From Report of the Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains in the Year, and to Oregon and North California in the Years 1843-'44, 1842, 1845. Read OnlineDownload PDF
Portrait of John C. Frémont in Three Years in California by Walter Colton, 1850. Larger.
Stories of fearsome Sierra Nevada winters are as old as human habitation there, but few such stories compare with the tale told by Brevet Captain John C. Frémont whose reports inspired many a pioneer to pull up stakes.
In 1844, during his second exploring expedition to the west, Frémont and his men spent a bitterly cold February night in the mountains just south of what would be named Carson Pass. With the temperature dropping and wind howling, nobody was feeling cheerful.
Two Indians joined our party here; and one of them, an old man, immediately began to harangue us, saying that ourselves and animals would perish in the snow. . . . He spoke in a very loud voice, and there was a singular repetition of phrases and arrangements of words, which rendered his speech striking and not unmusical.
We had now begun to understand some words, and with the aid of signs, easily comprehended the old man's simple ideas. "Rock upon rock—rock upon rock—snow upon snow," said he; "even if you get over the snow, you will not be able to get down from the mountains." He made us the sign of precipices, and showed us how the feet of the horses would slip, and throw them off from the narrow trails that led along their sides. Our Chinook, who comprehended even more readily than ourselves, and believed our situation hopeless, covered his head with his blanket, and began to weep and lament. . . .
Fifteen days later, on Februrary 19, 1844, Frémont and his party found a pass through the mountains, green grass and clement weather their reward.
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