22 
TEJON PASS. 
with the Coast range. Still some vague Indian reports led me to suppose there might he one 
further west; and to he perfectly sure of having examined all that existed, I procured an Indian 
guide, and, leaving the Tejon, followed the base of the mountains westward for about 10 miles, 
when we came to a small stream. This the Indian assured us was the place, and we accord¬ 
ingly ascended it. We found the road very rocky, the ascent steep, and the altitude of the 
summit high. Upon descending from the summit six miles, we found ourselves near the 
summit of the Canada de las Uvas. This at once proved the latter pass far superior. 
Having thus most happily concluded the reconnaissance, during which data for the construc¬ 
tion of six barometric profiles had been obtained, and the almost positive assurance that there 
existed no pass in the Sierra, south of Walker’s, hut those I had examined, I returned to the 
Depot camp on O-co-ya or Pose creek, where I arrived on the 29th of August, having been 
absent just twenty days—the exact time named at my departure. By a rather singular coinci¬ 
dence, the wagons arrived from Fort Miller on the same day, filled with the stores we required 
for future operations. Everybody was well in camp, suffering only from a desire for a more 
active life. 
On the 1st of September we broke up camp, and marched to Kern river, where the rest of the 
day was employed in crossing the stores on a raft. Leaving this river for the Tejon, we went, 
in as direct a line as possible, across the open plain, our train of ten heavy wagons breaking 
down the hushes, and making a well-marked trail, six or eight miles shorter than the old trail, 
which followed the foot of the hills, and which has since been abandoned by the emigrants, 
they giving the preference to the one we made. Arriving at the Tejon, we selected a place for 
a depot camp, in a beautiful grove of oaks, surrounded by abundant grass, and near to the 
Tejon creek, and commenced our operations for surveying with the spirit-level. I detached 
Lieutenant Parke with instructions to make a hasty reconnaissance of the country in the 
direction of Los Angeles and its vicinity, hoping the information he would gain would be very 
valuable in deciding upon the most desirable course to be pursued in prosecution of the survey, 
as ultimately proved to be the case. We found Mr. Ed. Beale, superintendent of Indian affairs, 
at the Tejon, he having just arrived, after a long and arduous journey across the plains. A 
few days afterwards he selected this point for an Indian reservation. 
TEJOU PASS. 
The surveying party, composed of Mr. Smith, Mr. Preuss, and myself, with the necessary 
rod-men, chain-men, &c., commenced, September 5, the survey of the Tejon Pass, the starting- 
point being the stationary barometer in camp, which had been placed in a brush-house open at 
the sides to admit freely the air, and was to be observed every three hours during the day. Mr. 
Smith took charge of the levelling party, while I, with Mr. Preuss, were working with chain, 
compass, and the barometer. Mr. Preuss made sketches of the hills and ravines on either side, 
so that his notes, in connexion with my compass bearings, would afford the means of making 
an accurate topographical map of the pass. The barometer was read, as a general rule, every 
quarter of a mile; but where any decided change in the uniformity of the inclination was per¬ 
ceived, that place was always made a barometric station. Mr. Blake made geological exami¬ 
nations, and connected them with the stations of the survey. 
On the 18th September we returned to Depot camp, having completed the survey of the 
pass, and also of the ravine before mentioned, leading from the mountain prairie into the 
Tejon. 
