72 
Gunnison’s trip to the seyier lake. 
fifty or sixty miles in diameter, is one vast artemisia plain surrounded by grassy mountains. 
Geese and ducks were numerous on the river, and a large herd of antelope were seen yesterday— 
the first for many weeks. Latitude, 39° 20' 57"; altitude, 4,692 feet above the sea. 
October 25.—Captain Gunnison, with Mr. R. H. Kern, Mr. F. Creutzfeldt, and Mr. Wm. Pot¬ 
ter, (guide,) with John Bellows, and a corporal and six men from the escort, left camp at a late 
hour this morning to explore the vicinity of Sevier lake, supposed to be distant some fifteen or 
eighteen miles. From Captain Gunnison’s journal I extract the description of the country and 
operations of the party during the day, written after they had encamped for the night: “I came 
down the river southwest for nine miles, and then, bearing more west for two miles, concluded to 
encamp, as the water below might prove too salt. The route was through heavy artemisia for 
five miles, when we came upon more open plains to the nine-mile point, where we met with 
sloughs alive with geese, ducks, brant, pelicans, and gulls. A few hawks were careering in the 
high wind, and the black-eared and black-tailed rabbits were very numerous in the large artemisia. 
“The mountains wore all day their white night mantle of snow, and we had squalls from the 
north, with snow falling on the high mountains on all sides of us. Towards sunset it brightened 
up a little, and our hunters brought in four ducks of as many different varieties.” 
The remainder of the surveying party left under my charge, with the escort under Captain 
Morris, crossed the river at an excellent ford at the point of our encampment, immediately after 
the departure of Captain Gunnison, and, agreeably to his request, proceeded up the river in a 
northeast direction, encamping at a late hour on the river bottom where it is unusually wide. The 
river at this point makes a long bend in the plain to the south, passing through drifting sand-hills 
partially covered with artemisia. We had passed southward to avoid these hills in crossing from 
Cedar spring to the river, and to-day we passed to the west of the largest of them, yet our route 
was very heavy and the labor severe on our animals. The day, too, was cold and blustering, 
with occasional slight squalls of snow in the plains, while in the mountains it fell during the greater 
part of the day. Those of us who were mounted halted frequently—the wagons coming on very 
slowly—and built fires of sage, which being resinous burnt very freely, with a large flame for the 
moment, giving out abundant heat. With the setting sun the wind went down, and the night 
was clear and cold; and at a late hour the pure mountain snows reflected beautifully the clear 
light of the waning moon, while all around was quietness and repose. The gap by which the 
Sevier river passes the Un-kuk-oo-ap mountains is called a canon; but at this distance—six miles 
directly in front of us to the northeast—it appears like anything but a canon passage, although 
the river may wind from side to side, striking against the foot of the mountains, preventing an 
easy passage for wagons in its natural state. A large Indian trail, however, passes directly up 
the river into it. This range of mountains, as seen from our present and last camps, seems to 
terminate a few miles to the north, leaving a broad, open passage of several miles between it and 
the succeeding range to the west, in which the waters of the Sevier and Great Salt lakes are 
divided only by gentle slopes. Distance, 14.27 miles. 
October 26.—The morning was clear and cold, and Mount Nebo, seen through the Sevier river 
gap, with its pure mantle of snow, half enveloped in floating misty clouds, mildly reflecting the 
rays of the rising sun, presented one of the most beautiful mountain scenes I have ever witnessed. 
Our animals were kept out to graze until a late hour. At 11 o’clock, however, a party was 
despatched to ascertain the practicability of the passage around the mountain and thence north to 
the Great Salt lake ; and, without moving camp again , until the return of Captain Gunnison, it 
was intended to examine the passage of the Sevier river the following day. But the first party 
had scarcely proceeded a hundred yards from camp, when it was met by a man, weak and ex¬ 
hausted, reeling breathless into camp, barely able to communicate, by a few broken sentences, 
as he sank into a seat, the painful intelligence that Captain Gunnison’s party had been sur¬ 
prised in their camp by a large party of Indians, and, he thought, all but himself massacred. 
Orders were instantly given by Captain Morris, and promptly obeyed by all the men remain- 
