on the gila river—pima indian village—welcome gifts from the pimas—among the maricopa indians—asleep on the trail—visit prom a bear—loss of provisions through an attempt to float a quantity down the gila—hard traveling—crossing the colorado river—gloom in the camp—lower and upper california—terrible march over the tierra caliente, or hot lands—digging wells for brackish water—advance guard reach a mountain spring—water carried back to revive the fainting troops—last spoonful of flour used—dividing the rations—in the canyons of the sierra nevada—hewing roads through rocks and brush—feeding on live acorns and green mustard—news of victories by united states troops in california—preparing to engage the retiring mexican army—first house seen in california—beef without salt—trade for acorn mush—heavy storm and flood in camp—a few pounds of flour secured—dancing in mud and water—receive orders to go to los angeles—discover a body of troops in line of battle—advance to the attack—supposed foe proves to be friendly indians—presence of the mormon battalion prevents an intended attempt by mexicans to retake california, also an uprising of californians against the united states—on a battlefield where general kearney had fought—relics of the encounter—prophecy of president brigham young and its fulfillment—source of his inspiration.
where we reached the gila river it was a lovely stream, four or live rods wide; but the country was covered with alkali grass and mesquit brush. we rested part of a day, then proceeded down the river eight or ten miles, coming to a pima indian village. the pima indians were superior to any that we had fallen in with heretofore. they were an agricultural people, peacefully inclined, and kind and loving toward each other. those in the village appeared the picture of good health. they came and went by twos, the males and females keeping each sex, to themselves. they seemed the most affectionate people i had ever met; happy and innocent in appearance—a large and handsome class of persons. each indian was wrapped in a large home-made blanket.
the pimas had corn, wheat, pumpkins, beans, and, i think, peas. some of the indians noted our wretched and starved condition, and cut up a lot of pumpkins—as we cut them for cows. these they boiled, and handed to the soldiers as the latter passed by and took the proffered food in anything they could get to hold the steaming hot vegetables. the men were indeed thankful for these favors, although they came from indians.
it was between the 20th and 25th of december when we left the pima indian village, and passed down the gila river to a broad, open, fertile valley in the maricopa indian country. at the maricopa indian villages we met many fine specimens of the native inhabitants. we traded brass buttons for food. one brass button had more purchasing power than a five dollar gold piece.
it was some five or six days before we passed out of the maricopas' farming country. there was a large bend in the river, and we traveled three days over a rough, sandy country before we came to the stream again. on this march we camped without water. the writer was one of those who stood guard around the stock. the feed was so scarce that we were kept running all night. i was so completely worn out next day that at about eleven a.m. i sought rest by dropping out of the command and hiding from the rearguard behind a clump of brush that grew on a sand knoll. no sooner had i laid down than i fell into a sound slumber, oblivious to all danger.
when the writer awakened from that sleep the rearguard had passed on long before; the sun had changed position so that the drowsy soldier felt perfectly lost, but gradually he came to realize that it was three or four o'clock p.m. some six or eight feet from where he had been lying he found fresh bear tracks, telling him of the wild beast that had been viewing him while wrapt in slumber. he hurried forward on the trail, and reached camp just as the night guards were being posted and his comrades were becoming greatly concerned for his safety.
our route lay down the river, through deep sand and mesquit brush, where we had not only to chop and clear away the brush, but had to push and pull the wagons until our souls as well as our bodies were worn out. we gathered mesquit and a kind of pod to feed our mules. we were six days traveling sixty miles, to the crossing of the colorado river, or red river, as it was called by some.
the reader will not wonder that on reaching this point a mountain of gloom rested upon the whole command, causing the men almost to despair as they, on the 10th day of january, 1847, stood on the banks of the swift-flowing colorado—the stream being half a mile wide at that place—with no alternative but to wade across, pulling and pushing at the wagons, then to cut and burn their way out, through the thick brush on the bottom land, to the bench or bluff that opened out on a barren desert, known to the mexicans as tierra caliente, or the hot lands.
now the command entered upon another soul-trying march. the route from the crossing of the colorado was over the northeast corner of lower california, some sixty miles above the gulf of california, then into the south-eastern part of upper california. the stronger men, with a little extra ration, preceded the main army, to dig wells in the desert.
no sooner was the almost hopeless march commenced than men began to lag behind, so that when the advance guard came to a halt at any part of the journey, others were miles behind. the first day we came to a well that general phil. kearney and his men had dug, but it had caved in so badly that it was almost as much work to clean it as to dig a new one; and when it was cleaned, our men dug another. the water was scant and brackish. we remained at that point only until the rear of the command caught up, then proceeded on our way, stopping but a short time in any one place, until we reached cariza, a splendid spring near the base of the sierra nevada range of mountains. the first men to reach water filled kegs and canteens, lashed them to the stouter animals, and hastened back to succor and revive the famishing men who were bringing up the rear.
