
 Now Gen. Beale has, after a complete investigation of the 
 subject, made a report which for comprehensiveness of 
 plan, for clearness of conception and above all for its prac- 
 tical adaptation to the institutions of the country I think 
 stands unequalled by other documents of this kind. 
 
 What, Sir, may I ask is the necessity of the case? We 
 find CaUfomia in the possession of a large number of Indian 
 tribes occupjdng the whole surface of the country. They 
 have been in fact independent although in form dependent 
 upon the mild paternal sway of Spanish rule. Our emi- 
 grants went there and went with a kind of feeling which 
 contented itself with nothing less than the possession of the 
 whole country; the consequences have been an unvaried 
 monotonous history of wars, mtirders, predatory incursions, 
 starvation and great distress among the Indians ever 
 since. The plan resorted to by the treaty making power 
 has been unequal to the object in view and now it is recom- 
 mended by Gen. Beale to collect the tribes together upon 
 small military reservations which because they are military 
 can be removed according to the exigencies of the case. 
 They can be placed here or removed there. It will entitle 
 the Indians to protection against the whites which is more 
 needed than protection against the Indians and I am satis- 
 fied that nothing less than this will be acceptable to the 
 people of California. There is a necessity to which we 
 must accommodate ourselves in legislating for that country. 
 There is a condition of things there which we must endeavor 
 to remedy and the best method seems clearly to be found 
 
Indian Affairs i8i 
 
 in Gen. Beale's plan. He would as you have been informed, 
 congregate the Indians upon small military and agricultural 
 reservations, sufficiently large to enable them to maintain 
 life upon and then insist that all comers respect their rights. 
 
 Mr. Sebastian then proposed the following 
 amendment to the bill regulating Indian affairs, 
 then before the Senate. It was read a third time 
 and carried unanimously. It embodied General 
 Beale's plan and gave him aU the power and the 
 facilities he then thought he would require to put 
 an end to the shocking conditions in which he 
 found the Indians living when he was called upon 
 to take charge of their destinies. The amendment 
 unanimously adopted read': 
 
 That the President of the United States be and is hereby 
 authorized to make five military reservations from the 
 pubhc domain in the state of California or in the territories 
 of Utah and New Mexico bordering on said state for Indian 
 purposes. Provided that such reservations shall not contain 
 more than twenty-five thousand acres each and provided 
 further that such reservations shall not be made on any 
 lands inhabited by citizens of California cLnd the sum of 
 two hundred and fifty thousand dollars is hereby appro- 
 priated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise 
 appropriated to defray the expense of subsisting the Indians 
 in California and removing them to said reservation for 
 protection. 
 
 General Beale's Indian policy, as it developed, 
 was warmly indorsed in letters from the Governor 
 and the Lieutenant-Governor of California which 
 they addressed to the President of the United States 
 
1 82 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 from Vallejo, California, in February, 1853. An 
 even more valuable ally than Hon. John Bigler the 
 Governor, developed in the person of General 
 Hitchcock, who was continually addressing the 
 Secretary of War in support of Beale's policy. 
 Writing in November, 1852, General Hitchcock 
 says: 
 
 I deem it necessary for such use as the Hon. Secretary of 
 War may think proper to express an opinion carefully 
 formed in favor of the plan proposed recently by Gen. 
 Beale, the Superintendent of Indians in this division for 
 adjusting and placing on a permanent basis our relations 
 with the Indians of this country. ... It appears to me 
 that the choice of the Government lies necessarily between 
 accepting Gen. Beale's plan or in giving the Indians over 
 to rapid extermination or expulsion from the state. The 
 objection to the plan is the apparently new policy of assum- 
 ing direct control over the Indian lands and providing for 
 the Indians, giving them the alternative of accepting such 
 arrangements as the Government may make or of being 
 treated or maltreated at the pleasure of the white settlers. 
 
 In answer to this it should be considered that these 
 Indians have never been recognized by the Spanish or 
 Mexican governments as having independent rights in the 
 county and therefore as far as they are concerned the pro- 
 posed policy wotild introduce no decided change. In regard 
 to the settlers it is not to be denied that there is serious 
 difficulty but the real question is whether they shall in an 
 unregulated manner determine our intercourse with the 
 Indians, inducing expensive wars -with other evils or whether 
 the Government shall establish some limits and rules for 
 this intercourse. 
 
 By the plan proposed a small portion of land is to be set 
 apart within which there is to be a military post and some 
 
Indian Affairs 183 
 
 provision made for the subsistence of the Indians to be 
 supplied as far as possible from their labor. Within this 
 reserve the Indians are to be protected but not beyond it. 
 This reserve would naturally be selected near the moun- 
 tains, leaving the latter for the range of the Indians 
 extending into the interior without limit. 
 
 The system might be commenced with one or two posts 
 at first where most needed as on the head- waters of the San 
 Joaquin VaUey at the base of the Sierra Nevada and at some 
 point on the upper waters of the Sacramento, and the sys- 
 tem could be extended as the requirements of the country 
 and experience might indicate the necessity for it. 
 
 The present coiu-se tends to exasperate a large body of 
 Indians, a remnant of which in a very few years will be 
 driven beyond the Sierra Nevada carrying with them a 
 leaven of bitterness among extensive tribes with which we 
 have as yet no intercourse. They would also carry with them 
 some knowledge of firearms and an instructed spirit of war 
 hitherto unknown on this coast and the result would not 
 fail to be the most savage and desperate warfare for an 
 indefinite period, making a pacific transit over the continent 
 next to impossible for a great many years. 
 
 It is a mistake, in my judgment, to suppose that the 
 Indians on this coast except perhaps a few digger bands 
 difEer materially from those found by the pilgrims at Ply- 
 mouth from whose descendants there sprang up in time a 
 Philip and a Tecumseh. It is by no means certain that the 
 seeds of dreadful massacres and barbarities are not already 
 sown. ... It is of manifest importance that there should 
 be harmony of action between the Superintendent of Indian 
 Affairs and the miUtary commander on this coast and, if I 
 am to be retained on duty here I beg to express the wish 
 that Mr. Beale may be continued in the superintendence of 
 Indian affairs. He has a more extensive acquaintance with 
 the Indians than any other man in the country and brings 
 to the performance of his duties an earnest zeal, a humane 
 
1 84 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 spirit, an untiring perseverance and an honest inde- 
 pendence. 
 
 Agent McKee, in writing to the Secretary of the 
 Interior a report which Mr. Beale endorsed, was 
 particularly severe in his criticism of some mem- 
 bers, indeed even of a small class of the border popu- 
 lation. He says : 
 
 In the meantime I design appealing to the Governor 
 of the State to order a rigid scrutiny into the facts of 
 these outrages and to take such measures as may be 
 proper to bring the offenders to justice. In all the frontier 
 settlements there are many men from Missouri, Oregon, 
 Texas, etc., who value the life of an Indian just as they do 
 that of a coyote or a wolf and embrace every opportunity to 
 shoot them down. I despair of seeing the peace of these 
 settlements fully established until the laws of the state are 
 enforced and some terrible examples made, or until the 
 government of the United States sends the military com- 
 mandant of this division the men and the means to estab- 
 lish several small military posts to protect the Indian from 
 these attacks. 
 
 The most flagrant case of ruthless killing re- 
 ported by General Beale is the massacre of Trinity 
 River. He writes : 
 
 This river falling into the Pacific from the high rugged 
 country some distance north of San Francisco is noted as 
 the best in the country for salmon fish which constitutes 
 almost the whole subsistence of the Indians. The whites 
 took the whole river and crowded the Indians into the ster- 
 ile mountains and when they came back for fish they were 
 usually shot. If the Indians took cattle or were suspected 
 
Indian Affairs 185 
 
 of taking cattle they were pursued and punished and their 
 villages sometimes attacked. In the spring of last year 
 some Indians were charged with taking cattle, a party went 
 against their village, surrounded it at night, attacked at 
 daybreak, killed the whole, chiefly consisting of women 
 and children, the men being absent, except one woman and 
 child who were taken prisoners. They carried home a 
 bag full of scalps, believed to be about 130 and all with- 
 out loss to themselves, which proves the character of the 
 operation. 
 
 There are of cotirse, adds General Beale, many 
 right thinking, considerate men in this country who 
 deplore this savage spirit on the part of some of the 
 settlers; but living so far from the county seats 
 and with their own lives and property at risk they 
 are afraid to speak out as they otherwise would. 
 
 .In concluding his official report General Beale 
 made the following recommendations. Unhappily 
 not aU of these measures were approved. 
 
 1st. For the immediate subsistence and support of the 
 Indians the sum of half a million dollars. 
 
 2d. For their permanent support and protection mili- 
 tary reserves where a few soldiers can be stationed and 
 where they will support themselves by labor. 
 
 3d. That aU the of&cers employed in CaUfomia in 
 the Indian service shall reside on these reserves or among 
 the Indians. I myself have an abode between the Mari- 
 posas and the San Joaquin about three hundred miles 
 from San Francisco. 
 
 4th. That the Indian agencies shall be abolished and 
 six sub-agents be appointed at about fifteen hundred 
 
1 86 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 dollars each to reside with the Indians and assist them 
 in cultivation as well as discharging other duties. 
 Washington, Feb. 25, 1853. 
 
 While doing the best he cotdd for the Indians 
 and for the dignity and well-being of the State of 
 California, General Beale had been absolutely- 
 ruthless in his campaign against corruption and 
 inefficiency among the Indian agents and the con- 
 tractors in their service. With an eye single to the 
 public service and the interests of his wards, Gen- 
 eral Beale had dismissed the venal officials without 
 thought of personal or political considerations, and 
 many agents were also removed from their lucrative 
 posts pending investigation of their conduct. 
 
 At first, and again at the end of Beale's ser- 
 vice, he was heartily supported by the adminis- 
 tration at home and by the officials of the Interior 
 Department ; however, there was a time, an inter- 
 regnum, when the men whom Beale had discharged 
 for the good of the service, and the malcontents 
 still in the service who were fearful that their short- 
 comings might any day attract the attention of 
 their eagle-eyed chief, had the audacity to conspire 
 against their superintendent. The administration 
 was not particularly friendly at this juncture with 
 the friends^ of General Beale. 
 
 'Washington, April 2d, 1854. 
 Dear Edward: 
 
 I received your letter from Panama and think it well that Mrs. Beale 
 
 join you — ^you have not much favor to expect here, and only fear gets 
 
 you justice. But be of good heart, they cannot remove you, on account 
 
Indian Affairs 187 
 
 California, the scene of his administration, and 
 the Califomians, who cotdd testify as to its value, 
 were far away, while the chorus of dismissed and 
 discredited Indian officials were assembled in 
 Washington and were unhappily sustained by 
 political backing of practical value. 
 
 The moment, however, Beale's enemies were 
 forced into making definite charges, their over- 
 throw and confusion were near. I have noticed this 
 trivial and as it would seem unavoidable incident 
 in the life of any man who sets his face sternly 
 against the temptation of corrupting influences, 
 because of its delicious denouement. While General 
 Beale was under fire his friends waited, but formed 
 themselves into a court of honor, when the charges 
 fell to the groimd and Beale's vilifiers were routed 
 and disgraced. Later the members of the court 
 of honor published in the Washington papers, ac- 
 cording to the custom then prevaiHng, the following 
 statement of what had occurred. It was well 
 received and the incident closed. 
 
 The End of a Slander. — The newspapers of Saturday 
 last published a telegraphic despatch, giving an account of 
 a personal encounter the day previous between Lieut. 
 Beale, and one , a Commissioner of Indian affairs, at one 
 
 of the hold you have on the public mind. Your expedition and success 
 in colonizing the Indians does the business for you. Write fuU accounts 
 of your operations with the Indians, have them published — and they 
 
 secure you. is a low fellow and naturally hates a man like you. 
 
 But I have him on the anvil and will hammer him. 
 
 Your old friend, 
 
 Thomas H. Benton. 
 
1 88 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 of the hotels at Washington. The causes which led to the 
 afEair, as we have gathered them from those cognizant of all 
 the circumstances, were these. 
 
 It is well known that Lieutenant Beale, owing to his 
 intimate acquaintance with the habits of the Indians and 
 their mode of life was appointed by Mr. Fillmore, Super- 
 intendent of Indian Affairs in California. He held the 
 office until after the election of the present President, and 
 by the faithful discharge of his duties gave entire satisfac- 
 tion to the Government. He was subsequently reappointed 
 to the situation he then held by President Pierce at the 
 earnest solicitation of those who knew his abiUty to manage 
 the Indians in that part of our country. 
 
 About a year since the administration deemed it neces- 
 sary for political purposes to appoint a mere politician to 
 the place held by Lieut. Beale, and as some pretext for his 
 removal seemed to be called for, it was given out in Wash- 
 ington, and then sent all over the country, that he was a 
 defaulter to the Government in a large amount. This false 
 charge reached him in California, and he at once left his 
 post, returned to his home with his vouchers and submitted 
 them to the proper officers for examination and settlement. 
 
 After a delay of some eight months — during all of which 
 time he was present to answer any objections which might 
 be made to his disbursements — the accounting officers of the 
 Treasury Department finally passed his accounts, which 
 were afterwards taken up by the Secretary of the Treasury 
 in person, and he was allowed every claim he had made in 
 expending some three hundred and sixty thousand dollars 
 of the public money — not a cent of which had adhered to 
 his hands. 
 
 Further than this, the officers who had charge of his 
 accounts informed the Superintendent that his vouchers 
 were examined with more than the usual scrutiny, owing to 
 
 the reports which had been given out by as to the 
 
 delinquency, and they congratulated him on the entire 
 
Indian Affairs 189 
 
 satisfaction which their correctness had given them. This 
 was a triumphant vindication from the charges which had 
 been made by a bad man against the probity and honor of a 
 faithful and efficient officer. 
 
 The article charging Mr. Beale with being a defaulter to 
 the Government appeared originally in The Evening Star 
 at Washington. After his accounts, which had passed the 
 searching examination before alluded to, were admitted 
 to be correct, a number of his personal friends called upon 
 the editor of the Star, and were frankly informed that the 
 
 information had been furnished by , and that he, , 
 
 had himself written the article charging Lieut. Beale with the 
 defalcation! Mortified that he should thus be stabbed in 
 the back by a functionary of the Government, at whose 
 hands he had a right to expect justice, Mr. Beale embraced 
 an opportunity which offered at the hotel where he so- 
 journed, and properly piuiished the vilifier and slanderer, 
 by slapping his face with his open hand in public — and this 
 is the extent of the "outrage" perpetrated by the Lieutenant. 
 If an assault can be justified in any case then was this 
 
 public castigation right and proper. attempted to 
 
 ruin the reputation of an honest man in his absence. His 
 accusation went abroad, and was believed by those who 
 did not know the facts; and now the vindication of the 
 charges, extorted from his accuser, and his public punish- 
 ment will go together — the antidote to the poison. 
 
 Do what he could, and Beale was certainly- 
 tireless in his activity, and despite the fact that his 
 humane policy was warmly supported by all the 
 best people in the country, official and unofficial, 
 General Beale soon recognized that with the slender 
 means at his command he could not sectire for his 
 wards the protection to which they were entitled 
 and which had indeed been promised in solemn 
 
igo Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 treaty. Beale sums up the situation in a letter to 
 Washington written at this time. 
 
 The condition of many of the Indian tribes is truly 
 deplorable, they are driven from their hunting and fishing 
 grounds and are in danger of starving. Many of them are 
 made to work without compensation and massacres are 
 taking place all the time. Only fifteen miles from San 
 Francisco the Indians are often enslaved and made to work 
 without pay and when the work season is over they are 
 turned out to starve. 
 
 Naturally the Indians, persecuted and starving 
 as they were, endeavored to help themselves and 
 naturally enough at last in true Indian fashion; 
 white emigrants and colonists were massacred in 
 Shasta and in, Scott Valley and what was more 
 alarming, the news came of a general rising of the 
 Indians at Visalia and of their apparent prepara- 
 tions to wage a war of extermination against the 
 whites throughout the country. 
 
 At this juncture, and it was certainly a case of 
 better late than never, the California authorities 
 bethought them of General Beale and of the extra- 
 ordinary powerful personal influence he exercised 
 over the Indians who had so long been his wards 
 and who ever found in him a generous protector. 
 He was placed in charge of the situation and was 
 soon able to conjure the dangers and smooth out 
 the difificulties with which it fairly bristled. The 
 measures which General Beale adopted and which 
 proved so efficient in the circumstances are de- 
 
Indian Affairs 191 
 
 scribed with characteristic modesty in the follow- 
 ing report to the Governor. To-day, with the 
 Indians gone and populous cities rising on their 
 happy hunting grounds, the most remarkable 
 feature of the campaign that followed is the fact 
 that United States officials and even United States 
 troops acted throughout in perfect subordination to 
 General Beale who in this instance held his com- 
 mission from the State of California. This happy 
 and most unusual co-operation was due in part at 
 least to the great good-will of Gen. John E. Wool, 
 U. S. A., who at this time most fortunately was in 
 command of the Department of the Pacific. Gen- 
 eral Ylool was a warm personal friend of Beale and 
 a sturdy supporter of his Indian policy and as 
 several personal letters written by him to Beale' 
 in later years attest, he recognized that at this 
 critical moment in the history of the settlements on 
 the Pacific, General Beale's high reputation for fair 
 dealing and his deep insight into Indian character 
 were of more value than several regiments of 
 dragoons and these, it might be added, were not 
 immediately available, while General Beale was. 
 
 The report of General Beale is dated San Fran- 
 cisco, Jtdy 1 2th, 1855, and reads as follows : 
 
 Governor: I have the honor to report that in obedience 
 to instructions received from you I proceeded with all 
 despatch to the scene of the Indian difficulties. I left San 
 Francisco on the morning of the 28th of May last, accom- 
 
 ' See Beale papers in MS. 
 
192 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 panied by my Aide-de-camp Colonel Edward Byre. At 
 midnight on the 5th day of June, I encamped on the banks 
 of the King's River. In conversation with Mr. Campbell, 
 sub- Indian agent stationed at this point, I learned that in 
 consequence of the continued excitement of the whites, more 
 particularly those living in and about the villages of Wood- 
 viUe and Visalia, rumors had reached the Indians that 
 active hostiUties would be at once commenced against them 
 and they in consequence had fled to the mountains. 
 
 I despatched early next morning Mr. Campbell, who 
 speaks their language, with five bullocks and a message to 
 them asking them to appoint some spot where I might hold 
 a council. In the meantime I continued on to Elbow 
 Creek. Here I found Lieutenant Livingston, Third Artil- 
 lery encamped with some thirty of his men. I also fortu- 
 nately met here Lieut. Allston of the dragoons who were 
 encamped some ten miles to the south. These gentlemen 
 corroborated the reports I had received relative to the 
 violent measures contemplated by the whites. I then 
 visited Visalia and Woodville and after consulting with 
 several prominent citizens I deemed it best to call a general 
 meeting of the people in the afternoon. It was very fully 
 attended and those present seemed to think that nothing 
 but a very severe punishment of the Indians would prevent 
 future molestation of the whites. I fully explained to them 
 the power that had been confided to me by your Excellency 
 and urged upon them a more conciliatory spirit. I also 
 invited several well-known citizens to accompany me to the 
 proposed council ground. This plan met with their appro- 
 bation and Mr. Campbell, after several days' absence, 
 returned with the information that the Indians had de- 
 spatched runners in every direction to call in their scattered 
 bands and that they would meet me in a valley about thirty- 
 five miles from Elbow Creek. 
 
 I ordered Lieut. Allston's command of some forty dra- 
 goons together with Lieut. Livingston's command of thirty 
 
Indian Affairs 193 
 
 men to accompany me as escort. Early next morning we 
 took up oiir line of march ; the weather was excessively hot 
 and Lieut. Livingston's men being on foot suffered exceed- 
 ingly from the heat and thirst and it was nearly midnight 
 before they reached camp. The next morning I held council, 
 some sixty or seventy Indians being present. The following 
 tribes were represented by chiefs or captains: Monoes, 
 Chokimauves, En Tennysich, Coilla, Yacolle, Talumne, Palu 
 Paloushiss, Wirkachoumnies, Openochies, Tache Noo-tune- 
 too and Chooeminees. Mr. O. K. Smith from Woodville and 
 Dr. George from Visaha represented the citizens; Messrs. 
 Campbell and Jennings, sub-Indian agents were also present. 
 
 Through Gregorio, my Indian interpreter, a very intelli- 
 gent man who accompanied Gen. Fremont to the Atlantic 
 States and back and speaks EngHsh very well, I told them 
 the object of my visit was if possible to make peace; that it 
 was idle for them to attempt to cope with the whites in war- 
 fare, that unless they would unconditionally promise to go 
 where I deemed it best for them to live I had come prepared 
 to inflict summary and severe chastisement upon them. 
 They seemed very anxious for peace and after talking to 
 them for about two hours I dismissed them to reflect well 
 upon what I had said. Later in the afternoon I sent for 
 them again and told them that all their people living upon 
 the waters of the King River must go at once to the 
 Reservation on King River, and that all their people living 
 to the south of this stream must go to the Tocole Valley 
 and to this they joyiully assented. 
 
 I then distributed among them as presents the articles 
 listed in the paper marked A accompan3dng my report. 
 Finding now that a very large tribe living on and about 
 Tule Lake were not represented, I despatched Indian run- 
 ners that night to them with a message that unless they 
 met me in five days from that time in the Tocole valley for 
 the purpose of making a treaty I shotild deem them to be 
 at war and treat them accordingly. 
 13 
 
194 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 The next morning, the loth instant I broke up the camp 
 and retiimed to Elbow Creek. On the morning of the 14th 
 I went to the Couilla valley, some ten miles beyond Wood- 
 ville with an escort of dragoons. Here over three hundred 
 Indians were gathered and some forty citizens were also 
 present. The Olanches, Piquirinals, Coyotes, Wacksdches, 
 and Couillas were present. They said they were delighted 
 to meet me and were perfectly willing to do anything I 
 desired of them. They further agreed, as the others had 
 that they would preserve peace and remain in their present 
 camp until the arrival of Col. Henley the Indian agent. 
 [Here is inserted a list of property destroyed by the Indians 
 which I omit.] 
 
 The peace to be preserved requires first the presence of 
 the Indian Commissioner and next the presence of about 
 twenty-five dragoons in the field constantly. I went to 
 Fort Tejon, and remained there constantly until the arrival 
 of Col. B. L. Beall commanding the fort, of whom I made a 
 request in writing that he should send a detachment into 
 the field at once. He answered that he could not do so 
 unless he received instructions from Gen. Wool. This 
 post should be reinforced at once with another company so 
 that one company could be constantly in the field. There 
 would never be any trouble with the Indians if this were 
 done. 
 
 I arrived here via San Jose on the night of July loth. 
 Hoping that my efEorts will meet with your approbation, 
 
 I have the honor to be 
 Your Excellency's most obedient servant, 
 
 Edward F. Beale, 
 Brigadier-General, 
 5th District. 
 
 To the end of his life Beale was a generous and 
 self-sacrificing friend of the Indians and to the 
 end, as will be seen, the Indians were loyal to their 
 
Indian Affairs 195 
 
 protector. It required courage to tell the truth con- 
 cerning the treatment of the Modocs which pro- 
 voked their uprising, especially at a moment when 
 the whole country was in mourning for the gallant 
 Canby. It required courage and it meant unpopu- 
 larity, but without hesitation General Beale stepped 
 into the breach with the following letter, which 
 was first published in The Republican of Chester, 
 Pennsylvania, on April 25, 1873. It was widely 
 copied throughout the country and helped to 
 steady pubHc opinion with the result that a more 
 civilized view of the situation was taken by the 
 Government. It was the last signal service that 
 Beale was able to render his former wards. He did 
 it cheerfully, though it cost him many friends in 
 and out of the army. 
 
 General Beale's letter reads: 
 
 In the heat of a great poptilar excitement caused by the 
 loss of a most useful and exemplary officer, it is very doubt- 
 ful if a fair judgment can be had in relation to the causes 
 which have produced the event we all deplore. General 
 Canby had served his country with such efficient zeal in two 
 great wars, and was possessed of so many of the virtues 
 which attached him to the community, that the intelligence 
 of his death was received as a shock by the whole people of 
 the United States. Perhaps there was not in the entire army 
 a man whose public and private character stood so high, or 
 who was more generally and justly beloved, and the manner 
 of his death has added to the pubUc grief a sentiment of 
 bitterness toward the Indians which it seems nothing but 
 their extermination will satisfy. With but few exceptions 
 the press of the country is eagerly demanding blood for blood. 
 
196 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 Let us pause for a moment before committing ourselves to 
 a policy more savage and remorseless than that of the Mo- 
 docs whom we propose to smite hip and thigh. Let us ask 
 ourselves if we are not reaping what we have sown, and if 
 the treachery to which the gallant and lamented Canby fell 
 a victim is not the repetition of a lesson which we ourselves 
 have taught these apt scholars, the Indians? Are we to 
 think ourselves blameless when we recall the Chivington 
 massacre? In that affair the Indians were invited to coun- 
 cil under flags of truce, and the rites of hospitality, sacred 
 even among the Bedouins of the desert, were violated as 
 well as all miUtary honor, for these poor wretches, while 
 eating the sacred bread and salt, were ruthlessly fallen upon 
 and slaughtered to the last man. The Piegan massacre 
 was another affair in which we industriously taught the 
 uncultivated savages the value of our pledges; and if we 
 are correctly informed the very beginning of the Modoc 
 war was an attempt while in the act of council to which 
 they had been invited to make Captain Jack and two others 
 prisoners. As to the bloody character of Indian warfare, 
 as far as we can see, it is carried on by us with about the 
 same zeal. We read of a sergeant in the service of the 
 United States who in the late attack on the Modocs "took 
 the scalp of Scar-face Charley who was found wounded in 
 the lava beds." And if we desire to feel very good and 
 free from barbarism we have only to read what comes to us 
 side by side with news from the Modocs of the humane 
 and civilized treatment we are meting out to our brothers 
 in Louisiana, who differ from us on political questions; or 
 recall the massacre and robbery and mutilation of unoffend- 
 ing Chinese, which was committed in broad daylight by 
 American citizens in California a year or so ago. 
 
 The Modoc Indians are fighting for a right to live where 
 God created them. The whole testimony of their neighbors 
 when the war against them was first talked about, is to the 
 effect that they were intelligent and inoffensive; and we 
 
Indian Affairs 197 
 
 have exasperated them by insisting on our right, which 
 they do not see, to remove them to a distant and unknown 
 country. Having been taught by us a violation of flags of 
 truce, they have followed our example, and unhappily a 
 noble victim to our teaching of falsehood and crime is the 
 result; whereupon there goes out a cry of extermination 
 throughout the land. 
 
