After enjoying the hospitality of Colonel Sutter, Fremont again crossed the mountains farther to the south, where the beautiful San Joaquin River makes a gap or pass.
Sees the Mohave Desert
When he reached the top of the pass Fremont beheld the plains of the Mohave Desert. An Indian said to him: "There is neither water nor grass—nothing; every animal that goes upon them dies."
End of second expedition
Pushing forward with great energy, he reached Utah Lake, thus having nearly made the circuit of the Great Basin.
Fremont hastened to Washington with the story of his discoveries. General Scott now recommended that he be made captain.
Third expedition
Fremont's third expedition, with Carson as a helper, began in the spring of 1845, and aimed to explore the Great Basin and the coast of California and Oregon.
