Show di discovery s covery of f a new and ISI I 1 shorter I 1 0 arter front kuralt california the following letter from capt J 14 Simps simpson we copy from the nali al 1 of october the sah from t the he itinerary of capt simpson published in in the valley tan tall some since the public e have already been mado made bomea hat familiar with the ne new route rente opened to that MT enT getic and accomplished officer eer but the present letter will H til be read with interest apart from any additional dit ional in regard to the to route u te explored by captain simpson s CAMP P 01 ON THE SWEET WATER 1320 3 faiks from camp floyd en route for fort Leav apt sept ai 1859 mr DEAR 13 ROTHER when I 1 last wrote to you may I 1 was waa with my mv party in ruby valley two hun hundred ired and thirty tour four miles from camp floyd flod exploring the country for anew a new wagon route to ars carson 0 1 1 valley there to connect with a we well 1 1 known route over the sierra nevada to california we reached genoa in car soil valley at the east foot of 0 the sierra nevada june having conducted conduct edour our wagons fourteen in nul number act across valleys and through mountain passes with much less difficulty than we had anticipate anuci pat edland eil and obtain obtaining inga a goodroad good road by this new route the travelling tra velling distance between camp floyd and california has been shortened about two hundred and fifty miles and a much better road in respect to th the a great essentials wood water and crass r f ithan man the old st mar marys a or humboldt to ld t river route with which the comparison is made evolved it if the comparison com be made with the present post routes route winch which is an extension as tar far as ruby valley of my route of last fall the difference in favor of my late route is about one hundred and forty four miles the people of genoa were highly pleased with ith the result of the expedit expedition iono slid and honored our entry into their little town by the firms firing of oe cannon and in giving us a social entertainment the good people of the interior of Califor california niao particularly in placerville erville and sacramento Sacrament oo were also highly delighted and could not express too strongly their sense of the value which the new route Is destined to be to them while my party lay recruiting at genoa I 1 made a L ml flying visit to sark san Franci francisco major frederic dodge the indian agent in in that region and lately bl I 1 believe elected ele ct delegate to advocate before congress ong the erection of that portion port oil of utah into a territory accompanying me we lert left genoa june jane and arrived at san francisco june from genoa over the the he sierra nevada to placerville erville eighty riles miles we rode on mules thence to fol som twenty seven miles we traveled in stylish stages drawn by handsome fleet horses thence to sacramento twenty three miles I 1 by steam car and thence to san francisco one hundred and twenty miles by steamboat the stages rail toad road cars and steamboat were equal to any I 1 have seen in the atlantic sta states tea and what shall I 1 say of 0 the country 1 I passed through words tall fall to express my admiration of I 1 its ts fertility beauty 1 and value persons like myself who have traveled much on the and plains intervene cuilhe j e S states t a t c a b 0 r Z I 1 g e 11 I 1 s s 0 I 1 I 1 yb 7 P I 1 if epig ia t a re e I 1 impressed lm im presse ressel from the file constantly recurring scene of ofsan sandy 1 desert wastes as you proceed westward r f that this character of country obtains all the way to the pacific but this much to my gratification I 1 found not to be the case presto as aa soon as you place your our foot on the sierra nevada a new order of nature appears the eternal sage bush 2 artemisia it te reisia of which you have not for a day I 1 been out of sight since you left the rocky mountains and the scrub cedar W which is the principle tree disappear dr appear entirely tirel and in their stead stand lofty pines and firs become acome the characteristics these attain an enormous size the former being frequently seen as much as eight feet in ili diameter the streams are more numerous ou ani and a appear at a as pure gushing rapids or li cataracts leaping aping av over er precipices or beautiful limpid streams gladdening the valleys and expending expanding themselves in beautiful lakes anil and then as yon descend the sierra on oil the west side the large umbrageous oak gradually gradually ira dually takes the place of the pine and becomes becomes the gem of or the landscape these existing in clusters or soll t ant and disposed in the beautifully irregular and inimitable manner in which nature throws her ants and among amon wheat fields of the greatest amplitude an and 0 of f the most rich luxuriant and fruitful g growth crowth surrounded too by broad fences of a plain but neat characters character form a combination of 0 the most pleasing character and then the gradually level character w which lich the country assumes as you approach roach the sacramento valley the neat farmhouses farm farmhouses farm houses whick which appear ameir almost as frequently as in our older and most populous states the ugly feature so common in the aljer older states