 We enter our protest against this course, and we ask for 
 justice and a calmer consideration by the public, of the 
 Indian affairs of our country. We cannot restore the good 
 men who have been killed, by an indiscriminate slaughter 
 of all the tribe of the Modocs; and it does not become a 
 Christian people to hunt to death the poor remnant of 
 those from whom we have already taken the broad acres of 
 thirty-seven states of this Union. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 The Forgotten Camel Corps 
 
 Transportation Problems of the Fifties — To Provision 
 Army Posts in Southwest, Beale Suggests Camel Train 
 to the War Department — Enthusiastic Reception of 
 the Novel Idea by Secretary Jefferson Davis — David 
 Dixon Porter Sent to Tunis and Syria to Secure the 
 Camels — Camel Corps in the Scinde Campaign — 
 Beale's Report to the War Department of his Camel 
 Journey from San Antonio to El Paso — San Francisco 
 Papers Enthusiastic over the New Beast of Burden — 
 Davis Resigns from the War Department and the 
 Camels are Neglected — Beale Herds the Survivors on 
 his Ranch — A Camel Tandem — Value of Beale's 
 Journals to Future Historians of the Southwestern and 
 Pacific States. 
 
 IN 1854 the War Department had its hands 
 quite full in endeavoring to solve the difficult 
 problem of army transportation to the re- 
 mote 'stations of the newly acquired territory in the 
 Southwest. This vast region, added to our pos- 
 sessions by the Mexican War and the subsequent 
 purchase, waS chiefly peopled by Indians and Mexi- 
 cans who were held in check with much difficulty 
 
 and no little danger by, a few scattered army posts. 
 
 198 
 
The Forgotten Camel Corps 199 
 
 To furnish the desired transportation facilities 
 all manner of plans and agencies were proposed. 
 When Beale presented himself at the Department 
 with his suggestion of a camel corps it was regarded 
 as quixotic it is true, but at all events as having as 
 much substance as a relayed line of balloons which 
 was at this time warmly advocated for the same 
 purpose. 
 
 Beale naturally did not pretend that he had 
 enjoyed any personal experience with camels as 
 beasts of burden but he simply overwhelmed the 
 Department with excerpts and citations from books 
 of travel in Asia and Africa all going to show the 
 great usefulness of the " Ship of the Desert," in des- 
 ert places. In after years General Beale told his son 
 that the idea came to him once when he was, proba- 
 bly the first white man who ever did so, exploring 
 Death Valley^ with Kit Carson. He never trav- 
 elled so light but what there was at least one good 
 book in his pack. On this occasion it chanced to be 
 Abb6 Hue's Travels in China and Tartary. Read- 
 ing this book, Beale was convinced that by the 
 introduction of camels the great desert of Arizona 
 could be robbed of half its terrors. Kit Carson 
 
 ' It is characteristic of Beale that not a line concerning this adventur- 
 ous trip is to be found in his papers and diaries. The Death Valley 
 journey was but one of a series of systematic explorations which he 
 made, whenever opportunity presented and generally in the company of 
 Carson, for the purpose of examining all the passes from the then bar- 
 ren plains of Arizona mto the Eden of California. The moment Beale 
 had satisfied himself that Death Valley was not the path of empire 
 which he sought, he drew a line through that route and went on to 
 the exploration of others which seemed more promising. 
 
200 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 seems to have remained sceptical but on his retiim 
 to Washington Beale was so forttmate as to find 
 a fellow-enthusiast in the person of Jefferson Davis 
 who had recently entered the cabinet as Secretary 
 of War. 
 
 Finding such an important person as the Sec- 
 retary of War in a receptive mood, Beale lost 
 no time in setting about the preliminary step of 
 "catching the camels." Mr. Davis and Beale 
 were successful in infusing the Navy Department 
 with some of their enthusiasm, the store ship 
 Supply was soon fitted out for Camel-Land and 
 Beale induced his friend and kinsman, David 
 Dixon Porter, who was later to win imperishable 
 laurels in the Civil War, to apply for the command. 
 
 In May, 1855, Porter sailed for Tunis. Neither 
 he nor any man of his command had ever seen a 
 camel, outside of a circus, and he wisely decided to 
 go slowly and experiment at first on a small scale. 
 In Tunis he purchased two camels and shipped 
 them for the purpose of studying their habits before 
 the entire herd was taken in tow or rather on 
 board. In October the Supply arrived at Constan- 
 tinople and from here Porter visited the Crimea 
 and saw something of the campaign in progress. 
 While he went at it with his characteristic thorough- 
 ness, hitherto the camel-mission had appealed to 
 Porter's well-known sense of humor rather than to 
 any belief in its utility. In the Crimea, however, 
 he met several English officers who had served with 
 General Napier in the Scinde campaign. They 
 
The Forgotten Camel Corps 201 
 
 told him of the valuable services which the camel 
 corps, one thousand men motinted on five hundred 
 dromedaries had rendered, and Porter immediately- 
 set sail for Alexandria and Smyrna where thirty- 
 three camels were carefiilly and prayerfully pur- 
 chased. With this strange deck cargo Porter 
 arrived ofiE Indianola, Texas, in April, 1856, and 
 only one of his ungainly passengers had died. 
 Porter was immediately sent back to Asia Minor 
 and in the sttmmer of 1856 arrived ofiE the mouth 
 of the Mississippi with forty-four more very 
 sea-sick camels. 
 
 General Beale, now commanding the first and 
 last camel corps ever organized on the American 
 Continent, was from the very first enthusiastic in 
 his praise of the desert ships. He assured all who 
 addressed him on the subject, and it should be 
 remembered that popular interest was almost as 
 generally excited by this new method of transpor- 
 tation as it is interested in aviation to-day, that the 
 camel was to be the pack animal of the immediate 
 future, on the American as well as the African and 
 Asian deserts. To a friend, General Beale wrote 
 upon his arrival in El Paso in July, 1857: "When 
 exactly the right breed is at otir disposal and when 
 one or two Tiurks or Arabs to the manner bom have 
 been induced to remain long enough to familiarize 
 our people with the habits of the camels, complete 
 success will undoubtedly be attained." 
 
 Writing from El Paso on July 24, 1857, General 
 Beale gives the following official account of his ex- 
 
202 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 traordinary journey, which promised to be epoch- 
 making, to the Hon. J. B. Floyd, Secretary of War. 
 
 Sir: I have the honor to report my arrival at this place 
 with the expedition under my command. Thus far we have 
 progressed rapidly and without a single day's delay since 
 leaving San Antonio. 
 
 It gives me great pleasure to report the entire success 
 of the expedition with the camels so far as I have tried it. 
 Laboring under all the disadvantages arising out of the 
 fact that we have not one single man who knows anything 
 whatever of camels or how to pack them, we have never- 
 theless arrived here without an accident and although we 
 have used the camels every day with heavy packs, have fewer 
 sore backs and disabled ones by far than would have been 
 the case travelling with pack mules. On starting I packed 
 nearly seven hundred pounds on each camel, which I fear 
 was too heavy a burden for the commencement of so long 
 a journey, they, however packed it daily until that weight 
 was reduced by our diurnal use of it as forage for our 
 mules. 
 
 I trust they may stand the remainder of the journey as 
 well as they have thus far and I see no reason whatever to 
 doubt it. If they should, the experiment of their usefulness 
 is demonstrated fully, and it is to be hoped a larger number 
 will be imported. For Indian scouts with infantry com- 
 panies in countries as badly supplied with water as Texas 
 and New Mexico, they would prove an invaluable aid though 
 those we have with us are not the most valuable kind for 
 burden being all females with three exceptions. 
 
 The regular burden camel would make the same journey 
 we have made and in the same time with twelve hundred 
 pounds as easily as these with half the weight. I desire to 
 call your attention particularly to the fact that they live and 
 keep on food which the mules reject and which grows in the 
 greatest luxuriance in the most barren of our American 
 
The Forgotten Camel Corps 203 
 
 deserts, namely, the greasewood, a small bitter bush, useless 
 for any purpose I have been able to discover except as being 
 a valuable food for the camels. Although they eat grass 
 when staked out to it, if left to themselves they will 
 instantly leave the best gramma and browse greedily on 
 bushes of any kind whatever in preference. 
 
 I was told by the highest authority on leaving San An- 
 tonio that not one of them would ever see El Paso; that 
 they would give out on the way. This prediction has not 
 been verified by fact. The road from here to San Antonio 
 is certainly the most terribly trying on unshod feet I have 
 ever seen. This is so true that I have not an unshod 
 work mule or horse that is not lame. With the camels I 
 have not to this time a single tender-footed animal. I 
 attribute this not so much to the spongy natured, gutta 
 percha-like substance which forms their feet, as to the 
 singular regularity and perpendicular motion with 
 which the foot is raised and put down. In horses 
 and mules there is always more or less of a slip and 
 shufile, but the camel lifts his foot clearly and per- 
 pendicularly from the ground, extends the leg and replaces 
 it squarely and without the least shuffle or motion to 
 create friction. 
 
 They are the most docile, patient and easily managed 
 creatures in the world and infinitely more easily worked 
 than mules. From personal observation of the camels I 
 would rather undertake the management of twenty of 
 them than of five mules. In fact the camel gives no 
 trouble whatever. Kneeling down to receive his load it 
 may be put on without hurry at the convenience of the 
 master and the process of packing is infinitely easier than 
 mule packing. These animals remain quietly on their 
 knees until loaded. Contrast the lassoing, the blinding, 
 the saddling, the pulling and hauling of ropes, the adjust- 
 ment of the pack on an animal like the mule, fljdng around 
 in all directions, to say nothing of a broken limb received 
 
204 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 from one of its numerous kicks, with the patient quiet of 
 the camel kneeling for its load. 
 
 We had them on this journey sometimes for twenty-six 
 hours without water exposed to a great degree of heat, the 
 mercury standing at one hundred and fovi degrees and 
 when they came to water they seemed to be almost indiffer- 
 ent to it. Not all drank and those that did, not with the 
 famished eagerness of other animals when deprived of 
 water for the same length of time. 
 
 If the Department intends carrying their importation of 
 the camels fiu-ther, after this present experiment has been 
 more fully tested, and I have reported my success or the 
 want of it, I would strongly recommend a new saddle to be 
 prepared for them, to replace the present clumsy contriv- 
 ance, and also that a corps of Mexicans be employed in 
 herding and using them. The Americans of the class who 
 seek such employment are totally unfit for it, being for the 
 most part harsh, cruel and impatient with animals entrusted 
 to their care. 'The Greeks and Turks who are with us 
 know no more of camels than any American living in New 
 York knows of buffalo. 
 
 The animal is used in their own country but they know 
 nothing about it. My only object in emplosdng them at 
 the high rate they are paid was that they, knowing the 
 harmless character of the camel, would give confidence to 
 the others employed in the management of an animal which, 
 with all its gentleness, has a most ferocious-looking set of 
 teeth which it displays with a roar rivalling that of the 
 royal Bengal tiger. The two Turks, Hassan and Suliman, 
 who really did know all about camels, and who were the 
 only ones that did that I could discover, refused to accom- 
 pany the expedition, being desirous of returning home to 
 their own country. 
 
 We are getting on rapidly and very pleasantly and I 
 hope to be in Washington again on Christmas Day, 
 etc. 
 
The Forgotten Camel Corps 205 
 
 There are available few contemporaneous ac- 
 counts of how the first and the last American 
 camel corps looked to the man in the street or the 
 scout on the trail. The camels had warm friends 
 and partisans, the chief of whom was easily General 
 Beale, and they had bitter and tireless enemies, 
 many of whom, it was openly charged, were not 
 wholly disconnected with the incipient mule trust 
 then growing up in Missotui. On this account 
 we are aU the more grateftil for the following 
 unpartisan though unsigned statement of things 
 seen which, dated Los Angeles, January 21, 1858, 
 appeared in several of the San Francisco papers 
 and was widely copied throughout the cotmtry. 
 
 Gen. Beale and about fourteen camels stalked into town 
 last Friday week and gave our streets quite an Oriental 
 aspect. It looks oddly enough to see, outside of a menag- 
 erie, a herd of huge ungainly awkward but docile animals 
 move about in our midst with people riding them like 
 horses and bringing up weird and far-off associations to the 
 Eastern traveller, whether by book or otherwise, of the 
 lands of the mosque, crescent or turban, of the pilgrim 
 mufti and dervish with visions of the great shrines of the 
 world, Mecca and Jerusalem, and the toiling throngs that 
 have for centuries wended thither, of the burning sands of 
 Arabia and Sahara where the desert is botmdless as the 
 ocean and the camel is the ship thereof. 
 
 These camels under charge of Gen. BeaxC are all grown 
 and serviceable and most of them are well broken to the sad- 
 dle and are very gentle. AU belong to the one hump species 
 except one which is a cross between the one and the two 
 hump species. This fellow is much larger and more power- 
 ful than either sire or dam. He is a grizzly-looking hybrid. 
 
2o6 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 a camel-mule of colossal proportions. These animals are 
 admirably adapted to the travel across our continent and 
 their introduction was a brilliant idea the result of which is 
 beginning most happily. At first Gen. Beale thought the 
 animals were going to fail, they appeared likely to give out, 
 their backs got sore, but he resolved to know whether they 
 would do or not. He loaded them heavily with provisions, 
 which they were soon able to carry with ease, and thence 
 came through to Fort Tejon, living upon bushes, prickly 
 pears and whatever they could pick up on the route. 
 They went without water from six to ten days and even 
 packed it a long distance for the mules, when crossing the 
 deserts. They were found capable of packing one thousand 
 pounds weight apiece and of travelling with their load from 
 thirty to forty miles per day aU the while finding their own 
 feed over an almost barren country. Their drivers say 
 they will get fat where a jackass would starve to death. 
 The "mule" as they call the cross between the camel and 
 the dromedary will pack twenty-two hundred pounds. 
 
 The animals are now on their return to the Colorado 
 River for the purpose of carrying provisions to Gen. Beale 
 and his military escort who, it is conjectured, wiU penetrate 
 from thence as far as possible into the Mormon country. 
 Afterwards Gen. Beale will return by the new wagon route 
 that he has lately surveyed to verify it and so on to Wash- 
 ington. He is expected to reach the Capital before the 
 first of March in order to lay his report before Congress. 
 
 When Mr. Davis left the War Department the 
 camels lost a most influential friend, although Gen- 
 eral Beale remained their most enthusiastic admirer 
 to the end. As is shown in the foregoing reports, 
 the camels gave an excellent account of themselves 
 on even the most trjring journeys but the ordinary 
 teamsters and mule-drivers were afraid of them and 
 
The Forgotten Camel Corps 207 
 
 in the end this silent opposition prevailed. Many- 
 camels were allowed to escape from the army posts 
 where they were herded and not a few died from 
 neglect. Some of the camels that were allowed to 
 regain their liberty seem to have increased and mul- 
 tiplied, and for years they wandered over the plains 
 of Arizona and New Mexico where they were 
 a terrifying object to man and beast, to all 
 Indians and whites who had not enjoyed Oriental 
 experiences. 
 
 The remnant of the camels were finally con- 
 demned by an army board as unsuitable for trans- 
 portation and sold under the hammer. General 
 Beale, loyal to the end, bought them and marched 
 them off to Tejon where they had free quarters as 
 long as they lived. One of Truxtun Beale's 
 earliest experiences, which any boy might envy, 
 was in driving with his father from Tejon to Los 
 Angeles, a distance of one hundred miles, in a sulky 
 behind a tandem team of camels with whom Gen- 
 eral Beale, when necessary, would carry on conver- 
 sation ia Syrian which he had with characteristic 
 energy taught himself for this purpose. 
 
 During the years 1854-5 and 1856 General Beale 
 was fully occupied with the supervision and con- 
 trol of Indian affairs, in California, Nevada, and 
 at the Capital and it is apparent from his journals 
 that the battles he was compelled to fight in 
 Washington were less to his liking than the open 
 hostility which he had so often met with on the 
 banks of the Colorado. Beale's road-breaking and 
 
2o8 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 building operations, never entirely suspended, were 
 resumed vigorously, thanks to a substantial appro- 
 priation by Congress, early in 1857 and were 
 continued almost without interruption until the 
 outbreak of the Civil War, or rather imtil the inau- 
 guration of President Lincoln by whom Beale was 
 immediately appointed Stirveyor-General of Cali- 
 fornia. 
 
 The journey from Fort Defiance to the Colorado 
 River to stirvey the proposed routes of the wagon 
 road was made during the stunmer of 1857 and the 
 winter of 1857-8. General Beale's report and log 
 of land travel was, at the suggestion of the Secretary 
 of War, ordered printed during the first session of 
 the 35th Congress and it is entombed in the 
 national archives of that year as Executive Docu- 
 ment No. 124. 
 
 The report upon the wagon road projected from 
 Fort Smith, Arkansas, to the Colorado and the 
 narrative of the journey which was undertaken 
 during the winter of 1858-9 was ordered printed 
 by the 36th Congress during its first session and 
 bears the caption Executive Doctiment No. 42. 
 
 These interesting Journals did not receive the 
 close attention or the just appreciation which they 
 deserved. Beale's services were, it is true, highly 
 considered and no step relating to the Pacific Coast 
 was taken or even considered in Washington with- 
 out consulting him, but the details of his adventur- 
 ous travels were little known and Beale was the 
 last man in the world to push his exploits into 
 
The Forgotten Camel Corps 209 
 
 prominence. The roads were built, however, in 
 great part, and the new commonwealths on the 
 Pacific were bound to the older States by a physical 
 tie which the shock of the impending conflict when 
 it came could not snap. The roads were built and 
 the Pacific Coast was saved to the Union, but the 
 details and the thrilling incidents of the great task 
 so quietly accomplished were little noticed and soon 
 forgotten. 
 
 In a volume of limited scope such as the present, 
 it is impossible to reproduce many more pages 
 of General Beale's graphic Journals and I shall 
 not venture to condense them. I shaU, however, 
 print in ftill General Beale's covering despatches to 
 the War Department in which, in a few words, he 
 tells of the objects and of the results of his journeys, 
 and I shall also reproduce a few detached entries 
 from the Journals themselves, sttfficient, I hope, to 
 demonstrate that in the rarely ttuned and never 
 reprinted pages of these official reports is to be 
 found a wealth of picturesque material indispen- 
 sable to the understanding of the Western move- 
 ment and the early days in California. When a 
 definitive history of the Southwest territory and 
 the Central Plains, out of which so many States 
 have been carved, is written, the pages of General 
 Beale's Journals will be found, I believe, to supply 
 the indispensable data as weU as the glowing pic- 
 tures of the primitive life which Captain John 
 Smith's Narrative offers to the historian of the Old 
 Dominion, which the Diary of Bradford makes 
 
210 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 accessible to the modem writer on the Massachu- 
 setts Bay settlements, and which the Journals of 
 Bonneville, of Lewis, and of Clark reveal to the 
 historian of those States "where rolls the Oregon." 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 The Wagon Road Survey from Fort Defiance 
 TO California 
 
 General Beale's Report to the Secretary of War — From 
 Zuni to the Banks of the Little Colorado — Praise of 
 the Camels, Especially their Swimming — Extracts 
 from Beale's Jotimal — Howard's Spring, Famous for 
 Indian Massacres — Water Shortage — Mount Buchanan 
 and Mount Benton — Indian Adventure of a Geologist 
 — Captured Indians Retained as Guides to the Colo- 
 rado — First Sight of the Sierra Nevada — Winter at 
 Fort Tejon — The Return Journey — First Steamer on 
 the Colorado — Last Entry in the Journal — "We have 
 Tested the Value of the Camel, Marked a new Road to 
 the Pacific, and Travelled Four Thousand Miles. " 
 
 GENERAL BEALE'S report to the Secretary 
 of War on his explorations for a wagon 
 road from Fort Defiance, in New Mexico, 
 to the western borders of California, commtini- 
 cated to Congress, in answer to a resolution of the 
 Senate, reads as follows: 
 
 Colorado River, California, October i8, 1857. 
 
 Sir: 
 
 I have the honor to report my arrival in California, after 
 a journey of forty-eight days. It gives me pleasure to 
 
212 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 inform you that we have met with the most complete 
 success in our exploration for a wagon road from Fort 
 Defiance, New Mexico, to this State. 
 
 In a hurried letter of this kind, it is not possible that I 
 should give you much of the detail of our exploration. 
 Leaving that for my daily journal to disclose, I shall 
 endeavor briefly to give you an idea of the character of the 
 country, as well as the advantages of the road I have 
 explored. 
 
 Leaving Zuni, the point from which the road should 
 properly start, we found the country easy and rolling and 
 bearing good grass, with water at convenient intervals, 
 until our arrival at the banks of the Little Colorado. This 
 I found a fine stream, the bottom of which is wide and 
 fertile, fiUed with excellent grass, and the banks of the 
 stream itself fringed with a heavy growth of cottonwood. 
 The whole region through which it runs is of a character 
 to make it most valuable to the agriculturist and grazier. 
 After following this stream for several days, and fording it 
 with our wagons without difficulty, we left it and pursued 
 our course westward to San Francisco Mountain. The 
 country at the foot of that mountain (a gradually ascending 
 plain) although somewhat rocky, in places was covered 
 with the finest gramma-grass, with timber sufficient for 
 fuel, and water in abundance. 
 
 From this point, twenty miles from the base of the moun- 
 tain, until we commenced the descent of its western slope, 
 the country is undulating, with frequent extensive level 
 plateaus, well watered with springs, and is by far the most 
 beautiful region I ever remember to have seen in any portion 
 of the world. A vast forest of gigantic pine, intersected 
 frequently by extensive open glades, sprinkled all over with 
 mountain meadows and wide savannahs, filled with the 
 richest grasses, was traversed by our party for many 
 successive days. 
 
 From the western slope to the country dividing the head 
 
The Wagon Road Survey 213 
 
 of Bill Williams' fork from the Colorado River, the only 
 change is in the growth of the timber, cedar of the largest 
 size, for the most part, taking the place of pine; but the 
 character of the soil remains unchanged, and is of the same 
 fertile nature, bearing in all parts the richest gramma-grass. 
 
 From the divide of Bill Williams to the Colorado the 
 country assumes a more barren aspect, and becomes a 
 desert on the banks of the river, excepting in the bottom 
 lands, for a few miles in width on either side. Arrived at 
 the river, I crossed the wagons and people without difficulty. 
 At the point of our crossing I found it to be about 200 
 yards wide, a smooth surface as far as the eye could reach 
 up and down, unobstructed by bars or rocks, flowing at the 
 rate of three miles an hour, 19 feet in depth in mid-channel, 
 apparently perfectly navigable for steamers of largest size. 
 Questioning the Indians closely, I derived from them satis- 
 factory information that it bore the same character the 
 entire distance from that place to Fort Yuma, some 200 
 miles below. 
 
 You have thus, sir, in a few words, a short account of our 
 journey on the road we were sent to explore. Of its advan- 
 tages, in detail, I have not time in this letter to speak, 
 except in general terms. I entimerate them. 
 
 It is the shortest from our western frontier by 300 miles, 
 being nearly directly west. It is the most level: our 
 wagons only double-teaming once in the entire distance, 
 and that at a short hill, and over a surface heretofore 
 unbroken by wheels or trail of any kind. It is well watered : 
 our greatest distance without water at any time being 
 twenty miles. It is well timbered, and in many places the 
 growth is far beyond that of any part of the world I have 
 ever seen. It is temperate in climate, passing for the most 
 part over an elevated region. It is salubrious: not one of 
 our party requiring the slightest medical attendance from 
 the time of our leaving to our arrival. It is well grassed: 
 my command never having made a bad grass camp during 
 
214 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 the entire distance until near the Colorado. It crosses the 
 great desert (which must be crossed by any road to Califor- 
 nia) at its narrowest point. It passes through a country 
 abounding in game, and but little infested with Indians. 
 
 On the entire road, until our arrival at the Mohave vil- 
 lages, we did not see, in all,. over a dozen Indians, and those 
 of a timid and inoffensive character. At the point of the 
 crossing of the Colorado, grain, vegetables, and breadstuflEs 
 may be obtained in any quantity from the Indians, who 
 cultivate extensively, though rudely, the fertile bottom 
 lands of the Colorado. It is passable aUke in winter and 
 summer. These are the advantages which I claim for the 
 road which we have discovered, marked, and explored, 
 from New Mexico to this State. 
 
 I shall mention, then, only one important fact, that it 
 leaves to the option of the emigrant the choice of entering 
 California either at the city of Los Angeles, by the regularly 
 travelled road, in the most fertile part of the southern 
 portion of the State, or of turning off from that river, by an 
 easy road, frequently travelled, and coming into the head 
 of the great Tulare Valley, and by a good road through 
 settlements all the way, extending to Stockton, Sacramento, 
 and the more northern parts of the State. 
 
 Our work, although arduous, has been rendered pleasant 
 by the beautiful character of the country through which we 
 have passed, and the salubrious nature of the climate; and, 
 although the double duty of exploring and marking the 
 road has fallen upon us, we have passed through it without 
 an accident of any kind whatever. 
 
 An important part in all of our operations has been acted 
 by the camels. Without the aid of this noble and useful 
 brute, many hardships which we have been spared would 
 have fallen to our lot; and our admiration for them has 
 increased day by day, as some new hardship, endured 
 patiently, more fully developed their entire adaptation and 
 usefulness in the exploration of the wilderness. At times 
 
The Wagon Road Survey 215 
 
 I have thought it impossible they could stand the test to 
 which they have been put, but they seem to have risen 
 equal to every trail and to have come off of every explora- 
 tion with as much strength as before starting. Unsupported 
 by the testimony of every man of my party, I should be 
 unwiUing to state all that I have seen them do. Starting 
 with a fuU determination that the experiment should be no 
 half-way one, I have subjected them to trials which no 
 other animal could possibly have endured; and yet I have 
 arrived here not only without the loss of a camel, but they 
 are admitted by those who saw them in Texas to be in as 
 good condition to-day as when we left San Antonio. 
 
 In all our lateral explorations, they have carried water 
 sometimes for more than a week for the mules used by the 
 men, themselves never receiving even a bucketful to one of 
 them. They have traversed patiently, with heavy packs, 
 on these explorations, countries covered with sharpest 
 volcanic rock, and yet their feet, to this hour, have evinced 
 no symptom of tenderness or injury. With heavy packs, 
 they have crossed mountains, ascended and descended 
 precipitous places where an unladen mule found it difficult 
 to pass, even with the assistance of the rider dismounted, 
 and carefully picking its way. I think it would be within 
 bounds to say, that, in these various lateral explorations, 
 they have traversed nearly double the distance passed over 
 by our mules and wagons. 
 
 Leaving home with all the prejudice invariably attaching 
 to untried experiments, and with many in our camp opposed 
 to their use, and looking forward confidently to their 
 failure, I believe at this time I may speak for every man in 
 our party, when I say there is not one of them who would 
 not prefer the most indifferent of our camels to four of our 
 best mules; and I look forward, hopefully, to the time when 
 they will be in general use in all parts of our country. 
 
