Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 7.pdf/329

Rh upon the far off hills, like the bending sky upon the bosom of the great deep. Within this wide range was a succession of mountain after mountain, increasing in height as they approached the summit upon which we stood. To the west, from whence we came, wherever we could see through the tall forests, all was wrapped in one unbroken sheet of snow; to the East, whither we were going, we looked down, down, until the eye was lost among the dimly descried, crowded and confused objects in the distance.

Descending the Eastern declivity we came to the lake, and passed around on the Northern side to the further extremity where we found the grass, which we had seen from the summit of the mountain, in abundance and of a very good quality. We remained at this place the rest of the day in order to refresh our animals, which were by this time much exhausted and fatigued from hunger and plunging through the snow. The distance from the forks of the Juba River to the lake is about ten miles, and in this lake the South branch of the Truckies River has its source. This stream was called by the emigrating party that went into California in the Fall of 1844, after the name of an Indian who piloted them across the mountains.

Leaving the lake and the river which flows from it to the right, we bore off to the North East for a wide, deep gap, through which we supposed that we could both pass and leave the mountains. At ten miles we crossed the North branch of Truckies River, a stream of considerable size. We traveled eight miles further to the head of a stream running to the North West, which we called Snow River, as a heavy fall of snow here obscuring our course, compelled us to halt. Snow continued to fall during this and the succeeding day, and we remained in camp. When it ceased we again proceeded on our journey,