water to be found in that direction. Before them lay a wide and
unknown desert, over which no white man had ever passed. Kit Carson
had been at this spot several times in previous years, and had often
heard the oldest trappers speak of the impossibility of crossing
it for man or beast. They had always shrunk from a path apparently
endless, which offered appearances of neither grass nor water. Colonel
Fremont had determined to try the formidable desert, and, if possible,
unfold its hidden secrets. His men were equally ambitious with
himself, and were ready to second his efforts without fearing the
trials or sufferings which the desert route might exact.

Colonel Fremont arranged all of his plans commensurate with the
hardships in expectancy. Early the subsequent morning he dispatched
Kit Carson, Maxwell and two others as an advance party to break the
road and look for a camping site. With his telescope, he then ascended
a neighboring mountain to watch the little party of pioneers. In the
event that water and grass should be found, Kit Carson's orders
were to build a fire, the smoke of which would serve as a signal to
Fremont, who would immediately follow up their trail with the whole
command.

For sixty miles, Kit Carson with his little party traveled over this
level, barren and sandy desert, without coming to a drop of water or
a blade of grass. At the end of this distance they reached the
mountains, on the west side of the lake, and found both in abundance.
The signal of smoke was now made, according to agreement. Even at this
long distance Fremont discovered it, and immediately set his party in
motion. Kit Carson sent back one of the men to meet the main body, and
guide it across the dreary waste. Before the party had accomplished
more than half the distance to Kit Carson's advance, night set in,