 Reading the accounts of travellers who had used them a 
 great deal in the East, and who, I presumed, were entirely 
 
21 6 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 acquainted with their habits and powers, I was rendered 
 extremely anxious on the subject of their swimming; fore- 
 seeing that, however useful they might be as beasts of 
 burden in inhabited parts of the country, their usefvdness 
 would be impaired, if not entirely lost, to those who desired 
 to use them where ferry boats and other such convemences 
 did not exist. 
 
 The enterprising priest, Father Hue, whose travels have 
 lately been published, in speaking of his detention at the 
 Yellow River, in China, because of the impossibility of 
 crossing the camels, concludes by sajang "for this animal 
 cannot swim " ; hence my great anxiety for the entire success 
 of this experiment with camels was very much increased 
 on my arrival at the Colorado River. AU my pleasure in 
 looking upon this noble stream, and all the satisfaction I 
 derived in the reflection of a successful journey accom- 
 plished, was clouded by this doubt. However, the effort 
 was to be made, and after having resolved in my own mind 
 what to do in the event of failure, I determined to test the 
 truth of the statements which I had seen in relation to that 
 fact. The first camel brought down to the river's edge 
 refused to take the water. Anxious, but not discouraged, 
 I ordered another one to be brought, one of our largest and 
 finest ; and only those who have felt so much anxiety for the 
 success of an experiment can imagine my reHef on seeing it 
 take to the water, and swim boldly across the rapidly flowing 
 river. We then tied them, each one to the saddle of another, 
 and without the slightest difficulty, in a short time swam 
 them all to the opposite side in gangs, five in a gang; to my 
 delight, they not only swam with ease, but with apparently 
 more strength than horses or mules. One of them, heading 
 up stream, swam a considerable distance against the 
 current, and all landed in safety on the other side. 
 
 On reaching the settlements of California, I have con- 
 cluded to despatch Lieutenant Thorbum, U. S. Navy, 
 immediately to Washington with the notes and astronomi- 
 
The Wagon Road Survey 217 
 
 cal observations, in order that he may prepare a map of our 
 route. 
 
 In closing this report, I desire to say a word, in conclusion, 
 of the officer who bears it. His reputation in his own ser- 
 vice would render unnecessary any commendations of mine, 
 but the department of which you are the head, being 
 unacquainted with his merits, I desire to make them known 
 to you. He has evinced on this journey an activity, zeal, 
 intelligence, and coturage, rarely to be found combined in 
 any one man, and has been to me, not only a most able 
 assistant, but an agreeable companion throughout the entire 
 exploration; and I ask as an especial favor from the depart- 
 ment, if the work is to be continued, that he be not detached 
 from his present duty. 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 E. F. Beale, 
 Superintendent. 
 
 Hon. John B. Floyd, 
 Secretary of War, 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
 The following are a few extracts from Beale's 
 JoTomal while engaged on the wagon road survey 
 which is outlined in the above report. The Journal 
 was also ordered printed by resolution of the 
 Senate. 
 
 July 7, 1857. We started at 4:30 a.m., and trav- 
 elled twelve miles, when we encamped for breakfast. 
 Our crossing-place was called Cedar Bluffs. The 
 grass is very fine and water abundant in holes 
 filled by the late rain. We were passed on the 
 road this morning by the monthly El Paso mail, 
 on its way up, by which I received, forwarded by 
 
2i8 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 some of my friends at San Antonio, a box about 
 two feet square, for which the moderate charge of 
 twenty dollars was made! The dangers of this 
 road, however, justified any price for such matters. 
 Scarcely a mile of it but has its story of Indian 
 murder and plunder; in fact, from El Paso to San 
 Antonio is but one long battle-ground — a surprise 
 here, robbery of animals there. Every spring and 
 watering-place has its history or anecdote con- 
 nected with Indian violence and bloodshed. The 
 coimtry through which we have travelled to-day ^ 
 is entirely destitute of timber, except the mesquite ' 
 bush, which grows almost everywhere in Texas. 
 The road though rolling is excellent. 
 
 July 8. Up at half -past two and off at daybreak 
 without breakfast. We travelled eleven miles to 
 Howard's Spring, where we stopped to breakfast 
 and water the animals. This place seems to have 
 been famous for Indian stirprises. Near it we 
 passed the graves of seven who had been killed 
 by the savages, and still nearer, within a hundred 
 yards or so, the bones of a sergeant, and some two 
 or three dragoons who were here killed by them. 
 The bodies had apparently been disinterred by 
 animals, and the ghastly remains of the poor fel- 
 lows who had perished there were scattered on the i 
 ground. Captain Lee (U. S. Army) gave us the- 
 history of the fight, which occurred some months i 
 ago. 
 
 Howard's Spring is a small hole containing ap- 
 parently about a quarter of a barrel of water, but 
 
The Wagon Road Survey 219 
 
 is in reality inexhaustible. It is directly under a 
 bluff of rock in the bed of a dry creek, and to get at 
 the water it is necessary to descend about eight 
 feet by rude steps cut in the rock; the water has to 
 be passed up in buckets, and the animals watered 
 from them. There is but little grass here, and no 
 timber but greasewood and mesquite, and not 
 much of that; a few stvmted cedars that grow 
 around the blufip of the spring are neither large 
 enough for shade or fuel. 
 
 The rain has brought the grass forward wonder- 
 fully, and with it an abundance of beautiful flowers, 
 so that the prairie for the last few days has been 
 filled with perfume and richly colored flowers, 
 which would have been no disgrace to the most 
 costly hothouse. The whole of the country is 
 vastly improved by these grateful showers, which 
 have clothed it ever3rwhere with verdxu-e, and 
 filled the air with fragrance. 
 
 Of large game we have seen but little, but 
 turkeys and partridges abound in great numbers; 
 in fact, the whistle of "Bob White" is with us all 
 the time. 
 
 The camels came into camp with us. We find 
 one great trouble, and the only one, in managing 
 them is that we know nothing about the method 
 of packing them, and have it all to learn. In conse- 
 quence of our want of knowledge in this particular, 
 we have several with sore backs, which, however, I 
 am glad to observe, heal much more rapidly 
 than similar abrasures on the backs of horses or 
 
220 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 mules. As soon as we discover one to be getting 
 sore, it is immediately freed of its burden, and in 
 a day or two is ready for service again. They 
 seem almost entirely indifferent to the best grass, 
 and to prefer any kind of bush to it. To-day we 
 found another food they seem particularly to relish, 
 the name of which we do not know. The wild 
 grape-vine is a great favorite with them, and as 
 it grows plentifully, they will fare well on it. It 
 seems that they like most the herbs and boughs of 
 bitter bushes, which all other animals reject. The 
 more I see of them the more interested in them I 
 become, and the more I am convinced of their 
 usefulness. Their perfect docility and patience 
 under difSciilties render them invaluable, and my 
 only regret at present is that I have not double the 
 number. 
 
 After remaining a few hours at Howard's Spring 
 we resumed our march, and soon regained the 
 plain. At the crest of the hill, as we came upon 
 the level land again, we found a new-made grave, 
 probably another added to the long list of 
 Indian victims with which the entire trail is 
 filled. 
 
 We encamped without water on the open prairie; 
 grass good, but no timber whatever. 
 
 This evening many of our party have seen 
 Indians, but for me, "Ah, sinner that I am, I was 
 not permitted to witness so glorious a sight." 
 encourage the young men, however, in the belief 
 that deer, bushes, etc., which they have mistaken 
 
The Wagon Road Survey 221 
 
 for Indians, are all veritable Comanches, as it 
 makes them watchftil on guard at night. 
 
 Sept. 18. — Camp 17. . . . We leave here to-day 
 at noon to explore this great plain and shall 
 endeavor to go as nearly west as possible to the 
 Colorado Grande. I shoiild suppose this plain to 
 be, at its widest part, from eighty to one hundred 
 miles in width. To otir left, that is to the south 
 and southwest, a range of mountains seems to 
 terminate in long cape-like mesas which extend 
 into the plain we are traversing. Ahead the view 
 is unbounded, only the blue points of a mountain 
 appearing far in the distance. The weather is 
 clear and warm, making the uncertainty of water 
 ahead rather vmpleasant. 
 
 The slopes of the mesas on our left seem to be 
 covered with a heavy growth of pine timber. The 
 nearest is about ten miles south of us. Leaving 
 our supper camp at dark we travelled by night, 
 and the night dark, for ten miles across the cotmtry 
 to the northwest, and so level was the surface that 
 not a wagon stopped for a moment. Going ahead 
 with two or three of my party I made fires every 
 three or four miles, as guides to the wagons, and 
 such was the level character of the coimtry that 
 those behind me told me they could frequently see 
 the flash of my match as I would light it to kindle 
 the fire. In gathering greasewood bushes for one 
 of these fires Thorbum picked up in his hand a 
 rattlesnake, but fortunately the night was so cool 
 that, I presume, the reptile was torpid with cold. 
 
222 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 so that when the fire blazed up I shot him with 
 my pistol where Thorbiom had dropped him. 
 
 Resuming our march at sunrise we travelled 
 twelve miles, the country assuming a slightly more 
 rolling character as we advanced. We crossed 
 many broad and well-beaten Indian trails all going 
 to the southwest and northeast but none toward 
 the direction we were travelling. Our guide, how- 
 ever, still retained his confident air and assured me 
 there was no doubt of our finding water a short 
 distance beyond. 
 
 A half mile further and he came back to tell that 
 the distant mountain, towards which our course 
 was directed, was not the one he thought and that 
 he was completely lost. I ought to have killed 
 him there but did not. 
 
 We were now thirty-two miles from water and 
 in a cotmtry entirely imknown. Encamping at 
 once, I despatched the two dromedaries to the 
 east, while, with a few men on our strongest horses, 
 I started to the west. On our line we travelled 
 through some low hills and following an Indian 
 trail came suddenly upon a most wonderful sight. 
 This was a chasm in the earth or apparently a 
 split in the very centre of a range of hills from the 
 top to the bottom. 
 
 Seeing that the Indians had descended I deter- 
 mined to try it, so picking out the least precipitous 
 part and scrambling down and leading our horses 
 and zigzagging, we at last reached the bottom. 
 Indian signs were abundant in the caves on either 
 
The Wagon Road Survey 223 
 
 side and a trail led up the middle of the ravine. 
 From appearances I shotild judge the Indians 
 .wintered here after gathering- the pinon on the 
 surrounding mountainsides. Finding no water 
 or the appearance of any we turned our faces 
 toward home. Arriving at camp I found the 
 dromedary men had found a river (the little Color- 
 ado, I presume) about sixteen or twenty miles off 
 but very rough to approach. 
 
 Our animals were now beginning to suffer very 
 much, having been almost constantly at work for 
 thirty-six hottrs without water; and one of the 
 most painfiil sights I have ever witnessed was a 
 group of them standing over a small barrel of 
 water and trying to drink from the bung-hole, 
 frantic with distress and eagerness to get at it. 
 The camels seemed to view this proceeding with 
 great contempt and kept quietly browsing on the 
 grass and the bushes. . . . Hitching up the teams 
 we commenced otir retreat at dark and about three 
 o'clock in the morning it was found necessary to 
 turn the animals out and drive them to water. 
 
 The moment they were released they started 
 off in a gallop, for well they remembered the last 
 water we had left and they did not cease galloping 
 tmtil they reached the creek. I arrived with 
 Thorbum at seven in the morning, the camels were 
 sent on in advance and shortly after otir arrival 
 here, although like the rest of us they had been 
 on the road all night, they were started back with 
 eight or ten barrels of water for the camp at the 
 
224 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 wagons. Six of the camels are worth half the 
 mules we have though we have some good ones. 
 My admiration for the camels increases daily with 
 my experience of them. The harder the test they 
 are put to the more fully they seem to justify all 
 that can be said of them. 
 
 October 9. — Camp 25. . . . Passing the point, 
 our doubts were aU set at rest most satisfactorily. 
 The stream turned abruptly to the westward and in 
 that direction a glorious view broke upon us. For 
 sixty miles an immense plain extended to the west 
 only bounded by a distant range of mountains 
 in that direction, through which we thought we 
 saw such great depressions as to make a passage 
 easy. This we trust is the Colorado range. 
 Directly west is a huge mountain which I called 
 Motmt Buchanan and connected with it another 
 which I called Mount Benton. Altogether the 
 prospect is the finest we have had on the road. 
 
 Many Indian signs are presented about our 
 camp. A few himdred yards below is a rancheria 
 deserted, likely, by its people on otir approach. It 
 probably contained some thirty or forty savages. 
 . . . We came nearly ten miles to-day; six on a 
 southwesterly course. The fresh Indian signs 
 induce me to believe water may be found quite 
 near us in the morning but we encamped too late 
 this evening to look for it. 
 
 October 10. — Camp 26. While waiting in camp 
 for the mules which this morning had been 
 sent up the creek to water, our geologist came into 
 
The Wagon Road Survey 225 
 
 camp much excited to inform us that while en- 
 gaged in cracking stones on the mountainside, three 
 Indians had crept up to his gxm, a short distance 
 from him, and after taking it had drawn their bows 
 upon him and he was obHged to beat a rapid retreat 
 to camp, which was forttmately not over half a 
 mile from him. I immediately sent my three boys, 
 May, Ham, and Joe, to look after the thieves and 
 to bring them to camp. They did not succeed in 
 finding them though they trailed them to the spot. 
 Here they found shoe tracks an extraordinary 
 distance apart, and of large size, coming directly 
 toward camp ; but as our geologist says he walked 
 on his return these could not have been his, espe- 
 cially as the toe had made deep impressions in the 
 sand. On returning to camp the boys saw two 
 Indians quite near who immediately fired their 
 arrows at them. This was returned by double- 
 barrelled guns and hearing this at camp, Mr. Thor- 
 bum and I started at once. A few htindred yards 
 from camp in the bottom of the valley we saw 
 the Indians running and the boys hot foot after 
 them, both parties firing as they ran. We imme- 
 diately joined the chase which proved very good 
 practice for a while but soon began to tell on the 
 lungs. In a few minutes the mounted party joined 
 us. I ordered the men by no means to kill the 
 Indians but to take them alive. Directly opposite 
 the camp is a dark red butte very rocky, high, and 
 steep. Here we fairly ran them to earth near the 
 top. The first caught was a boy apparently 
 
 IS 
 
226 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 fifteen years of age ; but where was the other? We 
 had completely surrounded the conical peak of the 
 hill and though a minute search had been made we 
 had not found him. Still I knew he was not over 
 fifty steps from me so we formed a complete cordon 
 around the spot where he was last seen. At last 
 one of the men looking at a greasewood bush not 
 larger than an ordinary rosewood bush discovered 
 him close to the root, lying apparently coiled 
 around it and so completely concealed that even 
 within six feet of him he cotild not be seen. He 
 was dragged out, roped, and carried to camp. Here 
 he was well fed and both of them clothed from 
 head to foot. I shall use them as guides to the 
 Colorado and then either take them on and bring 
 them back next winter or allow them to return 
 from the river. . . . 
 
 In the morning as soon as it was light enough to 
 see we were off again. Turning the point which 
 makes out from the high peak, which I called Frank 
 Murray's peak, we entered a wide gorge which 
 seemed to cut the mountain far upward towards 
 its centre. It was rough with stones, and over- 
 grown in places with willow and rank weeds 
 through which Indian trails with fresh tracks and 
 other signs showed their immediate presence. We 
 found a fine cold spring about three miles from the 
 entrance to the pass, and pursuing our way soon 
 came to a short but steep hill at the end of the 
 gorge which seemed to be the summit of the pass. 
 Ascending this the river lay below us. We had 
 
The Wagon Road Survey 227 
 
 arrived at the end of our long journey, so far 
 without an accident. Only those who have toiled 
 so far, with life, reputation, ever3rthing staked upon 
 the result, can imagine the feelings with which I 
 looked down from the heights of this mountain 
 upon the cottonwoods and the shining surface of 
 the river far below us. 
 
 At a great distance to the northwest a snow- 
 capped chain of mountains marked the Sierra 
 Nevada, the mountains of my own State, and my 
 heart warmed as I thought of the many friends 
 beyond that distant chain who were looking anx- 
 iously for my arrival and who would share with me 
 the feelings of gratified pride with which the result 
 of a successful expedition would be crowned. 
 
 The expedition went on to Fort Tejon to rest the 
 animals and to recruit the cotu-age and the strength 
 of the men. On January ist, General Beale began 
 the eastward and homeward journey and on Jan- 
 uary 23d, he reached the Colorado where, this time 
 at least, a most surprising experience awaited him. 
 We will describe it in his own words. 
 
 "Shortly after leaving camp my clerk, F. E. Ker- 
 lin, who, with two of my party had been despatched 
 the day previous in order to have my boat ready 
 for crossing, was seen returning. Various surmises 
 were immediately started as to the cause and as 
 soon as he was within speaking distance he was 
 questioned eagerly for the news. He gave us a 
 
228 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 joyful siirprise by the information that the steamer 
 General Jesup, Captain Johnson, was at the cross- 
 ing waiting to convey us to the opposite side. 
 It is difficult to conceive the varied emotions with 
 which this news was received. Here in a wild 
 almost unknown cotuitry, inhabited by savages, 
 the great river of the West hitherto declared 
 unnavigable had for the first tirae borne upon its 
 bosom that emblem of civilization, a steamer. 
 The enterprise of a private citizen had been 
 rewarded by success for the future, was to lend its 
 aid in the settlement of our vast western territory. 
 But alas! for the poor Indians living on its banks 
 and rich meadow lands. The rapid current which 
 washes its shores will hardly pass more rapidly 
 away. The steam whistle of the General Jesup 
 sounded the death knell of the river race. 
 
 " In a few minutes after our arrival the steamer 
 came alongside the bank and owe party was trans- 
 ported at once with all otu baggage to the other 
 side. We then swam the mules over and bidding 
 Captain Johnson good-bye he was soon steaming 
 down the river towards Fort Yuma three hundred 
 and fifty miles below. I confess I felt jealous of 
 his achievement and it is to be hoped the govern- 
 ment will substantially reward the enterprising 
 spirit which prompted a citizen at his own risk and 
 at great hazard to undertake so perilous and uncer- 
 tain an expedition, 
 
 "I had brought the camels with me and as they 
 stood on the bank surrounded by htmdreds of 
 
The Wagon Road Survey 229 
 
 unclad savages and mixed with these the dragoons 
 of my escort, and the steamer slowly revolving 
 her wheels preparatory to a start, it was a curious 
 and interesting picture. 
 
 "The camels I had placed in camp within a few 
 hundred yards of the stimmit of the Sierra Nevada 
 immediately on my arrival, for the sake of testing 
 their capability of withstanding the cold and to 
 this date they have lived in two or three feet of 
 snow, fattening and thriving wonderftolly all the 
 while. Lately in a terrible snowstorm the wagon 
 carrying provisions to the camp could proceed no 
 further. The camels were immediately sent to 
 the rescue and brought the load through snow and 
 ice to camp, though the six strong mules of the 
 team were unable to extricate the empty wagons." 
 
 A month later General Beale was able to write in 
 his Jovimal : ' ' Here my labors end. The main road 
 to Fort Defiance being intersected at this point by 
 the road which I have explored and surveyed to 
 Fort Tejon, California. A year in the wilderness 
 ended! During this time I have conducted my 
 party from the Gulf of Mexico to the shores of the 
 Pacific Ocean, and back again to the eastern ter- 
 minus of the road, through a country for a great 
 part entirely tmknown, and inhabited by hostile 
 Indians, without the loss of a man. I have tested 
 the value of the camel, marked a new road to the 
 Pacific, and travelled four thousand miles without 
 an accident." 
 
CHAPTER XTII 
 The Journey along the 35TH Parallel 
 
 Beale's Official Report — Railway Surveys from Fort Smith, 
 Arkansas, to the Colorado — Choteau's and the Valley 
 of the Canadian — The Rio del Norte at Albuquerque — 
 Advantages of this Route for Wagon or Railroads 
 — Extracts from Beale's Journal — Inscription Rock- 
 Breakfast of Wild Cat — A Visit to Zuni — ^Advice to the 
 Chief — "A Merrie Jest of ye White Man and ye 
 Indian" — Indian Rumors and a Treaty of Peace — 
 Civil War and the Close of the Wagon Road Period 
 — "Wanderer" Writes about It from Gum Springs to 
 the Philadelphia Press — The Pacific Railroad as a 
 Government Project — Santa Fe Traders — Praise of 
 Beale as Pioneer and Road Builder. 
 
 GENERAL BEALE'S official report to the 
 Secretary of War on the resvdts of his next 
 jotirney, the survey from Fort Smith, 
 Arkansas, to the Colorado, reads as follows : 
 
 Chester, Pa., December 15, 1859. 
 Sir: 
 
 I have the honor to transmit herewith the report of my 
 last expedition from Fort Smith, Arkansas, to the Colorado 
 River, from which I have lately returned. This expedition, 
 commencing as it did in the fall of 1858, and being prose- 
 cuted on the open plains of the 35th parallel of latitude 
 
 230 
 
The Journey along the 35th Parallel 231 
 
 during the entire winter of 1858 and 1859, affords a striking 
 and gratifying proof of what I have stated heretofore of the 
 route on which I have been employed, that winter offers no 
 obstacle on that parallel to the passage of men and wagons, 
 or travel of any description. During the entire winter my 
 men were exposed night and day to the open atmosphere, 
 some of the messes not using for the whole journey their 
 tents, and others but very rarely. The winter was said to 
 have been one of uncommon severity, yet, although my 
 men were exposed on their guards at night, and in their 
 duties with pick-axe and shovel in cutting down the embank- 
 ments of creeks, and with the axe and saw in making 
 bridges, during the day, and to the continual discomfort of 
 a daily march, not one of them had occasion to complain of 
 the slightest sickness during the journey. 
 
 The country over which we passed was one of the most 
 attractive description. As I have stated to you in a prev- 
 ious letter, a wide and level river bottom is offered as a 
 general line of travel all the way from the last settlements 
 of Arkansas to the first settlements of New Mexico, and, 
 although I did not follow this line exclusively, but frequently 
 deviated from it to take the divide, I do not remember a 
 heavy pull between Little River in Arkansas and the 
 settlements of New Mexico. 
 
 Nature has supplied the country over which we passed 
 most bountifully with the three great requisites for an 
 overland road — wood, grass, and water. Although I re- 
 mained in New Mexico for nearly two months, it was not 
 time lost, as I employed myself and a portion of my men 
 in an exploration to the eastward along the line of the 
 Conchas River, which afforded the most gratif3^ng results. 
 On the termination of this exploration, I broke up my 
 temporary camp in February, and pursued my journey to 
 the westward. 
 
 The broken nature of the country lying immediately 
 west of Fort Smith, Arkansas, occasioned by the approach 
 
232 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 of the spurs of the mountain ranges, which run for a dis- 
 tance of nearly one hundred and fifty miles beyond the 
 boundary hne of the Indian Territory to the Arkansas and 
 Canada Rivers, renders the construction of a railroad else- 
 where than along the valleys of the streams a work of no 
 little difficulty and cost. From Fort Smith two routes have 
 now been reconnoitred; one passing along the head waters 
 of Poteau Creek, San Bois, and the south fork of the Cana- 
 dian, and then crossing to the waters of Boggy River, whence 
 the line descends to the Canadian valley near the site of old 
 Fort Arbuckle; the other traversing the country imme- 
 diately south of the rivers, but not touching the valleys, and 
 crossing the numerous spurs and several elevated ridges 
 east of the passage of the Canadian at North Fork Town, 
 beyond which the surface east of Little River is even more 
 broken than the more eastern portion of the route. 
 
 Along either of these lines the maximum grade could not, 
 except at an immense cost, be reduced below fifty to the 
 mile, and the tortuous character which would of necessity 
 attach to a hne located upon either route would so increase 
 its length that, without considering the increase of distance 
 due to a proper allowance for ascents and descents, it is 
 questionable, if upon the score of distance alone it would 
 not be advisable to make the location along the valleys. 
 The general course of the Canadian is remarkably direct 
 between its mouth and the 104th meridian, it never runs 
 further north than the 35th parallel, and but once passes 
 below it, and in that instance flows for a distance of about 
 sixty miles parallel to it, and only a few miles below it. A 
 line located along the valley of this stream, from its mouth 
 to the point at which it would leave it near the 104th merid- 
 ian, would not exceed six hundred and thirty-five miles in 
 length. There are but few points along the river where any 
 considerable work would be required. East of North Fork 
 Town some few bluffs would offer unimportant obstacles, 
 but west of that point a magnificent valley offers every 
 
The Journey along the 35th Parallel 233 
 
 facility for the construction of a first-class road, with very 
 low grades and easy curvature. 
 
 The advantages which attach to a route which offers a 
 continuous river valley for so long a distance for its location 
 cannot be too strongly urged; there is every reason to 
 believe that from Fort Smith to the main divide, between 
 the waters of the Canadian and those of the Rio de las 
 GalHnas, an unbroken ascending grade can be had that will 
 at no point exceed twenty-five feet per mile; the entire 
 ascent from Fort Smith to this point would be fifty-two 
 hundred and sixty-five feet, and as there would be no 
 descents whatever the equated distance would only amount 
 to seven hundred and eighty-five miles of level road. 
 
 From the divide just mentioned to the Rio Grande at 
 San Felipe the distance would be about ninety-five miles, 
 over a country which would compel the adoption of grades 
 of 52.8 feet per mile, though careful examination might 
 reduce them. Upon this division all the heavy work would 
 occur, comprising the bridging of the Gallinas, the Pecos, 
 and Rio Grande, and tunnelling the summits between these 
 streams ; the equated distance from the Canadian summit to 
 the Rio Grande would be one hundred and forty-five miles, 
 making the entire distance (equated) from Fort Smith to 
 San Felipe, nine hundred and thirty miles. The road from 
 Fort Smith to San Felipe may be properly divided into three 
 sections : the first extending from Fort Smith to the eastern 
 boundary of Texas, the second to the mouth of the Rio de 
 las Conchas near the 104th meridian ; the third thence to the 
 Rio Grande. 
 
 The valley of the Arkansas is similar to that of western 
 streams generally, the highlands alternately receding from 
 and approaching the river — the bottom lands sometimes 
 stretching out for miles, sometimes disappearing and giving 
 place to bluffs; except where it is necessary to cut through 
 these bluffs the work will be very light, the smooth level 
 character of the bottom land offering every facihty for easy 
 
234 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 construction. East of the old trading post known as 
 Choteau's, the valley of the Canadian is very like that of the 
 Arkansas, the bluffs, however, occur less frequently and 
 the liability to overflow seems to be lessened. Going west 
 the tributaries to the main streams diminish in number and 
 size, and if a line be located upon the south bank of the 
 river there would be but two bridges of any size needed. 
 West of Choteau's, the valley of the Canadian is very wide, 
 rising very gently and with an almost inappreciable slope 
 from the stream toward the high land. 
 
