from him, that the most serious apprehensions began to prevail; and as weeks and months wore away and no intelligence came from any quarter, a painful conviction deepened in the public mind that he had met, at last, the fate he had so often braved. It was not until the early part of April, 1854, that his safety was ascertained. Colonel Babbitt, the Secretary of Utah Territory, was on his way to Washington, with the United States mail. He had left the Great Salt Lake on the 4th of February, and was going by what is called the coast route, that is, taking passage on the Pacific side, and crossing by Panama. On the 8th of February, an Indian came to his camp and told him that, the day before, he had met a company of Americans, and " that they were hungry." That night Babbitt overtook Fremont at a small Mormon settlement. He sent a man to his camp to communicate with him, but Fremont excused himself from talking as he was too much worn out; but the next morning early, he called upon Babbitt and informed him of the route and condition of his party. Colonel Babbitt published an account of the meeting in the California papers, and they brought the first intelligence received from the expedition. About the same time the Philadelphia Bulletin contained an extract from a letter of Mr. S. N. Carvallo, Colonel Fremont's daguerreotypist, dated February 8, and brought in, undoubtedly, by Colonel Babbitt, in which he says that the party had "lived fifty days on horse-flesh, and for the last forty-eight hours had been without food of any kind."

The St. Louis Democrat of April 8, 1854, speak

ing of this last expedition, after mentioning that it was undertaken, as well as the previous one, at his own expense, says that when he set out upon it, "his health was in a precarious condition, and he was even compelled to take with him a physician, who accompanied him to the Rocky Mountains. His private business in California called loudly for his presence there, having suffered by his absence in Europe, protracted by imprisonment for debts incurred in the conquest of California, and which was adding millions every year to the wealth of our people, whilst our government neglected and refused to pay the debt incurred by Fremont in its acquisition. It was under such difficulties and embarrassments, in the face of so much personal sacrifice and danger, that this expedition was undertaken by the heroic and intrepid adventurer."

On Colonel Fremont's return to the Atlantic States, the St. Louis Intelligencer welcomed him in the following language:

"The maxim that fortune favors the brave, has been signally illustrated by the fact that the winter which Colonel Fremont chose for exploring a howling wilderness of thousands of miles, where he was cut off for weeks from the succor and sympathy of civilized man, except his own party, has been the hardest winter ever known in those regions. To carry his men safely through the fearful hardships and perils of this unexampled winter, is itself a solution of the problem which he went to determine, besides showing fortitude, mental resources, and unconquerable energy of will, which stamp the hardy

explorer as one of the great men of action who make their mark upon their country and their age. It is the fit crowning achievement of a series of adventurous explorations, not surpassed, if equalled, in respect to the qualities displayed and the magnitude of the results, by any similar career in the history of mankind. The career of Fremont has been characteristically western and American, at a time when the great work of western America is to subdue the wilderness. He is a mightier Daniel Boone, on a far more magnificent theatre, and adds to the sturdy qualities of the pioneer of civilization, those graces and attainments of science and literature, which only the highest civilization can confer."

In the National Intelligencer, of June 13, 1854, Colonel Fremont published a letter condensing the general results of his last exploration, which the House of Representatives ordered to be reprinted among its miscellaneous documents. When his full report is published, it will contain a rigid and thorough discussion of all the obstacles and difficulties in the way of the construction of a railroad connecting the Atlantic States, centrally, with the Pacific coast. It is well known that he is fully convinced that it can be done. When the people say that it shall be done, it will be done. The resources of this great country are adequate to the work. Its commerce, its union, and its power, require it. All that is needed is a government pledged to accomplish it, and honest, firm, and energetic enough to redeem its pledge.

CHAPTER VIII

General Remarks.

THE career of Colonel Fremont must be considered as one of the most active, and crowded with service, of any in the whole circle of biography. Considering that we live in what is called a utilitarian age, and that his line of occupation has itself been eminently practical, it is remarkable how much that is romantic and almost marvellous is spread over it. Poetry has seldom indulged in visions stranger or more exciting than has been his reality. Chivalry has seldom had finer models than his camp presented. The artist finds as many scenes of varied and most attractive interest, in the events and circumstances delineated on the foregoing pages, as in the experience of any feudal or heroic period of the world. The days of high adventure are not over; life, in our times, and in our country, opens still a field for true heroism; and, in every calling, presents emergencies that will try and display the power and glory of courage, truth, benevolence, and fidelity.

[The death of the noted American explorer occurred in New York City on July 13, 1890, in his seventy-eighth year. After his career as "Pathfinder" and early opener of the route over the

Rockies to the Pacific, Fremont took part (1846-47) in the conquest of California and in 1850-51 acted as United States senator for that State. In 1856, he was the unsuccessful Republican candidate for the United States Presidency, and during the Civil War was successively Federal commander of the Western Department and United States commander at Cross Keys. From 1878 to 1882, he was governor of Arizona.-EDITOR.]

The Eclectic Review, in an article on an English reprint of the Reports of his first two Expeditions across the Continent, expresses itself in the following emphatic and discriminating language:

"The expedition required much physical strength, great courage, and no common skill in meeting the contingencies which daily arose. These were preëminently possessed by Captain Fremont, in happy combination with the knowledge which enabled him to bring from the comparatively unknown region he visited, important contributions to the sciences of astronomy, geography, botany, and geology."

The opinions of the scientific men of his own country were expressed by Professor Silliman in a review of his Reports, in the American Journal of Science and Art, second series. Vol. III. March, 1847.

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"Few travellers have encountered greater hardships, and none have exhibited more indomitable courage or untiring zeal." Captain Fremont's journal is written in a graphic style, bearing evidence of literal accuracy in all its statements, and yet, in many parts, reading like a romance. With deep interest we follow the adventurous traveller, threading