Page:History of Oregon volume 1.djvu/198

Rh been left, he found it had been stolen. By dint of bargain and exchange, however, he secured twenty head, which with considerable assistance were driven to camp. With these, and others he was able to purchase on the road, notwithstanding losses, he had seven hundred and twenty-nine when he encamped on the San Joaquin August 14th.

On the 20th the company reached the mountains at the head of the Sacramento Valley, fording the Sacramento River without difficulty, following the trail of Michel La Framboise and his trapping party. As they proceeded north the mountains were higher and harder to ascend, being stony, with a close growth of bushes, into which some of the cattle escaped. On the afternoon of the 26th a high and rugged mountain seemed to close the way. Riding up the steep, Young declared that there was another mountain above it. "Now," said he to Edwards, "if you are a philosopher, show yourself one!" But alas! no man is a philosopher longer than his bodily frame can be made to support his resolution. The patience of the company was nearly at an end. The men, tired of eating dried meat, and irritable with toil and privation, insisted that a beef should be killed that night, which Young refused, on account of having to carry the meat over the mountain. A quarrel ensued, in which they defied authority. "Kill at your peril!" said Young; and the storm blew over. The mind of the leader was stronger than the muscles of the men; still it was evident that the courage of the company was declining.

It was not until the 12th of September that the Rogue River Valley was gained. Threats had been made by Turner, Gay, and Bailey that after Rogue River was passed there would be Indians killed in revenge for the attack on their party in 1835. Their purpose was kept hidden from Young, who for the safety of the property would have forbidden retaliation.