 The river itself is small and never apparently leaves its 
 banks; long, straight stretches are of frequent occurrence; 
 tangents of from ten to thirty miles in length can be easily 
 laid along the valley; the soil is a light sandy loam that can 
 be easily handled and will form a firm compact roadbed; 
 the dryness of the climate will expose embankments to but 
 little loss from washing; the fertility of the soil that charac- 
 terizes the entire valley of the Canadian ; wild grape-vines 
 grow in the greatest profusion, not only in the bottoms, but 
 on the first plateau; there is but little doubt of the perfect 
 adaptability of this country to the production of wine ; the 
 high lands that bound the river are covered at all seasons 
 with a dense growth of nutritious grasses that will serve for 
 the pasturage of countless herds; the country throughout 
 this section is well wooded for the most part; as far as 
 Choteau's, oak, hickory, cedar, etc., of large size abound; 
 beyond, black oak, hackberry and cottonwood are found, in 
 sufficient quantities to serve for railroad purposes and the 
 wants of settlers, besides, the Washita Valley, and those of 
 its tributaries will furnish a large amount of similar wood, 
 with a mean transportation not exceeding twenty miles. 
 
 The Canadian supplies a large quantity of water fit for 
 all purposes, while nearly every little arroyo that approaches 
 it from the hills on either side is well furnished with ever- 
 flowing springs. The second division of the road follows 
 the valley of the Canadian exclusively to the mouth of the 
 
The Journey along the 35th Parallel 235 
 
 Conchas — the character of the country is similar to that 
 near the Antelope HUls; about the 104th meridian the 
 valley narrows, but soon opens again, and for fifty miles east 
 of the Conchas offers to the eye a magnificent expanse of 
 bottomland that cannot fail to please both agriculturist and 
 engineer. A good supply d timber is found along this 
 division, water is abundant, and the character of the Airorks 
 precisely similar to that of the western portion of the first 
 section. At the Angosturas, a short distance east of the 
 Conchas, there is an admirable site for a bridge across the 
 Canadian, should the north side of the river be chosen for 
 this road. About this point the Canadian is a clear, free- 
 flowing stream, passing over a beautiful gravel bed, and 
 running between banks of from ten to twenty feet in height ; 
 large groves of cottonwood and hackberry occur at frequent 
 intervals. 
 
 Up the valley of the Conchas, a tributary of the Canadian, 
 there will be no trouble in finding a favorable line. The 
 valley is large, free from ridges, rising very regularly, and 
 smooth in its surface; the approach to the divide between 
 it and the Gallinas is very gentle, not requiring a grade of 
 more than twenty-five feet. At the summit a short tunnel 
 will be needed. The site, however, is most favorable, and 
 the material a soft sandstone, easily pierced. The descent 
 to the Gallinas will be regular and easy, at the rate of thirty 
 feet per mile; a bridge can be easily thrown across this 
 stream with a span of one hundred feet ; the approaches on 
 either side will need but little embankment. 
 
 Beyond the Gallinas, the country is rolling, and it will be 
 necessary to form a summit near the Chupainas; the grades 
 approaching it will not exceed forty feet per mile ; the work 
 around will be comparatively light ; it is doubtful whether 
 there would be any rock excavation. An admirable site for 
 a bridge across the Pecos can be found near the mouth of 
 the canyon about five miles above Anton Chico. At this 
 point machine shops, etc., could be advantageously estab- 
 
236 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 lished, as there is an abundance of coal and timber in the 
 immediate vicinity, and a large water-power might be 
 commanded; good building stone abounds, nor is it defi- 
 cient at the Gallinas. By crossing the Pecos at this point 
 rather than at or below Anton Chico, the ascent to the high 
 land in approaching the canyonBlanco is materially lessened. 
 To the canyon the route would traverse a somewhat broken 
 country, rendering grades of about forty feet per mile neces- 
 sary. At the summit, between the canyon and Gallisteo 
 creek, a short tunnel through an easily excavated material 
 would be needed, and a small amount of moderately heavy 
 work would occur in passing to the Rio Grande. As far as 
 the Lagunas timber is found in abundance, and in descend- 
 ing the valley of Gallisteo creek, mottes of cedar and pifion 
 are frequent, while the mountains in the immediate vicinity 
 possess large forests which will furnish an endless amount of 
 fuel. 
 
 Throughout this division of the road there will be no 
 difficulty in procuring the necessary timber for the purpose 
 of construction. Pine, hemlock, and other forest trees of 
 large size abound in the Santa Fe mountain, and along the 
 head-waters of the Pecos, and other streams. The construc- 
 tion of a bridge at San Felipe, while a work of no small 
 magnitude, will offer no serious obstacle; three spans of 
 two hundred feet each will be necessary. The bed of the 
 stream is of solid rock, affording the best of foundations for 
 the abutments and piers. Good building stone can be 
 obtained in the immediate vicinity. 
 
 While a mere reconnoissance does not afford sufficient 
 data for an elaborate and exact estimate of cost, an approxi- 
 mation may be made from notes taken along the route that 
 will not vary much from the amount to be expended in the 
 actual construction of the road — an estimate which it is 
 thought will fully cover all expenditure is appended. It is 
 based upon such knowledge of the country as can be had 
 without the actual use of transit and level instruments. It 
 
The Journey along the 35th Parallel 237 
 
 is true that the sinuosities of the Canadian River might, by 
 those disposed to find fault, be urged against the route but 
 when we consider the width of its valley, its gentle rise, the 
 abundant supply of wood and water, the very small cost of 
 construction, and the capabilities of the country for support- 
 ing a large population, these constitute, it must be ac- 
 knowledged, advantages that are not found to belong, in an 
 equal degree, to any other projected route across the 
 continent. 
 
 Beyond the Antelope Hills even this objection cannot 
 obtain, for the course of the Canadian is remarkably 
 straight from the 104th meridian to that point, and if 
 this portion of the Une could be connected with the 
 frontier of either Missouri or Arkansas without too great 
 an increase of cost, the 35th parallel route would be 
 unrivalled in its claim to consideration. 
 
 The north fork of the Canadian would probably afford a 
 more direct location than the main stream, and the summit 
 between it and the latter could be crossed without the 
 adoption of objectionable grades. Whether the valley, 
 however, would prove as favorable in other respects is 
 questionable. Such a line would be worthy of a careful 
 examination and comparison with the other. Another route 
 from the southwestern portion of Missouri to the Antelope 
 Hills is worthy of consideration. The country west of the 
 Missouri frontier comprises a series of gently rolling 
 prairies, well wooded and watered, of excellent soil, and not 
 so broken as to offer any serious impediment to the building 
 of a good road with easy grade. No difficult streams 
 would require bridging, and the summits between the water 
 courses could be easily crossed. A railroad connecting the 
 town of Neosha with St. Louis is projected, and will, no 
 doubt, be in a short time constructed. This is a fact of no 
 little consequence in this connection, and unless the enter- 
 prise of citizens of Arkansas arouses them to a sense of their 
 position, and efforts are made to connect the flourishing 
 
238 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 little city of Fort Smith by rail with the east, she may for- 
 feit by the neglect of her people the advantages nature has 
 bestowed upon her. 
 
 The respective merits, however, of these proposed lines 
 can only be decided by a critical and careful examination by 
 the civil engineer; the level and transit instruments solve 
 difficulties and establish facts in a few days that wotdd defy 
 simple barometric and compass reconnoissances for years. 
 A twelvemonth of careful survey would furnish reliable and 
 accurate estimate for the entire route from the frontiers of 
 the States to California, and in that time an examination 
 could be made of all the branch lines, that the expediency 
 of reducing the distances and grades to the lowest limits 
 might suggest. I have already described to you the coun- 
 try lying between the Del Norte and the Colorado 
 River, nevertheless a recapittdation may not be thought 
 unnecessary. 
 
 Leaving Albuquerque, the first fifty miles over a country 
 of sandy soil, not very well supplied with timber, but 
 possessing in parts a fair amount of grass ; thence to Zuni, 
 grass, wood, and water are found in sufficient quantities. 
 The timber is pine, of the largest proportions existing in 
 noble forests. Intermediate in this distance, by an explora- 
 tion to the northward, I made important discoveries of 
 mineral (copper ore) and a country of uncommon beauty. 
 This region I have described in my journal, which accom- 
 panies this letter, as far as the village of Zuni, and at it, a 
 distance of one hundred and fifty miles to the westward of 
 Albuquerque. Corn forage may be obtained at short 
 intervals on the road. 
 
 From Zuni to the Little Colorado River the country is 
 roUing, and well supphed with wood, water, and grass, and 
 is of a good surface for the whole distance, excepting the 
 wide sandy beds of several creeks, which are at times 
 several feet deep, and at others dry. Once arrived on the 
 banks of the Little Colorado, there is before the traveller a 
 
The Journey along the 35th Parallel 239 
 
 wide river bottom, and abundant grass and timber, to the 
 base of the San Francisco Mountain. At this point the 
 road ascends to its greatest elevation, through pine forests 
 and magnificent valleys, and by an ascent so gradual that 
 there is but little appearance of it to the eye. From the 
 San Francisco Mountain to Floyd's Peak the country is 
 very much of the same character as that between Ziuii and 
 the Little Colorado River, being high and rolling, but not 
 hilly. It is nearly equally divided between open plains, 
 covered with nutritious grasses, and dense forests of pine, 
 piiion, and cedar. Between Floyd's Peak and the Colorado 
 River, timber becomes scarcer, although there is still a great 
 abundance until within forty miles of the river, when the 
 country asstunes a barren and sterile appearance. 
 
 Among the important discoveries made during this 
 exploration was the existence of the finest quality and abun- 
 dant quantity of timber in a mountain, which I called on my 
 first expedition "Harry Edwards' Mountain," and which is 
 not over forty-five or fifty miles from "Beale's Crossing" of 
 the Colorado River. I cannot conclude this letter without 
 urgently calling your attention to the imperative necessity 
 of building a bridge across the Rio del Norte, at or near 
 Albuquerque. This is a military, civil, and emigrant 
 necessity. In support of this assertion, I have the honor to 
 enclose you the replies of distinguished officers of the army 
 serving in New Mexico, and thoroughly acquainted with the 
 subject, to the committee appointed at a public meeting 
 held in Albuquerque for the purpose of considering this 
 matter. I also desire to call your attention to the itinerary 
 which accompanies this letter. It is in itself an abbreviated 
 history or description of the country from Arkansas to 
 California, by which an emigrant may pursue the route of 
 the 35th parallel with a perfect knowledge from horn- 
 to hour of the character of the country in advance of 
 him, its resources, climate, production, Indians, and 
 game. 
 
240 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 Without intending to draw invidious comparisons be- 
 tween the various routes from our western border to the 
 Pacific ocean in favor of that by the 35th parallel, I think 
 I can, with safety, say that none other offers the same 
 facilities for either wagon or railroad. 
 
 It is the shortest, the best timbered, the best grassed, 
 the best watered, and certainly, in point of grade, better 
 than any other line between the two oceans, with which I am 
 acquainted. 
 
 For the first of these assertions an inspection of the map 
 is quite sufiicient proof; for the second, I rely upon the 
 report of Lieutenant Whipple and my own observation, and 
 especially my last exploration, which, by the discovery of 
 fine pine timber in Harry Edwards' Mountain, enable me to 
 state that the 35th parallel road carries abundance of cedar 
 and pine to within forty miles of the State Kne of Califor- 
 nia, within which, on the same parallel, there is abundance 
 in the whole Sierra Nevada range of mountains. For the 
 third proposition, I rely upon the concurrent testimony of 
 all who have travelled the road and compared it with other 
 trans-continental routes, who agree with me that it is 
 habitable throughout. For the fourth assertion, I think 
 there can be no better proof than the fact that water is at 
 but one point thirty miles distant; and for the last assertion, 
 I rely upon the profile of the country, which has been pre- 
 pared from the instrumental observations of my two 
 explorations. 
 
 It is my firm belief that whatever influences may tend 
 to divert travel from this road at present, the future will 
 fully sustain the judgment of those who now advocate its 
 claims. 
 
 I have given my views in this letter of the facilities 
 offered by the 35th parallel for a railroad as far as New 
 Mexico. Accompanying this is an estimate also of the cost 
 of that work. These may be considered by you of some 
 value, and I am willing to give them to the public, in the 
 
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The Journey along the 35th Parallel 241 
 
 hope that they may in some manner aid this great necessity 
 of the age. 
 
 I have the honor to be your obedient servant, 
 
 E. P. Beale, 
 Superintendent. 
 Hon. J. B. Floyd, 
 Secretary of War, 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
 Estimate of cost of railroad, with double track, from Fort 
 Smith, Arkansas, to San Felipe, New Mexico. 
 
 FIRST DIVISION. 
 
 From Fort Smith to Antelope Hills, 377 miles ; 
 graduation, masonry, track, engineering 
 expenses, and equipment $ 9,311,900 
 
 SECOND DIVISION. 
 
 From Antelope Hills to summit between Cana- 
 dian and Gallinas, 308 miles; graduation, 
 masonry, track, engineering expenses, and 
 equipment 8,192,800 
 
 THIRD DIVISION. 
 
 From summit to Rio Grande at San Felipe, 95 
 miles; graduation, masonry, track, engi- 
 neering expenses and equipment 3,886,400 
 
 $21,391,100 
 
 The following extracts are taken from General 
 Beale's Journal of the expedition from Fort 
 Smith to California. 
 
 March 22, 1859, Taking Drs. Floyd and Spil- 
 ler, the Delaware, and Little Axe, I started to 
 explore the valley of Inscription Rock. Tum- 
 16 
 
242 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 ing back on our road of yesterday nearly to the 
 head of the valley, I crossed to the opposite or 
 northern side; following down the north side of 
 the valley came first to a dry ravine which, how- 
 ever, has evidently at times much water in it, as 
 the remains of a large Indian encampment proves. 
 
 Going on to the westward close under the moun- 
 tain, and crossing a sandy piece of ground, for a 
 mile or more I found another of similar character, 
 and having old Indian signs about it ; beyond this, 
 perhaps two miles, discovered a large spring in a 
 grove of small oak; this spring is about forty feet 
 in diameter, a perfect circumference; good solid 
 ground around even to the edge of the water, and 
 issuing from it a rill of clear sweet water; the spring 
 is seven feet in depth, a thicket of Cottonwood 
 grows just below it, and a long hne of red willow, 
 of small growth, marks the course of the rivulet 
 which flows from it: Inscription Rock bears by 
 compass SW. by W.; distant about eight miles; 
 between this point and the rock the grass is every- 
 where abundant and the soil good, but stony in 
 parts; at the spring where we are at present 
 encamped, are several [oaks] of great size, one of 
 them over four feet in diameter, and an abundance 
 of small oaks. 
 
 Leaving our noon camp and crossing a low sandy 
 ridge, we came into a sheltered valley; here, fringed 
 with Cottonwood, we found a sparkling fresh flow- 
 ing brook; it was of a size which in the Eastern 
 States would be called a fine trout stream, and was 
 
The Journey along the 35th Parallel 243 
 
 as lovely a spot as one would desire to see, flowing, 
 as it did, over the rocks, and making beautiful 
 little cascades of clear bright water; some enormous 
 pines grow in the bottom and much cedar, with 
 bark resembling white oak in every respect; the 
 distance from the spring to this stream is about two 
 miles NW. and its bearing from the Inscription 
 NE.; remaining awhile at the stream, we pursued 
 our way along the base of the mountain and 
 crossing a dry bed of what is evidently at times a 
 large stream, we came at nightfall to another dry 
 bed, where we encamped, deferring until to-morrow 
 a search up it for water ; in the bed of this stream is 
 found limestone in abundance, of a gray color and 
 of finest quality; in this stone we fovmd innumer- 
 able fossils, some of which we took to camp with 
 us ; killed a catamount this evening. 
 
 March 23. This morning we followed up the 
 dry bed, and in a mile or two found abundant run- 
 ning water. In many places the solid limestone 
 made canyons of twelve to twenty feet in height. 
 Returning at ten, we raised camp and pursued our 
 journey, still keeping the northern side of the 
 valley and the base of the mountain, which is 
 densely covered with pine of the largest size, and 
 the valley rapidly becoming green in grass. Leav- 
 ing camp and pursuing the same course at the foot 
 of the mountains about northwest, we came in a 
 mile upon another fine stream larger than the first. 
 This was fringed like the other with cottonwood 
 and oak, and in a grove of giant pines, on a little 
 
244 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 moTind, we encamped for noon, Inscription Rock 
 bearing about S. by E. The bottom lands as well 
 as the hillsides are of the richest quality of soil. 
 
 Following down the stream after nooning we 
 saw on the opposite bank the ruins of an ancient 
 biiilding, which we crossed to examine. We found 
 it larger and more perfect than those on the sum- 
 mit of Inscription Rock. The wall remaining was 
 about ten feet in height, built of stone, all of the 
 same size and regtdarly laid. Opposite, in strange 
 contrast with its massive appearance, were some 
 deserted huts, built of mud and twigs, the houses 
 of the present inhabitants of the country. It was 
 ancient and modem Greece. Leaving the stream 
 and pursuing oiir course, and passing over a soil 
 of incomparable richness, we came at sundown 
 after travelling about four miles to another brisk 
 running stream, on which we encamped in large 
 pines at the foot of the mountain. ... I killed 
 another catamount this evening. 
 
 March 24. This morning, breakfast on wild- 
 cat being over, we started to explore the creek to 
 its head. We found much rich copper ore on its 
 banks. About a mile above our camp several 
 rich and pretty pieces of malachite were found. 
 Following up the mountain we came to a grove of 
 quaking aspen. Above this the stream flowed 
 almost to its head, over a broad flat rock which 
 seemed as though it might be the very backbone of 
 the world. 
 
 We found the stream had three forks. Two we 
 
The Journey along the 35th Parallel 245 
 
 explored to their heads. Both issued out from 
 under the rocks near the summit of the mountain. 
 The right hand fork is the largest and btirsts out 
 of the mountainside a fiill-grown brook and goes 
 on its way making cascades over the rocks, rushing 
 and sparkling through the crevices in fine style. 
 In ascending these forks we found several spots 
 where cattail was growing luxuriantly, and which 
 gave unmistakable evidence of living water. The 
 view from the stunmit was of the grandest descrip- 
 tion. We found the mountain covered to the 
 siommit with lofty pines, and but little snow, 
 scarcely any upon it. 
 
 Leaving this camp and travelling about five 
 miles, still along the foot of the motmtain and over 
 the richest description of soil, we arrived at the 
 largest stream we had yet seen. It would be 
 impossible to do justice to the view from otu" pres- 
 ent camp. Guided by the roar of the water we 
 followed up the stream a hundred or two yards 
 above owr camp and there foimd it issuing from 
 the mountain, roaring and boiling and struggling 
 among the rocks of the canyon . Looking up toward 
 the mountain, up the bed of the stream, nothing 
 could be wilder or more savage. The powerftil 
 stream pent up in the narrow solid rocks seemed 
 in torture to get free, and was twisted and turned 
 from its arrow-like career at every inch by the 
 rocks which stubbornly opposed it. At times it 
 broke with tremendous bounds in cascades, and at 
 others formed deep whirls and pools of foam, al- 
 
246 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 ways violent, restless and noisy. The steep sides of 
 the mountain even to the verge of the canyon, and 
 where there was room within it were covered with 
 pine, and on all sides huge rocks and broken trees, 
 with occasional patches of snow. 
 
 Turning from this scene of savage grandeur, just 
 below and stretching for miles was a quiet, smiling, 
 abundantly fertile valley, through the centre of 
 which the fierce stream above flowed as peacefully 
 as though its waters had never been vexed and 
 tortured by the rocky walls of a canyon. On the 
 opposite side, about five miles off, a high mesa of 
 red and white sandstone rose perpendicularly, its 
 summit and its base covered with cedar. . . . This 
 stream cuts directly across the valley we have been 
 traversing, and enters a canyon on the opposite 
 side ... its coxurse is nearly north and south. 
 Here also we found, in a hill on the sides of which 
 we encamped and quite near to where the river 
 comes out of the canyon, rich copper ore. From 
 this point Inscription Rock bears about SE. by S. 
 and distant some eighteen miles. 
 
 The climate of this region is most unexception- 
 able; the days warm, the air pure, the nights cool 
 without being too cold. . . . 
 
 March 25. To-day I return to camp, my duties 
 requiring my presence there. I shall cross to the 
 opposite side of the valley, and return by it to 
 Inscription Rock; my exploration has been in every 
 way most satisfactory, disclosing as it has a coun- 
 try rich in everything that makes the habitation of 
 
The Journey along the 35th Parallel 247 
 
 man prosperous and happy; to New Mexico it is 
 of incalculable importance, and I trust to live to 
 see my labors of the past few days rendered useful 
 by the enterprise of ottr people, and some day to 
 find flourishing settlements and prosperous com- 
 mtinities where our footsteps have trodden, in 
 what is now a wilderness known only to the 
 wretched Indians who now inhabit it. . . . 
 
 March 26. We left El Moro, Inscription Rock, 
 early, and travelling over owr old road, which we 
 found excellent, and well timbered and grassed, 
 the surface being nearly level and without a hard 
 pull, we nooned at the beautiful spring of the Ojo 
 Pescado; we crossed the Zuni River before coming 
 to and after leaving this spring, a mile on either 
 side of it ; the river was full and running rapidly ; it 
 was about twenty-five feet in width and three in 
 depth ; it is sometimes quite dry where we crossed 
 it though water is always to be found in it below. 
 
 After nooning we travelled on to within ten miles 
 of Zuni, where we encamped near the river, in good 
 grass and wood plenty. Going toward Zuni it is 
 always well to encamp at a distance of ten miles or 
 so from the town, as nearer, one does not find good 
 grass or wood, the Indian sheep and ponies requir- 
 ing it nearly aU, besides which, most of the valley 
 is cultivated in com and wheat. 
 
 March 27. We entered Ztmi to-day. We had 
 a wagon under charge of Mr. George Beall three 
 days in advance, trading with the Indians for com, 
 and having obtained a sufficiency we moved on 
 
248 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 about six or seven miles from town to a good camp 
 in the cedars and about half a mile from the river. 
 The day was very disagreeable with a high wind 
 blowing the dust in every direction, reminding us 
 of Washington City in a winter gale. Before 
 reaching the town about two miles we crossed the 
 Zuni River for the last time, and already beginning 
 to lose a large portion of its waters in the loose soil 
 of the valley. The old Governor met me in the 
 town with many compliments and congratulations, 
 and bearing in his arms a box containing my "arti- 
 ficial horizon" which I had left with him in passing 
 last winter. 
 
 He told me the charge had been a great burden 
 on his mind and he was glad to be rid of the re- 
 sponsibility ; rewarding him with several blankets 
 and pieces of calico, I sat down in his house to hear 
 the news. He had a long list of grievances. The 
 United States had persuaded him into an alliance 
 with the troops as avixiliaries in the late war with 
 the Navajoes; his people had fought with our 
 troops side by side like brothers; the United 
 States had found it convenient to make peace 
 with their enemies and had left their auxil- 
 iaries the prey of their powerful and numerous 
 foes. 
 
 I told him I thought it served him right for 
 meddling in things which did not concern him, and 
 warned him for the future to avoid "all entangling 
 alHances." I left town after giving some things to 
 the Indians and trading for some corn-meal, and 
 
The Journey along the 35th Parallel 249 
 
 through the dust which was nearly Winding, we 
 rode to camp. 
 
 April 29. We arrived eariy this evening at the 
 springs at the Colorado Mountain, where we found 
 the water very plentiful. We played off a very 
 good joke on the Indians last evening, which 
 brought up our accounts qmte square with them ; 
 about sundown after they had killed the mule and 
 stolen the one mentioned -yesterday, I caused the 
 mules to be hitched up, and camp made ready in as 
 much apparent confusion as possible, knowing the 
 devils were watching every movement we made ; it 
 was so managed that we got off at night, so that 
 they could not see the men we left behind con- 
 cealed in the rocks. 
 
 After going a few miles as if we had been fright- 
 ened off and were moving to seek more open 
 groimd, we encamped and built our fire. All this 
 must have amused Mr. Indian vastly, and doubt- 
 less he chuckled hugely how they had frightened 
 us. The men left behind lay in the rocks until day- 
 light when, just as we expected, our red brothers 
 came down to see the mule they had killed, and 
 what damage besides they had done us, when our 
 party fell upon them and killed four, returning to 
 camp before we were ready to start in the morning, 
 bringing bows, arrows, and scalps as vouchers; 
 it was a good practical joke — "a merrie jest of ye 
 white man and ye Indian." 
 
 April 30. Went to the summit of the mountain 
 and to the base on the other side to look at the road. 
 
250 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 We saw the river very plainly but could see nothing 
 of the troops, and so shall make our preparations 
 to go down and give the Mohaves a ttim in 
 the morning, for which the men are busy pre- 
 paring their arms. ... I shall take with me 
 thirty-five men and three days' provisions on 
 three camels. The men will go on foot, so 
 that we shall not be encumbered with mules 
 to guard while we are fighting; as for the 
 camels, they will pack otir provisions and require 
 no guarding, as they will feed well tied up to 
 a bush. 
 
 May I. Left camp early with thirty-five men 
 all on foot, and in fighting trim with nothing to 
 carry but their rifles, knives, and revolvers, the 
 camels packed with provisions following close 
 behind us. We marched the twenty-five miles in 
 six hours. On our arrival at the river we saw 
 Indians, and the men as soon as they had drunk 
 started out to get a shot. Whilst they were hunt- 
 ing them through the thick tmdergrowth which 
 fills the bottom, and about three hours after we 
 arrived, we were surprised at seeing three or four 
 white men coming up the trail. These informed us 
 that the troops were encamped on a bend of the 
 river a few miles below, and that Colonel Hoffman 
 had made a treaty with the Indians; so that we 
 immediately called in oiu: men much to their dis- 
 appointment and intense disgust. Here I heard 
 that our caches of provisions had been raised by 
 the soldiers so that I would be obliged to go into 
 
The Journey along the 35th Parallel 251 
 
 the settlements for more. Major Armistead is at 
 present in command of the troops. 
 
 The construction and maintenance of national 
 wagon roads across the plains was laid aside upon 
 the outbreak of the Civil War and not resumed 
 when peace came, as, in the meantime, the railway 
 era had begtm. The situation of affairs when Gen- 
 eral Beale was called to the post of surveyor-general, 
 not to survey nor to examine land titles but to help 
 keep the Pacific Coast territory in the Union, is well 
 described by a correspondent of the Philadelphia 
 Press, who under the signature of "Wanderer" 
 writes to his paper in the following terms under 
 date of October 15, 1859, from Gum Spring, 
 Choctaw Nation. 
 
 . . . Having yesterday made more than the usual day's 
 travel, and the ponies evincing distress, we have, early this 
 afternoon, made camp and a huge fire under a spreading 
 oak of lordly dimensions. We are east of the Winchester 
 Mountains, and not more than two days' journey from 
 Arkansas. I have the cacoethes scribendi upon me, and as 
 we have had our coffee and several pipes, and the usual chat 
 about our good old city of Philadelphia, I sprawl myself 
 upon the machilla of my saddle to wear out the sun, now 
 nearly two hours high, with writing something of the routes 
 to the Pacific. 
 
