The range we had been traveling nearly parallel with seemed to come to an end here where this snow peak stood, and immediately north and south of this peak there seemed to be a lower pass.  The continuous range north was too low to hold snow.  In the morning I concluded to go to the summit of that pass and with my glass have an extensive view.  Two other boys started with me, and as we moved along the snow line we saw tracks of our runaway Indian in the snow, passing over a low ridge.  As we went on up hill our boys began to fall behind, and long before night I could see nothing of them.  The ground was quite soft, and I saw many tracks of Indians which put me on my guard.  I reached the summit and as the shade of its mountain began to make it a little dark, I built a fire of sage brush, ate my grub, and when it was fairly dark, renewed the fire and passed on a mile, where in a small ravine with banks two feet high I lay down sheltered from the wind and slept till morning.  I did this to beat the Indian in his own cunning.

Next morning I reached the summit about nine o’clock, and had the grandest view I ever saw.  I could see north and south almost forever.  The surrounding region seemed lower, but much of it black, mountainous and barren.  On the west the snow peak shut out the view in that direction.  To the south the mountains seemed to descend for more than twenty miles, and near the base, perhaps ten miles away, were several smokes, apparently from camp fires, and as I could see no animals or camp wagons anywhere I presumed them to be Indians.  A few miles to the north and east of where I stood, and somewhat higher, was the roughest piece of ground I ever saw.  It stood in sharp peaks and was of many colors, some of them so red that the mountain looked red hot, I imagined it to be a true volcanic point, and had never been so near one before, and the most wonderful picture of grand desolation one could ever see.

Toward the north I could see the desert the Jayhawkers and their comrades had under taken to cross, and if their journey was as troublesome as ours and very much longer, they might by this time be all dead of thirst.  I remained on this summit an hour or so bringing my glass to bear on all points within my view, and scanning closely for everything that might help us or prove an obstacle to our progress.  The more I looked the more I satisfied myself that we were yet a long way from California and the serious question of our ever living to get there presented itself to me as I tramped along down the grade to camp.  I put down at least another month of heavy weary travel before we could hope to make the land of gold, and our stock of strength and provisions were both pretty small for so great a tax upon them.  I thought so little about anything else that the Indians might have captured me easily, for I jogged along without a thought of them.  I thought of the bounteous stock of bread and beans upon my father’s table,