As Fremont traveled up the Virgin River, the Indians followed stealthily in the rear and quickly cut off any animals that were left behind. While encamped near the present site of Littlefield, Arizona, one of the men, Tabeau, was killed by the Indians when he went back alone a short distance to look for a lost mule. The party that went in search of him found where he had been dragged by the Indians to the edge of the river and thrown in. His horse, saddle, clothing, arms, and the mule had all been taken by the Indians. The two thousand-foot mountain gorge above Littlefield forced Fremont to leave the Virgin and turn off to the north where he regained the Old Spanish Trail which he had lost in the sands of the desert. Surmounting a pass, he reached the Santa Clara and followed it up to the Mountain Meadows where, he states: We found an extensive mountain meadow, rich in bunch grass, and fresh with numerous springs of clear water, all refreshing and delightful to look upon. It was, in fact, that las Vegas de Santa Clara, which had been so long represented to us as the terminating point of the desert, and where the annual caravan from California to New Mexico halted and recruited for some weeks. It was a very suitable place to recover from the fatigue and exhaustion of a month’s suffering in the hot and sterile desert. The meadow was about a mile wide and some ten miles long, bordered by grassy hills and mountains.... In passing before the great caravan, we had the advantage of finding more grass, but the disadvantage of finding also the marauding savages, who had gathered down upon the trail, waiting the approach of their prey.... At this place we had complete relief from the heat and privations of the desert and some relaxation from the severity of camp duty.[16] After a day of rest (May 13) at the Meadows, Fremont pushed to the northeast across the south end of the Great Basin until he reached the Little Salt Lake near Paragonah. Here he left the Old Spanish Trail and cut off to the north along the edge of the desert at the western foot of the mountains. On May 20 he met a band of Ute Indians under the leadership of the well known chief, Walker (Wah-kerr), journeying southward to levy the annual toll upon the California caravan. Fremont says, “They were all mounted, armed with rifles, and use their rifles well.... They were robbers of a higher order than those of the desert. They conducted their depredations with form and under the color of trade and toll for passing through their country. Instead of attacking and killing, they affect to purchase, taking the horses they like and giving something nominal in return.” Early Mormon Settlement