 Ever since the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo gave us our 
 California possessions, the same motive that actuates 
 England to draw her Indian colonies to her by lessening the 
 distance and shortening the length of travel between them 
 and the mother country, and that also impels France to 
 desire a ship canal across the Isthmus of Suez has induced 
 
252 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 speculations and explorations for a railway route across 
 this continent. There has been a myriad of theories de- 
 duced from books and nicely sketched; daring men have 
 explored in every quarter; the Government press has 
 poured out ponderous tome after tome filled with itineraries ; 
 appropriations have been made by Congress for the con- 
 struction of wagon roads in order to facilitate the emigration 
 of the hardy pioneers, who with their families plunge into 
 the wildernesses of the Far West to raise up new settle- 
 ments — these things have gone on steadily until the public 
 mind has become fully awakened to the importance in a 
 military as well as commercial point of view, of a railway 
 between the Atlantic and the Pacific. The large majority 
 of the people of the United States are undoubtedly in favor 
 of some route, but the particular route to be selected is the 
 question at issue. 
 
 A Pacific railroad as a Government project can only be 
 sustained upon the ground of its necessity as a national work. 
 Not to lose the force of an argument so vital, the route 
 ought to be neither an extreme northern nor an extreme 
 southern one, unless there are insuperable obstacles to a 
 central route by which of course all sections of the country 
 would be equally benefited. I don't mean that a pair of 
 dividers should fix the centre and a route be marked and 
 followed accordingly; but that the best practical route near 
 the centre of the Confederacy should be selected; the one 
 that gives the easiest crossing of the Rocky Mountains, and 
 furnishes wood, water, and grass, at all seasons of the year. 
 This route, beyond all cavil, is that laid down and travelled 
 by Lieut. Beale. Of the wagon roads started some have 
 been abandoned and others drag their slow length along. 
 Beale rapidly marked his upon the route of the thirty-fifth 
 parallel, crossed it and recrossed it with large parties and 
 small parties, with camels and without them, with heavy 
 teams and the last time, I am told, with a light buggy. 
 
 A paper which I found up the country, I think it was The 
 
The Journey along the 35th Parallel 253 
 
 Si. Louis Republican, contained the infonnation that Mr. 
 Beale had arrived home, that he had taken his party home 
 by a more northern route in order to compare it as he had 
 all the other routes with his own; that his examinations had 
 been rigid and impartial and that the conclusion was 
 irresistibly in favor of the route from Port Smith over the 
 thirty-fifth parallel through Albuquerque in New Mexico to 
 California. It is the most direct route, not dipping as the 
 route now followed by the overland mail does htmdreds of 
 miles south into Texas. 
 
 I am confident from what I have seen of it that it is as 
 good a natural road as can be found. . . . Besides, from 
 Albuquerque to California the road has been improved; it 
 has been deeply marked by the heavy teams, trees have 
 been cut down out of the way where it could be shortened, 
 and bridges have been constructed over the streams. Then 
 come the plains and you strike Little River. The Canadian 
 is fordable, or a ferry is to be had at all times. The other 
 streams between Fort Smith and Little River are crossed 
 with substantial iron bridges sent out from Philadelphia. 
 Mr. Edwards has his men now engaged upon the double 
 span bridge over the Poteau, which will be completed ere 
 long. 
 
 The Choctaws have commenced to improve the road over 
 the Winchester Mountain, and a project is afoot to ttunpike 
 the road from the bridge through the fearful boggy bottom 
 of the Poteau and Arkansas to the village of SkuUyville. 
 Thus will there be a good wagon road or road for any kind 
 of travel from the East to CaUfomia. Already railroads 
 are creeping towards Fort Smith by the way of Little Rock 
 from Memphis and from St. Louis. The forerunner of 
 railway travel, the telegraph, will station itself soon, as 
 soon, I learn, as the poles can be put up, at Fort Smith, 
 which of itself will lessen the time of news communication 
 from California three or four days. All these things are 
 signs. 
 
254 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 I have seen Santa Fe traders taking Beale's route as far 
 as it would take them to their destinations. You never 
 saw a Santa Fe party? Riding in advance is a young man 
 armed with his six shooter and knife, and a fowling piece. 
 His dress is for use rather than show, yet show is not for- 
 gotten as the red sash round his waist will testify, as well as 
 the rich blue ribbon that binds his hat, and flutters its ends 
 in the wind. His saddle has the high cantle and pommel, 
 the broad wooden stirrups, the leg-flaps and the wide 
 leathern manchilla that covers the frame in the day and 
 serves at night as part of his bed to prevent the sharp 
 stones and sticks and damp getting at him. All these like 
 the old fashioned Spanish or Moorish saddles, the awful 
 spurs and check bit weighing something less than a ton, 
 must not be forgotten. 
 
 Anon and we see two hard-faced grave-looking men 
 mounted upon serious-looking mules, that have their tails 
 shaved off, except a slight bunch of hair at the end, giving 
 them a ludicrous appearance. They are in deep chat but 
 salute us with much dignity as we pass them. In the woods 
 and prairie are others of the party hunting fresh meat for 
 the evening meal. Then there are the heavily-laden 
 wagons drawn by their half-dozen ox-teams each, the loose 
 cattle, the teamsters, and the long ox-whip cracking on 
 every side its eternal noise. We saw an Indian just behind 
 the party tricked in his best. He was on his way to pay a 
 visit. . . . 
 
 If Edward F. Beale had been a Massachusetts man, his 
 services to his country would have teemed the papers with 
 his exploits, his daring and his usefulness. The more 
 credit to Massachusetts! A young lieutenant in the navy 
 during the war with Mexico, not his least daring act was to 
 carry despatches through Mexico itself. In California, he 
 gathered the wild Indians that threatened the lives and 
 property of the settlers and miners upon reserves and there 
 taught them agriculture and to earn their own subsistence. 
 
The Journey along the 35th Parallel 255 
 
 His merit gained for him from California high praise, 
 together with a commission as Brigadier-General. Hon. 
 JefEerson Davis, when a Senator from Mississippi, before 
 entering Gen. Pierce's cabinet was impressed with the belief 
 that camels if introduced into this country would be of vast 
 use in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico, and he made 
 efforts to have the matter tested. When the camels were 
 brought over, under his administration of the War Depart- 
 ment, he selected Mr. Beale to take the camels and decide 
 the point he had so much at heart. We all know how well 
 Mr. Beale discharged this duty and in what an unprece- 
 dentedly short space of time the first mail over Mr. 
 Beale's route across the continent was brought by the 
 camels. 
 
 In concluding his letter "Wanderer" laments, a 
 sentiment that was stirely not shared by General 
 Beale, that after the wagon road over the 35th 
 parallel had been completed he should be allowed 
 to retire qtiietly into the circle of his friends in 
 Chester, Delaware County, Pa., without receiving 
 ovations. 
 
 The same people [he adds reproachfully] that hung 
 with raptures over the foolish and profitless daring of 
 Blondin in walking a rope stretched over the Niagara Palls 
 are neglectful of the courage and the hardihood and suffer- 
 ing of the man who traverses this Continent amid every 
 conceivable danger from disease, the elements, and the yet 
 more ruthless hand of hostile savages to prepare the way 
 for new cities and States and greater power and influence 
 for our Republic. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 General Beale as Surveyor-General 
 
 Lincoln Appoints Beale Surveyor-General of California and 
 Nevada — Plans of the Secessionists — Beale Persuades 
 Lincoln not to Enforce the Draft in California — 
 Weathering the Crisis — Beale's Letter to the President 
 Volunteering for Service in the Field — His Views on 
 the Cause and Probable Consequences of Civil War 
 Published by the Philadelphia Press— "The Fate of 
 the Commons of the World Depends upon the Issue 
 of the Struggle" — Beale's Letter to Secretary Chase 
 Favoring Acquisition of Lower California by United 
 States — Chase's Reply — Letters from the Mexican 
 General Vega — Beale's Sympathies with the Liberal 
 though Fugitive Government across the Border — 
 Grant and Beale Contrive to Send Muskets to Juarez 
 — President Diaz's Recognition in After Years of 
 Beale's Assistance in This the Hour of Need. 
 
 ONE of the first appointments made by 
 Lincoln after his inauguration was that of 
 Beale to the post of surveyor-general of 
 California and Nevada. In ordinary times the 
 post of surveyor-general with the control of the 
 public lands and the duty of locating the old 
 
 Spanish grants and translating them into English 
 
 256 
 
General Beale as Surveyor-General 257 
 
 measures was important enough, but Beale soon 
 found that the duties to which he was urged to 
 address himself with partictolar zeal were almost 
 exclusively extra-official. 
 
 The overshadowing issue of the moment, west as 
 well as east of the Sierra Nevada, was that of union 
 or secession, and the political outlook in California 
 was anything but reassuring to !l^orthem sympa- 
 thizers. It must be admitted that the southern 
 settlers in California, though doubtless outnvtm- 
 bered by the Unionists, were exceedingly active 
 and well organized, and when Stimter was fired on 
 it was generally believed that the secession organi- 
 zation aided by the lukewarmness of a large alien 
 population would succeed in taking CaHfomia out 
 of the Union in a few weeks. 
 
 Such was the situation when Lincoln bestowed 
 upon Beale his confidence and gave him full charge. 
 The papers dealing with the political affairs of this 
 important and interesting period were nearly all 
 destroyed in the recent great fire in San Francisco 
 when the archives of the Pioneers' Library went 
 up in flames. Fortunately, however, the memory 
 of General Beale' s successful activity still survives 
 in the recollections of those who knew distracted 
 California in war time. 
 
 It was only a few days after General Beale had 
 been appointed, and when assisted by the other 
 U. S. officials he was engaged in developing and 
 organizing the Unionist sentiment of the State, 
 that the draft proclamation from Washington 
 17 
 
258 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 arrived. Suddenly aroused like a leviathan from 
 its slumbers, the Government was going to work 
 on a large scale but somewhat automatically, the 
 same in Maine as in Nevada, in California as in 
 Connecticut, without the slightest regard for local 
 conditions and local prejudices. 
 
 Beale recognized that the publication of the 
 draft and its attempted enforcement would not 
 bring many men into the Union armies, and on the 
 other hand might tip the balance, until then with 
 such difficulty preserved, and send California into 
 the secession ranks. Upon his own responsibility 
 General Beale suppressed the proclamation, and in 
 a forcible despatch to Washington laid before 
 Lincoln the reasons which had induced him to 
 take this extraordinary step. Lincoln approved 
 and applauded Beale's course. He wrote upon the 
 surveyor-general's letter, "Draft suspended in 
 California until General Beale shall indicate that 
 the times are more auspicious." 
 
 In a few weeks the Unionists, now thoroughly 
 aroused and effectively organized, made their 
 presence felt in the State. Califomians though 
 not drafted were volunteering for the Union 
 army in larger proportion to the population than 
 was the case in some of the Eastern States. 
 Beale feeling now that the immediate crisis was 
 over, thought that he might with propriety ad- 
 dress the President, acquainting him with his 
 desire for active service in the field. He did it 
 in the following terms: 
 
General Beale as Surveyor-General 259 
 
 San Francisco, Cal., 
 
 July 24, 1 86 1. 
 
 His Excellency President Lincoln: 
 
 A short time ago you did me the honor to appoint me to a 
 most important and responsible position for which I beg 
 you to accept my grateful acknowledgment. Under any 
 other condition of public affairs, you have left me nothing 
 to desire; but to the flag under which I have received 
 honorable wounds, under which my father and my grand- 
 father fought for the honor and the glory of the country, I 
 think I owe something more, in this hour of trial, than a 
 mere performance of duty in a position of ease and quiet. 
 To the government I owe early education and support, for 
 I entered its service almost a child and feel toward it a 
 filial affection and gratitude. All that I have, even my 
 life I owe to it, and it is a debt I am willing gratefully and 
 cheerfully to discharge. 
 
 From fourteen to twenty-five my life was passed at sea, 
 and for the past fifteen years principally on the great plains 
 and in the Rocky Mountains. I served during the Mexican 
 War, and at its close I resigned and have been engaged in 
 many expeditions of some importance since. I know that 
 I am resolute, patient, and active and if I had not courage, 
 my love of country would supply the want of it in such a 
 time as this. Devoted to my country, and owing it every- 
 thing I have in the world, I write to offer my services to you 
 in any capacity you may wish to use them until the present 
 rebellion is crushed out of the land. You cannot add to the 
 distinction you. have already conferred upon me by any 
 appointment, for there- is none within your gift more dis- 
 tinguished or more honorable; nor do I desire any change 
 except that I may more efficiently serve the United 
 States. In a word I wish simply to offer my life for the 
 flag. 
 
 With great respect, your obedient servant, 
 
 E. F. Beale. 
 
26o Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 The Press of Philadelphia— Oct. 9, 1 861— repro- 
 duces in part a letter which General Beale wrote 
 some weeks later to a personal friend in Wash- 
 ington and which apparently arrived by the same 
 mail that brought his proffer of service to President 
 Lincoln. In this communication General Beale 
 says: 
 
 Nothing could be more delightful or agreeable to me than 
 the office I hold, at least in California ! Nevertheless I feel 
 that if my services are required this is no time to withhold 
 them from my country. I have been looking forward with 
 the keenest delight to two or three years of rest after so 
 many long ones of hardship, but I will cheerfully put off my 
 time of rest still longer, or find eternal rest in an honorable 
 grave under the old flag. I conscientiously believe that the 
 fate of the commons of the world depends upon the issue of 
 the struggle and I am willing if need be to devote my Ufe 
 to the great cause of the people. 
 
 Commenting editorially the Press said the letter 
 would be read with pleasure alike for its noble 
 spirit and cheering example. 
 
 Lincoln, however, and as the event proved wisely, 
 for the secession movement in the State was not 
 dead or even sleeping, decided to keep Beale in a 
 position where it was recognized he had rendered 
 such invaluable services. The President's decision 
 was a great blow to the General, but he took it like 
 a man and a patriot. Prom California at least 
 there was no "fire from the rear " directed upon the 
 war administration. 
 
 Early in 1863, General Beale began to take an 
 
General Beale as Surveyor-General 261 
 
 interest in the Mexican revolution which provoked 
 or rather invited the French intervention and its 
 consequences in which the United States became 
 so closely involved. Beale had always regretted 
 that the war of 1847 between Mexico and the 
 United States had not ended in the acquisition 
 of the Peninsula of Lower California. He had 
 always regarded its possession as necessary to the 
 safety and to the prosperity of Upper California, 
 and indeed of the whole Southwest. The General 
 frequently stated, without, however, revealing his 
 authority, that it had been the ptnpose of President 
 Polk to demand for strategic reasons Lower Cali- 
 fornia, then more even than now a vacant wilder- 
 ness. The matter, however, seemed of so little 
 importance to the American peace commissioners 
 that the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed 
 and sealed before their important oversight was 
 discovered. 
 
 Thinking the moment opportune General Beale 
 brought up the question again, and the following 
 interesting correspondence took place between him 
 and the Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon P. Chase. 
 
 San Francisco, 
 Aug. 5th, 1863. 
 Sir: 
 
 I have written several letters to Thomas Brown, Esq., 
 U. S. Agent for the Pacific Coast, on the importance of the 
 acquisition of the Peninsula of Lower California by the 
 United States. 
 
 I am quite sure I have not exaggerated the great value 
 to our country of that long mountain ridge which abounds 
 
262 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 in good harbors on both the Gulf coast and the Pacific 
 and is filled with mineral wealth of every description. I 
 beg you will give this subject a few hours' consideration. 
 Valuable and abundantly occupied as your time is I assure 
 you this matter is worthy of your attention. I desire most 
 particularly to call your attention to the fact that we have 
 it in our power at this time by purchase of Lower California 
 and a very small portion of the opposite coast, to possess the 
 mouth of the Colorado destined to be as important to us on 
 the Pacific as is the Mississippi to the Eastern States. If 
 the line of the Gadsden purchase was straightened, instead 
 of being defiected at 1 1 1 degrees of longitude, and touched 
 the Gulf at the Coast, and we should possess ourselves of 
 Lower CaUfornia, we should then control entirely the 
 navigation of the Colorado, which the future will prove of 
 the utmost importance to the welfare of the Pacific Coast 
 States. 
 
 The mountains which border the Colorado abound in 
 vast resources and in mineral wealth which has but just 
 commenced to excite and lead our people to their explora- 
 tion and development while its rich bottom land invites 
 our fanners with most flattering prospects to their cultiva- 
 tion. Cotton, sugar and tobacco will there find their 
 largest crops and furnish their greatest returns to commerce. 
 Lower California as I have before written possesses mines 
 of incalculable extent and inestimable value while its 
 harbors are numerous and secure. This cannot have 
 escaped the French sagacity, and if it is not purchased 
 now or taken possession of by us it may very soon be 
 too late to do so at all. It seems to me this might be 
 easily accomplished by a purchase from the Government 
 party lately expelled from the City of Mexico by the 
 French. If this was done without noise and the ports of 
 La Paz and Guaymas promptly occupied, we might easily 
 with five thousand men drawn from the Army of New 
 Mexico, where they are actually entirely useless, and 
 
General Beale as Surveyor-General 263 
 
 placed under a proper commander, defy foreign inter- 
 position to prevent our holding the new territory 
 forever. 
 
 You may be sure that those who live after us on this 
 coast will not hold the memory of that administration in 
 high respect which will have allowed a foreign power to 
 collect toll at the mouth of the Mississippi, of the Pacific, 
 after having lost the opportunity of its acquisition for our 
 own people. 
 
 Offering my services to you in any manner in which I 
 can serve the country, 
 
 I have the honor to be, Sir, 
 
 Your Obt. Servt., 
 
 E. F. Beale. 
 Honorable S. P. Chase, 
 Secretary of the Treasury, 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
 Mr. Chase's reply reads: 
 
 Treasury Department, 
 Sept. 5th, 1863. 
 My dear Sir: 
 
 Yours of the 5th of August has just reached me. I 
 appreciate as you do the importance of the acquisition you 
 suggest. I fear that the Juarez Government is now too 
 entirely broken to warrant negotiations with it but I will 
 confer with the President and Secretary of State on that 
 subject. 
 
 What a pity it is that we neglected our opportunities 
 when the states of Central America were so ready to 
 identify their fortunes with those of the American Union! 
 What a pity it is also, that when General Scott took Mexico 
 he did not remain there and establish a protectorate! The 
 timid counsels of the Whig leaders and the fears of the 
 slave-holding oligarchy suppressed a policy which would 
 
264 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 have prevented all our present troubles so far as French 
 domination in Mexico is concerned. 
 
 Yours Very Truly, 
 
 S. P. Chase. 
 To 
 
 E. F. Beale, Esq. 
 
 Later General Beale again wrote the Secretary 
 of the Treasury on the subject he had so near 
 at heart, and in the following terms: 
 
 San Francisco, Nov. 5, 1863. 
 Sir: 
 
 While I thank you very much for your reply to my letter 
 in relation to possessing ourselves of the mouth of the 
 Colorado and the Peninsula of Lower Cahfomia I must 
 beg again to intrude upon your time on the same 
 subject. 
 
 Every day more and more convinces me of the importance 
 of our owning the country of which I have spoken. Every 
 day new and rich discoveries in the precious metals are 
 drawing attention to that region and rendering its purchase 
 more difficult. If Mexico could always keep it, it would 
 be greatly to our disadvantage, but in the hands or under 
 the influence and control of any other Power, it would be 
 ruinous to our commercial prospects on that part of the 
 Coast. 
 
 We must have the whole Peninsula with its magnificent 
 harbors and bays even if we have to fight France for it. I 
 beg you to remember that this river reaches with its 
 tributaries spread out like a fan for a thousand miles into 
 the very bowels of our continent and terminates in that 
 long and narrow placid sea which washes the shores of 
 Sonora on one side, and the Peninsula of Lower California 
 on the other, for more than seven hundred and fifty 
 miles. 
 
General Beale as Surveyor-General 265 
 
 The Gulf of California is the mouth of the Colorado. 
 
 It is possible to buy up for insignificant sums immense 
 grants of land in both Sonora and Lower Cahfornia. These 
 grants are what are called floating grants, that is, they are 
 unlocated. It occurred to me to buy up these grants and 
 locate them so as to cover the mouth of the Colorado and 
 that this title might be somehow transferred to the U. S. Gov- 
 ernment. It is true an individual would not, in making the 
 purchase, buy with it the sovereignty, but the fact that the 
 land was all owned by citizens of the United States might 
 predispose Mexico to part with its sovereignty for a small 
 consideration of some commercial character which we 
 could make. It may be that this is not possible, but in 
 conference with Mr. Brown and Col. James, we thought it 
 probable that your experience might find in this scheme 
 something by which this most desirable result could be 
 accomplished. 
 
 I trust you will not think I underrate the hazards of a war 
 with France. I believe I fully appreciate all its cost added 
 to our present struggle but I know that in a few months 
 more it will be almost impossible to possess ourselves of this 
 country, and I believe it worth all a war will cost us. More- 
 over since your letter I find Juarez is again at the head of a 
 respectable army and as we still recognize his Government 
 why could not a secret treaty of purchase be made with him 
 and kept secret for the present until we have more time to 
 devote to outside matters? 
 
 I beg you to excuse my writing to you again on this sub- 
 ject. I do it with infinite regret, for I can imagine how 
 every moment of your time is fully occupied. Still, I am 
 somewhat encouraged to intrude upon you again, as I 
 interpret that portion of your late speech at Cincinnati 
 (Oct. 12) into a determination not to allow France to have 
 things entirely her own way in Mexico and your very kind 
 letter to me satisfies me that the interests of the Pacific 
 Coast are not forgotten or neglected by you in the midst of 
 
266 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 all the herculean labors you are daily performing in the 
 service of your country. 
 
 I have the honor to be your Obt. Servt., etc., 
 
 E. F. Beale. 
 Hon. S. P. Chase, 
 Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 If the press of California is to-day well informed 
 the Congressional delegation of that State wotdd 
 seem to be under instructions from their constit- 
 uents to bring to the attention of Congress in the 
 winter of 191 2 the policy of reshaping the Mexican 
 frontier line which General Beale urged so strongly 
 upon the Secretary of the Treasury in 1863. 
 
 The plans, the hopes and the fears of the Mexican 
 revolutionists of the day are very clearly revealed 
 in the following letters addressed to Beale by Gen. 
 Placido Vega who was operating in Sinaloa. 
 Spanish originals of these letters are preserved 
 among the Beale papers. 
 
 Generals-in-Chief of the Brigade of Sinaloa 
 
 Excellency: 
 
 In the many conferences which we have had with 
 reference to the French Invasion and the firm resolve of the 
 Constitutional Government to fight to the last extremity to 
 defend the nationality and independence of our country, it 
 has given me very great pleasure to see the interest and 
 the sympathy with which you have followed the heroic 
 efforts of my Fatherland in the defence of the most sacred 
 of causes. 
 
 Of course nothing less was to be expected from a worthy 
 general of the Republic, nourished and fortified in the 
 doctrines of Liberty and in the rights of man, or from one 
 
General Beale as Surveyor-General 267 
 
 who also understands how dangerous it would be for the 
 political principles in the worship of which we are core- 
 ligionists, to permit the development on the American 
 Continent of the monarchical principle that the party of 
 European Reaction pretends and seeks to promulgate. 
 
 Holding as I do these views the generous offers which you 
 have been kind enough to make, of your services for the 
 purpose of expediting the export of arms and munitions 
 which have been gathered in this city compel the deepest 
 gratitude of my countrymen, and of the Constitutional 
 Government and I for my part am pleased to be called upon 
 to voice this sentiment in which I participate in the highest 
 degree. 
 
 I accept then the good disposition you have shown in 
 favor of my country's cause and leave entirely to your 
 loyalty and good faith aU the arrangements for the departure 
 of the munitions and arms from this state that may seem 
 to you most convenient, in the understanding however that 
 I will personally embark on the ship with them. 
 
 The munitions referred to are now deposited in the ware- 
 houses of the government, and also in those of private 
 individuals. In the same way they should be sent out to 
 the Colorado consigned to the person you may see fit to 
 designate. 
 
 At the first opporttmity I shall place in your hands the 
 receipts and all the papers relative to the consignment so 
 that you may arrange the freight and indeed all other 
 questions which their export may entail. I also beg to 
 inform you for your guidance that I will bring on board 
 with me very excellent pilots of the coasts in question whom 
 I have recruited in advance for the greater security of our 
 landing. 
 
 The well deserved influence and consideration which you 
 enjoy in the official and all respectable circles in this city 
 and in the other states of the Union procure for you facilities 
 to render important services to my country such as no one 
 
268 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 else could ; for this reason and because I am convinced that 
 your party has sympathy for our cause and the good will 
 to aid us to sustain it, I do not impress upon you the fact 
 that the actual circumstances of the Constitutional Govern- 
 ment of Mexico demands the greatest economy in the pur- 
 chase of arms although they are so urgently needed. And 
 it is on the score of this very urgency that I suggest to you 
 to select a steamer so that the cargo may the sooner arrive. 
 Even the very moments are indeed precious. 
 
 The preceding suggestions should not be construed as 
 instructions for the performance of the mission you have 
 been so kind as to accept. On the contrary I merely submit 
 them to your good judgment so that you may modify them as 
 you think best and in order that you may with your per- 
 fect knowledge of men and of affairs adopt the means most 
 suitable for carrying out the work we have in hand. In 
 sending this note I have the honor to offer to you the 
 consideration of my particular respect and esteem. 
 Independence— Liberty — Reform. 
 
 San Francisco, May 17th, 1864, 
 
 Placido Vega. 
 To Gen. E. F. Beale. 
 
 And again on the following day General Vega 
 writes: 
 
 Mexican Republic, 
 Department of Sinaloa. 
 
 The Supreme Government of the Mexican Republic, 
 vested by the honorable Congress with extraordinary 
 powers has authorized me to dispose of the Salinas or salt 
 works or deposits on the Island of Carmen, which belong to 
 the territory of Lower California, so that funds may be 
 secured with which it woiild be possible to purchase the 
 machinery necessary to the manufacture of munitions of 
 war. The salt deposits have been profitably worked and 
 
General Beale as Surveyor-General 269 
 
 there is no reason to fear they would not be profitable to any- 
 one advancing money on the lease. 
 
 With the object of raising the desired funds I delegated 
 my authority in the matter to the Licenciado Jos6 Aguirre 
 de la Barrera who acting under the instructions which I 
 communicated to him previously went to New York and to 
 other states and cities of the Union. He was by means of 
 very brilliant work successful. I shall not molest Your 
 Excellency with the details of his mission, in forming a 
 company to lease the salt works on the lines and in the 
 manner set forth in the contract which I submit herewith 
 as an enclosure. 
 
