"In arriving at the Utah Lake, we had completed an immense circuit
of twelve degrees diameter north and south, and ten degrees east and
west; and found ourselves in May, 1844, on the same sheet of water
which we had left in September, 1843. The Utah is the southern limb
of the Great Salt Lake; and thus we had seen that remarkable sheet of
water both at its northern and southern extremity, and were able to
fix its position at these two points. The circuit which we had
made, and which had cost us eight months of time, and 3,500 miles of
traveling, had given us a view of Oregon and of North California from
the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, and of the two principal
streams which form bays or harbors on the coast of that sea. Having
completed this circuit, and being now about to turn the back upon the
Pacific slope of our continent, and to recross the Rocky Mountains, it
is natural to look back upon our footsteps, and take some brief view
of the leading features and general structure of the country we have
traversed. These are peculiar and striking, and differ essentially
from the Atlantic side of our country. The mountains all are higher,
more numerous, and more distinctly defined in their ranges and
directions; and, what is so contrary to the natural order of such
formations, one of these, ranges, which is near the coast (the Sierra
Nevada and the Coast Range), presents higher elevations and peaks than
any which are to be found in the Rocky Mountains themselves. In our
eight months' circuit, we were never out, of sight of snow; and the
Sierra Nevada, where we crossed it, was near 2,000 feet higher than
the South Pass in the Rocky Mountains. In height, these mountains
greatly exceed those of the Atlantic side, constantly presenting peaks
which enter the region of eternal snow; and some of them volcanic, and
in a frequent state of activity. They are seen at great distances and
guide the traveler in his courses.