, Ex. Doc. No. 41. 51f^ 



^inen who were plorlding their way on foot to Santa Fe. They said* 

 that they had been obliged to leave their wagons on account of 

 the depth of the snow, as it was impossible, for their half-starved 

 oxen to drag them any further. They, spread the most discounig- 

 ing reports among my nun, with regard to the possibility of pass- 



"ing the Raton cailon; stating that the snow was five feet deep, and 

 that the hill sides were covered with ice. 



We encamped near the head of a little stream which emptlesr 

 into the Ocate, in a grove of cedar trees. The evening air was 

 "biting cold, and the faces of the men, when they first gathered 



•around the fiie, were covered with frost- v.-ork and ice, from the 

 congelation fcf theii* b.^5th; icicles hung from the hair on their 



foreheads 

 This niffh 



mass of ice. 



, and their m'fr&staches and bea-ds were one mass of 

 t was so tlitteFcold that I found it was vain to get asl 



eep. 



and went out and sat at the watch-fires of the guard. Not a cloud 

 was to be seen, the air was beautifully clear, and the brilliant con- 

 stellations blazed so brightly as to appear to have_ approached a 



few millions of miles, nearer to our globe. 



January 7.— After inarching about six miles, we crossed the 

 4' Rio Rayado" on the" ice, which was .sufficiently strong to bear 

 the weisibt of our wagons. Here we saw the train of commissary 



a - - - - - £3. 



-wagons, to which the-raen whom we met yesterday belonged. A. 

 lew persons had remained to take charge of the trainj they seemed 

 to think that they would have to sptnd the whole winier here. 

 Passino- onward, we commenced the ascent of a long hill; it was the 



lee side, "and the snow had settled here to the depth of from on- to 

 two Jeet. Every few moments we were obliged to«topand rest our 

 animals. It was with infinite labor that the poor beasts succeeded 

 in floundering through the deep drifts, until ihey at length arrived 

 'at the plain from which the snow had been blown, when our pro- 

 gress became comparatively easy, and we soon reached " El Rio 

 Citnaroncito." We "had much trouble in crossing this river, being 

 obliofMl to unhitch the mules and work the wagons across by hand- 

 jSv ary 8. —At four o'clock this morning, our animals were 

 turneii loose, to graze upon the tender shoots of the willow and 



what else they could find, , ,. , , • . ♦v ,. 



The wolves had become emboldened by the teeble resistance they 



^had met with from the broken down oxen which they find on the 



- road. This morning they attacked our mules, wounding oae badJy 



tibout the nostrils, and gnawing off the " cabrestoes ' ol the i^st. 



As we did hot intend to m.rch this day farther than 'El Ri<> 

 Vermiio," ^hich was only ten miles distant, we did not ^tart ""^^^ 

 the sui had risen. W6 were en/^amped between the ^^rks of the 



; as it was necessary to cross the other branch, ^^^:/««g^;'^^^ 



Tiver: 



the ice with axes, and scattered sand and gravel over it As^n 

 banks were steep and frozen, we ^'ed the hinder vh^do ^h 

 they could not revolve, and wn^ppedtbe^f^^^^^^^^^ 



the ground with coarse chains, to » " « "^ ^ ";. ^'^ J ^ !^/^ ■.! jjold back, 

 attached ropes to the hind axl.tree so ^^^^^^^^^^ l^e theuT 



men were stationed at the head of the ^^ ^^.Ved slowly up to the 

 to hpld back. All being now ready, we moved sloxU) «p 