 AU possible funds having been obtained in this manner 
 we have been able to purchase the machinery and the 
 munitions of war so ardently desired by my Government. 
 These articles should arrive in this port within a short time. 
 I would also inform you, as the enclosed papers show, that 
 we have purchased five thousand Austrian rifles through 
 the agency of Licenciado Pedro Barrera and these 
 rifles are also expected to arrive in this city in a few 
 days. 
 
 I have wished to keep you informed of these events 
 because I have felt it my duty to reciprocate the many 
 marks of sympathy and confidence you have been good 
 enough to show to my country and to my cause, also because 
 I trust you will continue to assist Senores Barrera and 
 Agtiirre in carrjdng out the duties with which they have 
 been charged. 
 
 These gentlemen, who already have the honor of being 
 in communication with you will inform you of any details 
 you may wish to know in regard to our current affairs and 
 will call upon you shoiild circumstances arise requiring 
 your influence and co-operation. Again I have the honor 
 to renew the assurances of my respectful thanks and 
 sincere esteem. 
 
 Independence — Liberty — Reform. 
 
27© Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 Beale was at this time in close touch with General 
 Grant. They had after Vicksburg resumed their 
 long interrupted correspondence. Grant was more 
 strongly in favor of a forward policy in Mexico 
 than Seward and woiold seem to have been, from 
 1864 on, in communication with the Liberals of 
 Mexico, Beale probably acting as his intermediary. 
 Grant's attitude at this time is made plain in Gen- 
 eral Badeau's volume. Grant in Peace. Badeau says 
 that on the first day of the Grand Review in 
 Washington, at the conclusion of the war. Grant 
 hurried Sheridan off to Texas (see page 181): 
 
 "There must be a large amount of captured ordnance 
 in your command, " said Grant, and Sheridan was directed 
 to send none of these articles to the North. "Rather place 
 them, " said Grant, "convenient to be permitted to go into 
 Mexico, if they can be gotten into the hands of the defenders 
 of the only Government we recognize in that country. " 
 
 On the 30th of July, 1866, Grant again wrote Sheridan, 
 "Since the repeal of our neutrality laws I am in hopes of 
 being able to get authority to dispose of aU otu- surplus 
 ammunition within your command to the Liberals of 
 Mexico. Seward is a powerful ally of Louis Napoleon, in 
 my opinion, but I am strongly in hope that his aid wiU do 
 the Empire no good. " 
 
 Evidently the Administration in Washington 
 was of two minds how to approach the problem 
 which the presence of Maximilian in Mexico pre- 
 sented. While sending notes, more or less diplo- 
 matic, to the Tuileries, with the tacit approval 
 of the Administration, something much more sub- 
 
Kit Carson Statue 
 
 Frederick MacMonnies, Sculptor 
 
 Courtesy of Theodore B. Starr, Esq. 
 
General Beale as Surveyor-General 271 
 
 stantial was sent across the frontier to the Liberals 
 of Mexico, and it is certain that all the sxorplus 
 ammiinition and the condemned muskets so plenti- 
 ftil at the close of the war in Texas now mysteri- 
 ously disappeared. For his part, General Beale 
 turned over to General Vega eight thousand mus- 
 kets. He never was inclined to speak of the provi- 
 dence of these muskets but seemed confident they 
 fell into the hands of Juarez and were used in the 
 battles around Queretaro in which the fate of the 
 Mexican Empire was tragically decided. This 
 view was confirmed twenty years later when Presi- 
 dent Diaz, at a Union League Club dinner in New 
 York at which Beale was present and made the 
 address of welcome, hailed him as a friend of 
 Mexico in her hour of trial and as one who had 
 contributed mightily to the restoration of her 
 liberties. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 Life on the Tejon Rancho 
 
 Beale Resigns as Surveyor-General and Retires to Tejon — 
 Purchases More Land from Absentee Landlords 
 — Description of the Bakersfield Country when Kern 
 County was a Wilderness — The Spring, the Fig Trees 
 and the Live Oaks — ^A Rodeo — Robber Bands — Near- 
 est Justice One Hundred and Fifty Miles Away! — 
 Sale of Sheep in San Francisco — Mexicans who Panned 
 for Gold before the Forty-niners — Lincoln and Beale 
 Anecdotes — "Monarch of All He Surveys" — Charles 
 NordhofE's Visit to Tejon — Description of Life There 
 — His Praise of What General Beale had Accom- 
 plished — Kit Carson's Ride by Joaquin Miller — Beale 
 Falls Foul of the Poet — Sad Scenes on the Rancho. 
 
 WHEN the Civil War was over General 
 Beale sent in his resignation as surveyor- 
 general and retired to the Tejon Rancho. 
 Here he spent much, indeed most of his time until 
 well on to the end of his life when, deeply interested 
 as he always was in the political questions of the 
 day, his annual visits to Chester, Pennsylvania, 
 and to the National Capital were greatly prolonged. 
 The Tejon lands were purchased by General 
 
 Beale from Mexicans and Spaniards, who lived in 
 
 272 
 
Life on the Tejon Rancho 273 
 
 Los Angeles, and who took very good care never to 
 go near the enormous land grants which they had 
 heired. General Beale was accustomed to relate 
 with considerable hxomor that he often had to con- 
 vince these absentee landlords that they were 
 legally possessed of the land before inducing them 
 to sell. While in comparison with the recognized 
 value of Kern County lands to-day the prices 
 paid for these grants seem merely nominal, the 
 vendors were delighted, regarding naturally the 
 purchase money for something they did not well 
 know they owned as so much gold picked up by 
 the roadside. 
 
 There was a deserted fort on the place, the lands 
 were unoccupied, and no one passed that way ex- 
 cept an occasional detachment of troops, changing 
 post, and now and again a roving band of Indians 
 on some predatory excursion. However, the place 
 appealed to General Beale as had no other spot he 
 had come upon in his many travels, and here 
 actually and not figuratively he pitched his tent 
 and began to prepare with what philosophy he 
 could stimmon for those long years which overtake 
 even the most nimble traveller. 
 
 The Tejon Rancho rose five hundred feet above 
 the present town of Bakersfield, and enjoyed, as 
 General Beale once wrote to an envious friend 
 summering on the Potomac flats, "a refreshing 
 atmosphere of perpetual spring which never 
 becomes close summer." 
 
 Here the wanderer camped by his own spring 
 18 
 
274 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 and planted his own fig trees. Not indeed that 
 shade was wanting. It was perhaps the wide- 
 spreading umbrageous live oaks that had first 
 chained his wandering fancy. One of these pri- 
 meval forest trees, as the General satisfied himself, 
 not by rule of thtimb but by the careful surveying 
 in which he delighted, covered with its pendent 
 branches a circumference of two hundred feet. 
 
 Some three hundred Indian herders, or rather 
 Indians who became herders, the same soft-spoken 
 but uneasy fellows who had apparently driven the 
 previous owners to seek refuge in the towns, lived 
 in an adobe village at the Monte near the entrance 
 to the Tejon Canyon. 
 
 Some idea of the life on the ranch in these early 
 days is given in the following letter of General 
 Beale to his children who were then in the East on 
 a visit. 
 
 Rancho de la Liebre, May 3, 1865. 
 My dear Children: 
 
 The past few days have been of such excessive labor 
 that I could not fulfil my intention, as promised in my 
 letter to your dear Mother, of writing the day after to you. 
 On the first of May I rode from noon until six o'clock, 
 forty-five miles. Then from that time until night worked 
 anxiously and hard on the rodeo ground with from five to 
 seven thousand head of cattle parting out five hundred for 
 market. Unfortunately in putting them in the corral for 
 the night they became alarmed and many escaped, which 
 gave me all the next day to collect again, so that it was 
 noon to-day before I could start Mr. Hudson on the road 
 with them, and after seeing him ten miles on the way, rode 
 
Life on the Tejon Rancho 275 
 
 back and threw myself perfectly exhausted on the bed, and 
 went to sleep, and have just now awakened. A good bath 
 has greatly refreshed me. 
 
 The country I am sorry to say is in a very disturbed 
 condition, — robbers swarm over it in bands of ten to thirty, 
 and only to-day some fifty soldiers stopped here who were 
 looking for a large party of secessionists and thieves who 
 had stolen from my Rancho, at the Tejon, a large herd of 
 one of my neighbor's horses, who had just collected them to 
 gather his cattle with. But the soldiers will not catch them 
 or distinguish themselves in any way under their thick- 
 headed General McDowell. The whole countryside here 
 has never before been in such a horrible condition, even this 
 lawless region where our nearest Justice of the Peace is 
 a hundred and fifty miles off ! So far they have not robbed 
 me, but my turn may come, and when it does I shall defend 
 my property as long as I have life. Our house is well pro- 
 vided with arms and my people faithful and attached so 
 that I feel prepared and secure. 
 
 In my last letter to your dear Mother I told of my sale 
 of sheep at San Francisco. I must now tell you of what 
 befell my shepherd on his return. He was encamped on 
 the shores of the great Tulare Lake, and for protection 
 against the wind had made his camp some considerable 
 distance within the tall and exuberant growth of flags and 
 reeds twice as high as one's head, which we call tule. This 
 tule is frequently fired by the Indians to scare out the 
 game, which seek its shelter from pursuit or natural inchna- 
 tion for such localities, and at such times ill betide the 
 unfortunate who cannot escape the flames. In that long 
 journey of mine alone and on foot through them, I found 
 the calcined bones of some unhappy wretch who had been 
 overtaken in them and perished miserably in this manner. 
 Well, to go on with my story. 
 
 About midnight the shepherd lying wrapped in his 
 blankets and fast asleep, was roused by his dog jumping 
 
276 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 vehemently on his breast, and barking violently and tearing 
 at the blanket which covered him. At first he thought it 
 was sunrise, it was so bright around him, and that the dog 
 was mad, but the instant the faithful brute (it hurts my 
 feelings and jars upon me to call such a noble animal brute, 
 while assassins and murderers escape that reproachful term 
 and are called men) found his master was thoroughly 
 awakened, he fled with a howl directly for the open land 
 beyond the tule, and at the same instant the shepherd 
 became aware that the devouring flame was upon him. He 
 had barely time, a little scorched, to escape with life and 
 lost only his camp. 
 
 The General kept open house at all times at 
 Tejon according to the Califomian custom, whether 
 he was in residence or not. He would talk to all 
 comers concerning his companions, the Argonauts, 
 of Stockton, of Carson and of Fremont, Sloat 
 and Kearny. As to his own exploits he was 
 modest and non-committal. Late in the seventies 
 however one of the San Francisco papers awoke 
 to the fact that the pioneers were d3Hing and that 
 it was high time that something, at least, of what 
 they knew should be committed to paper. So a 
 most expert questioner was sent to Antelope Valley 
 and we are indebted to him for information 
 which has escaped other chroniclers. 
 
 "When in 1857 I came from Little Salt Lake in Utah via 
 Amargosa," said the General, "and struck this valley at 
 Big Rock, I travelled West to Tejon Pass along the foothills 
 and was as you can imagine highly impressed with the 
 coimtry. There was considerable grass and wild game but 
 not a single human being did we see. At Elizabeth Lake 
 
Life on the Tejon Rancho 277 
 
 the ducks and geese were so thick that I killed three ducks 
 with one shot of my rifle. We did not have shot guns then. " 
 "My attention," continued the General, "was first 
 called to this ranch, the first land sold in the Antelope 
 Valley since the conquest, by a curious incident which was 
 not without influence upon the course of my life. I chanced 
 to enter the U. S. Court House in Monterey while a Mexican 
 witness was being examined. He was a man whom the 
 owners of the Liebre Rancho had living there. It was then 
 held though afterwards discarded, " interjected the General, 
 "that to make a Spanish grant good there had to be occu- 
 pancy. " "I was panning out gold on the San Felipe 
 mountain, " asserted the Mexican witness and the watching 
 lawyer thought he had caught him in a falsehood 
 but as a matter of fact the Mexican succeeded in prov- 
 ing that he had panned gold south of the Liebre years 
 before the official discovery of gold. "I bought this 
 forty thousand acre tract and started to raise cattle. 
 In those days my nearest neighbors were at Visalia on 
 one side and at Los Angeles on the other." From 
 Liebre, the correspondent rode with the General back to 
 his usual residence at Tejon. Together they traversed 
 several other tracts of land which the General had pur- 
 chased and which taken in the aggregate made an estate 
 half as large as the state of Rhode Island. They met 
 fifteen thousand cattle on the way and five hundred horses 
 and they spent the evening at Tejon. "It was crisp and 
 cool," writes the correspondent, "and we sat by the open 
 fire-place with a rousing fire which made the spacious room 
 in the great adobe house cheerful with its glow." 
 
 A witty though absolutely groundless story is 
 told about Lincoln and General Beale, and the 
 latter's great landed possessions. Lincoln is re- 
 ported as saying that he could not reappoint Beale 
 
278 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 as surveyor-general because "he became monarch 
 of all he surveyed." 
 
 As a matter of fact General Beale, to the 
 amusement of many of his friends who have since 
 died poor, purchased for cash all the land in 
 California of which he died possessed, and the 
 purchases were made long before he became 
 surveyor-general. While Beale only paid five 
 cents an acre for much of this land, this was five 
 cents an acre more than most people at the time 
 thought it was worth, and it was well known that 
 for years no white man could be paid to live on 
 the place during the General's frequent absences 
 for fear of marauding Indians and white outlaws. 
 
 General Beale enjoyed the "svirveying story," 
 as he called it, as well as any one else, but once 
 he said, "Some day the archives of our country 
 will tell why Lincoln made me Surveyor-General. 
 It had nothing to do with rod or chain, but 
 much to do with the metes and bounds of the 
 Union." 
 
 Charles Nordhoff , the celebrated writer and jour- 
 nalist, visited the Pacific Coast in 1872 and dedi- 
 cated the resulting book of travel, as had Bayard 
 Taylor twenty-three years before, to General Beale, 
 "in memory of the pleasant days at Tejon." To 
 this brilliant writer we are indebted for many 
 interesting sidelights upon the subject of this 
 narrative and upon the work which General Beale 
 accomplished both as pathfinder and road-builder 
 to the Pacific and as a vigorous and efficient citizen 
 
u 
 
 o o 
 
 ^ 00 
 
 IV 
 
 > 
 
 M 
 
 O 
 
 6 
 
 o 
 
Life on the Tejon Rancho 279 
 
 of the great commonwealth he hved to see grow 
 up on the Pacific slope. 
 
 Our host [writes Nordhofl] was a sparkling combination 
 of scholar, gentleman and Indian fighter, the companion 
 and friend of Kit Carson in other days, the surveyor of 
 trans-continental railways and wagon roads and the owner 
 to-day of what seems to me the most magnificent estate in a 
 single hand in America. 
 
 [Again he writes] The Rancho from which I write, the 
 Tejon as it is called, the home of Gen. Beale, contains 
 nearly two hundred thousand acres and lies at the junction 
 of the Sierra Nevada with the Coast Range. These two 
 mountain ranges bend around toward each other here in a 
 vast sweep and form the bottom of the San Joaquin Valley. 
 They do not quite meet. The Tejon Pass, a narrow defile, 
 separates them and gives egress from the Valley into the 
 Los Angeles country. 
 
 You may ride for eighty miles on the county road upon 
 this great estate. It supports this year over one hundred 
 thousand sheep; and it has a peasantry of its own about 
 whom I shall tell you something presently. The Tejon is 
 devoted to sheep and here I saw the operation of shearing ; 
 eight or nine weeks are reqtiired to shear the whole flock, as 
 well as the various details of the management of a California 
 sheep farm. 
 
 What we call at home a flock is in California called a band 
 of sheep. These bands consist usually of from 1300 to 
 2000 sheep and each band is in the charge of a shepherd. 
 
 " This country is quiet now," said the General one evening 
 in a reminiscent mood, "but when I first came into it it 
 contained some rough people. The head of the famous 
 robber Joaquin Murieta and the hand of his heutenant, 
 'Three-fingered' Jack, were brought into my camp but a 
 few hours after those two scoundrels were shot. Jack 
 Powers and his gang used to herd their bands of stolen 
 
28o Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 horses on my ranch as they drove them through the coun- 
 try; and Jack once kindly came to tell me that he would 
 kill the first man of his gang that took anything from me. 
 Mason and Henry, the worst of all the road agents in this 
 state, used to go through Kern County waylaying and rob- 
 bing; and in those days a man had to be careful not only of 
 his money but of his life." 
 
 Of course the sheep are scattered over many miles of ter- 
 ritory, but each band has a limited range, defined somewhat 
 by the vicinity of water, and it is customary in California 
 to drive them every night into a corral or inclosure usually 
 fenced with brush and with a narrow entrance. This corral 
 is near water and the sheep drink at morning and evening. 
 The shepherd sleeps near by, in a hut, or, in the mountainous 
 part of the Tejon Rancho, in a tepestra. The corral is to keep 
 the sheep together, and in a measure protect them against 
 the attacks of wild beasts, which, curiously enough are too 
 cowardly to venture after dark inside of even a low fence. 
 The tepestra is to protect the shepherd himself against the 
 attacks of grizzly bears which are still abundant in the 
 mountains, especially in the Coast Range. 
 
 The tepestra is a platform about 12 feet high, built upon 
 stout poles solidly set into the ground. On this platform 
 the shepherd sleeps, in the mountains, at the entrance to 
 the corral; the grizzly bear cannot cHmb a pole, though he 
 can get up a tree large enough to give his claws a hold. It 
 is, I beUeve, not infrequent for a grizzly to stand up at the 
 side of a tepestra at night and try to rouse the shepherd. 
 But all the men are armed with guns which they carry day 
 and night. 
 
 The grizzly does not usually attack sheep. The Califor- 
 nia lion, a very strong but cowardly beast, the wildcat, the 
 fox and the coyote, are the sheep's enemies. The last 
 named is easily poisoned with meal which has strychnine 
 powdered over it. The others are hunted when they 
 become troublesome, and as the lion upon the slightest 
 
Life on the Tejon Rancho 281 
 
 alarm will take to a tree, and will run even from a small dog, 
 it is not accounted a very troublesome beast. 
 
 Indians, Spaniards, Chinese, and some Scotchmen, serve 
 as shepherds in California. The last are thought the best, 
 and the Chinese make very faithful shepherds, if they are 
 properly and carefully trained. They are apt to herd the 
 sheep too closely together at first. Dogs I have found but 
 little used in the sheep ranches I have seen. They are not 
 often thoroughly trained, and where they are neglected be- 
 come a nuisance. Of course the shepherds have to be sup- 
 plied at stated intervals with food. They usually receive 
 a week's rations which they cook for themselves. 
 
 At the Tejon there are two supply stations, and every 
 morning donkeys and mules were sent out with food to 
 some distant shepherds. The ration-masters count the 
 sheep as they deliver the rations, and thus all the sheep are 
 counted once a week and if any sheep are missing they 
 must be accounted for. The shepherd is allowed to kill a 
 sheep once in so many days but he must keep the pelt which 
 is valuable. Above the ration-masters are the major- 
 domos. Each of these has charge of a certain number of 
 bands ; on a smaller estate there is usually but one major- 
 domo. It is his duty to see that the shepherds are compe- 
 tent; that new pasturage is ready when a band has need for 
 it; to see that the corrals are in good order; to provide extra 
 hands at lambing time; to examine the sheep, to keep out 
 scab which is almost the only disease sheep are subject to 
 in this State; and to give out the rations for distribution. 
 
 On such an estate as the Tejon there is finally a general 
 superintendent and a bookkeeper and a storekeeper, for 
 here in the wilderness a supply of goods of various kinds 
 must be kept up for the use of the people. A blacksmith, 
 teamsters, plowmen, gardeners and house servants make up 
 the complement of the Tejon's company. The gardeners 
 and servants are Chinese as they usually are in this State, 
 and very good men they are — civil, obliging, and competent. 
 
282 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 Besides these numbers fed from the home place there 
 are on this estate about 300 Indians, who have been allowed 
 to fence in small tracts of land, on which they raise barley 
 and other provisions, and in some cases plant fruit trees and 
 vines. They form the peasantry of whom I spoke above, 
 and are a happy, tolerably thrifty, and very comfortable 
 people. Their surplus produce is purchased by the super- 
 intendent; when their labor is used they are paid; and they 
 all have horses which pasture on the general fields. They 
 have learned how to plow, shear sheep, and perform some 
 other useful labor. 
 
 Now these Indians came to the Tejon naked, except a 
 breech clout, feeding miserably on grasshoppers, worms 
 and acorns, ignorant, savage nomads. They were first 
 brought here when a part of this rancho was used by the 
 Government as an Indian Reservation. Gen. Beale, the 
 present owner of the Tejon, was then Superintendent of 
 Indian Affairs in this State, and he has seen these people 
 emerge from a condition of absolute barbarism and wretched- 
 ness into a degree of comfort and prosperity greater than 
 that enjoyed by the majority of Irish peasants; they have 
 abandoned their nomadic habits, have built neat and com- 
 fortable houses and fenced in ground which they cultivate. 
 Their women dress neatly and understand how to cook food. 
 The men earn money as sheep shearers. In some places 
 vineyards and fruit trees have been brought by them to a 
 bearing condition. In short these human beings were sav- 
 ages, and are — well, they are as civilized as a good many 
 who come in emigrant ships from Europe to New York. 
 
 And all this has been accomplished under the eye and by 
 the careful and kindly management of the owner of the 
 Tejon Rancho. It seemed a great thing for any man to 
 achieve, and certainly these people compared in every way 
 favorably with a similar class whom I saw on the Tula " 
 River Indian Reservation, living at the expense of the 
 Government, idle, gambling, lounging, evil-eyed and good 
 
Life on the Tejon Rancho 283 
 
 for nothing. If the Tule River Reservation be abandoned, 
 the Government would save a handsome sum of money, and 
 the farmers would find a useful laboring force, where now 
 there are three or four hundred idle vagabonds, who when 
 they do go out to work, as some of them do, still receive 
 rations and clothing from the Government, and use their 
 own earnings for gambling and debauchery. 
 
 Gen. Beale's Indians have been raised to a far better 
 condition by his own private efforts, than the Reservation 
 Indians after years of expensive support from the Govern- 
 ment. They shear aU the Tejon sheep, and are thus, of 
 course, of value to the estate, and they are useful in many 
 other ways. Unluckily their language is Spanish. It 
 seemed to me a pity that when they had to learn a new 
 language, EngHsh had not been taught them. 
 
 The Tehatchapie Pass by which the Southern Pacific 
 railroad is to pass from Bakersfield into the Mohave Plain 
 is part of the Tejon Rancho, and when I came to drive into 
 that great plain, which is just now the home of thousands of 
 antelopes, I saw another fertile region, only awaiting the 
 railroad to be "prospected" by settlers. The Mohave 
 Plains have the name of being uninhabitable, but they 
 furnish abundant pasturage for antelopes and deer. They 
 lack rtmning streams of water; but a German, who is the 
 first settler, has dug a well, and found water without going 
 far down, and I saw on the plain a fine field of barley almost 
 ready for harvesting, which showed the quality of the soil. 
 Stretching far into the great uninhabited plain is a singular 
 and picturesque mountain range, called the "Lost Moun- 
 tains" which relieves the dreary desolation of a great level, 
 and promises, in its canyons, springs and streams, pleasant 
 homes for the future settler when the railroad opens this 
 great uninhabited tract. 
 
 Sometimes, though not often, as the Patron was 
 not a leisurely rancher and his days were filled 
 
284 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 with toil, General Beale wotdd lay down the 
 shears and take up the pen, which he generally 
 used as a cudgel upon one or another of the Sierra 
 poets who were beginning to write with, as he 
 thought, httle or no regard for historical accuracy, 
 of the days of the pioneers. The most vigorous, 
 sincere, and heartfelt of these articles the General 
 wrote in defence of his old friend and comrade, Kit 
 Carson, whose life had inspired the then youthful 
 Joaquin Miller to a soaring flight with Pegasus. 
 
 The General's rejoinder to the Poet of the 
 Sierras reads: 
 
 Kit Carson's Ride 
 
 Under this title there comes to us in Harper's Weekly, a 
 very long poem by one Joaquin Miller, of California. As 
 well as we can make it out, it seems to be an ugly cross of 
 Browning on Swinburne, and ought to be put in a moral 
 glass bottle, labelled "Poison," put on a high shelf in the 
 cupboard out of the reach of children, and forgotten. 
 
 It is rarely that the license allowed to poets has been more 
 thoroughly abused than in the ill-written lines which are 
 contained in the article that heads this notice. As a rule in 
 poetry when fact is departed from, it has always been to 
 exaggerate the virtues of a departed hero, but never to 
 slander him by rendering his picture ridicxilous, much less 
 indecent, and as we recall the modest, earnest, refined 
 simplicity of Carson, and compare it with the frenzied and 
 Hcentious buffoon presented in the poem and picture 
 referred to, we cannot but regret that the scalp of Joaquin 
 had not been counted among the "coups " of that redoubted 
 knight of the prairies and mountains. How far the descend- 
 ants of that upright and noble man might be justified in 
 
Life on the Tejon Rancho 285 
 
 sueing the author for defamation of character in a city- 
 court, we do not know, but are sure in the courts of that 
 generous and active Judge Ljmch, away off in the Rockies, 
 where Kit's fame is yet cherished by many a hardy pioneer, 
 we might safely count on "Exemplary damages" — some- 
 thing that would make his hair stand on end. 
 
 What an abuse of all common sense is such stuff — as 
 though a half-witted maudlin had read "How the news was 
 carried to Ghent, " and then slept off the fumes of a debauch 
 dreanaing of " Chastelard. " And this is a representative 
 poet ! That virtuous gentlewoman, Dame Quickly, says of 
 the famous Pistol: 
 
 "He a captain! Hang him rogue! He lives upon 
 mouldy stewed prunes and dried cakes. A captain ! These 
 villains will make the word ' captain ' as odious as the word 
 "occupy,' which was an excellent good word before it 
 was ill-sorted. Therefore Captains had need look to it." 
 
 Carson was a man cleanly of mind, body and speech, and 
 by no manner of means a border ruffian. He had no gift 
 of swearing. The only oath I ever heard him use, was that 
 of William the Conqueror, which I had once read him out of 
 a stray volume of Tristram Shandy. On this occasion, he 
 drew a long single-barrelled pistol (old Constable's make), 
 which Fremont had given me, and I to Kit, for we had no 
 "gold mounted Colt's true companions for years" in those 
 simple-minded days, and with slow, deadly speech, which 
 carried the sense of imminent mischief in it, said to one who 
 was in the act of a cowardly wrong upon a sick man, " Ser- 
 geant, drop that knife, or 'by the Splendor of God,' I '11 
 blow your heart out. " 
 
 He had not the advantages of education, but was wise as 
 the beaver, and of great dignity and simphcity of character, 
 and not given to the least vulgarity of thought or expression 
 nor would he tolerate it in those about him. 
 