on that terrible march many of the weaker men despaired of ever reaching water. we passed several, who, with sunken and glazed eyes and blackened mouths and looking as ghastly as death, stammered to us as we passed them: "goodby, i shall never live to reach water. i cannot go a step farther, but shall die on this spot." poor fellows! i verily believe that if they had not been resuscitated by the water that was carried back, their words would have been painfully true before the rising of another sun.
if it had not been for some fresh mules and beef cattle that we met on this tedious march, we never could have got through with the wagons, and possibly would have lost some men, as our flour had given out and we were reduced so near to starvation as to eat every particle of the worn-out beef ox; even the tender part of the horns and hoofs, and the intestines, were broiled on the coals and eaten, without water to wash them.
in our mess, the last spoonful of flour was made into a thin gravy by stirring it into some water where some of our glue-like beef had been boiled. this so-called gravy was divided among the men by spoonfuls, then the pan was scraped with a table knife and wiped into a spoon, and with the point of the same knife it was divided into seven parts. each man watched the division; and i do not believe there was one man out of the seven but would have fought for his share of that spoonful of pan-scrapings. nor do i believe there was one of them who would have robbed his comrades. for the last three or four hundred miles we had been in the habit of cooking the food, and dividing it into seven equal parts. then one man would turn his back, and the cook or the one who made the division would touch each morsel and say, "who shall have that?" whereupon the one whose back was turned would say, so and so, calling each messmate by name, until all had been "touched off," as we used to call it.
from our camp at the spring we passed into the canyons of the sierra nevada. the days had been excessively hot on the desert, and it was very cold and frosty in the mountains at night. we soon came to where the canyons were too narrow for our wagons; then with crowbar and pickaxe and sledge we went at the jagged rocks until the pass was sufficiently widened, and with our shoulders to the wheels or by tugging at ropes we got our train to the summit.
it was while passing through this range of mountains that we first saw live-oak acorns. they were bitter as wormwood; yet we ate considerable quantities of them, and as we descended the western slope they became very abundant, and served for a change. as we passed down to the valleys we found green mustard, which was boiled and eaten without pepper or salt.
about this time one of our guides or interpreters brought word from the governor of san diego that several battles had been fought by the california troops and united states forces, and that we might meet a large mexican army retreating to sonora. in consequence of receiving this news, colonel cooke ordered a drill. we had secured a few beef cattle and some fresh mules, and with this increase of strength and the prospect of engaging the mexicans we were spurred on from one mountain summit to another, pushing and pulling the wagons—a business we were well versed in, from oft repeated lessons.
at warner's ranch, we came to the first house we had seen in california. mr. warner hailed from the state of massachusetts. from him the colonel purchased two or three fat beeves. the beef was good, yet we had nothing to eat with it, not even pepper or salt for seasoning, and it did not satisfy the cravings of hunger. we rested a day at the ranch, and some of us wandered off up the creek in hopes of finding wild fruit or game. we came to a small camp of indians who were engaged in hulling and leaching live-oak acorns, then pounding them to a pulp in stone mortars; this was boiled to a thick mush in home-made earthen pots. the writer bantered one of the old ladies for about three or four quarts of that cold-ochre mush, by offering her the belt that held his pantaloons in place. she accepted the offer, and he, being without proper utensil to receive his purchase, substituted his hat for a pan, and the mush was scooped into it. then when he found himself in the dilemma of his pantaloons threatening to desert him, he seized the alternative of holding up that portion of his attire with one hand, and carrying his hat and its contents in the other, and proceeded to camp, where his purchase was divided and devoured as a sweet morsel.
from warner's ranch we traveled over low hills and camped on a little narrow flat between two hills. in the night it came on to rain terribly, and the flat was so flooded that we awoke to find ourselves half-side deep in water. at dawn one of the boys crawled out of the water and wet blankets, and crowed; for he had learned that the men who had been sent back to recover some flour which had been left in the boat had come in with about four hundred pounds. soon every man in camp had heard the glad tidings of the arrival of this expedition, about which there had been much anxiety.
in a short time the writer was called on by the orderly sergeant of his company, d, to go with him and receive the portion of flour to be issued to the company. at the door of the tent where the flour was being divided we met col. cooke, who was sitting with his head down, as if in deep study. some of the boys had found a riddle that had fared better than its owner, and near by one of them struck up the tune of "leather breeches full of stitches," or some similar lively air. immediately a number of men formed a couple of french fours and began dancing in water half to their shoe tops. the colonel caught the sound, started up, and inquired what it was. some one replied, "oh, nothing, only the boys are dancing and making merry over the prospect of getting a little flour." the colonel shrugged his shoulders and remarked, "i never saw such a d—d set of men before in my life. if they can get out somewhere so they can dry their clothes and have a little flour they will be as happy as gods!"
