proved too much for them. Fitzpatrick and the main body arrived at
the Fort in a few days, where they were likewise welcomed by its
hospitable and generous proprietor, Captain Sutter. His name in
California has ever been but another term for kindness and sympathy
for the unfortunate. This expedition, in one respect only, can be
called unfortunate. When the terrible sufferings of the commander and
his men have been named, the catalogue of misfortune is ended. Its
results, grand and glorious, have immortalized the name of every man
who assisted, in any way, to accomplish it. "I belonged to the several
Exploring Expeditions of John C. Fremont" is the key note to the
respect and homage of the American nation; the truth would be equally
real, if we add, to the whole civilized world. Every heart which beats
with admiration for the heroic, or which is capable of appreciating
the rich contributions to the sciences, direct resultants from their
terrible sufferings, has thrilled with delight when possessed of the
history which records the brilliant achievements of these Exploring
Parties.

The band started from the little town of Kansas on the twenty-ninth
day of May, 1843. It returned to the United States in August, 1844.
After traveling seventeen hundred miles, it reached, September sixth,
Salt Lake. On the fourth day of November it reached Fort Vancouver,
on the Columbia River. On the sixth day of March, 1844, it reached
Sutter's Fort in the destitute condition already explained. The
distance from Fort Hall by the route taken is about two thousand
miles. The party remained at Sutter's Fort until the twenty-fourth
day of March, or as Kit Carson expresses the time from his memory, the
expedition remained at this place about one month. At the expiration
of this time, the party was sufficiently recruited to be ready for
their return journey, which they commenced in April, 1844. Just