They began near the head waters of the stream, and carefully trapped down to the Great Basin.
Meeting with only moderate success, they made their way to Big Snake River.

After remaining there a considerable time, the party divided, the Hudson Bay trader and his friends going northward toward Fort Walla Walla, while Carson and the larger number set out for Fort Hall.
The journey thither was one of the most distressing which Kit Carson ever undertook.

The country through which most of the march led is one of the most dismal wastes on the American continent.

Except in extent, a journey across it is similar to that of the parched caravans across the flaming sands of Sahara.

Carson and his companions were accustomed to all manner of privations, but more than once their endurance was tried to the utmost point.
The trappers had gathered some nutritious roots upon which they managed to subsist for a time, but these soon gave out, and their situation grew desperate.