 It was not enough that this poor "metre balladmonger, " 
 has talked of scenes of which he knows nothing, and has 
 
286 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 misplaced and misnamed all mountain craft, and the 
 chronology and geography, weapons, and ranges of tribes 
 of Indians and the spirit of the times whereof he speaks. 
 It is not enough that he puts into the mouth of a calm, 
 dignified, sweet nature, such words of bosh as would make a 
 love-sick and idiotic ape quite ashamed of himself, but he 
 slanders a character as chivalrous as that of a knight of 
 romance, by making him escape on his lady love's horse 
 from a danger in which she is left to perish. . . . 
 
 General Beale, after a further severe scoring of 
 the poet and his lines, pays this tribute to his old 
 friend : 
 
 Dear old Kit. Not such as the poet paints you do I 
 recall the man I loved. Looking back through the misty 
 years, I see a man Tasso, if you had lived in an earlier age, 
 would have placed by the side of Godfrey and made the 
 companion of Tancred and Rinaldo. A man pure, very 
 pure, in his nature — not given to lustful ways, but calm, 
 serious and sweet of temper; a man of very moderate 
 stature, but broad fronted and elastic, yet by no means 
 robust of frame though gifted with immense endurance and 
 nerves of steel. A head quite remarkable for its fuU size 
 and very noble forehead, quiet, thoughtful blue eyes, and 
 yellow hair, a very strong jaw and a face dished like an 
 Arab horse, that made a man who had never seen him before 
 look at him again with the thought that he would "do to 
 tie to." Arms rather long, and thin strong flanks, with 
 slightly bandy legs. 
 
 This was the outward shape, which enclosed a spirit as 
 high and daring and as noble as ever tenanted the body of a 
 man. No man to take a woman's horse because it was 
 faster than his own and leave her to the prairie fire, while he 
 galloped off to twaddle in tumid bosh over her marvellous 
 eyes. What an abuse of common sense is -such stuff ! 
 
Life on the Tejon Rancho 287 
 
 Oh, Kit, my heart beats quicker, even now, when I think 
 of the time, twenty-five years ago, when I lay on the burn- 
 ing sands of the great desert, under a mesquite bush, where 
 you had, tenderly as a woman would have put her first 
 bom, laid me, sore from wounds and fever, on your only 
 blanket. I see the dim lake of waterless mirage. I see the 
 waving sands ripple with the faint hot breeze around us and 
 break upon our scattered saddles. I see the poor mules 
 famishing of thirst, with their tucked flanks and dim eyes, 
 and hear their sad, plaintive cry go up out of the wilderness 
 for help. I see the men dogged and resolute or despondent, 
 standing around or seeking such shelter as a saddle blanket 
 thrown over a gun afforded. 
 
 Without a thought of ever seeing water again, you poured 
 upon my fevered Hps the last drop in camp from your 
 canteen. Oh, Kit, I think again of afterwards, on bloody 
 Gila, where we fought all day and travelled all night, with 
 each man his bit of mule meat and no other food, and when 
 worn from a hurt I could go no further, I begged you to 
 leave me and save yourself. I see you leaning on that long 
 Hawkins gun of yours (mine now) and looking out of those 
 clear blue eyes at me with a surprised reproach as one who 
 takes an insult from a friend. And I remember when we 
 lay side by side on the bloody battle-field all night, when 
 you mourned Hke a woman and would not be comforted, not 
 for those who had fallen, but for the sad hearts of women at 
 home when the sad tale would be told; and I remember 
 another night when we passed side by side in the midst of 
 an enemy's camp when discovery was death and you would 
 not take a mean advantage of a sleeping foe. Then you 
 were with Fremont and afterward at the solitary desert 
 spring of Archilete, when you all stood around shocked at 
 the horrid spectacle of slaughter which met your eyes. A 
 whole family done to death by Indians. Fremont asked, 
 "Who will follow these wretches and strike them in their 
 camp?" It was you, old Kit, and Alexis Godey who took 
 
288 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 the trail; a long and weary hundred and twenty-five miles, 
 you followed that bloody band. You two attacked in broad 
 daylight a hundred. Killed many for which you brought 
 back our grizzly mountain vouchers and recovered every 
 stolen horse for the sole survivor, a little boy. And this 
 you did in pity for the women who had been slain. Oh ! wise 
 of counsel, strong of arm, brave of heart, and gentle of 
 nattire how bitterly you have been maligned.' 
 
 But even at the Tejon it was not always svinshine 
 as the following characteristic letters of the Gen- 
 eral to Mrs. Beale show: 
 
 Tejon Ranchos, 
 Tejon, Cal., Sunday, October 17, 1886. 
 
 My dearest Wife : 
 
 This has been the saddest day I ever passed on the 
 Rancho. 
 
 When I got here, as soon as I had washed off the dust, I 
 went to see my old friend Chico. He knew I was coming 
 
 'Kennett Square, Penna. 
 
 Sunday, Aug. 27th, 1871. 
 My dear Beale: 
 
 Thank you heartily for writing, as well as for sending to me, your 
 defence of Kit Carson, and scarification of that vulgar fraud, Joaquin 
 Miller! I am very glad to have my own immediate impression con- 
 firmed — ^that the fellow really knows nothing about the life he under- 
 takes to describe. And this is the "great American poet " of the English 
 library journals! Why, I 'd undertake to write a volume of better and 
 truer "songs of the Sierras" in three weeks! We authors have really 
 fallen in evil days, when such stuff passes for poetry. However, 
 patience is my watchword; we have but to wait and see these fictitious 
 reputations go down as fast as they go up. 
 
 How are you, and what are your plans? Can we not meet and have 
 an Olympian eyening together, somewhere, soon? I am more depend- 
 ent on circumstances than you are, but I can still make them bend a Uttle, 
 for the sake of an old friend. Remember me kindly to aU your family. 
 
 Ever affectionately, 
 
 Bayard Taylor. 
 
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Life on the Tejon Rancho 289 
 
 and had been waiting for me all day most anxiously. When 
 I came into the room he struggled to put his arms around my 
 neck but was too weak and I had to raise his hands up to my 
 shotilders. He looked so pleased for a moment, but the 
 excitement of my coming soon left him and he began to 
 sink rapidly. I sat at his bed-side with his hands in mine 
 until they stiffened in Death. 
 
 Just before I came he asked, "Has not the Patron come 
 yet — I hear a horse, go to the door and see. " It proved to 
 be my horse but poor dear old fellow it seemed as if he was 
 only holding on to life until I came to close those faithful 
 eyes which had watched my interests so carefully for so 
 many years. Jimmy Rosemire told me this morning that 
 in speaking to him a few days ago of his friends he said, 
 " I have no friend and do not want any but my Patron, and 
 his interests are all the business I have in Hfe." 
 
 How we shall do without his wise cotmsel and knowledge 
 I do not know. I feel inexpressibly sad. He has been so 
 true and faithful these many long years. The Tejon without 
 him win never be the same to me. 
 
 I have fixed Tuesday for his burial and the place at the 
 head of the flower garden. 
 
 A priest will come for the occasion and everybody includ- 
 ing all the Indians will attend. 
 
 Myself and Alex. Godey, Pogson and Lopez will act as 
 pall-bearers. 
 
 Good night, my dear wife, 
 
 Your devoted husband, 
 
 E. F. Beale. 
 
 Tejon Ranchos, 
 Tejon, Cal., October 20, i886. 
 
 My dearest Wife : 
 
 We bviried my old friend Chico yesterday. 
 
 It was the most impressive funeral I have ever seen. I 
 had sent to Bakersfield for a handsome coffin in which he 
 
290 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 was laid at his house. The house I had built for him is 
 about a mile from here and there the procession formed. 
 
 All work was suspended on the place. Half way from 
 his house I met the procession, accompanied by Pogson and 
 Godey. The coffin was borne by the Vaqueros who reUeved 
 each other at intervals. In front was carried in the arms of 
 one of our men his eldest child. All the Indians and men 
 followed chanting in Spanish the burial service — the men 
 one verse and the women another. 
 
 I never heard anything so solemn and sweet as this chant. 
 When the body arrived at the house it was placed in the 
 parlor, where it was permitted to all, Indians and white 
 people, to come and look at him for the last time. 
 
 The flower garden was full of roses and other beautiful 
 flowers which soon filled the coffin. Here at intervals the 
 funeral songs and hymns of the Catholic Church were sung 
 as before — the women and men's voices in alternate verses. 
 
 At eleven the priest arrived. 
 
 Then I took the right hand side of the coffin, and Godey 
 the left — the middle was taken by Lopez on one side and 
 Don Chico Lopez on the other, and the other end Pogson 
 on the right and Rosemire on the left, and we bore him to 
 his grave at the upper end of the flower garden. 
 
 The priest preached a sermon — very appropriate and 
 performed the full service of the Church and all was 
 over. 
 
 I am just going off with Pogson for the day and will write 
 at every opportunity. 
 
 Your devoted husband, 
 
 E. F. B. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 Last Years 
 
 General Beale Purchases the Decatur House — Its Dis- 
 tinguished Occupants and Ghost Story — Beale's Politi- 
 cal Activity — His Untiring Efforts to Help the Negro 
 — ^Appointed by Grant Minister to Austria — News- 
 paper Comment in California — ^A Bill of Sale from 
 Slavery Days — Awkward Diplomatic Situation — The 
 Emperor and Count Andrassy — Friendship of Grant 
 and Beale — Their Correspondence Published — ^Arthur 
 Fails to Appoint Beale Secretary of the Navy — Grant's 
 Resentment — ^Beale Ends the Grant-Blaine Feud — 
 Last Days — ^Beale's Death — Scenes in Washington 
 and on the Tejon Rancho. 
 
 GENERAL BEALE'S Washington residence, 
 which he ptirchased shortly after the close 
 of the war, was the Decatur mansion on 
 Lafayette Square and within a stone's throw of the 
 White House. This mansion, which has played an 
 important if silent part in the life of the National 
 Capital, was designed by Latrobe, one of the archi- 
 tects of the Capitol, and built by Commodore 
 Decatur, the hero of the Algerine War, in the early 
 years of the last century, and here, in the present 
 library, it is said, Decatur died from the wound 
 
 291 
 
292 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 which he received in his duel with Commodore 
 Barron. ' 
 
 Martin Van Buren lived here when elected 
 President, and from here he removed into the 
 Executive Mansion. Henry Clay, Vice-President 
 George M. Dallas, and the British and Russian 
 Embassies were among its distinguished occupants 
 before the house passed into Gen. Beale's posses- 
 sion. Its exterior is of an old-fashioned plan — a 
 plain three-storied structvire of painted brick, 
 without ornamentation of any kind, but with a 
 dignity and distinction very difficult to copy or 
 to reproduce, as many distinguished Washington 
 architects have learned to their cost and to the 
 regret of their clients. 
 
 The floor of the ball-room, which is on the second 
 floor, is made of California woods, of, it is said, 
 twenty-two thousand pieces, in the centre being a 
 beautifully inlaid reproduction of the arms of Cali- 
 
 ' Another correspondent, this time an old Washingtonian, writes as 
 follows concerning the Decatur-Beale house, another version of an 
 historic incident. 
 
 "Mortally wounded by Barron, Commodore Decatur was borne home 
 to his wife and died in the small south-wing room on the ground floor. 
 Of course that room is haunted, and if rumor is to be believed it is not 
 alone the impressionable negro servants who have seen the figure of the 
 Commodore prowling about at ghostly hours, with ghastly face and 
 blood-streaming wound, enveloped in the inevitable blue-liuninous, 
 terror-inspiring mist. " 
 
 Many tributes are also paid in all chronicles of Washington life to 
 the dignity and splendor of this historic mansion during the years 
 immediately before the war, when it was occupied by Judah P. Ben- 
 jamin, then Senator from Louisiana, and afterwards Attorney-General 
 and Secretary of State of the Southern Confederacy." — From the 
 Beale papers. 
 
Last Years 293 
 
 f omia. The house was so spacious and furnished in 
 such excellent taste that it never seemed crowded 
 even when all Washington was there at one of 
 Mrs. Beale's receptions, nor yet encumbered by 
 the number of historic relics which it contained, 
 surpassing as they did in their ntimber and value 
 the resources of several of Washington's museums. 
 Among the most notable of these historic relics 
 was a massive silver urn presented by the mer- 
 chants of London to Captain Thomas Truxtun of 
 the United States frigate Constellation for the 
 capture of the French frigate Insurgente, 44 guns, 
 in the West Indies in 1799. 
 
 They were, it must be admitted, very forgiving, 
 these London merchants and during the French 
 War, as the great urn testifies, they delighted to 
 honor a man whom a few years before, while their 
 shipping suffered from his roving activity, they had 
 denotmced as a pirate. Then there were in strange 
 comers and nooks, which General Beale would 
 only reveal and explore with his young son's boy 
 friends, medals to Truxtun and to George Beale 
 for his gallantry in the fight with Macdonough on 
 the Lake, and lances — ^fearful and awe-inspiring 
 weapons were these captured from the Mexican- 
 Califomian cavalry at the battle of San Pasqual, 
 and how interesting this or that lance was because 
 it had lodged in the thigh or the breast of those 
 paladins of the plains, Godey or Kit Carson! 
 
 From 1 870 on, when he began to spend at least six 
 months of the year in the Decatur house. General 
 
294 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 Beale exerted great influence politically and socially 
 in the National Capital. He was elected President of 
 the National Republican League, and never spared 
 his time or his money in furthering the cause of 
 good government. In helping upward the eman- 
 cipated negro he was more useful and more sincere 
 than many a man whose name is enshrined in the 
 Walhalla of the Abolition cause. He rarely spoke 
 at the political meetings of his party and of his 
 friends; for this purpose there were speakers in 
 plenty and to spare, but knowing the reluctance of 
 many white leaders of opinion to speak at the 
 meetings of colored men at this period he never 
 refused a call of this description, although they 
 came frequently and compelled journeys to out-of- 
 the-way places. 
 
 From his earliest years Beale had strong opinions 
 on the slavery question and did what he could to 
 bring about a settlement of the vexed question, a 
 legal settlement if possible, but in any event a 
 settlement. He in early life liberated many slaves 
 and among his papers is a bill of sale' for a negro 
 
 ' United States of North America, 
 State of Texas, 
 Calhoun County, 
 Jvine 4, 1857. 
 We, Josiah W. Baldridge, Daniel P. Sparks, and Joseph H. Baldridge, 
 former partners and now in liquidation, known and designated under 
 the style and firm name of Baldridge, Sparks & Co., have this day sold* 
 and by these presents, bargain, sell, and convey unto Edward F. Beale, 
 our negro man named Jourdan, of yellow or copper color, supposed to be 
 from twenty-five to thirty years of age, for and in consideration of the 
 sum of one thousand five hundred dollars to us in hand paid by the said 
 Edward F. Beale, the receipt of which is now acknowledged. And the 
 
Last Years 295 
 
 in Texas whom he learned was about to be sold into 
 the hands of a cruel task-master, a New England 
 man, as so many such people were. Beale pur- 
 chased the slave and set him free, and went on his 
 way rejoicing that he should have been given the 
 opportimity of bringing happiness to a fellow-being. 
 
 At all times and particularly in the early 'sev- 
 enties, Beale was an ardent and indefatigable 
 student of the profession which he had left years 
 before with so much reluctance. He knew the un- 
 satisfactory condition of our Navy, as far as the 
 ships were concerned, and worked and wrote in the 
 reviews on the subject in the hope of bringing home 
 to Congress and the people an appreciation of otir 
 national weakness. 
 
 In 1876 came tmexpectedly Beale's appointment 
 as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipoten- 
 tiary to Austria-Hvmgary. Ever since the execu- 
 tion of the Emperor Maximilian, by Juarez, our 
 relations with the reigning house and with the 
 government of the Dual Monarchy had been of a 
 perfunctory rather than of a cordial character, and 
 while this criticism most certainly does not apply to 
 General Beale's immediate predecessor, the Hon. 
 
 said Baldridge, Sparks & Co. c»venant and agree with the said E. F. 
 Beale that said boy is healthy, sensible, and a slave. We also guarantee 
 the title to the said E. F. Beale free fron\ all incumbrance or claims of 
 every kind or description whatever. Claiming through us. Witness 
 our hands and scrolls for seals this day and date above written. 
 
 On the back of this document Beale wrote: 
 
 "I bought the slave referred to within and gave him his freedom." 
 
 E. F. B. — Beale papers. 
 
296 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 John Jay, so distinguished in letters and in diplo- 
 macy, it is quite true that many of the occupants 
 of this important post in the service had been 
 obscure men and many of them unfit for the per- 
 formance of the duties which were inctimbent 
 upon them. 
 
 When General Beale was selected by General 
 Grant for the Austrian Mission the appointment 
 was received with much enthusiasm in California. 
 The San Francisco News-Letter voiced as follows 
 the sentiment which prevailed in the State: 
 
 The news of Ned Beale's appointment to be Minister to 
 Austria, succeeding Mr. John Jay, is as refreshing as a 
 shower of rain — for if ever there was a typical and represen- 
 tative Calif ornian, Ned Beale is he. Setting out in life a 
 Lieutenant in the Navy, he had a chance to fight in the 
 Territorial days and he fought like the devil. Appointed to 
 look after the Arizona Indians at a time when Arizona 
 Indians were at their best and meanest, he polished them 
 off and taught them to stand around in such style that they 
 have never been the same Indians since. 
 
 Those were days when Indians were Indians, and their 
 only use for a Commissioner was to scalp him on sight. In 
 his Arizona administration Beale took bigger risks, showed 
 more endurance, underwent more trying hardships than 
 any other man whether in the army or out of it. He out- 
 scouted any scout and out-rode any mail-rider, we had in 
 the service. He showed himself an iron-man put up with 
 steel springs and whalebone, and all this time be it noted 
 he was only a youngster. 
 
 Finally, the war came and Beale went Union and got 
 thereby the Surveyor-Generalship of California. Ned 
 Beale was no sentimentalist — not by the longest kind of 
 
Last Years 297 
 
 odds. He was bom with a head on his shoulders, was 
 Edward, and he never laid it away in his trunk. 
 
 No questions of great international impoitance 
 arose between the two countries during General 
 Beale's stay of a year in Austria, but nevertheless 
 his mission gave him an opportunity to show 
 diplomacy of a very high order. When General 
 Beale's name was submitted to the Austrian 
 Emperor by the State Department, according to 
 diplomatic usage, the report upon his availability 
 for the Austrian Mission, doubtless supplied by the 
 Austrian Envoy in Washington whose acquaintance 
 with Beale was of recent date, was most enthusi- 
 astic. Later, however, when Beale had been 
 officially accepted and indeed was on his way to his 
 post, Ball-haus Platz, the Austrian Foreign Office, 
 received information which admitted of no denial, 
 and indeed none was ever attempted, that General 
 Beale had been a strong sympathizer with and a 
 valued supporter of the Juarez administration in 
 Mexico, which, after the capture of Queretaro, had 
 put to death the so-called Emperor Maximilian, 
 the younger and best-beloved brother of that 
 Emperor to whom Beale now found himself 
 accredited. 
 
 It was certainly an awkward situation and the 
 way in which it was handled was most creditable 
 to all concerned. Had not General Beale's name 
 already been passed on favorably, it is certain that 
 when the first news of his former relations with 
 Juarez and the Mexican Liberal generals reached 
 
298 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 the Foreign Office a polite but prompt refusal to 
 accept the new envoy would have followed ; how- 
 ever, the Emperor received General Beale appar- 
 ently with great cordiality. Every honor was 
 paid him that the most desired and most welcome 
 envoy could have asked for, but it was soon evident 
 that the Emperor did not propose ailtivatihg close 
 relations with the man whom he certainly regarded 
 as the friend of his brother's murderers. After all 
 the American Minister could transact his business 
 at the Foreign Office. 
 
 It was forttmate for Beale that at this — ^for him 
 — awkward moment such an able and intelligent 
 man as the famous Count Jules Andrassy presided 
 over the Foreign Office of the Dual Monarchy. 
 A few days after the reception at Court, Beale had 
 his first serious conversation at the Foreign Office 
 and Count Andrassy introduced the subject of 
 Mexico. Perhaps the kindly Hungarian wished 
 to give General Beale a quiet tip as to the reason 
 of the frigid atmosphere into which chance and the 
 careless methods of the American State Depart- 
 ment had steered his bark. General Beale talked 
 frankly about the matter as though it had not 
 the slightest bearing upon his personal position. 
 He explained what he knew about Mexico, and with 
 equal frankness what he did not know. Andrassy 
 was impressed and pleased. The next day he 
 reported to the Emperor. "General Beale is the 
 only man who has ever made the Mexican tragedy 
 clear to me. You shotild speak with him," he 
 
Last Years 299 
 
 said, A summons to a private breakfast at Schoen- 
 bninn followed, and ever afterwards the Emperor 
 admitted General Beale to his presence upon terms 
 of friendship and even of intimacy. 
 
 General Beale was always inclined to credit the 
 dissipation of this diplomatic cloud to Count 
 Andrassy's good will. Andrassy naturally loved 
 conspirators. In early life, as a member of Kossuth's 
 revolutionary government he had been condemned 
 to death, and only saved himself by flight to Tur- 
 key. In later life, when mellowed by the lessons 
 of the passing years and with direct reference to 
 Andrassy, the Emperor said: "It was fortunate for 
 me that aU my sentences of death were not carried 
 out. I should have lost many valuable servants." 
 
 When the year elapsed which was all that Gen- 
 eral Beale felt he could give to the Government in 
 view of his many and pressing interests at home. 
 Mr. Fish was able to, and did, write the departing 
 envoy, that he was leaving the relations of the two 
 countries on a very different basis from that on 
 which he had found them. 
 
 In Scribner's Magazine for October, 191 1, extracts 
 from General Grant's letters to General Beale, 
 charming in their manly simpHcity, were published 
 with the following introductory note: 
 
 These letters were written by Grant to his friend General 
 Edward F. Beale at intervals from 1877, when Grant left 
 Washington and went upon his travels, down to 1885; the 
 last indeed, was penned within a few weeks of the heroic 
 end of the great commander at Mount McGregor. 
 
300 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 The letters are the living memorial of a friendship which 
 began in California in the early fifties and which twenty 
 years later had a marked influence upon the course of 
 national affairs. Grant had the gift of friendship, and his 
 circle was not small ; but to the Washington of the seventies 
 it was no secret that of all his personal friends the one he 
 most admired, the one to whom he always listened (and 
 then did as his own good sense dictated) , was "Ned" Beale 
 (a grandson of the gallant Truxtun), who with Stockton 
 conquered California, who fought Kearny's guns in the 
 desperate battle of San Pasqual, who gave up active service 
 in the Civil War at Lincoln's request because the providen- 
 tial President knew that Beale's presence in the debatable 
 State would preserve it to the Union. Beale related that he 
 first saw Grant in 1848 in the Casino on the Plaza of the 
 City of Mexico where the officers used to gather during the 
 American occupation. Beale was on his famous ride across 
 Mexico, bringing the news of the conquest of California and 
 the first specimens of the gold that had been newly discov- 
 ered in the City of Mexico. He stopped for a few hours to 
 change horses on his route to Vera Cruz. The friendship 
 of Grant and Beale, however, really dates from 1853, when 
 Grant's army career seemed closed, and Beale, having 
 resigned from the navy that he might provide for his grow- 
 ing family, was becoming interested in the wonderful 
 development of the Golden State, which he foresaw like a 
 prophet and by which he profited like a wise man. 
 
 In these days, when Grant was unfortunate, Beale stood 
 by his friend with both word and deed. They walked the 
 Long Wharf together and ate their meals at the "What 
 Cheer" House when San Francisco was as uncertain of its 
 name as of its future. 
 
 The value of these letters is enhanced by the fact that Grant 
 was a reserved man and a somewhat reluctant correspond- 
 ent ; to few if to any of his circle of intimates did he open his 
 heart as he did to his old comrade and house-friend Beale. 
 
Last Years 301 
 
 Beale while at home as well as abroad had con- 
 tinued his naval studies. While in Vienna it was 
 said of him that he would travel a thousand miles 
 to avoid an idle function and twice that distance to 
 visit an interesting navy yard or a stud farm. 
 Outside of the Navy, and of coiirse precedent if not 
 the law makes the choice of a naval officer to head 
 this branch of the Government impossible, there 
 was perhaps at this time no one in the country so 
 capable of beginning the reconstruction of the Navy 
 that was now admittedly an imperative necessity, 
 as General Beale, and shortly after Mr. Arthur 
 became President General Grant urged Beale's ap- 
 pointment as Secretary of the Navy most strenu- 
 ously. However, the whole Congressional delegation 
 from New England demanded the appointment for 
 a New England man, Mr. Chandler, and in a diffi- 
 cult situation and with evident reluctance. Presi- 
 dent Arthur yielded to the political pressure which 
 was exerted.' 
 
 Whatever may have been Grant's feelings, 
 General Beale was certainly not embittered. He 
 remained the friend and adviser of the successive 
 Secretaries of the Navy, from Chandler to Whitney 
 and Herbert, and when the new Navy, as typified 
 
 ' Ben Perley Poor in his reminiscences, Sixty Years of the National 
 Metropolis, says, p. 449 : 
 
 "President Arthur in his desire to administer his inherited duties 
 impartially made himself enemies among those who should have been 
 his friends — General Grant asked that his personal friend General 
 Beale might be appointed Secretary of the Navy and he never forgave 
 President Arthur for not complying with his request. " 
 
302 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 by the White Squadron, put to sea, in it were em- 
 bodied as many of the ideas of General Beale as 
 of any other man. 
 
 During the years of the famous feud between 
 Blaine and Grant, General Beale made several 
 attempts to bring them together for the good of the 
 party and as he most sincerely thought for the good 
 of the country. In 1 883 the party managers urged 
 upon Beale renewed attempts to bring about the 
 long frustrated reconciliation, stating that they 
 regarded it as a sine qua non to Republican success 
 in 1884. 
 
 General Badeau in Grant in Peace sheds some 
 light upon these negotiations. To Badeau, Grant 
 wrote in October, 1883: 
 
 "I write because of your allusion to hearing a rumour that 
 Blaine and I had formed a combination politically. You 
 may deny that statement peremptorily. I have not seen 
 Blaine to speak to him since a long time before the Conven- 
 tion of 1880." Grant knew that I was anxious for him to 
 take ground in favor of Blaine [continues Badeau]. Gen. 
 Beale, who was an intimate friend, Senator Chaffee, the 
 father-in-law of one of Grant's sons, and Elkins all desired 
 the same result but were unable to bring it about at this 
 time. 
 
 However, Beale was undaunted, and at last suc- 
 ceeded where others had failed. General Grant was 
 staying in General Beale's house and Blaine lived 
 next door to him on Jackson Place. Only a month 
 intervened before the election when, as the Beale 
 papers reveal, Blaine wrote as foUows to General 
 
Last Years 303 
 
 Beale, a hasty note but of far-reaching importance: 
 " My dear General: — It will give me great pleasure 
 to call on General Grant at your house at any time 
 you say." 
 
