Show FRED FREDO PASS sacramento CITY april profi 1855 DEAR SIR sim the north fork of feather feather r river iver does not as is generally supposed take its rise ribe nee in the sierra siena nevada but in a range of mountains properly denominated tile the sacramento mountains commencing near pitt river river in in latitude 41 degrees north and thence bearing in in a louth south couth by east course und and parallel with the sa cr amenio amento overextends nver river extends about one hundred miles where it terminates at the table Aloun mountain taini taing near ophir the summit of this ridge in some thir ty five or fory miles distant from roin the sacra meran merno men to river tile the western slope furnishes wa w a berar tie several little streams known as RI ra pid cow clover battle antelope pine dry dryg dear da chico and butte creeks all flowitt flow flowing lii iti into the sacramento the flank of the is broken into literal ridges ranging west at nearly right angles with the main maln main ridge and corresponding pon ding with tite lite several above mentioned creeks whose gurgling waters rush impetuous through the deep and rocky avenues that bind them tiem the tops lops of the ridges are rocki rocks rocky and barren sparingly studded with dwarf na oak and ihan seneta bushes excepting in in the he higher m altitude where pine and cedar nourish this region commonly called the rocky deserts presents a dreary and uninviting appearance to ili fit the traveler who never neier will forget the tile power of he lite suns suns buns direct and reflected rays while pa passing over oer them in in midsummer the eastern flank hanks of these mountains fil fit furnish r n a corresponding number of creeks flou flow in T eab eastward iward into the basin of the north fork and their theli several conjunctions in in combination with a few small streams issuing from the iron hills form the principal constituents of that river the character of the east side of these mountains ta ins is very diffie different rent from that of the western the decH declivity vily of its eidis eldis bidi eidi s is more precipitous and are densely covered i ith forests of pine and the different varieties of evergreens ever greens the temperature of the atmosphere is many decrees degrees colder in the same season and at equal altitudes with the west side the more elevated peaks in many places on the east past side bide and norih nosh of the v wewt west est branch of the north fork is covered with snow allow during tile the whole year advancing westward it increases in quantity until the mountain abruptly terminate at cassens Las sens butte this is the fountain lae bead head ad from whence innumerable little streams de descend bend bounding wildly over the lle ile lie craggy pre cip ices roaring and rushing down through deep ravines till they reach the romantic valleys bei w where they meander and play amidst the wild bowers of grapevine and willow in together and form forin the north fork of feather er river the iron hills embrace a tract of coutry lying between the north fork of feather river river ol 01 the west and the pitt river river mountains on the lite east and extends from the east branch of the north fork on the south to the lite northward as far as dittmer lver iver if this dietrict diarist constitutes a series of hilli and valleys with but little variation in their thelt k height and heli heit heavily vily timbered limbered the thestil soil is is of a red argillaceous composition mixed w ith disintegrated quartz and strongly impregnated with oxide of iron iron in var val various ous places intervening the hlib hilb are extensive flats of ahi ahl kium vium coated coiled with gras grass and clover an and of 0 in ciany places plaes an abundance of wild strawberries als alsa amone among hmong among them are sev rev eral pral small lakes likes the east branch of the north forg fora F ire irs derives most of its water from these hills and is is the boniv str stream earn of importance imp ortonce which flows into that fork from the east side the lassen trail which winch passes over thep thee hills commences at his ranch near the boulli mouth of deer creek in the sacramento Sic valley thence follow in in eastward on in the of one of the lateral ridges a distance of 35 miles toa to a depression at the tp ti p of the sacramento mountains thence down the eastern declivity of thes mountains twenty five miles to the north fork crossinn cross cros siny that stream at the big meadows about twenty maies males above the flip mouth of the tiie nast east brak BraH cli it then con in a northerly direction by a vety very v ry crooked route over the iron hill hills crossing near the head of canoe creek a small email tributary of pitt river and b bearing aring slightly east descends to the pitt river bottema bot toma distance of ninety miles thence crossing pitt pill river river valley and by the base of hill which is i an mount standing standi nr near the middle of the valley on the south site sue jf if pitt pill river and up the mar margin in of that river to the eastern side of or the valley a distance of thirty mile miles and at tha nine niue mile gip in in the pitt river river mountains having thus complied with your request relative to tiie the north fork I 1 will now noir call