of old stumps of trees marring the scene no where being visible all these characteristics have so indelibly inde libi and impressively charmed me that I 1 shall ahn I 1 ever regard the transition from the east to the west sid old of the sierra nevada as the most marked in my life but I 1 am dwelling too long on this theme california I 1 can only say la Is as I 1 believe destined to be a great it if riot not the greatest state in the union her towns and citi cities es vie vie with any east of the rocky mountains and her population like her soil teems with a vigor which canonry can only be comprehended by those who have haie been in her midst the people of the east can have no conception of the progress this young youn sister of the confederacy has hag made in al all the eler elements which g go to make up Bh floppy appy powerful and efficient state the secret is 19 in her climate her soil her productions vegetable cereal mineral her er splendid rivers her lovely scenery her h er magnificent harbor of san francisco her relatedness to the commerce of the indies and china and the so called eastern world generally all these have made her what she is and as she grows in age so will all these advantages continue to cause her to grow in wealth and power we spent two days do in inan san francisco and one ene the Sab sabbath bathil in Sae sacramento amento most agreeably in the latter place I 1 saw a number of Jr Jor Beymen among them a cou pie 0 0 of 1 Bruns wickers old frier friends AR one a L schoolmate 1 1 male I 1 bo both of them in positions of honor and lieg usefulness iness ma major i it dodge and myself att attended endeA the ser serviced vicea ia e s and heard preaching in the episco episcopal p I 1 Chair church ch and were de lighted delighted with the taste displayed display ed in the material of the building as we well I 1 I 1 a as the good order propriety arid and efficient effi efficiency excle cien ic of the servi services ces the singing wag excellent excel fent pt on oil the of june we reached genoa on our returns return and the next day I 1 started back with my party tor for camp floyd on this my return trip I 1 only occasionally at the outset touched my outward route much the greater portion of it being again I 1 entirely new and from twenty five to forty miles sauth of the other I 1 am happy to inform you that though in in our outward route we were quite successful as I 1 have already stated in our inward we were still more so in ili distance there was no advantage gained but ili n respect to wood v ater t r 1 grass rass and grade the road is a tar far preferable wa fe era tl e this is is the route I 1 he have V e r recommended eco in emigrants to take aid already a number of trains as also a large herd of rattle cattle have taken it I 1 have had itineraries of it prepared and published in the salt lake city and california papers heretofore about twenty five per cent of the stock driven ver the old humboldt route have haie died from insufficiency and nd 1 poisonous grass an and water dwater on the new e 7 route there need be no deaths from th this cause the savin saving to the country from this source alone will be immense I 1 could say much of the ignorance which has prevailed in relation to the country we have traversed of the idea which iras ims obtained that it was an unmitigated desert over which man manor or beast could not venture without the prospect of certa certain in death but I 1 am already swelling this letter I 1 tear fear to a tedious length suffice it therefore eto to say that on our most southern route where it was supposed the desert would be encountered in its greatest poverty we found the best soil most luxuriant grass in places fine clover the most abundant timbers timber and the purest and most reliable water I 1 the plan I 1 pursued was to send my guide party with ten days provisions I 1 ahead and confining them inde i j pendent Pe dent of existing xi sting trails to the exa examination min of passes water courses springs I 1 and grass within thin certain limits agreeably I 1 to a predetermined direction based upon known data of longitude and latitude ev I 1 ery cry twenty four hours in the day or night i i one of the party was sent back to inform me of the country ahead so that with scarcely an exception we traveled every day with the precision of certainty and with the constant assurance we were evolving the best beat route the country afford id d twice we had come to nearly a dead halt on account of reports from the guide party of impracticable passes ahead and once I 1 had to run back twenty miles to keep the stock from perishing for want of water and grass but further examinations am ami which I 1 directed caused the difficulties to disappear and literally as one of the party remarked the passes seemed to open out to us as we advanced on OB one occasion the animals wore were without water for sixty hours and when they did drink could not be generally satisfied with less than eight buckets full I 1 am assured that one 0 of f them in the course tf of a few hours drank fourteen buckets full 1 of course we were prudent enough not to let them drink this much at one once but yore tufey we r e f ea ey ran is much as I 1 b have ave stated this bocc occurred urr ad on our return when we were exploring the