238 JOHN C. FREMONT. 



fifteen hundred and fifty miles, through territories in 

 a great measure unknown and untrodden by the 

 foot of the white man. The first section of this re- 

 gion extends for seven hundred miles, from Missouri 

 to the base of the Sierra Blanca. The second or 

 middle portion reaches from the Sierra Blanca to 

 the Wahsatch Mountains, about four hundred and 

 fifty miles. Here the first and lonely settlement of 

 the Mormons existed. The third, or most western 

 division, includes the mountainous plateau lying be- 

 tween the Wahsatch Mountains and the Sierra Ne- 

 vada, a distance of about four hundred miles. 



During the progress of this journey the company 

 experienced the usual incidents of labor and of suf- 

 fering which had attended the preceding expeditions. 

 Near the Sand Hill Pass they first found traces of 

 the Utah Indians. They there met and killed a 

 young wild horse for food. The next day a party 

 of Utahs came into the camp and demanded pay- 

 ment for the slain animal, alleging that it belonged 

 to one of their squaws. They were paid for it in 

 knives, blankets, and other utensils. But the next 

 day the expedition was visited by another and a 

 different company of the same tribe of Indians, who 

 exhibited a more warlike appearance. They declared 

 that the preceding party had not owned the horse, 

 that they had no right to receive payment for its loss, 



