THEY JOURNEY ON FOOT. 201 
- He readily consented then to be one of a party from his 
neighbourhood who, in the spring of 1867, started for the 
plains and the gold-fields beyond. When they left Fort 
Dodger, on the Arkansas River, April 13th, 1867, the party 
consisted of four men, of whom Captain Baker, an old miner 
and ex-officer in the Confederate army, was the acknowledged 
leader. The destination of this little party was the San Juan 
valley west of the Rocky Mountains, about the gold-fields of 
which prospectors spoke in the most extravagant terms, 
stating that they were only deterred from working the rich 
placers of the San Juan by fear of the Indians. Baker and 
his companions reached Colorado “ city,” at the foot of Pike’s 
Peak, lat. 38°, in safety. This place was, and is still, the 
depét for supplying the miners who work the diggings 
cattered through South Park, and is the more important 
for being situated at the entrance of Ute Pass, through 
which there is a wagon-road crossing the Rocky Mountains, 
a od descending to the plateau beyond. The people of 
Colorado “city” tried to dissuade Baker from what they 
‘considered a rash project, but he was determined to carry out 
the original plan. These representations, however, affected 
one of the men so much that he left the party, and the others, 
‘Captain Baker, James, White, and Henry Strole, completed 
their outfit for their prospecting tour. 
_ The journey was undertaken on foot, with two pack mules 
to carry the provisions, mining tools, and the blankets they 
considered necessary for the expedition. On the 25th of May 
they left Colorado “city,” and crossing the Rocky Mountains, 
through the Ute Pass, they entered South Park, being still on 
the Atlantic slope of the continent. Ninety miles brought 
em across the Park to the Upper Arkansas, near the Twin 
Lakes. They then crossed the Snowy Range, or Sierra 