your youn our at to a section of country exi ext explored lored by me site list last year and heretofore unknown to the civil aj world j left ii it sl st joseph missouri bils Alis in iche he fall fal ral of 1813 and f 11 owed the at trail to fort Lt larame tame rame e approaching cameller camel comel elied belled led me tile to retna reina it at that post po it until tilt the en enu uriT n s ring wh n I 1 agin glin resu re sinned ined mv jurn jiul i witly willy iu a nali nail nall poty pirty p of amiga emi cams gaAs its ita and rod crossar ane rocky at of ip S Suh juth pass PAS continued to foli w the pie rec rea cula fulz ular trai trail I 1 tl the west bl bead ot of the tha IJ igodt river at t ilg h 9 point the road forks davanz ian ika the tile ri atit hand toi lot k known as the lassen lanssen trad trail we left divot tnt r crussing crossing a sage rage desert al a nearly a dai west course tn to a tow low range range of n iu alaa aina about twelve miles diskint di stint passing a divi division dion in athe the ridge ride we bore slightly ottil rt til fil cross m a valley to another 1 iun luw w over oer which depassel we passed passel by a gradual absent as ent in ruti ai a therein and thence desz endel ito AT mud U a like val vai vailey valley ey crassi crossi crossing tiff an eat asive asiye desert aud and lie lle between tween the upper and lower dower mud blud lakes laker to the flip boiling spring which is situa litun situated ted near the southern extremity of the dlack black rock ruck Mun tam about fifty five or biety miles west from the humboldt river and iii ill in lat etude 40 degrees 40 at minutes north from this tins point the trail bear bears in in a north by east enst direction up tile the boiling spring valley toi to meadow creek a dinall bra branchi ach emptying into upper mud mad lake lahe at the north extremity of the bk B ack uck rock range thence making a short deflection to lh the wert wept pissing over a dividing ridge into kanyon valley on the north side sida of which it enters the mouth of the ilig high it re ack c k kanyon this is is a deep fissure passing a table ridge to tile the north and arid varies vanes in in width from twenty tw ois els ty give five to fifty yards with u ith per pendle ular wal wai walis walla several hundred feet high comp omed need ed principally of cf a dark basaltic formation A little litlie I 1 stream issues from its mouth flowing into kanion kan xan on like lake which lies on the opposite tade ide I 1 tf of the valley and at the northern babe fir ofa a ridge of mountains which commencing coni nt at this point ind find ranging in in a SS IV course forms the most west est ern boundary of boiling spring valley vailey leewer mud hold and pyramid lakes the mouth of liioi high nigh rock kanyon is is about forty miles distant dist irit arli oril irie the Boi doi dolln boding in spring ond nd from that point my iny ob be reaid said sald to corn commence mence being breary of so far oar oart fart th the lite north norih ward pait pill of the company and myself delerma ed to take a direct west curse as possible sible and slid force a ahr passage sage over the sierra nevada at any point rather ihen then make tilt the great circuit by las lis ens aprils pass for this purpose we pursued u ur up the llie kanyon vailey valley near a SW di over a sterile but district covered with innumerable in lum frable little piece of absi dian than of diffie different rent colors about midway in in the val ley we through a volcanic causeway var crying ing from front nn one to to two hundred feet in in width and over a mile in in leng ieng he h with perpendicular walls girteen fifteen en feet high aih tile the valley on north and western sides i la s lined lind lin d by a ridge of basaltic basil tic ilc cliffs clift increasing increasing inc reasin in in height and grandeur until I 1 they each the file head of tile lite he valley valey at ladder kan I 1 ia yon anand td sixteen miles distant from irom the mouth of hitch acl R ck kanyon to the stith s of ladder elt Eli kinyon nyon lies mount I 1 observation ri ang ing to an elevation of nearly three thotis thousand and feet above the planes of 01 flie the in in terlow tenn teno basin of a conical shape the he and flanks intire lv destitute of ve lactation we the top if of tins for forthe the purpose of observing the physical character nt of the country and determine ft what hat course it t would be most proper to pursue the sur surrounding country when viewed froni from as this boink pom presented present presen fd td a barren and rocky surface divided into a multitude of low ridges ranging north to south where they slope ff into a valley extent these thee ridges are fi fr ined principally of basaltic alch rich rock winch wirch are broken braken into deep cep and yawning j awning chasms chasins the th above their brinks deprad out into inclined planes panes covered in in many places wilh with fragments r f lava lata so compactly imbedded bedded im as is to form a solid pave nave pavement ment went in other places they rie rise up sip to inaccessible pinnacle pinnacles evidently ele in a state tate of fusion in fact so plainly are the llie effects eni efi acs nf f volcanic action exhibited out these thai thal it forcibly im impresses the flip mind with the ll 