doubtless the colonel could call to mind often having seen us stagger into camp, and perhaps could remember a dozen or so of us rush to where his mule was being fed corn mixed with beans, which the well-fed mule would object to by throwing his head first one way, then the other, scattering the half-chewed corn and beans in the sand, where the hungry soldiers would pick it from, rub it in their hands, and eat it raw; for to the famishing soldier beans are not so objectionable.
i am reminded at this point in my narrative that three croaking ravens had followed the command nearly all the way from santa fe, for the bits that escaped the soldier's eye. surely if it had not been for the ravens' keener vision they would have left in disgust, and would have given us a very hard name. even the wolf might have told his fellows not to follow such a greedy lot, which did not leave a bone till it was pounded and boiled and re-boiled till it could not be scented, and if perchance a bit was found it was too hard for even wolves' teeth.
from this camp we moved to the west under orders from general kearney to go to los angeles. while on the march toward that point, just as we emerged from a canyon, we heard the drum and fife in an open valley. soon we saw a military force forming in line of battle, and as we drew nearer we discovered their spears or lances gleaming in the sunlight, and officers dashing up and down the lines giving commands. our advance guard slowed up, and we were ordered to form in line of battle. every officer took his place, the command dressed in proper order, and, as we advanced, comrades looked into each other's faces as if to say, "how do you feel about it?" one asked alexander stephens the question, and received a prompt reply, "first-rate. i had as lief go into battle as not. if we must die, the sooner the better, for it seems that we must be worn till we starve and die anyhow. i do not fear death a particle." others were heard to say as much, and although the ashy look of death shone in many faces, from the privations undergone, i do not think there was a tremor in any heart, or a single man who showed the white feather.
as we drew near the force in our path, there was a dead silence, as if awaiting the order to wheel into line and open fire, for we were within rifle range. just then two of the opposite party came out on horseback to meet us. the colonel sent two of our interpreters forward, and the command was halted. soon our guides returned and stated that the supposed foe was a band of indians which had had a battle with mexicans in the vicinity a few days before, and the indians had returned to bury their dead. they had taken us for enemies, but their fears were turned into joy on discovering that we were american soldiers.
with all our bravery, there was a sigh of relief when we heard the news that our supposed enemies were friends. it was now late in the day. and both parties went into camp within a short distance of each other. friendly visits back and forth were made that evening. the indians were dressed in spanish costume and were armed the same as the mexicans; as i remember them they displayed bravery, and some skill in mexican military tactics.
next day we proceeded on our way, and passed down a dry wash, the bottom of which was mostly lined with a whitish cobblestone, upon which the feet of some comrade showed blood at every step for a hundred yards or more. i cannot now recall the man's name. we continued our march from that place, and afterwards learned that the mexicans had intended to make an effort to regain california, but the timely arrival of the battalion prevented any attempt to execute the movement.
so far as i can remember, it was between january 23 and 27, 1847, that we passed over a battlefield where general kearney and his little command had fought and beaten the mexicans. there lay broken swords and firearms, and dead horses and mules; and there also were the graves of the slain, while all around the blood-stained soil was plainly within our view, fixing the scene upon our memory.
here came to our minds the words of president brigham young, in his farewell address to the battalion, in which he said: "you are now going into an enemy's land at your country's call. if you will live your religion, obey and respect your officers, and hold sacred the property of the people among whom you travel, and never take anything but what you pay for, i promise you in the name of israel's god that not one of you shall fall by the hand of an enemy. though there will be battles fought in your front and in your rear, on your right hand and on your left, you will not have any fighting to do except with wild beasts."
here i pause and ask: who on earth dare to make, of himself, such a promise, under the circumstances and in the name that this promise had been made? and yet over three hundred men who heard it could stand up after they had filled the time of their enlistment, and before high heaven and all the world could bear testimony to the literal fulfillment of those words spoken eight months before, in the camp in missouri valley, two thousand miles distant. i ask the honest reader: from whence came such foresight, if not from the eternal god, the creator of the heavens and the earth, and all things therein? to him we ascribe all honor and glory, power and praise, for our success in that great, wonderful and unparalleled march of twenty-five hundred miles made by infantry. who shall say that god had not made bare his arm in support of that ever memorable mormon battalion? but as yet the whole task of the battalion had not been completed.
