210 JOHN C. FREMONT. 



dead or disabled; he himself was penniless in a 

 distant and strange region. Yet he did not de- 

 spond ; but he exhibited, on this desperate and me- 

 morable occasion, a degree of unconquerable hero- 

 ism which, if exhibited on some great field pro- 

 minent in the world's eye, would have surrounded 

 him with the halo of a world's admiration. He 

 aroused his utmost energies. He obtained, by vari- 

 ous means, another outfit and a new company of 

 men. In a few days, horses, provisions, arms, am- 

 munition, all were acquired by his indomitable per- 

 severance and activity, and he resumed his perilous 

 march. He now chose to pass through the moun- 

 tains by the Gila and the Paso del Norte, entering 

 California at the Agua Caliente, and travelling 

 thence to Los Angelos, the capital of the Territory. 

 The following letter written by Colonel Fremont 

 to his wife furnishes an admirable description of 

 some of the vicissitudes of this memorable journey : 



''TAGS, NEW MEXICO, January 27, 1849. 



"MY VEEY DEAR WIFE : I write to you from the 

 house of our good friend Carson. This morning a 

 cup of chocolate was brought to me while yet in bed. 

 To an overworn, overworked, much fatigued, and 

 starving traveller, these little luxuries of the world 

 offer an interest which in your comfortable home it 

 is not possible for you to conceive. While in the 



