TULARE VALLEY. 
13 
The plains between the streams are destitute of foliage, and the soil generally gravelly and 
poor. It is very dry in summer from the effects of the sun, but in winter it absorbs vast quan¬ 
tities of water, and becomes so soft as often to prevent the passage of vehicles, or even animals. 
We were obliged to stay at Fort Miller a week, to have our wagons repaired, and to have 
many of our mules shod, there not having been time to do this at Benicia. We also here 
obtained an additional supply of provisions and quartermaster’s stores. This post is distant, 
by the way we travelled, 174 miles from Martinez. 
TULARE VALLEY. 
Having completed all our arrangements on Saturday, July 30, the next day we bid good-bye 
to our friends at the fort, and long before daylight were on the road, to advance to King’s river, 
over a dry, barren plain, on which not a drop of water was to be found ; and the heat of the 
sun may be imagined, knowing the fact that the thermometer had stood the day previous at 
Fort Miller at 115° Fahrenheit in the shade. We had the pleasure of meeting on the road 
Mr. Senator G-win, returning from a trip to the Tejon Pass, where he had been to examine 
personally the adaptation of the country for a railroad. King’s river, called on many maps 
Lake Fork, is a deep and rapid stream, about eighty yards wide. When it first emerges from 
the mountains it divides itself into seven or eight different streams, which reunite near the 
place we struck it. From there to its delta near the lake it has only one bed. An American 
had established a ferry about twelve miles below our camp, and having marched there, we 
occupied the rest of the day in crossing. 
The next stream we came to was the Pi-pi-yu-na, or Kah-wee-ya, and very commonly known 
as the Four Creeks. Immediately upon leaving the mountains, like King’s river, it divides 
itself into several streams ; but, unlike those of that river, they do not unite, but continue to 
diverge, forming a delta, whose base is over fifteen miles long. The whole of this delta is 
covered with a luxuriant growth of oak. The soil is rich, producing spontaneously many kinds 
of grasses. The contrast between this beautifully-green spot and the arid plains on each side is 
very striking. It is well shown by Plates IV and V, which are views taken from the same point. 
Plate IV is a view looking eastward towards the Sierra Nevada, whose snow-capped summits 
are seen in the distance, and the bottom land of the river, covered with timber, is seen in the 
foreground. Plate V is a view in the opposite direction, and shows the arid plains between the 
Kah-wee ya and King’s river. 
The Kah-wee-ya is divided into four small streams where the road crosses, the extreme ones 
being four and a half miles apart. Two of them, though narrow, are quite deep, and required 
bridging. 
This delta is fast filling up with American settlers. Already on the second creek is the town 
of Woodville, which, however, when we passed, contained but one house. Here I was fortunate 
enough to meet with Mr. Alexander Godey, a most excellent and experienced mountaineer, and 
who knew more, perhaps, about the mountain passes in the Sierra Nevada—which I was about 
to examine—‘than any one in the country. He had just returned from the Tejon, where he had 
been with the hope of meeting Mr. Edward Beale, superintendent of Indian affairs, who had 
been expected for some weeks. I proposed to him to accompany me, and he finally agreed, 
with the understanding that he was to be allowed to leave as soon as Mr; Beale should arrive. 
Leaving Woodville, we continued in a southeast direction, travelling for seventy miles near 
the base of the mountains, and crossing numerous small streams, or dry beds of streams, when 
