18 
HUM-PAH-YA-MUP AND TAH-EECHAY-PAH PASSES. 
degree south of this pass, and he may subsequently have concluded that the place he crossed 
was Walker’s Pass, though I am not aware that he even so asserted. 
In the year 1848 the notes of Colonel Fremont were compiled by order of the Senate. The 
work was done by Charles Preuss, and Kern’s notes of this expedition were used in plotting 
Walker’s Pass on his route of 1845, while Colonel Fremont’s notes were used in plotting the 
pass on his route of 1844. Both trails are marked on the map, and make the matter perfectly 
clear. The most of these details were obtained from Godey and Preuss, and show conclusively 
that Colonel Fremont, up to this year, never was at Walker’s Pass. 
In the spring of this year (1854) he arrived at the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada, probably 
north of the 37th parallel. Finding it difficult to cross there, he was obliged to skirt along 
the mountains southwardly, till he came to a fine open pass, of the existence of which he was 
not previously aware, as the California papers announced it as an important discovery. I have 
conclusive evidence to show that this was Walker’s Pass—the one just described—and of which 
Colonel Fremont could have known nothing definitely, as he had never been there before. 
When it is asserted that Walker’s Pass is an excellent one, and the person making the asser¬ 
tion refers to an entirely different place, the unintentional inaccuracy of the statement is due 
entirely to an ignorance of localities, and such ignorance is excusable when the localities are in 
a country so little known. 
HUM-PAH-YA-MUP PASS. 
Having completed the examination of Walker’s Pass, in order to follow my original intention 
of tracing the water-shed of the mountains as near as possible, I found it necessary to retrace 
our steps down the Chay-o-poo-ya-pah for thirteen miles, till we came to the collateral valley 
before mentioned; for the mountains to the south of the pass were so high and rugged, that 
the only way to pass them was to turn them. We ascended this valley, which was about two 
miles wide. At first it was a broad bed of sand, which gradually contracted, and five miles up 
we found running water. There was an abundance of the bulrush growing here, and a large 
number of Indians, probably fifty or sixty, engaged in gathering it. They had evidently heard 
of us from their neighbors, and did not show the least sign of fear; hut men, women, and 
children came flocking around us, evincing much curiosity. We camped among them, and the 
next morning Godey and myself started to examine the next depression in the mountains south 
of Walker’s Pass. This we found to he about the same altitude as that pass, viz: about 5,300 
feet, and the ascent a little steeper. It is not as open as the other, and hence is not as good a 
natural wagon-road. The average ascent for several miles is 288 feet to the mile. Like 
Walker’s Pass, were the divide once passed, the further difficulty presented in the descent of 
Kern river is still to he encountered. It is about six miles in rectilinear distance from that 
pass. 
TAH-EE-CHAY-PAH PASS. 
Breaking up our camp on Hum-pa-ya-mup creek, we ascended this stream and crossed the 
divide, when we came upon the waters of a little stream flowing towards the basin. These 
small streams all have running water near their sources, hut invariably become dry after running 
a few miles. The mountains here are thickly covered with brush; so thick, that, after an 
ineffectual attempt to proceed, we were obliged to return to the water and make camp, while 
Godey spent the afternoon in searching for Indian trails. He succeeded in finding one leading 
