JOHN C. FREMONT. 253 



been unusually long-continued and severe, the ther- 

 mometer having been as low as 17 below zero, and 

 more snow having fallen than in all the previous 

 winters together since the establishment of this 

 colony. 



"At this season their farmers had usually been 

 oocupied with their ploughs, preparing the land for 



grain. 



"At this point the line of exploration entered the 

 third or western section, comprehending the moun- 

 tainous plateau between the Wahsatch Mountains and 

 the Sierra Nevada of California. Two routes have 

 suggested themselves to me for examination, one 

 directly across the plateau, between the 37th and 38th 

 parallels, the other keeping to the south of the 

 mountains and following for about two hundred 

 miles down a valley of the Eio Yirgen, Virgin 

 River, thence direct to the Tejon Pass, at the head 

 of the San Joaquin Valley. This route down the 

 Virgin River had been examined the year before, 

 with a view to settlement this summer, by a Mormon 

 exploring party under the command of Major Steele, 

 of Parawan, who (and others of the party) informed 

 me that they found fertile valleys inhabited by In- 

 dians, who cultivated corn and melons, and the rich 

 ground in many places matted over with grape-vines. 

 The Tejon Passes are two, one of them (from the 



22 