great salt lake desert indeed on this occasion ion to get them to water at all they t had to be driven after dark in a severe thunder storm some twelve miles in the he pitchy darkness and amongst thick cedars s herd separated into two the more i s trong strong pushing shing ahead and the weaker lag aing 9 ging behind and while one portion we went allt i t twelve e ive miles another went eighteen they i however were got together the second day 1 i after at this time I 1 began to fear that the expedition at least on its return trip was about to fall but thanks to a kind i providence while all those difficulties were being endured the water and grass were eventually discovered and so related in locality as subsequently to be connected by a direct direct line ot of road and thus another great objection to the utah rosteto rou route teto to california the great salt lake desert very really greatly g mitigated if not entirely obviated in this emust I 1 must not omit to mention the good samaritan in the shape of an indian some fifty five years of age who though a cripple occasioned by a fall all from a horse some years ago and ony ly capable of self belf locomotion by the support of his hands in a sitting posture yet in the goodness of 0 his big heart while ii lille we were in this sad extremity waters water the greatest commisse ration for us and actually with his hearty consent suffered himself to be taken up bodily and put pill on a mule and rode as a guide to the water twelve miles off in t the he night referred to the next day he returned to our camp full of exclamations of del delight i lit at again seeing us ua but so exhausted t that at when he was taken off his mule and carried to the fire his only cry was water water was immediately furnished him A good supper was gotten for him which he be partook of heartily but tome some schiedam Sch schnapps which was offered collim to him as a restorative he persistently refused to drink saying in in lis his way it was wag no good but showing by rubbing his thigh and pointing to the spirits that he wanted it applied in that way which Ah iCh of course cobrae was done in addition to all this which he be did tor for us he be had permitted his son apparently his hia only sup support to go support lort with my gulda guide party several days aye in advance to show the water grass and mountain taini passes asses of course all this disinterestedness ea est t e edness ness coupled as it was waa with his crippled er t II 11 alel condition made us usall all very grateful fu to him and we felt that we could not give enough in return A among mong other things one of my party prepared pared a pair of crutches forham for him to we walk prepared Fre I 1 k with but alas when I 1 had him lifted up and ake the crutches applied under tinder bis big shoulders we perceived that he was paralyzed in both lega leg s and could not put either toot foot to the fanoun ground d he was so treated like a king that he could not understand it and would every once in ili a while look at us slid and laugh outright with astonishment and joy th the 0 spring where ilia hia wick k ke eup e up androl lia habitation citation is I 1 have bay called therefore ther eor aba good indi an spring 11 and it is at this point where I 1 have by gon gen johnstons direction established four large watering troughs which bich were subsequently carried from camp F floyd I 1 0 yd forthe for the benefit of emigrants and it travelers a L 1 era genera generally fly but bat the animals were riot not the theoney only sufferers on tt the ie tr trip p our oar chief guide was tor for two days without an any y thing so eat and when he be did come in p was as so much exhausted from fatigue his mule mill e havi having n given out that he be supported up ported himself with iff a couple cou ale of ca sticks arid and when allen we came up to him sank helplessly into a sage maze bush he was wag offered some eoma fine fat tats rats by bj some digger indians indiana he met but having been roasted with entrails and all in them he be said he be was not quile hungry enough to accept of 0 their hospitalities the indian ute pete one of 0 dr hurts faithful indians indiana who stuck to him to the last on his flight from mormon desperadoes and who thanks to the doctor was my interpreter and a moat faithful and intelli gent adjunct he proved to be to the ex expedition e in a laudable attempt to find an indian nthan who had been of great service to us in our outward trip went to the mail station in battle valley on the post route where he lived but finding the spring I 1 duj there dried up and the station she abandoned n ajr 0 ed he was of t necessity four days and three s without food A dragoon on account of his hia horse giving givin out was two days and nights without 10 food od but now that our explorations have been successful all and hardships are only referred to as i of an usual kind on that account none the less inversa interesting I 1 arrived at camp flold floyd on my return from genoa on the ad d 0 of this month my party arty on the fath on the ath I 1 left for or dort fort leavenworth ray my instructions from gen johnston be having I 1 been to explore on in my y way a new pass from r 0 to the valley of the gos to the vinta river valleys for the purpose of getting |