11 e idea that the tile doors of the intern I 1 regions have here been heen neen open leit belt rece closed A g alamy omy amy silence seems to brood over the whole of district which pre presents senis a scene of desolation and run 1 I scarcely arely ever equalled equal led directing the view be this burnt region to tile west tile tiie sierra nevada is is seen rati ranging gine ginz north and mah mth with its ats snow snowcapped capped summit rising in in majestic grandeur grun deur as us far jas jes the eye can cat i eee see I 1 i cassens Las sens pas pass in in the nonh weeland the great greaf pas pasa in in a west southwest direction direction direct iop lop are distinct distin ut t ly seen even like ilke likewise wisp a deep depression lying be tween t these to tdeo passes nearly due west from this point I 1 perceiving the I ling ting directly west wed sf ended the tin mount arld and pur aed our oun journey dun awn anither another little valley lying south of kanyon lake valley to of laveve miles chento our arf v found ourselves at a arelt baening that lies the annun bains which bound the oiling boiling il spring valley vailey valt vait on the west vrest nearly opposite tre tie the bertilio bulling g spring and immediately at the tile nort ilien liten end of I 1 lower ower mud blud lake tirs th s li pis issawi presenta one of the grandest ruptures of nature one sid side of the caff cliff rising ruing la the giddy height of a thousand feet with nearly a declivity the other s off in in gradual retiring retiring strata tu to double mat distance through the bottom of the passage which is on an a st 11 level irvel vel vei va th the adjoining plain a small stream finds vent 1 and arid dwelia rees itself into inlo mud mod lake ake fecili this piss p pi isy iss our oar co coira inse lay nearly west through an exten iv valley bounded by a sue cession of ridges down into loto it froin the inor thren and southern sides causing a var variation lAtion in its width from roni ten to twenty miles the stream above mentioned tak tal s its rise use on the eastern fl links inks of tiie lite levada levadi and winds its way through the middle of this valley its maram in in many places with a luxuriant crowth growth of grass and showed deigns signs of perodi c cal cai al floorings floo dings in issinga p tip up the bottom we crossed the tile dan dun nels nets of several little creeks descending from front be tween the rid tid rides gyes some of which were dry ory and others having water in in the 1 he intervening spa ces between thee these channels channel I 1 are gerie gerfe generally rally raily barren or coated coiled with wild sagar barashes ane adjoin ino inu ing ridges are ar destitute of timber and tiit the gen odthe of tie tle country is is sterile and pire pare parched hied fied with heat ilent I 1 after two days j up the he ealier w we reached ilip filp th east base bise haseoo of the sierra pierra nevada at the tha great PASS rss and encamped p ed by a admill smal branchi brane ll 11 which descends from a little vale lair lying north having no net sll tili dicion of indian being r ab ah ut mt ve we ofir horses loose ag as nuil buil to arize trize ditze i all night I 1 lii iii it the ino morning rnino e tf ta them em were bereni we reni sing I 1 ly started with one ne of the flip men and m went ent about two arda yards ards froin eam cam campana camp ramp and commenced commend d trailing a we hail hall not done fone far when we ve saw siw lle ile lie file tracks of or lorbes horbes id and also eueral moccasin tracts crossing the line of our circuit now jiow satisfied tit fit tile llie horses horsa were mere boolen we ure pursued rap adly up the little valley to in the north rinrix follow tollow ing their iracks tracks fi ft r several miles arid mid in 0 o the of the divid ind ing ienir rid tid ridie zeat at ilie lite lle ile head nead of the valley froin F born this point we had nn an extensive view view to lre ire lie he noril iward and as could ie I 1 e F wen ceen f either li horses or Ind indians jang jans we d emad amod it ti to etheln any further but belt VP we were all ail amply P I 1 1 for lor our trouble troubie iri iti in ascending the I 1 viewing llie the d versifier versified versi fied and ind intern ting faeller scenery iving n northward alon along the astern hase hise of orthe the sn irra m ni v ida I 1 ih if arnt 6 nt lay a ils flat flit coated witti will a white a incrustation w with ith here arld arid there clusters of white while sage abig aija bushes builes bu lips iles immediately beyond this flat lies a lake laken lort about fifteen aniles nies in in by MX or ili ill in breadth which is confined corinn pd in in a narrow narma rw valley vailey I 1 between betheen the bae base of the monal nn and the basul basal I 1 tic ridges lit fit heretofore spoken of f on the wesl west side ot of the he lake rise rices 4 the agn gig an tic sierra nevada wilh with its ila broad link broken by successive successive ridges ridge of granite protruding thre tle I 1 li if a superimposed strata of trap trip rocks tie tile surface ot of llie the shelves in in many places aiace iI aoe ace iri ill n terpening ter the several protrusions have hav a bradu gra au nl ill slope siope and are covered with an alluvial dap dtp a 9 it of f t thickness to |