 One cold October afternoon the interview took 
 place in the historic drawing-room. The three 
 party leaders sat around an open grate fire and 
 the feud which had disrupted the Republican party, 
 or probably only typified its disruption, was buried. 
 
 The reconciliation, however, took place too late. 
 In the last days of the campaign Grant and his 
 adherents developed remarkable strength, and it 
 was aU loyally exerted in favor of Blaine, but in 
 November the Plumed Knight went down in 
 defeat. A new god had arisen in Israel, and his 
 name was Grover Cleveland. 
 
 Early in the spring of 1893 General Beale's physi- 
 cal powers began to wane, while mentally he re- 
 mained as active and alert as ever. On April 
 22d the long expected event occurred and General 
 Beale passed peacefully away. 
 
 The press of the country recognized General 
 Beale's death not only as that of a distinguished 
 and remarkable personality, but as an event 
 marking the close of an era. The day of the 
 pathfinders was over, and the papers of the 
 cotuitry without exception, from Sandy Hook to 
 the Golden Gate, from the St. Lawrence to the Rio 
 Grande, paid eloquent tribute to the man who in 
 so many ways had played a distinguished part in 
 
304 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 the winning of the West and the development of 
 the Pacific Empire. The Cabinet and the Justices 
 of the Supreme Court, the scientists of the Smith- 
 sonian and the poUtical leaders were present at the 
 simple service of the interment. There came to the 
 bereaved family messages from crowned heads, from 
 the Courts of St. Petersburg, of Vienna, and of 
 Athens, which showed that those who ruled by 
 divine right could stiU recognize the rare quality 
 of this leader of men who had come to the front by 
 right of personal achievement. 
 
 Sympathetic words there came too from the 
 htunble and the lowly, from the trapper and the 
 scout, from the small farmer and the herder who 
 had found life more spacious because of the rich 
 domain of Southern California which more than 
 any other one man General Beale had opened to 
 the crowded East. 
 
 Down on the Tejon Rancho in the San Joaquin 
 Valley there stiU lived two Indians who had fol- 
 lowed General Beale across the plains when, in the 
 heyday of youth in 1847, with his San Pasqual 
 wotuids still open, he had carried the news of the 
 conquest of California to Washington. These men 
 had long outlived their usefulness, they were crip- 
 pled by the weight of years and the burden of 
 hardships undergone, but the Patron, as they 
 called the General, by the most adroit and long 
 sustained diplomacy had always succeeded in con- 
 vincing them that they could still do a day's work 
 with the best and more than earned their rations. 
 
Last Years 305 
 
 When Raimtindo the scout, whom even Carson 
 relied upon, heard the sad news that the wires 
 brought with such marvellous rapidity from the 
 Capital, he said simply, "I do not care to live any 
 longer," dressed himself in his fdte-day clothes, 
 wrapped his scrape about him, and, stretched out 
 upon his blanket in the sunshine outside his adobe 
 hut, soon passed from sleep to death. 
 
 Juan Mohafee, the incomparable packer who 
 had been charged with the General's mules on 
 many a desert journey, was all bustle and excite- 
 ment. He told every one that the General would 
 want him on the long journey that lay before him, 
 longer indeed than any they had ever undertaken 
 together. "I wiU go, too, " he said decidedly and 
 then with a touch of pride, " I maybe able to help him, 
 he always said I could. ' ' Juan continued his active 
 preparations for a long journey and when not 
 busUy engaged in furbishing saddles and oUing 
 creaking packs could be foimd waiting patiently 
 under the spreading fig tree outside of the great 
 house where he had awaited the coming of the 
 Patron so often in the earlier active years, and here 
 now his children found him one morning, but his 
 body was cold and his faithful soul had fled. 
 
3o6 Edward Fitzgerald Beale 
 
 THE FOLLOWING IS THE OFFICIAL RECORD OF 
 GENERAL BEALE'S PUBLIC SERVICES 
 
 Appointed Midshipman in the Navy, from Georgetown College, 
 December 14, 1836. 
 
 Ordered to duty on the Independence, the Receiving Ship at Phila- 
 delphia, which served at the time as Naval School, in February, 1837. 
 
 Warranted, March, 1839. 
 
 Ordered to the West Indian Squadron, September 19, 1840. 
 
 Ordered to the Naval School, Philadelphia, in August, 1841. 
 
 Commissioned Passed-Midshipman and ordered to Porpoise, August, 
 
 1845- 
 
 Ordered to Frigate Congress as Acting Master, October 2, 1845. 
 
 Returned from Pacific and placed on waiting orders, June 2, 1847. 
 
 Ordered to Fortress Monroe as witness in Colonel Fremont's trial, 
 September 29, 1847. 
 
 Commissioned as Master, February 28, 1850. 
 
 Commissioned Lieutenant in Navy, August 3, 1850. 
 
 Resignation from Navy accepted, March 5, 1851. 
 
 Appointed in 1852 by President Fillmore, Superintendent of Indian 
 Affairs in California and Nevada. 
 
 In 1857 was appointed by President Buchanan, Superintendent of the 
 Wagon-Road Expedition from Fort Defiance, New Mexico, to the 
 Colorado River. 
 
 In 1858 by President Buchanan to command wagon-route survey 
 along 35th parallel from Fort Smith, Arkansas, to California. 
 
 1859-60, in charge of wagon-road construction on central plains. 
 
 1861, appointed by Lincoln, Survevor -General of California and 
 Nevada. 
 
 1865, resigned position of Surveyor-General. 
 
 1876, appointed by President Grant, Envoy Extraordinaiy and Minis- 
 ter Plenipotentiary to Austria-Hvingary. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Abitjuiu, 88 
 
 Acting Master, Commissioned, 5 
 
 Agassiz and the Capiniche, 49 
 
 Albuquerque, 238, 253 
 
 AUston, Lieut., 192 
 
 Amargosa (Bitter Creek), 158, 276 
 
 Ammen, Daniel, Letter from, 48 
 
 Andrassy, Count Jules, 298 
 
 Angosturas, 235 
 
 Antelope Hills, 235 
 
 Antelope Valley, 276 
 
 Apispah River, 76 
 
 Aqua Caliente, Rancho of, 12 
 
 Aqua del Tio Meso, 158 
 
 Aqua del Tomaso, 160 
 
 Aqua Escarbada, 157 
 
 Arapahoe Indians, 73 
 
 Archilete, Felipe, 82, 98 
 
 Archilete's Spring, 158, 287 
 
 Argonauts, the, 276 
 
 Arkansas River, 74, 232 
 
 Armistead, Major, 251 
 
 Army of the Center, the, 10 
 
 Army of New Mexico, the, 262 
 
 Army of the West, the, lO 
 
 Arthur, President, 301 
 
 Artificial Horizon, the, 248 
 
 AspinwaU, Mr., 46 
 
 Atchison, Topeka and Santa Pe 
 
 Railroad, 34 
 Austrian Rifles for Mexico, 269 
 Avonkarea River, 95, 133 
 
 Badeau, General, 270 
 
 Bakersfield, 273, 283 
 
 Baldridge, Sparks & Co., 294 
 
 BaU-haus Platz, 297 
 
 Bancroft, George, 9 
 
 Barnum, P. T., offers to buy 
 
 Beale's gold, 47 
 Barrera, Jose de la, 269 
 Barrera, Pedro, 269 
 Barron, Commodore, 292 
 
 Beale, E. P., Letter from the Raton 
 Mountains, 49; description of 
 Transcontinental Route, 51; 
 Conspiracy against, 186; Ap- 
 pointed Minister to Hungary, 
 295; Bravery told by Kit Car- 
 son, 30; Letter to the Senate, 
 177 ; Report on the Indians, 179; 
 Recommendations, 185; Letter 
 to his children, 274; Letter to 
 his wife, 289; Punishes a slan- 
 derer, 189; Letter to Governor 
 of California, 191; Letter from 
 El Paso, 201 ; Journey from Fort 
 Smith, 241; Report to Con- 
 gress, 211; Journal, 112; 217, 
 241 ;Report to Secretary of War, 
 230; Faith in California, 59; 
 Profits in Transportation, 62; 
 near death, 14; meets Pico, 17; 
 and Carson go to San Diego, 
 21; meets Fremont, 23; appoin- 
 ted Superintendent of Indians, 
 64 
 
 Beale, George, fathen of Edward 
 P., I ; Medal presented to, 293; 
 
 "Beale's Crossing," 239 
 
 BeaU, Col. B. L., 194 
 
 Beall, George, 247 
 
 Benjamin, Judah P., 292 
 
 Benton's Speech, 15; Letter to 
 Secretary Mason, 31; Letter to 
 Beale, 170, 171, 187 
 
 Bigler, John, 182 
 
 Big Rock, 276 
 
 Bill William's Divide, 213 
 
 Blaine-Grant Feud, 302 
 
 Blaine, James G., 302 
 
 Blake, Major, 79 
 
 Blondin, 255 
 
 Boggy River, 232 
 
 Boone, Daniel, grandfather of Kit 
 Carson, 27 
 
 Bonneville Journals, 210 
 
 307 
 
3o8 
 
 Index 
 
 Bradford Diary, 209 
 Briones, Ramond, 177 
 Brown, Richard, 76 
 
 (Dick the Delaware) 
 Brown, Thomas, 261 
 Buchanan, James, 54 
 Buffaloes, first sight of, 71 
 Byre, Col. Edward, 192 
 
 Cajon Pass, 164 
 
 California, the rush to, 38; Expedi- 
 tion to, 67 
 
 Calif ornians revolt, 1 1 
 
 CaUao Harbor, Beale rejoins ship 
 at, 7 
 
 Camel Corps, Beale's, 199; tan- 
 dem team, 207 
 
 Camels, Arrival of, 201; Beale 
 buys, 207 
 
 Canadian River, 232 
 
 Canby, Gen., death of, 195 
 
 " Capitanoes, " 125 
 
 Carnero Pass, 109 
 
 Carson, Kit, Beale meets, 11, 199, 
 276, 279; described by Sher- 
 man, 27; appointed Lieutenant, 
 31; Revenge, 158; Beale's De- 
 fence of, 284 
 
 Carson's Ride, Kit, 284 
 
 Cedar Bluffs, 217 
 
 Cedar City, Coal found at, 145 
 
 Cerenoquinti, the, 132 
 
 Chandler, Secretary, 301 
 
 Chase, Letter to Secretary, 261, 
 264; Letter from, 263 
 
 Chester, Pa., 4, 255, 272 
 
 Cheyenne Indians, 73 
 
 Chico, Anton, 236; death of, 288 
 
 Chihuahua, 143 
 
 Choctaws, the, 253 
 
 Choteau's Trading Post, 234 
 
 Chupainas, 235 
 
 Civil War, Outbreak of the, 251 
 
 Clay, Henry, 292 
 
 Cleveland, Grover, 303 
 
 Clifford, Nathan, Minister to 
 Mexico, 45 
 
 Cocomongo Rancho, 166 
 
 Colorado River, 91, no, 221 
 
 Colorado Mountain, 249 
 
 Colton, Rev. Walter, 6; appointed 
 Alcalde, 35 
 
 Comanche Indians, 176 
 
 Conchas River, 231 
 
 Congress 44, the, 5, 9, 52 
 Constellation, the, 5, 293 
 Coochatope Pass, 83 
 Coochumpah Pass, 85 
 Cordova, Juan, deserts, 128 
 Cosgrove, J., 67 
 Council Grove, 69 
 Cuchada, a small stream, 78 
 
 Dallas, George M., 292 
 
 Davis, Jefferson, favors camels, 
 
 200, 206, 255 
 Death of General Beale, 303 
 Death VaUey, 199 
 Decatur Mansion, Purchase of, 
 
 291 
 Deck and Port, 6 
 Diamond of the Desert, 156 
 Diaz, President, 271 
 Dick, the Delaware, 68, 76, 131, 
 
 163, 241 
 District of Columbia, Birthplace 
 
 at, I 
 Dolan, Patrick, 82 
 Draft Suspended in California, 
 
 258 
 
 Eagle Range, 87 
 
 Edwards, Mary, 53 
 
 Edwards, Samuel, 54 
 
 Elbow Creek, 192 
 
 Eldorado by Bayard Taylor, 58 
 
 Elizabeth Lake, 276 
 
 El Moro, 247 
 
 El Paso, Texas, 201 
 
 Epaulettes and sword presented 
 
 to Beale, 26 
 Executive Documents Nos. 42 
 
 and 124, 208 
 Express Charges, 218 
 
 Parraguts, the, 4 
 
 Field, The, 139 
 
 Fillmore, President, 64 
 
 Fitzpatrick, Major, 73 
 
 Floyd, Dr., 241 
 
 Floyd, Hon. J. B., 202; Letter to, 
 
 217, 241 
 Floyd's Peak, 239 
 Foote, Senator. 46 
 Port Arbuckle, 232 
 Fort Atkinson, 73 
 
Index 
 
 309 
 
 Fort Defiance to the Colorado, 
 from, 208 
 
 Port Leavenworth, Army of the 
 West at, 10 
 
 Port Smith, Ark., to the Colorado, 
 208, 231, 233, 253 
 
 Port Tejon, 206, 227 
 
 Fort Yuma, 213, 228 
 
 Pour Creeks, 147 
 
 France and Lower California, 262 
 
 Prank Murray's Peak, 226 
 
 Franklin, Sir John, 54 
 
 Fremont, II, 159, 170, 276; Me- 
 moirs, quoted, 22; description 
 of Grand River, 91 
 
 French Invasion, 266 
 
 Gadsden Purchase, the, 262 
 
 Gallengo, Jose, 121, 150 
 
 Garcia, Jesus, 68, 82 
 
 General Jesup, steamer, 228 
 
 Georgetown College, Beale 
 attends, 3 
 
 Germantown, Sloop of War, 45 
 
 Gillespie, Captain, 12 
 
 Grand River, 87, 90, 128 
 
 Grant, General, 270; Letters to 
 Beale, 299; death at Mt. Mc- 
 Gregor, 299 
 
 Grant in Peace, by Badeau, 270 
 
 Gregorio, Interpreter, 193 
 
 Grizzly bears, 165 
 
 Godey, Alexis, the Scout, 13, 287; 
 Revenge, 158 
 
 Gold, Beale brings first, 43 ; placed 
 on Exhibition, 47 
 
 Greenbank, Home at, 4, 47 
 
 Green River Fork, 134 
 
 Grinnell, Henry, 54 
 
 Guadalajara, 44 
 
 Guadalupe Hidalgo, Treaty of, 
 251, 261 
 
 Guaymas, Port of, 262 
 
 Gum Spring, 251 
 
 Gunnison, Col. J. W., 172 
 
 Harmony, Rear-Admiral, 6, 62 
 
 Harper's Weekly, 284 
 
 Harry Edwards' Mountain, 239 
 
 Hawkins Gun, 287 
 
 Heap, Gwinn Harris, Journal by, 
 
 67; continues Journal, 122 
 Heath, Lieutenant, 70 
 
 Herbert, Secretary, 301 
 Hitchcock, Gen. E. A., Letter 
 
 from, 167, 182 
 Hoffman, Col., 250 
 Howards Spring, 218 
 Hue's, Abb6, Travels in China and 
 
 Tartary, 199, 216 
 Hudson, Mr., 274 
 Huerfano Butte, 77 
 Huerfano River, 76 
 
 Indian Creek, 68, 79 
 
 Indian Murders, 218; herders, 272; 
 Marksmanship, 119; Horse rac- 
 ing, 120 
 
 Indian Territory, 232 
 
 Indianola, Texas, 201 
 
 Indians, taunted by the, 129 
 
 Inscription Rock, 241 
 
 Insurgente, Frigate, 293 
 
 Jackson, Andrew, first meeting 
 
 with Beale, 3 
 Jackson, Lieutenant, 79 
 Jacksonians, Beale's Battle for 
 
 the, 2 
 James, Col., 265 
 Jaroso Creek, 87 
 Jay, John, 296 _ 
 Johnson, Captain, 13, 228 
 Johnson, Major, 73 
 Jones, Catesby, 48 
 Jones, Commodore, 52; Report 
 
 by, 36; Caricatured by Beale, 
 
 39 
 Jones, William Carey, 45 
 Jordan, Captain, 168 
 Jornada, first, 155 
 Jourdan, Negro Slave, 294 
 Juarez Government, 263, 295 
 
 Kane, Expedition, the, 54 
 
 Kanzas, 67 
 
 Kearny, Colonel, 10, 276; attacked 
 
 by Californians, 13 
 Kerlin, P. E., 227 
 King River Reservation, 193 
 
 Laguna, Crossing the, 89 
 Lagunas, Timber of the, 236 
 La Paz, Port of, 262 
 
310 
 
 Index 
 
 La Sierra del Aquila, 87 
 
 Las Vegas de Santa Clara, 99, 
 147; Mormons at, 133, 138 
 
 Latrobe, Architect, 291 
 
 Lee, Captain, 218 
 
 Leiper, George G., 54 
 
 Leiper, Samuel L., 54 
 
 Lente, Juan, 97 
 
 Leroux, Antoine, 70, 74, 82, ill 
 
 Lewis & Clark, 210 
 
 Liberals of Mexico, 271 
 
 Liebre Rancho, 277 
 
 Lincoln appoints Beale Surveyor 
 General, 208, 256; Beale's Let- 
 ter to President, 259; joke of, 
 277 
 
 Little Axe, 241 
 
 Little Colorado River, 238 
 
 Little Rock, 253 
 
 Little Salt Lake Valley, 138, 276 
 
 Livingston, Lieutenant, 192 
 
 Loeser, Lieutenant, 40 
 
 Lopez, Don Chico, 290 
 
 Los Angeles Papers, extract from, 
 205 
 
 Los Angeles, Valley of, 164; Arrival 
 at, 167 
 
 "Lost Mountains," 283 
 
 Lower California, Peninsula of, 
 261 
 
 Lynch, Judge, 285 
 
 Lynch, W. F., letter from, 56 
 
 McDonough, Commodore, I 
 
 McDowell, General, 275 
 
 McKee, Agent, Criticism by, 184 
 
 Madrid, Gregorio, 68 
 
 Magruder, Dr., 80 
 
 Maria, Brig. Beale takes passage 
 in the, 6 
 
 Marysville Stage, the, 62 
 
 Mason, Colonel, 41 
 
 Mason, Secretary of Navy, 31 
 
 Massachusetts, Fort, 79 
 
 Matamoras, Taylor at, 10 
 
 Maury, M. F., letter from, 58 
 
 Maximilian, Emperor, 270, 295 
 
 Mazatlan, Mexico, 42 
 
 Mediterranean, Cruise to the, 5 
 
 Mes, Ramon, 17;; 
 
 Methodist Mission at Council 
 Grove, 69 
 
 Mexican Revolution, 261 ; Fron- 
 tier Lines, 266 
 
 Mexico, Situation in, 9; War 
 
 with, 10 
 Miller, Joaquin, 284 
 Mobile Register, the, quoted, 32 
 Modocs, treatment of, 195 
 Mohafer, Juan, death of, 305 
 Mohave Plains, 283 
 Mohaveh River, 141, 162 
 Mohaves, the, 250 
 Monroe, Captain, 13 
 Monterey, Mexico, 277 
 Mormon Settlements, 99 
 Mosquitoes, Sufferings from, 94 
 Mount Benton, 224 
 Mount Buchanan, 224 
 Mountain Sheep, 85 
 Murieta, Joaquin, 279 
 
 Namaquasitch, Camp at, 103 
 National Intelligencer, the, 171 
 National Republican League, 
 
 Beale President of, 294 
 Navajoes, 248 
 Navy, Interest in the, 295 
 Navy, Application to enter the, 3 
 Neosha, town of, 237 
 Nordhoff, Charles, 278; Dedicates 
 
 book to Beale, 278 
 North Fork Town, 232 
 
 Ohio, the, 5, 38 
 Ojo del Gaetan, 155 
 Ojo Pescado Spring, 247 
 Otterby, Charles, no 
 Otterby, Thomas, no 
 Owen's River, 147 
 
 Pah-Utahs, the, 138, 147; Chil- 
 dren of, 141; Horse thieves, 147; 
 Billingsgate, 156 
 
 Palo Alto, Battle of, 10 
 
 Paragoona, 138 
 
 Parawan, 139 
 
 Pareamoot Mountains, 91 
 
 Paredes Army, 43 
 
 Patron, the, 283 
 
 Pawnee Fork of the Arkansas, 73 
 
 ' ' Pawnee Rock, " 73 
 
 Payute Wheat, 154 
 
 Pecos, 235 
 
 Philadelphia Press, quoted, 54, 
 251,260 
 
Index 
 
 3" 
 
 Pico, Don Andres, 14 
 
 Piegan, the. Massacre, 196 
 
 Pike's Peak, 76 
 
 Pinole, 113 
 
 Pioneers' Library, Destroyed by 
 
 fire, 257 
 "Pite," 156 
 
 Polk, President, 31, 261 
 Polly, Aunt, and the Wonderful 
 
 Coat, 4 
 Polygamy among the Mormons, 
 
 146 
 Poor, Ben Perley, 301 
 Porpoise, the, 5 
 Porter, David Dixon, 200 
 Porters, the, 4 
 Poteau Creek, 232, 253 
 Powers, Jack, 279 
 
 Queretaro, Battles of, 271 
 
 Raimundo, death of, 305 
 Republican, Letter in the, 195 
 Resaca de la Pakoa, 10 
 Rich, Paymaster, 37 
 Riggs, Elisha, 67, 70 
 Riggs, William, 67, 74 
 Rio Atascoso, 153 
 Rio Hondo (Deep Creek), 1 10 
 Rio de la Cibolos, 85 
 Rio de la Laguna, 89 
 Rio de la Virgen, ill, 151 
 Rio de las Gallinas, 233 
 Rio del Moro, the, 136 
 Rio del Norte, 83, 238 
 Robbers, Trouble with, 275 
 Robinson, Lieutenant, 70 
 Rodgers, Raymond, 49, 80 
 Rogers, WiUiam, 67 
 Rosemire, Jimmy, 289 
 Roubindeau's Pass, 78 
 Rucker, Major, 70 
 
 Sacramento, Camp in the Val- 
 ley of the, 22 
 
 Sacramento, 214 
 
 Sahwatch Creek, 83, 107; Valley, 
 83; Mountains, 123 
 
 St. Louis Republican quoted, 253 
 
 St. Vrain, Mr., ill 
 
 Salado, the Camp on, 137 
 
 Salinas, the, 268 
 
 Salt Spring Gold Mines, 158 
 
 San Antonio, Camels start from, 
 202 
 
 San Bernardino, 14, 147, 165 
 
 San Bois, 232 
 
 San Felipe, 233 
 
 San Francisco fire, 257 ; Mountain, 
 239; News-Letler quoted 296; 
 papers, Interview by, 276 
 
 Sangre de Cristo Pass, 77 ; Moun- 
 tains, 77 
 
 San Joaquin River, 23; Valley, 
 279 
 
 San Luis Valley, 78, 83 
 
 San Pasqual, Battle of, 13, 293 
 
 San Pedro, 165 
 
 San Rafael, 136 
 
 Santa Ana Creek, 164 
 
 Santa Fe, Capture of, 10; 254 
 
 Savoya, Valley of the, 117 
 
 Schoenbrunn, Breakfast at, 299 
 
 Scott, General, 263 
 
 Scott VaUey, Massacre at, 190 
 
 Scribner's Magazine, quoted, 299 
 
 Sebastian, Senator, Speech by, 
 176 
 
 Secession, 257 
 
 Secret Mission, 6 
 
 Seward, Secretary, 270 
 
 Seymour, Admiral, 8 
 
 Shasta, Massacres at, 190 
 
 Shepherds in California, 281 
 
 Sheridan, General, 270 
 
 Sherman, General W. T., 27 
 
 Sierra Mojada, 75, 80 
 
 Sierra Nevada, 227 
 
 Simms, George, 68, 98 
 
 Sixty Years of the National Metro- 
 polis, 301 
 
 SkuUyville, 253 
 
 Slave freed by Beale, 294 
 
 Smith, Col. G. A., 142 
 
 Smith's Narrative, 209 
 
 Snyder, Jake, 24 
 
 Sonora, Mexico, 143, 264 
 
 Southern Pacific Railroad, 283 
 
 Spiller, Dr., 241 
 
 Spring of Uncle Meso, 158 
 
 Stockton, California, 214 
 
 Stockton, Commodore, 7, 276; 
 sends Beale to Washington, 26; 
 Engages in business, 60 
 
 Stockton-Fremont-Kearny Con- 
 troversy, 12 
 
 Supply, Store Ship, 200 
 
 Sutter Discovers Gold, 36 
 
312 
 
 Index 
 
 Taos, San Fernando de, 8i, loo, 
 III 
 
 Taylor, Bayard, Letter from, 58, 
 288; Dedicates book to Beale, 
 278 
 Taylor, General, 10 
 Tehatchapie Pass, 283 
 Tejon Rancho, 272 
 Thompson, Smith, Letter from, 2 
 Thorburn, Lieut., 216, 222 
 "Three-fingered" Jack, 279 
 Trinity River Massacre, 184 
 Truxtun, Commodore, i, 4; Pre- 
 sented with Silver Urn, 293; 
 Tnixtun, Emily, Mother of Ed- 
 ward F. Beale, i 
 Tulare Lake, 275 
 Tulare Valley, 147, 214 
 Tule River Reservation, 282 
 Turkey Creek, 70 
 Turner, Captain, 13 
 
 Uncompagre River, 90, 121 
 
 Upshur, Rear-Admiral, 6 
 
 Utah Creek, 80 
 
 Utahs, Murders by the, 88; Meet- 
 ing with the, 104; Trouble with 
 the, 127 
 
 Vallejo, 182 
 
 Van Buren, Martin, 292 
 
 Vega, General Placido, Letter 
 
 from, 266, 268 
 Vega Quintana, 155 
 Vera Cruz, 45 
 Vicksburg, Grant at, 270 
 Visalia, 277; Rising at, 190 
 
 Wagner, J., 67 
 
 Walkah, Indian Chief, 142; De- 
 clares War, 142 
 
 Walker, Joe, 143 
 
 Walker's Pass, 143 
 
 "Wanderer" writes to Philadel- 
 phia Press, 251 
 
 Washita Valley, 234 
 
 West Indies, Cruise to, 5 
 
 Westport, Mo., the Start from, 67 
 
 "What Cheer" House, 300 
 
 Whig Leaders, Council of the, 263 
 
 Whipple, Lieut., 240 
 
 White Squadron, the, 302 
 
 Whitney, Secretary, 301 
 
 Willow Creek, 87 
 
 Wilson, Mr., Indian Agent, 166 
 
 Winchester Mountains, 251 
 
 Wool, General, 10, 191 
 
 Young, Brigham, 139 
 Young, Henry, 67, 132 
 
 Zuni, 212, 238, 247