Before he left Astoria, he sent Robert Stuart, a young Scotchman of integrity, good judgment, and sincere devotion to the company, back overland on June 29th, with messages for Astor, and this journey deserves more space than it is possible to give it here, for Stuart traversed new ground a part of the way, and so may be recorded among the first Wilderness breakers.[80] With him went McClellan, Ramsay Crooks, John Day, Ben Jones, Andri Vallar, and Francis Le Clerc. Crooks and John Day, after having reluctantly been left behind by Hunt, had finally arrived at Astoria in a desperate condition, from which Crooks recovered, but Day's health was permanently destroyed and, his mind giving way, Stuart was obliged to send him back to Astoria, where he died the next year. His memory endures in the name of a river in Idaho, as well as in his connection with the second great traverse of the continent within the limits of the United States. The Stuart party on its eastward way followed the Columbia and the Snake, meeting opposition from some natives and assistance from others. They also encountered near the head of the Snake some of the hunters who had been left to trap and trade. These men were in a sorry plight, having met with various disasters and also with robbery at the hands of hostile bands of natives. At Caldron Linn they found that six of the caches had been robbed by natives under the guidance of three _voyageurs_ of the Hunt party who had remained behind and finally had taken up their residence among some Shoshones. Fitting out several of the men from the three remaining caches, Stuart left them to once more try their fortunes, and directed his course on to the East. After a good deal of difficulty, the 17th of October found him crossing one of the branches of the Green. Food was limited, and finding no buffalo here the men were at the last notch. Francis Le Clerc insisted that lots should be cast, as it was better for one to die than for all, but Stuart threatened to shoot him on the spot for the suggestion. Food was soon after obtained and the party saved from extinction. [Illustration: On the Virgin River, Southern Utah, near where Escalante Went in 1776. Pine Valley Mountain in Distance. Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh.]